Diclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh, though that'd be cool XD
"I want to touch the light, the heat I see in your eyes"
- In Your Eyes (Peter Gabriel) -
Serenity had opened every shelf and drawer in her aunt's kitchen and still she hadn't found it. As she searched the last shelf she threw over her shoulders boxes of pasta, cans and dozens of instant meals. Why did my aunt bought so many of these, is she expecting a nuclear war anytime soon? Serenity thought as she emptied the big shelf. She got rid of an old box of froot-loops and heard a bump, followed by the sound of a cereal rain on the linoleum floor.
"Ouch" a rough male voice complained.
Serenity turned around surprised by the familiar voice, a voice she hadn't expected to hear until Christmas Eve. In the middle of an explosion of colourful tiny rings was her uncle Tom. He was tall but a little chubby, the buttons on his red shirt appeared to be making an extra effort to hold it together. His black thick hair was always on a military cut. He was one of the sweetest men Serenity had ever known and he loved very much both Serenity and Joey. He was married to Jane. It was hard to understand though, Tom was joyful, extremely optimistic and funny, he was always making jokes, and on the other hand, there was Jane, bitter, cruelly realistic and who always wore an expression such as of someone who had sand in their underwear.
Once she and Joey had asked him about it and he had told them that her aunt was a wonderful person and his endless love, that when he had met her back in highschool she had been perky and cheerful, that she used to enjoy every moment of each day and that her motto had been to live each day like it was the very last. He also told her about the time he had asked her out for the first time. Apparently her aunt Jane had been one of the most popular girls in school, believe it or not, and her uncle Tom the prankster that was sentenced to life in detention after classes. This one time, one of his friends had dared him to pull a prank on her, if he chickened out he would have to run naked through the football field on the upcoming Saturday's game. Tom had never chickened out from any joke or prank in his life and he wasn't going to start now, or so he thought. But when the time came, he saw her and froze in place, "if angels exist, they would look the way she did that day" had been his words; so he couldn't go on with the prank, instead he asked her out and to his surprise she told him yes. Then Joey asked him if he really had ran naked on that football field, "Hell yeah, made the yearbook" he had said, Joey and Serenity had laughed at his answer and he added "I'm a man of my word"
Why did aunt Jane had turned from the popular vivacious girl to the hard bitter woman she was most of the time he didn't tell them, but they figured it out eventually. After they got married, Tom and Jane's only wish was a family, Tom wanted a big one, six or eight kids, Jane maybe not one as large as Tom's dreams but she did wanted a baby with all her heart. She had three miscarriages before they stopped trying. The doctor said Jane's womb was a hostile environment for the embryo and that it was very unlikely she could have a baby. There were treatments but they would turn out to be risky for both the mom and the child.
Tom managed to move on, relying on his optimistic ways and focusing his paternal love on his nieces and nephews. Jane, on the other hand, had shut herself away in a solitary shell, only allowing her husband in every now and then, but everyone knew Tom's love for his wife hadn't changed even when she had.
"Uncle Tom!" Serenity called and rushed at him crushing the fallen froot-loops under her weight.
Tom spread his arms to give his niece a suffocating hug "My favourite niece" he said taking a deep breath and lifting her in the air "What on earth are you doing with your aunt's kitchen?" he asked after settling her down on the floor.
"Oh" Serenity said gazing around and really noticing the mess she had done "I was looking for grandma's cookbook"
"Cookbook? You cook?" Tom asked surprised. Except for Serenity's grandmother, who had been an amazing cook to her dying day, none of the women in her family knew how to, in fact they pretty much sucked at it.
But Serenity herself hadn't really tried, as everybody assumed that she had that particular family curse too, her mother and her had always either order take out or helped themselves a frozen meal, or sometimes her mom's current boyfriend would take care of the food "Yes… well… I sort of don't know"
Before she could explain herself better to her beloved uncle her mother and aunt entered in the kitchen. Her mother froze in the middle of what she was saying and looked horrified at the mess, it appeared as if a tornado had passed through the room.
Her aunt was shocked at the sight too but not at the mess but at her husband, his busyness trip was supposed to keep him in London until Christmas. Her face went blank at first, but quickly melted into a joyful smile. She walked fast kicking pots and frying pans as she made her way to him. Tom received her with a gentle kiss, and for a moment Serenity could see the perky highschool girl from her uncle's story.
Their romantic moment was interrupted by Mrs Wheeler "Serenity! What have you done? This place is a complete mess!" she said eyeing her daughter with confusion and disappointment.
"I was looking for grandma's cookbook" Serenity said eyeing the floor.
"Cookbook?" Mrs Wheeler said in disbelieve "But you've never cook in your life" she continued with the same puzzled tone.
"There's always a first time for everything" Serenity replied lifting her gaze to her mom, then to her aunt and uncle, who were staring silently still in each other's arms.
Mrs Wheeler's gaze hardened and the tension in the room grew. "If she wants to cook I think is perfect, we could use a home made meal for time to time" Tom intervened.
Serenity opened her mouth to say something but her mother spoke first "No, that's not what this is about" she said in a flat voice "This is about that boy" she stated with deadly certainty. She knew her daughter, Serenity was a lot like she had been when she was young, and all she had gotten was an early marriage, two kids and her prince charming turned into an unemployed alcoholic. She didn't want that to happen to her daughter, but that was the feeling she'd gotten when she had laid eyes on Duke for the first time, fear, a cold chill running down her spine, and that was why she wanted to do anything to get that boy out of Serenity's head.
"Yes, I'm going out with him and I'm cooking" Serenity said challengingly as she held her mother's gaze with the same stubborn intensity, not giving an inch.
Looking into Serenity's determination filled eyes Mrs Wheeler knew she wasn't going to win this one "Fine" she said bitterly "But I don't think that book is around anymore" she turned to Jane, they seemed to be talking telepathically, then without another word form Mrs Wheeler and with a goodbye kiss from Jane to Tom they left the room.
Serenity and his uncle were alone again, Serenity turned to double-check the drawers even though she knew the book wasn't there "That was… weird" her uncle said still standing in the middle of the froot-loop explosion "and uncomfortable, definitely uncomfortable" he continued. Serenity didn't reply, she was angry, she didn't know why the hell her mother didn't like Duke, and she hated when she gave her that hard look, the annoying arrogant look that said, go ahead, give it your best shot, I know you're not going to be able to pull it off, but by all means. "So? A boy huh?" her uncle continued.
Serenity gave up her search and turned. She leaned on the kitchen counter and took a deep breath. She thought about Duke, since the beginning, she thought about when she had met him at Battle City and when they had been in Noah's virtual world with the rest of the gang. She held the picture of the old Duke in her mind then she thought about the night when he took her to the hotel roof, their kiss at the store's dressing room and their evening at the ice ring. She took the picture of the new Duke in her mind too and compared them, they were exactly the same and also completely different, but she couldn't tell why. "Yes" Serenity finally answered her uncle "his name's Duke"
"I see" Tom said pulling a chair and sitting. He rested his arms on the kitchen table "He must be quite something if you're going to that much trouble to be with him" he said raising his thump towards the door through which her mother had left.
"He is" Serenity said as she lost herself in her memories again, she remembered his deep green eyes gazing down at her, his smooth and soothing voice, his head-rushing touch and his loving and addictive kisses.
Tom noticed Serenity's mind wandering and let a small whistle out. "How long have you been going out?"
Serenity's cheeks blushed to a soft pink, she had only gone out with Duke two times and she was crazy about him already "Actually, we've only gone out twice"
"Twice!" Her uncle repeated surprised "and he's got you all…" he couldn't find the right word so he just moved his hands in the air "twice…" he repeated to himself as if in order to make it more believable "So why the cooking? Why don't you go to a movie or something?"
Immediately Serenity's mind took her back to the end of their ice-skating date. After they had eaten a couple of sweets and treats from the machines, they had skated until they were both exhausted, then they had sat to talk, about nothing in particular, just a nice getting-to-know-each-other conversation. Finally, and this was probably her favourite part, they had gone back to kissing. She remembered saying to him between kisses "Is my turn now"
Without stopping his tender and sweet kisses he asked her "For what?"
"Surprising you" she said pausing for a moment and looking him in his eyes "You set all this" she said waving around her "for me, I want to do something special for you too"
"Really? Because you don't have to do anything if you…"
"That's the thing" she interrupted him "I want to" she said leaning closer to him and tracing his neck with her lips.
"Can you give me a clue?" he asked but his voice cut at the end as she reached the space below his ear, Serenity heard a small pleasure growl forming on the back of Duke's throat and smiled to herself.
"No that would ruin the surprise" she replied and took her time in that particular spot. Duke swallowed hard to keep himself in control. She traced his jaw line all the way to his lips, but she didn't kiss him, she stopped less than inches apart and waited, teasing him. She could feel Duke's heart pounding hard and fast through his chest and could taste his accelerated breath on her. She thought it was cute the way she could drive him crazy like this, then she leaned away "Tomorrow … park" she said and after saying goodnight she walked away leaving him desperate for one more kiss.
Her flashback passed through her mind in a matter of two seconds she smiled and said to her uncle "'cause it's got to be special"
Tom saw her eyes were sparkling. He looked around making sure they were alone "If your mother catches you I'll deny everything" he said joking "your grandma's cookbook is in the attic, in my old trunk"
As if it were possible Serenity's face lighted up even more, she threw her arms around her uncle's neck and hugged him almost to death, she kissed him on the cheek repeatedly and rushed to the door. She stopped halfway and turned to her uncle "Why is grandma's book in your trunk?"
"Your grandmother's cook was the best I ever tasted, and even if your aunt can't even boil some water, it didn't feel good throwing it away, so I kept it"
Serenity held her uncle's gaze for a minute then rushed out of the kitchen and into the attic. She found the old and dust covered trunk and opened it, at the very top of old a pile of old photographs, clothes and books was the brown hard covered notebook, she flipped through the handwritten pages and found the recipes she was looking for, she closed the book then the trunk and ran downstairs. Time was not on her side, she had to start right away, and she also had to clean up the mess she had done in the kitchen. But she was happy. She wanted to do this for Duke, so she couldn't let anything go wrong, she really wanted to impress him.
When she came back to the kitchen her uncle was gone, but the floor had been sweep clean and the pots, pans, boxes, dishes and cans had been set on the table. She took a deep breath and began working with a grin on her face.
I know this chapter wasn't very exciting but next one will be better, promise, =) Don't forget to review =)
