Jacket
A/N: 34 reviews! 34! Eek! You guys blow me away! And that deserves a response, don't cha think?
Xiaolin Fan: Thanks a million! This fast enough?
TheXGrayXLady: I know, right? Wuya was always one of my favorite characters. I tried to leave it neutral, but yeah, it was Chuya to me. :D Aw, thanks!
crazychick14: Yay! Another person who likes Emma! :D Haha, no, it isn't weird. I have to do that all the time, especially with i-before-e words. XP
flowerpower71: Sounds good to me! Actually, the pun made me giggle. :D I plan on doing an official Chuya oneshot soon. Whaddaya think?
Anyway, hope you guys like this one! Some more Emma/Omi family-ness. And on a side note, I totally have the Iron Man shirt. XD Enjoy!
Emma held her breath and bent in half, peering through the small, round door for the umpteenth time in less than an hour. Her red headphones made the hair that normally blocked her ears stick out, and she hadn't moved since she'd gotten to her spot. That spot was in the laundry room at the Temple, which, (thankfully,) had acquired a few modern amenities. Meaning a washer and dryer. And so what if they had been Christmas gifts from the kids to the elder monks? Nothing stopping said kids from using the machines to duck out of chores. They were shooting for a dishwasher on Master Fung's birthday.
However, Emma wasn't ducking out of chores at the moment. She was sitting on top of the washing machine, eyes trained on the objects tumbling around inside. In place of her normal thunderbolt shirt and army-green jeans, she wore an Iron Man t-shirt that read My Boyfriend's Abs Are Made Of Steel and black athletic shorts. Her shoes, too, were missing, but she wore nothing else to keep her feet warm. She hummed along absentmindedly to Party In The CIA (copyright Weird Al) as the washing machine whirred quietly. Just then, Omi stuck his head in the door.
"Emma? May I enter?" Emma paused her music, hung her headphones around her neck and smiled at the boy. "Sure thing, O! C'mon up." She scooted over and let Omi climb up beside her.
"I apologize once again for making that delicious, yet treacherous dairy product attack you," Omi said, bowing his head solemnly. "Had I not foolishly listened to Raimundo, you would not have to wash your hair and clothes."
Emma chuckled and rubbed his head. "Aw, it's okay, Omi. It's not your fault; you didn't know not to squeeze the yogurt cup. Or to point it towards me. I'll get Raimundo back for it later, so no worries. (Though I doubt I'll be able to smell yogurt ever again without feeling sick.) But that ol' jacket of mine needed a wash anyways, so, y'know, all's well that ends well. Yogurt comes outta clothes easy, from what I hear."
Omi tilted his head. "Why do you wear that particular jacket so often? Kimiko has an array of clothes, and yet you wear only one kind, like Raimundo and Clay and I."
Emma shrugged. "Oh, jeez, I dunno. I like jackets in the first place; they're nice and versatile, easy to slip on and off, unlike hoodies, and you can tie them around your waist when you're hot and zip 'em up when you're cold and pull up the hood when you wanna pretend to be Batman. But as to why I wear that particular jacket, well, that's another story entirely. We got time, though, so I'll tell ya if ya wanna listen." Omi nodded and Emma held back another chuckle, then nodded as well. "Alrighty, then. Oh, let's see, where do I start… ah. Okay, I got it." She sat up straight and fixed her glasses and mostly gathered an air of storytelling about her, as she always did when about to tell someone something that was mostly truth and a little lie, but that's what made her stories good. Omi crossed his legs and sat up, ready to listen.
"When I was a young'un- oh, listen to me, I'm such a hick- probably around 9 or 10, that is, I went to see Wicked. It was the second play I'd ever seen in real life, the first one being Cats. It's a fantastic play, by the by, remind me to treat you sometime. Well, Wicked was great. It was the first thing in which I saw somebody I could really identify with. And that somebody was Elphaba."
"Elphaba?"
"Oh, right, you don't- well, Elphaba is the name of the eventual, quote-unquote 'Wicked Witch of the West.' Basically, a real nice, book-smart girl who was made fun of and rejected just because she had green skin. Now, personally, if I saw somebody with green skin, I'd go right up and start a conversation, 'cause I think it'd be real neat, but… anywho. Well, Elphaba an' me, we're a lot alike. Nobody likes us because of how we look or act or both, and nobody's willing to get to know us to find out whether or not we're what everybody thinks we are.
"See, thing is, I liked the play so much that at the end I was draggin' my parents over to the merchandise stands to get something. They went ahead and got the soundtrack, but what I wanted was one of the hoodies. Now, those only came in adult sizes, mind you, and I was small for my age. But I didn't care. I felt inside me that a Wicked jacket would be just what I needed later on. Couldn't tell how I knew, but I did.
"Turns out, I was right! I grew into the jacket, though it's still a tad big, which is fine with me, of course, but I've worn it every day since. I guess it's just a bit of a personal reminder to keep on going, because someday I'll get to where I'm goin', and even if I end up somewhere I didn't think I would, so be it. Better to end up wicked than ending up as nothing at all."
Omi nodded, slowly this time. "So, you got your jacket because you felt that you and this Elphaba person could relate. That is an interesting reason for purchasing clothing, I must admit. Whenever I go to a mall with the others, Kimiko wants something because it's 'cute.' I am not sure what this means, but I do not think you chose clothes for the same reason. Am I right?"
Emma gave him that crooked grin of hers. "You are indeed, O. I get stuff because I think it reflects me as a person, not necessarily because of how it would look on me. For instance, I've got a shirt with the Hufflepuff crest on it, a Batman fake letterman jacket for when my normal jacket is in the wash, and a spare pair of Converse, Riddler ones. Have I ever told you about the Riddler?" Omi shook his head. He was pretty sure he knew who Batman was, but everything else eluded him. "I haven't? Jiminy Christmas, how else are you supposed to know about the wonders of the DC Universe? C'mon, Omi, I'm gonna teach you about vigilantism and why it rocks." And with that, she dropped off the washing machine and headed towards her room, Omi close behind.
Luls. This was mostly written because I want to point out that yes, Emma does have other clothes, she just never wears them. Also, quick question. In my little Emmaverse, (the XS Universe that has Emma,) Kimiko and Emma get their own rooms because they're girls. So Kimiko now has a space for all her outfits and wigs, seeing as how in the original series she had the three-by-five room. But prior to this, I have to ask; where did she keep all her stuff? I'd love to know what you guys think. My personal opinion is an underground closet lair. *nods knowingly* Please review!