An Unknown Engagement
Chapter 21
You're Gonna Need Someone on Your Side
Yumi looked up as a knock sounded on the front door. She put down her book, hopped off of the couch and went to open it.
"Michiko-san - hi!" Yumi said, smiling widely as soon as she recognized the figure in front of her.
"Hey," Michiko responded, hesitating in the doorway.
"Ah, Kankurou-kun's not here, you know - he's..."
"On a mission. I know," Michiko replied, her smile growing, "I came to see you."
Yumi's expression changed to one of surprise and she subconsciously tilted her head to the side, "Oh? How come?"
"Well," Michiko began, "I'm going shopping and I thought you might want to come along."
A gentle smile graced Yumi's face, "That's so nice of you. Thanks," she responded gratefully, stepping immediately out of the residence.
Michiko looked slightly surprised, "You're ready to go? You don't have anything to do first?"
Yumi shook her head. "No, I don't intend to do any shopping - not today anyway."
"Hmm. Well then, let's go," Michiko said, turning and starting down the quiet street. Yumi followed suit and caught up to her in no time. "So," Yumi started, turning to look at her, "what are you looking for?"
"Fabric."
"Fabric?" Yumi questioned, her face contorting to reflect her confusion, "For what?"
"My wedding dress."
Yumi stopped dead, "Your what?"
Michiko turned back to her, her face puzzled. "My...wedding dress," she tried again.
Yumi stared at her for a few minutes, a myriad of expressions flitting across her face before she settled on a bright, happy one. Unexpectedly she launched herself at Michiko, wrapping her arms tightly around her. "Oh, Michiko-san!" Yumi murmured, squeezing her tightly, "I'm so flattered that you would ask me to help you with something so important. I'm honoured, really," she continued, nodding her head emphatically as she released her and stepped back.
The puzzlement on Michiko's face had increased by several degrees. "Well," she started slowly, "I appreciate the enthusiasm but it's really not that big of a deal. We're just going to pick out some fabric."
"How can you say that?!" Yumi responded, clearly outraged, "Your wedding is one of the most important events of your life and the gown that you choose to wear on that day has to be something special, something that will stand the test of time."
The look that Michiko was giving her said that she clearly thought her insane. "Gown?!" She took a deep breath, "Okay, let's get something straight here - weddings are not big affairs here in Suna and the truth is that Kankurou didn't even want us to have one. I had to promise to keep it simple just to get him to agree to it."
"Not have a wedding?" Yumi seemed incapable of comprehending the idea. "How...how is that possible?"
"It's very possible," Michiko replied, "and normal. In fact, it's pretty common for people to not even have weddings here. Usually they just go to the Kazekage's office, sign their marriage license and then have some sort of formal dinner or something afterwards to celebrate."
Michiko became aware of something as soon as she finished speaking - the outrage that Yumi had been exhibiting seemed to have morphed into depression and the exuberance that she had embodied just moments before seemed to have drained away.
"Yumi-san?" Michiko asked, touching her tentatively.
"So...what does that mean for me? Am I going to have a wedding?"
Michiko faltered, unsure of how to respond. It seemed sensible to her that with the nature of their marriage, there should be some sort of commitment ceremony but she couldn't be sure - they weretalking about Gaara-sama here. She considered side-stepping the question but one look at Yumi's downcast face told her that wouldn't be possible.
"Well, I don't really know but it's possible. Since it's an arranged marriage, you guys should have some sort of ceremony - to cement things, I guess. I suggest you talk to Gaara-sama and let him know how you feel about this."
Yumi nodded slowly but her sour mood didn't change.
Michiko frowned, "I'm confused - why...is this so important to you?"
Yumi finally looked up at her, sighing quietly, "Well, weddings are pretty important back home - very serious, very traditional and practically mandatory. They're seen as big celebrations of love and family and commitment and everyone gets involved and everyone helps out. It's one of the aspects of our culture that I really love. And I...well, I didn't really expect to find anyone who would marry me but that didn't stop me from imagining the kind of wedding I would have if I did. It's kind of...a dream of mine, I guess, a stupid one, I know but - "
"It's not stupid," Michiko interjected, "It's not. I know how you feel."
"You do?" Yumi asked, raising her eyebrows slightly in surprise.
"Yeah," she nodded, "I do. Like I said, weddings are fairly rare here and so our having one is kind of unusual. Kankurou doesn't really care either way but this is something I really want to do. I tried to explain to him that just signing a piece of paper in the Kazekage's presence isn't going to be enough for me - I want to have this wedding because I know it'll really bring it home for me - that I'm a married woman, I mean," she looked down, smiling sheepishly. "I don't know - am I making any sense or do I just sound like a fool?" Michiko asked, looking up at Yumi apprehensively.
Yumi shook her head vigourously, "No, you don't sound like a fool at all." She smiled, "I think you would have been very at home in Kumo," she pronounced, a wistful look appearing in her eyes.
"Thanks," Michiko responded, smiling back, "it's good to know I'm not alone on this."
The two women shared a brief look of understanding before they resumed walking once more.
"So," Michiko started the conversation this time, "what were you doing at the residence at this hour anyway? Aren't you helping out Kazekage-sama at the office anymore?"
"Yeah, I am," Yumi clarified, "It's just that the wind daimyo's here so Gaara-sama's tied up in meetings. I offered to take care of the paperwork for him but he told me not to bother since everything would need his signature anyway."
"Well, that makes sense," Michiko responded, glancing surreptitiously at Yumi. "And uh, how is everything...with the two of you?"
"Better," she replied positively, "definitely better. Although it's still a little awkward at times - I think, we're still trying to figure out how to act around each other, now that everything's out in the open."
"Don't worry," Michiko assured her, "every relationship has that awkward stage. You guys are still getting to know each other so that's expected. It won't last too long - I promise."
Yumi laughed, "I certainly hope so." They walked on in silence for several minutes before Yumi broke it by voicing a sudden realization. "Wait a minute - if you didn't expect me at the residence, why did you come there looking for me?"
Michiko wore a sheepish grin, "Well, I kind of already knew that you were going to be there. Before he left, Kankurou told me that you'd been coming straight home on afternoons but he didn't say why."
Michiko was so intent on what she was saying that she didn't notice when Yumi tensed. She knew that Michiko meant nothing by it but that 'home' grated on her nerves. She kept quiet about it though, opting to change the subject instead.
"You know I've been wondering why Kankurou-kun's been taking on so many missions lately. It seems like I barely see him these days."
"Don't I know it," Michiko murmured, immediately shaking off any settling melancholy. "He's trying to take on as many missions as possible now so that when we're married, he can request some time off."
"Request?"
"Of course," Michiko responded matter-of-factly, "Gaara-sama's not one to play favourites - but I thought you would have noticed that by now."
"Oh, I have - I just..." Yumi trailed off, unsure of the best way to reply to Michiko's statement. Instead she took up a different thread, "Is there some sort of quota you have to fill?"
Michiko shook her head, "No, there isn't but if you take a lot of missions, you're entitled to a little vacation time. Kankurou's hoping for just an extra week or two."
"Extra?" Yumi asked, glancing questioningly at Michiko.
Michiko nodded, "Yep. Ironically, despite the fact that weddings aren't the norm here, honeymoons kind of are. So shinobi are entitled to two weeks vacation leave after they get married. It's optional, of course but...most people take it."
Yumi looked away, squinting slightly in the sun. "Two weeks' vacation," she echoed. "Might I ask why?" she said, obviously apprehensive.
Michiko glanced at her, one eyebrow raised in surprise, "Yumi-chan. Do you really have to ask why?"
Yumi coloured slightly and then let out a low groan, "Yeah. That's what I was afraid of."
Michiko chuckled at the other girl's reaction but didn't comment, just turned right and started down a narrower, shadier street.
"But," Yumi said, lowering her voice conspiratorially, "you guys don't really need that, right? I mean you - you've done that before, right?"
There was a prolonged period of silence on Michiko's end. Yumi started to backtrack as soon as she saw that no reply was forthcoming - aware that she'd crossed a line. "Forget it - you don't have to answer that. I kind of...just got carried away."
Michiko shook her head slightly, "It's okay," she muttered, "We haven't done that actually - I wanted to wait and he went along with it. It's been quite difficult for him," she concluded, getting a far away look in her eyes.
Yumi nodded, somewhat surprised by this information. Interesting...
Still, this wasn't something she wanted to dwell on. She searched for a way to change the subject. "So how come you're not doing that mission thing too? I mean, there's no guarantee that you'll get an extra week off."
Michiko smiled, "I'm not usually assigned regular missions. I specialize in espionage so my mission assignments tend to be more sporadic. Unfortunately, they also tend to last longer."
Yumi's expression instantly became sympathetic, "Oh, that could be a problem," she murmured, "My father always refused to give me undercover missions because he thought that there was no way that I would be able to keep my identity a secret for an extended period of time. I used to be so angry with him for not having enough faith in me but now I'm starting to see what he means."
Michiko chuckled, "Well if it makes you feel better, I didn't always do them. I started around the time that the whole thing happened with Kazuma. It gave me a chance to feel normal for awhile since I pretty much got to be somebody else. After that, I guess I just sort of developed a knack for them."
Yumi nodded, 'Well, at least something good came out of it,' she thought.Then she looked around, frowning slightly, "Um, Michiko-san, where is this fabric place anyway? It feels like we've been walking for awhile."
Michiko chuckled, "Funny you should ask - we're here," she responded, stopping in front of a large, nondescript building.
"Finally," Yumi replied, chuckling good-naturedly as she and Michiko entered the store.
A/N: Ok, so despite the fact that my beta and I haven't really talked about this chapter, I decided to upload it anyway since I broke my word about faster updates. I know what I said and I know I didn't live up to it and I'm really sorry. Consider this a peace offering - I certainly hope it's good enough.
Fortunately my exams will be over soon so I should be able to work on this some more. No promises though - I don't want it to be like last time. Anyway I'm really interested in hearing your thoughts on this chapter so feel free to drop me a line. By the way, did you guys notice that most of Yumi and Michiko's conversations seem to take place when they're walking?
If after I talk to my beta I make any major edits to this chapter, I'll tell you guys in my next Author's Note.