Happy Valentine's Day! For anyone who is a hardcore Narumayo fan, I have just the fic for you! And I even have a special surprise for you at the end...
"Huh? A date?"
Maya blinked awkwardly at the question Phoenix had asked her.
"Yeah, later tonight. Just the two of us. What do you think?"
Phoenix looked at Maya with a hopeful smile. It seemed he really wanted Maya to take his offer.
Maya put her hand over her mouth and thought about it for a few seconds. Then she smiled and nodded yes. "Sure, Nick! Sounds fun; I accept!"
The man sighed with relief and put his hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry; you won't regret it! It'll be the best night of your life! Come to my apartment at 7 in your nicest dress, okay? Oh, and make it black, please." He sped off with his jacket out of the door.
Maya looked back at him with a huge question mark on her face. Why would Phoenix ask her out on a date? And, out of all the days, why tonight? She could not guess a thing, for she had forgotten one important factor. It had slipped her mind that today was Valentine's Day. Actually, make that two factors; she may have forgotten that Phoenix was, in fact, her boyfriend.
Pearl, being a hopeless romantic as usual, giggled, sighed, swooned, and did whatever else a Phoenix x Maya fangirl did. She was excited that Mr. Nick and Mystic Maya were going to spend Valentine's Day with each other instead of sitting around in their respective homes alone. She knew that both Mystic Maya and Mr. Nick were newbies at this, and she ran after Phoenix; Pearl was going to assist Phoenix first, and then she'll come back to Mystic Maya to help her with a dress quickly afterward.
Still, after Pearly ran out the door, Maya could not guess what day it was, nor did she bother looking at a calendar to check. She just shrugged and went to the mall to find a nice black dress. She did not know why she was doing this, but she had the feeling that she had better look beautiful for Phoenix tonight. She put on a determined face and ran out of the door also.
Maya came back and locked the door. Everyone had forgotten to lock the office up, since no one was there anyway.
Phoenix got to work putting together the night. First, he took care of renting a tuxedo (his knees were shaking when he saw the price) and leaving it at the dry cleaners. Next, he raided the stores for a white tablecloth, and nice draping to cover the mess in his apartment. Then, with Pearls' help, he scoured every food shop possible to find the food he was looking for. Finally, he picked up the perfect present for Maya from the jewelry store (Pearl had already left by then).
Pearl quickly located Maya and, together, they went shopping for Maya's outfit. After many trials and rejections, Maya had found the perfect dress, shoes, and any accessories to wear for the special night at Phoenix's apartment.
At last, both parties were ready.
Maya arrived at Phoenix's apartment in the sleek black dress. She put the jacket over her bare shoulders tightly and walked into the apartment building. She forgot she was wearing heels and almost tripped over her own feet.
She stepped in the building as quietly as she could, and knocked on Phoenix's door. The door opened, and Maya gasped with amazement. Phoenix was standing in front of her, in a tuxedo. He was sporting the tuxedo just fine, if not better, than his normal blue suit. He smiled dreamily, and Maya blushed. Along with the gorgeous smile, he even had his hair styled. It didn't look that much different (still spiky as usual), but one hair was sticking out in front of his face that made him charming. At this point, Maya almost remembered that Phoenix was her boyfriend and tonight was their Valentine's Day date. Almost. Only almost.
"Hey. Come in." Phoenix said every word with an indescribable suavity that made Maya nearly swoon. For that, she stepped in gracefully, but made an audible gasp. Phoenix closed the door behind her and took her bag and jacket.
Usually, Phoenix's apartment was a gigantic mess, but for tonight, it was so clean and fixed up that Maya truly believed that she had stepped through the doorway to Narnia or something of that sort.
The room was softly lit with a couple of candles. A path of said candles led to Phoenix's dinner table, which was magically transformed into a fancy table that had a white tablecloth over it and had a jar of bloomed red roses in the middle. Maya's eyes started to sparkle and she sighed.
All the while, Phoenix was admiring her as well. The dress looked absolutely amazing on her and her hair, curled, had been adorned with a splendid, white rose hair clip. Maya had sacrificed her usual hairstyle and look for a night of elegance. Her face had a little bit of makeup on it; her lips were red like rubies, but her cheeks shone brighter than the roses on the table, and he knew that she did not even put on any blush. It was just her natural blush, and he started to turn red as well. But Phoenix knew that he couldn't stand staring at her for long; he had to be the gentleman of her dreams tonight, and that's what he was going to be.
"*ahem* Maya. Please take a seat here."
Phoenix pulled the chair out and motioned Maya to sit there. After she was seated, he rushed to the kitchen and brought two dishes with him. He eloquently placed a dish in front of Maya, and one in front of his seat.
The young woman gasped and smiled with delight. It was a hamburger, but it was no ordinary hamburger. It was a steak hamburger: a steakburger.
After serving himself as well, they ate a splendid dinner and talked casually. Even though the mood was fancy, that did not change the way they would talk to each other.
Phoenix turned the music on after they had finished eating and he had cleared the table. Maya smiled with recognition at the song that was playing. It was the Steel Samurai arranged as a slow jazz piece. He held his gloved hand out and asked simply, "Would you like to dance?"
Maya nodded and gently placed her hand on top of his. He slowly led her to a clear spot where the living room was supposed to be, but it was transformed into a dance floor.
She put both of her hands on Phoenix's shoulders, and, in return, he put his hands on her waist. He smoothly pulled her body closer to his, and they started to sway with the beat of the music. Maya closed her eyes and smiled blissfully. She laid her head on his chest, and he responded by slowly starting to rotate. He kissed the top of her head and kept his lips there.
He whispered softly, "I love you, Maya."
Maya, still not remembering anything she was supposed to remember, "knew" that this was wrong, but it felt right. Somehow, she knew that she was supposed to be in his arms on that particular night. She realized that she was supposed to know something that she didn't. She tried racking her brain for more details, but she gave up and could not remember a thing; besides, she had a sexy-beast-Phoenix to pay attention to.
After dancing for what seemed like hours on end, Phoenix stopped and led her again to the table. They sat down, and Phoenix gazed at her with an almost-smirk on his face.
Maya furrowed her eyebrows playfully. "Is there something wrong? Or something I should... know?"
The man laughed. "Do you remember anything important about me, Maya?"
She frowned and thought. "Ah... No. Other than you're my super-best friend and that I call you Nick, nope." Then she remembered the thing she was supposed to. Her eyes grew wide out of realization.
Phoenix laughed some more. "Do you remember now, sweet?"
Maya nodded her head vigorously. "Yeah! You're my boyfriend, aren't you, Nick?!" She then remembered what day it was. "Omigosh, I can't believe I forgot! Happy Valentine's Day, Phoenix! I'm so sorry I couldn't get you anything! I forgot..."
The poor girl turned red out of embarrassment. She couldn't believe that such an important detail had escaped her mind on such an unfortunate day, which she also forgot. She bowed her head and vowed that she would never make this mistake ever again.
Phoenix just laughed and turned her head up. "No, it's alright, Maya! I had a feeling that you forgot, and I'm just glad that you showed up! And you look absolutely beautiful tonight, and that's enough of a present to me."
The girl blushed pleasantly once more and leaned in to give Phoenix a quick peck on the cheek. Before she could pull back, he grabbed her and pulled her into a tight hug.
"Oh, one more thing."
Phoenix pulled out a velvet box, stood up, and motioned Maya to stand up also.
"The first time I met you, I didn't know the crazy adventures we would take and the amazing memories we would make. I didn't even know if we were going to stick by each other. Yet, here we are, eight years later, standing together as a couple."
Phoenix then knelt down on one knee.
"Maya Fey, will you marry me?"
He slowly opened the velvet box and presented the ring to her. Maya gasped and put her hands on her face. She laughed and started to cry. Her emotions were so out of control that she was speechless. She just nodded furiously and managed to choke out one word: "Yes!"
Phoenix sighed with relief and started to have tears of joy as well. He put the ring on her left ring finger and lifted her up in a hug. He started to kiss her furiously, and she returned the feeling by doing the same.
After their excitement had worn off – it never did, but under control at least – Phoenix looked at Maya tenderly, and she touched her forehead to his.
"I love you, Phoenix."
"I love you, Maya."
"Ha! Wait 'till Pearly hears about this!"
I didn't even plan to put the marriage thing until just about now! I was actually shaking in joy when I was writing this part. I hope you enjoyed it!