Dark Chocolate, White Diamonds
By Dixxy
Chapter One: A Very Happy Thanksgiving
(Keisha)
"I like the concept of this holiday," Kento said. I looked up at him, blinking my eyes in a way that silently asked for an explanation. My boyfriend gladly gave it. "Food, football, and friends. Bless the pilgrims!" He took a drink from the soda can in his hand, sighing happily when he was done. "This is the life. Why didn't we have a holiday like this back in Japan?"
I laughed, enjoying watching Kento having some fun from my happy perch in his lap. "The whole purpose of this holiday is to celebrate the people who settled this country for religious freedom," I said, resting my head on his shoulder. "After their first year, during which several of their people died, they celebrated that as many of them that had survived were still with them and partied for three days."
"Is that why we get a nice long break from school?" asked Kento, taking his eyes off the television to look at me. "A few days off from school to signify the three days the pilgrims did Thanksgiving? Then why is Thanksgiving only on one day? Heck, I wouldn't mind doing this three days in a row."
"Nah, people travel for this holiday," I said, stretching. "People flock to see their kin so they can all have the big meal as one gigundo unit. You stay away from the highways and grocery stores the day before Thanksgiving- that's when over half of the country goes out to buy the food and start top travel. And the day after Thanksgiving, you don't even think about going to any malls or retail stores, because that's when the Christmas rush begins- people get up at stupid hours to go shopping."
"Is that why Mike looked like he'd been to Hell and back yesterday when he got back from the super market?" asked Kento, looking thoughtful. "His sweater was torn in more than one place and his glasses were broken. Cara just about had a heart attack when she saw him and Sue Lee thought he looked funny."
"Probably," I said, resting my head on his chest. "Football, the Thanksgiving feast, and the parades you see are all part of our celebration. Normally you're with your family, but we all decided that since you, Sage, Cye, and Anubis don't have too much for family out this way, we'd spend Thanksgiving with all of you."
Kento frowned. "You didn't have to do that," he said.
I shrugged. "It's usually just me, Evan, and my parents when Thanksgiving rolls around for us," I said. "My parents are both only children and I only have one grandparent that's still with us. This is a huge extension of what we usually have. Trust me, this is perfectly fine. Besides, we're all so close it's almost like family anyways."
"What did I miss?" asked Sage, coming in from the bathroom, a new can of soda in hand as he took his place on the couch between Evan and Trevor. Sara's dad (Roger) sat in one of the recliners, my dad and his wheelchair next to him. Mike and Anubis were on the love seat while Kento and I shared the other recliner. Every male in the house was in the living room minus Cye, who was in the kitchen (Rona was keeping him captive so he could help her cook). I think he wanted to watch football, but Rona, Mrs. Lewis, and Ria's Aunt Sally would not let the one male who knew the difference between a spoon and an electric mixer in the house do something unproductive. Yeah, Kento could cook, but his knowledge of food preparation didn't go much farther than Chinese dishes.
"Buffalo, seven. Green Bay, twenty-one," said Anubis, who had somehow gotten his hands on an Orange Julius (I swear, the man's putting someone's kids through college with those stupid things. . .). "Buffalo hasn't had so much as a chance at a touchdown since second quarter- they're getting slaughtered! You've missed all the action! Where have you been!"
The bearer of Halo grumbled in response. "Cye and Rona made me stuff the turkey carcass while they mashed potatoes and finished up pies. Why did I have to stick my hand and bread crumbs with some herbs and stuff mixed in up some dead bird's ass while they got to do the fun stuff?" said Sage, pouting in his seat. The last of the Flitteree seemed rather. . . unhappy.
"Aw, c'mon Sage, what's so wrong with a little hard work in the kitchen now and then?" asked Sam, leaning up against the wall as she idly watched the rest of us. The half-breed had a way of entering rooms without people noticing until she decided to make her presence known. Soda can in hand, she took a swig and wiped her mouth with her free hand. "It's not going to hurt you."
"It was cold, wet, and slimy," said Sage. "I don't DO cold, wet, and slimy."
"Sage, the bird is DEAD. What's it gonna do to you-"
"It'll give me salmonella!" said Sage.
Ignoring the bickering Halo bearers, I turned back to Kento. "Do we argue that much?"
"Probably worse- we're actually dating, they're just good friends," said Kento.
"Is that good?"
"Yeah- it's a sign of a healthy relationship," he said. "If you bet on each other's nerves it means you know your significant other pretty darn well. My parents fought a lot and they have a lot of kids- they're doing just fine as far as I'm concerned. They say a lot of kids is a sign of a happy marriage."
I was about to comment when something happened on the stupid television, or, as my grandmother called it, the "idiot box". "TOUCHDOWN!" Anubis cried, standing up with the rest of the men in the room minus Sage (who was already up due to his argument with Sam) and my father (who sadly couldn't stand up). Despite the fact his lap was occupied, Kento stood up rather abruptly, landing me on the floor.
Kento looked down, blushing. He laughed sheepishly, scratching his head. "Sorry," he said, pulling me up and brushing me off. The rest of the group had turned to us, chuckles emitting from the group. Kento glared at them. "Just shut up and watch the game, not us. So she fell down, big deal. Get over it. It happens, okay?"
"You dropped her," said Trevor. Sara's older brother threw his head back and laughed, holding his stomach with one hand and his forehead with the other. "You stood up and down she went. Straight down to the ground, right, Kento ol' boy? THAT was entertainment! Do it again!"
"I'll show you entertainment, Trevor. Right after you get out of the emergency room," I said, sitting back on Kento's lap. I turned to my partner in arms/boyfriend. "Warn me next time, okay?" I wrapped my arms around his neck, reminding Trevor that he was currently "between girlfriends" as part one of my punishment towards him.
"Will do," he said. I nodded in approval, kissing his nose. Trevor made a gagging sound. I threw an empty soda can at him, hitting him square in the middle of his forehead. Kento laughed, smiling brightly at me as Trevor stared at the soda can in complete and utter amazement. "Nice aim. You should join softball next spring. If you have time between track and all."
Due to all the commotion we had been causing, Sara walked in, looking confused. "What was that noise?" she asked. The smallest and youngest of the Senshi was taking some careful observations of the room, trying to decide on just what had happened.
"Green Bay continues to slaughter Buffalo," said Evan. "We all jumped, and Keisha fell down because she was in Kento's lap. Trevor laughed. Keisha insulted him, then sat back down in Kento's lap. Trevor gagged and Keisha threw a soda can at him. You know, typical football behavior."
Sara rolled her eyes. "I'm just glad Cye doesn't behave like this. Anubis, I'm surprised at you- you should be setting Cye a better example than THAT!" she said, walking back into the dinning room, mumbling something about the immaturity testosterone causes.
I sighed heavily, thinking about what Sara had said about Cye. Sometimes, I worry about them, and I had every reason to. "Think that relationship is going to work?" I asked Kento. "The two of them. . . it's weird, you know? I don't know how'd I'd handle being in a situation like that."
"It'll have to work out eventually in the end," said Kento. "Cye and Sara kinda got a sucky deal with being promised to each other, but. . . they've been getting better. I mean, look at them- Sara was just degrading everyone else by using Cye as an example. That's got to be a good sign! "
I sighed heavily. Sara was the Chosen Mate, meaning that no man other than Cye could ever lay a finger on her. Well, she can shake hands, hug, and do normal things with guy friends, but she can't go anywhere romantically or intimately. Cye had the same deal, only with women. If it were men, then he'd be gay. But, Cye isn't gay. He's straight.
"You know what I mean," he said. "They're just breaking each other in, that's all."
I laughed at Kento's view on the subject as Rona resounded the call of food, which resulted in a sudden stampede of easily twenty humans, a tiger, and one Gruff (who had shape-shifted into the form of a husky) bounded into the dining room for the main event.
After the meal, we all split up to do different things. Sam, Sage, and Rona were sitting with their backs against each other, each looking somewhat miserable. Sara and Cye had not over-eaten and were satisfied, now engaged in a game of cards. Anubis was damning the "accursed" Pilgrims and their "accursed" feast. Evan and Trevor out back, probably up to sometime. Mike and Cara were snuggling on the sofa. Ria had gone off somewhere with Tiger Lily. Other adults and siblings were strewn about the house with various stomach aches. Kento, Sue Lee and I were the only ones who'd left room for desert.
"Good pie!" said Sue Lee, plopping vanilla ice cream onto her piece of apple pie.
Kento laughed, taking a rather large slice of peach pie. "You haven't even tried it yet."
"I've had it before," she said. "Mike makes good pies."
I stuck my fork into the lemon meringue I had. "I never knew Mike made pies."
"It's the only thing he likes to bake," said Sue Lee. She scrunched up her face in an adorable looking kind of frown. I smiled, glad to see that even with the episode with Lord Termini she was still able to hold onto some of her youthful innocence. "He burns cookies, his cakes have deflated balloon centers, and his brownies taste funny."
"Just how do they taste funny?" asked Kento, raising his eyebrow as he took on a thoughtful look. I giggled- Kento looked so cute when he tried to look intellectual. Not to say he'd stupid or anything- he's actually smart than you'd think- but he was certainly no Harvard scholar. "I've heard of people making funny brownies on purpose before-"
"Kento!" I said. "It's MIKE we're talking about. He's not going to put marijuana in brownies!"
Kento raised an eyebrow. "I thought they put weed in funny brownies."
I rolled my eyes. "Same thing," I said. Kento nodded, seeming to understand. Sue Lee stared at us strangely, licking the ice cream off her spoon. "You'll understand when you're older. WAY older. You know way more than a nine year old SHOULD know as is," I quipped while rubbing my temples. The Jewel of Hope glistened from its chain around her neck, a dreadful reminder of just how much the poor dear had seen in such a short amount of time. Deciding she was done in the kitchen, Sue Lee went off to eat her desert elsewhere.
"Yuli wasn't much better off," said Kento, putting his plate down momentarily. "He got to see us beaten to kingdom come, a big rig explode, numerous other large items blow up, torture, and he watched Anubis die." He closed his eyes. "All he wanted was his parents back and he never even got that."
My eyes widened. While Sue Lee had seen some things that were MUCH
worse, Yuli had a larger variety of not-so-nice stuff, which could have
been worse on a number of levels. They're probably lost the same amount
of their innocence, just during different intervals of time and in
varied dosages. Then, I thought back to what else he'd said. "Torture?"
Kento narrowed his eyes and hugged himself. I bit my lip, wondering if
I'd asked the right question. "Back in Japan, when Talpa had us, he
gave Ryo and Rowen a little bit of a home movie. Yuli and Mia were with
them," he said darkly. He looked up. "You know, from the gargoyle
statues?"
I frowned. "Trulpa showed something like that to me, Sara, and Sam," I said, pulling myself onto the counter, looking at him sympathetically. Kento stared at me in curiosity. "I remember hearing a little kid's voice shouting some sort of a protest to what was happening."
Kento's eyes widened in concern. "You had to see that?" he asked, putting a hand on my shoulder as he joined me on the countertop. I nodded, resting my head on his shoulder and reaching over to hold his hand. "You girls shouldn't have seen that. Why didn't you tell us?"
"I don't know," I said. "It was so God awful. . ." I turned away, clutching one of my arms. "I mean. . . you know that we- the two of us, I mean- developed feelings for each other so fast. Seeing you like that, even if it was a shadow from the past, it hurt. Especially after you admitted that you loved me and-"
Kento touched the side of my face, a light smile playing on his face. "It's okay," he said. I looked into his eyes, seeing a bit of sympathy and compassion intertwined with the stormy blue color that his eyes were. "Everything I've gone through the past year and a half has been well worth it."
"Why?" I asked. "You had to fight the Dynasty and you were held prisoner and-"
"But in the end, meeting you made it all worth while," he said, gently kissing me. I blushed, returning the gesture. Kento broke it off and pulled me closer. "It's in the past. Behind me. Behind us. Don't let it bother you." He paused. "And next time Trulpa does something like that TELL US!"
"Okay!" I said, laughing. "And Kento?"
"Yes?"
"If I can help it, I won't let anyone ever do that to you again," I said.
Kento smiled, giving me a slight squeeze as he chuckled lightly. "That's sweet," he said, giving me another kiss, this one to my cheek. I looked up at him, kissing him on the cheek. "And I'll make sure it never happens to you at all." He held my hand between his hands. "I love you."
"I love you, too."
