Chapter 7: One Fine Day

"I'm coming! Hang on!" shouts Lita from the kitchen to the knock on the door. She walks to the door while removing her apron, setting it on the dinning room table. She opens the door to see Jacob, who greets her with a smile.

"Jacob! It's about time you showed up! I was ready to start without you! I skipped breakfast trying to get ready, you know!" says Lita, placing her hands on her hips.

"I'm sorry Lita, I woke up late. I am really, really sorry! Ok, let's get under way. The sooner we cook, the sooner we eat! I promise I'll make something you'll love." says Jacob.

"All right, grab an apron!" says Lita, rolling up her sleeves. After a few seconds pause, Lita gets a patented anime sweatdrop.

Jacob just sighs. "Could you...tell me where the aprons are?"

"Oh right! Heh heh, sorry!" Lita goes and gets an apron for Jacob. When she comes back, she presents him with a pink one.

"Um, thank youLita..." says Jacob as he eyes the rather feminine color. He just thinks to himself, "Now Jacob, don't be rude. She is only being nice by giving you an apron. Just put it on and be polite."

Jacob is about to take the apron, when Lita giggles.

"Silly, you think I'm gonna give you a pink apron? Well, it was nice of you not to freak out on me. Here, I have a green one you could wear." says Lita with a smile on her face.

"Oh, well ok. (whew!) Thank you Lita. Now what shall we start on?" says Jacob, putting on the green apron while Lita put on hers. They both went to the kitchen and began cutting up vegetables and other foods they'd need.

-

Jay struggles keeping the boxes of clothes from falling while making sure not to let the bags of cosmetics slip from his hands. After a few seconds of walking around trying to keep them balanced passes, he manages to keep them steady.

"Jeez! A moth would have a heart attack if he saw all this!" says Jay, not knowing if Rei was anywhere near him. He soon found out.

"Ha ha, very funny Jay. Now DON'T drop any of those boxes!" shouts Rei.

Jay peeks his head from the side of the tower of boxes. "You know you could lend me a hand 'ere!"

Rei claps her hands. "Ok, happy?"

"Cute. Very cute Rei. I have one question, why do you need so many outfits?"

Rei just smirks and says, "To match all the shoes I'm going to buy!"

Jay sighs and mutters inaudibly, "The things I do for love" trying his best Courage the Cowardly Dog impression.

Jay and Rei walk together on there way to the next store, discussing why the heck she'd need so many shoes. However, as they spoke, Jason was walking toward them in the opposite direction. Rei goes into a store while Jay rests on a bench, still holding the boxes and such in front of him in fear of dropping them. Jason passes right in front of Jay, but doesn't see his face.

Jason turns his head and looks at the man holding all those boxes and bags. Jason silently thinks to himself and shakes his head. "Heh, poor guy. He probably got suckered into it by a pretty face. Oh well."

Jay had no idea how close he came to being discovered. Too bad he'd never find out; he unknowingly owes a debt to Rei's shopping!

-

Jake is strolling down the street, humming a tune to himself. It's a nice day with clouds in the sky, but not enough to dampen his spirits (or his clothesjeez what a bad joke, I'll try to make it up to you, I swear! Please don't pun-ish me-I'll stop now.) Just enough to block out the sun to keep the air cool. Jake was about to reach the curb when BAM! He runs into someone and falls back onto the ground.

Rubbing his head, he looks up to see who he ran into. When he saw who it was, he immediately got up. He offered his hand and tried to say sorry, but was stuttering. It was like de je vu all over again.

Mina gives a growl while rubbing her head from the sudden impact. She sees the hand of someone trying to help her up. She looks up to see to whom it belongs to, and takes it.

Jake gives a laugh after helping her up and says, "We have got to stop meeting like this!"

Mina, still rubbing her head, says in response, "Yeah, if we keep this up we can look forward to meeting in the hospital!"

Jake and Mina chuckle a bit and heave a sigh. After waiting a few seconds for the other to talk, they both blurt out, "Are you hungry?"

They immediately laugh at that. Jake is the first to calm down.

"So I take it you're in the mood for something to eat, huh?" says Jake.

"Yeah! I'm starving! It is around 1:00. Let's head over to a fast food place." suggests Mina, holding her growling stomach.

Jake shakes his head. "Nah, there's a café near here. Let's go there."

"Oh yeah! That's the place where Liz works!"

"Liz who?"

"Oh, you'll find out. She's a friend of mine that works there." says Mina, tugging Jake's arm as they head toward the café.

"Whoa! Hey, I know how to walk Mina!"

-

Jack sighs, watching from a tree branch. About 15 feet away sits Ami, reading a book on the steps of the temple.

"Wow...she's so beautiful..." whispers Jack in a dreamy tone. He wondered why all the guys went for the other girls while a goddess like Ami was right there gracing the scene before him.

Jack lets off another sigh and thinks, "She's so smart, so sweet, so kind...and really pretty to top it off! I wonder, why doesn't she have a boyfriend all ready? I mean, am I the only one to notice her?"

Suddenly, out of nowhere, Rini comes up behind him in the tree and screams

"HI JACK!"

"AH!" Jack's thoughts are interrupted by the sound of that familiar voice. He falls out of the tree and onto the ground.

Jack quickly gets up and tries to look cool in front of Ami after that little episode.

"RINI! Don't do that!" Jack yells up the tree at Rini, who is still laughing at him.

"Rini, now you know that wasn't nice. Jack, are you all right?" says Ami, who saw the fall.

Jack blushes as he looks at Ami and how concerned she is for him.

"Er, well, I'm fine I guess..." Jack mumbles while hiding his red cheeks by bowing his head.

Ami checks Jack for any scrapes and bruises, while Jack still looks at her with admiration.

"Oh please! She's too old for you Jack!" shouts Rini from the tree.

"OH SHUT UP!" shouts Jack in response, embarrassed beyond belief. (Fact or fiction! Oh great, now I'm making references to Fox shows.)

Ami just giggles at this as she finishes checking him. She leans over and plants a kiss on Jack's cheek, smiles, and sits back down to read. After she sits, she looks over and says, "He may be young, but he is a fine gentleman. (Looks back in her book) He would be a perfect match for you Rini."

Jack just stands there, not knowing how to react while Rini makes a gagging sound (followed by a silent sigh).

-

"(Italian accent) What you do is you start with a little water. You fry some garlic, and put in your tomatoes, tomato paste, and boil 'em so it doesn't stick. Then you throw your meatballs and your sausages in, maybe a little wine, and a little sugar. But first, you've gotta cut the garlic with a razor, 'cause you want it as thin a possible." Jacob demonstrates this while he tells it to Lita. Lita watches intently at this simple yet useful trick.

"Good advice! Now that we have the things prepared we can start cooking!"

Jacob looks over at Lita and smiles as he cuts the garlic.

Then Jacob gives a yell of pain. He quickly pulls his finger to his mouth and keeps it there.

"What happened?! Oh Jacob, are you ok? Did you cut your finger? I can get some first aid, hang on!" says Lita, fumbling in the cupboard for the kit.

Jacob then takes his finger out of his mouth and snickers. He says a small, "Gotcha." and continues to tend to the sauce in the pot which makes Lita's worries ease.

Then Lita gets, shall we say, a little angry.

"Don't do that again! I HATE it when people do that to me!"

Jacob just smiles at her. "I'm sorry Lita, I couldn't resist. I won't scare you like that again."

Lita holds back some profanities she had had ready. Jacob's sincere words had made her calm. She lets out a sigh and goes back to what she was doing.

Jacob speaks while stirring the sauce. "You can try to get back at me if you want; If it makes you feel better."

Lita doesn't even take her eyes off what she is doing and says, "You know Jacob, you forgot to turn the burner on."

Jacob raises his eyebrow and looks under the pot of spaghetti sauce. She was right.

"Oh." Jacob then turns on the burner and begins stirring again.

-

Jake and Mina are sitting inside the café, chatting over some pizza and a milkshake. Elizabeth comes by and Mina stops her.

"Liz, could you please bring us each another shake?" asks Mina.

"Sure thing Mina! I'll be back in a minute with your order." Liz walks over to get their drinks.

"Awwww" Jake puts his head on the table.

"What's wrong Jake?" Inquires Mina.

"Nothing. I just thought when you said Liz' that you meant Lizard, like, Godzilla or Ghidrah, or Mecha-Ghidrah! Did you know that it was resurrected three times?" Says Jake, just going on about the King of all Monsters and the three headed Ghidrah.

Mina laughs at the fact he thought she meant a 350 ft tall atomic-fire breathing monster, and says "You're kidding! I thought he was only brought back twice! My favorite Godzilla movie has to be-"

"Destroy all Monsters!" They say together.

"Yeah! That movie rocked! This is so cool, I had no clue you were into Godzilla!" Says Jake, his grin just beaming.

Mina nods her head affirmatively. "Mmmhmmm!" The both take a moment to smile.

"So Mina, you told me you were from England?" says Jake, re-opening the conversation.

"Oh yeah! I lived there for a while until I moved here."

"I'm from America! Heh, sorry about that whole Revolution thing...anyway, I moved here with my brothers and cousins a little while ago." Jake looks up at Liz who just gave them their drinks and thanks her silently.

"Jake, don't you mean brother? Unless you have more siblings..."

Jake opens his eyes a bit, realizing he made a slight slip up. Ah, no matter.

"Oh, I meant brother, sorry. (Takes a sip from his drink)"

"Oh well. Hey Jake, how old are you and your family members?"

"Well, Jas-er, Jay is the eldest. He's 16 and was born August 25. I was born the following year on the 20th of April, and Jacob is my twin, born three days afterward. Jack is 10 and about to be 11. He was born January 11."

Mina listens while sipping on her shake. "Wow, cool. I have another question, that is if you don't mind."

"I don't mind, ask away!" says Jake with a smile.

Mina leans forward. "What exactly is your last name?"

Jake takes a second to comprehend the question and lets out a sigh from between his teeth. "Well, you see...ok, but you have to promise not to laugh..."

Mina listens more intently and nods. "Cross my heart!"

Jake looks down, feeling slightly embarrassed about what he is about to tell her. Come on, if he couldn't trust her with his last name, how could he ever hope to trust her at all?

"Simmons." Jake says it almost inaudibly.

Mina blows some soft bubbles in her drink. "Hmmm?"

"My full name is Jake Alforque Simmons."

Mina raises her eyebrow, looking at Jake in a, "And that is embarrassing...why?" way.

"Nevermind Mina, thanks for not laughing. You truly are one in a million!" Jake smiles and leans over the table, planting a kiss on Mina's cheek. She smiles back with a warm, sweet smile that made Jake feel like he just fell for her all over again.

Mina finishes her drink. "Well, that cleared up some questions, but I have one more: who's paying for this?"

Jake sighs as he sees the message in her eyes. "All right, all right, it's my treat. (Waves to Elizabeth) Excuse me, may we please have the bill?"

Elizabeth smiles and hands him the bill for the food. "There you go. You can pay at the counter."

Jake looks at the bill and then to Liz. "(says to himself) $8.95...(To Liz) Thank you, Godzilla. I mean Liz!"

Liz looks a bit puzzled as Mina bursts into laughter, but nods and walks off to tend to other tables. Jake takes out his wallet and leaves a $20.00 tip (thinking it was a five dollar bill but not paying attention) for her and then heads to the counter with Mina. After he pays for the food, he and Mina walk out together.

"Jake, sorry I had you pay for that...I'm just broke..."

"Mina, it's ok! Consider it an act of kindness. Besides, it was for you, and seeing you happy is worth way more than any bill!"

Mina smiles and leans up on Jake's arm. The two walk down the street and pass the clock shop just in time to hear the clocks chime 3:00.

"At least I have that spare twenty in my wallet" thought Jake silently.

-

Ann sits at a table outside the café. The table is set under a tree instead of an umbrella to block the sun. She sits there with her head resting in her hands, watching the passers-by. As she lets out a sigh, she feels someone tap her shoulder. She looks up to see James, who smiles and sits down at the other side of the circular table. Ann smiles back at James, and then rests her head in her hands again.

"So James, what took you? I got here ten minutes ago, not that I mind."

"Oh Ann, thanks for being so patient. (Checks his watch) Actually, I'm right on time..."

James shows her his black digital watch. Ann leans over a bit to see the time.

Ann sits back down and says, "Oh! Well, better early than late."

"Heh, I guess that's true. Perhaps you need a watch to keep time? I can buy one for you."

Ann smiles and shakes her head. "No, it's ok. I can always ask for the time from you!"

James shakes his head and sighs, but still smiles. "Annie, it would be very useful. As they say, timing is everything!"

"Who are 'they'? Heh heh, oh James, if you say so. I'll get a watch later, ok? Anyway, how was your day?"

"My day? Oh, it was just fine. I saw some poor sap carrying a ton of boxes for some girl, it was hilarious!"

Ann laughs at the thought. She thinks to herself, "That sounds like Jay and Rei!"

Jason and Ann continue their chat, burning the daylight away. After about two hours of spending time together talking, they both sit back and sigh.

"You know Ann, I'm so glad I have such a close friend in you." Says Jason, even if he was still under the name James. He never really appreciated friendship as deeply as this beforewell, he's had friends before, but he never really felt like this. The last person he ever felt this close to wasSarah. Jason immediately shakes off this idea, remembering that he is here to search and destroy, not find a friend or beyond that. However, being with Ann was always...interesting.

"James, I feel the same exact way. Talking with you really brings a joy to my life."

Ann follows that statement with words she says in her mind. "I want to say you mean something more to me than just a friend James, but...I wouldn't dare risk the close friendship I already have with you...I wish I had some guidance."

James notices her in thought, with a hint of uncertainty in her face. He looks down to her hands that she has clasped together on the table in front of her. James sighs, lets down his defenses, and gently takes her hands in his.

Ann looks up slowly into James's eyes. After a few seconds of eternity, James breaks the moment with his soft words.

"Ann, I want to give you something. It's something I got a long time ago, and whenever I was in great trouble I'd remember this as a sign that I was never alone."

James reaches to his neck and unhooks a small silver chain. He pulls it out, revealing a miniature silver cross on it.

"Ann, I want you to have it."

Ann looks at it with awe. She looks up to James and says, "I couldn't take this! James, this means too much to you."

"Ann, you mean too much to me."

"James...only if you take this."

Ann reaches around her neck and unhooks a small gold chain like James. She pulls it out, and on it is a gold cross.

Ann speaks as they exchange their gifts. "I got that when I visited a Church once, when I lost my brother. I didn't know where he went, he just disappeared one day...I went there looking for answers, for anything. A priest there comforted me, and then gave this cross to me. James, when I'm with you, I feel so happy...so...secure. I don't know anyone better of whom to give this to."

"Thank you Ann..."

"No, thank you James..."

The two stare into each other's eyes again, as if they are looking into each other's souls. They know in their hearts that at this moment, their care and compassion for each other is beyond that said in their words. They needed something, and being with the other made them feel as if that need was fulfilled. If they could stop time to just that moment, they would have. Then suddenly, they both seem to just snap out of it.

"Hey James, where's our waitress?"

"Ann, that was precisely what I was wondering..."