Hello all, glad to see you've been enjoying it. There has been a concern about the tendency to do something "clich" at festivals. The answer is no. Kaolla is not going to confess her love at the festival. I agree; that would be trite and rather stupid. Another reason why I wouldn't have that happen, is that Keitaro and Naru are married, remember? It's not like Keitaro is single or anything.

The second thing I'd like to say is that, yes...as DarkFeenix puts it, each chapter is one big scene. There are no "cut to this" parts, where I separate the text and start talking about something completely different. Maybe there will be in the future, but not so far.

Lastly, I'd like to speak about Su and her moods. Come on people, she's Su! She can't be sad and angsty all the time. That would be totally weird and OOC. She needs to have happy moments too.
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What's New with You, Kaolla Su?

Chapter 3

Kaolla Su sat on the floor, in her room, feeling very dejected. With one hand, she tried to stifle the flow of tears that were flowing from her eyes. In her other hand was a firework. It was a very special firework to her, because it did something that she could not. It could tell Keitaro exactly how she felt about him. She had put her heart into making that firework; when lit, it would shoot up in the sky and a giant red heart would rain down on everyone. In the middle of the heart it said in capital letters, 'I LOVE YOU KEITARO.'

There was no way she could use it, though. Sighing, she got up and threw it away. Watching it fall into the trashcan was a horrible experience for Su. She let the tears fall freely now. There was no use in stopping them. Making it simply reminded her of that terrible day, months ago. Keitaro and Naru were married; she couldn't just parade her feelings around. Su sighed and started working on other fireworks, throwing them on the already huge pile she had made earlier. Her mood brightened a bit while working. She never could stay sad for long. It was a terrible feeling.

She walked over to the hot spring and got in, this time removing her clothes first. She sat there, and removed a pad of paper and pencil from under a fake rock she had put there. It was her own little secret compartment. She wasn't about to lament on Keitaro here though. That would be bad, as someone could come in at any time. Instead, she simply used it to write down ideas that popped into her head. She needed the paper and pencil because she had so many ideas. She'd forget them if she didn't write them down.

Make underwater fireworks...that would be cool.

She looked around and took a deep breath. It was so relaxing in the bath.

Maybe I should make some special fireworks for everyone. Lemme see...

Motoko: A firework that has two people fighting with swords?

Kanako: A firework that has her funny little cat.

Kitsune: BEER! Or maybe...a champagne bottle and glasses?

Mutsumi: ...do I need to even put that down? A watermelon! Duh!

Shinobu: Ooh! A firework that shows me eating her food! Heehee

Naru: Hmm...I'll have to think about this one.

Keitaro:

She paused as she heard someone coming. Su put the paper and pencil under her fake rock just in time to see Naru coming into the springs.

"Hi, Su," she said brightly.

"Hiya, Naru," Su smiled at her.

"Say, Su..." Naru said to her, getting into the bath. "Can I ask you a favor?"

"What?" Su asked.

"I heard you were making your own fireworks. Do you think you could make me one for Keitaro?"

"Er..." Su looked around.

"I want it to be a red heart that rains down on everyone. And in the middle of the heart, I want it to say in capital letters, 'I LOVE YOU KEITARO."

Su rolled her eyes. The irony was not wasted in her mind. "Yeah, sure," she replied.

"Thanks a bunch, Su," Naru hugged Su and walked back into Hinata House.

Su pulled out the paper and pencil and finished.

Keitaro: Back to the trashcan for this one...

This encounter put Su into a new fit of despondency, and she returned to her room to make the special fireworks for everyone, pausing by the trashcan to pull out her old 'Love' Firework. She finished just as the sun was beginning to set. She walked outside, carrying the big sack of fireworks behind her just in time to see it. She gasped. It was beautiful. Sure, the sunset was always nice, but it seemed especially gorgeous today. Pinks and purples and yellows and reds; Su counted all the colors. She smiled at the beauty.

I'm gonna have to make a firework as beautiful as that, she thought to herself.

"Pretty, isn't it?"

Su jumped, and saw Keitaro standing there with his own bag of fireworks, bought from the store.

"Really pretty," Su agreed.

Keitaro stared at it, slowly going down in total serenity.

"Pretty as Naru?" Su asked, grinning.

Keitaro looked around and smiled at her, "She'd yell at me if she heard this, but...I think the sunset is prettier."

Su laughed and playfully punched Keitaro, "So you think there are things prettier than your wife, eh?"

Keitaro looked up once more, a weary smile across his face and sighed, "Yeah, there are a few things."

He shook himself, "Boy, am I tired...you tired?"

"Nah," Su said, "too many fireworks to be tired!"

She let out a whoop and ran across the lawn to where they were going to set up their fireworks. Keitaro chased her. When she finally got there, she put down her fireworks and Keitaro finally reached the spot, heaving and panting.

"You...win," he huffed, putting his sack down. "How did you get here so fast? You have a bigger bag than I do!"

"Nyahahaha!" she laughed, running around joyfully. She stopped and looked at Keitaro who was looking at her with an amused expression on his face. She gazed into his eyes for a minute. They were really pretty, she thought to herself. They were almost as nice as that sunset. The sun had finally gone all the way down.

"What?" Keitaro asked.

Su realized she was still staring at him. She heard the sound of the rest of the group coming down the hill with chairs and drinks.

"Nothing," she said, and started unpacking the fireworks.

Su sighed as she got everything out. She had been doing a lot of that lately. Keitaro and she had a good relationship; that was for sure. There were some good moments. He loved her, but he wasn't IN love with her. That was the difference. He loved her just like he loved Shinobu, and Motoko, and all the residents of Hinata House.

As it got darker, they started letting off the store-bought fireworks. They were pretty good, Su thought, but not as good as hers. They finally had all been done.

"Ladies and Gentlemen...er, Gentleman," Su said, after they were finished. "Now the real party starts!"

Kitsune cheered and cracked open her tenth beer.

Su smiled, "That's not the real party. THIS is the real part. Presenting...Fireworks by SU!"

She then proceeded to light off a few fireworks. These few were just fine, however, because she had made them all super fireworks. They each lasted for quite a few minutes, exploding and making noise and color and crackling all around. They sat for hours marveling at Su's fantastic fireworks. It was a beautiful sight to see. There were blue sparks, followed by green ones, followed by purple and red ones that exploded into little white sparkles and crackled loudly. Everyone looked as if they were seeing angels. After a while, most of the pyrotechnics had been set off, and she started off with her special fireworks. Shinobu laughed as a picture of Su eating Shinobu's food appeared in the firework. Mutsumi smiled brightly as a watermelon appeared out of nowhere in the sky. Kitsune roared and raised her beer can as a giant champagne bottle appeared, popped its cork, and firework-champagne poured into a glass.

That one, Su thought, had taken her a bit of time.

Motoko lit up as she saw her firework depicting a fierce battle between a swordsman and swordswoman. (Su made sure the woman came out on top.) Even Kanako seemed to smile a bit, and clapped, as her little black cat appeared in the sky. The biggest reaction of all, however, was when Naru's came up. A giant red heart shot up in the sky and the words 'I LOVE YOU KEITARO' popped up into it. Su sort of smiled. The firework was from Naru, but Su had made sure to put her little label on it. The words 'by SU' appeared right at the bottom of the firework.

"I had Su make it for me," Su heard Naru say.

Naru pulled Keitaro into a kiss, and Su sighed and sat down on the ground, watching the heart fall to the ground. She had made it long lasting so it would fall right down to about 10 feet from the ground. The 'by SU' below the heart was the only hint at Su's feelings, but she knew Keitaro wouldn't get it. No one would get it; they would all just think it was her copyrighting the firework, or something.

Oh well, she thought. She lit the fuse of the final firework. She had titled it the 'Finalework' because it was connected to about 10 other different ones. It exploded and lasted about ten minutes. It was a ten-minute show of non-stop action. There were crackles and shrieks and every sort of color imaginable. Everyone congratulated Su on her good work, and after a few minutes they all decided to head in and go to bed, much to Kitsune's protests. Even she, however, turned in eventually. Su sat there by the window in her room, waiting; the Finalework was not done. She still had one last bit, but she wanted to make sure no one would see it. After another 45 minutes the last bit of it shot up into the sky, completely silent. It was a picture of Su, and under it, it said 'I love you, Keitaro.'

Now, she thought, if only she could be able to actually tell him that.
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So there it is; the third installment, I hope you like it so far. A Romance fic...God, I feel so cheesy. Ah well, what can I do? As always, Reviews are greatly appreciated. Flaming is not allowed, but I am open to some 'constructive criticism' as they say. Compliments are, of course, appreciated. Until next time.