Replies to reviews:
wyannick54: Thanks! Honestly, I was a bit hesitant in posting the previous chapter. I thought it was kinda serious and well,. . .boring! Not much of dialogues, but a lot of character build-up and flashbacks. Guess I was wrong. ;) Thanks for reading. . .and for the reviews!
bebe-chrissy: Thanks! Hahaha, well, you're not the only one who's waiting for the next chapter. . .EVEN I don't know what's going to happen next! ;) Don't worry, it won't take another 2 months for me to update, . . .a month and a half maybe, but not 2 months. Rain gets splat on the face with a rotten tomato. Er, a month perhaps? ;) Flash report: Sudden decline in tomatoes in the supply market baffles authorities. Please report any information regarding this occurrence to the Department of Food and Drugs (DFAD) immediately.
Lilian: Rain goes chibi, BIG eyes and all the works Thank you, thank you. ;) Glad you liked the chapter. After reading the chapter however, I discovered I made a slip-up, I wrote 'three piece emerald suit' instead of 'two-piece'. What the hell are we gonna use the last piece for?! A bonnet?! Silly me.
neoqueen: ooohhh, you'll be surprised by the twist in the story, . . .mwahahahaha!
milady: Thanks! Writing about the generals is damn hard work though. Man! Too many boys, too little space and time. ;) Unfortunately, I can't say the same in real life. Waaahhhh!!!
Isis Aurora Tomoe: Thanks! I adore kids, hence the twins' part in the story. Hehe, don't speak so soon though, the twin girls are going to get a little. . .wicked later in the story, mwahahahaha, another Kunzite moment in the making! I am SOOO e-vuhl!!! Hmm, about that other story, I am starting on it right now, but I am still looking for an inspiration. I need a drive for it. . .unfortunately, I can't drive. What a LOSER!!!
Destiny's Fate: Aw, thanks! Well, I hope to keep up the good work, too. ;)
Alias: Whoa! That's saying a LOT! Thanks! So far, this is my first fanfic up at Fanfic.Net, and am glad you liked it. ;) Am planning to have another one about the 'models thing' that I mentioned before. ;)
Chapter 12 – Love's First Encounter
(NOTE: Hear ye, hear ye. I have decided that, since longer chapters would take even longer periods of time to make, that I would revert back to making shorter chapters, ergo, shorter time for you guys to wait for succeeding chapters. And this time, focusing on about one or two couples per chapter. Hope it's ok with you guys. ;) Enjoy this chap! It's about Rae and Jadeite, and a tiny bit of Ami and Zoi.)
Hino Yamazaki sighed in blissful delight. Nothing can be more relaxing than having one cup of hot herbal tea on one hand, and the morning newspaper on the other. Indeed, old age, contrary to what other people say, IS bliss! The aged man gently blew across the top of his steaming cup, and after a careful sip, placed it quietly on top of the low table before him and started flipping through the pages of the daily.
"Hmm, nuninuninuuu. . .we have the usual local news, hm, another price hike on the petroleum, huh?. . .well, lookie here, Prime Minister's going to visit Africa, what the hell ever for?. . .news abroad, hm,. . .US readies attack on Iraq sigh, at the rate they're going, we'll have another bloody world war on our hands –"
Grandpa Hino's murmuring was suddenly interrupted when a loud noise was heard coming from inside the shrine of the temple. And considering that he was sitting OUTSIDE of the temple and several yards AWAY from the front door, bespoke of the out-and-out intensity such a racket produced.
"EEEYYYOOOWWWW!!!"
"Oh, put a sock on it! You're such a crybaby!"
Grandpa Hino sighed in exasperation and bid a regretful goodbye to morning peace and solitude,
"Ladies and Gentlemen, World War III had just been declared. . .and it AIN'T happening in Iraq."
Who was he kidding? Peace and Solitude? In Cherry Hills Temple?
*Poof* Totally Non-existent.
He could just picture it right now:
(*TING* On this side, ladies and gentlemen, our brave challenger for today. . .weighing 175 pounds, measuring 6 feet in height, capped with curly blond locks, and currently sporting a dreadful injury, he-----re's Jadeite, the Temple Aid!
And on this side, our current champion and mistress of the shrine, weighing 115 pounds, measuring 5 feet and 7 inches in height, with long luxurious raven hair, and wearing her infamous thunderous glare, he-----re's Rei Hino, the lovely and fiery Shrine Keeper!
Let the battle, begin! *TING*)
Hino-san merely chuckled under his breath and propped the newspaper more comfortably on his knees.
The shrine had never been this noisy –
- nor alive. . .
. . .nor loving.
Grandpa Hino smiled and looked up to the skies, envisioning the serene face of his long-gone loving wife amongst the clouds, "Another day in paradise, isn't it dear?"
The older man then moved to make himself more snug in his seat and continued scanning the daily for more news.
* * * * *
"EEOOOWWW!!! That hurts!!!," yelled one indignant striking young blond, clutching the left side of the chair in a firm death grip, while his other arm was being administered to - in his opinion - VERY ill-treatedly.
"If you hold still, it wouldn't hurt as much!," countered one beautiful raven-haired woman, holding down the young man's other arm while applying ointment on the injured areas, rather ineffectively due to the latter's movements.
The young man was NOT about to back down,
"If you hadn't lost your temper, THIS wouldn't have happened."
And neither would the young woman let it at that,
"If YOU hadn't goofed off in the first place, then I wouldn't have!"
Jadeite blinked. Er, good point.
"Well,. . .well, YOU shouldn't have. . .left me alone with this chore! Yeah, that's it! You shouldn't have left me. . .ALONE, period."
"What am I, your damn babysitter?! How was I supposed to know you didn't know a damn thing about building one puny little fire – "
"It wasn't puny! It was just starting to blaze,. . .and then it suddenly exploded for no reason!"
"You, idiot! Of course, it'll explode, you put too much fuel in it!"
Damn! Damn! Damn!
Jadeite was definitely not on the BEST of moods today. Based on the above exchange of tongue-lashing in ear-splitting magnitude, the dashing blond had just made, as the fiery vixen pointed out earlier, a 'bloody mess of things of idiotic proportions'.
Of course, he insisted it wasn't his gawddamn fault. It was hers! She shouldn't have left him in the first place! Ok, ok, so MAYBE he was a bit careless in putting up a fire, but he had his damn reasons – and totally logical ones at that!
It was her damn fault that he was SO extremely troubled that he 'accidentally' put too much fuel in the fire pit. I mean, for crying out loud, he was a competent weather-trained general in the past life, he DID learn a few survival skills along the damn bloody way. He knew how to make a frigging fire! It's just that –
"Rae, is everything alright?"
Upon hearing the words, Jadeite's blood went up to a red-hot boiling point and his chiseled jaw clenched in biting fury.
Speaking of the bloody devil!
Rae momentarily shifted her attention from administering ointment to the very much pissed-off blond, to gaze at the tall lean figure that was leaning against the sliding door, and gave him a small smile.
"Yeah, Yuki. Everything's alright. Sorry 'bout this. It's just a silly accident."
Tamayo Yuki looked uncertain but nodded his dark head in acquiescence. He then gave the young woman a tender smile.
Jadeite was bristling.
If there was one thing that the young blond can't handle, it was blood-red jealousy. Physical and psychological stress, he can deal with. Anger and rage, he can control. But give him the 'J' word, he goes nuts! And nutty people - you can't trust to just shut up.
"Are you done yet?! My burn's not gonna get all healed if you're taking too long, you know." Jadeite asked the young woman, who was, he noted irritably, still smiling at the 'idiot' on the door.
Rae's smile disappeared from her lovely face - a fact that Jadeite found agonizing - considering that HE was the cause of such loss. He didn't mean for her to be the recipient of his ire, but then, he didn't mean to lose control of his mouth either. It was an inexplicable urge to lash out – to comply with the dire need to wipe that smile off her face because it was meant for the other and not for him. He would rather have anger, than kindness, if it meant it's wholly FOR him.
Again, nutty people can be so damn irrational at times.
Shit! Shit! Shit!
The young woman turned her head towards the blond and gave him a chilling glare. And in a deceptively sweet voice with underlying coolness, she spoke mockingly,
"Oh, I'm sorry, Jadeite. Silly me, for taking too much of MY time to tend to YOUR wounds, -"
Jadeite winced.
" - Don't worry, I won't be taking up any more of your precious time. Wouldn't want to ruin your schedule or anything."
With a final movement of her fingers, she firmly put the bandage in Jadeite's arm in place and stood up to leave. The young woman tilted her head to face the completely baffled Yuki,
"C'mon Yuki, let's finish cleaning up the shrine. Judging by the mess left by our resident 'clumsy oaf' here, it might take us the whole afternoon to clean it up."
And with that last comment, the raven-haired woman walked firmly out of the room, dragging a smug Yuki with her and leaving a sulking Jadeite behind.
* * * * *
Jadeite sighed dejectedly.
It had been a couple of hours since the 'fire temple' incident and the young blond hadn't spoken to his fiery princess yet.
Well, that is, if she's willing to listen first.
"Damn. sigh Jadeite, YOU are such an asshole," Jadeite rebuked himself.
Zoisite was right. He WAS a bastard.
A couple of minutes ago, he had just talked to his friends using their mind links and he can't help but feel pissed at the beginning – a fact which the other generals noticed immediately.
Zoisite of course, being his usual notorious self, started teasing Jadeite immensely, causing the young blond to shift in his place uneasily and his chi to flicker nervously. Not to mention, that Nephrite and Kunzite were equally unrepentant in their amused reaction to his heartrending predicament.
However, it never ceased to amaze him how talking to his 'brothers' calmed him in a way. And in so doing, he was able to rethink of his recent behavior and to admit to himself that he did act 'unkindly' towards Rae.
Jaedite rolled his eyes upward and scoffed at himself.
'Unkindly' was an understatement.
He was jealous. Bloody jealous.
Early that morning, like any day, Jaedite geared himself to another schedule of cleaning and preparing the temple in time for the day's activities – another opportunity for the young lad to be with his beloved and subtly woo her without her knowing, as he had for the past few weeks.
As he was piling up the wood needed in building up a fire, a passing Rae informed him that she won't be able to help him with this morning's chore because, she mentioned flippantly, she will be going 'with Yuki' to the market to purchase some. . .(of course, the rest of her sentence faded away for Jadeite after that). All that mattered to him at the time, were the words 'with Yuki'.
Rae was going to be 'with Yuki', with his rival. Alone.
The two of them, alone.
Jaedite was livid. He didn't mean to. Hell, he didn't mean for a lot of things to happen where his Firefly was concerned. He knew that if he started to think irrationally and to allow his emotions to overcome him, that he would start acting like an asshole.
And he did.
And he was bloody successful at it.
And before he knew it, his emotions overclouded his common sense. And the next thing he knew, the fire blazed out of proportions and his arm got caught in the small inferno. Luckily, Rae hadn't left yet and calmly took matters to her own lovely hands, accompanied by a couple of hurled insults and foul language at the young man. After which, she had – and Jadeite softened at this – gently took his arm and administered first aid to his (thank goodness) minor injuries.
Jadeite was - to say the least – bloody hurt, painfully embarrassed and still friggin' jealous as hell. Hence, the seemingly jackass behavior of this morning. And now –
- now he had to talk to his Firefly.
Jadeite sighed as he finally arrived at the sliding doors leading outside, towards the side deck of the temple, just beside Rae's room. He remembered once, not too long ago, when he had seen last of the young woman's room. . .and her obvious lack of clothing at that time.
The young blond chuckled under his breath.
That was his Firefly alright.
In all her wrathful glory.
And now it seemed, he'll be encountering that same passionate woman again. Hah! Lucky him.
Jadeite took a deep breath, and then with his hands poised, his bandaged one was getting undone, he slowly pushed the door sideways to reveal a verandah overlooking the garden –
- and a young woman sitting at the edge of the deck, going through some slips of paper lying on her lap.
Upon hearing the whish sound of a door opening, Rae turned to look and settled her gaze on the hesitantly smiling young man standing in front of her. Seeing the blond man who had been, in her utmost horror and trepidation, fast becoming a constant object of her thoughts and imaginings, Rae's forehead crinkled with an annoying frown.
Intending to ignore the young blond completely, Rae turned her head to look back at the papers she had been carefully reading on top of her lap. An instant later, she heard footsteps as Jadeite walked forward and sat down beside her in an uncomfortable heap.
Inwardly, the young temple keeper was suddenly panic-stricken, but was emotionally schooled enough to prevent her anxiety from showing in her face. She won't be intimidated by the man! She refused to be disturbed by his presence! She won't allow herself to be overwhelmed! She –
"I'm sorry."
Rae blinked. Her body immediately stiffened at the gentle voice.
NO, you idiot!!! No! No! No! You weren't supposed to apologize! You weren't supposed to make amends! You weren't supposed to -
"I was an asshole," the deep voice continued. "I-I. . .the fire was my fault,. . .I wasn't careful enough. And, well,. . .I was unfair to you, too. I. . .I didn't mean to shout at you. I guess, I was, well, I was. . .not thinking properly -"
"Damn right you weren't!" A censuring voice broke through Jadeite's silent one.
Jadeite winced. Oh---kay, I guess I deserved that.
"Yeah. . .and I'm sorry. . .and, thank you for tending to my burn. You have been nothing but,. . .w-wonderful. Thank you."
Heavy silence loomed over the two figures who were sitting side by side, but whose heads were facing forward.
Jaedite was scared stiff.
In all his life, both current and past, he never was the type of man to be subdued so easily, who prided himself to act manly and appropriately. He was honest to a fault, and because of it, had refused to make the same mistakes twice. Hence, it had been a long time - too long, in fact - since he actually humbled himself enough to ask another to pardon him in his wrongdoings. With the other generals, their strong loyal bond with each other as well as their knowledge and understanding of each other's behavior, somehow allowed them to have a relationship were one had no need of apologizing for one's rotten behavior. Besides, they were like brothers, there never was the need to act bastardly against one another. Theirs was a brotherhood of calm camaraderie and balanced personalities.
With Rae however, Jaedite was an entirely different man.
With Rae, Jadeite was at his strongest. . . as well as where he's most vulnerable. Strong, because their love, as Jadeite recalled, made him complete. Vulnerable, because theirs was an honest one. And for one to be honest, one must live with both his and her good attributes, as well as disgraceful ones.
Jadeite had just showed his.
And now the moment of truth scared the silly shit out of him.
The young man knew that the raven-haired beauty have yet to remember him and their life together in the past. For the past few weeks, all that ever comprised of their relationship were hurled insults (from her side), subtle flirting (from his), and just a tad of friendly concern.
Now however, Jadeite have yet to determine whether they were at the level where. . .they could start being honest to each other.
The stillness in the air continued to stretch at a painful length, and Jadeite's jaw clenched in silent anguish as he deemed Rae's silence a response to his silent plea.
He sighed.
His Firefly wasn't ready yet.
Jadeite then took a deep breath and managed to let out a small smile, attempting to mask his sorrows with a joke or two.
"Well, I better get going then. Hino-san forgot to call the plumber and his tub was about to 'runneth' over with dirty water, not to mention some other vile stuff from his body." Jadeite chuckled, albeit less humorously than what he intended. The blond man then raised one knee, propping himself to turn and leave the silent woman.
His arm however, won't cooperate.
Baffled, Jadeite looked down at the offending limb and found another, one more delicate and pale, holding onto it.
Rae, still not looking at the confused man, drew his arm towards her, hence forcing the young man's body to lean forward, and nearer to hers as well. A few more inches, and Jadeite would have been brushing his lips against Rae's luxuriant fall of raven hair.
With deft fingers, Rae efficiently, but gently, re-wound the bandage that was coming loose from his injured arm. The young blond was frozen in place as he watched soothing fingers taking care not to tighten the dressing too much - as well as smelled the faint scent of lavender in her hair.
After what seemed like an eternity, Rae had finished binding the bandage, and still without looking at the young man, turned her attention back to her paperwork, but not before slipping out one last remark,
"After you finished with your chores, let me take a look at it again. We might need to put in more ointment to avoid infection. Until then, try to refrain from making an utter fool of yourself."
It was subtle, but it was THERE nevertheless.
Jadeite never knew how overwhelmingly happy he felt at that time. . .or how loved.
He looked tenderly at the woman still bent in her 'little project', and smirked in kind,
"Yes ma'am. In the meantime, I will try toning it down from becoming an utter fool, to a pathetic 'clumsy oaf'." And with a mocking salute, he rose, turned and walked smartly towards the temple. All the while, smiling ridiculously at nothing,. . .at everything.
Unknowingly, a young woman was also doing the same.
For now.
* * * * *
Ami was just on the verge of admitting herself in the insane asylum.
And for one to ACTUALLY claim that she'd be willing to admit HERSELF in the psychiatric ward, especially one as sharp-minded and quick-witted as herself, spoke tons about her current delirious state.
Mizuno Ami, THE Mizuno Ami, had just had a mental breakdown.
Her brain, she believed, was not functioning properly anymore. It refused to perform adequately for her to ensure that she's alive and that indeed, she had full capacity of her sensory perceptions and mental equipment. Her powerful brain, had chosen this particular moment, to shudder its last logical breath.
Why all the dramatic flare, you might ask?
Mina's rubbing off on me. Ami thought, momentarily regaining her senses.
The young blue-streaked hair woman was currently leaning her forehead at a brick wall of an old building located at the corner of Maple and Sakura streets, where most of the medical university students loitered after school.
The entire block of Sakura Street hosted several café establishments, allowing students to indulge themselves a cup or two of perkiness as they stay up late in studying medical jargons and various parts of the human brain, while theirs burned the midnight oil.
Ami was on her way to one, in fact. She was supposed to meet her friend, Greg, at one of the more cozy cafes so that they could study together for their comprehensive exams on Molecular Biology and Biotechnology.
Now however, all of the terms she memorized, all of the parts she studied,. . .were gone, practically nil.
And why?!
Ami breathe in deeply as she prepared herself in taking the plunge again. . .just to make sure.
Yeah, that's it. She might be going through all this mental and emotional rollercoaster for nothing. Silly of her. Didn't she always make sure of facts first before coming up with a conclusion?
And with a final deep intake of breath, Ami straightened herself up and moved away from the wall. Slowly, she shifted her body so that she'd be able to take a peek at the edge of the corner of the building, towards the street beyond.
And almost lost herself.
* * * * *
Zoisite tipped his helmet back as he shouted instructions towards his men who were all over the site for the new building. The company who hired his team was a generous one, and had wanted the best for their firm. And Zoisite, being the intellectual genius and idealist that he was, wanted only the best.
He had just been promoted to foreman a few weeks ago and was – he grudgingly admitted – rather liking his job all too well. He liked the challenge of overcoming certain barriers in the construction business that most have surrendered to.
Not Zoisite.
And definitely not now when he's on a roll.
A few more days, and I could finally put my plans into action.
He had just availed a more er, livable apartment uptown – without the roaches and with a large frigging sink and tub to boot. And finally had enough money to purchase a couple of decent clothing and men's toiletries.
He had been counting down the days when he could finally settle his immediate problems and start focusing on the more important ones.
Like his Water Nymph, for instance.
His Ami.
Zoisite smiled. His life is almost perfect. Hell, it's more than he could ask for. But -
A frown however started to mar the handsomeness of his face.
Then what's this nagging feeling I had? Why do I feel,. . .troubled?
Zoisite shook his head out of his stupor, and chuckled at himself, "I better stop worrying myself. It's getting me nowhere."
And with a smile on his handsome face, Zoisite turned and walked towards his vehicle, looking at the blueprints in his hands. Upon reaching his truck, a lock of his strawberry-blonde hair had wafted in front of his face. In an attempt to remove the offending strand, Zoisite raised his head to tuck the lock behind his ear –
- and almost lost himself.
* * * * *
The two men had just finished drinking instant coffee from their tumblers and were about to resume their work, when one of them spoke to the other,
"'Ey Charlie. Boss mention'd 'while go that damn pillar 'ere' ain't no need replacin."
"Huh? But ain't that supos'd t'be the prim'ry support? What's gonna hold 'ere two bloody poles?"
"Better ask d'Kid. He's so damn smart, I ain't got no trouble from d' last buildn'g we 'ad."
"'Ere's the boy then?"
The two bulky men raised their heads and started scanning the site for a young lad in uniform, when their gazes fell on one figure standing a few yards away.
The younger of the two workers pointed his hand out.
"'Thar he is. . .What's he standin so bloody stiff for?"
"ohhh, our fella 'ere got his'self some serious troub'l."
"What dya mean, Charlie?"
"Darn, Tom, you 'lready blind, old boy? Look at 'er dainty little thing at d'corner!"
Tom squinted his eyes to look at the figure in question – a petite dark-haired woman. "Well, what's she standin so bloody stiff for?"
Charlie whacked the other man on the head. "Idiot! Don't 'ya get it?"
The older man turned his head and gazed distantly at his young foreman, who was now walking slowly towards the young woman at the corner,
"Our lit'l boy is growin up, Tom. He's fin'ly gonna get his girl."