Eh, I haven't written like in months, so I made yet another fluffy filler….meh, I WILL get to the next scene soon so please don't hate me too much.

Chapter 7: Grabbing A Foothold

The day was a pleasant and relaxing one. The grass was green, playful birds passed by with chirps and cheeps, and a disgruntled man in a wheelchair sat on a lone hill.

Hideki was not feeling very chipper this morning. After many restless weeks in bed, he was finally given permission to leave his apartment under the condition that he must be in a wheelchair at all times. This of course, annoyed him tremendously as he expected to walk with his own two legs by now, but the so called 'medical professionals' deemed it too dangerous and his boy needed further recovery.

Chii however, found this new and wondrous contraption absolutely fascinating and pushed the sulky Hideki inside the apartment for one whole hour out of amusement. It was an odd but not unsettling experience as he wheeled into the kitchen, living space and bed mat over and over again. He finally suggested that they go outside after passing the alarm clock for the twentieth time in a row.

And so they went to the park a couple of blocks across the street. Hideki liked to go there because it was a good place to stay when things in his life became too hectic and if he wanted a moment of peace. A pebbled walkway snaked through the tall blades of grass and the egg-shaped surface of the pond sparkled under the soft rays of the sun. The wheels of his chair rolled further along the path and in the distance he could see Chii bent over and watching the flourishing marine life with interest. One of the rental boats paddled along and she gazed at it thoughtfully. Hideki smiled to himself and moved next to her.

"Hey, Chii."

She turned her head to him and smiled that warm smile he knew so well. He could never tire of that smile after all the time they spent together.

"Um, uh…do you want to go on a boat ride?" Hideki asked. He told Chii about his date with Yumi when she asked. However, he didn't notice the lost sparkle in her eyes or the disheartened look afterwards.

Chii nodded eagerly and held his hand with both of hers. "Chii wants to ride on a boat with Hideki," she spoke, already beaming with curiosity and excitement.

"Hmm, well it would be sort of difficult in my condition," he said with a quick glance at his legs, "but if you want to, we can go right now." Chii eagerly nodded with a smile and tagged along with him to the docks.

"Hey, hey don't rock the boat like that! It's hard for me to row if it's bobbling around," he chided, struggling to keep it stable. Chii understood and quickly stopped but her eyes continually scanned underwater, amazed at the various aquatic life. It was a good thing that Hideki exercised his arms from rolling his wheelchair around because it made rowing so much easier.

"Hideki, what's that?" Chii questioned with a pointed finger.

"Eh? That's a frog."

"Then what's that?"

"That's uh, what was it called? I think it's a crab."

"What's this?"

"Um, wait…..ah, it's a dragonfly!"

They continued this rather simple exchange of words for quite some time, Chii asking Hideki what a certain thing was called and he replied with a quick and casual response as if he had done this for a long time. But Hideki didn't mind at all for he was spending time with the one he loves and it brought him contentment.

Hideki let out a great sigh and fell back unto the keel of the boat and stared up at the sky. The sunlight was warm and he could just lay back and sleep all day.

"Chi?" Something large was coming their way.

A giant heron perched itself on the edge of the tiny boat, causing it to rock back and forth wildly like a pendulum.

"Whhoooaaaa!" Hideki attempted to regain balance, shifting his weight to the other side. Chii stared at the huge bird blankly as it ruffled its black tipped feathers.

"That's a heron, or I think it is…," Hideki said before Chii could ask him about it. It glared at him with a fierce yellow eye. "What the, why's it on the boat?"

"Shoo!" he exclaimed, but instead it trotted into the boat and nipped away his keys in one quick thrust with its beak.

"What the, give me back my keys!" He grabbed an oar and tried to smack its head off but it flew away with a cackling caw. "Why you…" Hideki growled menacingly and spun the oars at a furious pace after it. Chii was not exactly sure what was going on, but she became delighted at the exhilaration of speed and the wind blowing against her face.

Of all the rotten things to happen….wait…why in the world would a bird want my keys in the first place? It doesn't make any sense! Why do these things always happen to me?

The heron felt triumphant in its recent capture. It had a strange, crow-like preference to shiny objects and this would be a nice addition to its collection. It looked back for a second and its eye widened in surprise at the speeding brown blur, oars spinning like windmills. How can a human move so fast? Its blue wings flapped faster and tried to outstrip him but the darn thing was still on his tail. It squinted and could make out a girl smiling blissfully and a deranged man with flailing arms, his mouth open in a constant roar.

"GROOOOAAARRRGGHHH!" Hideki was only a few feet away from it and with another tremendous effort he was alongside the mocking heron hovering a few feet from the water's surface.

Meanwhile...

"Mommy, what's that man doing?" A little girl piped up. Her mother looked up and stared in shock as the boat just jumped off a wave and crashed into the wooden dock.

"Hey, what are you doing?" the surprised dock master yelled.

"Sooooorrryyy!" Hideki screamed back as he furiously paddled after the mocking heron.

"Dock," Chii pointed, "dock is broken," before being sped away.

"Mommy?" The girl piped up again.

"Don't look!" And she tugged her away, vowing never to come to this place ever again.

"Give me that!" he yelled, wringing its neck with his one hand and attempting to grab the key ring. It gave a strangled squawk and flew farther from the boat.

The heron pulled Hideki out of his seat and sent him into the water with an enormous splash. However, his grip refused to loosen and the huge bird thrashed about, neck swinging around until he could feel the cold metal of his keys in his other hand.

"GRRRGGGHH! Yes! It's mine!"He cried triumphantly as he held onto the struggling avian. The heron squawked again and soared away in contempt, dragging his body further away from the boat and made him swallow more pond water before he finally let go.

"Wait, I can't swim…" but the rest of his speech disappeared along with him as he sank in the water, unable to use his legs to keep him afloat. Before he closed his eyes, he could see the faint figure of Chii silently calling his name.

"Uhhh.." Hideki groaned groggily, his eyes adjusting to the light from the bright orb in the sky. "Huh? How'd I get here?"

"Chi!"

"OOMPH!" Chi tackled and burrowed into him weakened and waterlogged body.

"Hideki is moving!" She exclaimed with glee.

"Huh? Uh, yeah I guess I am." He looked down to see her smiling in relief. A jolt of embarrassment ran through his spine and his cheeks burned red.

"Chi…," Chii sighed and nestled underneath his neck.

"Poor Chii," he thought. "I've been doing nothing but make her worry about me." Hideki slapped his hand over his eyes in shame. "I wish there was something that I could do to make her feel better."

"Hideki?"

"Huh, what is it Chii?" Hideki asked.

"Why do you need keys? Hideki said landlady has extras," she said.

"Oh yeah…,"

Ms. Hibiya gave a tour around the apartments for Hideki and Chii. She went behind the counter and showed them extra copies of the room keys if any of the occupants lose them though it would cost money to have the keys replaced.

"Does Hideki have no money?" Chii asked.

He could have sworn he heard the bang of a gong in his head at that moment.

"Th-th-that's not it! That's not it at all!" Hideki yelled though he was not sure why he was screaming in the first place. He took a couple of breaths to calm himself down and looked at the keys in his hand. "These keys are special."

"Chi?" Chii looked at his hand and near the corner of his palm she spotted the same ring that she gave him as a present.

"These are very special to me."

Chii wasn't sure why, but she felt warm and fuzzy inside and she smiled the most beautiful and heartwarming smile Hideki had ever seen.

"C-Chii? Uh, what is it?" He asked in complete naivety.

But she did not say anything and squeezed his waist tightly. Hideki, still totally oblivious, cautiously placed his arms around her and they laid there in the damp, yet warm sand.