It was snowing outside and we both sat on a sofa, cuddling. I had tied my hair up on a bun and his hair was all messy. On the TV all those commercials of Christmas counted down the days to the big day. It was the 17th of December.
"How are we gonna spend it?" the boy asked me.
"I don't know. Dad hasn't told me anything yet. What about you?" I said and ran my fingers through his orange hair.
"We spent it here last year. Should we go see the others?" he said and yawned.
"It's been three years since I saw them, and for you a year. Maybe we should. My vacation starts in 20th. So should we get a flight for that day?" I answered. Natsume pushed me up since I had been laying on him like two hours straight. He grasped his laptop nearby and opened it. The happy sound of Windows opening greeted us. He opened Chrome and wrote on Google; Finnair.
"Seriously? Why Finnair?" I asked. He opened the link and stayed silent. He wrote the searching words on our destination and how many people were gonna travel. The search engine found us a flight at 7 p.m. on Saturday from the Helsinki-Vantaa Airport to Tokyo international airport with no connecting flights.
"Book it", I said and stood up stretching.
"It costs 800 euros for one person, you sure?" Natsume asked. I stayed quiet for a minute.
"Well if you find any cheaper flights that would great, but there are no connection flights. It's better to have a flight what costs more, but take less time. And I need to buy present for those idiots also. Thought it will be some salmiakki and chocolate. Or perhaps rye bread and lingonberry jam. Or maybe just chocolate," I said.
"Chocolate is fine for them, maybe some kind of Moomin-thing for Wataru" he laughed.
"Wataru is 15 now, I bet he doesn't care about toys anymore, I guess", I said. Natsume stood up and hugged me from behind.
"I found a cheaper flight. It's on Friday night thought", he whispered on my ear. I turned around and kissed him.
"Well would you most kindly book it for us?" I said and smiled happily.
"Yes my Queen", he said and kissed me on my forehead.
xx
"You got everything with you?" Natsume asked on the airport. I had a big suitcase and a bag for my necessary things.
"What about you?" I asked and looked at his one big bag, which was going in the hold.
"I'm fine with these. I have our passports and our reservation. Let's go", He said and I followed him to the check-in table. I took care of our trip in Finnish with the woman and Natsume lifted up our bags on the conveyor belt.
"Going to spent Christmas abroad? Must be quite different there", she said while she gave me our tickets.
"Well yeah. We'll see what kind of Christmas we have this year. Happy Christmas for you!" I said and she said the same words.
xx
It was really late in the evening when our flight departed. Sun had set at three and it was pitch black outside. Snow had melted away in few nights and there was nothing that would light up the nature. We watched a movie together on the screen and tried to hold in our laughs since almost everyone were sleeping. I checked my watch after few movies and whispered to him:
"It's two o'clock Finland's time Natsume. Should we get some sleep?"
"Yeah, I can't keep my eyelids open any longer. Good night sweetie", he said and kissed me on my eyelids.
"Good night", I said and rested my head on his shoulder. Hours ran by as quickly as the plane moved closer to Japan. Suddenly we woke up when the steward pressed on my shoulder waking me up. He asked would we like to have some coffee or tea with our lunch. The disgusting lunch was so awful that we laughed at our faces when we tasted them.
Finally they announced that we would land shortly. Natsume looked out of the window and saw the Tokyo airport.
"Did you tell them we're coming?" I asked and hugged Natsumes arm.
"Nope. It's my Christmas present for them", he said while he turned his head towards me.
"What if they're not home?" I asked and my heart skipped a beat. Would our plans go wrong?
"Yesterday I asked Masaomi where they would spend Christmas; he said they would just be home. He also said that mom and dad would probably come see them on the eve", Natsume answered. I sighed of relief. We listened how the voice told us what to do and wished us 'Merry Christmas'.
"What did you get for me this Christmas?" I asked and he kissed my nose.
"It's a surprise", he said.
"Then I won't tell my present either", I said and playfully showed him my tongue. He pressed our forehead together and gently blew some air on my face. He gently stroked my earrings, which I had three on my ear. I had got them pierced few years back as a birthday present from my friend.
"They will fall off if you stroke them too much", I lied, because I didn't like that.
"I know you're lying", he said and I just had to sigh. He knew me too well.
xx
After we had landed and had got our luggage we hopped on a taxi and Natsume took care of everything in Japanese. It was a good deal. In Finland I take care of them and in Japan Natsume does that. The taxi drove us to a hotel. We would stay there for a few days before we went to the Sunrise Residence. We left our luggage to the hotel room and went to a restaurant district and we went to eat. After the airplane food anything was fine. Natsume took me to a Thai restaurant nearby.
After that we went back to the hotel. I went to take a bath and later on Natsume joined me. We didn't have a bathtub in our apartment so it was quite unordinary. Even the shower was that small that there barely could one person wash.
"Finally, a Japanese bath", he said and sighed. I let a slow 'yeah' out of my mouth. After we got off we brushed our teeth and fell on the bed. There was this one king sized bed where we fell asleep almost right away even thought it was only 5 p.m.
xx
23rd of December
"You ready?" he asked me while I still put on some mascara. I had started to put on some make-up while I was in Finland and now I couldn't be without it.
"Almost", I said and put on some lip balm. I put all my make-up back in my bag and closed it.
"You do know you're beautiful even without it", he said and made room for me when I came outside of the bathroom.
"I do. And you do know that you have to shave", I said and smiled at him. He scratched his small stubble.
"Really? You still don't like men with beards?" he asked.
"I have nothing against them, but kisses are banned if you won't shave", I said while I gave him his shaver. I smiled complacent when he took it from my hand and went to shave. I packed the rest of my stuff and closed my suitcase. I took our passport of the table and put them on a secret pocket in my bag. I had made a braid and was happy that I had let it grow longer. Natsume came out of the bathroom and threw the shaver for me. I put it in his suitcase and closed it.
"Well, you happy? Your Majesty", he said and bowed. I stroke his cheek and kissed him.
"Much better", I said smiling. We took our bags and went down to the registration table. Natsume gave up our key while I caught us a taxi. Natsume told the address to the driver and we left. It was around three when we arrived to the house.
Natsume ringed the doorbell and we waited for someone to come open it. We heard some steps coming toward the door. Then the door opened. Ukyo stood on the door step, silent.
"Surprise", I said and smiled. He couldn't get a word out of his mouth. Natsume glanced at me amused. I held in my laughter.
"Ukyo, who is it?" I heard Tsubaki saying while he came towards the door with Azusa. They couldn't see us behind him. After they reached the doorstep, they stayed silent also. Both of them just looked at us and our luggage.
"For god's sake, close the damn door already!" We heard Fuuto say while he came closer. He looked behind Tsubaki and he froze also.
"What the-"we heard from our left. We looked at Yusuke and Wataru, who had just arrived from school.
"Umm, Tadaima" I said and a smile rose up on Yusukes face.
"Ema, Natsume!" Wataru yelled and ran towards us. Everyone on the doorstep looked at Wataru and Ukyos hands gave up under so many people. They all fell down with a loud noise. Wataru ran to hug me and quickly let me go when he realized what he was doing. Natsume laughed hard watching others get up from the floor. Yusuke ran to hug me. I hugged him back and laughed while he was so happy to see us again he started to cry.
"Oh come on, a grown up man!" Natsume said and waved at him to stop such talks.
"When did you-?" Ukyo asked while he tried to get up.
"Few days ago, It's been a while big bro" Natsume said and helped him up. Yusuke let me go and laughed a little.
"Ema!" Tsubaki yelled and tried to hug me, but Natsume stopped his attentions by grapping him away.
"Ema! It's wonderful to see you!" Azusa said and hugged me.
"Natsume, why they can, but I can't!?" Tsubaki whined and tried to get out of Natsumes grip.
"Well, let's think about it shall we? You've always been after pretty girls, so why should I let you?" he answered.
"It's okay Natsume", I said and he rolled his eyes when Tsubaki hugged me with all his might.
"Okay you can let me go" I whispered, struggling to breath.
"Oh, sorry", he said and let me go. Fuuto had his hands crossed. He was expressionless.
"Hi Fuuto!" I said and smiled happily. He showed us a small smile and turned away.
"He's still angry with you", Yusuke said. I nodded as an answer. We went in and Ukyo thought about a good room. We still wanted to sleep together thought. Natsume remembered the visitor's room next to Watarus. Wataru sighed.
"What is it?" Natsume asked.
"It's just that, Please sleep at night, okay", he answered with a slight blush on his cheeks. We looked at each other.
"Yeah we're still kind of getting used to the time difference, so don't worry about that", Natsume said.
"Seriously. We're tired even after three days", I said.
"Okay", Wataru whispered.
"Ema, would you like to make us the dinner the day after tomorrow?" Ukyo asked.
"With pleasure! I'll give you the list of the things I'm gonna need. The ham isn't necessary though. We can also make some salmon", I said.
"A full fleshed Finnish Christmas dinner, sound great!" Natsume said. He did love Finnish Christmas dishes.
"And we will celebrate it the Finnish way, on 24th. Right?" I said. It was important for me to celebrate it on the right day.
"Of course. If it is a Finnish way to celebrate, then it must be on the right day", Ukyo said. I smiled. They really understood my traditions and respected them, as I respected theirs.
"So, first of all, we need some potatoes, carrots, swede and beet root. Oh, and apples", I started to enumerate. Ukyo grasped some paper and started to write them down.
xx
"Casseroles are in the oven to keep them warm and the fish is almost ready. Are the potatoes ready Azusa?" I asked him. Tsubaki and Azusa had no work and Ukyo was shopping some forgotten ingredients for the decorating a traditional Frenches Christmas cake, Bûche de Noël. Natsume sat on the sofa surfing the channels on TV. Fuuto was somewhere around.
"They're ready. And I'm done with the ro-ro", he said and I corrected:
"Rosolli. Good, pour the water from the potatoes away and check the peas." I said and moved away from the kitchen to the balcony. The fish I had smoked in that was outside to get cold. It was cool enough so I took it inside.
"Where's Tsubaki?" I asked.
"Right here", ha said and jumped the stairs down.
"Good, you and Natsume will set the table", I gave orders and Natsume stood up. They took the tables and took the food on the table after they were ready.
"Tadaima!" We heard three voices yell. Wataru, Yusuke and Subaru had come home with Iori and Hikaru.
"Welcome home!" I said and gave the rosolli to Natsume.
"Mmm smells great!" Iori said and welcomed Louis and Ukyo home.
"Thanks. It's been a while since I've done these dishes", I said while taking the potato casserole out among the others.
"I'm home", we heard Masaomi say.
"Great since everyones here, we can start to eat", I said and took my apron off.
Everyone sat on the table and after I gave them permission, they started to take food and eat. I liked seeing people love my dishes. They didn't need any words to express how they liked them; they just ate, and took more. It was enough for me.
After dinner we ate the cake and collapsed on the sofa, full of food and treats. After few minutes I went up and came back with my bag.
"Okay, before I start, I don't care if you didn't get anything for me. This holiday is about giving, so I don't need anything. I'll take gratitude as my present. Merry Christmas", I said and opened my bag filled with 13 present.
"Oh my, thank you so much Ema!" Kaname said after I gave him his present. Everyone thanked me when I called them to get their presents. I looked as they opened their gifts and were happy when they saw their chocolates and different kind of useful gifts like mittens or a muffler.
"Natsume, come here", I said and took a small present from my bag. He came to me and I gave his present for him.
"Open it", I said with a wide smile. I saw others to look what I got for him. A jewelry box opened and Natsume gasped.
"Really? You got me this?" he said he took the pendant from the box. It was a Kalevala pendant.
"When I saw it, I immediately thought of you. It has a name too; Elämän roihu, or in English, Live Hard Live Your Dream.
"Thank you so much!" he said and gave me a kiss. I put the pendant on him.
"It looks great on you, just like I had imagined", I said. Everyone else started at us curiously.
"And then my gift." He said and took something from his pocket. I couldn't see what it was until he showed it more. It was a small jewelry box too. I gasped. He kneeled in front of me. I covered my mouth so I wouldn't scream.
"Ema, will you marry me?" He asked and opened the box. Inside there was this beautiful ring with a stripe in the middle of a silver ring and a small diamond on it. Everyone gasped after Natsume had said it and they turned their gazed at me. Tears started to flow out of my eyes as I looked at Natsume and the ring.
"Yes, yes, yes, yes!" I yelled and jumped on his neck. Natsume fell over and dropped the box on the floor as I hugged him tightly and laughed and cried at the same time. He laughed too and sat up. He moved me away from him and took the ring out of the box. He took my left hand and put it in my ring finger. After it was on its place I grasped him by his cheeks and kissed him. He pressed his hand on my cheek and kissed me back. I couldn't be happier. Everyone couldn't stop smiling and even Fuuto smiled. It was a Christmas I could never forget.
I love you
In the morning,
in the middle of
the day,
in the hours
we're together
and the hours
we are away
Hello. I added this story as a chapter to this story, since there will be a new special chapter coming up soon, and it will be easier to read it here. ;)