Kon'nichiwa!
Discalimer: I do not own Gundam Seed/Destiny or its original plotline.
Happy White's Day! Even though not too many people celebrate it, right?
I realize this is VERY late. I am very, very, very sorry! Due to unforeseen circumstances, I was not able to post this up last week!
Here is the second chapter of "Four Seasons of Love and Laughter":
"Stellar?"
The said person was sitting on a bench, fanning herself lazily. "Hm?"
It is hot – no, it was more than hot, it was stifling.
Summer had arrived gently, appearing in warm, breezy days. Now, In the middle of August, it was just a bit too hot. Even now, in the evening, it was quite hot.
Shinn took a seat beside her, playfully dragging a hand through her hair. In response, she swatted half-heartedly at his hands. The heat was making her drowsy; she yawned and rested her head against Shinn's shoulder, letting the paper fan rest on her face as shelter from the sun.
"Tired of the heat, Stellar?" Shinn grinned. "Then you'll be interested to see what I've got, right?"
"Hm..?" Intrigued, Stellar lifted the fan from her face to peer at him. "What is it?"
"Uh-uh." He shook head. "I'm not telling you."
She pouted slightly. "Why? Tell me."
Laughing at her expression, he gave in. "Here." He waved a large white envelope in front of her face.
Curious, Stellar out down the fan and took it. She examined the outside. It was blank. Frowning slightly, she lifted the flap and took out the contents.
Two squares of paper fell out.
Stellar squinted in the bright light, trying to read the small black words. "Train tickets?" She glanced at Shinn. "To Higashouki?"
Beaming, he nodded. "Yeah. You probably never been there before right? It's a small town several miles north of sea, bordering the ocean."
At that, Stellar perked up. "Ocean?" She hadn't been there for nearly a year now.
"Now, what I was wondering," continued Shinn, "is if you want to come with me?"
"Eh! Really!" The blonde's eyes lit up. "I want to go!" She looked at the tickets in her hand. "Eh, Higashouki… I can't wait!" She grinned at the man beside her.
Ruffling her hair again, he laughed. "Good because we're setting off tomorrow. It's for a couple of days, okay? Go and pack some clothes okay?"
She nodded energetically, already thinking of what to bring. "I'll go now!" She thought for a second. "It's too bad that my blue dress was damaged… I wore it last time I went to the ocean." A soft sigh. "But, I still have other ones to wear, right Shinn?" She beamed and ran off, clearly excited about the trip.
"Take your time," he called. We're not leaving till tomorrow morning."
His words didn't do anything to change Stellar's hurried pace. Shinn smiled softly at her retreating back. She was really too cute.
Getting up he followed her at a more leisurely pace, a plan forming in his mind.
By the time he walked through the main door (that Stellar had left ajar), the purple-eyed girl was already at it, if the sounds from her room were any indication.
Smiling again, he headed for his own room. On the way, he paused for a second at her doorway and saw her small suitcase already open and Stellar standing at her closet.
In his own room, Shinn carefully closed his door,, and looked around. He was probably being too careful, but he did want some parts of the trip to surprise Stellar. Removing a thick file from a drawer in the desk, he picked up the phone to make a few important phone calls.
He was finished within a half hour and looked carefully around again, even going as far as opening the door a crack to peer out. He could hear Stellar cheerfully humming two doors down (the bathroom between them). Shutting the door again, he opened the closet.
Now, you see, his closet was perfectly organized down to the last garment. In his special system, every piece of clothing was on-hand and convenient. In his opinion. If anyone else looked, they would have instantly labeled the space as a 'mess'.
When they had bought the flat, his medium-sized closet was already nicely furnished with hanger and even a dresser. At the moment, most of his clothes were either piled on top of the dresser, shoved on the shelf above the hangers. There were some clothes hanging on the hangers and some in the drawers, but for the most part, it looked as if those weren't used.
Tossing aside a stray sock, Shinn pulled open the bottom drawer. It creaked dully from the lack of use. There was only one thing in that drawer. It was probably the most taken-care-of item in the whole of his closet. Wrapped in protective plastic, even with scented beads, was a very important piece of clothing.
He carefully put the whole package in his bed and unwrapped it, pulling away the layers of plastic. Inside was a single dress.
More specifically, it was an ankle-length dress with a full white skirt, a blue bodice, graceful off-shoulder white sleeves and a ribbon-like sash. In short, it was Stellar's favorite dress.
Last year, when they went to visit a friend who lived basically at the top of a mountain, Stellar tripped on a hike and ripped the skirt. She had been so sad at the time… and she had just said not an hour ago that this was still the dress that she like the most. Shinn wished she could wear it. However… He looked with dismay at the rip. It was about twelve inches long straight up from the hem.
Fingering the frayed fabric, Shinn's mind raced. This was Stellar's favorite dress. He knew that she would want to wear it in their vacation. However, as it had a rip in the front, she would be able to wear it.
Unless…
Couldn't it be fixed?
Gripped by this idea, Shinn slowly stood up. Yes. That would work.
Smiling widely, he grabbed a carrier bag he spotted lying on the bottom of his closet and carefully folded the dress into it.
Instead of rushing out like he usually would have done, he carefully looked out before walking quietly into the main room, making sure that he made no sounds besides his footsteps. The bag was a bit big for the dress and kept sliding around with swishing noises. But he didn't use to be an ace ZAFT soldier for nothing.
Silently, he rested the bag on the floor. He cleared his throat. "Stellar? I'm going out for a bit okay?"
"Uh-huh!"
She didn't suspect a thing. Sighing, he walked out into the streets.
W-what!
You cannot be serious!
The tailor was absolutely rubbish! The sign said they closed at nine o'clock, but it clearly wasn't that late! He nearly ripped his sleeve in haste to check his watch and was thoroughly shocked to see that it was nine-ten.
What to do now? He had no choice but to go home – the dress still damaged.
Upon arriving home, Stellar was still humming inside her room. Muttering "I'm back" to no-one in particular, he went to his room and dumped the bag into his bed and slumped onto the chair.
What to do…?
Shinn's gaze landed on the pile of brochures he collected and had a sudden brainwave. They must have had tailors in Higashouki, right? He could just sneak off for a couple minutes, hand it to the tailor and come back for it later, right? Perfect!
He sighed with relief.
Then realizing he hadn't even started to pack yet, he hurriedly got up an pulled out his own suitcase from the closet. At that moment, there was a knock on the door.
He opened it. "Stellar?"
"I'm going to sleep now, okay?" She smiled. "Goodnight."
"Hm. Goodnight. I'll wake you up tomorrow morning – the train leaves at 9:00."
Making a noise of assent, she went back into her own room.
Shinn smiled softly, then quickly packed all the essentials and went to sleep himself.
Early in the morning, when the sky was only starting to show the faintest signs of light, he started. On his half-awake state, he could've sworn he heard the beep-beep of his alarm clock. But when he peered drowsily at it, he saw that it was only five fifteen. He wasn't going to wake up until at least seven.
Rolling over, he fell back into a deep sleep.
By ten o'clock, they were on the train and speeding off into the north.
There weren't very many people on the train and they had a whole compartment to themselves. Stellar had immediately claimed a window seat and was still staring excitedly out at the passing trees and towns.
"You know, Stellar, that it'll take us a while to get there." He couldn't help but chuckle at her antics. He was sitting on the opposite seat, facing her.
"But it's really pretty out right now too…"
Yes, the scenery was great, but he privately thought that she was even prettier. She was wearing a light sundress, patterned with different shades of blue. The early sunlight was shining on her face and she had a content smile.
"Yes. Really pretty." He didn't spare a glance to the view.
He tore his gaze away from her to hand her a brochure. "Here, want to see? We're going to stay here." He pointed to the picture. "I looked it up – there's a summer festival tonight. It's supposed to be a traditional holiday or something. Wanna go?"
Stellar nodded enthusiastically. "Yeah."
"And before that we can just spend some time around the town. It's supposed to be a good tourist attraction because it's so 'quaint'." He paused, frowning, "I'm not too sure what that means though…"
When they arrived, it was apparent that 'quaint' meant that they town was slightly old-fashioned with dramatic architecture and atmosphere. Many people were milling around, especially around the train station.
"Okay…" Shinn blinked. It was different from home, where it was much more modernized. "Now, let's see. Hey, Stellar, want to go to the inn and drop things off then go walking?"
At her assent, he consulted the map. "Well, I think it's this way."
It took them about half an hour to walk to the inn, which was the same architecturally, but much more quiet. It would have taken them less time, if they hadn't gotten lost and had to ask someone to point them in the right direction.
Afterwards, they walked around for a bit, laughing and generally enjoying themselves. There were a lot of souvenir shops, many specializing in particular items.
"Hey, Shinn!" Stellar tugged his arm. "Let's go in here." It was another souvenir shop, this one claiming to have the best photograph frames.
"Sure." He followed her inside.
She browsed amongst the shop. "I want to buy one so that when we take a picture, I can put it inside, okay?" She beamed up at him.
Shortly, she had decided on a delicate silver frame. Stellar refused to let Shinn pay, instead carefully counting coins from her pocket.
"Shinn has bought so many things for Stellar already, okay?" She smiled. "So this time, I will buy, okay?"
Shinn smiled back. "Aa, okay."
When they exited the store, the purchase securely held in Stellar's hand, Shinn paused. He checked the time. "Hey Stellar. I want to show you a shop, okay?" He consulted his map again.
This time he got them there without getting lost. "Here, this shop sells yukata. Chose one and you can wear it for the festival, okay?" Shinn smiled. "Chose the one that you like the best!"
Forty-five minutes later, both of them where wearing new yukata. Stellar chose one on light blue, with a graceful white dove motif, while Shinn bought a plain dark blue one.
"Wear it now, okay Stellar? The festival has already started." He was already wearing his blue one.
She agreed and the shop assistant helped her into the robe in the fitting room. When she drew back the curtain, Shinn nearly gasped. Stellar was particularly beautiful in that dress. It suited for unique coloring and went well with her slim figure.
"You're very pretty in that yukata, Stellar." He extended a hand.
The girl blushed slightly. "Shinn looks nice as well." She took his hand and they set off for the festival, hand in hand.
The festival was beautiful. As he walked around the booths with Stellar, he felt almost light-headed with happiness. The two of them had almost smiled nonstop since the first booth they had stopped at.
"Wait here for a second okay?"
Stellar blinked. "What?" But he had already left.
Two minutes later, he returned, as bunch of flowers in his arms. Stopping a few feet away, he bowed slightly. "Miss, a gift for you." He straightened back up and grinned, offering the bouquet to her.
Blushing slightly again, Stellar accepted the flowers. She smiled widely back. "So pretty!"
Smiling, he took her hand and pulled her back into the crowd.
Tonight was really very perfect, he thought blissfully. The festival was very beautiful – it was a clear, starry night and all the shops and booths around them were brightly alit.
Well, all except that one over there.
Curious, he shuffled forward for a closer look. It took a moment to sink in:
What? What!
Shinn stared furiously at the sign. Tailors were really useless things, ehe thought. The only time in his life he ever needed on in a town miles away from his own, they decide to go on vacation for a week.
"Er, Shinn? Is something wrong?" Stellar tugged on his sleeve.
His mouth opened automatically. "No; everything's fine."
She smiled. "Let's walk a bit more okay?"
"Uh-huh."
In a blur, they finished walking around the festival and ended up back in their hotel room. They were both tired, but had enjoyed the festival every much.
Yawning, Stellar rubbed her eyes. "I'm going to go to sleep, okay?" She disappeared into the bathroom before reappering, now dressed in a set of light-pink nightgown. "Shinn, I really had fun tonight." She leaned forward and brushed her lips against his cheek. She straightened and yawned again. "Well, see you tomorrow, okay?"
Shinn smiled softly. "Yeah, goodnight." Putting the tailor problem out of his mind for the moment, he took a moment to watch Stellar curl up in bed before taking out his own bight clothes and going into the washroom.
After changing, he stared at the mirror in a slight panic. The dress was still torn. The bloody tailor was on vacation. What was he going to do?
In frustration, he leaned forward and splashed water onto his face. Reaching out blindly for a complimentary hotel towel.
He managed to knock the basket of complimentary stuff onto the floor. Cursing under his breath as he heard the clatter on the ground, he roughly dried his face. Throwing the towel aside, he stooped down to clean the mess.
Why was there so much stuff free, anyway?, he thought irritably as he threw the stuff back into the basket. I mean, why would we ever need a – he peered at the label – a shoe mitt, whatever that is. He tossed it in and reached for the next object. Or a pack of cotton swabs? … or a sewing kit – He stopped, package still in his fingers. Sewing?
Shinn's mind raced. If he had given the dress to a tailor, they would sew it up, right? Sewing the rip back together, so that you wouldn't notice the cut.
… could he do that?
He was quite keen of the idea, as he mulled over it. He had never sewn before, but it couldn't be that difficult, could it? You just thread up the needle and sew it up, right?
Yes, he thought, determination flooding though him. He could do it. Mind made up, he hastily gathered up the rest of the stuff and threw the basket back onto the closet, the tiny sewing kit between his fingers.
Back in the main room, he paused to see if Stellar was awake or not. From the sound of her slow, steady breathing, he thought the coast was clear. Switching on the lamp at the desk – he left the main light off as to not disturb Stellar – he carefully unfolded the dress from his luggage and spread it onto the desk.
Shinn glanced at the clock. It was just past eleven o'clock. He looked back at the rip in the skirt. It was a mere foot long. He should be able to do it – even with no experience in about forty-five minutes, right?
He threaded the needle with white thread and stuck it in at the hem, quickly making the first stitch. See, easy.
11:16 – Shit. Looking up, he realized the few inches' worth of stitches he finished was, without a doubt, the most crooked and ugly he had ever seen in his life. Pull them out and start over.
11:35 – Why? Why does the cloth bunch up like that around his stitches (which were, to be fair, a bit more straight)? It was pulling the whole skirt out of shape. It'll never do. He yanked the thread out. Back to the beginning.
11:48 – Okay. The stitches are now straight (somewhat) and the cloth is not bunching up. Only problem: they were a slight bit too loose, so there was a sliver of space between them. Square one again…
12:05 – Finally. Finally. The stitches are straighter than ever. They are not too loose. They are in fact a tiny, tiny bit tight, but that was okay. He pushed the hair out of his eyes breathed a sigh. Approximately three stitches done. Only nine to go.
12:26 – No. No. He had forgotten to account for the fact the skirt tightened as it went up, and what had been slightly tight stitches at the hem were now too tight, making the cloth bunch again. Resisting the urge to hit his forehead against the table, he pulled out the stitches he had just finished and stuck the needle back into the white material.
12:51 – Okay. He was getting the hang if it – he hoped. The first two inches worth of sewing was pretty okay. But that last inch… Arg.
1:14 – Argh. What happened? It was way too loose – about a centimeters' worth of empty space. Start over.
1:45 – Shinn felt like cheering wit joy, as his fingers shakily pulled the needle through the last stitch. Finally. Finally! Finished. He put the needle away and rubbed his eyes.
It wasn't perfect, but it'll pass. He tiredly looked at the clock and received a shock. He had spent nearly three hours sewing up a twelve inches worth of material?
Ah, well…
He bought it over to the closet and hung it up. Tiredly, he went into the washroom to wash his hands. Incidentally, his hand were covered with scratches where he had stabbed himself with the needle. It stung a bit from the water but he ignored it and shut the tap.
Yawning hugely, he shuffled into bed and promptly fell asleep.
Morning announced itself with bright rays off sunlight in Stellar's face. Sleepily, she sat up, rubbing her eyes. Morning already? She smiled. Yesterday was unbelievably fun – but today would be good too, she could feel it.
Excitedly, she threw off the covers and went over to Shinn's bedside She saw Shinn sleeping with his face buried in the blanket. She reached out a hand and shook his shoulder. "Eh, Shinn. Wake up."
He merely turned over in his sleep so that he was no longer facing her. Shaking harder, se spoke more loudly. "Shinn! Shinn – wake up, please!"
Groaning, he buried his head under the pillow. A muffled "G'way" reached her ears.
Regarding his sleeping position, Stellar got a very … "good" idea. She giggled quietly to herself. Swiftly, she yanked the pillow from over his head and promptly threw it into his face. Giggling softly, she watched as Shinn stirred and finally sat up. She kept laughing until - !
"Hey, why did you hit me with the pillow?" She demanded.
Shinn looked perfectly unconcerned "Well, you hit me first, you see."
"Well – !" She picked up the pillow and hit him head over the head with it, before retreating to the desk, starting to laugh.
Shinn looked incredulous for a second, but then, with a sigh, gave up. "Okay, fine. I'm up."
"Yay!" she beamed. "Where will we go today, Shinn?"
"Ah." Shinn had a secretive look on his face. "A surprise. And no – I will NOT tell you what it is", he added as she opened her mouth. "Just put on what the dress in the closet. Okay?"
Giving him a questioning look, she opening the closet door. Shinn watched as a look off sheer delight spread across her face, making her eyes sparkle brightly. "Ah – my dress!" She hugged it to her chest. Turning to him, she said, " Did you fix it for me? Ah! Thank you so much!" She gave him a tight hug before kissing his cheek again. "So happy!" She did a sort of dance on the spot. "Can I wear it today, Shinn?"
Laughing, he nodded and watched her positively skip across the room to the bathroom. He took advantage of the time alone and quickly changed his won clothes and packed their bags for the day.
"Ready to go out?" he asked when she came out, the dress suiting her perfectly. She nodded enthusiastically and took her bag. "Then let's go."
"W-wait! I forgot something." She rummaged around her luggage and put something into her bag, with her back turned to the black-haired man so that he could not see what it was at all.
With little difficultly, he managed to catch the bus and got off at the correct top – a beautiful rock cliff above the ocean.
Gasping at the sheer beauty, Stellar walked forward as if in a trance. "It's so beautiful," she breathed.
"Yeah, but this isn't where we're going." He tugged lightly at her hand and with a backward glance she followed him down the road.
Several moments later, they found themselves at a quiet shop. Inside, Shinn talked quietly to the shopkeeper while Stellar waited by the window.
"Eh, Stellar, let's go."
Slightly confused, Stellar followed him out though a door she had not seen and out onto a deck. Shinn looked around carefully, before leading her beside a white sailboat.
"Want to go out for a boat ride?" He smiled at her. "We can see the ocean up close."
Stellar nodded enthusiastically. "Ah!"
"Okay, then." Shinn carefully climbed into the boat, before turning back and helping Stellar into the boat. "Here, you can sit here… He scratched the back of his head, surveying the equipment. He had out on a sailboat only one other time. If he could only remember how it works…
He consulting a piece of paper. "I think this does this…" He tried to turn the sail. "Very good."
Stellar got up. "Stellar can help you?"
"I almost got it, now."
Moments later, he let a cry – "Aha!" – and promptly the sailboat drifted out into sea. Pausing, he turned to the purple-eyed girl. "You might want to sit down. I'm not sure how the winds are today." Waiting until she sat down, he started to maneuver the boat.
Shinn got it out to sea so far that they could no longer see the shore. There were a few islands varying in size around them. They were in what seemed the midpoint between the large island in front of them and the shore behind them. There were smaller islands to their left. Ducking around the mast, he sat down beside Stellar. "Let's just drift a bit, okay?"
They lapsed into a comfortable silence.
After a moment, Stellar broke the silence. "Eh, Shinn, it is so peaceful here…" She trailed a hand lazily in the warm waters. "I have never been so close to the ocean before." She smiled softly. "The ocean is my favorite place, you know that, right?" She looked toward the sky. "It's because it is so soft and quiet. So peaceful and safe. When I am here, there is nothing to fear. This is the place that makes me this happiest." Smiling, she looked to Shinn. "What is Shinn's favorite place?"
He didn't have to give it any thought. "I like the ocean to best." He did. If the ocean was the place where Stellar was the happiest and smiled the most, it was, without a doubt, be his favorite place as well.
"Really?" Her eyes sparkled. "Oh! Hey, Shinn..."
"Yeah?"
"Wait a second…" She reached in her bag and pulled out a small package wrapped in tissue paper. "For Shinn."
Intrigued, he accepted the package and carefully opened it. Inside was a delicate glass jar, filled with intricately made paper stars. It was beautiful. "Stellar… did you make it? Thank you…" Putting an arm across her shoulders he leaned close and pressed a soft kiss to her mouth. "Pulling away, he said softly "It's very beautiful. I like it a lot."
She blushed slightly and shook her head.
They spent moments like that, half in an embrace, simply enjoying each other's warmth.
Suddenly, Shinn shifted. "Oh, right – hey Stellar, want to take a picture? Here, with the islands behind us? It can go into the picture frame you bought yesterday"
She agreed happily, and he pulled a small digital camera out of his bag. He looked around. "Hey, that is a very pretty background there… He carefully turned to boat a fraction, then settled back into the seat, close to Stellar.
With his left hand, he held out the camera in front of them. Glancing at Stellar to see her smiling softly, he turned to face to camera and smiled happily.
It was absolutely wonderful. His most important person beside him, smiling happily with him in her – no, their most favorite place in the world.
Click!
Picture Perfect.
Thanks for reading,
Jisushika-chan
March 22, 2007