Thursday
Clare groaned as the magic of the goddesses leaving rippled through the Inn. It touched her magic and made it tingle. Luke shuffled around and let go of the ninja to see what was going on. Unfortunately, a half awake Luke, is an uncoordinated Luke and as such tripped over the blankets getting up. Him hitting the floor woke the ninja with a started yelp.
"Ow..." Luke groaned quietly as he got to his knees holding his forehead.
"Are you okay?" Clare yawned as she sat up and rubbed her eyes.
"Yeah..." He replied, but the whimper of pain that accompanied it said that was a lie. Clare yawned again and stood after untangling herself from the sheets and walked over to him. She crouched in front of him and looked at the bump on his head. Luke had managed to hit his head hard enough to copy the grain of the floor to his forehead. She yawned, healed it then smoothed the grain out before yawning again.
"Go back to bed Angel, I see what's going on downstairs..." Luke said as he stood up.
"Alright..." She said and yawned again. The ninja stood and walked over to the bed and curled back under the navy blue covers. Luke slipped silently out the door.
"Can you make sure Clare gets these at the right time?" Farore's voice floated up to him.
"Of course Milady..." Luke replied. Din yawned and rubbed her eyes as Nayru held three boxes to him.
"You guys could have stayed one more night..." Anni said as she cradled Sophie to her chest.
"Oh we'll be coming back, we just need to go do our duties..." Nayru said as Din swayed, "Why do we have to leave now?" She asked.
"Cause you were whining about how you missed your bed..." Nayru replied. And as the two bickered, Farore gave Luke a smiled and turned to Anni to give her and Sophie a hug.
"I'll miss having the extra set of hands..." Anni said quietly as she hugged the green haired goddess.
"Oh I'll be back...Can't leave Clare alone for long anymore...Just need to make sure things are still running normally, won't take too long." She said and patted Anni's head. The young mother smiled and Sophie yawned rubbing her eyes. Din and Nayru had already faded away and Farore gave Sophie a kiss on her head before she too disappeared. Anni sighed, "Let's get you fed and then we'll go back to bed..." the mother told her daughter before disappearing up the stairs. Luke looked at the boxes in his hands the top said, 'don't even thing about looking in here...'
"Yes Miladies..." Luke muttered and headed back upstairs to go back and cuddle with Clare. The ninja was asleep but her arms were not wrapped around anything. Luke placed the boxes on the desk and climbed back into bed next to his Angel. She immediately grabbed at him and once she got a hold of him snuggled into his side.
"If I didn't love it so much I call her the clingy one..." Luke muttered as he looped his arm around her. She mumbled in her sleep and nuzzled his side lightly. Luke shook his head and soon nodded off himself. Around seven everyone crept by silently, not waking the ninja up for once, well all except Link of course. Link, the klutz that he is, tripped and promptly fell down the stairs. The ninja groaned and buried herself into Luke's chest, she climbed up on it sometime during the night. Luke instinctively tightened his hold on her. She was silent after that and slept on. Anni slipped by and shut their door before continuing downstairs to pick up her husband and check him for injuries. It wasn't until around ten that Clare finally awoke, since someone was nuzzling her shoulder.
"Come on Clare wake up, you've already missed breakfast..." Luke coaxed.
"Mmm..." she groaned and slowly opened her eyes before yawning.
"Good morning Angel..." Luke said quietly as he tucked her hair behind her ears.
"Morning..." Clare said and propped her head on her arms.
"Did you sleep well?" He asked kissing her forehead.
"Yeah..." She yawned and smiled lightly to him.
"Good..." Luke replied as he kissed her temple. She smiled and nuzzled his chest with her nose lightly.
"Shall we get up?" Luke asked.
"I guess we could get up..." She whispered and rolled so she was on her back.
"We don't have to, if you want to stay in bed..." Luke said quickly.
"I've got stuff to do today, so if I want them done, I've got to get up anyways..." Clare said.
"Alright..." Luke replied as he kissed her cheek and got out of bed. The ninja sat up and also got out of bed. Luke opened the curtains and ran his fingers through his hair after stretching. Clare pulled the shirt that she was still wearing off and folded it.
"Ahh autumn, my most hated season..." Luke muttered as he leaned on the window sill.
"Why, my birthday day is in the fall." Clare said as she put the shirt back in the drawer.
"Because it's the only time of the year I can't balance my body temperature..." Luke replied resting his head on the window pane.
"Aww poor Luke." She said and patted his shoulder. In one pat his temperature jumped then fell and Luke sighed. "I hate Autumn..."
"Well, I don't know about you, I'm going outside to fix that stupid engine..." The ninja said kissing his cheek.
"Good luck..." Luke muttered and sat down heavily. The ninja shook her head and disappeared out the door and down the stairs. Anni was out on the lawn hanging laundry while Link played with their daughter.
"Hey guys." Clare said and waved as she walked by. Anni smiled while Link lifted his head off the grass and waved Sophie's hand. Clare giggled and walked to the ship and climbed up. It was sunny but a little chilly what with the breeze. Clare slid into the cabin and walked over to the engine where pieces of metal littered around it. It looked like one of Link's bombs had gone off in the engine.
"Looks like I've got my work cut out for me...I'm so gonna need a bath after this..." Clare said as she picked up a wrench. As if to further her work, the top half of the engine caved in. She sighed and got to work repairing the troublesome engine. A few hours later and the ninja came out of the cabin absolutely covered in soot and ash. The sun was already heading towards the west as the twins peeked out of the blue sky. Clare whipped her face as she walked over to the Inn. Anni was bringing in the sheets with Sophie in her sling across her mum's back. The ninja waved lightly and went up the stair to the porch. Luke was sitting in front of the fire with a blanket wrapped around him as he held his hands in front of the flames.
"Are you really that cold?" Clare asked as she walked by.
"Y-yes..." He stuttered.
"Well if you want you can come to the hot spring with me..." Clare said as she stopped at the foot of the stairs.
"S-sounds g-good..." Luke shivered as he pulled the blanket tighter around him before following her.
"You're going to have to carry the towels, I'm covered in soot and ash..." Clare said as she dug out her washing things. Luke nodded and went to get a couple of towels. She waited for him by the door to the hall. Luke came back with a heavy coat in place of his normal sea coat but the towels were tucked under his arm.
"Ready to go?" She asked him. He nodded knowing very well his voice would shake if he spoke.
"Okay, let's go." She said and walked down the stairs. Luke followed after her, slipping one of his icy hands into hers.
"Oh burr, you are cold." She said and wrapped her fingers around his hand.
"T-tell me about it..." He replied.
"Well hopefully a nice warm soak will help." She said and dragged him outside. Luke nodded and allowed himself to be dragged behind his ninja. They walked until they got to the springs.
"Come on, let's get cleaned and warmed up." She said and put her things on the rock beside the spring. Luke nodded and released her hand and shrugged off his coat. Clare climbed into the spring and walked over to the middle. Luke slipped in behind her and sunk down to his shoulders. The ninja went over to her washing things and got her strawberry cream body wash. Luke shivered and dunked himself. While he was done, Clare washed her body and rinsed. Luke came back up but stayed low in the water.
"Still cold?" She asked. Luke nodded as a shiver ran across his shoulders. She walked over to him and sat next to him and rubbed his shoulder. Even in the warm water of the spring there was a chill to his skin that refused to leave.
"I'm going to go wash my hair then I'll try to get you warmed up..." She said and grabbed her berry shampoo. He nodded again and stayed low in the water. Clare smiled and put a glob of the soap in her hand then lathered it in her hair as she moved away to get not it in his eyes. Luke shivered and groaned pathetically. Clare dunked to rinse and came back up flipping her hair over her head. Luke had backed himself against the edge of the pool in hopes of staying warm. She came over to him after wringing her hair out. She sat beside him and nuzzled his cold neck. Luke naturally leaned closer to her warmth. She wrapped her arms around him, the spring water keeping her warm.
"I hate fall..." Luke hissed as another shiver ran across his skin.
"I'll keep you warm..." She said and nuzzled his temple gently. Luke grumbled something inaudible before cuddling into the ninja's warmth. She kept nuzzling his temple. Luke sighed as he rested his head on her shoulder. She nuzzled the top of his head after he moved.
"I'm still cold..." Luke muttered.
"Do you want to go back inside?" Clare asked.
"Sure..." Luke replied.
"Alright, let's get out and dried off..." She said and stood up. Luke nodded and pulled himself up onto the grass by the spring. Clare pulled herself up afterwards and grabbed a towel. Luke had towelled off and redressed and was now huddled up in his coat to retain while little warmth he had attained.
"Let's go inside." She said and dried off quickly then grabbed her things. Luke quickly went to her side before finding her hand. She leaned close to him to help him warm up as they walked back to the Inn. Luke shivered and kept her close. She quickly pulled him inside and sat him back in front of the fire.
"Uncle Luke do you want a hot chocolate?" Anni asked as she came into the room with Sophie. Clare went to go put her things away and come back down the stairs to cuddle with her boy friend.
"Hold her while I get him something warm to drink..." Anni said to her Aunt while placing her daughter in Clare's arms.
"Okay..." Clare said and held the child close to her. Sophie looked up at her Aunt then at her Uncle before reaching up to Clare as Anni slipped out of the room.
"Hello Sophie..." Clare said and put her head near her hands. Sophie placed her hands on Clare's cheeks, "Is Uncle going to be okay?" A voice in Clare's head asked. The ninja blinked.
"Anni did you forget to tell me something about Sophie?" Clare asked as she nodded to Sophie.
"Opps, I'm sorry, I'm so used to it I forgot." Anni said a little embarrassed as she came back into the room with a hot chocolate.
"Ugh..." Clare said and flopped backwards now currently laying on her back with Sophie on her stomach.
"Sorry Auntie..." Sophie said in Clare's head as Luke took the cup from Anni and she draped a blanket around his shoulders.
"Don't worry about it...I should expect something odd whenever I'm here..." Clare said as she looked at Sophie. Sophie cuddled into Clare's stomach while Luke shivered violently.
"Maybe we should put you to bed..." Clare said looking over at him. Luke didn't answer just sipped at his hot chocolate.
"Okay, after hot chocolate, you are going to bed..." She said and looked up at the roof with a yawn.
"O-okay..." Luke said.
"Alright..." Clare said and played with Sophie's hair. Sophie cuddled to Clare until Anni came and got her for bed. The ninja sat up and looked over at Luke. Luke had finished his drink and had tightened the blanket around himself.
"Okay mister, off to bed." Clare said standing up. Luke stood with her and shivered. She looped her arm threw his and pulled him to the stairs. Luke let himself be pulled. She pulled him into their room and pushed him onto the bed, "Get warm, I'll be right back." She said. Luke shivered and jumped into bed pulling the blankets tight around his frame. Clare disappeared into the bathroom and came back out with her big green parka and put it over him then climbed in.
"I hate fall..." Luke growled and snuggled into Clare and her parka.
"Well I hate winter..." Clare said and wrapped her arms around him. It was like hugging snow. But Clare dealt with it since this was the man she loved. Luke shivered again, "I'm f-freezing..."
"You are..." She whispered and pulled him closer. Luke buried himself further in Clare's arms trying to warm himself. The ninja's body couldn't take the cold anymore and she shivered slightly. Luke quickly released her and shuffled away a little. She didn't release him but instead wrapped herself in another blanket then she snuggled the top of his head.
"Aren't you cold?" He asked as he returned to her embrace.
"Yeah, but you need to get warm..." She whispered and pulled him close.
"I-I'll l-live..." Luke replied, "I h-have dealt with it for y-years."
"Is that part of the reason why you're always out at sea? No such thing as Autumn?" Clare asked.
"Exactly." Luke replied with another shiver. She pulled him as close as possible, "That's a good excuse." She whispered. Luke said nothing more as he cuddled up to the ninja.
"Warming up yet?" Clare asked as she put his head on her chest gently.
"A little..." Luke replied.
"That's good..." She whispered and closed her eyes. Luke sighed and curled closer to the ninja. She rubbed her hand up and down his back slowly. Luke grumbled something inaudible and nuzzled her neck. She nuzzled the top of his head and tightened her hold slightly. Luke settled and soon started to nod off. She kept nuzzling the top of his head and hummed softly. Luke yawned and rubbed his eyes as he struggled to stay awake.
"Go to sleep Luke..." Clare whispered and kissed the top of his head.
"But I'm not tired..." He said before yawning.
"Says the yawn..." She whispered. Luke grumbled something and buried himself further into her arms. Clare giggled and nuzzled the top of his head then yawned herself. Luke's soft even breathing signified he'd fallen asleep. She smiled lightly and fell asleep himself.