"I like going out to eat with you two, it makes me feel normal," Saya said cheerfully as she stepped out of the car.
"Likewise obachan," said the twins, simultaneously.
Saya began walking toward the door, when a familiar sound stopped her in her tracks.
Haji's playing. Sounds like it's coming from the beach, she thought.
"Go on, sounds like Yo-yo's calling you," giggled Ruka.
Aka grabbed Saya's wrist and placed a breath mint from the restaurant in her palm.
The two girls walked away, whispering amongst themselves, as always.
Those girls, Saya thought with a smile, as she began walking across the small wooded area between the house and the beach.
It's weird, now that I've regained my memories, I kind of don't know how to act around Haji.
I kissed him.
He said that he loved me.
But that was thirty years ago.
She hiked up the small hill separating the forest from the beach, and stood where the dirt and pine needles met the sand. He was sitting on a large log of driftwood and she was about five feet behind him.
She simply stood there, letting the beauty of the moment penetrate her senses. The light from the sunset had created a shimmering golden pathway leading from the water's edge in front of her, across miles of ocean to where the sun was just beginning to sink into the sea. She smiled as she thought of how all the elements of the scene mixed together perfectly – the brilliant seaside sunset, the calming roar of the waves crashing and then creeping up onto the shore mixed with the music of an expert cellist, and Haji's subtle nods and the graceful fluid movements of his bow hand as he played.
Even though his eyes were closed and he seemed to be lost in the music, he did realize that she was there. Perhaps sensing that he was being admired, he simply continued to play.
He is beautiful, she thought to her self, I can't believe I didn't notice it before.
A few weeks ago, when I saw him before I had regained my memories, I actually thought to my self, 'Wow, he's hot.' He was just my cute new cello teacher. I even worked up the nerve to flirt with him a little, just the standard flattery and excessive smiling. Now that I think about it, the look on his face was absolutely priceless.
But I think him being attractive didn't really occur to me before then.
I guess when we were back at the Zoo, I was aware when he had become a man, but to me, that only meant that he was taller. It didn't occur to me to look at him as anything but family, but I guess as the years went by, things changed. I'm not sure when it happened and I didn't realize it at the time, but I guess I did fall in love with him. It wasn't the kind of love where looks matter though, but at the same time, he was more than just family or a friend. He was just soul mate, that's all there was to it. Him being attractive was kind of irrelevant.
I guess took him for granted.
Maybe I noticed this time because I hadn't regained my memories. Then again, I did run into him before remembering last time too, back when I was still living with Dad and Kai and Riku. But when I saw him that night at school, I thought he was pulling a knife on me, that situation isn't really conducive to checking someone out.
But now I see it. He's down right breath taking.
Her reflections were suddenly interrupted when a young man approached her. The complete stranger struck her as moderately good looking and seemed to be in his late teens, with tan skin and black but sun-streaked hair, wearing a damp tee shirt and board shorts.
"Hey, I think this is yours," he said as he handed her one of her Koa hair sticks, which apparently she had dropped. "Looks like the other one in your hair."
"Oh, thank you so much," she said sincerely.
The young man bashfully scratched the back of his head. "Um, hey, you wanna get a shave ice with me or somethin'?"
Haji's playing was momentarily marred by a slight screeching noise.
"Um," Saya struggled to think of something to say. "I'm sorry, but - I'm – I'm way too old for you."
The young man furrowed his brows, no doubt thinking she was mocking him.
"Pupule bobora," he grumbled as he continued on his way to wherever he was going.
Saya paid the young man no further mind, walked a few paces over to Haji and sat down close beside him. It was then that she noticed that he was quietly chuckling as he played.
"What?" she asked playfully. "Its true! I am way too old for him! I was born in what, 1833? I'm like, two hundred."
"That is why I find it amusing," replied Haji, as he continued to play.
He has such a cute laugh, she thought. I almost forgot what it sounded like.
Saya remained silent until the song had finished. He placed his bow in the case, indicating that he was finished.
She watched as he placed his cello in the case, and she took notice of the secret sword compartment and spent a moment in silent thought.
"It was my dream to travel the world with you and my sword. Now that I think about it, that's what I've been doing all this time," she paused. "I'm not sure if it makes me happy or sad, the thought that I am already living my dream."
"Our dream," he corrected.
She turned to him and smiled, and the sight of it emboldened him to drape his bandaged, chiropteran arm over her shoulders and pull her close to him. She slid her hand across his back and gently grasped his side, resting her head against his chest.
"Saya," he said softly, "I do not believe that you have spent all these years traveling with your sword. You have been traveling for your sword."
She turned to look up at him, struck speechless by what he had said. It was as if he had just eloquently summed up most of her life in just a few words. Such was Haji's way, he didn't speak his mind often, but when he did, it always seemed to leave her dumbfounded.
He understood her.
Haji tenderly placed his human hand on her cheek; she smiled as he wiped away the tear that had just begun to leave her eye.
"Your right, Haji," she said as she placed her free hand on his knee, exhaling through pursed lips, trying to gather her courage. "Maybe after we finally finish off the corpse corps, we can do some travelling only for each other, and forget about the sword," she forced herself to blurt out, before she lost her nerve.
The smile Haji gave her at that moment was wider and more sincere than any he had shown in at least a century. She giggled as he held her face between his hands and covered it in kisses before finally finding her lips and kissing her so deeply that she bent over backwards until she was laying flat on the driftwood log. It was many long seconds before she could bring herself to stop him, on the contrary, for most of those seconds, she gave nothing but encouragement.
"Haji!" she giggled chidingly. "We're at a public beach, there are people around."
He sighed quietly as they both sat up.
"I take it you like that idea," she said as she brushed the sand off her shoulders.
"More than you know," he said, regaining his composure.
"Then we will, we can leave as soon as it's all over and if everything goes as planned, we'll make our final strike pretty soon. Then we can finally have our dream, the way we dreamed it." She paused as she came to a melancholy realization. "At least, for a little while."
He knew what she was referring to. "Saya, I will always be waiting for you when you wake."
A teasing, effeminate voice came from behind them. "It doesn't have to be that way," Nathan sang.
"Go away Nathan!" Haji snapped, that being one rare occasion where he was annoyed enough to do so. He killed enemies more often than he snapped at them.
"I'm sorry to interrupt, but I sensed that time was running out for me to deliver my message," Nathan said as he examined his own fingernails. "There is a way that Saya can permanently avoid her little thirty year naps."
"How?" Haji asked, irritation having turned to interest.
Nathan smiled knowingly. "I think it's time you two got a lesson in chiropteran biology."
Note on Hawaiian/Pidgin slang: Pupule means crazy in Hawaiin/Pidgin. Bobora is Pidgin/slang for a Japanese person who has just arrived in Hawaii. Not a polite thing to say.