A Flower In The Rain
10
It was raining...
For whatever reason the rain made Hana sleep less than usual...
And for whatever reason...It also made Hana want to dance.
So she took advantage of the situation and snuck out toward the shoreline at the ednge of Pelican Town.
She liked the rain on the beach... The impact of the cool sky water against the heated sand gave the area a sort of misty effect... Like Nature's steam room. Not to mention it made the gritty texture warm and squishy beneath her feet.
She also enjoyed the smell of the rain... And spinning, with the feeling of sand squishing between her toes...until she found herself tripping over wet wood. Each piece seemed to form a trail of rotting algae covered planks that broke off from what was once a plank bridge. Curious, she examined it and blinked, slowly running her fingers over what was the stronger and the weaker parts.
"...The Junimo love to help..." she said softly to herself, "But sometimes the people need to help themselves as well." she smiled. There seemed to be more to explore just on the other side...but with the bridge out of commission...she had decided to take it amongst herself to go and gather some of the spare wood she had at home... Returning to the beach she dropped to her knees and began banging pieces together while she hummed to herself.
Sebastian stood at the end of the doc in the rain. He liked the rain, and always came here when it drizzled.
Staring out into the vastness of the ocean...
However, a new vision caught his attention, as he shifted his eyes in a side ways glance, having caught some motion a bit further on the beach. He blinked with slightly widened eyes.
"...Hana?"
She had been drenched to the bone, slicking back her long wet waves of ginger hair while she focused on how much more she had left to repair, when a shadow hovered over her, startling her.
"...Having a bech day?" a familiar voice chuckled.
"Sebastian...!" she squeaked out suddenly, bringing an amused grin to his lips.
"Seriously though...what are you doing?" he wondered, studying the girl. She had a hammer in hand...and a pile ofwet wood next to her.
"Well...this used to be a bridge, right?" she questioned softly, "It's nothing fancy...but I ought to make a simple enough one to replace it."
"Aaaand...you couldn't think to do this in better weather than a Thunder Storm?" Sebastian chuckled.
"Why?" Hana blinked, "I'm here now...besides...it might have gotten too hot in the sun..."
"Well, yeah, maybe..." Sebastian blinked, "But you're gonna end up getting yourself sick hanging out in the rain." he chuckled, "I may have to end up dragging your ass back to the hospital for pneumonia..." he teased.
"Yeah...I suppose this is a bit of odd ball timing huh..." she chuckled, "I can't really explain it..but...when I see something like this...and there's something I can do to help...I don't really think about it, you know?" she smiled, "I kind of just do something about it...never mind the weather, and damn the torpedos and all of that..." she laughed, "I guess that's kind of weird huh?"
"A bit but who am I to judge on what's weird?" Sebastian chuckled, "Normal is overrated anyway..." he blinked,"Say...Hana?"
"Yeah? What's up?" Hana blinked back, catching eyes with each other a soft tint dusted their cheeks before Sebastian cleared his throat to change the subject-
"So, uh...what brings you to the beach anyway?" he wondered, "You don't look dressed to swim~" he teased, "And in this weather...surely you didn't come here just to fix an old rotting bridge."
Hana rolled her eyes.
"No I didn't come here to swim." she huffed, "I just...like the rain." she chuckled, "I alwaus have..." her eyes shifted to the boy hovering over her, "But you know...you're here too, right Sebastian?" she snickered, "I could as the same of you-"
"O-Oh, ah...yeah I suppose you could...haha." he laughed awkwardly, his eyes shifting a bit before resting on her a while.
She sure is a strange girl...
he thought to himself...
But there was something about her oddity that also had Sebastian intrigued...
"Same as you I guess." he said softly chuckling as he knelt down to sit beside her in the wet sand.
"I like the rain." he stated.
"Hmm...it would seem we've a lot in common...you and me." she said softly.
"Yeah...guess so." he said in return.
There was a silence between them...but it wasn't as awkward this time, as they usually were. Somehow...it felt oddly...peaceful.
Without a word she continued hammering together the pieces...and he would watch for a while...
"...You're hammering it wrong." he said to her.
"There's no right or wrong way to swing a hammer- AHH!" she whinced, accidentally having swung it down on her own finger.
"Hana! Are you all right!?" he asked softly.
"Yeah, I'm fine..." she muttered with her finger between her lips, "That really hurt though..."
"Here...let me see." he said-
She didn't really get much a chance to argue with him before he took her hand in his and examined it closely.
"...Told you you were hammering it wrong..." he finally said with a sigh. There seemed to be some hidden relief there however, "Still...you should be fine at least...give or take some light bruising." he chuckled.
"Well if you know so much better then why don't you do it." Hana scoffed with a smirk.
"Haha...fine then." he said to her, holding out his hand- much against Hana's expectations. She was joking honestly...
But he was serious...
"Just hand me the hammer!" he grinned.
XXXXX
"Sebaaaastiannn...?" Robin called out with a cupped hand while she held an umbrella in the other, "Now where on earth could my son be in this weather?" she pondered aloud with a sigh, "I know he liked to walk in the rain sometimes...but he's not usually gone this long..." she mumbled.
He's gonna catch his death if he stays out here...
She thought to herself.
She could swear she had looked everywhere in Town...but he wasn't at any of his usualy Valley spots...
"I don't suppose he's at the beach in this weather?" she wondered.
Her son wasn't really much for swimming...but she did know he liked to gaze out from the docks now and then...
Suppose it's worth a look...
She thought to herself.
Some unusally banging had caught her attention once her feet hit sand...
Funny...that doesn't sound like Thunder...
She thought to herself as she looked to try and figure out where the source was coming from and let loose a surprised gasp when she found it...
"Okay...I'll hand it to you." Hana's voice came over softly above the rain, "You know how to handle a hammer."
"Yeah well...Maybe it's hereditary." Sebastian chuckled, "After all...my mom is the local carpenter-"
"Hold on-" Hana blinked, "You mean your mom is Ms. Robin!?"
"Huh? Well...yeah. She is." Sebastian blinked, "Wait..did you not know that?"
"No, I did not!" Hana huffed and Sebastian laughed softly at her flustered expression.
"Geez- you have a sister, your mom is Robin- is there anything else you want to share with me in this shower together!?"
"Ha HA!" Sebastian's laugh echoed through the storm and brought a small flutter to his mother's heart...
"Sebastian...well I'll be..." she chuckled softly.
It had been a long time since I had seen him smile like that...
She thought to herself.
Let alone talk to anyone other than Sam...and Abigail on occasion...
She smiled.
"I'll leave him be." she said softly, "He'll come home when he's ready..." she sighed, "Maybe I'll make him some Parsnip Soup..." she smiled and glanced back once more, "...And perhaps...I'll have him bring some by to Hana, too."
she chuckled.
To Be Continued...