hello, here is the next chapter. Thank you to everyone who revised, favorites and followed, it made me very happy! I only own my characters and I hope you enjoy the chapter.
chapter 11
A few days later, Nicky awoke to a rare occasion. following his nose to the kitchen, he paused in the doorway and watch Nix, clad only in a ratty tank top and pajama shorts, dance around the kitchen as she prepared eggs, bacon, and pancakes. she swayed along to the song blar8ng through her headphones, singing along at different times, completely unaware of her audience.
Nicky turned around, sensing Hi Dan and Deidara just in time to shush them. Tobi, Itachi, and Sasori had begun some basic chakra exercises with him, and he'd quickly realized that he was able to sense other people with ease. he'd been informed by Sasori that he was a sensor, which was fairly rare and was a helpful ability he'd come to appreciate greatly, but he just liked the fact that people couldn't sneak up on him anymore.
he put a finger to his lips, waving the other frantically, signaling them to stay quiet.
seeing the two were going to listen, for now, he dashed up the stairs into his room. diving under his bed, he pulled out a dusty box. pulling the top off he dug through its contents, grinning in victory when he pulled out the video camera he'd gotten for his last birthday.
running back down the stairs as quietly as he could, he skidded to a stop and peeked around the corner, readying his video camera as Nix continued singing, completely oblivious to her audience.
she bobbed her head as she sang, quietly but happier than he'd seen her before.
"people like us, we gotta stick together. keep your head up, nothing lasts forever. here's to the damned, lost and forgotten. hard to keep your head up when you're living on the bottom,"
She sang, before giving a startled yelp as she turned around and Nicky wasn't fast enough to duck back behind the doorway.
"Nicky, you scared the crap out of me! why are you skulking around the corner like a thief," she exclaimed.
"Sorry, Nixy. you seemed to be having so much fun, I didn't want to bother you. didn't mean to scare you." Nichalos said sheepishly, entering the kitchen.
Nix's eyebrows raised as she watched an equally sheepish Hidan and Deidara walk in behind him.
"were you recording me?" Nix asked, not angry, just curious.
"yeah, sorry," Nicky said, looking down.
"I'm not mad, it doesn't bother me, but why, anand where did you get the video camera?" Nix said, looking down at him curiously.
"my mom and dad gave it to me for my last birthday. I like recording people and making movies. the three of us used to do it all the time, the movies were cooler than a picture book and it's interesting seeing people when they don't see you," Nicky explained shyly.
"Hm, you know something? my family used to do something similar. I actually think I have a couple of them sasaved in the box in my closet." Nix said, surprising him.
"Really? can we see them, please?" Nicky begged.
"I guess so, but don't make a mess in the closet and eat first, I have somewhere I need to be today and I'd like you to come along. a couple others cam come along as well, as long as they don't mind being kittens," Nix said.
"Kay, thanks!" Nicky said, running out of the kitchen, snagging Deidara and Hidan to help him search.
"I said to eat first!" Nix called after him with an amused smile,watching as Nicky and the others came back.
The rest of the Akatsuki meandered into the kitchen, lured in by the delicious smell beginning to fill the house.
"Can I go look for them now?" Nicky pleaded once his plate was empty.
"Ok, ok. Go ahead, I'll do the dishes this time," she said, waving him off and laughing under her breath when he ran from the kitchen.
Deidara and Hidan followed close behind him, trying and failing to look uninterested.
"What are those three so excited about?" Kisame asked.
"I told Nicky he could watch a few family videos my parents made when I was younger," she said, shrugging a little and turning to drop a stack of dishes in the sink.
Curious, the rest of the Akatsuki, minus pein and Tobi, made their way to the living room, just as Nicky and the other two came down the stairs, a small wooden box held carefully in Nicky arms.
Once everyone was situated around the room, Nicky opened the box to see six VCR tapes neatly labeled and laying nestled in the bottom. Nicky took out the first and pushed it into the video player carefully.
After a few seconds of static the video cleared to show a young man with bright green eyes and black hair tied back in a low ponytail. He was grinning at the woman standing next to him, his arm around her waist. She had short brown hair in a pixie cut and eyes that looked almost turquoise. There were bags under her eyes and line of exhaustion lining her face but she was smiling with joy as she looked down at the small baby sleeping peacefully in her arms.
"Welcome to the world Ananixita! We love you and are so glad you're finally here," the man said.
The woman snorted, "you're glad? I'm the one who had an eighteen hour labor time," she joked tiredly , leaning into him a little more, "trust me. No one is happier than I am,"
The man dropped a kiss on the top of her head. "You're right, and I love you very much too," he said with a fond smile.
"Cheesey," she teased and gave him another smile before the video turned back to static.
A new video starts. The same man from before is sitting on the couch, a giggly, squirming baby on his lap.
"Just wait, Mara, her first words are going to be daddy." He said, as he bounced the baby girl.
"Yeah right. It's clearly going to be mama, since I'm her favorite, don't get your hopes up Gabriel, all that disappointment can't be good for your self esteem," the woman, who was holding the camera passed back.
At that moment the little girl giggled and burbled, "fock!" And clapped her tiny hands cheerfully.
There was matching, stunned silence from both sides of the tv before the people watching the video began laughing hysterically. Meanwhile, on the screen, Gabriel is sputtering in horror while Mara seems torn between outrage and utter amusement.
"Who taught her that?!" She managed.
"No,no,no,no. Not my pure, sweet Nixita! That is a bad word sweetie! Very bad! Say dada instead! Dada, dada!" Gabriel pleaded, a little hysterically.
The little girl just giggled again and smacked her tiny hands on his face, giving him a wide gummy smile.
"Fock, F ock, fock, Amma,dada, fock!" She babbled, clapping her hands.
Mara lost all control and the camera dropped as she began laughing hysterically, nearly wheezing for breath. While her husband's voice could be heardbwailing in dismay in the background.
While everyone in the living room is laughing, Nix enters the room and pauses the video, looking at the frozen picture on the screen with an overwhelmingly longing look on her face for a brief moment before she seems to give herself a little shake and turns back to the group with a small, soft smile on her face.
"Alright gang, we need to get going. I can take three of you as kitties, and one of you can come with as human," Nix said softly.
"Aw man, can't we keep watching?" Nicky pleaded.
Nix gave him an amused smile but shook her head firmly.
"Nope. I promised her we'd be there by noon and we're already pushing it, let's go. You can watch some more later, alright?" She said gently, but firmly.
