Once again we travelled to Port Angeles, this time for a cooking class. I had managed to find a Sushi Made Simple class that was being held this evening.
Bella was excited and, for once, didn't fall asleep on the journey. She asked if I had ever eaten Japanese food before to which I answered honestly. Apparently sushi is popular everywhere now, including Phoenix. Well, it has yet to reach Forks, but then so have many modern comforts.
Bella was very excited to take the class, she wore a wide smile and her eyes were bright. She looked more radiant than I have ever seen her my insides were doing somersaults all evening. When our teacher greeted us in Japanese, Bella was taken aback to hear me respond and have a short Japanese conversation.
I hadn't paid attention to human food for ninety years, it all just looks like different kinds of mud to me. I had forgotten the name of the white stuff called rice. It was not popular when I was alive, I don't recall ever eating it, but then I have no memories whatsoever of food or eating.
We cooked eggs to make the topping for tamago nigiri. Having never cooked anything whatsoever before, it was such a novel experience! My first attempt went up in smoke, as did my second and third, but after that Bella intervened and spoke to me firmly, pushing me out of the way when I was making errors. I found this bolder approach of hers most alluring, and admit I started to deliberately sabotage my own efforts in order to cause her to raise her voice to me.
When the teacher passed out the fish and I asked how we were going to cook it, Bella started laughing so hard I feared she was choking. I positioned myself behind her to grasp her in the Heimlich manoeuvre, but once I placed my arms around her she froze, stopped laughing and in a soft said "Edward! What are you doing?" I realised my mistake and explained, which prompted further giggles from Bella.
The sound of her laughter is so captivating, it makes my chest ache. I should like to make her laugh like that every day. When I hear her laugh all seems right with the world for a moment.
The fish was slimy and the feel of it made me shudder and gag a little. I hissed as I going through to control my revulsion and I fear Bella noticed. She used sign language, saying "You're hissing! Are you ok?" This snapped me out of it and I redoubled my efforts to hide my disgust.
We made ebi, tamago and maguro nigiri, kappa maki and inarizushi. After a few attempts where I crushed everything into a mush with my palms, I managed to adopt a gentler touch, producing perfectly even pieces of sushi for our plate.
Bella had overfilled her kappa maki so they looked a little forlorn, collapsing out of their nori bindings onto her plate. She seemed to be very much enjoying herself though. She gets to do things for herself so rarely. I was most glad to have this opportunity together.
The end of class came all too quickly and we were asked to share what we had made with our partner.
Bella and I both took one of my ebi nigiri. As soon as I put it in my mouth I regretted it. This was some spicy mud. Tears immediately started streaming down Bella's face, as she grimaced and swallowed proclaiming "you've poisoned me!" Venom surged up through my sinuses, leaking into my ears and, to my great shock, out of my eyes, like tears, for the first time in this second lifetime, I experienced some approximation of weeping.
Bella peeled back the shrimp on another of my nigiri revealing my error. There was more wasabi than rice in retrospect. Bella slapped me playfully, then shook her hand from the impact. I hope she did not hurt herself.
We ate some of Bella's sushi- bland mud that she seemed to greatly enjoy. She hummed and smiled as she ate and I was transfixed by the vision before me. I very much want to learn to cook now, so that I may elicit such a reaction from her.
We thanked our teacher for a wonderful class and made our way home, Bella softly belching between snores in the car. So adorable!
I was sad to drop her home, of course, but felt a pressing need to be alone.
Once positioned in my closet, I choked down piece after vile piece, until I had eaten all the rest of the sushi I had made. It hurt, but not as much as the useless lovesick aching in my chest that never ceases. It was worth it so that I could finally cry over my hopelessly broken heart and the cursed infernal eternity I face without Bella beside me.
A/N: Please leave a review! Thanks so much to my wonderful beta wh1teow1, please show some love and read Moirai, a reimagining of Twilight for the new decade! Have you ever eaten too much wasabi? It stings so bad!