Ahiru was a simple girl, she would wake up every morning to feel the birds by her window, she loved to dance ballet despite no visible skillset, and she fell in love with the stoic Fakir. But never in a million years would she have ever thought he would reciprocate her feelings. When he asked her out, she nearly, very literally, fell out of her sea at the cafe they were at.

They've been officially together for a little under a year now, and she decided to try one of his hobbies: writing. Recently, he hasn't been around the house without a pen and journal, always taking notes, always jotting down prompts, occasionally writing an excerpt.

She took out a journal and sat at the desk, just waiting for inspiration to hit.

Just waiting for inspiration to hit. . . .

. . .

Waiting for INSPIRATION TO HIT!

She slammed her head on the desk, unable to think of anything, not a sentence, not a thought, not even a word to scribble in that damned journal of hers! Why was this so hard!

She leaned back on her chair, rubbing her face with the palms of her hands. This was going to be much harder than she thought.

There's gotta be somethin' that I can write about.

Maybe she just needed some air, or maybe water? Sunlight definitely will help, right? How about exercise? Maybe more water? Or how about a handstand? That oughta do it!

She slumped defeated in the chair, with not even a drop of ink on the paper. She laid her head down on the desk once again, facing sideways towards the bookshelf when something caught her eye.

She walked to the only picture frame in the room, before picking it up for a closer inspection. It was a photo of the vacation where she and Fakir met. He was there with his little cousin Uzura, his father Charon and his sister Retzel. She was there with her friends Pique and Lile, as she didn't have any family to go with her. She remembered she nearly skipped going there, as she had gotten rejected from a dance school she applied to, but she hadn't heard from Gold Krowne yet.

I felt so awful back then, I thought I was completely worthless

But ultimately, it was Pique that convinced her to come along, only for them to effectively dump her while they went off with their new beach boyfriends. If it wasn't for that, then Fakir never would have found her crying on the beach alone, and they never would have talked. THey never would have gotten dinner, and she never would have met his family, nor would they have taken that picture. Not only that, when she asked for it, Fakir got her number that way, then they started talking.

She caressed the frame of the picture, with a soft smile on her face, she returned the picture with a new determination. She'd write a story about a girl and a boy and a date with destiny.

30 minutes had flown by, and Ahiru was still struggling with the words. They weren't as elegant as Fakir's, but she managed to get something down, which was better than before. It wasn't long, but it at least made sense. She lifted her story, grinning in victory. . .

"What'cha got there?"

"QUA!"

Ahiru jumped out of her chair, her journal falling to the ground only for Fakir to pick it up.

"NO! IT'S NOTHING, JUST SOMETHING STUPID, DON'T READ IT!"

Her face became tomato red, as she tried to reach for the journal but unfortunately, she tripped over the chair and face planted right on the ground.

"Be careful you idiot!"

Fakir immediately went to pick her up, to see her embarrassment as she yanked the journal from his hands, holding it tight against her chest.

"What's the matter? It's not smut is it?"

Her face went even redder, as she came close to tears. "NO IT'S NOT SMUT! I JUST. . . I just. . . wrote a story."

"Why would you be embarrassed of a story?"

"Because it's dumb, ok?! I'm not as good at writing as you!"

Fakir looked at her before softly smiling. He reached out for her hand, gently lifting her up and holding her. He tenderly rubbed her back, knowing that always helped her whenever she's upset.

"You know, I haven't read it yet. When you're done with it, can I?"

Ahiru sniffled before nodding, aware that he's not trying to push her to do anything that she doesn't want to do. She was grateful for that.

"You promise you're not gonna laugh?"

"Not if that wasn't what you meant to do."

"Okay. . . I wrote about when we first met."

"At the beach?"

"Yeah, I just. . . I know it's not all fancy and wordsy, but it's how I wrote it."

"Can I read it?"

She nodded before she sat on the bed, Fakir following suit. He opened the journal and began reading it. Every movement, every page turn, every hum from him was torture for Ahiru. What if he thinks it's garbage? What if he breaks up with me? WHERE AM I GOING TO STAY NOW? Her thoughts were interrupted as he closed the journal then turned to face her.

"So. . . what did you think?"

"You need to work on your handwriting, I was having a hard time reading it"

"I told you! Give it back!" She reached for the journal, but he lifted it up, out of reach for her.

"But. . . From what I could read, it was very emotional. Simple, sure, but you wrote from your heart. I could feel everything you felt, the sadness, the hopelessness, but then the comfort, and eventually joy. It's not like my writing, and I don't want you to try to make it like mine. I want you, exactly for who you are."

He then leaned in to give her a hug, planting a sweet kiss on the top of her head. She tentatively wrapped her arms around him before she squeezed tight. Even when he was mean, he always knew just what to say to make her feel better.

Maybe she should try this writing thing more often.

Author's note:
Whooo-eee. This was originally meant to be a 100 word challenge prompt, because I've been having a hard time writing, and when I did, it never felt good enough. So I thought, heck it, why not make a short oneshot. . . then it got away from me w ''

Anyways, I can't guarantee when I'll make a new story, because work makes me so busy and I feel exhausted afterwards, but I'll try!

-Nani