Heart to Hearts
Part III, Chapter Three
"Where were you?" Rei hissed as Ami slid into the chair next to her.
Ami shook her head firmly, indicating that they would talk later. Jaden was grinning roguishly, looking extremely proud of himself. Her father was looking at her with raised eyebrows, the surprise evident on his face. It must have been the first time in her life that his neat, overly-organized daughter was late.
Her mother, however, was looking like the cat that ate the canary. She was beaming at Ami and Zach, and Ami wanted to slide under the table, overcome with humiliation, when Aileen asked Zach where he and Ami had been. The emphasis on he and Ami was heavily unsubtle, and despite her stern tone, Aileen, too, was smiling as she enjoyed the spectacle.
‘Smart boy,' Kira Mizuno thought to herself, ‘if only Ami had his sense.'
Ami had much more sense than Zach, but she couldn't even listen to his answer, she was so embarrassed. But she was well aware of that fact that he basically ignored her during the entire meal, despite the fact that he was sitting diagonal to her. He never addressed her; he never even looked her way. ‘Was it something I said?' she wondered. ‘Was it something did?'
Then she did the mental equivalent of tossing her head, and the shy, delicate lily of a girl retreated into the ice statuette. ‘He was only playing around,' she reminded herself, ‘and you'd better be on your guard. Give him the cold shoulder and ignore him before he gets that idea that you're just like all the other girls he flirts with!'
Her acute embarrassment increased when, on her way to the music room, Jaden motioned for her to walk with him. They trailed behind the others, and Rei kept looking back at them suspiciously.
"Did you have a nice time with Zach this afternoon?" He smiled innocently as she glared menacingly at him.
Through gritted teeth, she hissed, "It was all your fault! You knew he was in the library, and you left me there–alone–with him!!"
He pretended to be shocked. "Why, Ami, I didn't know you were so fond of me!"
She continued to glower at him for a few minutes, but his smile was infectious. She had discovered, after spending a large amount of time with him on Rei's behalf, that he wasn't really as bad as he'd seemed. He might be a joker three-fourths of the time, but the other one-fourth of the time, when he was willing to have serious conversation, he wasn't so bad.
And not everyone, she smiled wryly, could be as serious as she was. Both her father and Rei kept reminding her of the fact. Jaden wasn't as tricky and underhanded as Zach seemed to be, for another thing. His intentions were pretty much out in the open, and he was dependable, for the most part. But some perverse aspect of his nature always seemed to be setting off Rei's fiery temper.
They entered the music room, and Ami took a seat next to Rei. The room was brightly lit, and the light-colored wood floor shone golden. The shelves were full of books and sheet music, and the CDs on the racks all seemed to be classical. She allowed herself a small smile of amusement–she hadn't figured Jaden and Zachary for the classical type.
The first thing that had caught her attention, however, had been the grand piano. She hadn't played in years, as lessons were hard to keep up at boarding school, but she had taken lessons during her childhood. Even though she was academically-focused, she did regret her lack of musical accomplishment. She wondered who in the Coruni family played–Aileen, maybe. She looked at the blond-haired woman expectantly, but her gaze was focused on her son.
"Why don't you play something for us, Zach?" she suggested.
Ami's mouth opened slightly. He could play the piano?! Impossible!
His leaf-green eyes fixed on Ami's boldly, but he looked a little sheepish as he stood up. "I don't know..." He looked towards Jaden beseechingly. "Jade, you want to go first?"
"Can't–sorry, mate." He held up his arm and pushed back his sleeve, revealing the tan-colored bandage on his wrist.
Zach glared at him. He'd sprained his wrist a week ago...and he'd caught Jaden pounding out "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" just last night. He'd teased him shamelessly about his affection for Disney movies, but he wasn't the least bit amused now.
His hands descended upon the keys gracefully, and Ami held her breath in anticipation of the first silvery note.
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"Ami? Ami, are you awake?" someone whispered in the dark.
She rolled her, her eyes squinched shut against the light that streamed into her room. Someone had opened the door a crack, and it took a few minutes for her eyes to adjust. "Rei?" she asked uncertainly.
She had retreated to her room directly after Zach's musical performance, having given polite but impersonal praise of his playing. Once she was safely inside her haven, Ami had done some schoolwork, bent on getting it done if her winter vacation was going to be as unproductive as it promised. Her thoughts, however, had kept drifting back to the gala, which was looming ever closer, and the previous events of the day. At last, Ami had drifted off into the realms of sleep for a brief respite, but it seemed that someone was bent on pulling her out of her misty dreamscape.
Her head cleared as her cousin glided into the room and closed the door. Ami sat up and motioned for her to sit on the bed next to her...it was a humongous four-poster, and she was amazed that the house, big as it was, would hold all the people the Corunis would be inviting for the gala. She had been surprised that she and Rei weren't sharing a room.
"Who did you think it would be, Zach?" she asked sarcastically.
Ami flushed darkly before she composed herself. "No, of course not," she replied.
"Uh huh." Rei's tone was skeptical.
With Rei, she knew she could drop the icy demeanor, but really...
"I didn't figure you as his type," she said bluntly.
"Why not?" slipped out of her mouth before she could help it, and Ami slid into the covers, burying her face.
Rei fumbled around for the light switch, figuring it was almost in the same position as the one by her bed. When the light was on, she grimaced as her eyes readjusted. "Okay, time to spill, girl," she ordered.
Her voice was muffled as she remarked, "You know, you sounded remarkably like Mina just then..."
"That's not getting you off the hook. Where were you all afternoon? I mean, I know you were with Zach part of the time, because you came in to dinner–late–together. What was that all about, Ames?"
"Nothing."
"Do you like him, Ami?"
She emerged from the covers, blinking rapidly. "No!! He's annoying, arrogant, full of himself, and a complete waste of my time..."
Rei smiled to herself. It took either an asshole or an extremely interesting guy to get Ami so worked up (usually, she shrugged off the idiocy or the good looks without comment). In this case, Rei thought the guy was both. "Is that so? You did like his piano playing, didn't you?"
"Yes." Again, her traitorous mouth had answered. It was in conspiracy with her heart, and so far, they were one step ahead of her mind. Ami sighed. Lately, she'd been having much more trouble keeping her calm than usual...but Zach's choice of a piece had been...intriguing. She adored the song, which had been Pachelbel's Canon in D, but she hadn't thought that it was his type of song. It was strange that they had similar tastes... She resisted the urge to bang her head against the nightstand. One song didn't imply the same interests, of course.
Rei's smile grew wider, but it disappeared immediately when Ami asked, to get the spotlight off herself, "So...are you going to tell me about what's going on with you and Jaden?"
"Fair is fair. If you tell me about Zach, I'll tell you about Jade."
She paused for a moment to consider and then nodded. "You first."
Rei made a face at her but started speaking anyway. "I knew about the gala a long time ago...so he joked about us ditching the parties together, but I told him it was time that I started trying to get used to these kinds of things and that your parents wouldn't like it."
She flung a handful of midnight-dark hair back, scowling. "You know Jade–he hates things like this. But I told him he wouldn't have time for me anyway, because he'd be busy flirting with everyone. He got all defensive on me and accused me of wanting to flirt with the guys! Can you believe it?!"
At a loss for what to say, Ami merely nodded her support. It was a popular point of contention between Rei and Jaden. The former still thought that part of his affection for her was due to the fact that she, with her Japanese heritage and devil-may-care attitude, was a way for him to rebel against his parents' expectations–sort of. Jaden was tired of her doubting him, and he couldn't help it if some girls tended to drape themselves all over him...right?
A half an hour, the subject had turned back to Zach, and Ami had asked Rei exactly what his type was. It was Rei's turn to be unsure of what to tell her. "Well...Zach hasn't dated many dark-haired girls. I've seen him with a few brunettes, and most of his girlfriends have been blonde. And of course, they're all...pretty. The problem is, he doesn't tend to go for the nice, quiet girls. He's flamboyant, and he's only slightly less uninhibited than Jade at parties. He's attractive, and he's rich. I'm betting that he's tired of all the fuss and attention, though."
"So what's he like around you?" Ami asked curiously.
To her surprise, Rei laughed. "He's completely different when it's just us three together–me, Zach, and Jade. He hasn't ever hit on me, which, trust me, is a very good thing. I'd probably have smacked him even harder than Mina did, and Jaden would've murdered him–when I was through, of course." She smiled angelically while Ami winced. Rei took martial arts courses, and she looked much less formidable than she actually was.
"He's quieter and less–less unpredictable. He's brilliant, Ames, as brilliant as you are, but he doesn't like talking about science and books in public. Did you know he's set up a private lab in the basement? His parents are too afraid to go down there, but Jaden says he hasn't created anything dangerous...but you know that Jade's perception of danger and normality aren't remotely like a normal person's."
Ami, imagining Zach in a lab coat with the fanatic look of a mad scientist on his face, shuddered.
Softly, Rei cautioned, "I know you like him, Ami...or you think he's interesting, at least–interesting like you view lab specimens. But don't try it with Zach. He's all too human. Be careful, Ami."
Rei's advice was always good, but Ami didn't take it too seriously this time. There was no reason for her cousin, good as her intentions were, to worry. Ami was sure of it. Zach made her feel unsure of herself, and she doubted herself enough as it was. She preferred to keep things nice and simple on the outside: as long as she was cool, distant, and formal, most people left her alone. The truly worthwhile people, in her opinion, were the ones who would break through and accept her for who she was. They would always stick by her.
Zach presented a stubborn wrinkle in her neat scheme of things, but Ami was positive that he was only a temporary, passing inconvenience. Her tone light, she commented, "I think you may be the only one in this entire house who isn't encouraging any ridiculous development of affection between us, Rei."
"Thank goodness for that. If everyone else had their say, you'd probably be married and off on your honeymoon now," Rei muttered disdainfully, her dislike of matchmaking clear. A moment later, however, she amended, "I didn't mean to give you the impression that I think you shouldn't be friends with Zach. That would probably be pretty...interesting to see."
Rolling her eyes, Ami replied, "I'm going to pretend that what you just said isn't as insulting as it sounds."
Rei grinned, but after a yawn, she asked, "What time is it?"
"Past midnight. We should both be asleep..."
Sarcastically, she said, "Yes, we want to be fresh for tomorrow's wonderful happenings. I guess we'll just have to say we were so excited we couldn't sleep." Laughing, Ami launched a pillow at her cousin playfully, who threw it back before she left, saying, "Good night, Ames."
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The next morning, despite her late chat with Rei, Ami got up early. In fact, she awoke so early that she was sure it would be safe to proceed down to the pool. It was lucky that she had remembered to bring her bathing suit, which was a modest one-piece. Ami calculated that she had about half an hour to enjoy herself before she would have to return to her room to shower and dress for breakfast.
Her memory was exquisite, for the most part–at least about things she wanted to remember. Ami couldn't recall where many of the things in the house were, but she had made it a point to note the location of the swimming pool.
There was no doubt in her mind that no one else would be up at this hour. So of course it seemed very natural to her, when she peered through the double glass doors at the pool, to see a blond head submerging and surfacing at equal intervals as its owner energetically swam laps...
Her heart sank immediately, and she was about to leave when she realized that the swimmer was not Zach but Jaden. She decided, after a pause, to go in after all. Rei and Jaden's spat had gone on long enough. Usually Ami didn't meddle in other peoples' business–that was Mina's specialty. But Mina and Kunthan were absent from the lively proceedings about to take place, and Ami felt that maybe a logical explanation would clear things up a bit. Her philosophy was that logic never hurt; it only helped.
Jaden paused mid-lap when the doors opened, but he smiled cheerily at Ami, waving. His enthusiasm sent a wave of water over the edge of the pool, drenching her thoroughly. "Ami! Fancy meeting you here."
"Good morning, Jade," she responded somewhat ruefully, wringing out her soaked towel. "Thanks for the impromptu shower. I wasn't aware that I needed one."
He smiled brightly, not the least bit apologetic. "There are more over there," he said, indicating a stack of fluffy white towels on a shelf not too far away. "Why come to swim if you're not going to get wet?"
Shaking her head, Ami descended into the shallow end without further comment until she remarked, "I didn't know you were such an early riser."
Again, he grinned at her effusively. "I'm not. I just thought that a good swim would help prepare me for the ordeal ahead. I can exhaust myself to the point of unthinking, babbling idiocy, and no one would notice."
"You shouldn't play the fool," she reprimanded sharply. "It doesn't suit you."
"But it's fun, and I'm lazy."
"Just like you're being lazy about confronting Rei?"
Jaden's azure blue eyes opened wide. So much for his misconceived perception of Ami as a sweet, shy, quiet little thing. There was unflinching steel behind those baby-blue eyes, and he had to admit it was a little scary to have it come at him full-force.
He had never met anyone so opposite to Zach... Jaden thought they would make a wonderful couple. She would keep him in line even better than even Rei could, and Jaden had a very healthy amount of respect for Rei. Zach would liven Ami up, and–right. He wasn't supposed to planning wonderful dreams for his brother; he was supposed to be answering Ami's bluntly-posed question.
He tread water thoughtfully, looking at her. Ami's cheeks were flushed slightly from her boldness, but she met his gaze steadily. "Well...yeah, that could be it," he said offhandedly. When she still didn't say anything, Jaden asked defensively, "Why do I always have to go and make peace first?"
"It's Christmas," she said simply, smiling. "It's the time of the year when you're supposed to be nice, gallant, generous, and indulgent of women's whims."
"Do they even celebrate Christmas in Japan?"
He had invoked the scholar-to-the-death aspect in her, and she replied, "Even though it's not traditional, in this day and age, some Japanese do." Sternly, noticing his gleeful triumph, she added, "And you're getting off topic."
"Deeply sorry, ma'am. It won't happen again."
"Of course," she responded dryly. The anxious note was back in her voice as she said in a persuasive tone, "But you will try and see both sides of the argument, won't you? Sometimes it's a little hard for Rei to do that with people she loves, and you're so good at it. And you miss talking to her, don't you?" Sheesh. Emulating Mina was harder than Ami had thought it would be.
Jaden said, "I'll think about it" and dove under the water for refuge; they raced each other a few lengths back and forth across the pool until he surfaced. Turning to her as they clambered out, he said, "I wish Kunthan was here."
"And I wish Mina was here."
After heaving a deep sigh, Jaden was back to his normal self. Slyly, glancing at her out of the corner of the eye, he remarked, "You know, Zach had some very interesting things to say about you last night."
In truth, Zach hadn't said much to his brother on the topic except for him to shut up and mind his own business, but Jade was curious to see what Ami thought of Zach now. He knew all too well what she'd thought in the years before.
"Really?" she asked disinterestedly, raising an eyebrow. "Well, since the discussion was between the two of you, I'm sure it was very deep and enlightening and therefore beyond me. See you at breakfast, Jaden." Her tone, which had started out a bit frigid, became warmer when she departed, leaving him to gape after her.
"You're too smart for me, Mizuno-Anderson!" he shouted playfully.
She turned back to wrinkle her nose, smiling widely, and prompted turned around to smack into a newcomer. "I'm sorry–" she began, but she was unable to go on when she realized who she had bumped in to.
Jaden was laughing his head off, of course. "So much for that legendary smoothness, Zach!"
Zachary made a very rude gesture at him, and the only thing he said to Ami as he brushed past was a very distracted good morning.
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AN: I don't own Disney, "The Lion King," or Pachelbel's Canon in D, of course. Zach's a semi-nice guy...Ami can hate him later ^.~ Of course he couldn't intercept her at the pool, of course. That would've been too much, and even though most of my writing is not very firmly grounded in reality, I like some twists ^^. Thank you for all the reviews, everyone! :) Next chapter, more characters will finally make the scene (which all of you seem to want very much). ‘Til then!
Mainpage: Love at Fifth Sight
