Bluffs and Baggage
Part IV, Chapter 2
After an unrestful night's sleep, Ami was accosted by a call from her cousin while eating breakfast somewhat later than she usually did.
"Ami! Are you all right? You sound so tired... You know, I tried to reach you earlier, but they said you were still sleeping. I was afraid you might have gotten sick," Rei said in a concerned voice.
Ami tried to smile, aware of the bruised shadows under her eyes and the strain in her voice. "No, I'm fine, not sick. I just couldn't fall asleep for a while and then overslept." She could just picture the intuitive purple eyes regarding her sharply.
"Is anything on your mind?"
"Nothing, Rei. Everything is fine," she said firmly. "Why don't you tell me about your plans for today? Actually – why are you calling now?? Is something wrong?" Ami asked, to stop Rei's questions and also because she suddenly realized, checking her watch, that she had made plans to meet Rei at the caterer's at two in the afternoon. Rei preferred to live in an apartment she had leased for the three months she had been helping to plan Ami's wedding.
"Ah...just...calling to check on you," she replied weakly, unprepared for Ami's sudden awareness of her presence.
"All right, Rei, out with it – but I'm warning you, if it's a favor, the answer is no."
Rei sighed, sparing a second to give the impatient driver on her right the evil eye. "Oh, Ami, when did you get so hardhearted?"
She did feel sort of bad about refusing right off the bat, but her reasons were understandable. "Since that time Mina asked me to help her pick out a birthday present for Kunthan and we spent five hours at six different shops. It was a very traumatic experience," she insisted with a dark look when she heard Rei's badly-hidden giggle. "She ended up buying him a food processor! I don't think Kunthan even touches anything in his kitchen besides the refrigerator!"
No longer trying to suppress her giggles, Rei replied, "And the microwave."
"I've had too much experience with granting you guys favors, and when your excuses are that bad, it can't be anything good," Ami went on, determined to put a stop to things before the situation could, as it usually did, get out of hand.
"Ami, please! I promise, it doesn't involve anything to do with Mina or birthday presents, and it definitely won't take six hours."
"What is it, then?"
Rei smiled triumphantly as she sailed past the offended driver and the stalled traffic. Despite the suspicious tone, Ami had caved in, as usual. Her cousin sighed happily as she wiggled her bare toes – it was hard to drive in stiletto heels. "Ami, I'm really, really sorry, but an emergency appointment came up, and you know I was planning to pick up Jaden and Zachary at the airport today..."
Ami groaned. "You're joking. Why can't we just send one of the Kous' cars?"
"Oh, Ami. It's so impersonal that way to have a driver come fetch them; one of us should do it."
She sighed. "What kind of appointment was this again?"
"The...florist," Rei hastily improvised, then hit herself on the head.
"I didn't know about a florist appointment... Why don't I go to the florist and you pick up Jaden?" Ami suggested logically.
"N–no! Then it won't be a surprise!"
Spooning up the last of her sunny side-up eggs, Ami nodded gratefully to the maid who took the empty dishes back to the kitchen. "Um, Rei...didn't you say before that you wanted to leave the flower arrangements completely up to me and Mrs. Kou?" She still hadn't gotten in the habit of calling Taiki's mother, that imposing, elegant woman, by her first name. Rei had weaseled out of all previous florist visits by claiming she was severely allergic to all flowers except Casablanca lilies, which Ami knew was decidedly untrue. She figured her cousin was bored out of her mind by looking at all the pictures of flowers she had no idea existed before she'd seen them.
"Oh, yes. Well, I had a change of heart. If Jaden ever gets up the nerve to pop the question, I want to be prepared," she lied cheerfully. After seeing Ami's wedding preparations, she was more than ready to elope should the opportunity present itself.
Her cousin asked innocently, "But what about your allergies?"
Rei coughed violently. "Uh – went to the doctor's yesterday for allergy medication. All better. Listen, I'll tell you all about my visit later, I have to go now. So you'll pick up Jaden and Zach, right?"
"Oh – but Rei –"
"Thanks, Ames! Love you!" The phone clicked off.
Ami stared at the receiver, a lost look on her face. "But...Rei...you didn't tell me any of the flight information." Each time she dialed Rei's cell phone number, the voicemail picked up. Barely suppressing a scream of frustration, she ran upstairs as sedately as possible (sedateness was a must in the Kou household) to look up the flight information. To her consternation, there were three possible flights they could have taken, three gates, and three arrival times in the next few hours...
Ami sighed as her car chirped at her, remembering what a struggle it had been to convince the Kous that she would be perfectly fine without a chauffeur. ‘Why do I have the feeling that this is going to be a very, very bad day?' she wondered.
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It was boiling hot in the airport because of all the people and the noontime sunlight pouring through the huge glass panes. Ami nearly fainted with relief when she spotted two blond heads and the familiar features; she had been roasting for over two hours, her feet had been run over numerous times by extremely heavy suitcases, and four strangers had approached her claiming that their Japanese was "very bad" and soliciting her help. Only one of them had been sincere in his intentions.
So it was that Ami Mizuno-Anderson was in a very, very bad mood as she marched over to Zachary Coruni (Jaden had conveniently disappeared for the moment). "Ahem. Ahem!" she repeated more loudly.
He continued to ignore her, gazing into the crowd with those moody green eyes.
Ami resisted the urge to stamp her foot. She wasn't that much shorter than him, she thought furiously. Besides, he wasn't that much over the average height for a guy himself. She was so annoyed that she forbore to admire the sharply-chiseled planes of his face and the muscular build he had developed and been improving on since his teenage years. "Excuse me!"
For his part, Zachary finally noticed her but returned her irate look with one that clearly expressed his belief that she had a few loose screws. "Sorry, do I know you?" he asked.
Ami peered closely at him, unsure whether he was trying to be funny or not – and if he was, he wasn't succeeding.
He gave a start, and just when she thought he had finally realized who she was, he repeated "Sorry, do I know you?" in better Japanese than she expected, though his accent was still terrible. Rei must have been working on him.
"AMI!"
They both looked up abruptly to see Jaden racing towards them with a bright grin and open arms for Ami.
"Hey, how are you doing? Did Rei come with you?" he asked, casting a longing look around after he gave her a kiss on the cheek.
Ami hid a half-wistful smile. "I'm fine, thanks – no, Rei couldn't come, something came up unexpectedly. I'm sure you'll be able to see her shortly after we reach the house, though."
"Great. Listen, I'm just going to get the last suitcase, and then we can go. Have you been here long?"
"Um, no. Not long at all." She faked a smile as he nodded and ran off again. Then she looked up at Zach and quickly away again.
"Er...sorry about that," he said feebly. "It's – it's been a long time."
"For both of us," she replied. "Of course, it's helpful to be able to recognize the bride whose wedding you're going to be attending."
Zach reddened. "Um. Right. I'm really sorry."
‘Man, fifteen minutes on Japanese soil and she's already steamed at me?' He took a closer look at her, now that he didn't think she was a nutcase. She seemed like a stranger to him, entirely different from the girl he had known and dated in their teenage years. That Ami, he thought of with a somewhat nostalgic bitterness, was demure, shy, and even-tempered. He conveniently forgot the episodes that had shown him otherwise and the fact that she had spent several years in the cutthroat Japanese school system, and medical school had not been much easier.
In other aspects, she had also changed. Her short hair was now medium-length; the sapphire-highlighted strands brushed her shoulders. Zach spared a short moment's regret that she was about to be married, for she had surely come into her own now. The regret was replaced by sudden jealousy, also rapidly brushed aside. Only those large, ocean-colored eyes, narrowed in irritation now, and the aura of sadness around her remained the same. The latter he was surprised at; he had thought that now she was about to married, she would be glowing with happiness. Striving to be more polite, Ami inquired, "Is this your first visit to Japan, Zachary?"
"Yeah. I'm pretty excited...I was hoping Rei could show me around, but she'll be all wrapped up with Jaden, and he's been here already. I guess I'll be getting lost on my own," he joked.
She smiled faintly. ‘Don't make me laugh. I don't even like you.'
"Well, I'm sure one of the aides will be pleased to show you around." She thought of the long-legged, chesty brunette who seemed overly fond of Taiki with some dislike.
"Oh, I don't want to be a bother."
Ami gave him another creepy smile. "It would be our pleasure. Hospitality is very important to our name and tradition."
He nodded, shifting nervously. He was tempted to ask "All right, who are you and what have you done with the real Ami?" but he wasn't sure if this was the real Ami now...
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Ami had refused to relinquish the keys of her snazzy blue car to Jaden, probably because he didn't have a Japanese license and was jetlagged (although he certainly didn't seem like it) or because she was very fond of it. So Jaden sat beside her in the passenger seat, and Zach was kept company by one of their huge suitcases.
"Are you all right back there?" Jaden asked his brother in the middle of his conversation with Ami. "You're being awfully quiet."
Zach shrugged. "Fine. You know, me and this Samsonite carry-on, we're getting along pretty well back here. I think we'll run off without you to the Canary Islands. What do you say, Isabella?"
"Isabella?"
"My suitcase," he answered.
"My suitcase," Jaden corrected, "and if you think you're running off with my Crest citrus breeze toothpaste, you're mistaken." Ami glanced at him, but he appeared to be perfectly serious.
Zach pretended disappointment. "Damn! Foiled again. Never fear, my lovely, we'll be free of him yet."
Jaden gave the dark-haired woman a sympathetic pat on the shoulder. "Don't worry, Ami. It's just The Lord of the Rings – it's gone to his head a bit, you see. Just nod and smile."
"Hmph. I never said the word ‘precious,' did I? You're the one who cried when Haldir died in ‘Two Towers.'"
"I did not," Jaden insisted, turning beet red.
Confident that he had won the bout, Zach turned his attention to Ami, who was trying her best not to laugh at them. "So what exactly is it that you've been doing these past few years, Ami? Did you become a doctor after all?" he inquired, struck with sudden remembrance.
"Well, I went through a seven-year medical program, but I'm not sure if I'll continue on to be a medical doctor."
"Why not?" he demanded.
"Oh – well, now that I'm going to be marrying Taiki, I'll have a lot less time. I need to learn how to run the household and, you know, help out with business matters and such..."
"That's ridiculous! You put yourself through a seven-year program and now you're giving it up to be a housewife?!"
They waited patiently for the looming gates of the residence to open. She would have turned to glare at him if she hadn't been turning onto the long, winding driveway. "If that's the way you're putting it, yes."
"But–"
Jaden did swing around and fix him with a stern look.
"But?" Ami prompted.
"Nothing," he smiled thinly.
She raised her eyebrows but let it drop.
Eager to dispel the tension in the car, Jaden glanced out the windows at the estate. "There are certainly a lot of cars here. Are you having more company over, Ami?"
She frowned as she, too, looked at the numerous vehicles. Several of them looked very familiar. "Well, some of the wedding guests have begun to arrive, and many of the closer acquaintances have chosen to stay here for the duration, but this is an anomaly..."
"Or maybe it's a welcoming committee," Zach suggested teasingly.
"No, the formal dinner isn't until tomorrow night," Ami replied absentmindedly, "I don't know what's going on today."
A servant took charge of Jaden's luggage: Zach revealed that he had booked a hotel room in advance because he felt awkward lodging with the Kous; their acquaintance was practically nonexistent. Ami and Zach were still arguing the point when they were mobbed in the foyer by Rei and what seemed like all of Ami's friends.
Rei beamed at Jaden first, then hugged her cousin. "Surprise!"
"Oh, my gosh!" she exclaimed, jabbering away in both English and Japanese. "I can't believe you guys did this for me!"
"What exactly is going on?" Zach whispered to Jaden.
"Bridal shower, I think," he murmured back.
Ami was looking a little teary, so Rei said quickly, "I know the timing was pretty bad, but Michiko has to leave tomorrow morning, you know, and this was the only day everyone was free... And I'm such a bad liar, but we needed you out of the house to decorate!"
"Yes, I know," she smiled, "and it looks lovely. Thank you for doing this, everyone." As she turned to her friends, Rei threw her arms around Jaden while Zach stood around feeling left out.
Ami's attention was eventually caught by the presence of her fiancé, after she had finished thanking her assembled friends, who were clamoring for her to begin opening the presents. "Taiki!" she greeted, "I thought you were going to be at the office all day. What are you doing home so early?"
He kissed her, then drew back with a smile. "Well, Seiya called me at work and told me there was an emergency at home. Naturally, I was very confused, but he hung up on me before I could say anything else. So I had no choice but to drive home and be ambushed by everyone," he explained.
"What devious friends – and relatives – we have," Ami laughed back before she noticed Zach standing against the wall all by himself, the object of many curious, mostly female, glances and led Taiki over to him
"Zachary, I'd like you to meet my fiancé, Taiki Kou."
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Disclaimer: I don't own LOTR, of course... ^.~ or Samsonite and Crest and whatever else I decided to use in this story.
AN: See, I told you I would finish this...sometime. ^^ And it's a cliffhanger! Yay! Well, it's not really that interesting a cliffhanger, but who knows when this story will be updated again? ^.~ Just kidding... Thank you for the reviews, the support, and simply for reading :)
~Ice
Mainpage: Love at Fifth Sight
