Chapter 9
Getting tired of her current company, Minalia flounced away from the arguing couple and the love-struck couple. Falling into step with Rei, who was looking extremely preoccupied, and muttered, "You'd think that they had enough problems as it is."
"Huh? Who?" the dark-haired woman asked, startled out of her pensive mood.
The blonde giggled and took the platter out of Rei's hands. To a house-raising, the women of each house would bring the food, while the men went to work. Zoite and Nestor held the majority of the dishes, but Reiliana had somehow been stuck with one. She gestured in the general direction of the quarreling pair. "Ami and Zoite! Didn't you hear them fighting in the parlor right before we left?"
Dispiritedly, Rei ran a hand through her carefully-arranged hair (thereby ruining her hours of hard work but making her look much more natural) and replied tiredly, "Actually, I didn't, Mina, and you might want to stop eavesdropping on them. He cares a lot about her, and she's letting herself fall in love with him. Whatever problems they're having now are sure to be sorted out in due time."
"You're one to talk," Mina muttered under her breath, only half-jestingly. When her sister's head snapped up accusingly, she said with an irritated note in her voice, "You know what–who–I'm taking about, Rei. For goodness' sake, he was your best friend for eighteen years.
Can't you two just kiss and make up?"
Then she covered her mouth, and Rei saw red. "Ooh, I don't believe you, Minalia Bliss! I can't believe you just said that to me!! You invited him, didn't you?"
She sidled away slightly, wearing a nervous expression. "Well–er–in all actuality, it was Setsuna who asked Haruka to ask me to ask Janus, so I asked Kunshan, who asked Janus for you–me–then."
"I don't believe this!" she fumed and stalked away to reclaim Alexander from Amiliana, who was so preoccupied with the words she and Zoite were exchanging that Rei's dark countenance completely escaped her notice.
Mina's apologetic expression disappeared instantly, and she went over to plague Lita and Nestor. After she heard her sister's account of her conversation with Rei, the brunette smiled wryly but declined comment, while Nestor muttered under his breath, "Why do I have a bad feeling about this?"
Unfortunately for him, Mina heard, and she glared at him. "Stop being so pessimistic, Nestor! Absolutely nothing short of perfection is going to happen tonight!"
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Michiru raised her eyebrows when she saw the Blisses approaching. It was her job to greet the arrivals, as Haruka was helping to raise the house, Setsuna was organizing the cooking, and Hotaru was off...somewhere...most likely helping to look after the children. The elderly women of the village were settled on some chairs and thick blankets on the ground, and they looked after the babies. Distributing a warm smile among them after Zoite and Nestor had been introduced, she said, "Oh yes, I've heard quite a lot about you from Janus. He's already here, with his friend Kunshan." Her dancing eyes didn't miss the flush that rose in Mina's cheeks or the flash of annoyance in Rei's eyes. They were good friends with Janus and had known him ever since he had come West, and Michiru had gotten the entire story about him and Rei one day.
Hotaru came over then and took charge of Alexander, who was familiar with her by now, and led him over the group of children already assembled, and Zoite and Nestor made their escape. Unfortunately, before they could make their way over to Janus and Kunshan, they were intercepted by Haruka, who had a grim, suspicious expression on her face. After a while, they were rescued from her demands about how honorable their intentions were towards Lita and Ami by Janus, who came over to ask Haruka a question about a crucial wall that was going up, but the look on her face told them she would be back. Kunshan had pulled them as far away as possible from Haruka, and when they told him about their encounter, he laughed. Resentfully, Nestor murmured, "What do you say we tell her that you're courting Mina, old friend?"
Zoite grinned, his harassed expression easing somewhat, while Kunshan's eyes widened. "What? Don't joke like that, Nestor. You know there's nothing going on between us."
"Us who?" inquired Janus, finished with his diversion.
He blushed, and his friends stared in amazement.
"Kunshan, blushing. That's a new one," Zoite remarked dryly, seizing a hammer nearby, as well as a handful of nails. To Janus, he explained, "We're talking about Kunshan and Mina."
"What?!"
"That's what I said, too," Kunshan muttered. "She's too young for me, and you know I'm leaving tomorrow morning."
Janus ignored him, his expression thoughtful. He had never thought that the women he regarded as his younger sisters would be married off so quickly and to his friends. Not that he objected; the fact that they were his best friends was a good thing. But Lita and Nestor...and recently Ami and Zoite...Mina and Kunshan, as well? He sighed and changed the subject to save Kunshan this time, who was looking quite uncomfortable. "So, I hear you and Ami had a spat. What was it about this time?"
Zoite glared at him. "What do you mean, ‘this time?' You and Rei are the ones who spend all of your time together at each others' throats."
"Why don't these things ever work out?"
All three turned on the unfortunate speaker menacingly, shouting together, "What are you talking about?!"
Nestor smiled weakly and backed away. "Right...sorry, my mistake..."
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The house was raised–at least its walls–sometime around sunset, and after all the eating was done (the men first, then the women and children), instruments appeared, and the dancing, gossiping, and flirting began. Of the last three activities, only Mina and Rei were eligible, but the young men had long discovered that Rei didn't take kindly to their attentions. Also, most of them were uninterested in any kind of long-term relationship with someone who was a widow, no matter how pretty and young she was.
Zoite was standing awkwardly next to Ami, and neither of them were in the best of moods. Lita and Nestor were, of course, dancing together. It didn't look like either of them would be leaving the floor anytime soon. Janus was lurking in the outskirts of the crowd, as far away as possible from Rei, since she seemed to want it that way. He had already been asked several times to dance but had declined the offers politely (much to the girls' disappointment). Kunshan was keeping his shunned friend company (the blue-eyed one) and looking very disapproving at the way Mina's admirers were flocking around her.
At long last, Zoite leaned down to speak to Ami, and she reluctantly allowed him to lead her out to dance. There was a mutual agreement made between them that nothing would be said of their argument, and once they decided to forget about it temporarily, they both looked much happier and at ease. However, a shadow still lurked in Ami's eyes, and she did not allow herself to fully relax.
Janus smiled encouragement in Zoite's direction and turned to Kunshan with a silent sigh. "Go on and ask her."
"What, you're tired of me already?" Kunshan joked. He still couldn't keep the hope out of his voice, and his friend gave him a shove in the appropriate direction.
"Scram. And if I see your face again before another three dances are done..." He let the empty threat trail off and sighed wistfully as Kunshan disappeared into the crowd.
Reiliana was looking more unapproachable than ever, and he knew what that meant–she was lonely. After all the social gatherings they had attended in their teens, Janus had always been able to tell when she was tired of waiting for the village boys to get up the nerve to ask her. Of course, he'd always made a point of asking her before they did. He smiled smugly to himself, relishing the memories of old times. Finally, he gathered his courage and made his way through the throng to her side. "Rei," he said right in her ear, as the people around them were rather noisy, "care to dance?"
She was torn between accepting him and adamantly refusing, until she looked into his eyes. In that one moment, she had lost everything–and won everything. "All right," she agreed softly. Her blood pounded in her ears as he led the way, making a path through the crowd for them, and she was more nervous than she had ever been before, including the time when the handsomest, most desirable youth in the village had asked her to dance. But somehow, once his arms were around her, the world righted itself, and she allowed herself to get caught up in the spur of the moment.
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"Oh, look! They're finally dancing together," Mina said blissfully, smiling for all she was worth.
Kunshan craned his head to look, but his neck resisted the one-hundred eighty degree turn he was trying to make it do. "Who?"
"Rei and Janus!" She was looking very satisfied with herself, and she added, "I do good work, don't I?"
Looking at her as if she was crazy, he asked, "What did you do this time, Mina?"
She laughed at his tone of voice. "I just told all the boys to stay away from Rei. Of course, I had to promise each of them a dance to make up for it, but it was worth it, don't you think?"
Shaking his head, Kunshan asked, "Why does it matter so much to you? Doesn't Rei just tell you to keep your nose out of other people's business all the time?"
Mina looked him straight in the eye, cornflower blue eyes level. "Now I know what you're thinking, Kunshan. You're thinking that I'm playing matchmaker just for the fun of it, don't you? Well, I'm not. All right, I admit it's fun, but I wouldn't be doing anything if I didn't think that they would be better if they weren't together. Their lives aren't complete without each other, and if you aren't complete, you're walking around missing a part of you. Don't you ever feel that way?"
He avoided her question, which had hit home, and he didn't say that he felt that she was his missing half, and that with her, he felt happier and more complete than he had ever been. But he did tighten his hold on her and tell her, "Minalia Bliss, you are one amazing woman, and even if I live for a hundred years, you will never stop surprising me."
She was, for once, shocked into speechlessness, but the smile that lit up her face was all the answer he needed. She forgot about the dances she still owed and even forgot about Rei and Janus, as they were doing fine without her now, and Zoite and Ami, who were dancing together now ...all she concentrated on was Kunshan and the happiness she was feeling.
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Meanwhile, Ami smiled at Mina and Kunshan, although they didn't notice her watching them, and leaned her head on Zoite's shoulder.
He looked down at the top of her head in concern: Ami wasn't usually one for public displays of affection, and he was worried that she had come down with a cold recently. "Ami? Are you all right?"
"Mm hmm. Just tired."
"Do you want to go back now?"
She perked up slightly, although she shook her head reluctantly. "It wouldn't be polite."
"Nonsense. Some of the families have already left, and I'm sure Setsuna and Michiru and Haruka would understand." That being said, Zoite dropped his arms and put one around her waist as he guided her away from the somewhat diminished mass of people. As they passed the blankets on which some old ladies and their charges were snoozing, they smiled at Xander, over whom Hotaru was keeping watch.
After they had gone quite a few paces in the dark, Ami almost falling asleep, she suddenly asked, "Won't the others be worried?"
He answered, "Hotaru saw us go; I'm sure she'll tell them. Tell you what–you wait here for me, and I'll run back and ask Hotaru to tell them for us–just as a reminder. They probably saw us leave, anyway. But I'll go back. You don't mind waiting here for a few minutes, do you? Or we could go back together."
She wrinkled her nose and asked playfully, "What, and walk all the way back? I'll be fine. Don't worry. I'm a big girl; I can protect myself, and I'm not scared of the dark." He nodded and retraced his steps, striding off purposefully into the night, and she sighed and wrapped her arms around herself, feeling the loss of his warmth keenly.
Ami glanced around her nervously. She hadn't even wanted to make him more worried than he already was–he was so sweet to her, and so concerned, even though she had made him angry just that afternoon–but ever since he had told her that Greg might be around, she had been having recurring nightmares. But she hadn't told anyone: Lita and Nestor were wrapped up in each other, Mina was sad–even if she wouldn't show it–that Kunshan was leaving, and telling Rei was definitely not an option.
Ami sighed quietly to herself. She loved Janus as an older brother, and nothing would have made her happier than if Rei realized that him loving her wasn't a bad thing. She wasn't about to mention anything to her (having already witnessed Mina's attempts), but she hoped that Rei's stubbornly-closed eyes would open soon.
A sudden, sharp cracking of a twig nearby alerted her to someone's approach, and she whirled around apprehensively, her heart beating double-time. "Zoite?" she called nervously, her voice no louder than a squeak.
She stepped back in fright when a dark laugh was heard. "I'm afraid your little lover-boy isn't here to save you this time, Ami. Pity, I would have liked to see Sheriff Skylab again. Just to let him know that I was under his nose for months, and he never noticed. But it's all right. Your fear is satisfaction enough."
She closed her eyes, fighting the wave of nausea that swept over her. She knew that voice. She had tried so hard to block out memories of him and his voice...had tried so hard to forget... "Greg?" she whispered.
He laughed again, low and threateningly, full of malice. "Right on your second guess, Ami. I was starting to think you weren't as smart as they say...but your intelligence won't save you from me, Ami. Not this time."
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Zoite, starting back, quickened his steps as he realized exactly how dark it was. If he held his hand up right in front of his face, he wouldn't even be able to discern its outline. Suddenly, a familiar scream pierced the air, and he nearly had a heart attack when he found out that he knew who it was...and he began running as fast as he could towards the place where he had left Ami, hoping that he wouldn't be too late...
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AN: Your evil, cliff-hanging, long-absent author is back... *sigh* The effect isn't as good as I'd like, but it still works, doesn't it? Please tell me how I did with this chapter. o.O There are probably...hm...four chapters max. after this one ^.~ so keep reading!! It'll be all over soon!
Love from, ~Ice
The House of Bliss
