[Fanfic] Sousuke's last stand - ch 5 (Pg-13)

[Avlor]

Chapter 5 - Confidence and Trust

Sousuke wasted no time getting ready for the day. There was much to do before 3:00. He checked the weather report and contacted Kurz and Melissa to make transportation arrangements for him. He flatly refused to let them know what he was up to, even though Kurz begged. Sousuke had groceries to buy, supper to pack, charts to check, gear to get ready, and his stuff to pack.

Kaname was still trying to decide what to wear. The phone interrupted her decision process and she answered. Sousuke direct as ever stated, “Kaname, I need you to bring a change of clothes.”

“Um…….why? What are you thinking?” she asked full of suspicion. If he would be here in front of her, she’d be readying her halisen. She didn’t want him turning into a Kurz now that she’d admitted her feelings for him.

“You’ll want something to change into if you get wet. That’s all I can tell you now. See you in ½ an hour,” was all he said and hung up. She was still suspicious and it made the time pass more slowly.

She was still trying to figure out what he could be up to, when the buzzer rang to let him into the building. Two minutes early. She wished her apartments had a security camera TV hookup in her room – so she could at least see what he was wearing. He knocked on her door and she decided to take her time to answer it – so she wouldn’t appear too anxious to see him. She opened the door and he looked her up and down. The little sundress she wore really showed off her figure. His thoughts returning back to his purpose, he wanted to nudge her along, “We should get going to get the most if it. It will take a while to get there. Where’s your bag?”

She gave him a suspicious look, “No bombs, grenades or Kurz and Melissa plans involved? If so I’ll leave the halisen at home…”

He nodded, “Affirmative. Perfectly safe.”

“Do I get to find out where we’re going yet?”

“Not quite yet. Wait until we’re on our way…”

His light colored T-shirt and shorts contrasted with his tan skin. He must have seen some sun on some of those missions last school year. The wind had tousled his hair a bit. He really was handsome. She grabbed her bag and took his hand. “If I can’t trust him – I shouldn’t go,” she thought. They walked out of the building to a small SUV already running, with Kurz getting out of it. Melissa was in an identical one behind it.

Kurz did a low sweeping bow as they approached. “Your transportation for you and the lady as requested,” he smoothly flaunted. He loved being in lady-killer mode. Maybe Melissa would notice and she’d buy him a beer tonight?

Kaname was about ready to go back for her halisen, when Kurz opened the passenger door for her and then raced around to open the driver’s door for Sousuke. Sitting down in the vehicle she looked at him surprised and asked, “When did you get your license, Sousuke?”

“When I turned 18,” he stated as Kurz shut the door for him, “I’ve been driving for years though.” Sousuke resisted the temptation to tell Kurz not to follow them, but thought better of it. It would only encourage those two to really follow him. Kurz and Melissa had sworn up and down that they already had plans for the night. Sousuke would be ready for them if they had been bluffing. But knowing those two they’d probably hit the bars. When he pulled out, Sousuke told Kaname they were headed for the bay.
Traffic wasn’t as heavy as he had anticipated and they arrived at the marina ahead of schedule. Kaname looked in wonder at all the sailboats. So he had rented one of these? Nice. Kaname loved the sea – he had chosen well and this explained the change of clothes and possibility of getting wet.

Sousuke didn’t pull up to the marina shop to get the keys for the boat, like Kaname had expected. He pulled right up to the floating dock and got out headed for one of the boats, motioning for her to come along. “I’ll load the boat in a bit – I want you to see it first,” he called to her. Looking completely at home here, he hopped on and then helped her up. She never thought about him as a mariner – but he WAS assigned to a submarine. She should have known. As she was being helped up – she noticed the name on the side of the boat, “AL 2”. Sousuke ran his fingers through his hair not used to showing off, “I bought this Sydney 32 after I went fishing with you that first time. I come sailing and fishing whenever I can. I’ve wanted to bring you out here to fish with me for a while, but…”

She looked around, eyes flashing as she noted the fishing rods in the cabin below. She cut him off, “Fishing? That’s what were going to do with our next two days?” Leaving the halisen may have been a bad idea. She counted to 10 to calm down. Fishing? Ugh – not very romantic at all! That’s what they did last time before he had to go. Sousuke may have a long way to go yet. She sighed. At least they would have some time together.

“Well, if you want to. But I thought I’d teach you how to sail,” he could see her eyes brighten as he explained. He hopped off the boat and went to retrieve her bag and park the vehicle. “Wait there!” he called. She sat down and looked around some more. She bit her lip as she thought about how she’d really underestimated him. He came back with her bag and a picnic basket, after tossing them aboard he untied the mooring rope and jumped back aboard, raised the anchor, and they started off. She decided to braid her hair along the way to keep it from blowing around too much in the wind.

He turned off the engines when they’d gone far enough out to raise the sails. He took her hand and pulled gently to hint to her to get up. She stood up and walked a few steps. The wind was blowing quite a bit today – a great day to sail. He stepped up behind her, putting his chin just over her shoulder so he didn’t have to raise his voice and pointed out and named the different parts of the boat. His hair tossed in the wind and tickled her face. Then he pulled her over to the sails and showed her how to hoist them. He did some last minute checks on things around the boat, scooted in behind her and showed her how to turn the boat with the tiller and how to use the wind to tack. They sat there together just enjoying the sun, the wind the and the gentle rocking of the boat on the sea. She leaned back to rest her head on his shoulder and felt at peace. She wondered why he hadn’t he shown this to her before. She turned her head up a bit and kissed him on the cheek. On the inside, Sousuke stood a little taller. Here in his boat, he could be free; he could relax – this was his domain and Kaname was here to share this time with him.

She was starting to feel hungry and kept thinking about the basket, “So what’s in the basket?” she asked and popped his thought bubble. “Oh…dinner,” he said as he refocused his thoughts. He doused the sails and let down the anchor before starting toward the cabin. She followed him into the cabin wondering what he packed. He set out deli made bento lunches with her favorite kind of bread, pop, and even Pocky. A twinge of guilt began to eat away at her. He had been watching her so carefully the last 2 years – he even knew what she liked to eat. She smiled meekly and sat down. Did she ever pay attention enough to know what he really liked? “Sousuke…” she began and faltered. She wasn’t quite sure how to say what she was thinking. He glanced up at her. All she could manage to say was, “Thank you,” and he nodded. He noted that this must be an acceptable date so far to Kaname.

“We should hurry if we want to see the sunset,” he urged her as he looked out the cabin. He stood up, grabbed a sweatshirt from the closet and held it in her direction. She looked at him expectantly and took it. He felt he should say something at least, “The temperature will drop – you’ll want this.” She smiled to herself, thinking that he was sometimes a master of the obvious. She obediently put it on, as he stared at her – hypnotized. He shook his head to clear his thoughts and began to head up out of the cabin when she cleared her throat expectantly, “A-hem”. He turned and looked questioningly. What did she expect of him? “I know this is new territory for you, Sousuke. But, I think it WOULD be appropriate for you to hold my hand. People who date usually have a little more contact,” she teasingly chided him. He obeyed and she intertwined her fingers with his.

After they stood on the deck, Sousuke let go of her hand, looked out over the ocean and asked, “How do you know what to do next on a date? I know how to teach you to sail, but…you were just there with me last night. Everything was easier then…” He looked particularly morose. He was goldfish swimming in a saltwater tank when it came to dating experience. He knew pretty much what NOT to do from Kurz’s stories, but that was about it. Maybe things weren’t going so well anymore.

This took Kaname back a bit, she sensed he was feeling out of place right now. She seemed to always have expectations of him, yet she had only had one date besides Sousuke. Should she be so demanding? She thought for a moment and answered him softly, “The whole idea is just to be together to learn more about each other, I think. I haven’t dated much either you know. We do what we want, but there’s not an overall plan in it. It’s about learning and experiencing together, as far as I understand it. Hopefully we’ll learn to read each other and know what to do next. Our date has been great so far.” She let him ponder for a moment.

He understood expertise took trial and error…practice. The idea of not having a carefully laid out plan was perplexing. Relationships were so much more complicated than piloting an AS; there was even training and a manual for an AS. But not everything would be as natural for him and he probably was in the middle of training right now. He sighed and nodded – feeling a little confidence return. “So we do what we want and make it up as we go?” he half stated just to be sure.

She smiled as she saw him step closer. He put his hands on her cheeks and reached down to kiss her. She reached up and placed her hand on the back of his neck. Her touch tickled him and he started to grin as he rested his lips on her forehead, embraced her and pulled her tight to his chest. He wouldn’t mind more of this. No wonder Kurz talked about girls so much.

She had waited for that kiss for over a year, and finally it was hers. She breathed out slowly and relished, as she hugged him tighter in return. They stood there absorbing the whole experience as the sun’s shrinking rays colored their faces.

…

Kaname stirred. She heard someone cooking and the smell of breakfast invited her to continue waking. She dreamily propped her head in her hands and smiled at Sousuke, preparing sashimi. She intended to spend this last day with Sousuke too.

She recalled last night as they cuddled on the couch in the cabin. He nuzzled his head in her shoulder, sighed and whispered, “I should probably take you home…” He didn’t move to get up - he really didn’t want to. The emotions were clouding his head.

She didn’t want to go home either – she wanted all of Sousuke’s remaining time here. There wasn’t anyone waiting at home for either of them, but would this be ok? She reasoned with herself, Sousuke was a gentleman after all. Granted, there had been some misunderstandings in the past. But he’d listen if she asked to go home.

She turned to tenderly kiss his ear and whispered back, “I’ll stay for a while. I trust you.”

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Since they only had 2 days – I had to put another moosh chapter in before he heads out. Couldn’t pass that up. (Avlor hums….Shoujo gal, shoujo gal, yes I am a shoujo gal!) I don’t know boating terms – had to look them up, so if you notice a mistake or have other suggestions – please let me know! (Oh and if you like the story so far – I’ll write more for good sashimi… Just kidding! I’ll keep writing more anyway – I’d only do this for fun.) I PROMISE – THERE WILL BE ACTION AND MAYHEM COMING UP! (My hubby and I had a blast planning it…EVIL GRIN)

[Belisarius]

As being a sailor amongst these landlubbers, I found no fault with your nautical terms. I do, however like to make one point.

SEASICKNESS.

I know that wouldn't work in your story, but ..............

other then that.

on with the next chapter...............

[Avlor]

yeah - seasickness would be a definate downer. :p There are times to torutre charactes and times when you have to be nice so they don't run away.

(Thanks for reading tho!)