http://clampfix.fanworks.net/x-fix/autumn.txt </head><body><pre>Um... yeah. My first X fic. I think the ending needs work. C&C? Please? (Does anyone know the name of Aoki's daughter?) "Autumn Winds" by Kira Seldon The phone rang. Aoki Seiichirou sighed, put down the pencil, and reached over to pick it up. So much for getting any work done today. "Moshi moshi," he said absently, frowning at the notes he'd made. "Seiichirou-san," Karen said, "you've forgotten our lunch date." Lunch date? He stared at his calendar, then the clock. Surely it was only... ...three o'clock in the afternoon... "Oh, God... gomen ne," he apologized, reddening. "I guess I just lost track of time. Gomen..." Karen sighed. "I have to admire a strong work ethic, but honestly. All right, I'll forgive you if you make it up to me. How does dinner sound?" Aoki looked at the calendar again. "I'm sorry... How about lunch tomorrow?" "If you promise not to forget again!" Karen said. "Why not tonight?" "Well...tonight is my anniversary." "Oh," Karen said. "Sorry. I'll see you tomorrow, then!" "Tomorrow," Aoki confirmed. The distant click echoed in his ear, and he stared at the wall without seeing it. After a moment, he put down the phone and stared at the paper instead. He hoped Karen wasn't too offended. She was a good friend, after all. It was just that he *did* love his work, and it was all too easy to get caught up in it. Well, he'd watch the clock carefully tomorrow. He made a note on the calendar. He'd have to stop for flowers on the way home from work. --- It was a lovely day, the beginning of autumn, with a crisp breeze freshening the air and batting playfully at a few early leaves fallen on the pavement. A pair of them danced along the gutter in a tiny eddy of air, the wind at its most playful. Aoki smiled, watching the leaves, and added a little strength to the wind that stirred them. They leapt like startled cats, a few feet in the air, then settled gently again, spinning to the ground. As he walked on, Aoki's smile remained. He didn't have many opportunities just to enjoy his power, with the battle for the Future of the Earth in full swing. It seemed that whenever he used it, it was to hurt or kill. He hated to use the wind to attack, even to defend. It was a peaceful gift, no matter how it could be used. And just playing, like this, it was easy to forget that there was anything dangerous to it at all. He didn't do so enough. A quiet sigh, and he shifted the bundle of roses under his arm to a more comfortable position. He should hurry to the train station, he didn't want to be late to his anniversary dinner. He felt guilty enough about forgetting his lunch date, and this was *far* more important! --- It is not easy to get keys out of your pocket and unlock a door while you are juggling a dozen roses. Aoki had a few scratches by the time he managed to fit the correct key to the lock, one-handed, and lean on the old wooden door of the apartment. It was really very convenient, he hardly had to spend an hour a day commuting, but housing was expensive. The trade-off for convenient was that it was tiny. A bedroom, a niche for a kitchen, and a larger room that filled all other purposes pretty much completed the apartment. It was quiet. He put the roses down on the table and went hunting for a vase. They really were beautiful, and it would be a shame to let them fade. As for dinner... he pulled out a few pans. Shimako usually complimented him on his cooking. He was home early enough today that he *could* cook and have a dinner ready at some reasonable hour. No TV meals necessary, at least not tonight. "Mrrrow!" Aoki started, then looked down. His little gray cat wound insistently around his ankles, purring like a tank. He fed her a bit of fish from the pan, and she leapt on it and dragged it to the corner of the kitchen, tail waving as she feasted. He could get away with it. Shimako always scolded him about spoiling the cat, but she wasn't watching... The apartment was surprisingly bare and quiet, too much so to really seem like anyone's home. There were only a few personal touches: a small blanket Shimako had knitted on the sofa, his bouquet on the table, a little family picture hanging on the wall in the kitchen. Aoki watched the small photograph as he cooked, smiling back at the happy trio depicted. He and Shimako were sitting side by side, holding hands, their daughter (much younger) on Shimako's lap with a look of sheer wicked curiosity on her face. She was a terror, but always so good-hearted that you couldn't be angry at her. Even if she'd just spilt a can of chocolate milk (her favorite) across his briefcase. Or traumatized the cat by catching its tail in a mini- tornado. He smiled at the picture, and took dinner off the heat. He brought out a single bowl, then hesitated, and took out a candle as well. It went at the center of the table, right next to the flowers, and he lit it. The tiny flame sparkled brightly against the stark scarlet of the roses as Aoki filled his plate and took it to the table. There was another picture on the table, not a family portrait, just a quick snapshot. Shimako and their daughter, laughing together in the park in spring. Pale sakura filled the image. Their daughter had gotten hold of a whole branch of blooms somehow, and was waving it gleefully at the camera as Shimako tried to corral her. He remembered the day well. They'd all gone out together for a family outing, to see the sakura in bloom. He'd taken the picture, laughing with them. That had been about five years ago. About three months before Shimako had gone out shopping and the runaway car had killed both her and their daughter. A true accident. The brakes had failed. The driver had been hysterical. No one even thought about pressing charges. Aoki'd reassured the driver, identified the bodies, gone home and laid all night on the bed, awake, dry-eyed. It had taken him hours, days, to realize what had happened. Longer than that, to come to terms with it. But eventually he had. Ironic, maybe, that despite all his power he couldn't protect them. He hadn't even been around. It had only been an accident. Maybe if they'd lived till now, it would have been an earthquake that killed them, a Dragon of Earth, maybe it would have been his fault. Maybe they would have actually survived, if Kamui prevailed on the Final Day. But who could tell what would have come to pass? Only the Princess, and he didn't envy her a single moment of her visions. He had made his peace with the past. No matter how much power he had, no one could go back and rewrite something that had already happened. And he had friends, he still had people who he wanted to protect. But no one quite as Special as those two had been. Aoki smiled at the picture, half-obscured by the streaks of candle- light dancing on its surface. "Happy anniversary, Shimako." She was smiling as always, in the falling petals. But for a moment Aoki fooled himself into thinking she smiled at him. --- "You're actually on time," Karen said, startled. Aoki laughed. "I was very careful to watch the clock! I didn't want to forget *again.*" He opened the menu. "Is there anything you'd recommend? I've never eaten here before." "Well..." They both eventually decided, and chatted happily of innocent things while they waited for their food to come. It wasn't much of a wait, and Karen's recommendation had been excellent. "So, Seiichirou-san," Karen asked as he picked up his chopsticks, "how was your anniversary dinner?" His smile went wistful. "The same as usual." "You're very casual about it," Karen laughed. "But I suppose I can't expect any gossip, can I? No one's perfect." "No," Aoki murmured. And they laughed together. And life went on.</pre><p><a href="./">Back</a></p><p><a href=http://www.dreamhost.com/donate.cgi?id=216><img border=0 alt="Donate towards our web hosting bill!" src=https://secure.newdream.net/donate1.gif></a></p></body></html>