She (TakashiMorinozukaxOC)

Chapter 15: How She Was

The air was crisp and quiet. A cool breeze fanned over two blonde figures on the nose of the sail boat. Behind them, a man with dirty blonde hair and strong arms let down the anchor. When he was finished, he approached his family-- the two pretty girls at the nose of the boat-- with a basket in his hand. 

His chin-length hair swirled around him in the wind, and he smiled at his family as he sat down with them. He pulled the young girl into his lap, the salty air wrapping them all three like a hug. She looked out at the sea around the boat. Next to her, her mother's nervous eyes glances over the waves.

"I like it out here!" she cheered. 

The shore was a thin line behind them. Her mother looked back at it and said, "All the swaying..." 

"I think it's fun, Mom! Dad, isn't this fun?" 

Her father calmed her and took out the sandwiches out of the basket, "Your mom just hasn't got her sea legs yet, Sea Monkey." 

She scrunched her nose at the nickname and looked back out to the sea to admire the glittering caps on the waves, "I think I could stay out here forever." 

Hands stopped over the blue-covered canvas. The last bit of glittery sunshine on the waves were coming together nicely. The line of shore in the distance was nothing more than a yellowish white line-- marked with just two figures standing on the beach. 

"Jenni! Entra aqui ahora!" 

Jenni's head didn't turn to her aunt's calls. Her face was outward-- towards the big, wide ocean in front of her. A wave caressed her legs in the water. They straddled a surf board much too big for her at eleven years of age. The small family had taken her to the beach for her eleventh birthday. She spent the whole day in the sea-- stumbling around and trying to figure out how to surf without her dad to catch her. 

"Jenni!" shouted Uncle Luke, "it's time to go!" 

She didn't want to go; she wanted to stay in the sea forever and try to act like nothing had ever happened. When she was in the water, it felt like her father was there with her-- watching, rooting for her in the shallows and ready to save her lest she drown. However, any time Jenni caught a wave, she never heard her father's triumphant calls. 

He was gone, she told herself. Nothing could bring him back. 

"Jenni!" 

Unlike herself, she jumped back. Her paintbrush almost expelled from her grasp at the sudden entrance of Honey and Takashi. 

"Knock much?" she seethed, "I could have been changing!" 

Honey's eyes began to fill with glassy tears, "We knocked and you didn't answer." 

She hadn't heard them knocking, "Oh," she said, "I guess I was zoning out." 

"It's okay!" Honey reversed his attitude quickly. 

She looked at them expectantly, "Well? What do you want?" 

"We're going to visit Haru-chan with the rest of the Host Club, and we want you to come, too." 

Jenni shook her head, "No, thanks." 

Honey pouted, "But why not?"

"I have a feeling that this will be intruding on Haruhi's privacy-- especially if it was Tamaki's idea," she gave them a pointed look and sighed, "Besides, I have plans for today." 

"What plans?" 

Jenni sucked in her lip, "Personal plans, okay?" she told him as gently as she could. Truth be told, she wanted to be alone that day. With an adverted gaze, she shifted her weight and adjusted her shirt with a specific orange label. "I hope you guys have fun, though."