F.I

Ten minutes

2005-08-13T04:29:34Z

I’ve decided to make Expecting a series and thought this would be a good second chapter.
But there are parts I feel could be a little stronger so I thought I would get an opinion here before I post it on ffnet. Tell me what you think and if you see any room for improvement.

Ten minutes

Anna placed the small plastic stick on the lip of the sink. Picking up the timer she set it to ten minutes and placed it next to the plastic stick. Not giving the pair a second glance she sunk to the floor next to her fiancée, wrapped her arms around her knees mirroring his position, and stared aimlessly at the door.

*1 minute 30 seconds*

“You are.” Stated Yoh. It was a simple statement not containing much emotion.

Anna let out an exasperated sigh. “We don’t know that”

“But you are..”

“We don’t know that!” Anna was careful not to raise her voice any higher than was necessary to get her point across. No one knew what they were doing and she wanted to keep it that way. Anna turned her attention back to the door.

*2 minutes 22 seconds*

“What are we going to tell everyone?”

Anna glared at Yoh out of the corner of her eye. “What do you mean tell them, we don’t even know.”

Yoh smiled and shook his head. “Yes we do. You know and I know” he pointed towards the sink “the stick knows, we all know. You just don’t want to admit it.”

Anna rose to her feet, her fists clenched tight at her sides. “No we most certainly do not know. And I do not think I like how you’re taking this.”

Yoh smiled even wider and laughed. “No, I am taking this surprisingly well. You on the other hand are not. And I get the feeling that when this test is done your going to … flip out and…”

*3 minutes 40 seconds*

“Flip out?” Anna quickly turned around and faced him. The anger was apparent in her eyes and as soon as Yoh saw it he knew he made a mistake. “You think I’m going to flip out?”

Not thinking Yoh quickly nodded his head. Another glare from Anna and he realized his mistake. “No not flip out….but your not going to take it well…” from the look on her face Anna wasn’t taking Yoh’s opinion well. He nervously rubbed the back of his neck. “At first. At first your not going to take it well but once you warm up to the idea..”

Anna grabbed the sides of her head and covered her ears. “I don’t believe you! You’re acting like we’re getting a puppy. This is not a puppy Yoh!”

Yoh jumped to his feet and placed his hands on her shoulder. Anna recoiled, quickly shoving him away. “Don’t you dare touch me! That’s how we got into this mess in the first place.” She turned around and stomped out of the bathroom slamming the door behind her.

*4 minutes 54 seconds*

Yoh quickly followed her out into the hall. The slamming of another door told Yoh she had retreated into her room. He paused outside her door trying to get himself together enough to go another round with her. This morning had gone bad. When the thought of her being pregnant first came to him he hadn’t taken it well. In fact he had been completely terrified.

When he voiced his concerns to her Anna had thought he was being completely ridiculous. Just because she was sick she said didn’t mean she was pregnant. He had been the one who had continued to push the subject. Anna insisted that if he was going to be persistent he be the one to go and buy the test.

That only led to another fight about why he should be the one to buy the test. His argument had been full of what he considered good points. Things like how embarrassing it would be for him to buy a pregnancy test and how he would actually have to ask for one because they were kept behind the counter. He even resorted to saying that he always did the shopping so she should do it just this once.

Anna countered that last point with an earth shattering slap and an unhappy Yoh went to the store. The walk there and back had given him enough time to think about the situation and calm some of his fears. He still wasn’t thrilled at the idea of becoming a father so young but not nearly as afraid of it as he had been this morning.

If only Anna would start feeling the same way.

*5 minutes 16 seconds*

Yoh entered Anna’s room ready for another fight. Anna didn’t even acknowledge his presence. Instead she sat on the edge of her futon, her back turned to him. Yoh had been expecting another slap and was unprepared for her silence and lack of violence. He sat down on the opposite end of the futon. Silence filled the room.

*6 minutes 23 seconds*

“You think this is easy for me?”

Her sudden statement surprised him. “What?”

Anna glanced over her shoulder quickly and then looked away again. “You’ve had the thought of me being pregnant for what, a day, Maybe two? I have had to deal with this for weeks. Am I pregnant, am I not pregnant, what are you going to think of this? How are we going to pay for a baby? And what about the Inn Yoh? Do you know how difficult it’s going to be to run the inn if I’m caring for a child? You think I haven’t been thinking about this? Because I have!”

Yoh crawled next to her. “Ok, ok but you’ve got to calm down.”

Anna glared daggers at Yoh. “Calm down! You expect me to calm down?!”

“Is everything alright up there?”

* 7 minutes 44 seconds*

Anna and Yoh both turned their heads towards Tamao’s voice. Yoh quickly ran out of the room and towards the stairs. Tamao was almost to the top when Yoh stopped her. “Yeah everything’s fine.”

Tamao didn’t look like she believed him. “Are you sure because miss Anna sounded upset and..”

Anna appeared in the doorway behind Yoh. “Tamao would you mind fixing dinner?”

Tamao glanced nervously between the shaman and the Itako before nodding and disappearing down the stairs.

* 8 minutes 55 seconds *

“Anna?”

She held up her hand to stop him from speaking. “I don’t want to talk about this anymore, not until we know.” She pressed her back against the wall. “I don’t need to think about this or plan anything until I know for sure.”

Yoh stared at her for a moment and then sighed. “Anna, you need to stop talking about this like you’re alone. Because your not you know.”

* 9 minutes 3 seconds *

Anna kept her eyes on the floor as Yoh continued. “I’m with you in this Anna. Not only do you have me but our family and our friends.” Yoh closed the distance between them and pulled her into his arms. He closed his eyes and placed his head next to hers holding her tightly. “Everything will work out, I promise.”

Anna remained stiff in his arms for a moment before slowly melting against him and buried her face in the crook of his shoulder.

* 10 minutes *

catesy @ 2005-05-15T00:29:00

2005-05-15T04:37:33Z

This is not for the contest. It’s just a one-shot I’ve been working on.

Some days it’s hard to move. Move forward, backward, anywhere. Somehow I find the strength to walk up the path to where I know you’ll be. The air is bitterly cold and a blanket of snow glitters on the ground. It would be beautiful if only you were here with me.

The snows whiteness is only a reflection from the light.

I think of us and wonder how much we reflected off each other. You were everything I should have been. I can only hope there was some part of me you wanted reflected in you. Walking all alone I wonder if I will ever reflect anything again.

Together I think you and I made one very good person. We never did do very well on our own did we? We really only lived half a life before we met. We were both alone and we both hated it. I may not have showed it much but believe me I was grateful for you.

I hate being alone.

My feet carry me unconsciously. I’ve travailed this road more than enough to know it by heart. My mind has better things to do than think of where I’m going.

If you could see me now what would you say? Probably that I should be wearing a heavier coat and definitely a pair of gloves. I know you would chastise me for being out in this kind of weather but I also know you would never try and stop me from doing something I wanted. Not when it means this much to me.

I stop and realize I’ve come to the end. In front of me is your grave marker. I kneel, a bit to clumsily for my liking, your necklace in my hands. The marker is covered in snow and fallen leaves. I clean it off as best I can; I won’t stand for your grave to be in disarray. I offer incense as I have a hundred times before. I clasp my hands in a praying motion, your necklace held tightly between.

I tell myself every time I come that this time I will not cry. Warm tears leave my eyes becoming cold in the harsh weather, I know I’ve failed once again. You wouldn’t want me to cry would you? You would tell me to be happy and move on with my life. But I cant and somehow I know you know that as well.

You and I are bound together by something stronger then death.

That day in Osorezan, it snowed that day as well. I fell in love with you then and I vowed I would make your dreams come true. I feel like I’ve failed you, failed the future we should have shared together. There are days I wish this nightmare would end and that when I wake you’ll be there. There are days I wish I would sleep and never wake up.

I’m so lonely without you. Friends are little comfort. A thousand people could surround me but without you I’m alone.

I feel a presence behind me and turn around. Amidamaru is there, looking at me with eyes full of concern. Usually when I come here he stays away, giving me space to grieve. I turn back to your marker and stand up. “Just a few more minutes.” I say hoping he will leave. I hate for him to see me like this. Only because I know he suffers when I do.

He nods silently and begins to leave. A moment later he is back by my side and I face him once more. “Master Yoh, I know Lady Anna’s death has been heard on you but…” his eyes fall to the grave marker and for a moment he seems lost for words.

We are silent, the howl of the wind filling the air. Suddenly he speaks again. “You should smile for her.”

I look at him again this time with a hint of questioning in my expression. He turns from me but continues talking. “I understand that you can’t smile for me or for the others any longer.” He turns around and looks at your name written in cold stone. “But for her…for Anna, you should always smile.” He fades away then and I no longer sense him.

The snowfall becomes heavier and I clutch your beads to my chest. They offer no warmth and I feel a little disappointed by that fact. I shut my eyes and through my tears I force myself to smile.

It’s hard. Life is hard. But for you Anna there is nothing I wont do.

AN
Ok so this came from all those stories out there were Yoh is dead and Anna left to grieve. I wanted to do something sad and this was what I came up with. Also I wanted to keep the reader guessing as to who was dead. Until Amidamaru shows up it really could be either Yoh or Anna narrating.

Also the line “The snows whiteness is only a reflection from the light.” is a quote from Anna from Vol 20 of the manga.

Expecting

2005-05-10T16:30:57Z

Well I haven’t written any fanfiction in about a year and a half so I’m more than rusty. Zelel mother’s day story was very inspirational.

I just hope this is understandable because my grammar and spelling have never been the best. What I tried to do was show what everyone was thinking about Anna’s pregnancy. I think I veered from that by getting too much into Yoh and Anna, but tell me what you think and please someone be my beta and correct me on my mistakes.

Expecting

No one expected Anna to be a very good mother.

Not that she wouldn’t take care of any children she had. On the contrary, her children would most definitely be well feed, well groomed, well mannered, and well educated. There was no doubt they would be properly trained and become powerful shamans.

But these things do not a good mother make.

Anna was stern, strict, unyielding, and at times uncaring. So when Anna became pregnant most of Yoh’s friends not only took pity on him (having to deal with Anna was enough let alone a pregnant Anna) but also the luckless child growing inside her.

What would the Itako know about raising children? She had no mother of her own, she was not very close to Yoh’s mother Keiko, and Kino was even worse than Anna when it came to strictness. Some people say you can tell how good of a mother a woman will make by watching her interact with other peoples children. That being said, no one had ever seen Anna take an interest in children. In fact if ever a babysitter was needed Anna was always busy. Not that she was ever high on the list of people you would want to leave your kid with, if even on the list at all. Honestly, who would want to come home to their child scrubbing the floor or any number of tasks the Itako was sure to come up with.

The only indication of what kind of mother Anna would be came from her treatment of Yoh, her fiancé turned husband. No one would ever forget the grueling training, cooking, housework, and daily slaps Yoh endured at the hands of the Itako. If she could treat the man she supposedly loved like that then there was little hope she would treat her child any better.

To her credit, Anna did ease off after the shaman fight. This was more because of a change in hobbies than anything else. With the opening of the inn Anna’s attention shifted from Yoh to the full time job of running the hot spring. Yoh’s chores lessened only because the staff took care of most of the housework. With no shaman fight, training became more of a daily workout than a form of torture.

When questioned by his friends on how he felt about becoming a father Yoh simply smiled and said he was happy. When asked about Anna and her parenting skills his usual reply was “Anna will be Anna”, or the famous “Everything will work out”.

That was about as far as anyone got. No one was about to risk their lives and question the Itako on how she thought her parenting skills would be. No one wanted to die an early death. Tamao was perhaps the only one who ever ask Anna anything about the baby and those question never veered far from clothing and nursery items.

Yoh and Anna talked little about the baby. The only conversations anyone could recall them having, at least in public, centered on mundane things like doctor’s appointments and what she should or should not eat. Yoh took it upon himself to cook Anna what he called “healthy meals”. Meals which on more than one occasion Anna had deemed “Unfit for human consumption”. Yoh never argued with her and simply re-cooked her something more eatable.

Everyone took it as a good sign that Yoh was showing so much concern for his child’s well being. If Anna couldn’t do it Yoh could always take up the role of the caring parent.

That pretty much summed up everyone’s feelings of Anna’s ability to mother. What no one took into consideration was what Yoh kept saying, “Anna will be Anna”.

No one expected Anna to be a good mother, but Anna never did what was expected of her.

falling

2005-04-24T01:15:00Z

Its april 23, the weather should be nice don’t you think? Wrong! I look out my window and there is half an inch of snow on the ground. The weather was in the 80 last week and now it’s snow.

Today just seemed to drag on. Dave’s grandmother is slowly passing away. They have her on life support and I really don’t thing she is going to live much longer. He’s going to act like it doesn’t matter to him, that’s typical Dave. I know it’s going to hurt him, he’s not close with her but deep down everyone loves their grandparents.

I’m not really looking forward to this coming week.

First post

2005-04-23T03:20:07Z

Not that I expect anyone to be reading this.

I’m manly doing the live journal thing to talk to the people in the yoh_anna group (there should be a way I can make a link but I’m not sure how). I’m not really sure how any of this works. Guess I’ll learn as I need to.

Not much to know about me I used to write Inuyasha fanfiction but my interest in that fandom has died down quite a bit. I’ve moved on to obsessing over Yoh/Anna from shaman king. I haven’t started writing yet but I’m sure eventually I’ll crack and start writing again.

Until then I have started a yahoo group for Yoh/Anna fandom http://groups.yahoo.com/group/LoveFool1/
This is my first yahoo group so I am still learning what this is all about and how to use the various functions. I have run a forum before and I’m assuming a group is similar, just with being able to upload images into folders. That is the only difference I have noticed anyway. So well see how things go.

I may update this here and there but I think it would mostly be myself reading this. How intrusting could my life be anyway? Guess well find out.