Chapter 19

Author's Notes:

Not the epilogue I had promised. At least not yet. There was one last thing I felt I had to get out of my system. It was something I introduced as an issue in Chiaki and Nodame's relationship earlier on so I felt it was important that I deal with it and give that aspect of the story some kind of closure.

Their suitcases were lying on the floor opened. Her things, shoes, clothes and papers were still scattered chaotically around the room. His were already folded and organized neatly into distinct piles ready to be put away. She was sitting cross-legged on the bed unconcerned about the trivialities of packing. Oblivious to time, she was absorbed in the contents of a large off-white spiral bound book.

"I'm sorry that things didn't work out as planned, Nodame... This entire trip was a disaster from beginning to end." Her husband had a glum look on his face as he did a final inspection of the room for any forgotten items.

"It wasn't a complete disaster." She gave him a reassuring glance.

"Well, maybe... but your recitals... one interrupted and the other cancelled. It's not really what we had in mind when we talked about our working honeymoon adventure."

"I can't say I'm not disappointed about those but I did get a few bookings... so it hasn't been all bad. After all an adventure is not an adventure without the element of surprise. "

"That's why I don't like surprises... especially ones that include near-death experiences."

"You're such a wet blanket..."

"It's because I value my life... thank you very much. Believe it or not, some of us here actually live in the real world." Her husband observed wryly.

Noticing that her things were still in disarray and that she had not lifted a finger to put them away, Chiaki climbed onto the bed by her side and ruffled her hair.

"Aren't you going to pack your things? We have a train to catch in an hour."

"Plenty of time." She brushed him off casually while still preoccupied with her book..

"You're expecting me to do all the packing, aren't you?" He rolled his eyes exasperated.

"Of course not." was the nonchalant reply.

Sure. How are you going to cope when you're on tour without me? The thought struck him then that she would be off on occasion by herself, working and making music without him. This didn't appeal to him one whit. It was something he was still not ready to deal with but would have to eventually. They were two working musicians with separate careers. There would be times that their working lives would intersect but it would be a herculean task -- a juggling act that would try their patience, test their resolve and their commitment to one another. He recalled Vieira sensei's admonishment with much sobriety and he knew full well that they had chosen for themselves a difficult path. Yet he was content... for now... she was by his side, ready for the next challenge. They would have to deal with each one as it arose and already it was clear that there would be many.

She, on the hand, who was not privy to his thoughts, looked like she had not a care in the world. Her eyes were still glued to the book in front of her and occasionally she would interrupt her meditations with a giggle or one of her signature squeals. It didn't take long for Chiaki to catch on that something in the book was capturing her attention.

"What's so interesting about this book?" He asked, trying to get a glimpse of the cover.

"Nothing... nothing... Just do your packing, husband." She did her best to look indifferent but it only served to rouse his interest further.

"Not until you let me have a look..."

"It's nothing... really..."

"Why so secretive then? What are you hiding?" So saying he reached for the item in question and attempted to wrench it from her.

After a bit of a tug-of-war, he tore it from her grasp. "Muki... give it back to me..." She protested indignantly. The result of that tussle was her falling off the bed while he disappeared into the other side of the room with the prize.

Realising immediately that he was holding onto a photo album, Chiaki skimmed through its pages in increasing astonishment at their significance. It was a collection of his family photos... memories of days long gone. Memories of things he had long suppressed because thinking about them had been too painful. Memories he had been happy to forget.

"Where did you get this?" He gulped, pushing back a myriad of emotions.

"If you must know, it's from your father. He dropped it off at the hospital the other day. Mukya... you didn't have to be so rough..." She was pouting and rubbing her arm.

"He kept all these?" I didn't know... I always thought he just didn't care enough...

"Apparently. Now, can Nodame have it back?"

"Only if we can look at it together."

"Do you really want to, husband?" Nodame looked surprised. "You never talk about your childhood. Nodame knows that you hate your childhood."

"I don't hate my childhood..." Chiaki snapped and winced when he saw her flinch. I'm doing it again. "Nodame... I...I don't hate it... Well, not the good parts. There were good times. I... just didn't want to think about or talk about him."

"Because it reminds you of him?"

"Sort of. But mostly because it reminds me that he wasn't there." He gave a loud, heavy sigh. "And when he was, it felt like he didn't want to be there." Talking about his father was always going to trigger an emotional upheaval in him but for her sake, he had to. It had led to tensions between them before and he had to give her the assurance she needed that the past would not come between them in the future. "He never came to see me once in Japan. It was like I didn't exist."

"I'm sorry... husband... I didn't mean to cause you pain." Her eyes were turning watery and she gazing at his tortured face sorrowfully.

Chiaki shook his head and squeezed her hand with conviction."You have the right to know... I mean... we are married now, right?" Outwardly, he gave her a reassuring smile but inwardly, he was wrestling with a gamut of emotions that he thought he had left behind.

"Yeah... we are..." She returned the smile as tears rolled down her face. Instinctively she understood. She understood how hard it was for him to face this part of himself. Snuggling up closer, she commented, "Husband was so cute as a boy. I'm sure our children will be too."

"What if they look like you?"

"Then they are doomed to eternal ugliness..."

"Hey... nobody talks about my wife like that. Not even my wife." His arm curled round her shoulder and tweaked her nose. "She's not ugly... she's an acquired taste..."

"What is that supposed to mean?" Narrowing her eyes irately, she demanded to know.

"It means that only I truly appreciate the beauty of the woman inside and out."

"That's better..." She retreated back into the crook of his arm and was lost in her own thoughts.

It was the first time they had really talked about this subject matter seriously. She had been afraid before but now it seemed like he was showing a new found openness to the idea. It was better than she had hoped. Still she had to broach the subject cautiously.

"Husband... how many children should we have..."

"I've never thought about how many. Why? How many do you have in mind?" Chiaki wasn't sure if he should be nervous or terrified by the question.

"At least three... I think... maybe four..."

"Four!! Don't you want to be a working pianist?"

"Sure... I can take them on tour with us..."

"You're joking right?"

"I'm serious! It is good to expose children to live musical performances at a young age."

"But... but... not when they're babies..."

"Especially when they're babies... Anyway, you can watch them while I'm busy... We are the golden pair right?" She declared airily as if it was a given.

"I don't remember babies being part of that equation." He noted.

"Scared, are you?"

"It's not that..." Well, maybe I am. "I don't know if we can be trusted with that many children."

"Anata... you'll be a great father!"

"I don't know about that. Think of my history... my own father... they weren't ideal conditions. He wasn't the greatest of role models"

"You're nothing like your father... Anyway, you're good with Yuiko..."

"Well..."

"And who was it who took care of me the past nine years..."

That's a good point. "But that's different."

"How different can that be? Cooking, cleaning, nagging, worrying..."

"Looks like I have my work cut out for me." He muttered with practiced irascibility.

"You'll do a great job... I speak from experience."

"But three... four... children... that's very different."

"Practice makes perfect... right?..."

"At the price of whose sanity?"

"Don't worry, Shinichi Chiaki... I, Megumi Chiaki, will make it worth your while..." She had a wicked gleam in her eye. "Every single time..."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"It means this..." Mischievously, she fingered the buttons on his shirt suggestively as a taste of things to come. Her fingers travelled nimbly to his collar, neck and lips. Showing unexpected strength she jerked him forward while plying his face with languorous kisses.

Diving into the spirit of things, Chiaki put up little resistance. "We have a train to catch... remember... and check out time is..." He was heard mumbling between kisses. "I'm still not packing your suitcase for you..."

"Of course not..."

----------------------------------------------

This is Vienna Channel Six News.

Also in the news comes the arrest of a suspect in an unusual kidnapping case involving a visiting Japanese pianist. The suspect, Fritz von Stohlenberg was caught by federal police in Paris Charles De Gaulle International Airport for travelling under a false passport. Von Stohlenberg tried to evade capture when officers attempted to detain him at customs but after hiding out in the female restrooms in the departure lounge, he peacefully surrendered to authorities, claiming that he knew nothing and was merely following orders. The pianist, Megumi Noda Chiaki was allegedly kidnapped a week ago under the instructions of Vienna Symphony Orchestra conductor, Alexander Weiss. This led to a confrontation with the police at the famous Wurstelprater amusement centre, where Ms Chiaki was held captive for 20 hours. Sources at the scene tell us that Mrs Chiaki's husband, conductor Shinichi Chiaki and two other senior conductors were involved in this altercation which led to their being hospitalized. All are well and have recovered from the incident. Weiss is currently undergoing psychiatric supervision and is unlikely to face criminal charges in the immediate future.

Epilogue

"I don't know why I let you talk me into coming here." One minute he was mewling and clutching onto her nervously and another he was shielding his eyes uneasily from his surroundings.

"It's the Great Barrier Reef..."

"It's an island which forms part of the Great Barrier Reef." The man corrected his wife mechanically, not daring to take another step forward on his own.

"So... what's wrong with that?"

"Islands are surrounded by water." The young husband was a complete wreck... quaking in sandals and his eyes tightly shut.

His wife sighed with unqualified contentment. "Isn't that wonderful... all that blue green, sparkling water. Lying by the beach, soaking in sun and feeling the ocean breeze in your face."

"I hate islands..." The husband growled.

"You do? Why? Why didn't you tell me before?"

"I thought I could do this. But all this water... miles and miles of water..." The thought of which caused him to breathe rapidly. He was looking pallid and ready to collapse on the spot.

To the wife though, her husband's seeming irrational behaviour was puzzling.

"That's the whole point, isn't it... to get away from it all. A romantic getaway."

"Let's leave now, Nodame..."

"Leave?! No way, we just got here!"

"We can go somewhere else... Sydney, Melbourne..."

"No, I want to stay. You can go by yourself to Sydney or Melbourne." She wasn't about to budge an inch.

"I can't go by myself... we're supposed to be on our honeymoon!"

"Well, you'll have to choose then, won't you? This is supposed to be my reward, remember? For going to Vienna with you."

"I know, I know..."

"You said I could choose to go anywhere..."

"I did..." The beleaguered husband mumbled regretfully. "But I thought..."

"I don't care what you thought. I want to stay..."

"Alright, alright... just get me to the room..."

"What's the matter with you anyway?"

In reply, her husband muttered something inaudible.

"What's that? I can't hear you..."

"I'm afraid..."

"Afraid? Afraid of what..."

"The water..." He managed to mouth querulously.

"You're afraid of water?!" She screeched.

"Shhhh... don't announce it to the entire world..."

"Is that why you were clinging on to me in St Malo? Why didn't you tell me?"

"I... I... thought... I could deal with it but obviously... well..."

"Never mind, husband... Nodame will cure you of your fear of water like I cured you of your fear of flying."

"You didn't cure me of my fear of flying..." That hentai is fantasizing again. How could she have...

Seeing that she had made a strategic misstep, his intrepid wife grew oddly quiet. So quiet that it aroused a touch of leeriness in her husband. "Did you?" He looked at her incredulously.

"No... no... of course not..." She shrugged it off evasively. "C'mon let's go... Ohhh look at that shell over there. Isn't it pretty?" Adding that last comment as a last ditch effort in misdirection.

"Nodame... What are you up to..."

"Me? Up to something? Don't be absurd. I'm just here to have a good time." She gave her "good wife" twitter. "Let's go to our room and get changed. I bought a new bikini, just for this occasion." She winked enticingly much to her husband's chagrin.

I don't know how I'm going to keep up with her.

On arriving at their room, the husband threw himself face forward onto the bed, exhausted from all his exertions. He was never more relieved to be indoors in his life.

I wonder if she did have a hand somehow in the way that I did overcome my fear of flying... Funny how I've never made the connection...

I'll have to keep an eye on her... a very close eye on her...

Especially if she's going to parade herself in public... in that... bikini. All those ogling tourists... surfers.

The hydrophobic husband rolled over to one side of the bed and managed a groan.

Wonder what the time is. I'm feeling a bit peckish. The sea air... perhaps...

The dining here had better be good... it's the only thing I'm looking forward to...

Now where did that fob watch get to? I was so sure it was in my jacket pocket.

The End

Author's Notes:

That is the end of this story but not my love affair with Nodame and Chiaki. As I said in the last chapter, I'm not planning to work on any new NC stories in the immediate future, mainly because there's not much more I can say that I haven't already said. But like many of you, I am eagerly awaiting the latest developments in the manga and perhaps I might be inspired along new directions when the story finally comes to a close.

But right now, I desperately need to sleep... something that has been eluding me lately.

Once more I apologize for taking as long as I did with this story. Those of you who have followed this story from the beginning... you've been exceedingly faithful and patient.

I want to thank my loyal reviewers, Angleico, Cactus and Crazy Sardines. Kandida for making my day the other day by reviewing 3 chapters in a row.

To Star Garden – good observations and right on target. Although I do see some of that subversive maturity in the manga in some of her cryptic comments.

And Arhazivory... a new reviewer... thank you and appreciate your interest in ARH and this one.

I am satisfied with the general feel of the story although I have not always been happy with its execution. We live and learn, and I am only at the beginning of this journey.