"Finally!" Balancing the laundry basket against her hip, Kimiko surveyed her work. An array of linens, clothing, and other items billowed from the temple's clotheslines. A smile wound its way across her face. "Hand-washed and hung out to dry. And it only took me, what?" She yanked out her cell phone and checked the time. "The entire day." Kimiko sighed and snapped her phone shut. "Fantastic. Well, laundry never was my strong suit."

She pursed her lips as she set the basket down. "Well, it's not that I hate laundry," she said to the air, delicately sinking onto the lush grass so as not to soil her robe. "It just takes forever." She paused and amended her statement: "Well, I take forever."

In truth, she always became totally absorbed in it. At home, a maid just gathered all their clothes and tossed them into a machine. Admittedly, it was more convenient, especially given her wardrobe. But there was a certain serenity to be had in doing laundry at the temple - the warm water against her skin, the sun on her back, the breeze in her hair, the rhythm of running the clothes back and forth, back and forth, back and forth over the washboard, all while soap lightly fragranced the air.

Kimiko relaxed beside the basket. "Yeah," she murmured, "laundry's better than most chores."

"You sure about that?"

Starting, Kimiko released a nervous laugh and turned to Clay, who smiled at her and tipped his hat. "Pardon. Didn't mean to startle you, little lady."

"No worries, Clay." She patted the grass next to her. "And yeah, I kind of like doing laundry."

With a shrug, the cowboy plopped to the ground. He had no need for caution: his face was already coated with a thick layer of dirt, and splashes of mud adorned his jeans. "And here I thought you swapped with me 'cause you hated yard work more'n Omi's sexist comments."

Grinning, Kimiko tipped her head back to stare at the linens billowing on the line. "Well, that is true," she smiled, "but mostly I like laundry."

Clay cocked a brow, pushing his hat up to get a better look at her. "Seems to me that Omi could do it quicker, or Rai. No pullin' the water from the well, no waitin' for the clothes to dry."

"Probably," she conceded. "But then, I can keep the water hot." Her smile wavered. "Plus, since Rai got promoted, he's been exhausting himself with training. I'd rather see him doing the easier chores."

Clay said nothing, and together they enjoyed the sound of the breeze playing with the fabric. Inhaling, Kimiko closed her eyes and listened. In the distance, a bird sang into the wind, and she smiled. Of all the monks, only Clay seemed to understand the joy of a comfortable silence. Or so she thought.

"What's that in the basket there?"

Blinking, Kimiko glanced in the direction of Clay's pointing finger. "Oh!" She drew the teddy bear out of the basket. "I nearly forgot!"

Clay frowned with thought. "Is that Raimundo's bear?"

"Ninja Fred has a name, you know," she replied mock-defensively, but her tone quickly softened. "I found him stuffed under some junk beneath Rai's bed, would you believe it?" She dangled the bear by his paws before her and cooed, "You were all covered in nasty dust bunnies, weren't you, Ninja Fred? So Kimmie gave you a nice bath!" Her face fell, and she pulled the toy to her breast. "But he's older than I thought. I knew better than to use the washboard, but some of the stitching loosened, anyway." She tugged a sewing kit from her pocket. "I set him aside to fix him up once I finished hanging the laundry." She caught Clay's look and offered quietly, "I thought it might be nice, you know, to clean him up for Rai."

Clay said nothing, so she freed a needle from the case and threaded it. Tying a quick knot, she examined the teddy bear before jabbing the needle into its shoulder. "It's mostly the limbs that are loose," she commented idly as she sewed. Clay only watched as she expertly stitched the bear together, hiding the thread in tucks and folds. Finally, she snapped the thread with her teeth and tied it off. "There! Good as new!" She beamed and presented her handiwork to her friend. "Don't you think, Clay?"

"I think you're letting Rai get to you too much, that's what I think," the cowboy replied.

Kimiko was too staggered to be angry. "What?"

Clay's tone immediately turned apologetic. "I didn't mean it like that. But... Kimiko, he ain't a boy. He don't need you watchin' and worryin' like a mother hen."

Kimiko felt the serenity drain from her body, and something flared inside of her. "Jeez, Clay, I'm not smothering him! I'm just trying to be a good friend! Ever heard of that?" Disgusted, she leapt to her feet, clutching Ninja Fred in her fist.

"Kimiko-"

She grabbed two clothespins from a bucket, upending it and sending the rest sprawling across the grass.

"Kimiko-"

Pursing her lips, she clipped the bear to the line, first one arm, then the other, and stepped back to survey her work. Ninja Fred swung in the breeze, smiling obliviously at her.

"Kimiko," Clay murmured, still seated on the grass, "I'm just sayin' that maybe he's gettin' older and he doesn't want his bear any more."

She whirled on him. "What's your problem, Clay? I just wanted to do something nice! Is there something wrong with that?" Kimiko huffed and stamped her foot. "God, when did you get so critical?" She heard her voice crack as she blurted, "I just thought it would be nice to see him smile!"

They stared at each other. Clay watched her anger leave her, watched her crumple to the grass, and only when he saw the first sob wrack her body did he wrap his arm around her. "Kimiko, he ain't a little kid. Trainin's what he wants to do." She only choked in response, and Clay gave her a gentle squeeze. "Sure, he's been bone-tired, but that's his option. You're workin' yourself up over him growin' up, that's what."

Kimiko sniffled into Clay's shirt, not caring about the mud that was certainly dirtying up her face and robe. He rocked her like she was a child, and she fought back a laugh at the irony. It emerged as another sob instead, and he gave her another squeeze in response.

"Ay, just what are you guys up to over here, hugging like that- Kim?"

Gasping, Kimiko shoved Clay away from her and wiped at her face. Raimundo crouched in front of her, worry furrowing his brow. "Oi, Kimmie, why are you crying?" His voice turned accusatory. "Clay, what did you do?" he asked, half-serious.

"Nothin', partner," Clay replied.

His answer made no difference; Raimundo had already returned his full attention to Kimiko. "What's wrong, Kim?" Seeing her preoccupation with scrubbing her eyes, Raimundo dipped his fingers in the wash bucket and wiped a tear trail away. "You've got dirt all over your face. That's what you get for hugging cowboys."

She choked out a laugh, and he gave her a sideways grin. "That's my girl." He brushed his thumb over her cheek. "Only you would cry over some spilled clothespins."

Bouncing to his feet, he righted the bucket and scooped the pins off the grass. They dropped into the container with a clang. "There!" he announced, looking up. "All fix-" His words caught in his throat as he stared at the clothesline. Ninja Fred waved in the breeze, his fur still damp. Raimundo gazed at the bear, his back to the two monks. The wind tossed the line, and the bear bobbed in the air. Raimundo said nothing. The scent of soap and clean laundry wafted to them, and Kimiko felt the tears well up again. Just as she began to cry, though, he finally spoke.

"You cleaned him up for me?"

Kimiko blinked as Raimundo unclipped the teddy bear and held him out by the arms. A laugh escaped him. "Ay, this isn't my ratty old bear! This little guy's all clean and fluffy and not losing his stuffing!" He tossed Ninja Fred into the air and caught him with a chuckle. Raimundo turned around, beaming. "I can't believe you gave him a bath in the laundry."

Clay smiled as Raimundo crouched before Kimiko again. "Oi, princesa, what's with the tears?" Rai cupped her chin, brushed her cheek with his thumb. "Let me see you smile."

She hiccuped and curled her lips upward weakly, and Raimundo mock-frowned at her effort. "That's not a smile! Look!" He dangled the bear in front of her, pouting. "You're making Ninja Fred upset!"

A giggle escaped her, and her smile widened as Raimundo's grin stretched from one ear to the other. "That's better. Now," he sat beside her, tucking the bear into her arms, "what made you dig this little guy out, huh?"

Kimiko only shook her head, hugging Ninja Fred tightly, and Raimundo threw his arm around her, gave her shoulder a squeeze. "Aw, come on."

"It's stupid," she muttered.

"Tell me," he insisted, and she opened her mouth to do so, but what emerged was:

"I like doing laundry."

Raimundo cocked a brow at her. "That's it?"

Kimiko nodded, not trusting her voice.

"Oh?" He caught a stray tear on his finger and held it up for her to see. "You sure it's not something else?"

She shook her head.

"Well, I'll tell you what." Raimundo stood, pulling her up with him. "I'll let you hang on to Ninja Fred for me." She opened her mouth to protest, but he continued, "And whenever I'm spending a long day training and making you worry, I'll know he's there to make you smile."

Kimiko stared at him, her lips parted with surprise, and suddenly she felt something wet on her cheek. Raimundo sighed. "Jeez, Kim, you're like a leaky faucet."

She threw her arms around him, and they tumbled to the grass. "You jerk!" she cried.

Laughing, Rai snaked an arm around her waist. "What, you think I don't see the way you look at me at dinner?"

"I thought you were too busy falling asleep in your food!" Kimiko sat back and smacked him with Ninja Fred. "Jerk," she repeated.

"You know it," he grinned, sitting up so that they were nose to nose. A blush spread across her cheeks. "Now that's better," he murmured.

Clay cleared his throat, and Rai flapped a hand at him dismissively. "Raimundo," the cowboy cautioned protectively.

"Yeah, yeah, buddy, don't ruin the moment." Raimundo planted a swift kiss on Kimiko's forehead and disentangled himself from her arms. "Better, cowpoke?"

"Much," Clay affirmed, failing to suppress a smirk as he stood. He stretched exaggeratedly and thumbed his hat. "Welp, I've got a little more gardenin' to do 'fore Master Fung notices I took a break. Don't do anythin' my mama wouldn't approve of," he tossed back as he walked away.

"Clay," Kimiko hissed, flushing deeper.

"Aw, I'm just kiddin', Kimiko," he called, and he rounded the corner.

Exhaling, Kimiko felt the warmth leave her cheeks, and she rolled her shoulders to work out the tension. Raimundo watched her for a moment, then he poked one of the sheets hanging from the line. "So, Kim..." he began, dragging out each vowel.

"What, Rai?" she asked, giving her cheek one last wipe before securing Ninja Fred in the crook of her elbow.

"I've got laundry next week." He twirled a blade of grass around his finger. "I think maybe it would be more fun if we did it together. You know, a nice break from training and time to hang out and stuff." He looked at her, and his eyes sparkled. "You can even give Ninja Fred a bath."

A smile wound its way across her face. "I'd love to."

END

A short little fic just under 2,000 words. I wrote this just now in about three hours and have posted it UNEDITED. If I had revised, the story would probably be under 1,000 words. I tend to have a lot of unnecessary verbiage in the first draft.

[EDIT: As of 8/12/2012, I've cleaned up some minor typographical issues and altered some of the "dialect" elements in Clay's speech - looking back, I made him sound kind of illiterate in this first pass at him. I also removed when Kimiko swore at Clay - "What the hell?!" is a relatively light expression and not too far out of character for Kim, but for a fic with this much Original Flavor, I can see why people disliked it.]

I don't know. It was fun to write. I was never a big fluff writer, so it was fun to try something fluffy. It meanders a lot at the beginning, I think. I wasn't really sure where I was going with the story until I brought Ninja Fred in.

I'll admit up front that Rai was a little overly sweet to Kimiko in this, but as brash as he is, he never struck me as the type to be rude to a crying girl. Hence, "princesa."

Tell me what you think, and thanks for reading!