Welcome to Gaia! ::

December 21, 2004

"Whew!" Yuumei held her darling baby in her arms as she walked into the living room. The day was so hectic, and it was quite unbearable. Nohiro sat on the couch, drinking freshly brewed coffee as he looked at his "daughter".
"So, I'm guessing the doctor's wasn't so easy," he grinned as he lifted the mug to his lips.

Yuu's eyes narrowed, as she glared at him. Sure, he was two feet and 11 inches taller than her, but that never stopped her from kicking his butt. However, a little baby in the room could. ?What do you think, Einstein?" she asked, bouncing the baby up and down a bit. ?Daddy, you NEED to get a driver's license, I swear!" She slowly bent down to her knees as she sat her child on the plush carpet. The baby babbled, and blew a raspberry at her "grandfather" as she pointed at him. Yuumei giggled with the baby as she clapped. "My thoughts exactly, dear. Dedushka is mean."

Nohiro's eyes widened. "What do you mean, 'Dedushka' is mean?! Remember who was by your side the day she came out? My hand is still crumpled because of you!" He held out his right hand?the one Yuumei had held that day Hinote was born. She laughed again, the memory coming back.

"Well, Daddy, at least if you and Mommy do get married and have a baby, you're hand will be used to it!"

"YUU!"

While the two had their usual "name-calling" war, the baby had her thoughts on other things. Like the furry thing that had appeared in front of her. How cute! It had dark blue eyes and pinkish nose... with these tickling things call whiskers! Neat! The baby dribbled a bit as he clapped her hands as the "thing" mewed. It made sounds too!

Her hands brushed against what her mother called "floofy" gray fur. The feline purred softly and rubbed against her. Aww, the ?thing? liked her! Yay! Suddenly, she noticed something on its behind that swished back and forth... back and forth. Oooooh, what does it do? Curiously, she took her hand, and grasped it tight.

Just then, the cat screeched, and the teenagers' attention was averted to the sound. Nohiro groaned. "Stupid cat!"

"... You brought your cat with you?"

"... You never noticed!?"

"Oh my gosh!" Yuumei exclaimed as the cat ran away, and she picked up her daughter. On her arm was a small cut. "Are you all right, dear?"
Hinote's eyes were focused on the red liquid on her arm. What was this stuff? Why does it hurt? ... WHY WON'T IT GO AWAY? The baby suddenly burst into tears, wailing.

Nohiro looked at his "granddaughter", worriedly, as Yuu bounced her up and down, "shhhh"ing her the whole time. His teenage "daughter" looked back up at him, the words "What am I supposed to do!" sprawled all over her face. He sighed. He could've sworn that the baby girl was as sensitive as her mother. "I'll go get a towel, alcohol, a band-aid, milk, and... a cookie," he told her as he patted her on the shoulder and walked towards the kitchen.

As the "baby siren" continued to go off, Yuu looked at him, puzzled. What the hell was the cookie for? She looked back at her baby, continuing to bounce her and hushing her. "It's all right, darling," she said lovingly through the cries. "Calm down, for mommy ok? It will be all right!"
After a few seconds of failure, Yuumei tried singing to her. "Hush little baby, don't say a word, momma's gonna buy you a mockingbird..." as she continued, the baby's cries slowly hushed, but nevertheless, the tears still came rolling down.

Nohiro soon came back with the things he promised to come with. Yuumei looked at him brightly, greeting him in a sing-song way. "Thank yo?" that moment her mouth was stuffed with the cookie.

"There's a reason why band people aren't in chorus," he said, with a grin. Yuu glared at him again, but ate the baked good happily. Nohiro passed her the bottle of warm milk. "Here, let the little one suck on this while I clean it.? As she did what she was told, Yuumei watched as her "father's? giant hands gingerly patted the lukewarm damp towel against the baby's skin. Little clicking noises from the child drinking filled the room as no one else made a peep. "Now, this might sting a little, little vnootcha,? he cooed to the little one, "but be brave, alright?? He held a small paper towel with rubbing alcohol on it to disinfect it.

The little girl just kept drinking her milk. Whatever the big, nice Dedushka said! Little did she know that it would hurt ten times worse than the furry thing. THIS WAS MEAN! She spitted up on Nohiro and wailed again, clinging unto her mommy's shirt.

"GAH!!! THIS WAS A NEW SHIRT!"

Yuumei giggled. She surprisingly stuffed the giant cookie in her mouth, and ate it up already. "Well finally, you get a new one. But suck it up, ok?" Yuu brushed her daughter's head, trying to calm her down again. Nohiro only shook his head.

"All right," he agreed, as he patted his wet self with a dry towel with one hand and grabbed the band-aid. "Hold her still. Knowing you, and noticing how she's acting, I'm guessing she's going to have a fight with me to get this band-aid on her."

The baby's eyes widened as her Dedushka came nearer. NO! Stay away! You're mean now! Hinote struggled to move away, but it was no use. Her mother made her cornered. She was a goner. The little one curled up; her eyes closed. Was it bye-bye?

... Wait a minute. There was something sticky and... paddy on the stinging red thing now. It was so... sticky and paddy. That wasn't bad! She looked up at Nohiro's giant face. "See, that wasn't so bad, was it?"
His response was the grabbing of his nose and a giggle. Yuumei watched laughing, as Nohiro tried to get his granddaughter to let go. But it was funny! The thing on his face was so big and squishy! The baby was having a lot of fun, hearing the big man with his british accent whine and plea to let go. This was proof to Yuumei. Nohiro really is a great Dedushka. Not mean at all.

"Yuumei... you look tired," he then mentioned to her. It didn't take long for little Hinote to fall asleep. She looked so angelic, in his arms. Yuu watched over his shoulder, her eyes heavy with sleep. "How about you go to bed?"
The mother shook her head the best she could. "No... no... besides, we have a concert tonight, remember?"
"Oh... yeah."
"And in... 3 hours we have to get ready."
"That's enough time to get some rest."
"But... Hinote..."
"I'll watch her. You go rest, okay?
... Okay?"

He never got an answer, for she become lost in her dreams. "That little troublemaker."

The Exploration: Meeting Kit... and finding Kanoa, a new fa'e!

[reserved - Oh, What a Beautiful Morning (February 13)]

February 14, 2005

"Come on, Hinote! It's very easy," Nohiro assured. He was on his knees at an end of a long carpet rug with the little baby, who was looking at him oddly. "It's just left hand, right knee, then right hand, left knee! Try and do with with... uh...

"Yuu? she can't call me Dedushka anymore. What can she call me?"

Yuumei laughed as she put down her pencil and joined them on the floor. "Well, I don't know. Maybe just Hiro?" Like, as if he was a hero or something that would come to Hinote's rescue. She blushed as she then suggested, "Or... daddy?"
"Daddy... that'd be nice. But I'm not her dad."
"Well... she does need a father-figure don't you think? And you're pretty much it. Besides, at least someone's going to be calling you dad."
"Still, it's awkward."
"Or we can just stick with Dedushka."
"... you know, when she grows up and learns what a grandfather is, she'll be confused."
"How about weirdo then?"
"Yuu!"

As they discussed what his title would be, Hinote tilted her head. Why was mommy sticking out her tongue? And why was Dedushka trying to change his name? Wait... if they're saying that he's not Dedushka... who is this person? And... hey, they're hugging. They never did that before.Eh, mommy should argue with him. It's much more funnier.

"Fine," he said. "If she doesn't mind, she can call me Daddy."

Ok, now Dedushka's Daddy. ... What's a daddy? Suddenly, Hinote was picked up by him, hugged, and set back on the rug. Or, the track, as Nohiro put it. "All right now, Hinote. Let's have a race. Want to give it a go now?"

The little girl just blinked at him. Uh... ok. But I dunno if I can do it...

The two of them got into position to crawl, and Yuumei sat on the sidelines to start it off. "Ok now. Ready, set.... go!" And they were off! At least, Nohiro was. He was going as slow as he could, but Hinote was fumbling a bit. She flapped her little gray wings and babbled. Despite the struggle, she was having fun watching this guy that was as tall as the sky crawling on his hands and knees.

It's fine to just lay down here--wait! What was that? Something on the floor not too far off the finish line caught her eye.



Oooooooh... shiny! Hey, that's the tweety thing that mommy plays on! I wanna touch it!

With a great motivation to get over to the piccolo, Hinote started to get moving. Slowly, she tried to move... until she was getting the hang of it. To Nohiro, who in the lead, he would win again. But soon he was eating the baby's dust! "What? Where did she come from?"

Yuumei couldn't help but burst out in giggles. His face was priceless, and Hinote--she was mobile! "Come on, Hinote! Yay!" When her small little hands reached for the musical instrument, she won the race, and Ded--uh, Dad was in defeat.

He just collapsed where he was, acting as if he was a dead goldfish floating in the fishbowl. Hinote crawled over to him, and poked his face. Was he sleeping? Nohiro opened his eyes, and smiled at her. "Good job, Hinote."

April 9th, 2005

Hinote was bored. Very, very bored. There was no one to play with, seeing how everyone was getting ready to do things for tomorrow--mother's birthday. That, and something else. But the little toddler didn't know what it was. But it was for her... something about holy water? Whatever that was. Hmm. And Reirei was carrying boxes. What was she doing, moving all those boxes outside?

She was left in a playpen with two cats... well, actually, one was a cat... the other one... well, what was it? Hinote looked out of the little wall with holes to look at the furry creatures. She knew the blue striped one was the kitty she got as a gift... Daddy named her "Bluesy". Hehe. He acted weird with cats. It was funny to see him talking to her.



But the other one... the other one... woah.

She was huge! And had wings andandand was ice blue and was fuzzy all over. Hinote always thought she was a furry mountain or somehing... that was alive. Her name was Yuki... or Puri... or uh... nevermind.



Mommy told them to stay and watch her, but they didn't do anything but stare at her. Well, Bluesy was just napping now, but Yuki was staring at her with her ice blue eyes. Eh, but she won tons of staring contests already that it wasn't fun anymore.

There had to be something to do! Suddenly... Hinote noticed a pair of gleaming ruby eyes from under a wooden couch. It was dark and shadowy under there. Interesting... Could it be a new friend?

She flapped her wings and waved, hoping to catch the attention of the Ruby Eyes, babbling in hopes that he'd come closer.

Closer...

The Ruby Eyes drew nearer and nearer, until the eyes were soon exposed in the light as part of a dark face - and soon - a body of a young boy.

He sat down outside of the little playpen and waved back, smiling. He wanted to make friends too. He wanted to play games! The little boy didn't meet this girl before, and had been soooooooooo bored. His mommy - Rei - was busy herself, but took care of him. He found every nook and cranny in this big house where he could hide in the shadows. Shadows were cooool. Darkness was coool.

Hinote gave him this inquisitive look. Then he looked at the puri just outside her "imprisonment". Yuki blinked, and got up as if she knew what Hinote wanted her to do. She gave Kai a boost, and with a *plop!*, he arrived in her prescence! Yay!

Hinote giggled and babbled a question in her babytalk Her eyes glowed with much excitement. Ruby Eyes was silent most of the time, and was pretty much mute. But something in him made it easy for him to say just one syllable. One word... his name!

"Kai," he said slowly, trying to get used to this talking thing as he pointed a finger to himself.

Hinote nodded. She tried to say the name, but it sounded so weird. She wrinkled up her nose. Hmm. Maybe she wasn't ready to talk. But this person's name was Kai! Yay, a new friend! She outstretched her fragile little hand towards him. Note saw mommy and daddy do this before when meeting friends. Would Kai catch on?

Surely, he did! It was official, a new friend!

So... what could they do?

Kai looked around the limited space. There had to be something to play with!--AHA! He found a xylophone under blankets. He held up the stick with a silly little grin as if asking "do you want to play?"

By the time his grabby hands wrapped around the mallet, Hinote found some blunt drumsticks and a toy snare drum to play with. She babbled what meant "you bet!" at her age, and pretended to count.

a 1, a 2, a 1 2 3 go!

"What is that?!" Yuu shouted as she ran in, startled. She was upstairs with Nohiro when the sudden noise struck their ears like lightning. Nohiro was stumbling down the stairs behind her, along with Rei. Yuki and Bluesy, scared out of their wits, fought them like salmon trying to swim up a waterfall.

"What is it? What is--"

All Yuumei had to do was point.

The 3 youths looked in delight to see the little band playing and singing. "I'll get the camera!" Nohiro exclaimed, rushing up back up the stairs to get it.

Rei chuckled as she went up the two. "Hey Note! I see you've met my son!"

Hinote stopped, and stared blankly at Rei. You have a son?! Shen then looked at Kai.

"This is your nephew, Kai."

She was more confused than ever. What in the world was a nephew? She scratched her head. What was this jumble that Rei was saying?

Kai stopped as well. He was a nephew?

Eh, well. LET'S HAVE FUN!

Nohiro came back down with his camera and started taking pictures.

"Note's first time playing an instrument!" Nohiro called out. "This is great!"

Yuu nodded. "Yup, she's a natural band geek, I can tell already."

"You two are weird," Rei chuckled, as she got out of the picture.

Yep, the mommy and daddy were weird, playing around with that flashy box in front of them, but it didn't matter to Hinote. She was having fuuuun with her nephew (or whatever), Kai.