The Secrets of Past Lives (Closed; Hatter94 and Rackie; M)

Raicheal smiled as Anna lead her to the kitchen of the house and subsequently, her brother. As they entered the large room, Raicheal looked around amazed at how the room seemed to outshine the kitchen at the Girl's dorms. Then, her eyes landed on him, the tall shaggy-haired man leaning against the wall had to be her brother. He greeted Anna and when he made mention of her uniform a small blush appeared on her face as well. As Anna had trouble introducing Raicheal, she squeezed Anna's hand a little to let her know she was there for her.

"It's nice to meet you Mark..." Raicheal said in response to Mark's welcome as she did a small curtsy " and yes she did. I hope that doesn't cause any inconvenience to you." When Mark pointed to the table and told them to sit and rest Raicheal stayed still rather than walk to the table.

"Are you sure I can't help in any way? I was an unexpected guest after all so I'd like to help if I can." Raicheal said with a note of sincerity as she looked over at Anna's older brother.

Mark simply smiled at the girl's words. His opinion about her was getting only better and better. "There's no need, but thank you!" The man said politely. The soup was ready so he took three soup plates and quickly poured soup into them. He then placed the three plates on the table for them all (he didn't forget about the spoons of course!). What kind of soup was it? It was rosół. Rosół is a polish broth soup. It had a golden colour. Obviously, there were noodles in the soup as well as various spices such as salt and pepper. "And don't worry Raicheal. I've prepared enough for us all!" He said smiling widely. If Anna had only one word to describe her brother, she would describe him using the word "gentleman". It was a part of his nature and personality.

Anna sat at the table and looked at the soup and then at Raicheal. "I hope you'll like our cuisine, my dear." Anna said smiling at her girlfriend. "If you're wondering what kind of soup it is... well... to put it simply, it's broth." She explained

Raicheal nodded as Mark told her he didn't need help before walking to the table with Anna and sitting next to her. When the soup was laid in front of them, Raicheal looked at it and saw that is seemed to be expertly crafted as the fumes wafted up to her. She hadn't really realized just how hungry she was until the smell of the dish hit her. She listened to Anna explain the dish as Raicheal picked up her spoon and dipped it into the warm broth before bringing it to her mouth and eating it. The flavors of the dish danced across her tongue as the liquid broth warmed her from the inside.

"This is amazing Anna!" She said happily as she took another spoonful "The salt and pepper blend nicely and I can taste bay leaves and parsley as well." Taking the second and third spoonful of the dish she ate it happily before turning to look at Mark

"Did you use chicken to make the broth? I can taste it in the dish." She asked him curiously "It reminds me a lot of the homemade chicken noodle soup my grandmother taught me to make. I would love to learn how to make this, it tastes wonderful!" She continued smiling as she happily ate the rest of the dish.

Mark smiled when he heard Raicheal's comments about the soup. Finally, he met someone as passionate about cooking as him! "Yes, I did use chicken here. It's a traditional way to make our broth." He told her warmly, not showing how pleased he was to talk about that little hobby of his. "To be honest, the broth is a lot like chicken noodle soup.
I can teach you how to make this soup though, for now, I can only give you the recipe." Mark told her. He seemed impressed by how easily she could guess what was in the soup.

Anna ate her dish in silence. She loved Rosół. It was so simple and yet so tasty. However, it wasn't her favorite dish. No, no, no. Her favorite dish was something far more awesome! She could even see her beloved dish hidden the three big bowls.
Mark noticed the excitement in her sister's eyes. He stood up and decided to simply put the mysterious 3 bowls on the table. He then put three plates, three forks and three glasses on the table. One for each of them. He then approached the fridge and took a big jug filled with red juice-looking substance. He placed in on the table and smirked. "Alright, Ania, tell your girlfriend what is the main course today." Mark told her.

When Mark called her "Ania", Anna's face turned red. In their country, "Ania" is simply a diminution of "Anna". The albino girl cleared her throat. "So, the juice-thingy you see is a kompot... Kompot is a sweet beverage made of fruit cooked in water." She explained, pointing her hand at the jug. Anna looked then at the bowls filled with delicious looking dumplings. "...and this... this dish... We call them "pierogi". To put it simply, pierogis are just... dumplings with sweet or savory filling. In this case we have three "types" of pierogis. One bowl is filled with ruskie pierogis. Basically, the filling is potato-farmer cheese based. They are the best of all! The second bowl has pierogis with meat as the filling. The third one... Hm... Yes, the third bowl is filled with cabbage and mushrooms pierogis." Anna said, not really sure how to explain what makes pierogis so great and unique.

”That would be great Mark!" she said happily as she continued to eat her soup. She looked up as Mark left the table and watched him as he set the table for the next course, wanting to help but reframed do to Mark's earlier comments. When Anna when red over what Mark called her, Raicheal was confused but figured it was a nickname and left it at that. She listen to Anna tell her about the drink and the dishes and they all looked wonderfully appetizing.

”It all sounds wonderful, Anna" Raicheal said happily as she poured herself some of the Kompot and put some of each pierogi type in her plate ”I am excited to see what the ones with potato and cabbage taste like. Those two ingredients are practically the cornerstone to all Irish cooking. Oh. Also Mark, what meat did you use for the meat-filled ones? Beef? Pork? Lamb?" She finished serving herself as the bowls were passed to her, smiling all the while as she enjoyed her company and the new food as well.

"Ah, I used minced beef meat to make them." Mark replied, as he finished his soup. "Well, I recommend tasting everything." He told her winking with a smile. Anna's brother put 3 pierogis of every taste onto his plate and poured kompot into his and Anna's glasses. Meanwhile... Anna filled her plate with potato-cheese ones. Apparently, those were her favorite. "Oh, oh! By the way, what did you use to make today's kompot?" Anna asked her brother.
"Strawberries, Ania." He replied, smiling widely as he took a sip from his glass. Anna's grin grew wide. Strawberry kompot was her favorite! The happiness on her face... For her, it was the best dinner ever! Not only she could eat it with her girlfriend but also she could eat all of her favorite dishes.
"Oh, I've got an idea! One day we could cook something together. That'd be awesome!" Anna said smiling widely.

”I will!" She laughed as she watched Anna practically steal the rest of the potato-cheese pierogis ”I am sure I will enjoy it all! After all you now have three of key ingredients to Irish cooking her and I am sure it all tastes wonderful." She was having fun, laughing and enjoying the people around her... and then Mark said what the Kompot was made from. Raicheal froze as her face slightly pale, her mind fill with images of a girl with colorful hair... the feeling of a cold knife pressed against her throat... the taste of a strawberry tongue being forced into her mouth. Raicheal zoned out and started coming back as Anna was asking her if they could cook together sometime.

”What... oh... um... yeah...It... It would be...great..." She said trying not to seem to off and sort of failing. ”I...I just r-remembered... I'm...Um...I'm allergic...to... to strawberries... so... I'm...i'm going to go g-get a g-glass of water..." While that she left the table and headed for the sink in the kitchen. Anna would know what was happening in a heartbeat, in fact the same thing had happened in her room just a little while ago. However, the more pressing question was what would Mark do, Raicheal wasn't hiding the fact that something was wrong very well and her sudden shift in mood seemed odd if not strange. Whatever was going on, the peaceful dinner had taken a turn and something had caused it to go amiss.

Everything was going too well, wasn't it? Anna became way too relaxed to notice the problem in time. Once she noticed that even the damned strawberries could bring back Raicheal's trauma... well, let's say that if Anna's face could, it'd get even paler than ever before. A very quiet "Kurwa..." left her mouth. Ania came to a conclusion that she should make a list of things that shouldn't even be mentioned when Raicheal is around. "Really, fucking strawberries?" She thought.
The two siblings stood up in the same moment to make sure Raicheal was feeling okay. Mark quickly noticed that his sister seemed to know the real reason behind Raicheal's sudden and unexpected swing of mood, thus he decided to leave dealing with that to his younger sibling. Anna approached Raicheal and put her hand on her back gently. "I mean, we can get you... hm... do you like cola? Oh! Tell me, what's your favorite beverage. I'm sure we can find something in the fridge, my love..." The little ninja said quietly. The tone of her voice was somehow different than ever before. She sounded extremely worried, yet caring. Her voice was warm and soft, yet filled with concern. It was obvious that she wanted to fix Raicheal's mood. Anna's heart started beating faster as the worry grew stronger.

Mark understood that the situation was serious, thus he took his plate and started leaving the kitchen. "Uhm... I'll be in my workshop if you need me." He said politely as he disappeared from their sight. Well, his curiosity was strong, however, he wanted to respect Raicheal's privacy. After all, the matter seemed very delicate and apparently, Anna was the only one who knew how to handle it.

Raicheal reached the sink fairly quickly and before Anna could get to her, she had found a glass and turned the tap on. She placed the glass under the running water, trying desperately to calm herself but jumped slightly as Anna placed her hand on her back.

"W-Water is f-f-fine Anna... " She said softly trying to focus her shaking hand as less and less water made it into the glass. However, the glass soon slipped from her grasp and clattered into the sink, chipping it slightly. Raicheal stared blankly into the sink as the water ran over the now damaged drinkware and down the drain. She heard Mark excuse himself and then the room was silence save for the sound of the running water.

"I-I'm s-sorry..." She said, a deep sadness etched in her voice as the sound of small droplets hitting the edge of the sink echoed with the water "I-I r-r-ruined d-dinner... w-we were h-h-having f-fun and I-I r-r-ruined it... I-I...a-a-always... r-ruin... e-everything... I... I s-should go..." With that she turned away from Anna and started walking out of the kitchen on her way to the front door.

Anna grabbed Raicheal's hand immediately when the girl started leaving the kitchen. She stared at her with eyes filled with a mix of emotions: seriousness, worry, sadness, determination, hope and love. All of them were present at that time in the girl's heart. "It's not your fault Raicheal." Anna said not taking her eyes off her girlfriend "Listen if I were you I'd probably be scared of many things too. Nobody blames you for anything, really. If you're worried about my brother's opinion of you- stop immediately. I know him well enough to know that he decided to let me talk to you in private." The seriousness started disappearing from her eyes.

She took Raicheal's hand in her two hands and gently squeezed it. "See, my family is rather unusual. We don't get offended by little things." The ninja girl gently placed Raicheal's hand on her own little chest, on her heart, to let her girlfriend feel her heartbeat. "Listen... right now my heart beats for you, Raicheal... I want to make you happy. I want you to smile. So, don't worry about little things. At this point, I don't know what caused such a reaction from you, but I understand your feelings." Anna closed her eyes for a second then gently kissed Raicheal's hand, she'd been holding with her hands. "Raicheal, what can I do to make you feel better now?" The girl asked quietly, smiling slightly at her. A cute blush was present on Anna's cheeks.

Raicheal stood there as she listen to Anna, her emotions swelling inside of as she felt the heart beat of her girlfriend. When Anna finished speaking, Raicheal couldn't hold the flood gates back anymore and she quickly scoped the ninja up in her arms and squeezed her tight as she started to sob a little.

"J-just hold me and n-never stop b-being the p-person I fe-fell in l-love w-with" she cried as she nuzzled herself into Anna's hair and pulled the girl into a tighter hug. Raicheal's tears fell onto Anna's back as she crumple onto the floor and dragged the small ninja down with her. It was a strong and overwhelming display of emotions but for someone who had so much sadness in their heart. Someone, who hadn't felt pure love from another in such a long time. It was much needed. Raicheal, sat on the floor of the kitchen, sobbing happily as she clung onto Anna with all her strength, it was an powerful show of both the weakness and affection Raicheal felt in that moment.

"I will always be me, my dear..." Whispered the girl with her eyes closed as they both were found themselves on the floor. With her arms, she was hugging Raicheal tightly, like she was trying to ensure her that she will not leave her. Anna felt as if their hearts connected. It was a very special moment for the two and Anna wanted it to last long, to let Raicheal cry as long as she needed. The white-haired girl patted her poor girlfriend on the back very gently. Her mind was calm, her thoughts were fully focused on her love towards Raicheal. How long will this poor hurt girl suffer from what has been done to her?

Anna gently put her hand on the back of Raicheal's head and started stroking it slowly. "I love you so much..." She suddenly whispered, gently shifting her position to make their embrace more comfortable for them both. Anna's cheek gently touched Raicheal's. A sudden thought came to the head of the little ninja- would it be okay for her to kiss Raicheal on the cheek? Wouldn't it bring back more bad memories? She imagined such scene, which made her heart beat faster and caused her to blush.

Raicheal eventually cried herself out until she was nothing more than a sniffling mess sitting next to Anna. She love the small ninja more than anything at this moment and she felt as if they hearts were beating as one. She sat there hugging her in silence for a little bit before she unwrapped her arms and just sat next to Anna, their cheeks touching and her holding Anna's hand. It all seemed very sweet even if it was brought on by something rotten.

"I used to like them too..." Raicheal said after a few more minutes, she sounded tired and drained as she spoke softly [color=#66ccff]"Strawberries that is... Me and my Grandma would go pick them in the fields back home... I would always end up eating half the basket before we even made it home and Grandma would just laugh and tell me I turn into one if I kept it up..." A small smile flicker to life on Raicheal's face as she let the memory wash over her but it soon faded. "but now..." she said the sadness back in her voice "I can't even enjoy them without remembering the taste of that clown's tongue as she forced it into my mouth..." She squeezed Anna's hand more and the sadness settle back in her as she curled up closer to Anna.

Anna looked Raicheal in the eyes and frowned. She seemed surprised by the sudden revelation. Why was she so unlucky? The little ninja hugged her beloved one tighter and gently rubbed her cheek against Raicheal's. "I see. It's okay, it's okay. We'll eventually make you forget." She said softly as she placed her hand on Raicheal's cheek. "Also, we should have something else that doesn't have strawberries in it... so... we can replace the kompot with something else. Cola, some juice, even water." The girl said smiling.

Anna looked Raicheal in the eyes again and suddenly her thoughts returned to her: "Raicheal is so cute... even when she's sad... She's always cute. Now I feel bad for having her all for myself..."
She blushed slightly at her thoughts. Indeed that moment between the two was very, very sweet, which caused all those thoughts to start filling Anna's head. "So yeah... Don't worry, be happy. Also, we haven't finished dinner yet!" The girl said enthusiastically, with a cute smile, trying to fix Raicheal's mood.

"Yeah..." Raicheal said pulling away from Anna and sitting up a little before wiping her red puffy eyes with her sleeve "We should do that... I 'm still hungry and I really want to try the rest of your brother's cooking." She looked tired as she stood back up and stretched a little before leaning against the counter. She looked down at Anna before smiling weakly and giggling a little.

"You're still the cutest thing ever when you blush..." She said softly, giggling more as Anna's face inevitably got redder.

Of course, Anna's face would turn red at the unexpected compliment! She stood up and approached the table slowly. "Sure! Let's have a feast then!" Anna said, trying to ignore her embarrassment. Obviously, she failed... "H-Hey... you're the cutest girl here, to be honest..." Anna said, mumbling. She turned her head away. "Y-You're girly! Look at me... I'm more tomboyish! I can't be that c-c-cute!" The little ninja said, looking away. Her face was getting redder.

"You are too!" Raicheal said, gigging more as Anna tried to deny her cuteness "Your the cutest tomboy I know and your reactions are even cuter" She giggled more as she found a second glass and filled it with water from the already running tap before turning it off.

"Sorry about the glass..." Raicheal said a little embarrassed as she joined Anna at the table "Also should we go get your brother? I know you said he was giving us space but he should get to eat too..."

Anna shrugged. "Look, he took his plate." She told her smirking as she pointed her finger at the place where her brother was sitting before. "Also, don't worry about the glass, we'll clean it up later." The girl added, sitting at the table. They had two bowls of food for themselves! Anna grinned at the delicious pierogi and started eating with an appetite. Well, after all, it was an extremely long day, so, obviously, Anna was starving!

Raicheal watched her girlfriend eating the pierogies with such speed that she was sure Anna was swallowing them whole.

"Hey... slow down Anna. You could choke." Raicheal said worryingly as she sat down at her own plate next to the ninjas. "Are you sure it is ok to eat without him... it just seems rude." Raicheal set down her glass of water and then picked up her knife and fork by her plate before cutting into one of the pierogies. It had cooled in the time the girls were having their moment but when she placed it in her mouth she could taste how wonderful the flavors were even when it wasn't warm.

"Anna! These are amazing!" She said happily as she ate the other half and started cutting another one.

Anna waved at the remark about how quickly she was eating. She was starving after all! She, however, paused for a moment, when Raicheal mentioned Mark. "Hmm... Rude? I don't think so. After all, as I've mentioned, we aren't the ones to get..." Anna said but was interrupted by her brother's appearance in the kitchen. "...offended by meaningless things. Indeed." Mark said with a polite, yet friendly smile on his face. He approached the fridge and took a milk carton out of it. "It's okay, really, Raicheal. I'm sure there are things you can only talk about when no one's around. That's why I left you two alone." He explained.
"Why are you here now, then?" Anna asked out of curiosity.
"Well, I was worried, to be honest. That situation seemed rather serious. I'm glad you managed to deal with it! Okay, I'll be in my workshop! I think I've got an awesome idea for a self-defense weapon!" Mark spoke, with honesty and then quickly left the room.
Anna shrugged. "As you can see, my whole family is this weird." The girl joked, smiling widely before she chuckled happily.

Raicheal was slightly surprised when Mark reappeared once more and nodded as he said it was fine that they ate without him.

"Ok Mark. The food is amazing by the way. I can't get enough!" She said happily as she ate more. However, Raicheal was soon blushing again as Mark told them his reasons for coming back into the room. This was mostly due to the fact that she was embarrassed over the scene she had caused. She watched him leave and listened to Anna comment about the weirdness of her family.

"Yeah..." she said softly with a small hint of sadness "He seems wonderful and you two act as if you're very close to each other. Family is always weird but in the end your glad their around. I kinda miss that sometimes..." Raicheal looked down at her plate pushing the pierogies around a little as she thought about her own family or at least about her memories of them.

"Glad to hear that! I'll give you a recipe later!" Mark said before he left the kitchen. He really didn't seem to mind eating alone at all! In his eyes, Raicheal seemed to be a really nice person with a bad past. He hoped his sister would take a proper care of the poor girl.
Anna felt bad for bringing back the bad memories, she bit her lip and looked away for a second. She then smiled and gently touched her arm. "At least you found me. We'll make many happy memories together, I'm sure of it." The girl told her warmly. "W-Well... I'm just trying to stay positive..." Anna said as she turned her head away with a blush on her cheeks and scratched the back of her head. "I'll be honest with you, my brother is probably the only family I'm close with... Like, I'm not really that close to my parents. I've never been. It always feels like they're trying to distance themselves from me. Maybe because of my unusual appearance. Not sure. The point is... I'm closer to my friends... well... alright... Aurora is my only friend. Now I also have you and I'm really happy to have you. I just feel I can trust you with just everything. Like, look, I'm already telling you more than I've ever told anyone." The girl spoke, trying to cheer Raicheal up using her honesty. The warm smile was present on her face.

"I look forward to making them then." Raicheal said happily as Mark said he would share the recipe.

Raicheal felt Anna touched her arm and she looked over at her girlfriend with an equally happy smile. She listened to Anna's words and smiled more reaching out and intwining her hand with that of the small ninja's.

"I'm sure we will " she said leaning over and resting her head on Anna's shoulder " and I look forward to making each one with you." She giggled a little as Anna blushed and turned away but she stayed where she was as she listened to Anna talk. When she was done Raicheal couldn't help but lean over and hug her girlfriend gently as she smiled just as warmly as her.

"I'm glad you can trust me because I feel the same way." she said softly as she squeezed her girlfriend a little "Besides you don't look weird to me just... cute. Your the cutest little awkward ninja girlfriend in the world and I'm glad I have you all to myself." Raicheal laughed happily at that last part as she hugged Anna tightly, almost completely smothering the ninja in pure affectionate hugs.

Anna giggled at the compliment. It certainly made her feel better about her unusual hair and eyes. However, her own words made her start thinking about her parents. Why were they always so... distant from her? It was almost as if they were afraid of her or sad to look at her. She'd never managed to figure out why. Mark probably knew something, but for some reason, he preferred to avoid the topic.

Anna frowned, lost in her thoughts- some questions were left unanswered when she left her home-town and moved with her brother to Death City. Perhaps someday she'd answer most of them. It's not like those questions were really that important to her. They'd probably change nothing anyways.

Anna had already finished eating when Raicheal hugged her. Obviously, she'd happily returned the hug and took her time to enjoy the feeling of closeness to her beloved one. With a wide smile, she looked into her eyes and said. "Well! I'm really, really glad we've found each other." Her words were followed by a cute, quiet giggle. "Call me greedy and selfish, but I'm glad I have you all for myself too!" Anna joked and winked at Raicheal with a happy smirk present on her face. "Hm... I still can't decide where to take you tomorrow, by the way..." Anna said, referring to the date they'd planned.

"I'm glad too " Raicheal said giggling as with one last squeeze she let go of her girlfriend to return to her food. " and if loving me makes you greedy and selfish than I can live with that." She laughed a little more as she started eating again and enjoying the wonderful food. When Anna started musing about where they should go tomorrow for there date, Raicheal shrugged swallowing the mouthful of food she was chewing.

"Honestly Anna, anywhere is fine... " she said sweetly cutting up more pierogies "Even before the gang, my family didn't have much so I learned to enjoy myself where ever they took me. I am sure where ever we go I will have fun as long as your there." Raicheal smiled at Anna more before helping herself to the food once more.

» A Basket Full of Awkward Love (Closed; Hatter94 and Rackie; M)
» An invitation back to the past (Closed)
» A tale of the dark past and lost memories (Private || Rackie and Arc || NSFW)
» A Fated Meeting (Closed with Rackie)
» "A noob and a pro. A new COOP campaign begins" [Closed. Lani and Rackie]