-Chapter 3- A Glorious Day Shiasta heard the snipping of shears at her window. She wheeled her chair over and looked out at Miaku. "You know, there's nothing there." She pointed out. "I know. See how good I am." Shiasta couldn't help but smile. "You always make me do that." She confessed. "If you'd marry me, you could smile all the time." "I can't." Shiasta's smile faded. "Yes, you can." Miaku insisted. "Don't you see that I love you?" "I..." "I know that you love me and I know that you're only refusing because of your legs. We've been through this a dozen times. Now there's no reason for you not to marry me so..." "I'm sorry. I can't." Shiasta closed the curtain and moved away. Miaku dropped his shears and trudged away. For the longest time, he had tried to win the heart of Shiasta. But she had refused him every time. His own heart was breaking and he could no longer bear the constant rejections. Shiasta wheeled her chair into the kitchen. Her mother and siblings were in the city buying groceries and she was hungry. Most of the supplies were kept at her level, so it was easy for her to get out the pots and pans and put them on the stove. She poured some water into a pan and set it on the stove, which she then turned on. Miaku was only halfway down the driveway when he heard the explosion. His heart filled with horror, he raced back to the house, forced the door open, and ran into the kitchen. Shiasta was on the floor. The force of the blast had knocked her wheelchair over. Miaku raced to her and was happily surprised to find that other than being very shaken up and a bit bruised from her fall, Shiasta was all right. He got her out of the kitchen, then grabbed the exinguisher and put out the fire rather quickly. "Are you okay?" Miaku asked, catching his breath. "I'm fine." Shiasta said, gazing up at him in gratitude and admiration. "I owe you my life." "Well, then," Miaku suggested. "How about spending it with me?" "You're never going to give up on that are you?" "Not until you say yes like you want to." Shiasta shook her head. "What am I going to do with you?" "How about marry me?" Shiasta smiled. ***** "No, honey, we don't have enough money for that." Takero told Mori as she took the bag of candy from her and put it back on the shelf. Mori looked up at her with a look of disappointment on her face. "I'm sorry." Takero told her as she wheeled the cart along the aisles of the grocery store. She picked up a few more items, then made her way to the register. "Kisuri!" she called. "Come on." Kisuri came out of the toy aisle carrying a new action figure. "Oh no you don't, young man." Takero scolded him. "Put it back. I'm not made of money." "But mom!" "I said no." Takero reiterated firmly. Kisuri put the figure on a nearby shelf and joined his mom at the register. Takero sighed as she took the transit home with the younger two of her children. Both of them were wearing disappointed looks on their faces and it made her feel bad. She wished she was rich so she could give them all they wanted. But being a widow and having her oldest daughter crippled for life strained her finances and she had to make sacrifices. The transit stopped at the pick-up/drop-off location only a couple blocks from Takero's home. She took her groceries and the kids, and departed the vehicle. Then, she made her way back to her home. "Kisuri, carry this for mommy, please?" She said, handing her son the bag with the meats in it." Kisuri took the bag and continued walking alongside Takero. As he walked, he whistled and smirked, swinging the bag as he went. "What song is that?" His mom asked. "Just something I heard in school." Kisuri replied. Takero figured it was probably some novelty tune with naughty words in it, but she was too drained to scold him, and besides, she figured, he was doubtlessly humming it because he thought it was funny. Takero opened the door to her home. There was a lingering smell of smoke, but it was very faint. She heard voices coming from the dining room. Hanging her coat in the hall closet, she carried the groceries into the now-singed kitched. "What happened?" she exclaimed, dropping the bag she was carrying, which fortunately contained nothing breakable. She rain into the dining room and saw Shiasta and Miaku sitting there, enjoying a quiet lunch together. Shiasta looked up. "Oh hi, mom." She said. "Sorry about the kitchen." "Are you okay?" Takero asked, looking her over. "I'm fine, mom." Shiasta replied. "Miaku rescued me and put out the fire." "It was no big deal, really." Miaku disclaimed. "Nonsense." Takero, told him. "You probably saved her life. If there's anything we can do for you..." "Well, you could attend the wedding." Miaku suggested. "The..." "Shiasta's finally agreed to marry me." Miaku told them. Takero dropped the bag of groceries, which fortunately contained nothing breakable and hugged her daughter. "Oh, Shiasta! That's wonderful!" "Really?" Mori asked, her eyes lighting up happily. You'd almost think *she* was the one getting married. "Yes, really." Shiasta nodded. Mori hugged Shiasta tightly and the two sisters nuzzled each other, happily, for a moment until finally their mother took little Mori by the hand. "Come on, dear. I'm sure your sister and her boyf... I mean her fiance... have much to discuss." "Indeed. We need to start planning the wedding." "Can I help?" Mori asked. "Not with the planning, honey." Shiasta replied. "But we'll think of something you can do during the ceremony. Okay?" "But, Shiasta..." "Come on," Kisuri was wearing that my-sister's-in-love--yuck face that all boys his age wear when faced with this fact, "they're gonna start kissing. You don't want to see it." "But kissing is nice." "Not the way they do it. They get all slobbery and gross." He walked out before any of the actually kissing could begin. Miaku lifted Shiasta's face up to him and touched his muzzle to hers in a tender kiss that said all those things he'd wanted to tell her. After a moment, he broke off the kiss. "The Moribani Temple will be perfect for the ceremony." Shiasta nodded. "Yes, I agree. That place is so beautiful." "Not nearly as beautiful as you are." Miaku kissed her again. Shiasta lowered her muzzle in a blushing manner, then smiled, happily at him. "You're sweet." She told him. Shiasta started to kiss her again when Kisuri ran through the room with a couple of his friends from school, whooping and hollering. The newly engaged pair laughed, cheerfully for a moment. "Why don't I take you out to lunch?" Miaku suggested. "I know a nice restaurant in town. The food's very good and there's enough room for your wheelchair." "That sounds like a good idea." Shiasta nodded in agreement. "I'll go get my coat." "I can get it for you." "I don't want you to get my coat because I'm crippled." Shiasta remarked. "I'm not." Miaku replied. "I'm getting it because a gentleman is supposed to get a lady's coat for her." Shiasta beamed at him and Miaku felt a surge of gladness. The restaurant had a large number of people there, but it wasn't actually crowded. A waiter stepped up to them and gave a polite nod. "Welcome to Shokodu No Ryu. Just two?" "Yes." Miaku nodded. "This way." The waiter led them to their table. He made sure Shiasta would have enough room, then strolled off to get them their menu and dispenser. "My mom used to bring me here every weekend when I was younger." Miaku told her. "Later, I started going myself. The food is great here." "You can't cook, can you?" Shiasta giggled. "I can, actually," Miaku replied "But its hard work which I avoid as much as possible." "So, why the landscaping job?" "I like the view." The waiter returned and set the dispenser on the table. Alongside it was the menu. It consisted of a computer screen of standard height and width but which was only one inch thick. Selections could be made by pressing one's finger on the screen above the selection name. If a customer wanted, they could make modifications asking for more of one ingredient or less of another, even adding or removing ingredients was permissable. They made their selections, which were transmitted to a screen in the kitchen,. Shiasta reached over and took one of the cups from the tabletop dispenser. She read the drink selections and finally selected water. She poured herself a cup. "Delicious." She said after tasting it. "You think the water's good. Wait until our food comes." Miaku told her. Shiasta quirked an eye. "That sounds promising." She told her fiance. "There's really no point in waiting." Miaku remarked. "We just ordered a minute ago." Shiasta reminded him. "I was referring to the wedding." Miaku explained. "Oh." Shiasta giggled momentarily, then smiled at her fiance. "It would take us about a week to get everything ready." Miaku pointed out. "Could we *really* be ready that quickly?" "Sure." Miaku leaned forward to kiss Shiasta. Her eyes closed and her heart beat with gentle happiness. At that moment, however, the waiter arrived with their meals. Clearing his throat politely, he waited until they both sat back before presenting them with their respective dinners. "Thank you." Miaku told him, a touch of annoyance in his voice. "It looks very good." Shiasta complimented. "I will relay your compliments to the chef." The waiter responded, returning to the kitchen. Shiasta took a bite of her meal. "Mmmm. It is delicious." She praised. Miaku nodded. "Maybe some day, we'll bring out kids here." "That would be very nice." Shiasta agreed. Once dinner and dessert were over, Miaku and Shiasta returned to Shiasta's mother's home. "How was your date?" Takero asked. "Wonderful mom." Shiasta replied. "We managed to nail down a date for the wedding." "I'm glad to hear it. So you mind telling me when it is?" "Next week." Shiasta replied, hanging her coat on the low peg in the hall. "Next week?" Takero asked. "You sure you want to get married so soon?" "Yes." Shiasta nodded.