fractal_mirrors | Ancient History [Card Captor Sakura; English]

Title: Ancient History
Rating: G
Genre: Introspection
Pairings: Fujitaka/Sonomi
Summary: Sonomi's thoughts about her second marriage.
Notes: Written for

tsukimineshrine's "Prompt Swap" challenge.

Ancient History

“I cannot believe it,” Sonomi grunted. “The one time I manage to come home early, and you are still working?”

“I have many students this year,” her husband replied without lifting his gaze. He scribbled something in red pen, then put the sheet of paper on top of the already corrected exams pile. There were still about half of them to go.

Sonomi kicked off her slippers and dropped herself on the couch, frustrated. She mentally cursed the exam’s timing, the number of students in Fujitaka’s class and, most of all, his complete inability to do something irresponsible once in a while and hand in the exams a day later. He was so perfect it was infuriating.

Though somewhat endearing, too, or else he wouldn’t have convinced her to marry him… no, wait. It had been the other way around.

What had she been thinking?

“What was the exam about, anyway?” she asked, more to begin a conversation than out of actual interest.

“The ancient Sumerian civilization.”

“Sounds fascinating.”

“It is,” he protested, finally turning around. “This is one of the cultures that first started writing, if not the first.”

There was a look of genuine delight on his face whenever he spoke about these things, something that Sonomi would never understand. What could be so amazing about people who had been dead for thousands of years?

To her, “ancient history” had a different meaning altogether. It was about Nadeshiko; like everything had always been.

That was what Nadeshiko was now: something that had been very real, very important, the centre of the world. But she was gone now, for so long that it seemed as if lifetime upon lifetime had passed since then, until she became nothing but a perfected memory.

She was ancient history for Fujitaka, too, even if he was just as reticent as Sonomi to admit it. But she had noticed; she had known, when he took off his ring after all those years. It had taken his daughter’s wedding to make him realize that time had passed.

Sometimes, Sonomi wondered if Nadeshiko was all that they had in common.

She quickly shook the thought away, annoyed at herself. What did it matter? They were happy. Happier than when they were alone, in any case.

Her thoughts returned to the present to find Fujitaka looking at her with a smile.

“What?”

“I can correct the rest of these later, if you want,” he said. “I’ve already prepared dinner.”

There he went again, frustrating her with his perfect husband act right when she had been doubting that things worked. At first, it had almost made her feel guilty; now she was used to it.

“Sounds good. I’m starving,” she said, and she finally smiled.