Endless Rain
Part 55: Culture Shock 2
© BlondeTeraesa

The fire burned and crackled as the dry leaves made colorful sparks fly up into the night sky. Moyasu was enthralled with it. It was soothing to her, even in her current predicament.

Lowering her eyes from the sky and across the fire to her unwanted companion, Moyasu noticed that he too was watching the sparks of light float carelessly into the sky and then vanish. And from where he was laying, propping his head up from the earth with an elbow, she almost forgot why she hated him so much. He just seemed to calm and unobtrusive to actually be the same obstacle she was dealing with only a few hours earlier. It was almost like he wasn't even there. That is, until he noticed she was looking.

"What ..." he inquired.
"... What was that ceremony thing the elder did before we left? You said you'd tell me later ..."
"Oh that? Nothing much ... we're just married now ..." he spoke evenly, seemingly uneffected by what he just said.
"MARRIED!?" Moyasu shrieked, rising to her feet in barely a second.
"Yeah ... so? What's the big deal?" Was he serious?!
"What ... W-what's the ... we're ..." she couldn't even get the words to form coherant sentences in her mind, much less in her mouth. "NO WE'RE NOT! We are not married ... don't even JOKE about that!"
"I'm not joking ..." Sasaeru seemed honestly confused himself, unsure as to why Moyasu was reacting so negatively. Could he really be that naive?

Moyasu was beginning to wonder about Sasaeru's mental stability, when he suddenly began to laugh, seemingly proving that he was insane. He sat up, scratched his head as he laughed at her a bit more, then calmed down long enough to look at the distraught twelve-year-old before him and explain himself. Moyasu was still in shock, hoping to Afrain that he was joking.

"That's why we don't call it marriage anymore ... outsiders seem to get confused. You see, in my village there are no unions between a man and a woman except as I am to you ... a permanent. In our beliefs, men and women have children together and then part. There is no real family except between mother and child. It's our way of life. From what I'm told, there used to be 'marriages' but that we just dropped the custom sometime in the past and haven't used it since. At least, not in the same way the outsiders ... your people ... do. We call marriages 'permanents' because it's when a man and a woman are bound together for life. It's permanent."

"But ... we're married ..." Moyasu interjected, still freaked out.
"Well ... it doesn't mean the same thing to you as it does to me ... but yeah. Basically, we're married."
"I DON'T WANT TO BE MARRIED!"
"Well ... it's a little late for that. You did agree to having a permanent ..."

Moyasu was dumbstruck. She HAD agreed to it.

"You should have asked what it was ... but don't worry too much about it. All it means is 'till death do us part' ... there's no obligation of you liking me or me liking you."
"But ... we're ... married!" she was beginning to sound like a broken record, and her face was a vision of shock and confusion.

Sasaeru shook his head, wondering how he could explain this when their mindsets of what marriage is and isn't were so different. He had hoped that telling her would solve some problems, but it seems it was only going to make things worse for him. He just hoped the shock would keep her from yelling at him for awhile.

"Aren't you going to SAY anything?" Moyasu insisted. Sasaeru only laid back down on the ground and crossed his arms behind his neck so he could watch the stars as he fell asleep.
"Go to sleep. I'll explain it again in the morning ..."
"You can't just tell me something THIS HUGE and expect me to go to SLEEP!! SASSY! Sassy?"

Turns out Sasaeru was better at ignoring her than he let on. He was already asleep.

"Sasaeru? In the name of all that is holy ... he's alseep!"
"I think he's a nice boy ..." Pyro chimed in, misty form now sitting beside Moyasu as she stared into the fire. Moyasu only glared back at him.
"How can you say that? It's insane! He thinks we're MARRIED!"
"He doesn't mean it the same way you do ..."
"There's a difference!?"
"Relax, Moyasu ... rest and regain your strength. You're going to need it when you two find the others. There's going to be a battle, and you both need to be prepared. Perhaps you should tell him about me ... he IS your permanent."
"I'm not telling him ANYTHING ... he's insane ..."
"Come now ... is this how you're going to act around him while I'm away?"

Moyasu's eyes widened.

"Away?"
"Yes. I thought it would be a good idea for me to go ahead and check on the Mikomi. I'll be back within a day or two, and you know you're worried about Hana."
"You're going to leave me ALONE with him? What if he tries to ... touch me ..."
"I'm sure you can handle one young man, can't you? Besides, you know the truth. You see it as easily as I do now. That he's a good person."
"I ... guess."
"Then it's settled! I hope that when I return, you two will be on better terms."

Moyasu nearly stood up in protest, but remembered herself.

"You're leaving NOW?"
"I have a long trip ahead of me ... be nice ..."

"WAIT!"

He was gone. And Sasaeru was stirring slightly at the word Moyasu carelessly spoke aloud, causing her to freeze and hope for the best. He opened one eye, the one with the scar, but didn't seem to see her, shifting again only to lay on one side and fall asleep again. Her secret was safe. For now. And as Moyasu again began to watch the sparks float from the firepit up into the night sky and disappear, she knew she wasn't going to sleep tonight.

Not now that she was ... married.