Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Lost In Your Eyes ❯ Sukiyaki ( Chapter 6 )

Ue o muite arukoo: I look up when I walk

Nijinda hoshi o kazoete: Counting the stars with tearful eyes.

Sukiyaki

~Kyu Sakamoto

Jennifer let go of the door and jumped slightly when it closed and locked behind her. She sniffed and the aroma of baking bread filled her nostrils. Was there someone else here? She wondered. She shrugged and walked down a small hallway into what had to be the living room, it was small and cozy with one overstuffed blue chair, a round ottoman at it's foot, a throw rug and a bookshelf filled with books. There was a fire blazing in the fire place in front of the chair. A porthole shaped window opposite the fireplace played a scene of a country meadow with birds flitting here and there in the afternoon. Illusion, she knew, still, it did very real.

She walked into the room and her feet sank into the softest carpet, also blue, she'd ever felt! She's left her shoes on the ground beside the foot of the ladder as had Trunks and Foxfire. She curled her stocking-ed toes into the lush carpet as she stood there surveying her surroundings. Her eye was caught by the door ajar in the next room. She turned and did not catch the blanket which had been thrown casually over the top of the armchair floating in the air and being folded by unseen hands.

Jennifer pushed the door open and looked into the small kitchen, she did not open any cupboard but saw freshly baked bread She looked around but found sign of whoever it was that had baked the still warm bread. She felt as if she shouldn't partake of the bread even though she was hungry. It felt like lunchtime to her.

A cupboard door opened and shut behind her and she gasped, turning around. Her hand fluttered to her throat as she saw a dish and fly through the air slowly towards the sitting bread. A drawer opened, as Jennifer backed slowly towards the door, frightened. A knife emerged, Jennifer's eyes widened and, as she watched, knife sliced the bread perfectly and placed the piece on the floating plate.

Slowly the plate with the steaming slice of delicious looking bread floated towards her. It hovered near her hands and without thinking she took the plate. A chair at the small round table scooted backwards and she felt as if she'd just been invited to sit down and eat. She sat down and took a small nibble of the bread. It was wonderful! She ate more and smiled. It reminded her of her Nanna's bread, whenever she and her Mother would go visit her grandmother, she always had fresh bread ready to serve Jennifer and Ivy.

But who were these unseen helpers? She wondered as she wiped crumbs from her face, a dish towel slipped off the door-handle of the cupboard under the sink and came in midair to dab at her lips and chin. She felt as if her nanna were there, taking care of her. Suddenly, she remembered she was suppose to meet Trunks outside in few moments! He'd actually said in ten minutes, but she knew he'd been wanting them to just guess about the passage of time. What felt like ten mintues.

She raced to the door and it unlocked before she reached it and opened wide, offering her freedom. She ran outside and straight into Trunk's arms. He held her at arm's length and smiled down at her. "We really have got to stop meeting like this."

"Did..something really weird happen to you inside your house?" She asked, as he looked down at her. His grayish blue eyes narrowed and nodded.

"Something I could not see nor sense was performing the duties of typical servents." He said as she nodded frantically, "But it was more that just that.."

"I know!" She cried, excited, "They, it…whoever, seemed to know what I needed and wanted even before I did! There was even fresh bread baking and I'd been thinking how good fresh baked bread would taste before I walked in!"

"I'd been thinking about chicken and dumplings and mashed potatoes!" He said, "I walked into the kitchen and it was all there, on the table, waiting!"

"Let's call Foxfire." She said, "Maybe she can explain…"

Without either of them opening their mouths to call, the kitsune guide appeared in front of them. She smiled and looked at them with questioning eyes. Trunks asked her about the cottages and the unseen people.

"Oh, I didn't tell you?" She said, "The cottages are enchanted. The servants are those ghosts who have to serve their time in purgatory in order to gain enough points to move on to the higher planes, and the houses themselves, know exactly what it's current occupant needs and wants and brings it to them without having to be asked aloud. But, remember…it's all just illusion, really."

"Illusion?" Trunks said, patting his stomach, "Those dumplings sure tasted real to me!"

"And the bread did too!" Jennifer said, looking at Foxfire.

"Of course!" She said, "They are very sophisticated illusions, trust me! The food you eat will, indeed seem real and you will fill full afterward, mostly do to how your brain works, you think you've eaten, so you think you feel full."

"But, if we didn't really eat anything," Jennifer started, "Will we starve before we are seen?"

"No my dear," She said, "In your reality on Earth, it's not even lunch time yet, and when you return, it will be the same time as when you left, so you really don't actually need to eat here, but since it feels like days are passing, you will think it's time to eat and thus, feel hungry. Another wonderful thing about illusionary food is that you can eat all you want and not gain a single pound!"

"Is everything here illusion?" Jennifer asked.

"Mostly," Foxfire said, "It makes everyone more comfortable here, to have familiar surroundings…"

"But this isn't…" Trunks began but Jennifer cut him off, saying; "I used to have daydreams about living in a cute little cottage."

Foxfire nodded and turned to Trunks, "We looked into your fantasies too, young man, but we could not spare enough illusionary magic to create a castle, so Jennifer's daydream had to do instead. Well, I will just pop off and you just say my name aloud to summon me if you need me."

With that, Foxfire vanished once more. Leaving the two bewildered young people alone on the cloud once more.