Shaman King Fan Fiction ❯ Princess ❯ Chapter Two ( Chapter 2 )

[ P - Pre-Teen ]

Shaman King belongs to Hiroyuki Takei, not me.

They arrived at the mall about an hour later with a heartily protesting Anna in tow. “Anna walk!” she shouted. “I big girl! I walk!”

“You can't, Anna-chan, you don't have any shoes,” Yoh explained patiently, readjusting the squirming toddler on his hip. “As soon as we get you some shoes you can walk, okay? But now you have to be still and let me carry you.” She scowled, but obeyed. “So…we just pick up some clothes for her and go, right?”

“Oh, no,” Tamao said. “She'll need dresses and playclothes and shoes and pajamas…there's quite a lot to get.”

“We won't need to get her a crib; I called Manta and he's going to bring Mannoko's old one over,” Yoh said.

“She'll need some other baby things, though,” Pilika said. “Tell you what. We'll all go get Anna shoes, and then Tamao and I will get her clothes while you buy her sipper cups and suchlike.”

“Want shoes. Then Anna walk,” the toddler insisted. “I big girl, `member?”

“Yes, I know you're a big girl,” Yoh said. “Let's go get you shoes.”

The first thing Anna pointed to was a pair of shiny patent leather Mary Janes with bows. “Want!” she squealed. “Want! Anna want!”

“Not at that price, baby doll,” Yoh said. He slung the wriggling little girl over his arm. “Let's look at these.”

She pouted. “Ugly boy shoes,” Anna complained.

“She's right, Yoh, they're as ugly as sin,” Pilika agreed. “How about these, Anna?” She held up a tiny pair of tan suede sandals with gold butterfly buckles.

Interested, Anna poked the shiny buckles. “Pretty,” she commented.

Yoh set her down on a chair. “Then let's try them on,” he said. He slipped the sandal onto her small foot. “Wow…you're tiny.”

“What did you expect, Yoh? She's three,” Tamao said, looking at the different sneakers. “Ooh! Look how cute! Do you want to try these on, Anna?”

The toddler swung her little legs back and forth, watching the light catch on the buckles on her sandals. “See, pretty!” she chirped.

“Yes, I see, honey, but you need to try on some other shoes too,” Yoh said. He tugged the little shoes off before Anna could wail in protest. “We'll get these, but you have to try on some other ones first.”

Anna fidgeted through six more pairs of shoes, until Tamao and Pilika finally decided on a pair of sneakers and a pair of Mary Janes, besides the little sandals. “Bored,” Anna fussed.

“I know you are, kiddo,” Pilika said. “Tell you what. If you tell me and Tamao your favorite colors, we'll pick out all of your clothes and Yoh can take you for the other things you need, okay?”

Anna nodded vigorously. “Pink and boo and lello,” she said.

“Blue and yellow?” Pilika guessed.

“Anna like boo and lello.”

“I see…”

“And Anna like dressies.” The little eyebrows furrowed. “Only dressies.”

“Uh…allrighty then.”

Tamao handed Yoh a piece of paper. “I made out a list of things she'll need. There's a Babies R Us at the south end of the mall. Meet us back by the doors at five, okay?” she said.

Yoh finished buckling the sandals back onto Anna's feet. “Sure, sure,” he said. He set Anna on the floor and took her hand. “Let's go buy things, shall we?”

“Can Anna get toys?” she inquired, cocking her head to one side.

“Probably,” he grinned, knowing that most likely he would buy any toy she asked for. She skipped to keep up with him, clinging to his hand.

“Yoh-san! Yoh-san!”

Yoh winced. “Oh, crap,” he muttered.

Anna poked him. “Bad word,” she reprimanded.

“Hi, Yoh-san! What are you doing here?” Suki chirped.

He shifted his weight from one foot to another. “Uh…shopping,” he said.

“That's awesome! So am I!” she exclaimed. “Oh, and who is this cute little angel?”

Anna ducked behind Yoh, wrapping her short arms around his leg. “My…my…eh…my foster sister,” he finally stammered. “Yeah. Foster sister. Her parents died, so my parents took her in. She's visiting with me.”

“Ooh, what a cute little darling!” Suki cooed. Anna buried her face in the back of Yoh's knee. “Yes, you are! Yes, you are!”

Yoh reached down and smoothed Anna's hair to calm her down. “Well, I really have to go, so I'll see you at school,” he said.

Suki looked disappointed. “Well…okay,” she said. “Bye, Yoh-san. Bye, little cutie-pie!”

Anna peeked up at Yoh. “Me no like her. She too perky,” she commented. Yoh laughed and ruffled her hair.

The Babies R Us gave Yoh a rather unsettling feeling. So many baby things…He hadn't thought he'd need to buy baby things for a couple more years. Anna toddled obediently at his side, sucking on her fingers. The shopping continued in complacent silence for quite a while, until Anna spotted something.

“Passie!” the baby squeaked. She stopped dead in her tracks, tugged on Yoh's pants, and pointed to a small package high above her little head. “Anna want passie!”

“You're too big for a pacifier, Anna,” Yoh said absently as he checked the list. “C'mon, let's go.”

That's when it started.

First her dark eyes grew wide and dewy.

Then her little mouth began to tremble.

The long eyelashes began to blink.

A tear dripped down the round cheek.

And the floodgates broke.

“Anna w-want passie!” she wailed desolately. “P-Please! Anna w-want!”

Yoh quickly knelt down to the tiny girl's eyelevel. “It's okay, honey, it's okay,” he tried to soothe her. “You're not too big for a pacifier. I'll get one for you.” He grabbed the package nearest him and put it in the shopping cart. She sniffled. “See, it's all right. You don't need to cry.” He picked her up and set her in the cart's child seat. Anna still looked miserable. Yoh began to feel inexplicably guilty. “Hey, do you want a plushie? How about a cow? Or a duck?” He handed her a soft buttercup-yellow duck. She clutched it to her chest, staring up at him with huge teary eyes. “We can get you a blankie too, would that make you happy?” He frantically tossed several more items into the cart, hoping to alleviate the sadness in the tiny face. She sniffed, rubbing her eyes with the backs of her little hands, and studied the ground rolling beneath her from her vantage point at the top of the shopping cart.

The woman at the checkout counter smiled when she saw them. “Oh, my, what a sleepy little face,” she said. “I suppose someone missed their afternoon nap.”

Yoh lifted Anna out of the shopping cart and set her on his hip. “I guess so,” he said. Anna yawned mightily, her round wet cheek pressed against his chest. He wrote out the check, hoping with all his heart that grown-up Anna wouldn't be angry when she found out, picked up the bags, and left the store.

“There you guys are!” Pilika exclaimed. She and Tamao held several bulging shopping bags. “HoroHoro called; he and Ren ordered takeout for dinner and it'll be there by the time we get back.”

“Good,” Yoh said. “Because Anna is going to get fed, given a bath, and then sent off to bed.” Proving his point, the drowsy toddler yawned into his shirt. He dug with one hand in the shopping back, got the three-pack of pacifiers, and pulled one out. “Open wide, kiddo.” Anna opened her mouth like a baby bird and sucked happily on the pacifier. She proceeded to suck on it through the entire bus ride home as she nestled in Yoh's lap, rousing only enough to stare in interest at the shiny buckles on her brand new sandals.

“Dude!” HoroHoro exclaimed when they finally traipsed through the front door. “How long does it take to buy some pants for a toddler?”

“No pants, dressies,” Anna said, popping her pacifier out long enough to correct him.

“I see,” HoroHoro said.

“Did Manta come by with the crib?” Yoh inquired, peeking into the white takeout boxes.

“Nada on Manta. He called to say he can't come by till tomorrow.”

Yoh sighed. “I guess a certain toddler will have to share with me tonight,” he said.

“Asakura!” Pilika huffed. “We are not carrying all of these bags in by ourselves!”

“But I have a toddler to feed!” Yoh protested.

“Give her to me,” HoroHoro said. “You get all those things upstairs, I'll feed the mini tyrant, and then Pilika or Tamao can be the lucky one to give the chibi a bath.”

Yoh raised an eyebrow. “You? And a toddler?”

“Hey, he used to babysit all the munchkins in the village back home,” Pilika panted. “Just come get these bags, Asakura!”

HoroHoro clapped his hands. “C'mere, you cute little devil, you,” he cooed. “Come to your oji-san. He'll feed you.” Much to Yoh's surprise, Anna leaned out of his arms towards HoroHoro.

“C'mon, upstairs,” Pilika ordered, shoving several bulging bags into Yoh's arms.

He was in the middle of hanging up a tiny dress when the question he had been dreading all day was finally asked. “Yoh…why did Anna turn into a three-year-old again?” Tamao ventured.

He sighed heavily, blowing several strands of hair out his eyes. “Did you ever hear Grammy talk about childhood avoidance regression?” he asked.

“A few times. Why? Is that what Anna has?” He nodded. “What causes it?”

“A bad childhood,” Yoh answered. “She reverted to this stage to make new memories to replace some of the bad ones.” He avoided their eyes as he finished hanging clothes.

“Yo-oh!” HoroHoro hollered. “There's a little girl who wants you!”

He grinned slightly. “I'm guessing Anna needs me,” he said. “I'll bring her up for her bath. One of you will have to do it, though.”

“I will,” Tamao offered. “I'll go run the water.”

Yoh poked his head in the kitchen to find Anna shrieking with delight as HoroHoro let her eat noodles with her hands. “Great, now you've gotten her all wound up so she'll never get to sleep,” Yoh complained. He plucked Anna up to carry her upstairs. “Time for bath and bedtime.”

“Yay!” Anna said. “You give Anna bath, and Anna go sleepies.”

“No, honey, I can't give you a bath,” Yoh said. “You're a little girl, and I'm a boy. Tamao's going to give you a bath.”

“No, no, no!” Anna wailed. “Tamao no like Anna!”

He stopped and stared at her. “Whatever gave you that idea, baby doll?” he asked. “Tamao loves you.”

Anna shook her head. “Nobody like Anna, `cept Yoh,” she said firmly.

“Who told you that?” he asked.

“Ev'ybody,” she shrugged. She popped her pacifier into her mouth ending the conversation.

He patted her back. “Tell you what. I'll sit in the bathroom with you, but Tamao will give you a bath. Deal?” She nodded, pouting. Yoh handed her off to Tamao.

He rejoined them in the bathroom to find a massive tub full of bubbles and one little blonde head. “What this?” Anna asked Tamao, poking at the foam.

“Bubbles,” Tamao said, covering Anna's eyes as she poured water over her blonde hair.

“Anna no see these `bubbles' afore,” the toddler said.

Yoh hoisted himself up to sit on the sink counter. “You've never had a bubble bath before?”

“Uh-uh,” she answered, shaking her head and sending shampoo foam everywhere. “But Anna like it.” Tamao scooped up a small handful of bubbles and blew them gently. Anna burst into giggles, stretching out her hands to grab them. Yoh laughed.

“All right,” Tamao said about ten minutes later. “All done.”

Yoh slid off the counter. “I'm going to go so Tamao can help you get dressed, okay, honey?” he said.

“Hai,” Anna said absently as she propelled a mermaid doll and a plastic duckie at warp speed through the bubbly water. Yoh smiled as he closed the door behind him.

“So, how'd the munchkin take to her bath?” HoroHoro asked.

“Pretty easily,” Yoh answered. “Hey, you going to finish that?” Ren handed over his bowl.

“I'm surprised,” Pilika mumbled through a mouthful of udon noodles as she ate directly from the white takeout box. “Anna's really not as bad as I thought.”

“All children are innocent,” Ren said. “It's the situations around them that take their naiveté away.”

“Hey, look! They've got a behind-the-scenes special on that new Kiki Nikolae movie!” HoroHoro exclaimed. He turned up the volume as Yoh joined the rest of them on the couch.

The special was barely underway when it was interrupted by Tamao. “I've got a sleepy little girl here. Who wants her?”

“Ooh, me!” Yoh said, stretching out his arms. Tamao deposited Anna into his lap, along with her stuffed duck, yellow blanket, and pacifier. “Did you enjoy your bath?”

“Anna like baths,” she said. “Now give passie.”

“Yes, your highness,” Yoh smiled, popping the pacifier into her mouth. She was dressed in a satiny pink nightgown with spaghetti straps and daisies embroidered on the hem and neckline. Cute, but not very warm. Yoh snuggled Anna against him, draping her blanket over her and his lap, and rested his chin on the top of her head. “You all cozy now?” The little blonde head bobbed up and down.

As he cuddled Anna on his lap, Yoh was suddenly struck with a sense of her fragility. She was tiny, but more than that, she was vulnerable. Anything- or anyone- could harm her. Yoh wrapped his arms tighter around her and patted her tummy. “You ready for bed yet, baby love?” he whispered.

“Anna sleepy,” the three-year-old yawned.

Yoh kissed her warm satiny hair and stood up, cradling her. “Say goodnight, Anna-chan,” he said.

Anna opened and closed her small hand in a wave to the others. “Night-night,” she said. She promptly buried her face against the warm curve of his neck, clinging to him. Yoh carried her upstairs to his room, whispering soothing things in her ear and rubbing her back.

She blinked sleepily at him as he tucked her into bed, her dark eyes shining. “Goodnight, darlin',” he whispered, pressing a kiss on her forehead.

Anna's little face lit up. “A kissie,” she whispered. “A little kissie for Anna.”

“Yes, my baby,” Yoh smiled. “Sweet dreams.” By the time he had slipped her duckie under her arm and draped her blanket over them both, she was fast asleep, her round cheek pressed against the pillow. He turned on her nightlight and closed the door.

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