Ares Long Lost Love

Dinner With Her Parents

More and more days were spent by the river, spent walking through the town, and walking to the field to pick her some fresh flowers. Love was brimming and overflowing in young Ares's heart, love was blooming and flowing through the heart of young Kimiko. How they laughed together on days that were calm, and the stories of battles past kept precious Kimiko intrigued more and more in the life of Ares. She loved listening to how detailed he would be when telling her of the tactics used, or the banquets he attended upon request of the family. Kimiko enjoyed the time she spent with Ares so much, and even asked Ares if he would agree to come and meet her parents. Now Ares told me that her parents knew about their relationship, and that they were more than pleased with the fact their dear daughter was the love interest of a God. Ares told me he never shook in the face of an enemy, he never shirked when going against a foe, but that the idea of sitting down to a simple meal.. a simple dinner... with her parents.. scared him more than a mongolian hoard charging at him full speed. At that admission i couldn't help but start laughing, how could he be so used to gory battles, horrible scenes of violence and other such things that would make a grown man shiver and tremble and yet the thought of eating dinner with her parents made him frightened like a little bunny rabbit. It made me giggle and i continued writing as he described to me the scenario of him walking up the steps to the house. "Can't I send them a gift of gold or something..." Our fearless warrior whined while tugging on Kimiko's hand as they continued walking up the stone path to the cottage in town. "Oh its just one simple dinner, I want them to see how happy I am with you." She stopped on the doorstep with him and looked at him somewhat sad as she spoke to him low. "Do you not want to meet them... its customary in Japan for men to meet the parents before being able to make a bigger commitment.." Ares told me she had blushed, and that was when he realized she was talking about needing approval for marriage if he ever wanted to propose. It was true he had plans in the near future to propose to her, but he never thought she had thought ahead of him like that. It surprisingly settled his nerves and with a new source of courage he knocked on the door and smiled kindly at the elder man. He bowed to him as was custom and introduced himself as Hachiman, although he wanted to introduce himself as Ares and Kimiko was now used to calling him Ares. He thought it best to introduce himself in the name they were more familiar with instead of the name he preferred. He chuckled and told me that could come at a later date. The dinner went wonderfully and soon Kimiko and her mother were clearing the table leaving Ares alone in the room with her father. "What are your intentions for my daughter Hachiman?" My heart had stopped in my chest, Ares told me. He didn't think he would be so blunt about it, he stammered and scraped for an answer before finally responding that he wished to marry Kimiko in the future and that he wished to have his blessing. He said he was so relieved when her father clapped his hands together and said that he had his blessing and best wishes for the future, but something seemed different about Kimiko when she came back... Ares couldn't place his finger on it but when they were walking home Kimiko asked him yet another strange question. "What do you think about children Ares?" Kimiko had said as she held his hand and stepped along the rocks of the river edge. Huh.. children.. Zeus had tons of kids.. poseidon had a few here and there and hades had only two that he knew of.. but Ares never stayed around long enough to even have a kid. So how did Ares feel about kids? Ares looked at his glass and then at me saying he was running empty. I nodded and poured him another glass and he took a small swig before continuing. He didn't know what to think at the time about kids, they were loud, noisy, snobby and messy. This reasoning made Kimiko laugh and she jumped from the rocks landing in front of Ares on the pathway leading to their house. "Im not letting you through until you tell me what you would think about having kids.." This reasoning was flawed for many reasons. One was Ares could easily pick her up and carry her inside. Two Ares could just move around her and leave her there. Three, he could always kiss her out in the open which would immediately make Kimiko want him to stop and wait til they were inside, but with those gentle eyes our defenseless God sighed and smiled at her. "If the child looked like you then it would make me happy.. can we go inside now?" This answer pleased Kimiko greatly, but Ares was dumb to figure out why. Kimiko held his hand in hers and continued up the path to their cottage, slowing down slightly to gaze and admire the flowers near the river bed. They were growing beautifully, and soon the cherry blossom tree Ares had planted for her would be full of flowers and they would be able to have their picnic like they did every year during the Cherry Blossom Festival. Ares smiled remembering how Kimiko acted when she came into the cottage, she had dropped her coat carelessly and began singing softly as she walked to their room. Ares picked up her coat and hung it up, and took off his shoes before following after her. He leaned in the doorway and smiled at her softly as she laid on her back on the bed. She was staring at the pictures of foreign places on their ceiling with small little stars scattered here and there. "What are you dreaming of now kimi.." "I'm dreaming of visiting this place.." Kimiko said as Ares came over and laid down beside her, she was pointing towards a small city that was surrounded by water. It was Venice, and according to Ares it wasn't as threatened to sink under completely as it is today. Back then it was actually marveled and fawned over for the ability to step off the boat onto the street. Ares pulled Kimiko to his side and placed his hand on her arm gently smiling at the pictures. "Some day i will take you there, perhaps for a vacation.. during the festival of masks.. you can dress up and we can dance under the fireworks and stars in town center." Kimiko's smile widened as she imagined dancing in a dress like the women in Venice, wearing a mask and watching the fireworks with Ares. She sighed contently and then looked at him gently before placing a soft kiss over his heart. "I love you Ares... Hachiman.. Mars.." She giggled as Ares frowned and then rolled her onto her back, he wasn't terribly fond of the Roman name, and it was the quickest way to annoy him. Kimiko knew this and loved to tease Ares with it, but he knew this game and soon she was laughing and giggling from his barrage of kisses and they spent that night kissing and wrapped in the arms of one another until Kimiko finally fell asleep with her head gently resting against his chest. The blankets were drawn up to her shoulders and Ares stared at the pictures above them, Ares told me that had he known how little time he had with her he would have taken her to so many more places.. to see so much more and do so many things.. but he couldn't predict the future.. and he never knew that each day that Goddess who sought her revenge watched from the river that ran by their home waiting ever so patiently for her time to strike.