The Story of Tonight

71

Anthony's POV
"Now please. Whatever you do-"
"Babe. Chill. I'm not going to do my New Zealand accent in front of your family."
"Thank you." Amy sighed as we but our bags on a boat which was being run by her uncle. She told me ages ago about her family living on a remote island off the coast of New Zealand. I'm actually pretty excited that we're here. I pulled my phone out and began filming.
"Yo babe. Where are we?" I asked excitedly into the camera.
"New. Zealand." She said throwing her hand up in the hair gesturing to the scenic views. It was so luscious and green on this island.
"We should be there in twenty minutes." Amy's uncle, Saki, said to us. I shuffled next to a Amy on the small boat. I put my arm around her back and placed a soft kiss on her head. Holding her was my favourite thing in the entire world. We were going to be here for four days. We arrive back in New York during the early hours of Christmas Day. My insisted that we have it at her place- not that she has anything against Amy's family, it's just she really likes her company and treats her like another daughter, which I think is really cute.

Saki parked the boat under a coconut tree and I jumped off the boat. Amy took my hand to balance, she is actually such a clumsy person.
"Babe. Please remember to only wear shorts which cover your knees. My family are very strict about their laws and rules which they follow. They'll probably also give you a welcoming ceremony- just go with it."
"Amy. Stop stressing." I stopped on the sand and kissed her head. I knew how important introducing her family to me was; and vice versa. All of a sudden a bunch of women exited their huts and small homes. Amy explained to me that a lot of cyclones and earth quakes hit this area of New Zealand hence why their houses are small and at least 100 - 200 metres from the sea.
"Oh whoa. Is that Amy?"
"It can't be."
"Auntie Amy!" One of the kids squealed running towards us and hugging Amy's legs.
"Hey Junior. Pehea e koe?" Amy asked him.
"I'm good."
"Ah. I see you're improving your English skills. Pai mahi." She smiled picking him up. I looked around the scenery. It was a luscious green. It kinda reminded me of Hawaii. Heaps of tropical flowers were planted and plenty of coconut trees. I looked at Amy confused.
"Wh-where are the men?"
"Oh they're all at work. They'll be home at 7pm."
"For your ceremony! They're out catching fish!" Junior smiled at me as Amy brushed her fingers through his short black hair. Amy put him back on the ground.
"You must be the famous Junior." I smiled at him as he pulled on my shorts.
"Yep!" The four year old laughed.
"I see. Wait. What is that behind your ear?" I asked him as I squatted down.
"What's behind my ear?" He asked excitedly, using his hand to touch around his ear- I quickly pulled a herseys kiss out of my pocket. "There's nothing there." He frowned sadly.
"Let me check." I smirked and cupped my hand over his ear and 'pulled out' the herseys kiss from behind his ear.
"Whoa. How did you do that? That's magic!" He said as I passed him the little piece of chocolate.
"Can you check behind my ear as well?" A little three year old girl came up and asked me. I only had one in my pocket.
"How about after my ceremony?" I asked her and her eyes light up. I looked up at Amy who looked at me and smiled.
"That's Clara." Amy said and the little girl twisted her hair with her fingers.
"What's your name? C-can we be friends?" She asked. She had really good English skills for a three year old.
"I'm Anthony, and heck yeah we can be friends."
"What does heck yeah mean?" She asked coming closer and cuddling into my chest. I decided to pick her up.
"People in America say heck yeah, it's just another word for yes."
"Wow!" She gleamed. "Come meet the rest of my siblings." She said pointing to her little hut. I smiled. I didn't realise that people still lived like this - it was like being in a third world country. But these people were happy, and they didn't need money. Heck the water is right in front of their home and they're so lucky to be here. It's amazing. The weather is just right.  It like a museum full of paintings. I put Clara back on the ground and she took my hand. She skipped towards her house and I was dragged down. 
"Oh Clara. Who is this?" I think it was her mother who asked this. She was cradling another younger child. Barely a month or two at least.
"Make sure you take your shoes off. Come in. Have some tea." She smiled as Clara laughed at me as I had to take my shoes off. Clara pointed to the floor of the home, it was covered in a woven mat made of leaves, probably coconut leaves. I sat down at crossed my legs. I was hella nervous. Shit, where's Amy. I pulled out my phone and sent her a text telling her I was at Clara's home.
"Oooo can I see?" Clara asked crawling onto my lap and reaching for my phone.
"Are you allowed to?" I asked her as she looked up at her mum.
"Yes. That's alright." She smiled at me as she boiled some water in a pot. I watched her pick off some leaves off a tree from outside and put them in the pot.
"Clara, what's your mum doing?" I asked her.
"Oh she's picking off lemon leaves for the tea. It's yummy!" She said skipping into the kitchen to munch some plain crackers whisky still playing on my phone.
"It's buzzing! Why is it buzzing?" She asked me as she passing me back my phone scared.
"It's because I've received a text. Here let's read it." I smiled at her and showed her my phone.
"It's from Amy and it says, all good I'm helping auntie Maia which your ceremony."
"Whoa. How do you do that? Can I send a text to Amy?"
"Sure. Here." I said giving her my phone again. She pressed a bunch of buttons and then it sent. This was her message. 'Hi Amy!!!! Is Clara 🌅😝🌴😉☔️😡💕🛶🏝 🇳🇿' I laughed. Three dots came up. "That means she's writing something back."
"Whoa. It's like magic." Clara said impressed with this technology.
"Hey Clara. Is Auntie Manawa making tea for Anthony? Make sure she doesn't talk to him too long. He has to get ready for his welcoming ceremony. At six o'clock can you tell him to come to Auntie Maia's house? Whakawhetai koe.' The last bit I knew was Maori. Clara was still buzzing about the whole 'phones and texting are magic' that she completely ignored the text. I sent back a thumbs up just as Clara's mom, who I now know is Manawa served me tea.

~*~

"If you get uncomfortable at anytime, please tell me." Amy smiled at me holding my hands in hers. She was wearing her traditional Maori garment. This consists of a brown dress with either flowers in her hair, or a dead animal hanging around her neck. Amy assured me that only the elders wore those.
"Babe. It's okay." I said reassuring her and kissing her forehead. She passed me a necklace made of fresh coconut leaves, berries and flowers.
"You have to wear it when you enter the Marae. Which is the ground you will enter. It's a circle made up of rocks, make sure you take your shoes off and bow. It's gonna kinda look like a sacrifice, but I can assure you it's not. It won't go for long-" I put a finger to Amy's lips.
"And I thought my rambling was bad." I chuckled.
"Sorry."

Amy took me to an open space of dirt and sand. All the elders and villagers sat around in a circle. Amy dropped her hand away from mine and sat with her family. I just stood there shocked and honestly a little scared. All the men had tribal tattoos. All of a sudden, one of the bulkiest guys who I've ever seen stood up and squatted in front of me. After a couple of minutes of him doing a tribal dance using a spear-like weapon to intimidate me - which I worked because I almost shat my pants- I was told to pick up a token off the ground, in this case was a coconut leaf which showed the village that I come in peace. After this welcoming ceremony, there was heaps of drinking and dancing around a fire. I was actually really enjoying my time here. During the dances I had to sit with the men. I looked over to find Amy and she smiled at me and gave me a thumbs up. What a cutie.

~*~

Uhm guys.... Thank you so much for almost 25,000 you guys are the best. Honestly, this has made my day. I love all your comments. :)

Does anyone else think Emmy and Daveed are together?