The Sake of Hope

“AAHHG!” I heard Lee scream, right before he’d hit the water.
“Don’t lose your footing,” I said, without taking my eyes off the water. When I didn’t hear him reply I turned my head to look.
“Lee-” but I never finished, because by the time I saw him, I couldn't help but burst into laughter. There, sitting upright in the pond with his knees bent and water and pond scum drizzling from his hair, was Lee. Obviously, he wasn't as used to walking up pond logs as I was.
"It's not funny," he said sternly, but I only continued to laugh.
"Lee, your face. You have no idea," I said, but I still sauntered over to him and offered him a hand.
We were sent by my aunt to go fishing again. It had been about two months since Lee and Mushi had moved into our inn, and things carried on as normally as they could. We'd made the trek out to the pond for fish many times before, but Lee had never seen the pond so high. It usually happened this time of year. It would rain for a week and then the bank to the pond would be completely flooded. You could either scramble through the mess that was the wood- fallen branches, animals, thorns- or you could walk the larger tree limbs and logs over to the big rock that they sat on for fishing.
"I'm starting to think the woods would have been a better adventure than this," he said, angrily.
"It wouldn't. Trust me," I replied.
Things had softened between us somewhat. Being in the same house twenty-four-seven was hard enough, but being constantly angry with each other was even worse. So, without even trying, we became friends, or as close as we'd allow ourselves to be.
Trips like this out to the fishing rock were always slow and awkward. I told myself that we sat in silence for a good hour so as to "not scare away the fish," but really, I knew it was because we were afraid to talk. And we had so little to say to each other. It seemed that we'd already said so much, and gotten in so much trouble with each other for it, that we felt it was better to say nothing at all. But that was no good... I just wanted to talk to Lee.
We sat on the rock and baited our hooks and waited.
"So..." I started, "What do you like to do for fun, Lee?" He didn't even look at me.
"You know that. Nothing. There's nothing to do," he said in his same emotionless tone.
"Well, maybe you haven't tried to do anything. I've gotten by just fine for five years, and I've done plenty," and I smirked when I looked at him, if not to urge him on, then to just make him angry.
"I like walking. Maybe running, but mostly walking," and I was genuinely surprised to get a real response from him.
"Hmm... that's nice. Maybe we could walk sometime."
"Yah."
So then the rest of the silence began. The sun was on the verge of making its speedy trip downward, and the fish refused to bite. Not a single one. Finally, I was ready to give up on the fish and start having... fun.
"You know what I like, Lee?" and he actually turned his head to look at me.
"What?"
I reached my hand down into the pond quickly, cupped it under the surface, and swung it back around, letting the water splash him right in the face. Perfect aim.
"I like the water!" I squealed, ready for a fight. And to my surprise, he took the bait. First, he looked shocked, then angry. Then, I suppose something in him snapped.
"What did you do that for?!" he yelled, wiping his face dry.
"O come on, Lee. Haven't you ever had a water fight before?" I asked, and then repeated the same action, just to push my luck, and drenched his face again. He hesitated.
All of a sudden, and with his left arm only, he shoved me off of the rock and, with a scream, I went flying sideways into the water.
"Actually, yah. I have," he said, with a smirk. This time it was my turn to be shocked. Sure, I was trying to have some fun with him, but I never actually expected a positive response. It's like he just didn't care anymore. Or, dare I say, he was starting to like me.
Needless to say, I had no choice but to push him further, and try to really bring out his inner child. I stood up quickly, and he tried to block me, but it wasn't him I was going for- it was his hat. I reached up and plucked it right off of his head, and backed away out of his reach. Keeping my balance was tough though- the water was up to my belly button.
"Hm..." I said, holding up in the air. "Looks like the only way you're going to get it back is if you come get it," I said and smiled at him. I'll even admit it to myself- I was flirting.
He glared at me and for a moment I thought he would crawl back into his shell and become Lee again- silent, empty, boring. But then he jumped in and started after me. I didn't know what to do, so I turned around and trudged my way over to the nearest tree whose roots were beyond buried under the water.
To be as obnoxious as can be I put his hat on and peeked around the tree trunk. He was waiting to see which side of it I was going to run from, and I was waiting to see which side he would lunge at. We were stuck.
"Come on Lee. I don't think you're really trying," I laughed.
"You'll regret this, Sake," he said, a big smile playing on his lips.
"Oooh, I'm shaking," I laughed and then ran right, as he swung around the tree trunk on my left. I was backing up, facing him now, and he was gaining quickly. Something under the water caught my ankle and I went down, falling, just as Lee had on the way here. Lee just stood in front of me, crossed his arms, and smirked.
"What'd I say?" he asked, then gently reached down and plucked the hat right off of my head.
"Oh please. You didn't even do anything," I said, contemplating my next move. Then, I realized it was the muck and mud that my hands were buried in underwater. I slung a handful of it right onto his robes. He was just as shocked as before, but he still went after me as I tried to get up and run. I tried to conceal another handful, but he saw it on my way upright.
Then, all of a sudden, his arms were around me from behind, and, all in good fun, he was trying to wrestle the goo out of my hands. It was hard to focus though. I could feel his strong chest and the muscles rippling in his arms. I laughed a lot and screamed for him to let me go, but my mind wasn't involved in that. Even though I was supposed to be running from him... I felt so safe.
Finally, I did wheel around in his grasp and slammed the mud right onto his chest. But I didn't even bother to look. As soon as I'd turned, he didn't drop his arms from around my waist, and his eyes locked onto mine. I couldn't help it. Nothing else existed. I couldn't even remember why I was in the middle of a pond.

And then he kissed me, and I couldn't even remember my own name.