"I want to do this right."
She grinned, and reached for the propped-up cookbook again. Green eyes skimmed over the pages, and she traced the words with her fingers as she read. "Okay, but so far, everything is done exactly as described in the recipe. Cutting the mangos, then putting them in a pot and cooking them for 10 minutes, adding the spices, patiently waiting for an hour, which we've almost done and..."
He cut across her. "It's not the chutney I am talking about. It's us."
Hiromasa went over to the kitchen sink and washed the sweet smelling juice off his hands. Now where was the kitchen towel? Why was it that he was never ever able to find anything in this kitchen? Or his, for that matter.
"Aren't we doing this right? Because, Hiro, it feels more than right to me." There was not even a hint of insecurity in her voice, and he marvelled at her good faith in him, as he had done time and again over the last two weeks.
Closing the distance between them with one big stride, he pulled her in a hug, drawing comfort and encouragement from holding her in his arms. Placing a gentle kiss on the chestnut hair, he murmured in an almost sullen tone: "Only Minako knows."
Laughter resonated in the small kitchen and he felt her quivering in his arms.
"Do you think this is funny? I want to make it official; I want us to be official, not hiding in your shop or your flat or mine, when I manage to lure you there. We have to tell the others, and that includes Endymion."
The sound of her laughter faded away, but the traces of it still remained on her face as she gently corrected him. "Mamoru. That's his name in this lifetime, it will soon enough change to Endymion once again." She reached up and stroked the pouting man's cheek, before rising on the tips of her toes and placing a kiss on his nose.
"Ami, Bunny and Mamoru by extension don't know about you because it is the end of term and they are ridiculously busy studying. Rei has been off kilter since the year has started, and when she is feeling off, she sticks to her shrine like a bee to honey." Freeing herself from his embrace, she returned to the oven and stirred what was to become a hopefully tasty mango chutney.
Several drawers were opened before she had found her favourite wooden spoon. Chuckling, she said: "Ever since I met you, my kitchen is in complete disarray." Stirring the contents of the pot, she looked over her shoulder to meet a worried pair of eyes in a shade that comlemented her own. The physical similarity between the two of them was truly astounding. It made them very pleasing to the eye and at least she already knew that they would have pretty children. Blushing, she picked up the kitchen towel that had been hidden under the heavy cookbook and went to dry his hands, even though most of the wetness had actually been dried of by his hands on her jumper in their earlier embrace.
"How about I invite all of them to a small opening dinner in the shop? Then we announce your return, our love and the fact that between the two of us, no kitchen can be kept tidy."
His solemn face lit up, filling her heart with a feeling of deep contentedness. The small dog-shaped kitchen clock rang, and both of them let go of each other to try their chutney. Needless to say, it was perfect.