Chapter Six: Kissing Late Saturday afternoon, Leon and Gabrielle were busy preparing for the sleepover when there was a knock on the door. Leon finished moving the coffee table out of the way and glanced up at the clock on the wall. It was about half an hour before the party was due to start. “You did tell your friends to come at four, right?” he asked Gabrielle, who was clearing away her toys. “That’s probably Sora. I’ll get it!” Gabrielle dropped her dolls and ran over to the door to answer it. “Hi, Sora!” “Hey, Gabi,” Sora said, smiling as she entered the apartment. “Excited for the party?” “Yeah!” Noticing the large shopping bag Sora was carrying, she pointed to it and asked, “What’s that?” “Well, your dad told me you were making Valentine’s Day cards, so I thought I would introduce your friends to a Japanese Valentine’s custom.” “What is it? What is it?” Leon came over and relieved Sora of her sleeping bag and small suitcase. “Yes, what is it?” he asked, somewhat less enthusiastically. “Making candy!” Sora said, causing Gabrielle’s eyes to light up. “Candy? Like chocolate?” “Exactly. In Japan, Valentine’s Day is the day for a girl to tell a boy how she feels about him. You can buy him a present or candy, but a lot of girls prefer to make their own chocolate, too. Then, one month later, on White Day, the boy answers the girl’s feelings by giving her white chocolate or some other white present if he likes her, too.” “That’s cool!” Gabrielle exclaimed. “But I don’t think any of the boys in my class know about White Day.” “It doesn’t matter. I’m sure they’ll appreciate the chocolate anyway, You can also give ‘obligation’ chocolates to your friends and family.” Sora handed the bag over to Gabrielle. “Here, will you take that to the kitchen for me?” “Sure!” “Don’t forget to pick up those toys you dropped, too!” Leon called out after Gabrielle before turning his attention back to Sora. “Chocolate?” He eyed her warily. “You want to teach six little girls how to make candy?” “I thought it would be a fun activity. Back home, my friends and I would do this every year around Valentine‘s Day,” she said with a shrug. “Why? Is there something wrong with making candy? Is one of the girls allergic?” Leon massaged his temple. Gabrielle’s friends hadn’t even arrived yet, but he could already feel the beginnings of a massive headache coming on. “No, but if they get hyper on all the sugar, I’m blaming you,” he warned. “And I’m not going to clean up the kitchen afterwards.” “Fuddy-duddy,” she teased good-naturedly. With Sora’s help, they managed to get the apartment cleaned and the furniture in the living room cleared away just before the guests began to arrive. Once everybody was there, they began working on their Valentine cards at the kitchen table. Leon sat at the island counter reading a book, content to let a more-than-willing Sora take charge of the proceedings. “I’m finished, Sora!” Gabrielle announced, pointing down at her heart- shaped card. She had written “Happy Valentine’s Day, Sammy!” -- with Sora’s help on the spelling -- on it in glue, along with a drawing of a couple of stick figures holding hands. “Very nice,” Sora said, “but don’t you want to add something else to it, like some glitter? I bet that would look really pretty.” She shook her head. “Sammy likes glue, so I want to decorate his card only with glue. Do you think he’ll like it?” “Glue,” Leon muttered as he turned a page in his book. “My daughter is in love with Glue Boy.” Sora, who heard him, gave him a look and mouthed the words “be nice” before answering her question. “I’m sure he’ll love it, Gabi.” “I hope so,” she said, moving the card over to the side before starting on a new one. “This one is going to be yours, Papa, so don’t peek.” Leon closed his book and stood up. “Fine, I’ll go order the pizzas,” he said. “Is one cheese and one pepperoni okay with everyone?” There were no objections, so Leon called for delivery. Thirty minutes later, the pizza arrived. With boxes in hand, he returned to the kitchen and set them down on the island. “Okay, the pizzas are here, so it’s time to clean-up,” he said, looking at the kitchen table, which was littered with Valentine’s Day cards and craft supplies. “But Mr. Oswald, some of the glue is still drying,” Luisa, one of the girls, pointed out. “We can’t move anything yet, or they’ll get messed up.” Sora frowned. “We didn’t think this through very well, did we? I guess we’ll just have to eat in the living room.” “Sora, can I talk to you for a second?” Leon asked, pulling her aside. “You want to let six girls eat greasy pizza on my living room furniture?” “It’ll be okay… I think. Besides, all your furniture is leather. It’ll be easy to clean up if they do make a mess.” “But what about the carpet?” “I’ll handle it,” she promised. “I’m pretty good at removing stains. Remember when you dropped your wine glass when you saw Emilie on the Swan Lake DVD? I cleaned that up, and now you can‘t even tell there ever was a stain.” It seemed like he didn’t have much of a choice. “Fine. They can eat in the living room if they’re careful, but we’re only serving water as drinks.” “Deal.” Sora turned back around. “Okay, girls, go wash your hands. Le-- I mean, Mr. Oswald and I will start handing out the drinks and pizza.” Leon never consumed such fattening things like pizza, so while Sora and the others happily chatted and ate their dinner, he leaned back against the wall, drinking a glass of wine and silently daring somebody to make a spill on his watch. “Papa, aren’t you hungry?” Gabrielle asked, noticing that he wasn‘t eating. “I’ll eat something later.” Sitting beside Gabrielle on the couch, her best friend Melissa asked, “Hey, Gabi, can you ask your dad to put on a show for us?” “Yeah!” another of the girls, who Leon thought was named either Eva or Ava, agreed. “That would be awesome!” Turning around in the loveseat to look at Leon, she pleaded, “Will you, Mr. Oswald? Please?” “Pretty please with a cherry on top?” her seatmate Krystal echoed. “I did not sign up to be your dinner entertainment,” Leon said coolly, taking a sip of his wine. “Please, Papa?” Gabrielle begged. “Everyone wants to see you perform. Sora, too!” “I think that’s a wonderful idea,” Sora said, clapping her hands together. “In fact…” She headed back to the kitchen and returned a few moments later, carrying six small oranges in her arms. “Ta-da!” Leon arched an eyebrow. “And just what are those supposed to be?” “What do you think they are? They’re oranges.” “I know that. I meant, what do you plan to do with them?” “We’ll juggle them, of course,” she said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. “We can’t exactly do the trapeze in here, after all.” “Who is this ‘we’ you speak of? I agreed to no such thing,” he reminded her. “Besides, I’ve seen you try to juggle before. You’re a terrible juggler.” “But Rosetta’s been giving me special training. I’m much better at it than I used to be.” Walking over, she placed three of the oranges in Leon’s free hand. “Come on, Leon. The girls want a show, and it’ll make Gabrielle happy,” Sora said in a soft voice. Glancing over at Gabrielle’s hopeful face, Leon sighed, remembering the reason he had agreed to the sleepover in the first place. “Fine, I’ll do it,” he said. “Just don’t make me look like an idiot out there.” He downed the rest of his wine and set the glass down before joining Sora in the open area in the middle of the room. Things got off to a good start, but a couple of minutes into the act, one of the oranges bounced out of Sora’s hand, just barely missing knocking over a lamp on one of the end tables thanks to a quick save from one of the girls. “Oops!” Sora said when the girl handed the orange back to her. “Good catch, Madison. Thanks!” Leon pinched the bridge of his nose and shook his head in mild exasperation. He had known from the start that this was a bad idea. While Sora had many talents, juggling simply wasn’t one of them. “I swear, you break it, you buy it, Sora.” “That was just a freak accident! Watch, I’ll show you the ‘fruits’ of my special training with Rosetta.” The girls all groaned at her horrible pun as Sora sheepishly rubbed the back of her neck. “Sorry, sorry, I guess I’ve been hanging around Anna for too long.” Getting back into position, she told Leon, “Let’s start over. I promise I’ll be better this time.” Against his better judgment, they began the act over again. Leon grudgingly had to admit that despite her earlier mistake, Sora’s juggling had improved quite a bit since the last time he saw her attempt it. After performing together for so long, they had a good sense of each other’s timing, so it was easy to keep the rhythm going. Leon even began enjoying himself a little, finding it impossible not smile when looking at Sora. When they finally finished, the girls all gave them a standing ovation, Gabrielle‘s the loudest of them all. “Thank you!” Sora said, taking Leon’s free hand so they could bow together. “See, that wasn’t so bad, was it?” Seeing the huge smile on Gabrielle’s face, he had to agree. It wasn’t so bad at all. ***** Once dinner was over and the cards were cleared away from the kitchen table, it was time to start making the candy. Despite his repeated protests, Sora insisted Leon participate as well, putting him in charge of melting the chocolate while she helped the girls with the actual making of the candy. “What kind of chocolate do you want, Papa?” Gabrielle asked. Leon, standing at the stove and stirring the pot with disinterest, gave a dismissive wave. “I don’t eat chocolate. Don’t bother making me any.” “You don’t?” Sora asked, glancing over at him. “Not even on Valentine’s Day?” “No.” “Then what do you do with that enormous pile of chocolates you get from your fans every year?” “Throw them away.” “Leon, some of those are homemade!” she scolded, hands on her hips. “You can’t throw them away like they’re trash.” “Why not?” he asked, not seeing what the big deal was. At least he accepted them in the first place, which was more than he would have done a few years ago. “If they’re our fans, they should know that it is important for us to watch our weight.” “Well, I guess you do have a point, but you could at least share them with other people.” “If it’s that important to you, feel free to take them off my hands. I have no use for them.” “Maybe I will.” Coming up behind him to check on the progress of the chocolate, she said in a soft voice, “But you could at least eat chocolates from Gabrielle. It won’t kill you.” “Sora…” “She wants to make you candy. Is that so horrible?” Leon sighed, then called out to Gabrielle, “If you really want to make me some chocolates, then I prefer the dark kind. None of that sickeningly sweet milk chocolate cr--” He was about to say “crap,” but remembering his audience, he switched to “stuff” at the last moment. “Okay, Papa!” Sora smiled at him in approval and walked back over to the table to help Gabrielle. They finished making the candy around eight. While the girls left to change into their nightclothes and prepare for bed, Sora began cleaning up the kitchen, Leon filling up the sink with water to do the dishes. “I thought you said you weren’t going to help me with the clean-up,” she reminded him, bringing over some dirty pots and bowls. He shrugged as he slipped on some rubber gloves. “I changed my mind. Is that such a crime?” “No, not at all,” she said, grinning. “Thanks!” After she finished wiping off the counters and table, Sora came up beside him and began drying off the dishes he handed to her, putting them away. “It sure is quiet out there,” she remarked. “I wonder if the girls are already asleep.” “I hope so,” Leon said, handing her another bowl. Sora giggled. “Come on, Leon, having them around hasn’t been that bad, has it?” “Well, it could have been worse, I suppose,” he had to admit. At least he had managed to survive the last few hours with his sanity in tact. If Sora hadn’t been around, he probably would have snapped somewhere in between the crafts and the candy. “I think you may have even enjoyed yourself a little tonight.” Leon threw a side-glance at her, arching an eyebrow. “You need to have your eyes checked.” “Well, I know Gabrielle certainly appreciated it. I haven’t seen her so happy since before you left for Paris. I think this sleepover really cheered her up.” “Mmm.” “You are a good father, you know,” Sora said softly. “I know you don’t think you are, but it’s true.” Almost dropping the pan he was scrubbing, Leon sighed. He had hoped they could go the entire evening without discussing the issue of Gabrielle’s future custody. “Sora, if this is going to turn into another one of your lectures --” She held up her hands in mock-surrender. “Okay, okay, I won’t say anything more about it.” They finished doing the rest of the dishes in awkward silence. Once they were done, Leon slipped off his rubber gloves and set them on the counter. “Well, I’m off to bed,” he announced, deciding he could do without dinner for the night. He had suddenly lost his appetite. “I trust you’ll be fine looking after the girls by yourself?” “Sure. See you in the morning,” she said, tapping his shoulder when he turned to leave. “Wait, you have a little bit of chocolate on your cheek.” “Where?” Leon rubbed at his left cheek. “Did I get it?” “No, it’s on the other side. I’ll get it for you.” Reaching up, she used her thumb to wipe the chocolate away, her touch lingering for perhaps a second more than necessary before pulling her hand away and licking it. “There.” “Thanks,” he said in a soft voice, staring down at her. “Leon?” She gave him a quizzical look. “Is something wrong? I thought you were going to sleep.” “No, it’s just…” He shook his head, wondering what had suddenly come over him. “You have some on your face, too,” he said, noticing a tiny bit of chocolate at the corner of her mouth. “Oh, where? I thought I got all of it.” “Here…” Without thinking about it, as if acting on reflex, Leon bent down and licked away the spot of chocolate. Sora drew in a sharp breath, caught off guard. “Leon…” He knew he probably should stop before things went too far. Instead, overcome by feelings he had not felt in years, Leon cupped her face between his hands and brushed his lips against hers. Sora’s mouth parted slightly, allowing his tongue entrance. Though she tasted faintly of the chocolate she had snacked on while helping the girls, Leon found himself enjoying the sickening sweetness. He pressed Sora’s back against counter behind her, deepening the kiss, as she reached up to wrap her arms around his neck. Neither of them realized they had an audience until they heard giggling coming from just outside the kitchen. Leon, breaking away from Sora, turned around to find six heads peering through the entrance. “Sora and Mr. Oswald, sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G! First comes love, then come marriage --” “You all, out. Now,” Leon ordered in a rough voice, uncharacteristically flustered. “Lights out in five minutes.” Gabrielle and her friends squealed and hurried back to their sleeping bags. When Leon turned his attention back to Sora, she was staring off into space, two fingers pressed against her lips. Her cheeks were flushed pink. “You take care of them,” he told her, purposely avoiding the subject of what had just happened between them. “I’m going to bed.” Snapping back to reality, Sora reached for his arm. “Leon, wait --” He didn‘t turn back around. “Don’t let the girls stay up too late. I’ll see you in the morning, Sora.” ***** The next morning was awkward. Though Leon wanted nothing more than to forget what had happened the night before, knowing it had been a huge mistake to kiss Sora, that was difficult to do when every two minutes or so, one of the girls began another rousing chorus of that infernal kissing song. After about the fifth round, Leon snapped. “I swear, the next one to sing even a syllable of that stupid song will not be having be having breakfast this morning,” he threatened, waving around the spatula he was using to make pancakes. “Do I make myself clear?” “Yes, Mr. Oswald,” they said in unison, followed by Gabrielle’s soft, “Oui, Papa.” Sora herself was unusually quiet. Neither of them had spoken a word to each other since they woke up beyond a polite “good morning.” While Leon cooked breakfast, she set out the plates and silverware, then took a seat at the end of the table. Leon thought he sensed her glancing over at him a couple of times, but he made a concentrated effort not to check, focusing on flipping the pancakes as if the fate of the very world depended on it. When he finished, he brought the pancakes over to table and sat down in the only free chair available, directly across from Sora. For a moment, their eyes met, but Leon quickly looked away, reaching for the morning paper to read. Even the children seemed to sense the tenseness in the room, because for once they had ceased their chattering until Gabrielle broke the ice. “Papa, can I ask you a question?” Sighing, Leon lowered his newspaper. “What is it?” “Is Sora your girlfriend now?” she asked. He briefly glanced across the table at Sora, whose cheeks had turned a light pink, before answering. “No, we’re not dating.” “But you kissed her. That means you like her, right?” “That’s enough. Eat your breakfast.” “If you like her, you should just tell her.” “Gabrielle, I said, ‘Enough,’” Leon said in a firm, but sharp tone. “Do not make me repeat myself again.” Gabrielle stared down at her plate and mumbled, “Yes, Papa.” The rest of the breakfast passed in almost complete silence, nobody wanting to get on Leon’s bad side. Afterwards, the girls started packing up their things and waited for their parents to come pick them up. While Sora and Gabrielle handled seeing the guests off, Leon took his time cleaning up the kitchen, trying to think of the best way to handle things with Sora. By the time he finished cleaning and returned to the living room, the last girl was leaving with her father. Leon waited until they had said their goodbyes, then cleared his throat, getting Sora’s and Gabrielle’s attention. “Gabrielle, why don’t you go play in your room for a while?” he suggested, walking over. “Sora and I have some things we need to discuss.” “Okay,” she agreed, giving them their privacy. Once Gabrielle had disappeared into her room, Sora spun around to face Leon. “Look, if this is about last night,” she said, beating him to the punch, “we don’t have to make a big deal of it. We can just forget it even happened.” “Is that what you want?” he asked, surprised she was being so reasonable about the whole thing. Instead of answering, Sora turned the tables on him. “What about you? Is what Gabi said this morning true? Do you…like me?” “Sora, this is insane.” “Is it? You were the one who kissed me.” “I know, but --” Sora stepped forward and reached for his hands. “It’s a simple question: yes or no?” she said. “Mia and the others always say I’m dense when it comes to this sort of thing, but ever since Gabrielle arrived, I’ve felt this strange connection forming between us. It’s different than the bond we shared before. Maybe I’m just imaging things -- Leon shook his head. “No, I’ve felt it, too,” he admitted. The corners of her lips turned up in a shy, hopeful smile. “You have?” “But last night was a mistake,” he said, releasing her hands. “I shouldn’t have kissed you. I wasn’t thinking, and I let my emotions get the best of me.” “Is that such a bad thing?” Sora placed her left hand flat against his chest, over his rapidly beating heart. “Forgetting everything else, how do you honestly feel about me? Do you like me?” “Sora…” “Yes or no?” she repeated. “Sometimes, it really can be that simple, Leon. Just listen to your heart.” He sighed. There were a thousand reasons why is was a bad idea for them to get involved. First of all, there was the age difference -- he was several years older than her, and much more experienced. Even though it was obvious to everybody except Sora herself that Ken Robbins had a massive crush on her, Leon didn’t recall her having a single boyfriend in the three years since they were partnered together. She had dedicated herself entirely to Kaleido Stage, leaving no time for romance. And there laid another possible problem. What would happen if they did begin a relationship and things soured between them? Would they be able to continue working with each other, or would he be forced to leave Kaleido Stage? (Leon had no doubt if such a thing happened, he would be the one to leave. Sora was much too valuable an asset to Kaleido Stage to let go, despite his arguably more impressive technical skills.) He had no desire to partner with anybody else. In Sora, he had found the only person who could take Sophie’s place as his true partner on stage, the only person he wanted to perform with. Without her, his career would be over. Then there was Gabrielle. Sora had made her opinions about his decision to give up his parental rights quite clear. Once Gabrielle was gone, he wondered if their (potential) relationship could survive the fallout. His daughter had brought them closer, but without her around, Leon feared that whatever bond had formed between them these past few weeks would be broken. Maybe it wasn’t even a romantic bond they felt. Maybe they were misreading the signs, confusing friendship for something else. Maybe… Yet underneath Sora’s hand, his heart continued to pound against his ribcage, and his mouth refused to say the words his brain insisted it say. Instead, he lowered his head and caught Sora’s lips once again, obeying his heart’s desire. “Then, you like me?” Sora asked when they finally broke apart. She smiled up at him, never looking more beautiful in Leon’s eyes. Feeling his body relax, Leon smiled back. “Yes, I like you very much, Sora Naegino,” he confessed, leaning forward so that their foreheads touched. “And you?” “Wait here.” She pulled away and went to the kitchen. When she returned a few moments later, she was holding a medium-sized, heart-shaped chocolate, simply decorated with the words “Happy Valentine’s Day” in white frosting. “I know you said you didn’t like chocolate, but I made you one anyway,” she said, holding it out to him. “Though it’s a day early, will you be my Valentine?” “Yes…but I’m still not eating the chocolate,” he said, accepting the chocolate from her and placing it on a nearby table. Sora’s face fell. “Why not? I made that just for you, and I made sure it was the dark kind.” Smirking, Leon walked over to her and lifted up her chin. “Why eat chocolate when I can just eat you instead?” he asked before kissing her again. DISCLAIMER: Kaleido Star doesn't belong to me.