Ichigo laughed. "Don't worry. As long as we're careful we won't get caught."
Angel nodded as she looked out the window, the trees and towns passing by them in blurry images. Soon, before she knew it, her eyes began to close.
After a few minutes of silence, Ichigo, with his eyes still on the road, tried to reach for the water bottle near the passenger's side. "Hey, do you think you can hand me that—" Ichigo quickly looked over but stopped when he saw Angel's head resting against the car window, eyes closed and chest rising and falling in a slow pattern. He had to go back and forth between Angel and the road several times to register fully into his head that she was asleep. He couldn't help but smirk and shake his head. "I told you, you were tired."
___________________________________________
Angel giggled as she ran across the beach, her tiny feet splashing in the water with each step she took.
"Angel Don't go too far!"
The little raven-haired girl turned around to wave back. "Oneesan! Ni-isama! Hurry up!" she shouted with the biggest smile on her face. She was running backwards when suddenly she stepped on a slippery stone, causing her to lose her footing and fall over. "AHH!"
"ANGEL!"
But before the little girl fell into the cold water, a pair of strong arms grabbed her and pulled her back onto her feet. Angel looked up and smiled. "Ni-isama! You rescued me!"
Zack Bushū sighed as he knelt before her. "Angel, your sister told you not to run too far from us. If I didn't make it in time you would have gotten your new dress wet."
"Gomen," Angel smiled before turning back to her sister. "Oneesan! I'm fine—"
Angel's words got cut off abruptly when her sister, who was running towards them, slowly started to stagger and cough really hard, coming to a full halt. Then, her body suddenly became weightless and she started to fall towards the ground like a lifeless doll. Just like Zack had done to save Angel, he dashed over and quickly caught his wife before she could hit the sand.
But little Angel was unable to move even a finger when she saw her sister's ghostly expression. She felt tears crashing out of her eyes like the waves behind her. "JUVIA-NEESAN!" She cried with all her might.
Her sister and brother-in-law were only a few feet in front of her but she could not muster the strength to reach them. Instead she stood in her spot and cried out loud, wiping away the non-ceasing tears with the back of her tiny hands. She could feel the dreadful atmosphere surrounding their once relaxing beach vacation.
"Angel…"
She continued crying but nobody was paying attention.
"Hey Angel…"
She could barely make out the image of Zack calling for an ambulance as he carefully picked up his unconscious wife, his usual calm self completely gone.
"Angel…Angel…Angel!"
Angel jolted awake and came face to face with Ichigo. "W-what?" she huffed, her chest rising and falling at inhumane pace.
Ichigo's eyebrows furrowed as he watched her trying to regain control of her breathing. "You okay?" he asked. Only few seconds ago he started to freak out when he heard Angel moaning next to him as if in pain. So he immediately started to wake her, and became even more persistent when she suddenly cried 'Juvia-neesan.'
Angel slowly nodded, taking in a deep breath before responding. "Yeah, I just had a bad dream, that's all."
"I don't think this was any normal bad dream," he said before reaching over to wipe some sweat off her brow.
Angel looked away. "I'm okay, really."
"You sure?" he asked.
"Yeah," she nodded, "I just—" Her voice got caught up in her throat when she looked up and saw what was out the window.
Immediately noticing the change in her expression, Ichigo smirked. "We're here."
Forgetting about the nightmare she just had, Angel quickly undid her seat belt and bolted out of the car, heading towards the vast ocean. She kicked off her shoes and stepped on the warm sand, wiggling her toes into it before running off towards the water, squealing like a little child as she splashed around.
Ichigo got out of Mark's car and leaned over the roof, smiling as he watched Angel playing at the edge of the beach. She's still a little kid…he thought.
"ICHIGO!"
He looked up and waved back at Angel who was waving at him.
"ICHIGO! Hurry up!" she laughed as she continued splashing around.
No longer able to contain himself, Ichigo kicked off his shoes next to Angel's and quickly ran towards her. Once he reached there, he kicked at the water, spraying Angel with the ocean's salty water. Angel squealed before attacking him the same way.
Maybe they were both little kids that just needed happier memories at the beach.
"What else do we need?"
Angel looked at the list and frowned. "We still need to get shampoo and conditioner. You only brought enough to last us a few days."
Ichigo scowled. "Great, more money out of my wallet."
"Stop complaining," Angel elbowed him in the ribs.
Ichigo yelped in pain, nearly dropping all the bags he was carrying back home from the supermarket that they were just at.
After fooling around in the waters for a while, they finally went (more like Ichigo pulling a reluctant Angel) towards his single-storey house sitting only a few yards away from the sandy beach, which was surrounded by tall trees to give it the private that came with the title 'private beach'. After getting settled in, they started to make a list of things that they needed to survive on, especially food. They walked towards the nearest local town where they bought things ranging from ingredients to DVDs and to swimsuits. By the time everything was done, the sun was setting over the horizon, signaling the near ending of the day.
Ichigo's eyebrow furrowed in doubt as he opened one of the bags and peered inside to stare at some of the weird looking vegetables she bought. "What exactly are you planning to make? I don't think I've ever seen these things before."
"You ask too much question," Angel scoffed, "I know what I'm doing so stop complaining."
"How can I not? Everything you make is suspicious—," Ichigo mumbled but Angel heard his comment and quickly stepped on his foot. "OW! Watch where you're going, midget!"
"Hmph, you deserved it and you know it," she crossed her arms and continued on ahead of Ichigo.
The orange head scowled, massaging his foot from the immense pain. He was wearing a pair of sandals and so Angel's sandals were a lot more painful than days when he wore sneakers. Muttering as many curses as he knew, Ichigo followed Angel as they exited the town and came into the view of the beach again.
Angel immediately smiled at the view.
Ichigo, seeing the change in her expression again, raised an eyebrow. "What's up with you and the beach anyways? Just looking at it is making you smile like a creepy little kid."
Angel ignored his last comment and decided to answer his question with a smile. "Like I said earlier today: I haven't been to the beach in over ten years. Just seeing it makes me feel…I don't know, so carefree."
"I really think you're mental now. How can a beach change someone's attitude so quickly, even if they haven't seen it in years?" Ichigo snorted, "Does looking at a picture of a beach enough to put you in a happy mode? Because if it does, I'll have to carry it around with me all the time."
Angel rolled her eyes. "You really need do something about that stupidity of yours."
Ichigo smirked. "Who's stupid? I'm just saying that it's good to see you starting to act the age your height is entailing—OW! I said stop doing that!" he screamed after Angel stepped on his foot again, but this time with more force.
"Then stop commenting about my height!" she shouted.
Ichigo was about to retort when it struck him.
Angel backed off when she saw that smug look on his face. "What?" she asked as she slowly started to feel uncomfortable.