~*~ Chicken Noodle Soup ~*~

Intro ~*~

Ahh Fate! So chaotic, and yes so calm, it is! It can be tranquil as summer skies, or as harsh as an ocean storm. Some think of it as a boon, to others, it is nothing but a curse. Unpredictable, yes, and it can catch us up and wash us away without any trouble. No one can control fate, for it runs wild on its own agenda. It holds everything inside, and only shows its true colors when the time is right. Such a shape shifter! Fate plays an important part in the story, Chicken Noodle Soup, as it does to anyone's life. So... what do you see?

Julie, Clara, and Nina all sat down on the grassy area of the schoolyard, silently contemplating their experiences through the past year. The sun shone brightly down, warming their backs.
Sighing with boredom, Julie fiddled with her glasses, Nina stared at the ground, and Clara grabbed a fistful or grass and hurled it at Julie.
" Ack! " They all laughed.
Julie, replacing her glasses, suddenly looked up and, grinning evilly at Clara, grabbed another fistful or grass and dumped it on Clara's head.
Clara just grinned and left Julie alone.
Then everyone signed in unison, and watched the other kids laugh and play on the schoolyard grounds. After another few minutes of awkward silence, Julie broke it by clearly stating to no one in particular
" Well we made it, didn't we?"
" In a blaze of glory, might I add," Clara said, grinning.
" You bet! Can't believe we actually pulled it off but oh yeah, baby, we did it!" Julie yelled elatedly, black hair flying, as she pumped a fist in the air, gaining a few stares from other kids around her.
Nina just looked up sadly and smiled, hoping, just hoping, somebody would notice, for once.
' As if it would happen this time!' Nina then scolded herself. ' Nobody ever notices you when your like this Nina, so get over it. Your just feeling sorry for yourself!'
But Clara noticed this, and sighed, knowing what Nina was thinking.
" What's wrong Nina?" Clara teased lightly, trying to cheer her up. " Bored to death by us already?"
Nina suddenly looked up, big brown eyes wide, shook her head, causing her two braids to flap, said hurriedly, blushing. " Oh no! It-it's nothing. Just...thinking..."
Clara rolled her eyes, disbelieving.
More silence.
Then Julie suddenly piped up happily " Hey! Since we have extended recess today, and by the looks on your faces.," she looked at Clara, then back to Nina. "Your incredibly bored! Why don't we talk about our past year? It sure was an adventure of a lifetime. And it was just like yesterday." Julie faltered then trailed off slightly, casting a side-glance at Nina.
Nina immediately noticed this out of the corner of her eye.
" Oh! go on, please. Maybe going through this again will..." Nina's voice began to crack.
Clara cast a worried glance at Nina..
" Julie!" She hissed. " Before we start, can we talk about this in private?" she emphasized the last two words, making Julie know she was serious, along with making sure Nina didn't hear her.
Nina was just staring at the ground again, pulling up grass aimlessly.
Well...," Julie pushed her glasses back up onto the bridge of her nose, reminding Clara of her science teacher, Mrs. Snapdragon.
'And boy, does she snap!' Clara thought disgusted. Then she mentally slapped herself.
' Getting off subject here. Focus, Clara, focus!' She returned her attention to Julie, who was looking at her strangely.
Clara tinted pink. She let her mind wander, and probably a whole ton of odd emotions just flickered across her face.
" Well..." Julie repeated, looking at Clara critically. " I guess so."
Clara and Julie stood up, and looking at Nina, Clara began
" Nina! Uhh I'm going to talk to Julie for a moment. Be right back okay?"
" Yeah!" Julie finished, a bit flustered. " Uhhh what she said!"
" Yeah, whatever," Julie added, muttering darkly while Clara dragged her away by her ear. Man was she-
" Ow!" Julie yelped as pain shot through her ear. "I only have two of those you know!" she glared at Clara and shook her off.
Clara just glared back and yanked Julie away by the arm, and as soon as they were out of earshot, Julie angrily shook her off again.
" What was that for?" Julie hissed angrily, brown eyes narrowing dangerously. " That hurt! What's with you today?"
Clara just sighed and looked pointedly at Julie.
Julie just stared back, confused.
" Don't you see?" Clara finally yelled, exasperated. " Bringing up the whole ordeal about what happened last year is really affecting Nina! She was in the middle of it and she still feels bad about it! It takes a while to heal such a painful memory, and yet..." Clara trailed off sadly. " It will affect Nina for probably the rest of her life! So don't be so...so critical! Lay off for a little okay?"
Julie looked away, really hurt, and Clara immediately felt bad. She didn't mean to sound that angry.
" I-I didn't realize, sorry."
" Well apologize to Nina, not me, okay?" Clara said, spinning Julie around and pushing her forward, back toward Nina.
When they reached Nina, who was still sitting on the ground, staring at the grass, Julie said, faltering slightly
" Uhh. Sorry Nina. I guess I didn't think about your feelings on this whole matter thing so uhhh if you don't want to talk about it you don't have to. Its totally up to you."
' Not the whole truth but...'
" Good job," Clara whispered in Julie's ear.
" Yeah whatever, spare me the whole "good job" speech," Julie said, brushing her off. " I just did what I had to."
' But then again, that's not the whole story is it?' Clara thought, smirking at Julies back.
" So waddaya think Nina? Ready to talk about it?" Julie crouched and looked at her expectantly.
" I guess so." She was unsure but
' We all went through it together yes? I can do this. I hope!'
Julie stood up, a satisfied expression on her face. " Great!" she said happily.
They all sat down again.
Just as Julie was about to start, Clara interrupted.
" Wait!" She said. Nina and Julie looked at her, Julie bearing an irritated expression. Couldn't they just get on with the story already?
Clara ignored the expression Julie was giving her and said
" Doesn't this remind you of a little song called...,"
' Oh no, Julie thought. Here we go again!'
Then Nina smiled, and chimed in
" Genki No Shawaa!"
Julie slapped her forehead, exasperated. She heard this song wayyy to many times for comfort.
She shot a pleading glance at Clara that clearly stated please spare me the pain!
All Clara did was give Julie a Nina's-cheering-up-so-don't-ruin-it look.
Julie sighed in defeat.
Clara then sighed in return. Looking at Nina, she suggested
" For now, since Julie-" she shot Julie another glare. Julie just grinned sheepishly back. " - We'll just sing the TV size version okay?"
" Alright." Nina said.

( A/N I do not own the song Genki No Shawaa! ( Shower of Energy ) )

"Furasuko. Kira kira suru

Rika shitsu de matte'te

Tsumetai te to te awase

Ko suri aeba atsuku nareru wa.

Hanabi mitai ne
Minna kirei na kodoku wo daite

Tatakatte'ru tenshi

Genki no shawaa

Kimi ni sosoide ageru

Sabishige na sono senaka wo sasaete ageru

Genki no shawaa

Kimi wa hitori janai wa

Yuujou no ooki na wa ni mamorare teru."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

" Now was that so bad?" Clara asked Julie.
Julie just stared.
" English please?" She managed to choke out.
" Okay!" Clara smiled warmly. " But I thought you hated this song."
" I do. But I hate it even more when I don't know what people are talking about," Julie retorted.
" Fine, fine. But just note, the English translation of a Japanese song is usually a little bit off. "
" Yeah whatever. Just get on with it."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"The flask sparkles

Wait for me in the science class

By placing our cold hands together

And rubbing it together will make them warm

Like fireworks

Everyone holds a beautiful loneliness

And fights as an angel

The shower of happiness

I'll shower you with it

I'll support your lonely back

The shower of happiness

You're not alone

You're being protected by a ring of friendship"

"Well, there you are!"
" Thank you!"
" Can we start the story now?" Nina asked. " If we don't start it soon, not only will we not have time to finish it, but I wont be up for it! And please stop bickering you two! It isn't helping."
" Ok." Clara said sympathetically, looking over at Nina. " Lets begin our story."
" Hey Clara?"
" Yeah? "
" Can I get something to eat first?"
" Shut it Julie! Please!"
" Sorry."

And so begins our story...