Memorial Impressions; Proof of Numbers; Handy
Title: Memorial Impressions
Theme: Fourth Period: Art_Clay (4f), usako_mamoru, 2010 anniversary challenge
Genre: Fluff
Rating: G
Darien picked up the object, heavy for something so small. He ran his fingers into the little indents, slightly coating his fingers in the dust.
“Ready, Darien?” Serena asked, entering her parents’ living room breathlessly. Before he could take in the sight of his young girlfriend eager for their date, she saw what he held in his hands. “Oh man. My dad loves that thing. Made it in art class, in like- I don’t even remember. I think I was in preschool.”
Darien placed the terracotta handprint back on the shelf, lost in thought. “I think I remember making one,” he mused, “but I can’t really remember. It was so long ago, and we never found the home…”
Serena slipped silently next to her boyfriend, again surprised by the little things he found in her house that always reminded him of what he didn’t have or had lost.
Snapping out of it, Darien smiled and looked down at the girl. “You look great,” he said, dusting his hands off to get rid of the clay’s grimy feeling.
Like so many things with Darien, the moment was put away and never spoken of again.
Until Rini was born.
~
Darien leaned against the counter with amusement. “Are you baking?”
Serena ignored him and continued kneading the dough.
“What are you baking?”
“You’ll see. Can you check on Rini? She’s been up and about more often than usual.” Serena wiped her forehead with a forearm and looked at her husband expectantly. A moment passed before they heard a light thump and the impending sniffle of a toddler who’d attempted to walk, failed, and now needed a hug.
By the time Darien had provided the antidote of an embrace coupled with a backrub, Serena had rolled the dough out onto a sheet. “C’mere,” she said.
Darien went to wash Rini’s hands, but Serena waved him over. “C’mere!” she insisted.
Serena took Rini from the man and helped her press her hand firmly into the dough. She turned to Darien. “Your turn.”
Grinning, Darien implanted his hand next to his daughter’s resolutely.
~
When Serena finally showed them the finished project - baked, cooled, and marked with the date - Darien furrowed his brows. “Where’s yours?”
Serena pulled Rini into her lap, enjoying the self-attained giggles as the child fit her hands into the two imprints constantly.
“I did mine a long time,” she smiled. “This is for you and Rini.”
Later that night, Darien would stare at the clay moldings for a long time, wondering at how four of his daughter’s hands could fill his, and yet in 18 years, they’d probably be the same size.
He thought of Serena, a part of him distantly recognizing that Serena had given this to him when she’d probably wanted to be a part of it too.
Finally, he placed it on a shelf in the living room, remembering that day so long in the Tsukino household.
He might not know how his parents had felt if he’d ever even made one before, but now he knew how Serena’s dad felt and that-
That was something.
---
Title: Proof of Numbers
Theme: Third Period: Math_Sum (3c), usako_mamoru, 2010 anniversary challenge
Genre: General
Rating: G
“Okay. A positive plus a positive equals a positive. A negative plus a negative equals a negative. When adding positives and negatives, the answer uses the sign of the larger integer. In subtraction, integers of the same sign will not always equal an answer of the same sign. You have to read the signs. Two negatives equal a positive so the minus sign changes into a plus sign and- Tsukino! Are you listening to me?”
Usagi adjusted her glazed eyes to her tutor. “Chiba, you lost me at integer.”
Mamoru sighed in an effort to maintain his composure. “Okay. How about if you do some problems, and I’ll correct you if you get something wrong.”
Several problems later, Usagi was arguing with Mamoru instead of working on her homework. “First of all, I don’t know why they call them integers when they’ve been calling them numbers since I was five. Second of all, I don’t know why I need to know about negative numbers at all. What’s a negative number anyway?”
Mamoru sighed. “It’s like being in the red- Money!” he exclaimed, interrupting himself.
“What?”
“Negative numbers can be money. Look,” he said, drawing the textbook closer. “Every positive number is money you have. Every negative number is money you owe me.”
Usagi looked doubtful. “Okay.”
“Positive eight plus a negative seventeen. That means you have eight dollars and you owe me seventeen. Are you going to have money or still owe me?”
“Owe you.”
“If you owe me, your answer will be negative. Now, how much do you owe me?”
Usagi quickly did the calculation in her head. “Nine.”
“So, your answer is?”
“Negative nine?”
Mamoru smiled sincerely for the first time since he’d started tutoring the girl. “Right!”
“Oh. Oh!” she repeated far more enthusiastically. She solved two more problems correctly while Mamoru looked on.
Pausing in her work, she turned to him, impressed. “You’ve just proven that math is worth learning.”
“I’ve proven it to you, Odango. Which is far more impressive.”
---
Title: Handy
Theme: Third Period: Math_Product (3e), usako_mamoru, 2010 anniversary challenge
Genre: General
Rating: G
“Hold your hands out like this,” he said, spreading his fingers out in front of him.
Her smaller hands did so.
“Let’s say you want to do nine times one. Put down your first finger-“ He brought down the pinky on his left hand. “How many fingers are there?”
“Nine,” she said, imitating him.
“Good. Now let’s try nine times two. Put your second finger down instead.” He lowered the ring finger on his left hand. “How many fingers to the left?” he asked, wiggling his pinky.
“One.” She stared hard at her fingers, already counting the amount of remaining fingers.
“How many to the right?”
“Eight.”
“So nine times two equals eighteen.”
Cherry eyes widened in surprise. Quickly, she did nine times three on her own, counting aloud softly to herself. Checking her answer on the multiplication table, she squealed, “That’s so cool!”
Endymion smiled down at her. “Let me know if you need any more help,” but Chibi-Usa was already flexing her fingers for the next problem.
When Endymion exited his daughter’s room, he found Serenity leaning against the wall in the hallway. He watched as she stared at her hands in fascination and bent her fingers in turn. She counted the same way Chibi-Usa probably thought she did: mouthing the numbers without actually saying anything.
Loathe to disturb her thinking but unable to resist, Endymion interrupted her concentration. “It only works up until ten.”
Serenity dropped her hands and tucked them behind her back, abashed at being caught. “Math would’ve been so much easier if I’d known that,” she lamented in a half-whine.
Endymion looked at her fondly before drawing her near and kissing her forehead. “Somehow, I doubt that.”