Serendipity by Raychel

Serendipity

Serendipity:

The art of finding something by looking for something else.

Good luck in making unexpected and fortunate discoveries.

It was a cold, lonely day in the city of New York, and people were rushing about buying the last of their presents for Christmas Day, which was catching up on them faster than they realised. Snow was falling outside, and the streets and roads were covered with a fine sheet of white powder, the clouds telling the world how cold they were that day.

All the shops and malls were crowded with people, carrying wrapped gifts and bags filled to the brim with gifts for family and friends, loved ones and people they didn't love quite so much. It was the holiday season, they had money in their pockets that needed to be spent before little children back in the warmth of their homes dug around, searching for a few coins to buy sweets from the little store around the corner.

In one store, more crowded than most, a single woman walked through, a small tray in her hand. In the tray was a pair of black, woollen gloved, the last pair in stock. Pushing through the crowds, she worked her way over to the counter, and placed the gloves there, hanging lonesome among the white, red and browns of the other pairs, whom had friends to whisper to as they hung there, awaiting a cold, human hand to take them away to be given as a gift.

In a single moment, two hands reached out to pull the glove free from where it hung, to be bought and given, and in a single moment, two people turned to see who had caught their prize at the same time as they had.

On one side there was a young woman, with long, delicate brown hair and stunning blue eyes. She wore large, warm jumpers and coats with a scarf around her neck. Her cheeks were flushed a rosy colour with the cold of the winter air, and her hands were as pale as the snow as she looked up at the person opposite her.

The man himself was a stunning creature. His hair, also long, was the colour of the earrings in the woman's ear, as silver as the glittering moon at night while having that tint of blue that made it that much more mystifying. His eyes, the colour of amber, and a fine wine that glittered with coolness but a bit of surprise. His hands, much, much larger than hers, her also pale, but this was a natural paleness, not one brought out by cold or illness. A natural paleness that complimented his stunning looks more than anything else.

They both held the lonely, sad black glove in their hands.

"Oh!" The woman said, her mouth shaping in a beautiful surprise.

"I'm sorry," Said the man in turn, facing her with his wonderful dark eyes.

"No, no, I'm sorry," The woman said, the blush on her cheeks rising. It's was not cold that made it rise now, no, it was embarrassment and attraction that brought forth the rosy blush on her cheeks, the blush that made her blue eyes sparkle like the sea in summertime.

"You would like them?" He asked, a soft, hidden smile on his face. "Please, you take them."

"Oh! No!" The girl cried, shaking her head. "No, you should take them, please."

"These are the last pair," He replied, and turned to a woman working behind the desk. "Excuse me, but do you have another pair of these black gloves?" He asked softly, his voice a deep, soothing baritone that made the woman shiver with a mix of delight and wonder.

"What is out is what we have," The woman replied, not looking up from what she was doing.

"Don't you have a stock room?" The man asked.

"No."

"Or a basement?" Put forward the woman.

"No," Finally, she turned to them. "We don't have an attic either," And then she walked off, continuing with her job. They both sighed softly.

"You take them," The man said. "I do not need them."

"No, no, no! You saw them first!" She replied.

"No, I insist," He told her. "Here, I will put them back," Placing them back on their lonely hook, he smiled at her. "Here, take them."

What the couple hadn't noticed, however, was the old man who reached out and took the gloved from under their noses.

"Excuse me! Hey!" The woman said softly. "Um, sorry, but those were out gloves?"

"Really? These are yours? But how come, these were just sorta hanging there..."

"We were just discussing them," The man said softly, and the older rolled his eyes.

"Well, you can keep on discussing them after I have gone and paid for them!"

"Please, calm down," The old man turned to the woman, a small laughing smile on his face.

"It's five days before Christmas, I'm in a department store, and he's asking me to calm down?" He laughed, and the woman sighed. The man stepped in again.

"These were meant to be a very.. Special gift for someone," He said softly.

"Yes!" The woman added. "We put a lot of thought into those gloves."

"Who are they for?" The old man asked.

"His girlfriend."

"Her boyfriend."

Both said the words at the same time, and the old man looked at them as if they were crazy.

"There's only one pair of gloves."

"It's hard to explain," Said the woman.

"Try," The older man countered.

"Okay, go ahead!" The woman said, grinning slyly at the man.

"Well, she is at the present time, my girlfriend... -"

"But in eighteen months-" The woman put in helpfully.

"He will be-"

"She will be."

"My girlfriend!" The man smiled thankfully at the woman. The older man scoffed.

"That was not very believeable, but here," He handed the silver haired man the gloves. "Merry Christmas," And then he walked off. The man smirked a smile that seemed rather arrogant.

"Well," The man said softly. "You earned these." And he handed her the gloves, his hand brushing hers softly.

"Oh!" The girl cried. "But it was a team effort!" And she smiled at him, her eyes sparkling with unknown emotion.

"Yes, it was.." The man replied.

"I.. Don't know how to thank you," The girl said, looking down at her feet to hide her blush.

~*~

After paying for her lonely, black pair of gloves and placing them tenderly in the pocket of her warm coat, she smiled at the man, and she decided to buy him a cup of warm, soothing coffee in thanks for his kindness. So, walking side by side, they left she store and moved on to a small, comfortable coffee shop, where they sat together in a small corner.

"I don't know if what we said to that man made any sense at all," The man said, a soft smile on his perfect face.

"No, but I think we scared the bejesus out of him!" The man gave out a soft chuckle.

"Yes, you were rather fierce. This will work, though," He muttered. "This is quite a coffee."

"But I am serious about helping you. It's the least I can do."

"Well, thank you. But now I must go and find my girlfriend something even better than that lovely pair of gloves," Again, he smiled his teasing arrogant smile.

"Oh, they were for your girlfriend?" The woman asked sadly.

"Yes, they were."

"Oh, I can't accept them now!"

"Well, you must. I must admit, this is a wonderful drink. How did you first come across this place?"

"Well," The woman said, soft smile and gentle blush adorning her face. "I first came here because of the name. Serendipity. It's one of my favourite words."

"Why is that?" The man asked.

"It's just a nice sound for what it means: a fortunate accident. Except I don't really believe in accidents. I think fate's behind everything."

"You do?"

"Yes."

"Fate's behind everything."

"I think so."

"So, everything is predestined, we don't have a choice at all?"

"No! I think we make our own decisions. I think that fate just sends us little signs, and it's how we read the signs that determines whether we are happy or not."

"Little signals?"

"Yeah!"

"Fortunate accidents... Lucky discoveries... Like Columbus in America."

"Yeah, or Fleming discovering Penicillin."

"Or Sesshoumaru and the gloves?"

"I.. Don't know that one.."

"You do not know that story? It is an old folk tale. Classic."

The woman shook her head, a soft knowing smile on her face.

"The hero, Sesshoumaru, goes out in search of a pair of black gloves, and in a perfect act of serendipity, or serendipaciousness, he runs into a beautiful, attractive girl with a boyfriend. You do have a boyfriend?"

"Yes, I do," They both looked slightly saddened at that moment.

"And you have.. The glove lady?"

"I do."

"It was a very nice time.."

~*~

After the coffee, Sesshoumaru calmly took the lady outside where they walked down the street.

"I hope you enjoy the gloves you bought yourself."

"I'm sure I will. I usually appreciate my own thoughtfulness. What do you want for Christmas?"

"Nothing."

"Oh."

"Are you going to meet your boyfriend now?"

"No, I think he's probably doing what you were doing."

"Finding attraction between himself and someone else's girlfriend?"

The girl let out a soft laugh.

"Maybe you should give me your phone number, just in case."

"In case of what?"

"Life.. Love... Loss.. All those kinds of things, my dear."

"Well... If we are meant to meet again, then we will meet again. It's just not the right time right now."

"Please. I don't even know your name. My name is Sesshoumaru. Does that not want you to tell me something?"

"Yeah, it does," Leaning up, she kissed him on his smooth, pale cheek. "Merry Christmas, Sesshoumaru, and thank you."

He stood there as she called down a cab and got inside it, a soft, sad, wanting smile on her face.

"That's it?" He asked, and kicked a small amount of snow off the sidewalk and into the road. Walking back into the shop where he had met that wonderful woman, he sighed and walked up to the desk.

"I think I left a scarf here?" The man behind the desk shook his head.

"Check upstairs, sir, it might still be here."

At the very same time, a woman was walking across the upstairs floor, and came across a dark brown scarf which she knew she recognised. She had forgotten a bag, and bending down, she picked up the scarf. She knew it was his. It was Sesshoumaru's. Holding it in her hand, she laughed softly, and at the same moment, behind her a door opened, and Sesshoumaru stepped out onto the second floor.

She turned, and their eyes met again. She held out his scarf with a soft smile, and he began to walk forward.

"Hello." He said softly.

"Hey!" She replied, blushing. Lifting her arms, she put the scarf around his neck.

"Let's go do something," He said softly.

"Okay," She replied. "What do you want to do?"

"I don't care," He said quickly, staring into her wonderful blue eyes.

"All right. Come on!" Taking his hand, she lead him out of the store, and towards the lit up ice rink, where Christmas trees and city lights shimmered like the starts in the sky. Together they changed their shoes, wrapped up warm, and moved onto the ice, skating together as if they had been doing it all their lives. The light glittered around them, lighting up their eyes, her smile, his hair.

"Promise me your not just visiting here for a week or marrying somebody to get a green card, or on parole."

"Hey! None of the above, Sesshoumaru! What about you?"

"No. I am a US Citizen. No criminal record. So you won't tell me your name.. Okay, tell me what you miss most about home?"

"I miss my mom so much!"

"If I were her, I would miss you too."

The girl smiled and blushes, looking down.

"Okay!" The girl said softly. "Favourite movie?"

"Cold Hand Luke."

"Never seen it!"

"Never?"

"Never."

He laughed softly and shook his head.

"Okay then.." She said softly. "Favourite New York moment?"

"This one is rather high," Sesshoumaru replied.

"I'm flattered."

"Is there anything else you would like to know about me?" He asked her.

"Favourite sexual position?" And then she skated away a little, giggling, before she slipped and fell over, laughing all the way.

"Hey!" Skating over, Sesshoumaru lifted her up, standing her beside him.

"Yeah, that's my favourite too. Are you okay?"

"Yes."

"Did you hurt yourself?"

"No.. Yes. A little."

"You did? Let me have a look at it." Pulling down her sleeve, he sighed. "Oh, that's a deep, deep gash."

Moving to a small hill above the Ice rink, Sesshoumaru sat her down on a bench and had a look at her arm again.

"There you go," He muttered fixing it up with some stuff he had run and bought. Then he began to trace her arm.

"Why are you looking at my freckles?" She asked, giggling as his smooth fingers ran over them.

"If you look closely," Sesshoumaru said gently. "You can see Cassiopeia."

"What?"

"Right there. A long time ago in Ethiopia, there was this queen called Cassiopeia, who thought she was the most beautiful woman in the world and there wasn't anybody in the whole kingdom who wasn't offended by this woman's vanity. And then one day, she really screwed up and offended the Gods. I can't remember what she did, and who she offended, but it was bad. She crossed the line. But anyway, Poseidon, the sea god, punishes Cassiopeia, by placing her in the heavens upside down on her throne, stuck for eternity with her skirt round her shoulders and the blood rushing to her head. And now she's just a constellation in the sky... And a bunch of freckles in the shape of a throne. So she made one tragic mistake.."

"And paid for eternity."

"Correct."

Looking at each other, Sesshoumaru reached up and pulled some of the falling snow from her hair, softly and gently, his hand sometimes brushing against her cheek or her ear. Then they smiled at each other, and he brought her hand to his lips, kissing it softly.

~*~

"Readable, if you please," Sesshoumaru said as the woman wrote her name and number of a piece of paper as they stood outside a hotel.

"I can't believe I'm doing this," She said softly.

"Now, please, please. Let 'fate' take it's proper course."

As she was handing him the paper, a large rubbish truck passed by, making the paper fly out of her hands and mix with the millions and millions of other pieces of paper that New Yorkers had left lying around, alongside dying leaves, until they couldn't see which one was which.

"That was an accident!" Sesshoumaru said. "Write it down again, please."

"I can't," The girl replied. "That was a sign. Fate is telling us to back off."

"If fate did not wish us to be together, why did we meet tonight?"

"I don't know! But it's not exactly science, it's a feeling!"

"What if you are wrong? What if it's all in our hands and we just walk away from each other?"

"Oh! I just had an idea!" She said. "Here," Reaching into her bag she pulled out a five dollar note. Write your name and number on there."

"On that?"

"Just do it!" And so he did.

"You are a strange and interesting woman."

She laughed.

"Now what?" Sesshoumaru asked.

"Wait there!" Running over to a newspaper stand, she bought a pack of gum, and gave the man the five dollars that Sesshoumaru had written his name and number one. Putting the change in her pocket, she ran back to him, a smile on her face. He stared at her, and she smiled.

"If that five dollar bill gets back to me, I can call you, and when you hear my voice on the other end, you'll believe in fate, won't you?"

"What about me?"

"What?"

"We have to send something out in the universe with your name on it, don't we? It's the only fair way."

"Your right," Looking in her bag, she pulled out a book called 'Love In The Time Of Cholera'. "When I get home tonight, I'm going to write my name and number inside this book. And then first thing tomorrow I will sell it to a used bookstore!"

"Which one?"

"If I tell you, that would be blocking fate's course."

"This is wrong! You do not just have a perfect night with a stranger, and then leave it all to chance?"

"Come with me for a second," Taking his hand, she pulled him inside a hotel, and stood him in front of one set of elevators, white she stood at the other.

"Pick a floor," She said. "If we both randomly pick the same floor, then we're meant to be together now."

"You're insane!" Sesshoumaru told her.

"Come on! Okay, get in.." She walked into her lift, and he into his. "Take a breath, and when the door closes, hit a button. Any button. Whichever one feels right."

"I don't get it!"

"You don't need to." Taking the bag with the gloves in, she smiled at him, and threw it across the hall.

"Hey! It's Kagome," She smiled. "My name is Kagome," and then the doors closed on her.

'Kagome.. A beautiful name..' Sesshoumaru thought to himself.

Inside her lift, Kagome pressed for level 23. She hoped that Sesshoumaru would choose the same.

In his lift, Sesshoumaru was running his finger along all the buttons, before he closed his eyes and pressed one.

23.

As they both waited, their elevators climbed higher and higher up until they both reached their floors, and with a ding, both the doors opened.

Joy lit the eyes of Kagome as she saw Sesshoumaru's lift open, with him inside.

Surprise and happiness lit the eyes of the normally cold Sesshoumaru as he saw the woman that had capture his heart smile at him from inside of a lift. Both walking forward, she smiled and told him to open the bag. Inside was a single glove. In her hand was the other.

"I told you to trust in fate," She whispered. And he smiled, before leaning down and kissing her for the first time. When they pulled away, she smiled.

"Do you believe now, Sesshoumaru?" And he replied with another kiss, filled with positive and yes and of course and all other ways a person can say such a thing.