Stepmom

A mother is one of the predominant figures in most people's life. After watching a film Shun hugely dislikes, he begins to think about his deceased mom. But the Andromeda Saint is not completely lacking a mother figure.

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Shun was in the kitchen, making popcorn for the movie he and Hyoga were supposed to watch. It was not a difficult task, but he was still taking forever.

The reason: the film Hyoga had chosen was one Shun wasn't very eager to watch, 'Stepmom'.

A beautiful movie about the love of a mother and how they are the most important person in a child's life. Certainly, the kind of film Hyoga would love and feel identified with, since the love for his mom, Natasha, was infinite, and she was one of the people he loved the most.

Shun, Natasha and watermelons were the Holy Trinity of the Cygnus Saint, and anyone who knew him well couldn't argue with that.

On the other hand, Shun had never met his parents, his brother Ikki was everything he had ever had. Normally, he didn't mind, he knew he had had a rough childhood; but he was loved, and the care and protection he received from the Phoenix Saint could compete with the one of a mother, or any parent.

But that film in particular made him uncomfortable, the way moms were portrayed and embodied by Susan Sarandon and Julia Roberts really made the Andromeda Saint nostalgic. The movie was already heartbreaking on itself, but to Shun, it was painful and almost impossible to watch.

Had he explained that to his boyfriend, perhaps Hyoga hadn't been that insisting with that particular film.

Nevertheless, there he was, trying to extend the inevitable, taking a ridiculous amount of time to make the popcorn.

"Shun? Are you okay? You've been there for too long, bunny." Hyoga yelled from the couch, noticing his boyfriend was nowhere to be found.

"Ah... sure, I'll be there in a minute."

Shun had two options at the moment, to tell Hyoga for once and for all that he didn't want to watch that blessed movie, or to swallow his pride and go sit by his side, hoping for the best.

Andromeda went for the second one, reluctantly grabbing the bowl with the snack and headed to the couch.

The movie began, and Shun really was trying his best to enjoy it, to see the bright side of it; but God, was it hard. Hyoga was already very deep into the film, eating popcorn like a maniac.

After a few minutes, Shun's mind began to wander: if he had met his mother, how would she have been?

And just like that, Andromeda was lost in his thoughts. What started as a naive way to try to distract himself from the film, ended up playing against him.

Imagining how his life could have been with a parent, how his mother would have behaved, how her love would have felt... and many more thoughts, only made the Japanese feel more down and sentimental.

His attention returned abruptly to the film, it was almost near the end. For how long had he been thinking? He wasn't sure, anyway, he regretted it.

The scene in question displayed both actresses in a bar, having a conversation about how Susan was too important in her children's life, and after her inevitable death, Julia would have to fill her enormous shoes:

"You know, I never wanted to be a mom. Sharing
it with you.... that's one thing. It's another to be looking over my shoulder for the next twenty years, knowing someone else would have done it better... someone else would have done it right."

Shun fixed himself on the couch, he knew that scene, and he was not ready for it.

"What do you have that I don't?"

"You're Mother Earth, incarnate."

"You're.... hip, and fresh."

"You ride with Anna."

"You'll learn."

Two women perfectly capable and willing to love Susan's children were fighting to see who was more up to the mothering task.

"How lucky those children are," Shun thought, not only they had a mother, unlike him, they had two; and the women were worried to give those kids the best parenting they could possibly, while he received none.

"You know every story, every wound, every
memory. Their whole life's happiness is wrapped up in you... every single second. Don't you get it? Look
down the road to her wedding. I'm in a room alone
with her, fixing her veil, fluffing her dress, telling her no woman has ever looked so beautiful. And my fear is she'll be thinking, «I wish my mom was here.»"

"And mine is... she won't."

That was it, Shun had had it. He couldn't keep pretending he was okay, even if Hyoga was there.

Shun stood up from the couch, straightaway, and ran to the kitchen; Hyoga noticed something was wrong, he looked concerned at his boyfriend and paused the movie.

"Everything okay, Shunny?" the blond asked slowly.

Shun wiped the tears that were running down his face and took a deep breath to calm himself down before he answered.

"Y-yeah..." he nodded, not very convincingly.

"Bunny, it's just a movie..." Hyoga chuckled, "I had no idea you were that sentimental..."

How could Hyoga be so oblivious was something Shun would never know.

"I-it's not that..." the green haired replied, trying not to burst into tears. "It's just..."

Hyoga went closer to him, and wrapped Andromeda in his arms.

"I never had a mom... or... a parent. I mean, I have Ikki nii-san, but... he's hardly a mother figure..." Hyoga couldn't help but to giggle.

"This movie just... it just makes me feel... sad... I just hate it, ducky; I hate what it makes me feel."

Hyoga didn't reply. He didn't know what to say.

"You have your mom, you'll never understand..."

Cygnus frowned.

"It's true. But, the fact that I'm lucky enough to have my mom, doesn't mean I don't get it, Shunny."

"Can you imagine your life without Natasha-san?"

"No. And that's how I know it's hard. I can not even begin to imagine what my life would have been without her; therefore, I understand how difficult it must have been to be on your own."

Shun couldn't contain himself any longer and began to weep, again. He hid his face on Hyoga's chest, while the blond caressed his hair.

"C'mon, we don't have to finish the film. Let's watch something else." Hyoga grabbed Andromeda's hand, leading him to the living room. This time, Shun would pick the entertainment.

They decided to watch ER, a medical drama series. Shun loved those.

By the time the first episode ended, Hyoga's cellphone rang, it was Natasha.

"Hello, darling! Is Shunya there?"

"Hi mom! Yep, I'll put him on the phone...." Hyoga handed the gadget to his boyfriend. "Here, it's for you..." he said with a smile.

"Moshi moshi? Oh! Hi, Natasha-san!"

Hyoga left the room to let them speak, and went to the kitchen to make more popcorn. After the phone call was done, Shun gave the cell phone back to him.

"What did she want?" Cygnus asked, receiving the gadget.

"She wanted to know if I could teach her to prepare bento boxes and such," Andromeda replied with a grin.

Shun realized that, even if he never had a mother, or a parent of any kind, it wasn't too late to find a substitute.

Since the moment Hyoga had introduced him to his mother, she had always been kind to him, she even gave him a very endearing and Russian nickname: 'Shunya'. And now that he thought about it, she cared and worried for him as a mother; perhaps it was Natasha's maternal instinct, or simply the fact that Shun was important to her son; whatever the case, the Andromeda Saint had someone who he could always go for a motherly advice.

After all, had he met his mother, she surely had been as spectacular and loving as Natasha-san.

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Hi there!

I was supposed to write this chapter last week, but I couldn't think of anything... until yesterday, that I remembered the film Stepmom. I'm gonna be honest, this movie absolutely crushes me every time I watch it, it's like the only film that makes me cry like a baby every single time.

I put part of the script, so the scene you read there, is an actual scene.

Barnathan, M. (producer) and Columbus, C. (director). (1998). Stepmom [Full Lenght Film]. USA.: Sony Pictures Entertainment.

Thanks for reading! 💕