Kana's P.O.V. - 20th March, 2012

I was clearing up a table, the last occupants were nice enough to leave a huge tip so I didn't really mind the food their kid spilled everywhere. While cleaning I couldn't help but feel like I was forgetting something, something fairly important. Coulson's face flashed through my mind for a second which left me confused. I hadn't seen the man for a while after he offered me to join S.H.I.E.L.D, but he showed up a few days ago asking if I met anyone interesting lately. When I spoke about Steve, I swear I could see sparkles in the eyes of the stoic man. Maybe he's a fan of Steve's movie(s). The bell on the door chimes. Speak of the devil.

"Afternoon, Steve," I greet.

"How'd you know?" Steve inquires as he takes a seat.

"You always come in after the lunch rush," I reply, placing plates on the tray. 

"Right, but at-hey!" Steve yelps and I giggle, realising instantly what happened even though I didn't see and my suspicions were confirmed with what Steve said next in exasperation, "no one's that near-sighted, Rhonda."

"I can't believe you still fall for that," I tell him, finally turning around with the tray in hand, "she pinches your cheeks every time you come here," I point out.

"Well, it'd be pretty embarrassing if I have to protect myself everyday from the wandering hands of elderly ladies," Steve responds as he takes his seat once again.

"Which is why you choose not to protect yourself?" I counter, seeing the fault in his logic which he soon realises. 

"You got me there," he relents, chuckling before taking out the menu.

"Have you decided what to order?" I inquire, getting my notebook.

"Simple, black coffee and maybe that cake," Steve points to the dessert counter which was under the register. It was the cake I made.

"Black coffee and strawberry jello cake," I read over the order before heading to the kitchen but not before saying, "your order will be out in a minute."

"Hey Kana, who's been making the desserts lately? They taste so much better compared to when I first came here," Steve informs and my body jolts to a stop, luckily I was already in the kitchen so Steve didn't see, but that didn't stop the blood pooling into my cheeks or the shaking of my hands as I poured his coffee. I didn't grace him with a reply since I was embarrassed that he pointed out that he loves my desserts. I quickly head to the counter to get his dessert when I hear Margaret answering his question.

"Why, it's been Kana!" Margaret informs, joyfully, "she's been working so fervently on these desserts just for you!"

"Margaret!" Her declaration mortified me so much, I ended up knocking over the cup of coffee which scalded my hand, "Agh!" I hold my hand to my chest as I hear gasps from all around.

Steve shoots up from his chair and rushes to me, he quickly examines my hand before wrapping an arm around my shoulder and leading me into the kitchen, he turns on both taps before pulling up my sleeve and putting my hand under the cool water. "Is that better?" Steve inquires, concerned as he continues to watch my hand. I didn't reply since I was so focused on his face, the furrowed brows, the eyes that were laced with worry, his peach lips that were pinched into a thin line.

I could feel the heat radiating from my cheeks and I didn't need to a mirror to know how red my cheeks were. My heart rate steadily sped up till it was practically thundering like a drum. I could feel delicate and slender wings fluttering against my stomach as if there were some butterflies trapped within. The feeling was so foreign yet so warm.

"Kana?" Steve questions, peering straight into my eyes which makes me realise that I've been staring at him for so long so I freak out.

"Y-Yes! I-I-I'm fi-fine!" I stutter, yelling articulately, hands flailing about in a mad manner.

"Are you sure? You're kinda red," to prove his point, Steve placed the back of his hand against my forehead, making me way more hysterical, "do you have a fever?"

"Oh, don't worry, it's probably just a bug," Margaret reassures before quietly giggling into her hand, "the love bug, that is."

My temperature spikes 100 degrees at her sly comment and I immediately attempts to scold her except no words passed my lips. Luckily, her voice was so low that it could not be heard through normal ears though I'm curious at why Steve was staring at her a bit strangely, confusion dancing in his eyes, it's not like he could've heard. Could he?

"How's your hand, Kana?" Steve inquires and I look to him, perplexed.

'What was wrong with my hand?' I wondered, examining it though it looked fine.

"Does the burn hurt?" Steve finishes and I mentally slap myself for immediately forgetting why I'm in this scenario in the first place.

"Yeah, it's just fine," I reply, jittery. Why am I acting like such a dork?

"You should still bandage it," Steve informs before looking over to Margaret and asking, "where's the first aid kit?"

"Here," Margaret brings out the box from nowhere and holds it out for him.

"Thank you," Steve nods and accepts the box with one arm while the other wraps itself around my shoulder and leads me back to his table. He places the box on the table and opens it up after sitting across me. He brings out some petroleum jelly and takes my hand which he scrutinises. "That's strange. Your skin's not even red," he comments which makes me nervous.

"Ur, luck?" I offer, he still looked suspicious, but accepted my suggestion nonetheless.

"I should still clean and bandage the burn," he tells me and sets off to work. He was quite skilful in dressing my wound, his firm, rough hand was so careful and so gentle with me. "All done," Steve tells me as he ties the bandage and puts the roll away before shutting the box.

"Wow, you knew exactly what to do," I marvel, admiring Steve's handiwork.

"Yeah, I'm never one to run from a fight," Steve tells me, he sounds almost nostalgic as if reminiscing, "my best friend always complained whenever he found me in a fight or covered head to toe in bruises."

"Did you get in fights often?" I inquire.

"It wasn't really fights, but guys liked to pick on me since I was an easy target," he tells me and I stare at him in disbelief.

"You? An easy target?" I scoff at his attempted lie, but he didn't look offended in the least rather he was trying to hide his smile yet I could see the humour dancing in his eyes, "you're messing with me. You have a huge hulking body, what kind of psycho would take you on?!" I exclaim then understood that I was being quite loud so I quickly pull my hands into my lap and force my head down, muttering an apology.

"It's fine," Steve assures, still smiling, "your reaction was quite amusing. To tell you the truth, I wasn't always like this, I was actually born with a weak and frail body," Steve reveals, making me falter.

"I never would have suspected that considering the muscle you have," I tell him.

"Yeah, let's just say I was given a once in a lifetime chance," Steve replies, he was still smiling but this one seemed more melancholic, "but before that my best friend, Bucky, would always jump in to help me then he'd call me a 'punk' and we'd get ice cream before heading home."

"Your parents must have been so worried," I note, taking a sip of coffee from a cup that Margaret placed not too long ago.

"My mother would kick up a fuss every time I came back with bruises and the occasional black eye," Steve leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes, it was apparent he was reminiscing about his childhood. 

"What about your father?" I inquire, curiously, he didn't mention him yet.

Steve opened his eyes, his lips twitched slightly before he broke the news, "He died before I was born."

I gasp at the insensitivity of my question and began to apologise excessively. Why do I always put my foot in my mouth?

"It's fine," Steve assures me, leaning forward and placing his hand on my shoulder. "Truth be told, it doesn't bother me. My mother told me so many stories about him, about how he was a good man and a great soldier."

"Lucky," I mutter under my breath. I barely knew anything about my father, Kaa-san refused to speak about him at all.

"Hmm?" Steve hums in confusion.

"My father died when I was 4 so I don't remember him at all," I share which makes Steve's eyes widen in understanding.

"Didn't your mother tell you about him?" Steve queries.

"No," I inform, shaking my head. Kaa-san hated it whenever I would ask about Tou-san. There were no pictures of him because she burned them all, I guess she just couldn't come to terms with his death though on the anniversary of his death, she would go into his study and perch against his bookshelves, she would sit me on her lap and speak about how much I reminded her of Tou-san. How my eyes look and shone exactly like his, how I had the same thirst for knowledge as him and how I had his benevolent personality that she loves so dearly. "But according to my mother, I'm a splitting image of him, physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually."

"He must have been an amazing man then," Steve notes and I couldn't help but giggle coyly, drunk off the happiness. "Where is your mother now?"

"She passed away when I was 10," I reveal, a small sorrowful smile on my face as I focus on my fidgeting hands that laid on my lap. Steve kindly apologised for my loss. He comforted me by saying that he understood what I had gone through, his own mother passed away when he was 18. Since the topic of our conversation was rather dreary, we switched to jubilant childhood moments. Steve spoke about how he and his best friend were forced to get a ride in the back of a freezer truck after accidently spending all their remaining train money and how Steve ended throwing up after his friend managed to convince him to ride The Cyclone. In response I told him about Hide like the time we were setting off fireworks in the park and one of them ended up zooming straight through the window of a grumpy old teacher and how we had to take care of a fake baby doll for a school assignment but instead ended up baking it into a cake.

We spent so much time talking and laughing that the whole day went by in a flash. Margaret interrupted our conversation to inform the two of us that it was closing time. I slammed my hands on the table and stood up so abruptly that my chair fell back.

"What? It's closing time?!" I exclaim peering out the window to see the orange daylight pooling into the shop. "Why didn't you tell me? I missed an entire days worth of work, that's not fair to you or Andrew!" I scold, embarrassed yet horrified at what I had unintentionally done then I turn to Steve and bow, apologising, "I'm so sorry Steve but I need pick up my slack. I'll talk you tomorrow after my shift."

"It's my fault anyway," Steve assures before getting his wallet out and paying Margaret for his order, "this is just for the cake since I don't think it's fair to pay for a coffee that I couldn't even drink."

"What do you mean?" I inquire, I could hear the humour in his voice and at the look he was giving me made me look down at our table which I was clearing up; there was only one plate and one cup. I gradually came to the realisation that I was the one who was drinking from the only cup, I drank Steve's coffee, "I'm so sorry! I can't believe I took your coffee. Oh! I'm such an idiot," I was completely mortified by my actions and just kept spewing apologies and throwing degrading comments my way.

"You apologise too much Kana, it's kinda worrying," Steve chuckles as he ruffles my hair, which makes my cheeks flame up, I didn't need a mirror to know how red my face was. "See you tomorrow," Steve waves as he leaves the shop.

I waved goodbye before immediately rolling up my sleeves and getting to work. Hastily, I picked up all the remaining dishes and cutlery from the other tables and place them in a large grey tray which I take to the sink and clean. All the while complaining to Margaret. "Honestly, I wish you would have just called me out to work. I spent the whole day chatting to Steve."

"But you two were having so much fun, I couldn't interrupt that," Margaret counters.

"But our agreement was that I worked in the café in exchange for you letting me stay here. It's not fair to you or Andrew, I mean you two aren't getting any younger, Andrew has just been admitted into the hospital and the only other worker, Jenny, has just left on maternity leave. I'm the only capable worker here," I point out then apologise for my bluntness, but she needs to understand how important it is for me to help out.

"I know, sweetheart, but when I see you two together, you look so happy," Margaret discloses as she wipes down the table. She stops her actions and walks to the window of the kitchen to grab some detergent, "when you first started working here, we noticed how lonely you were but chalked it up to you being homesick then those two strangers came and you seemed a bit stressed but got a better. Emily, Mark and Nate made you enjoy life a little more and you actually went out on your days off but with Mr Rogers... you're more alive."

"You think so?" I wanted to confirm, I never really noticed my demeanour around him, I thought I treated everyone the same.

"I know so. I remember waking up each morning to the sight of you working so hard on the desserts in the kitchen, I notice you bouncing on the balls of your feet straight after the lunch rush waiting for him to arrive and I see the way your eyes light up when he compliments your desserts," Margaret shows me a secretive smile, "it's obvious he's rather important to you and I believe you two aren't too far apart in age(1)."

"I've only known him for month, less than that actually," I add as an afterthought, there's no way I could fall for someone so quick.

'You fell for Rise at first sight~' I heard Hide tease in my mind, even when he's not here he still finds a way to bug to me.

"Love works in mysterious ways," Margaret insinuates as she passes the window again.

"Love," I mutter under my breath, the concept seems so foreign like it only belonged in fairy tales, but this real life, love was not made for someone like me. 

"Margaret, why don't you go to your room and rest?" I suggest, hoping she wouldn't question me and just go, but she didn't so I quickly speak before she could inquire why. "You've been working so hard and I just have so much energy, I think I'd be best if I finish up alone," Margaret got the hint that I wanted some alone time so she relented and headed upstairs.

I couldn't help but feel bad, I don't want to worry Margaret more than necessary especially with Andrew in the hospital, but the last thing I wanted to do was bombard her with my self-depreciating thoughts. After all they've done, I can't bring ruin to their lives with my selfishness, Kaa-san taught me to always be a good girl and never inconvenience or aggravate others which is why I need to keep my distance.

I stare at my hand which Steve had treated before slowly unwrapping the bandages and letting them fall to the floor. 

I don't deserve to love or be loved. It's clear now, I can't get any closer to Steve. Tomorrow, I'll have no choice but to try and avoid him.

Oh no, Kana's is suffering through self-depression again and there's no Hide to help her out of it. What will happen to our power couple now?

Sorry for the lateness, writers block.

(1) I'm guessing Steve is 26. He was born on 4th July, 1918 and he went under the ice on 5th February, 1945 which makes him 26. In October, 2011, he was thawed out and woke up and now it is March, 2012. He didn't celebrate his 27th birthday so I don't think he's aged. Being frozen in time complicates stuff.

Anyhoo, let's see the winner for Kana's animal:

Lion - 5

House Cat - 1

Swan - 1

Wolf - 2

Lion is the winner!