Your Love Frees Me

4, The Cake Tasting

Hana was up before dawn, as she usually was. She took advantage of the large bathroom she had to herself, taking a long, hot lavender bubble bath—a luxury she had never known. She had many plans for the plans for the day, so she needed to start early. Appetizers and four cake flavors. Yes. That's what she would do. She stepped out of the tub, going to the large mirror. She stared at herself a moment, her mind blank of anything before she dropped her towel and turned around to look. Her most recent lash scars were just as prominent as ever, her punishment once for being too sick to work; her back was covered in scars, both old and new. The bruise on her arm was still quite dark as well. She walked away from the mirror and dressed herself in the uniform she had been given; no one here would ever see these scars, and with that thought, she left to go find the kitchen.

"Hana?" Obi knocked on Hana's door. "Miss Hana!?" It was mid-morning, and he had been sent to check on her. That, and he just wanted to see her. "I'm coming in, Hana!" Obi called, concerned, opening the door and poking his head through. The room appeared to be empty. "Peaking in on Hana, Obi?" "Yeah, well, you know me," Obi replied, standing back up straight and closing the door, facing the maid. "Hana was seen much earlier this morning, asking for directions into the kitchen." "I see. Thanks." The maid smiled and nodded.

Obi walked into the kitchen, noticing Hana right away, and smiled. So she was here, already working. He then looked on the counter; she had been working for quite some time, too, Obi guessed. Four different mini three-tiered cakes sat on the counter, and Hana was currently wrapping one with something.

"What is that?" Obi asked, standing behind her and looking over her shoulder. Hana jumped, stopping her work, and looked at Obi, her heart racing, "oh! Obi! I'm so sorry, I... I didn't even notice you coming in." He was standing very close to her, but she didn't mind it at all. She looked back to her small cake, calm once more, finishing it up before starting on the piping. "I'm wrapping 3 of these cakes in chocolate, and then I'll decorate them before starting on appetizers. The coconut cake is already done, though. It actually needs to go into the fridge now." Hana said, not looking away from her work. "I can do that for you, then," Obi said, carefully picking up the small cake. It was just big enough to fit in his hand. "Oh no, Obi, please, y-you don't need to help me," Hana said, starting to follow behind him. "It's not a problem," Obi said, placing the cake in the walk-in fridge and turning around, his hands resting on his hips, causing Hana to bump into him. "I'm sor--" Obi cut her off by placing his hand on her head, "don't worry about it! I'm your body guard and escort while you're here, after all. It's part of my job to help you," Obi explained happily. "Oh?" Hana looked up at him, her face partially covered by her hair. "My body guard... a-and escort?" Obi nodded, "so you'll be seeing a lot of me around," he told her, brushing her bangs behind her ear. Hana smiled softly. That was good. She wanted to be near him. "Now then, why don't you show me some of the other stuff you're doing over there?" The rest of the kitchen staff swooned at them.

"Ah, good afternoon Obi, Hana," Mitsuhide greeted as they walked in the door. Everyone was seated around a small, round table, excited for the cake tasting; no one had expected it to happen so soon. "Oh wow, are those really the cakes?" Mitsuhide asked as Hana set the cakes on the table. "They do look quite good," Kiki agreed. "Yes, it almost seems a shame to eat them," Shirayuki added. "Oh yes... I decorated them a little more than normal for a cake testing, since... since well, they are for royalty, after all..." Hana looked down as she spoke to everyone, feeling a little flustered.

"Well, Obi, it looks like you really did choose the right person," Zen said. "I told ya I knew what I was doing," Obi said as he set the tray of appetizers down. Hana blushed. "Oh, what's this? Did you make these, too, Hana?" Zen asked. She nodded, "oh yes, um, I did. I... I always serve something savory with cake tastings... I-I hope that it's alright..." she said, her body language reserved. Zen smiled, "of course it is. It all looks very good." "Well then... allow me to serve. I made enough for everyone to have a small slice." Hana said as she sliced into the first cake. "This one is a toasted coconut cake," she said, first serving Zen and Shirayuki before serving everyone but herself. "Oh, will you not be having a slice with us?" asked Shirayuki, cutting into her slice. "Oh no, that's not my place as the baker," Hana explained. "What? That's nonsense! You did work so hard on these, after all," Obi said, standing next to her. "Here, you can try some of my slice," Obi playfully volunteered, wagging his fork at her. "Oh, no, really, it's alright. I already know how they all taste," she said, her arms up slightly with her hands out.

"This next one is dark chocolate... and then we'll have the smoked salmon crostini." "Oh wow, these are really great, too." Mitsuhide complimented, just finishing his salmon. "You are very talented," Kiki added. "Oh, well, thank you..." "Yes, I can't wait to try the others. It's going to be hard to decide," Shirayuki said, looking at the last 2 cakes.

Hana served the vanilla next, and once everyone finished, she proceeded to cut into the final cake. "Oh wow, I've never seen a cake so red like this!" Shirayuki exclaimed, quite impressed. "It is quite a sight, like someone else's red," Zen complimented, brushing his fingers through Shirayuki's long hair, making her smile. "Yeah, what flavor is this, anyway?" asked Obi, taking a bite. "It is quite good," Mitsude chimed in, while Kiki nodded in agreement. "Yes, it's delicious!" Shirayuki said. Hana smiled softly, a little proud of herself. "It's actually my own original flavor; I just perfected it a few days ago... I call it red velvet. A light cocoa and beet cake, actually." "Beets? Really?" asked Zen. Hanna nodded, "yes, that's how it gets it's deep red, along with the addition of some red petal powder. I thought it would be an appropriate flavor to give you... considering Miss Shirayuki has bright red hair," she explained, her voice still quiet. "Oh, I see, so that's why you had all those beets when I bumped into you before, right?" Hana nodded towards Obi, "yes." "Well, I would have to agree with you, Hana. What do you think, Zen?" asked Shirayuki. "Yes. I think this cake will be perfect." "I'm glad to hear it... now if it's alright, I'd like to go over how many servings, as well as design," Hana said, pulling a notebook from her apron and approaching them. "Did you have anything in mind?" "Well," Shirayuki looked at Zen, grabbing his hand, "I was thinking of something simple. Nothing too extravagant." "And for servings...." Zen cupped his fingers around his chin. "We'll need at least 5... maybe 600 servings, I'm sure." Hana nodded. "In that case, I would recommend multiple cakes decorated around each other, rather than just one big one. I was also thinking that roses might appropriate..." She showed them a doodle. It consisted of one large cake with eight tiers, with roses between each tier. Around the larger cake were four smaller ones, each consisting of three tiers stacked in a stair like fashion around the larger, middle cake. The cakes were smooth in texture with golden pipe work, and a large ribbon of red roses wrapped around and flowing down the cakes in an elegant fashion. "Oh, this is beautiful! Can you really do something like this?" asked Shirayuki. Hana nodded, "with proper time and materials, yes, I can." Zen looked to his fiancée. "So this is what you want, Shirayuki?" She looked at him and nodded. "Then I leave it in your hands, Hana. Please let any of us know what you may need." "I'll need quite a bit for a cake this size," she started, full business mode taking over. She ran all the calculations and measurements quickly through her head—she was excellent at math. She wrote down a list and handed it to Zen. "That is quite a bit, indeed. Say, I know. What's say we all go out and get the required materials together?" "What? Zen, it sounds to me like you're just trying to get away from your work." "You know me, Mitsuhide." "It has been quite busy with the wedding only a few months away, it might be fun to get away for a day or two," Shirayuki agreed. "What do you say, Hana? You should come with us!" Obi insisted. "Oh, um... I'd... I'd hate to be in the way..." "Nonsense! Let's all head out this evening!" Zen decided, wanting out of the castle ASAP. "Oh... ok. I'll take my leave, then; I have a few things to clean up," Hana said, bowing before she walked out the door, heading to the kitchen.

"If I didn't know any better, I'd say that you like her, Obi," Zen teased. "Yeah, and so what if I do?" Obi replied playfully. "You should probably go tell her that she's not expected to do all the baking and cleaning," Zen told Obi, emphasizing the word 'and'. "Yes, Master, but I'm not sure that it'll stop her from doing so," he said, gazing towards the door and smiling. She would be the kind of person that would try to take care of everything on her own.