I swung my head back and forth, vibratoing hard as I sang Meiko Nakahara's "Kagami no Naka no Akutoresu". In a karaoke room in downtown Naha, we were all dancing and going wild. Even Sana was grinning, having a good time. Exactly what I wanted. I danced around the room, letting loose. Getting all of my emotions out from earlier, all that rage and sadness, that worry. This was exactly what I'd needed.

It was late at night now. The rest of our journey had thankfully gone smoothly. We'd gotten a few taxis and piled into them. We'd let the taxi company know that one of them needed to be a van. We'd be renting cars soon, but I wanted to get to the hotel as soon as possible. So, we'd decided on taxis to get there.

We'd gotten to the hotel, and we all profusely thanked Shizue for choosing such a good one. She was right, we were right on the water. We checked in without a problem. Shizue went up to the desk and spoke to them. Not wanting a repeat of the check-in desk at the airport, Sana and I sat in the lobby waiting. No need for the hassle. Keitaro inquired about dinner at the restaurant, and they gave him a few menus. They were definitely aware of who he was, and after a very short while, the whole hotel seemed to know he was in house. Because of this, we began to get the VIP treatment, and it was something I could get used to.

Sana and I got our adjoining room with Natsuko and Sawai-san. Yami was overjoyed to learn he'd be rooming with Keitaro. Masaki and Nobu went off somewhere in the hotel by themselves, peering over their shoulders at us, looking sneaky. What was that about?

We went up to the rooms, and my sister and Sawai-san went into theirs to check it out. Finally, I was alone with Sana. I knew that they were right next door if I needed them, though, and that was a relief. I threw the bed covers over themselves, making a space for Sana. He was pleased at the hotel and seemed to have recovered a little, distracted now, but I knew he needed to take a rest. Gently, I picked him up from his wheelchair and he relaxed in my arms. I squeezed him a little, showing my love. I put him in the bed, and he smiled so much. Able to truly rest after so long.

I tucked the covers over him, patting them around him just so. I went to the other side and got in there with him. Before relaxing myself, I set my phone's alarm for a couple of hours from then in case I fell asleep, too. It was past seven. We'd had a late lunch, but Sana needed to eat a proper dinner. I wouldn't forget.

I put my phone on the bedside table, and put my arm around him, sliding up from the side, curling around him. He sighed so deeply, his happy face said it all. He started to speak, and I closed my eyes, pressing my face to his neck. Loving him.

"This is what I wanted. We're in Okinawa. You're hugging me in bed."

I kissed his neck. "It's what I wanted, too."

He made a satisfied sound, and before long he was asleep. I rubbed his belly, remembering he'd said he felt nauseous earlier. Like this, I fell asleep, too.

When we met for dinner outside of the hotel's restaurant around 9pm, Yami was spitting mad. He threw a handful of pink bead-like pellets at Nobu and Masaki. They were both laughing, beside themselves. I peeked into the restaurant, and luckily it didn't seem like such a fancy place.

"Someone has to clean those up, you know," Nobu said to him, still laughing so much he was almost crying.

"Yeah, bullshit! Throw some more of these pink things at me!" He turned to us. "I was out on my balcony looking at the ocean, and all of a sudden these pink things rained all over me! They're sticky as shit! And what did I hear when I started yelling about it?!" He pointed accusingly at Nobu and Masaki. "These two idiots laughing above me! These pink things were all over my hair, sticking to my clothes! I had to change!"

Keitaro took him aside. They spoke together quietly, eyeing Masaki and Nobu. Yami smiled, nodding hard.

"I think that's the start of a war," Shizue said, smiling herself. "I look forward to how it turns out."

Hikaru knelt down, picking up a few of the pink things. He sniffed them. "Oh, they're candy. No wonder they're sticky," he observed.

"Come on, I'm sure you're all hungry. I know I am," Sawai-san said. Natsuko agreed with her, and we all made our way into the restaurant. The staff were immediately alarmed, seeing our party. They lead us to the back, where a big table was waiting.

Our meal was uneventful, and they had grilled chicken and vegetables that Sana could eat. It was a win after today. The conversation became about what we'd do after dinner. Everyone had read about fun things to do. But, Shizue had the best idea of all.

"Let's just go to karaoke. It's the first night. It'll be fun. No need to walk all around. We've been doing that all day."

I jumped at this. "Yeah, karaoke!" I exclaimed, almost coming out of my seat.

"Good idea!" Hikaru gasped. "Tetsu, sing Wink's 'Turn it into Love'!" He looked around at the rest of everyone. "He did this amazing version of it the last time Mermaid Orchestra went to karaoke. I wanted to see it again."

"I feel kind of intimidated. Three professional vocalists in one room? My poor plebian vocal chords," Nobu laughed.

"It'll be amazing because of that," Keitaro said, enchanted with the idea. "But, Tetsu, you don't know volume control. Don't get us kicked out. We're not on stage."

"Yes, it's hard, though," I admitted. This conversation was relaxing me in wonderful ways. "I'm so used to singing without a microphone."

Sana perked up, and my full attention was on him. "I never made the connection before, but it's so obvious. The way you sing on your albums. I always thought you were singing the roof off the studio. You aren't used to microphones! It makes so much sense." He was grinning adorably. I wanted to squeeze him.

"I was there during a recording once," Keitaro nodded, clearly seeing a memory. "I can confirm it was extremely loud."

"Oh, yeah, I remember that," I started to giggle. "We went out after, and I had to drink all this tea. My throat hurt, singing for so long."

He smiled at me from across the table. "It's because you sing so loud."

Our food came, and the conversation turned to Keitaro's career. Yami was entirely quiet during this, just observing. It was so obvious he was a big fan. But, Nobu had a surprise for us.

"Wow, I never knew any of this," he said, enjoying the crazy stories. "I admit, I'm not actually your fan. I like Latin music, mostly."

Keitaro looked like someone had shot an arrow into his heart, and we all laughed so hard at his reaction.

"I'll start listening now, though," Nobu promised.

Keitaro was smiling again. "No pressure," he said, always so kind and humble.

After the main course, everyone started ordering desserts off the dessert menu. I was about to take Sana back to our room, when Natsuko poked me on the shoulder. She was pointing to the bottom of her menu frantically. I saw what she was pointing at, and my mouth dropped open.

Sugar free frozen yogurt. I gasped, taking her menu from her. It was only available in vanilla, but it was there! It was listed with a bunch of other flavors. Why in the world did they have it, here of all places? My luck was starting to change.

I showed Sana, and his mouth dropped open, too. To my delight, he started to dance a little in his seat. I giggled, and he did, too. "Do you know how long it's been since I've had ice cream?" He asked me.

"Uh oh, I know that dance," Yami laughed from across the table. "Sana's good food dance. What did you find?"

"Good food dance?!" I burst into laughter. "What's that?!" It was too adorable.

"Well," Yami was trying not to laugh further. "Whenever he finds good food or a good recipe, he does a little thing like-" He started to move his fists in small circles in front of him, bouncing his shoulders with it. He started laughing before he could finish. "It's some weird American thing, I think."

Natsuko joined in. "We found sugar free ice cream!" She laughed with us.

"Oh my god, ice cream?!" Yami gasped, grinning so much. "They better hide it. Sana's going to eat all that they have."

I poked Sana on his smiling cheek. He was so happy. "He better eat it all."

We ordered, and I decided to try the same kind that he was having. It was delicious. He wanted seconds, and I absolutely allowed him to. I knew he still had dairy restrictions, but that was manageable compared to other things. It wasn't going to really hurt him.

"I want to eat this for breakfast," he said dreamily, scooping up another spoonful and putting it in his mouth. I watched in awe. He was eating so much. More than I'd ever seen him eat. He was working on his fourth scoop of ice cream! It was incredible.

"You can definitely have it for breakfast," I grinned. I couldn't stop grinning. Watching him eat that much? He could have it for every meal.

He sighed happily, putting more on his tongue. The spoon slipped out of his mouth slowly. "Best vacation ever," he declared, looking like he was in heaven.

I was so happy that I didn't know what to do with myself.

I was on a high unlike any other high. On the way to karaoke, we'd passed by endless palm trees. Sana had looked up at them, his smile sparkling under the streetlights. I held him in the car, watching his face. This was what I had wanted. Him happy like this. Relaxed, not thinking about if he was different. Not worrying about the tour. Not feeling sick at all, even if it was for the short term. Truly enjoying himself. I kissed him on the cheek, and he'd closed his eyes, making the most beautiful sound of pleasure, so happy.

We got to the karaoke place, and the staff ran around like chickens with their heads cut off, so excited about Keitaro visiting their establishment. They found us the best room, giving us VIP service. It was so unlike Tokyo, where whenever I went out with Keitaro, surely they knew who he was, but they tried to ignore that. Here, they showed how excited they were. It was so fun.

Once I started to sing, I didn't care about anything anymore. I lost myself. I sang "Turn it into Love" by Wink, just as Hikaru had requested. He looked at me like I was enchanting him with magic. We all took turns singing, and when it was time for Sana to sing, I held him to me. I was sitting behind him, and he was in my arms, so comfortable. He sang "17 sai" by Chisato Moritaka, with much more energy than I thought he possessed these days. It brought me back to when I thought maybe he'd do better physically if he were happier, that happiness might play a factor. Maybe there was some truth to this. Or maybe, we were just getting lucky. Either way, this was turning into one of the best nights of my life.

When Hikaru suggested I sing "Kagami no Naka no Akutoresu" by Meiko Nakahara, I was ready. Sawai-san jumped in her seat, so excited, exclaiming that Meiko Nakahara was her favorite. Because of that, I had to make this one of the best performances of my life to live up to her expectations. And as I sang, their reactions let me know I wasn't letting Miss Nakahara down. I was so happy, singing the night away. Knowing there were stars glittering above us, palm trees swaying in the night breeze. It was another moment where I wanted to capture it in time, never wanting it to end.