Creation began on 11-14-09
Creation ended on 11-27-09
Earth Girl/Earth Maiden Arjuna
Breaking the Barriers of Sisterhood and Motherhood
A/N: I looked at the fanfiction concerning said anime, and it doesn't look like any of them speak of Juna's sister, Kaine, or how their relationship changes after the end of the series. Blasted creators leave too many things out. I dedicate this story to the Ariyoshi sisters. Let's get to it!
The nation of the Japanese Archipelago was a complete wreck by the time the Raaja had gathered the necessary strength to put an end to the planet that attempted to purify itself in a last-ditch effort to be free. But Juna saved the planet…but at the cost of her voice. People that survived lived to see the future, and people that were near death made a full recovery. And with the end of the Raaja, they began to carefully rebuild their destroyed home.
-x-
I should have a few words with her, thought Kaine, standing outside Juna's bedroom, three months after the devastation that nearly killed everyone. I hope she'll understand and help me with my decision. I still wonder how she found out, though.
Knocking on her door, she waited patiently for her sister to answer. The door opened and Juna came out, using her hands to say, "What do you want?"
"I was wondering… No, I was hoping if I could come in and talk with you? I mean…if you'll hear me out, please?"
She nodded her head in the positive and let her in. In the few short weeks that followed the reconstruction, Juna had been learning sign language to compensate for the loss of her voice, and so far, it has helped her a bit…but there were still times that she wished she had it back, even if it was only for a minute.
Kaine sat down on the floor and said, "I still don't know how you found out I was pregnant that day, and I still wish to know, but after some time that same day you told me, I thought about a lot of things. I really thought about a lot of things: The choices I've made back then, the fact that we barely see each other or even speak to each other, my breakup with my boyfriend, my smoking habits, all of it. And…I'm not asking you to forgive me for my behavior back then…I'm just letting you know that I had decided to keep my baby that same day."
Juna's pupils widened, and, even with the days of being the Avatar of Time over, she was still able to, at certain times, hear and feel the emotions of others. And she could feel her sister's emotions as those of pure honesty and shame. Even her unborn baby was happy, happy that its mother had stopped hurting it, and started caring about it by taking better care of herself since the day its existence was found out by its aunt.
"I'm also asking if you'll help me raise it when I don't know exactly what to do," Kaine asked her. "I've never asked for any help from you in my life, Juna, but I'm asking you now. Help me, please. I don't want to lose people I should be thinking about to the point where my heart feels like it'll burst."
Juna went over to her and hugged her, tightly, to show that she cared about her sister, but carefully, as to not hurt her unborn niece or nephew. The feeling had been completely mutual. Even when their relationship was strained, Juna still loved her sister.
I'll help you, she thought, and I forgive you.
Kaine suddenly felt something. It didn't feel like a kick or flutter in her stomach. It felt like a silent whisper in her heart that said, "I'll help you, and I forgive you." She assumed, believed, actually, that it came from her sister, and hugged her back as tears fell out her eyes.
"Thank you, Juna," she told her. "Thank you."
-x-
Mrs. Ariyoshi, who barely paid any attention to her daughters in the past few weeks before the destruction of Japan, and even toward its reconstruction, couldn't believe her eyes when she walked into the kitchen: Kaine and Juna were sitting in there, reading several books relating to motherhood (I don't remember, exactly, if she knew Kaine was pregnant or not or if Kaine told her or not, so in this story, she's completely ignorant of the whole thing), and eating some celery sticks.
"What are you two up to this time?" She asked them.
Kaine looked up at her and came out, "I asked Juna to help me with a decision I had made just three days ago. Mother, I don't know, exactly, how to say this to you, but remember when I told you about my boyfriend and me breaking up?"
"Yeah, what of it?" She answered her.
"I didn't know, until a few days after the breakup, that I was pregnant around that time. I asked Juna to help take care of it, since I've decided to keep it."
Juna nodded her head in the positive, backing her sister up. They hoped their mother would understand how serious they were about this.
Mrs. Ariyoshi sighed and uttered, "It's that old boyfriend's, isn't it?"
Kaine nodded in the positive.
"How far along are you?"
"Almost three months."
"And you haven't shone yet?"
"Women in their first pregnancies hardly ever show, Mother." But it seemed that Mrs. Ariyoshi wasn't buying it all much. "If you're disappointed in me, I am sorry that I didn't tell you sooner than I should've told you."
Juna wasn't sure how their mother felt about this, as she kept a complete and convincing, neutral facial expression on, and couldn't tell if she was truly disappointed or just, downright, angry.
"Are you really planning on keeping it?" She asked her.
"Yes." Kaine answered.
"Then, I guess there's only one thing for me to do, and that's to pitch in and help do my fair share, as well." Both girls looked at her, unsure how to even respond. "Even though you're making me a grandmother far too early, I did picture the both of you settling down in the future to raise kids of your own someday…and I'm sorry that I barely paid any attention to you both before and after everything wrong happened."
Juna could see their mother's emotions flying right at Kaine and herself, seeing that they were true. Mrs. Ariyoshi did wish to help in raising the baby, despite wishing it'd been much later in the future, and got up out of her chair and hugged her in a forgiving manner.
I forgive you, Mother, she thought.
Kaine walked up and hugged, as well, forgiving her.
It was a calming, peaceful reunion between relatives that seemed to have separated for many years instead of days or weeks.
-x-
"Hey, Juna!" Tokio yelled over to the passing girl, assisting in the reconstruction of an apartment building that he and a few others would be living in as soon as it was completed. "How've you been?"
Juna used her hands to say, "I've been doing fine. My mother and Kaine are at the hospital for the sonogram and then will be going shopping for baby clothes, afterward."
"That's great to know," he told her, wishing he could just hear her voice again like before, though. "Will you be going, too?"
She nodded that she would, helping Kaine pick out good clothes once they knew the baby's gender. Tokio and she hadn't been able to set up a lunch date ever since the reconstruction began almost five months ago, but the boy had some high hopes that when fate intervened and set up the date for them, they could talk about their relationship's future.
Juna used sign language to ask him, "Do you want to come with us when we go shopping?"
"Sure," he answered. "I'd love to."
Juna shook his left hand, as his right was holding some stacks of wood, and gave him the thumb as a way of saying, "Thank you." Then, they went back to their business, Juna heading over to the pharmacy while Tokio helped with the construction.
Yeah, their lunch date would come, eventually.
-x-
"So, how did the doctor go?" Juna 'asked' her mother, as they were now helping Kaine shop for baby clothes.
"Well, I didn't expect to see Kaine weep over the ultrasound when the doctor performed the procedure, but everything went well, and it looks like there'll be another little girl in four more months from now." Mrs. Ariyoshi told her, carrying a shopping bag full of baby bottles and pacifiers and three stuffed animals. "I think your father would be proud of her decision (also, I don't recall anything about the possibility of where their father was, only that they had a mother, so Mr. Ariyoshi is not involved)."
Kaine, who was examining baby girl clothes, overheard their mother and thought back to the days of their father. Back then, those were days that were so full of pleasant happiness that nothing else mattered to Juna and her. There were those summer vacations at the beach, elementary school plays, or even the regular times of whenever one of them had a nightmare, they would run into their parents' bedroom for solace. Yes, those were the good old days back then. Now sporting a tiny bulge on her stomach, Kaine wondered if her future daughter would be like they were when they were younger, and also, when such a day came, ask about why she doesn't have a father involved in her. She shook her head and shuddered in disgust. And she had just gotten over their breakup the day after they broke up. He hadn't called her to even try and see her, not that she cared if he did or didn't, as long as he didn't try to hurt her, either physically or emotionally. As far as she even assumed, he was with another girl that he found better-suited to his likes.
"Uh, Kaine?" She heard a voice behind her, a deep and familiar one that she was hoping never to hear again for the rest of her life.
Far away from the aisle Kaine was in, Juna felt someone's emotions going, "Get away from my Mama! Get away!" Realizing that it was coming from her unborn niece, and feeling that Kaine was in potential danger, Juna ran from out the aisle of baby food that Mrs. Ariyoshi was suggesting they get when the baby was born and found her sister backing away from a man that looked about a year older than she was, and with a bad expression on his face.
"Please, Gaka," she heard her sister say to the man as he slowly approached her, "I don't want you in my life no more. I'm actually doing fine."
"But it's mine, too," the man, Gaka, told her, making Juna assume that this was her sister's former boyfriend and, by extension, her niece's father. "I have a kenri (right) to my child."
"Gaka, we're through," her sister tried to say to him, seriously wanting him gone.
Make him go away! Make him go away! Her niece's emotions rung louder in her mind, terrified of this man near her mother.
Gaka, frowning, slowly reached out to her with his right hand, and Juna had enough of watching from the sidelines, not willing to let this Gaka harm her sister and niece, even if she got hurt in the process. She went over and grabbed his hand, causing him to look at her with a surprised expression. Then, with her other hand, pointed out for him to leave immediately.
"And who are you?" He asked her, regaining his posture, and seeing a tag on her shirt that read, "Hello, my name is: Ariyoshi, Juna". "Juna? You're Kaine's little sister?"
"Gaka, I'm asking you for the last time," Kaine said to him. "Please, leave."
But Gaka didn't leave. Juna could see that his emotions were of anger and greed, and something inside her told her that, even though he was her niece's father, he didn't actually care about her or Kaine. Only that he felt he had a right to see his child, nothing more. Then, Gaka did the unpredictable: He shoved Juna out of the way onto the floor and grabbed Kaine by her arms.
"You're coming with me, woman!" He told her, and began to drag her away with him.
"No!" She yelled at him, trying to get free. "Help!"
Juna got back up and quickly jumped onto Gaka's back, surprise-attacking him and causing him to let go of her sister.
Kaine…please…get to safety, she thought, trying her hardest not to let go of the man.
Kaine, catching her breath, crawled away to try and get help for her sister, being reminded of her friend, Tokio, who was getting lunch for them all. Running to the burger shop where he was getting the food, she saw him walking out with the bags of food.
"Tokio!" She called out to him, getting his attention.
"Yes, Kaine?" He responded, and then noticed the bruise-like marks on her wrists. "What's wrong?"
"My sister," she panted. "Please, save her. My old boyfriend…came and tried to get me to go with him. Juna jumped him."
Tokio didn't need to hear any more, and dropped the bags to run to the maternity store to save Juna. True, he might've been a complete jerk in the past (and was, still, to a degree), but he was willing to change all of his ways to be with her. He loved her, after all. Truly, he did, and he wasn't about to lose her to a man that had assaulted her elder sister just because she was carrying his child.
Seeing the man still struggling to get free of Juna, Tokio ran faster, but not fast enough to see Juna get thrown aside and hit her head against a bookshelf, falling to the ground.
"Hey!" He shouted at the guy, grabbing his left shoulder, and started punching him in his face. "You don't just…come to see someone…and demand something of them…and then hurt their family and friends…without facing the repercussions!"
As Gaka was getting bruised and abused, Kaine came back and saw Juna on the ground with a bloody gash on her head. Rushing over to her, she saw that her eyes were open…but her breathing was almost like a person that was asleep.
"Oh, God," she felt devastated, checking her pulse, and finding it faint. "Tokio, Juna's not moving!"
Once Gaka had been beaten into submission, Tokio rushed over to check Juna.
"She needs a doctor!" He said, taking out his cell phone and dialing for an ambulance.
"Juna, please, don't die," Kaine begged her unconscious sister. "Please, don't leave me."
-x-
"Thank you again, Mr. Oshima," said Mrs. Ariyoshi to Tokio, standing outside the room that Juna was placed in as Kaine was sitting at her side, looking down at her as she had to endure two hours of waiting for the surgery to be over in order to find out what happened.
"You're welcome," he responded, having left half an hour ago to inform Sayuri of what happened, and then came running back. "How long has she been in there with her?"
"Ever since she came out of surgery, she's never left her side. Not even to use the restroom."
"Did they find out what had caused this?"
"The impact to the bookshelf had injured her brain, knocking her into a type of deep sleep. I wish this hadn't happen. I should've stayed with Kaine at all times instead of looking at baby food that I thought might be good for the baby. I caused this." She cried again, believing she was at fault for her younger daughter's current state, but Tokio handed her a tissue and told her that it wasn't her fault.
"No one knew that that man was going to try something like what he nearly did to Kaine. But we don't have to worry about him now; he's in police custody where he's not even allowed one phone call. Juna's gonna be alright. You'll see. Things will be okay."
As he comforted her, Kaine continued to contemplate everything that had happened: Her former boyfriend tried to be part of her life again when she had told him she didn't want him back, her sister risked her life to protect her and got injured in the process, said boyfriend was now in police custody, pending his unscheduled trial, which would leave him doing, possibly, ten-fifteen years behind bars for assault, harassment, attempted kidnapping, and disturbing the peace. Part of her had thought of an alternate universe where she chose the road of pro-choice and ended her pregnancy, that way, nothing like what had happened would've happened to anyone that she loved. But another part of her had thought differently about it, that it was wrong to even think of ending the life of another person that had no say in its creation being instigated by two college students that smoked several cigarettes and gave into their hormones and ended up in bed, and that nothing was going to just go back to being the way it was before. She wouldn't be a virgin and she'd still remember carrying that little life inside herself.
"Juna," she said to her sister, hoping she could hear her voice, even if only a little bit, "forgive me. I didn't know this would happen. I'm sorry for causing you this pain."
Holding her hand tightly, she prayed that she would just wake up soon. The doctors had said that, while it wasn't as serious as it looked, it was still too early to tell, and that it could go the other way around. She hoped for it to not happen, that Juna would continue to live, to smile, have a family of her own someday with somebody that she loved, and to see her niece when she was born.
Juna…please, just come back, she thought, now crying tears. I don't want to lose my only sister because of my actions. Please, I'm sorry! I love you, Juna. I love you!
-x-
…Please, I'm sorry! I love you, Juna. I love you! A woman's voice had cried in her mind.
"Huh?! Who…who's there?" Juna, looking around a foggy-white ground with dead-looking tree branches bending out through the fog, in odd angles, as though they weren't even on the ground themselves, called out to whoever was there. "Hello? Mom? Tokio? Chris? Cindy? Sayuri? Dad? Kaine? Anyone?"
She walked around, unsure which way led to wherever she was going, hoping that somebody would help her find out where she was. Even though only a few seconds had past since she started, it felt like years were going by, and she hadn't seen a single person. Until she heard something: Someone, nearby, crying. She followed the cries to her northwest and saw a densely-fogged forest made of dead, thin trees, with what looked like statuettes of babies made of stone growing out of them.
"Hello?" She called out to the crying voice, hoping to be heard.
"Mama?" The voice stopped crying, responding to Juna. "Mama, is that you?"
Juna looked around one of the larger dead trees and found, to her greatest surprise so far, a little girl that was probably around the age of three or four, wearing a little dress that reminded her of her days and nights when she was the Avatar of Time.
"Could you help me, please?" The little girl asked, sniffling up her tears. "I need help. I can't find my Mama. We got separated, somehow, and I've looked just about everywhere."
"Yes. Of course, I'll help you," she answered her. "My name's Juna. What's yours?"
"I… I don't know. I don't think I have a name."
Looking down at the girl's feet, Juna saw that they were covered in cuts and her soles were bruised from walking barefooted for a long time.
"Come here, and I'll carry you." She told her, holding out her arms for her to hop on.
"Thank you," the girl responded, coming over to her and encircling her little arms around her neck as she was picked up. "Thank you."
As she resumed walking, Juna held the girl close to her, feeling a sense of warmth and familiarity from her, as though they were, in a way, related.
"Is there anything you remember about you mother?" She questioned.
"Only that she hurt me a few times, long ago, and then stopped, apologizing for doing so. I think she was unhappy in the beginning, and then, much later, she was nearly hurt by somebody I cried to be kept away from the both of us: A very scary person. We were rescued by another person that she hoped would be alright while she went to get help from another that was with the other person." She explained, although very, very vaguely.
"And these other people…do they have names?"
Trying to concentrate, the little girl uttered, "Mama said one of their names just before we were separated. I think it was…your name."
Juna stopped walking; now realizing who this girl was. The answers were all right there in front of her: It was her niece. Her unborn niece, lost within her own mind, looking for a way home.
"You're my niece," she told her, "my sister's daughter."
"My Mama is…your sister?" She asked, holding onto her tightly. "You're my Mama's sister!"
Juna held her closely, unsure how her niece got lost, but was glad she found her.
"Don't worry. We'll find a way home. We're going home right now."
With her strength restored to her, she resumed the walk, now running down a foggy path, feeling a warm breeze from close by. A light shined over their faces, the ground of harsh soil became warm, fuzzy-feeling sand, and the sounds of waves crashing against something came.
We're coming home, Kaine/Mama, they thought together. We're coming home.
Feeling the sand beneath disappear as the fog lifted, Juna and her niece fell into clear-blue water, sinking towards a shining light at the bottom as fish and jellyfish swam around them.
Please… A voice had cried. Please, don't leave me again, Juna. I swear to all the gods that I'll treat you better this time.
Kaine, Juna thought, feeling the windy breeze she had felt before on the surface, it's okay. We're coming back to you. We're not leaving you.
-x-
Feeling like a heavy haze had been lifted from her mind; Juna awakened to the subtle sounds of a pulse monitor and found herself in the hospital.
"Oh," she voicelessly groaned, rising to a sitting position, and saw Tokio by her side. "Tokio?"
He opened his eyes and looked up at her.
"You're awake," he sighed happily. "You're okay."
She felt his emotions of pure honesty and concern, but needed to know something she felt was important to want to know: Where Kaine was.
"Where's…where's Kaine?" She asked, worried about her sister and niece.
"Right over there," he answered, pointing behind her…to another bed, occupied by Kaine, who was resting peacefully, with their mother at her side, also asleep.
"What happened to her?" She asked as she slowly got out of bed to set her feet on the cold floor. "How long was I asleep?"
"Three days," he answered. "She past out from stress and exhaustion…and almost had a miscarriage."
A miscarriage?! Her mind yelled, unwilling to believe that her niece almost died. She was…that worried about me? She was really worried about me, that I would die again and leave her alone. Oh, Kaine, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry.
Dropping to her knees, she grabbed her sister's right hand, crying over what she had nearly, unintentionally, caused for her.
Kaine opened her eyes and saw Juna crying, holding her hand as she wept.
"Juna?" She asked, getting her attention, and crying again herself. "You're awake."
They hugged for the longest of times, embracing the emotions that came after, unable to hold them back any longer.
-x-
'…After we left the hospital, with clean bills of health and a subtle warning to not ignore things that may need to be taken care of in the future, my daughters had made a silent promise: To be each other's anchor in life when things got tougher.' Mrs. Ariyoshi wrote down in her diary, late at night as her girls were asleep in Kaine's room. 'I'm glad that Kaine had agreed to move back home. It'll make it less difficult to help her take of the baby. Those two…just what is it that makes it so much like when they were little, and when they needed each other back in those days? It's like the bond that faded away as they got older had come back, and was strengthened by their actions. Kaine had even asked Juna to be her partner in the birthing when it comes, and Juna accepted the position. Somehow, I get the feeling that those two are gonna do just fine.'
Setting her diary down, Mrs. Ariyoshi turned in for the night and fell to sleep. Elsewhere in the apartment, Kaine woke up and found her sister holding onto her by her waist, as if keeping a protective hold on her and the baby. Returning the favor, she held onto her sister's shoulders. It felt right, holding her. It reminded her some more of their younger years together. She could even picture some old, dusty path, surrounded by endless fields of grass and beautiful flowers that go farther than anything that eyes could see, with herself, Juna, and the baby with them, walking down that path toward a shining sun.
-x-
Kaine really didn't approve of thunderstorms. They were as unpleasant to her as her first cigarette was when she took up smoking not so long ago. The only other things she didn't approve of were old boyfriends with possession issues, losing loved ones, getting hurt, and the potential fear that doctors have when they tell that something could go wrong in a woman's pregnancy. She, Juna, and their mother had been told just last week, of the eighth month, that, while everything was alright with her baby, the doctor feared that would be complications with her cervix, as most women her age and in her condition often had a cervix that didn't dilate properly or at all. The doctor felt it would be necessary to ensure that she didn't suffer by inducing her labor a week early before the baby's due date, but before she could even make her final decision, she needed to take it up with Juna, whom she was listening to more and more over the whole thing, and wanted to know of her opinion, regardless.
"Let the pregnancy continue to its end," she told me with her hands, and her word pad I got her as a gift, just in case she was trying to tell me something I didn't understand from her. She thought, sitting on the floor of the living room, reading an old romance novel one of her college classes was required to do a report on. I think she was absolutely right to let it continue, that nothing would go wrong. Juna…I put my faith in your opinions, and they haven't let me down yet. And during the whole conversation with the doctor, I could've sworn that I heard a little voice that said, "No. Not yet. Don't make me leave now. I don't want to leave just yet". Were those words coming from my baby? Was she actually trying to say that she didn't want to leave my insides yet?
CLASH! A bolt of lightning caught her attention and took her eyes off the book to look out the window. Juna and Mrs. Ariyoshi were out at the supermarket, leaving Kaine alone by herself. Well, not, completely alone, technically, if you counted the baby inside her.
Looking at her expanded belly, now almost nine months along, Kaine thought, I just hope you're not thinking of something unpredictable as trying to be born during a stormy night, baby.
Placing a bookmark on the page she stopped reading on, she left out the living room and entered her room, now redecorated with baby materials: A tiny crib set next to her futon, several pacifiers and bottles, diapers and clothes, baby-approved toys like stuffed animals, a baby carrier for her back and a stroller. The family was as prepared as they'll ever be. All that seemed to be missing was the very person they would be raising there. Sitting at her desk, Kaine wrote down a note that would tell her mother and Juna, if they came home late, that she went to bed early. She decorated it by drawing a big, red heart near their names and went to stick it on the refrigerator. With that done, she went to her room and lied in her futon, falling to sleep.
I will cry for you…the moment I'm held in your arms… A voice had spoken, in her head, that wasn't her own voice, but she was too exhausted to question it.
-x-
Opening the front door, Juna and Mrs. Ariyoshi stepped inside with the few bags of groceries, happy once again that, with all of Japan restored to its former glory, and taking careful, better steps to ensure that it stayed that way, the shelves of the supermarkets were full of many essential items. She took out the vegetables and dairy items and placed them in the refrigerator, almost neglecting the note that was on there for the very job of putting away food. It told of Kaine going to bed early, so they didn't need to worry much. Except that Juna always worried about her, ever since that dreadful day at the mall shopping for baby things. There was never a day that went by that the younger sister thought that something worse would happen to her expectant mother of a big sister, and she wouldn't be there to prevent it from ever happening.
Mrs. Ariyoshi noticed the sad expression on her younger daughter's face and said, "You shouldn't worry too much, Juna. You'll make yourself sick that way. Kaine will be alright. Everything's fine."
Juna looked over at her and nodded a positive response.
"I wonder if she's thought of a name for the baby yet," her mother wondered. "Her due date's right around the corner and the most important thing we haven't gotten to is picking out names."
She nodded again in the positive, knowing that was true. As the months went by and Kaine changed, both physically and emotionally (without any degree of mood swings, or any degree of movement from the baby, either, despite her good health), as though she were replaced by a well-mannered, well-educated young woman that looked to her younger sister for guidance when there, surely, could've been others that could offer such help. She even let her hair grow out until it was waist-length, Juna thought about letting her hair grow out longer herself, but had decided to keep it short, as it was more manageable that way.
"Juna, can I ask you something that's been haunting me for a while?" Her mother asked her, and she nodded that she could. "Juna, you… You know that I would be completely honest with you and Kaine about anything, right (Juna nodded again)? And I respect your privacy and everything, but I would like you to be completely honest with me when I ask you this, okay (another positive nod)? Before the devastation of the nation…before all the suffering…did you… Did you try to do something important to prevent it all from happening?"
Juna's eyes widened, unsure of how to actually respond to her mother's question: If she answered that she did know, how would she handle it? As much as Kaine had changed and matured, their mother had also changed, as well, becoming more understanding of her daughters and less like her old self before the nation had suffered the way it did. But still, with only a happy life she was well-adjusted to on the line, she nodded that she did.
"Then…is that how you lost your voice?" Juna nodded that it was so. "So, my dreams were right: You tried to help save people without their knowing or understanding against something that couldn't be seen or heard by them."
She was afraid of her mother now, and waiting for the hammer that was her angry outbursts to fall. But…they didn't happen yet. Mrs. Ariyoshi remained calm and collected, and spoke with a tone filled with peace.
"Juna, why didn't you tell me before?" She asked her daughter. "I'm sure I would've understood you. Okay, that's a half-truth, and I wasn't the way I am now, but I'm sure I could've helped you better. You keeping such big secrets remind me of your father. You know, he kept big secrets, too, some of which he thought were essential to helping others in need."
Mrs. Ariyoshi then walked over to Juna and locked her in a hug.
"You stupid," she cried softly. "Please, next time, tell me things like that. Not knowing of my children's safety or current status makes me fear for the worst: That you died and nothing would be the same, anymore. I do worry about the both of you, dear…about what someone could do to you when you're not in a friend or loved one's sight. Even that boy that likes you a lot, Mr. Oshima, he worries about you when danger's near. I think you'd do great with him…if only he acted smarter than he looks."
Juna hugged her mother and nodded that she would inform her of these things next time they occurred.
-x-
"…Are you feeling any mood swings, Kaine?" Mrs. Ariyoshi asked her elder daughter, as she and Juna helped her pack up for her stay in the hospital.
"No, Mommy," Kaine answered, setting aside a pacifier for her baby. "I just recalled some old memories that I hate a lot. Maybe I should be written off in a textbook somewhere as one of the Dumbest Case Scenarios or something. I really appreciate all that you've done for me, I really do. You know, Gaka and I, we only ever did it once…and I didn't even like it."
Juna, initially, believed that it took more than one sexual encounter to cause a pregnancy, but to hear that her sister had gotten pregnant and only did it once made her rethink her beliefs.
"Would…you be crying less if you did like it a little more?" Their mother asked.
"Maybe, but it's all irrelevant now. I'm not going to be looking for a boyfriend again until I meet somebody that will understand me perfectly." She answered back.
"Well, that proves you're being even more-responsible than you were before."
"Oh!"
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing, the baby's kicking right now."
Mrs. Ariyoshi placed her left hand on her elder daughter's belly and felt a kick.
"Wow, look at her go," she sighed happily. "Juna, you feel, too."
Juna placed her right hand on her sister's belly and felt her niece kick around.
-x-
…And people say that children bring several minutes of joy to the world…only to bring several years of misery, thought Mrs. Ariyoshi, as she, Juna and Kaine were on their way to the hospital after midnight, when Kaine experienced labor pains on her due date. The doctor said it was likely to be today, but he could've at least said when it was gonna happen today. But then again, it is after midnight, so it does count as a new day.
When they reached the hospital, Kaine was separated from her family by the doctors and nurses.
"My sister," Kaine gasped, crying from the pain she was in. "My sister!"
Juna and Mrs. Ariyoshi were placed in the waiting room, unable to convince them that Juna was supposed to be with her sister. All they could really do was sit around and listen to the cries of Kaine whilst she went through her labor pains. Juna hated it, not being able to help her sister when she had chosen and promised to help her as her partner in the birthing. She could even feel her feelings of sadness and heartache.
A female nurse came into the room and said, "Juna Ariyoshi?"
Juna looked at her and stood up.
"Come on, your sister's crying her lungs and eyeballs out for you."
-x-
They had no idea how much it hurt for her, and if they did, they knew it hurt more that she refused any painkillers. Kaine was told that everything was progressing normally, but she wasn't entirely convinced that something this painful was considered normal. When her sister was brought in, she smiled a happy, relieved smile that she was here as she requested, unwilling to let anything happen until she showed up.
"Juna…it hurts," she told her.
Juna held out her right hand for her and she took it.
"The baby's starting to crown," said a doctor in the background.
"Aaaaurgh!" Kaine groaned.
"Okay, Kaine, get ready to push," said another doctor, as Juna felt her fingers breaking from the pressure her sister put on them. "Okay, push."
Kaine tried to do as they instructed, but she felt like she was crapping out a knife or something. She had read several stories on the Internet about other women, most of them younger than she was, going through childbirth, and while some of them said that it did hurt; their children that they carried under their hearts were worth the pain. She wanted to believe that were so, but couldn't find it within her to accept it just yet.
Two minutes later, through all of the pain, the sisters saw a little girl on the elder's deflated abdomen. She looked just like her mother, with wisps of her hair on her head. When the doctor handed her over to her mother, she cried her first tears of happiness.
-x-
When the first rays of sunlight hit her face, Mrs. Ariyoshi awoke to the sounds of her granddaughter crying in her elder daughter's arms.
"Have you thought of a name for her yet?" She asked Kaine, who was now breastfeeding her new baby.
"Mm-hmm," the new mother answered. "I asked Juna if she was alright with the name and she was happy about it. I'm naming her Shakiko. Shakiko Juna Ariyoshi."
"You're making her middle name your sister's name? Might I ask why?"
"Juna's my life idol. Not only that, but she's also, in a weird way, like my best friend now. Would you like to hold Shakiko after I'm done feeding her?"
"Sure. Where did Juna run off to?"
"To the bathroom, I think. I think I broke her hand."
"You know, I broke your father's hand when the both of you were born, too."
As they conversed, Juna, whom had left the bathroom in the hallway, walked back to the room that her sister and niece were placed in. Her hand was mending, but was slightly bruised from the pressure Kaine put on it. She had no idea that her sister had so much strength in her hands that it made her want to work out some time to be a stronger person.
"…Seems like things will work out in some grand way when we go home in a few days, right?" She heard her mother ask her sister.
"Yeah," Kaine responded.
When she came back into the room and sat down, their mother was already holding Shakiko, who was soundly asleep now.
-x-
Epilogue
"…Juna, what are you doing out here?" Kaine asked her sister, seven months later, on the night of her birthday. "All the guests are waiting for you."
Juna, now looking more ladylike, a few inches taller, and wearing a traditional sailor fuku (uniform), sat on a bench outside the building and gazed up at the star-lit sky.
"I'd rather sit right here," she wrote on her word pad to her. "It was getting crowded back in there, and parties like this…aren't really my cup of tea most of the time now."
"Mine, neither, sis," Kaine then sat down next to her. "You know, I made a wish today for you."
"Really, Kaine?" Juna asked her on her pad.
"Yes. I wished that…your voice would come back." She told her.
"Thank you, Kaine. You didn't have to wish that for me."
"You can't blame a girl for trying to be hopeful."
Then, Juna opened her mouth and uttered, "And I can't blame a sister who's a mother for being concerned, either."
Kaine and she gasped, never expecting that to happen.
"I…I have my voice back," Juna said again. "My voice… Hello? Testing, testing. I'm Juna Ariyoshi and I just turned seventeen (can't remember her age, only that she was in the tenth grade, so I'm improvising here) today."
"What was I saying about blaming a girl for being hopeful?" Kaine hugged her sister.
"That you can't blame them," responded Juna as she hugged her back. "Thank you for being hopeful."
"Thank you for helping me whenever I required it."
"Hey, you two," they turned to Tokio, now Juna's official boyfriend, having taken time with Juna to sort out all of their feelings, who was at the front door. "Your mother's about to light the cake and I think Shakiko cut her first tooth!"
"Okay, be right there," both sisters responded, surprising Tokio that Juna was speaking again.
Like any other boyfriend, he fainted from mental overload and fell to the ground.
"Heh-heh-heh-heh!" They giggled, and went over to pick him up and carry him back upstairs.
"I hope that when you two have kids, they'll be just like you," Kaine told her.
"I hope our first one's a girl. I think Shakiko would enjoy a girl cousin before a boy cousin." Juna responded, pressing an elevator button to take them up. "Say, what did Mom used to say about sisterhood and motherhood?"
"That there are barriers surrounding them and, like anything else, must be broken over time. And…it looks like we've broken the ones surrounding ours: We get along better, we understand each other better, and I love my daughter."
"Yeah… Me, too… We've definitely broken the barriers of sisterhood and motherhood."
Taking Tokio back inside the apartment, their mother and the guests were waiting for Juna to blow out the candles of her cake. As Juna sat down and Tokio came to, the seventeen-year-old looked over at her seven-month-old niece, now sporting a full head of her mother's hair, chuckled at the perfect wish to make, and blew out the candles.
"What'd you wish for?" Mrs. Ariyoshi asked her.
Suddenly, Shakiko started clapping her hands together, giggling at them.
"Looks like my wish already came true," she answered her mother, surprising the others with the rediscovery of her voice.
Shakiko giggled again, and Kaine picked her up and held her closely as they, Juna and their mom gathered together for a family picture.
"Say 'many wishes'," said Sayuri, holding a camera in front of them.
"Many wishes," the three women cheered while Shakiko hiccuped for the first time.
Yes, the barriers of sisterhood and motherhood had indeed been broken…and at the best time, too.
The End
A/N: There you have it. Probably my greatest work yet in the realms of fiction. And if anybody asks, I'm pro-fiction! I'm neutral to pro-life and pro-choice, for everybody's got a choice to something. The Ariyoshi sisters are my example of this. Please, review and tell me what you think about it. Bye!