1994

by Basketballgirl Kaitlin

It's 1994 in Osaka, Japan, and Winston and Julia successfully escaped The Party's control. As the world continues to rebuild from their time in power, two Japanese form their own group to bring The Party to Japan, the one country they left alone the first time around!

1994

Part One: Chapter 1

Osaka, Japan was a busy yet peaceful city to live in during the 90s'…unlike Tokyo which was basically the city that never sleeps; if you lived in a smaller part of Osaka, it was less chaotic and people not rushing all over as much. Winston Smith fit under this description quite well considering he was residing in one of Osaka's 24 wards which went by the name of Tennoji-ku.

Winston, 43, worked as a businessman for a television company and lived with his wife, Julia, a housewife and 36 years old, who he's been married to for ten years exact; they were married shortly after fleeting London from the totalitarian government of The Party controlling it and its traumatic collapse; London is still in the process of recovering from it. Though basically everybody was affected by this government, Japan was left un-touched as The Party thought the country was useless for a number of reasons.

Winston came home to his wife who was preparing a Japanese styled dinner. He took his jacket off and put his brief-case down next to the coat rack wearing a gray suit and fancy brown shoes while his wife was in black tie-up boots, a baby blue skirt that went down to her shins, and a long-sleeved, button-up, white shirt.

Julia noticed the door closed and looked over which made her smile.

"Hi there," Julia said smiling. She looked back at her dinner.

"Hi there," Winston responded smiling.

"Did you take your shoes off?"

"Yes, dear,"

"Just making sure,"

Winston smiled, walked over, wrapped his arms around her, and kissed her cheek.

"How was your day?" Winston asked.

"Fine; how was yours'?" Julia responded.

"Fine,"

"That's good,"

"What 'cha making for dinner?"

"…A Japanese meal,"

"That's different,"

"Well, we live in Japan; we might as well try the food in the culture we've been a part of for ten years."

"Probably right…speaking of which; we've been married for ten years and it's still just the two of us."

Julia turned to her husband still smiling.

"What do you mean?" She asked.

"I think you know what I mean," Winston responded.

Winston and Julia smiled at each other and gently kissed each other.

"We'll have one when time's right," Julia replied.

Winston walked into the living room and looked out the window.

"I don't understand it though; we've tried for two years straight and still nothing." Winston said.

"Sweet-heart, we're not as young as we used to be anymore…besides…no one said having a child would be easy." Julia replied.

"It always seems like when you don't want one it comes naturally…when you actually do want one…it seems impossible."

"It'll happen when nature thinks it's time,"

"Are you sure?"

"I hope; I just wanna think positively; I've learned if you think negative, things for you will be negative…if that makes any sense."

"No, it does."

Julia smiled and went back to making dinner.

"Well, you know…if you wanna try again tonight, I'd be up for it." Winston said.

Julia walked over to a bookshelf down at something to what Winston assumed to be a calendar while wiping her hands on her lace apron.

"As much as I'd be up for it, I can't; Emi's coming over for dinner tonight." Julia replied.

"Tatsuya, too,"

"Yes, Tatsuya too,"

Tatsuya and Emi Yamada were Winston and Julia's neighbors. They were acquaintances, but Winston and Julia didn't necessarily consider them as 'friends' just quite.

"Is it just me, or do they seem a bit…'odd' to you?" Winston asked his wife.

Julia stood for a minute gazing at something while thinking of a response.

"I don't know; I wouldn't say we should trust them with just about anything just yet; something tells me there's more to them than we know at the moment's notice." Julia replied.

"Good call…we don't want a repeat of what happened with Mr. Charrington." Winston said.

Julia shook her head and then looked at her watch; it was 5:40 pm.

"I should probably go upstairs and change into something nice for the Yamada's'." Julia said looking upstairs.

"Should I change sweet-pea?" Winston asked.

Julia looked at her husband with her gentle gray-blue eyes.

Julia had light-brown, shoulder-length hair and Winston had light-brown hair and gray-blue eyes as well.

"No; what you have on is fine." She replied sincere.

"Okay,"

Julia smiled and walked upstairs to change.

Chapter 2

It was 6:30 pm; Winston was still in his work outfit and Julia was wearing a blue, short-sleeved dress that looked similar to what a waitress in the 50s' would wear, but slightly different and made of satin or silk…something like that along with black flats and tights.

She came downstairs and Winston was on the couch looking at business papers when he noticed his wife and smiled.

"You look beautiful, dear." He said smiling.

Julia smiled back.

"Thank you; you look nice yourself." Julia replied.

Winston walked over and held Julia close to him.

"Remember when we got married?" Winston asked.

"I do; a nice, summer evening in that big Tokyo church." Julia replied.

"And you've gotten more beautiful since then."

Julia smiled which made the room light up.

Winston and Julia gently kissed each other, but their moment was interrupted when the door-bell rang.

"I got it," Julia said.

Winston smiled at his wife as she went to get the door.

Julia opened the door and sure enough standing there was Tatsuya and Emi Yamada.

"Tatsuya; Emi; welcome," Julia said friendly.

"Good evening, Mrs. Smith." Emi said.

Tatsuya walked in and was greeted by Winston.

"Hey, Mr. Yamada; good to see you again," Winston said.

He and Tatsuya shook hands with one another.

"So…I see you and Winston still have no children," Emi said.

"Well…Winston's been very busy with work, we hardly have time for children right now and Winston's work means everything to him currently." Julia said.

"Oh yes; we businessmen love our work and very dedicated to it too." Winston replied.

Tatsuya and Emi exchanged looks as if they knew that wasn't the case at all.

"Why don't we all go into the living room and sit down while we wait for dinner to be ready?" Julia suggested.

"Yes, let's," Winston agreed.

All four of them walked into the living room. Winston and Julia sat on the sofa next to each other while Tatsuya and Emi sat in couches across from them. In between the couches and sofa was a coffee table. For a few minutes, there was nothing, but an awkward silence between the two married couples.

"So…how's your job as a nuclear engineer, Tatsuya?" Winston asked trying desperately to start a conversation.

"Quite alright; we've finished a project on how to make energy cheaper for customers." Tatsuya replied.

"That sounds fascinating!" Julia replied.

"Yes, well…we can't all be successful working as nuclear engineers, right, Winston?" Tatsuya asked.

"I find my job very rewarding, actually." Winston replied.

"You sell…televisions?" Emi asked.

"I do more than just that; it's very confusing in some points to explain to most people, but…you know." Winston replied.

"He also gives ideas for commercials to be advertised on television." Julia added.

"And you're a…housewife?" Emi asked.

"I am indeed." Julia replied smiling.

"Well I work in a highly professional office building as a social worker."

"That sounds very interesting!"

"You're just a housewife; how would you know what actual work would be interesting or not?"

Winston felt anger rush through his body. He slowly got up, but Julia grabbed a hold of his arm restricting him back down and shook her head 'no'. The two of them went back to socializing with their neighbors.

"So, what's your wife plan on feeding us?" Tatsuya asked.

"My wife has a name; I suppose you'd call her by it!" Winston said starting to get annoyed.

"It's alright, honey; we're having udon noodles with white rice, tempura, and to drink, ramune." Julia replied.

"Mmmmmmm; I can already smell it! Another winner, I can already sense it!" Winston said.

Julia smiled and got up to check on dinner; it was ready.

Winston, Julia, Tatsuya, and Emi had finished eating dinner and it was around 8:00 at night.

Winston wiped his mouth with a napkin.

"Another great meal, honey," Winston said proud.

"Arigato," Julia responded.

Winston smiled at his wife.

"Well, we should be going," Tatsuya responded.

"Oh, yes," Emi replied.

Julia led them out.

"Have a good night," Julia said friendly.

She waved and then closed the door to find Winston standing next to her. Julia's face had turned slightly less happy than it was before.

"Don't worry, Julia; don't let what they said get to yah; none of it was true what so ever." Winston said assuring while rubbing his wife's back.

"No, it's not that, sweetie…I wish it were all that," Julia responded.

She walked into the living room to start cleaning up.

"What do you mean, dear?" Winston asked.

"I mean…I didn't feel right with them here tonight; they kept asking such odd and personal questions…like…as if they were trying to cough some information out of us." Julia replied.

"You're just a little paranoid; I'm sure you'll feel better after a good night's sleep."

"I don't know, honey; something about those two I just don't like well."

"Yeah…I know the feeling."

"Maybe you're right; I could be just paranoid."

"Well, we'll know for sure by the end of this week."

"Probably,"

Winston smiled and took Julia in his arm.

"Come on, Julia; let's go to bed." Winston said smiling.

Julia leaned against him.

"Alright, dear; if you insist," Julia replied.

Winston kissed his wife and they walked upstairs to go to bed; what they didn't know was that their paranoia would soon turn into a terrifying nightmare come to reality…just like before…ten years ago…in London.

Chapter 3

A month had passed and things didn't seem to be all that interesting; Winston was still busy with work and Julia still remained a housewife.

Winston was at work in a meeting listening to one of his co. workers, Rob; give a presentation on how to increase sales and income.

"And so ladies and gentlemen, if we increase our prices by 20% each year and improve our television sets with the latest technology, not only will we double our sales, but our company will make more money as well; thank you!" Rob finished.

Winston's boss, Mr. Daisaku Inoue, finished writing down key points of Rob's presentation and nodded.

"Thank you, Mr. Elling." Mr. Inoue responded.

Rob nodded and sat down.

"Oh, this is ridiculous; that plan will never work; it's bound to fail!" Another worker, Hideyo, replied.

"We tried something much similar to this about seven years ago and it didn't work; why would it now?!" Masaki yelled.

"I find this plan preposterous!" Takehiko exclaimed.

Mr. Inoue looked over at Winston who was sitting next to him as he was his assistant.

"What do you think, Smith-san?" Mr. Inoue asked.

Winston looked up from his notes and thought a while.

"I don't quite know actually, Sensei Inoue." Winston replied.

"We'll look further on this discussion; you're all dismissed." Mr. Inoue responded.

Rob, Hideyo, Masaki, Takehiko, and two others left the room leaving Mr. Inoue and Winston the only two to remain.

"So, Winston; how's the Misses?"

Winston looked up from flipping through papers.

"She's fine," Winston replied.

"That's good," Mr. Inoue replied.

"Doing anything this weekend,"

"Oh, just work; you?"

"Work…be with my wife,"

"That sounds alright,"

"Well…better get back to my office; get some work done before I leave for the night."

"Alright; I should probably too."

"See you later, Sensei Inoue."

"Later, Smith-san,"

Winston walked out of the board room and turned left to go to his office which was basically on the other side of the floor.

He got out his keys and un-locked his door, then turned on the lights of his office. He threw his keys on his desk and sat down in his leather chair when he noticed a note that he didn't remember being there when he left for his meeting.

"Well, that's odd," Winston said.

He was puzzled by the note for sometime and slightly irked by it as well. What he was really curious on knowing was who left the note their in the first place and more importantly…why did they leave it and how did they get in his office when the door was locked? He picked up the note and unfolded it to see what it said:

I'd like to meet with you in a few months from now.

Meet me in Dotonbori at 8:00 pm four months from now…and bring Julia too.

Big Brother's still watching you…

-Anonymous

Winston's body shivered in fear when he finished; how did they know Julia and who she was and what did this person want from them? Winston put the note in his pocket and went back to work trying to forget about it, but it kept re-occurring in his mind like a broken record. He thought it was someone back from London trying to scare him, but another theory was it was someone where they lived now…someone very near to them too.

Chapter 4

Winston came home to his wife that night that was on the couch reading a book. She was wearing her black boots, a long, baby pink skirt that went down to her ankles, and a short-sleeved, button up, white blouse.

Winston put down his brief case and took off his jacket, then walked over and sat down next to his wife and put his arm around her.

She briefly looked at him and smiled, then went back to reading her book she was deeply interested in.

"Hi," Julia said smiling.

"Hi there; how are you?" Winston responded.

"I'm alright…and you?"

"I'm…a little shook up, but alright."

Julia put down her book and now filled with concerned.

"Why, dear," Julia asked worried.

Winston took out the note he found on his desk at work and gave it to Julia. Julia read and analyzed the note carefully making sure she understood every word of it.

She shivered and handed it back to her husband.

"Who gave you this?" Julia asked.

"To be honest…I have no idea; I walked into my office after my meeting today and it was just sitting there on my desk." Winston replied.

"Well, that's just peculiar."

"You can say that again,"

"What are we gonna do, Winston?"

"Now let's not panic just yet; it could be very well just some sick practical joke."

"What if it's not?"

"Julia…everything's gonna be okay; I promise; if we can manage surviving The Party and fleeting London, I think this'll be easy as a piece of cake."

"You sure, honey?"

"I think so; what could be harder than what we've already experienced?"

"You've gotta good point there."

"We're both smart individuals; we're gonna get through this."

"Who would end a note with 'Big Brother's still watching you' other than The Party themselves?"

"It's alright; don't stress yourself; no matter what happens, everything's gonna be alright for us; I promise."

"I hope you're right,"

Julia leaned next to her husband.

Winston held her close.

"Don't worry, pumpkin; everything's gonna be alright." Winston said.

"I'm just a little worried after everything in London." Julia replied.

"Sweet-heart, that was over ten years ago; The Party's long gone by now, but if it makes you feel better, I'll call O'Brien when I find some time and ask what's going on in London to make sure."

"That would make me feel a little bit better,"

"Alright then; as soon as I find some down time from work, I'll do just the very same."

Julia leaned closer to her husband and sighed.

Winston kissed the top of her head and held her close.

"We're gonna be okay, Julia; we're gonna be alright."

Julia nodded trusting her husband.

"How about we make some dinner and go to bed early tonight; that'll make us feel better." Winston said.

"I guess," Julia replied.

They got off the couch and walked towards the kitchen still confused, concerned, and above all…scared.

Two months had passed and Julia started to get thicker around her waist and she sometimes complained on her clothes being tight. Winston and Julia both assumed it was the lack of exercise they did finally catching up to them, but that wasn't their main concern at the moment.

It was a nice Saturday evening and Winston decided to call O'Brien in London to see how things were going over there while Julia sat on the couch knitting a blanket to what it appeared to look like.

Winston paced the kitchen with the cordless phone as he listened to it ring endlessly. It finally stopped.

"Hello," A familiar voice responded.

"O'Brien," Winston responded.

"Winston; I haven't heard from you in ages; how are you guys?" O'Brien asked.

"Alright; how are things over there?"

"Pretty good; we're still in the middle of fixing some things that The Party messed with, but things are getting back to the way they were before The Party came to power; why?"

"Oh, I received an interesting note at work and it kinda shook Julia and I up…that's all."

"I hope it didn't mean anything."

"Yeah…me either."

"I'm sure it was nothing."

"You think so?"

"Winston, The Party's been gone for how many years? Why would they come back or some type of form of them at that?"

"You make a good point,"

"I don't think you have to worry about much of anything, Winston."

"How sure are you?"

Winston looked over at Julia; she was busy concentrating on her knitting; he assumed she probably wasn't paying any attention to his conversation with O'Brien.

"I'd say about a 99% sure," O'Brien replied.

"That's a pretty good percentage of being sure,"

"You can't get any better than that,"

"I guess not…you take care, O'Brien."

"You too, Winston…both you and Julia,"

"We will…good-bye,"

Winston and O'Brien hung up and Winston walked over to his wife.

She didn't notice he was standing there for a minute, but then looked up at him.

"Well…" Julia said.

"O'Brien said things are alright over there and the chances of The Party coming back in some shape or form are highly unlikely," Winston replied.

"I guess that's alright,"

"I thought so too,"

Julia put down her knitting and looked at her husband with a very serious look on her face; she wasn't smiling nor frowning.

"Honey, I'm not sure how much I like that look on your face," Winston responded.

"I've got some…very big news to tell you…and I'm not sure what you're gonna think of it." Julia replied.

Winston sat across from her in a chair and very concerned on what his wife was about to tell him.

"What is it, dear?" Winston asked worried.

Julia took in a huge breath and let it out.

"I'm…I'm…God…this is harder to tell you than I thought it would be." Julia replied.

"I'm listening; go on,"

Julia took another deep breath.

"Winston…I'm…having a baby." She finally was able to say.

Winston's eyes bulged and sat in shock for quite sometime.

Julia got concerned after a while and looked at her husband with worry in her eyes.

"Winston…honey, you okay?" Julia asked worried.

"You're…you're…you're…" Winston couldn't finish his sentences.

Julia nodded.

"About three months now," Julia replied.

"Three months; you've known for three months?!" Winston exclaimed.

"No…I found out this morning when you were running errands at my doctor's appointment; that's why I've been gaining weight and my clothes have felt so tight."

"How can we have a baby now; I'm in the midst of my career not to mention we might be dealing with some stalker or something!"

"You think I wanted to have a baby right now; honey, I'm freaking out as much as you are!"

"Out of all the times we could've had this happen, this just happened to be the right time for it to happen?!"

"Honey, you're not making this any easier on me; I'm the one carrying this child!"

Winston ran his fingers through his hair stressed out immensely; he was sure his varicose ulcer was gonna return at any moment or his blood pressure would sky-rocket through the roof of his own house.

Julia started weeping, feeling guilty as if this were all her fault for happening.

Winston looked over at his wife and felt guilty for yelling at her as he watched her cry. He walked over to her and held her close to him.

"Oh, Julia…I'm sorry for going off on you; I guess fear just took over my body and I wasn't able to think straight before opening my mouth." Winston replied sympathetically.

"It's my entire fault," Julia sobbed.

"No it's not, honey; no it's not; it's not anybody's fault; it just simply happened when we weren't expecting to,"

"It's just…I know how you felt about having kids when you were married to Katharine; I felt you'd feel the same way now!"

Katharine was Winston's last wife he was married to when he lived in London. It was an arranged marriage by The Party so their population would increase. The Party didn't believe that love would help their society at all and it was hate that would bring everybody together. Winston feared the fact of having a child with the woman and couldn't stand her one bit. They were even walking in the woods once and Winston had thoughts of pushing her off a cliff because of how much he couldn't stand her. They were married for 15 months and then parted their ways after no child showed up.

"Honey, you know I couldn't stand Katharine; knowing my child would be half like her made me ill…not with you, dear." Winston said comforting.

"I'm scared," Julia sobbed.

"I am too…but you know, if it was supposed to happen now, then I guess that's just the way it goes."

Julia stopped crying as much and looked at Winston with mercy pleading in her eyes that had tears falling from them.

"Will I make a good mother?" Julia asked meekly.

Winston smiled and held her tight.

"You're gonna make a wonderful mama, Julia." Winston said smiling.

Julia stopped crying, trying to catch her breath and held her husband tight. She wiped her tears away and laid her head back on Winston's chest.

Winston smiled at her.

"What," Julia asked laughing still with tears rolling down her face.

"If we're having a baby, I guess we gotta start thinking of some names for it then." Winston replied smiling.

Julia giggled and she hugged her husband; they both felt a little better now about their situation…it wasn't all bad.

Chapter 5

Another month had gone by and Winston and Julia now faced going down to Dotonbori to meet the person who left the note on Winston's desk four months previously.

Winston was putting on his jacket getting ready to leave the house. He noticed Julia wasn't with him. He smiled and looked up the stairs.

"Honey, you coming," Winston asked.

Julia walked downstairs wearing a long pink dress with her black boots. She was a little bigger in the middle, but not much, but noticeable.

She walked to her husband and smiled.

"You look very pretty," Winston said smiling.

Julia smiled.

"You don't look bad yourself," Julia replied.

Winston wrapped his arm around her and kissed her forehead. Julia smiled.

"Where is it we're going again?" Julia asked walking over to their table next to the stairs.

"Dotonbori; that's what the note said at least," Winston replied.

"How are we suppose to find someone in Dotonbori; it's huge." Julia replied.

"The main thing right now is to get there; after we're there, we can worry about that."

Julia nodded.

"Come on, dear," Winston said.

Julia started running out the door to get to their car.

"Excuse me," Winston said stern, yet smiling.

Julia turned at him smiling herself.

"No running for you…not for another five months at least," Winston said smiling.

Julia looked down at her middle and then back at Winston and smiled.

Winston ran to her and they walked along side of each other to their car.

The two of them arrived in Dotonbori around 7:30 at night. Winston and Julia were walking in the main street of it looking for whoever it was that left the note saying to meet them there on that very day.

"So…how do expect us to find this person?" Julia asked.

"Well, let's just walk around for a while until we find a place that looks like somewhere they'd want us to meet them." Winston responded.

"Fair enough,"

Winston and Julia continued walking as they looked at the city lights and buildings brighten the night; it was big, but not compared to when they lived in their one story house in Tokyo their first three years of marriage; their house was basically an ant compared to all the buildings in Tokyo.

"This place reminds me of Tokyo," Julia said reminiscing.

"Sure does; we hardly could sleep because so many things were going even at night." Winston replied.

"Probably why Tokyo has its name; 'The city that never sleeps',"

"Could be very true,"

"Our house was so small compared to the one we have now,"

"Well, we lived in such a big city; if we didn't live in a small, one story house, we probably would've lived in a tiny apartment."

"I guess,"

The two of them continued walking until Winston noticed a dark alley across the street from them. He gulped.

"What," Julia asked.

"I think I know where we're supposed to go," Winston replied.

"Where,"

Winston pointed at the dark alley.

Julia gulped.

"That can't be a good sign at all," Julia replied.

"Well, we won't know until we go in there," Winston responded.

Julia nodded.

Winston walked over to the dark alley with Julia following him.

They looked around and saw nothing.

"Are you sure this is where we're supposed to be?" Julia questioned looking around.

"I think so," Winston replied.

"I don't like this place, dear,"

"It's alright; nothing bad's happened so far,"

"Don't jinx it,"

"You're a little more paranoid than you usually get,"

"We're in a big city in a dark alley; this has 'danger' written all over it,"

"Just relax; we'll see who left the note, ask what they want, and we'll be on our way; it's that easy."

"I hope you're right; you haven't steered us wrong yet,"

Winston nodded and kept looking around.

"It said 8:00 he'd be here; its 8:15 now," Winston said.

"Maybe they got sick," Julia replied.

"Could be,"

Winston felt a piece of folded paper hit his head and saw it fall onto the ground.

"What the," Winston said.

He bent over and picked the note up and examined it; it was written on rice paper.

He unfolded it and started reading it.

Julia stood near the entrance of the dark alley and turned her head to look at the street and then back at Winston. She put her right hand on her belly.

"Uh oh," Winston said.

Julia walked to her husband and stood fairly close to him.

"What," Julia asked.

Winston turned to look at her. His face instantly read 'fear' all over.

"Honey…I think we're in trouble." Winston replied.

Julia gulped.

Chapter 6

Winston and Julia went to the police station in Osaka City. They took the note to the head sheriff, Officer Akihiro Kawano, for him to examine and analyze the handwriting on it.

As he did this, Winston and Julia stood from a distance still fairly close to Officer Kawano's desk watching him do his job, observing everything he did to the note.

After about half an hour of analyzing, sending in lab work, and tests on the note, he finally reached a conclusion on the note they had brought in to him.

"I've done everything I can; because it's written in English and not in cursive, I'm not able to determine the hand writing to anybody's files; I'm sorry you two." Officer Kawano said sincere.

"It's alright, Officer Kawano-san; you did everything you could." Julia responded.

"If you want, I can send this note to a friend of mine in Tokyo; they can translate English and have higher technology there; it may not give us an exact result, but a few options at least." Officer Kawano replied.

"That's better than nothing," Winston said.

"I'll get right on that," Officer Kawano replied.

"How long will it be before we get any results?"

Julia felt something move inside her; their baby was starting to fidget. She put her hand on her belly and looked back up at Officer Kawano and Winston.

Officer Kawano thought a while to make a close estimation of a time length.

"Anywhere from a week-two months," Officer Kawano responded.

"A week-two months," Winston exclaimed.

"I wish it could be quicker than that, but by the time it gets there in Tokyo, analyzed, tested, and results sent back to us here, that's about almost two weeks at the earliest depending on how busy Tokyo's Police Department is."

"How busy can police stations be in Japan; the crime rate here is barely even 15% of the entire country's population."

"Tokyo has a lot of bank robberies…then again…they have a lot of robberies in general."

Winston went back to when he and Julia lived in Tokyo; he did recall on quite a few robberies occurring; then again, Tokyo was a big city…the biggest city in Japan to be exact; he'd be surprised if there weren't any crimes being committed in such a huge city, especially something as common as robberies and burglaries.

"You do make a good point, Officer Kawano; I do remember some robberies happening when my wife and I lived there over seven years ago." Winston responded.

Officer Kawano nodded when another police officer walked in.

"Take this and put it in protective packaging and have it sent to Officer Yamamoto in Tokyo for further analyzing and testing." Officer Kawano said.

The officer bowed and took the note off with him to another room.

Winston and Julia both followed the officer with their eyes till they couldn't see him anymore and then returned to look at Officer Kawano.

"What did it even say?" Julia asked. She never got a glimpse of what the note said.

"It was in the same handwriting as the last note we got, but I don't remember the exact words." Winston replied.

"I wrote the message down for me to have a copy of what it said." Officer Kawano said.

He handed Julia the piece of paper and she began reading it:

I've decided to keep my identity a secret from you two till further notice.

I'll give you a hint though; you already have met us before and known us for quite sometime.

Be prepared to meet me in another five months…and bring money with yah too…Big Brother lives forever!

-Anonymous

Julia shivered and handed the note back to Officer Kawano.

"That's spooky," Julia said.

"Worst than the last one," Winston acknowledged.

"You can say that again,"

Winston and Julia looked back at Officer Kawano who was thinking of what they could possibly do till they received the results that came back from Tokyo.

"What do you think we should do, Officer Kawano?" Winston asked.

Officer Kawano continued to think. He gazed outside his window with his hand rubbing his chin and then looked back at his desk at the copy of the note that lied there, staring up at him directly.

"For now, I'd say not worry much; if anything weird happens before the time you're supposed to meet this person again, come to me and report it immediately; otherwise, I'd have to say just be careful for a while and be aware of others around you." Officer Kawano replied.

Winston and Julia nodded.

"Thank you, Officer Kawano." Julia said.

"Have a good night." Winston said.

"You, too," Officer Kawano replied.

Winston and Julia left the police station and returned back home around 10:30 that night. Winston noticed his wife looked a little freaked out and kept looking out the window in the living room.

"Don't worry, Julia; you heard Officer Kawano." Winston said assuring.

"I heard him…believing it is another story," Julia replied.

"What are you so worried about, honey?"

"Aren't you; what if it's someone from London trying to get rid of us after breaking so many laws during The Party's run of control? I'm scared,"

"I am too…but we can't let it bother us…especially when we have bigger things to worry about," Winston said referring to their unborn infant.

"That's one of the reasons I'm worrying more than usual on something like this,"

"I don't think you have to worry right now at least; is it scary, yes, but until something odd or dangerous occurs, all we can do is just sit back and relax; let nature take its run on things."

"I guess,"

Winston rubbed his wife's back as she leaned her head against him.

"I think some ice cream would cheer you up," Winston said smiling.

"What am I; five now?" Julia asked smiling.

"You love ice cream."

"…I do,"

Winston smiled and both of them walked to the kitchen to get some ice cream.

Chapter 7

Another two months had gone by and Winston still was getting very impatient on waiting for the test results to come from Tokyo on the note he and Julia had received in the previous months before.

Julia was getting huge and was due in mid-February; she and Winston had still remained un-decided on whether they wanted to find out whether their baby would be a boy or a girl while Winston was starting to wonder whether he should call O'Brien and ask him to come over and see if he could help in any way, but decided to keep it on the down-low for a little while longer.

Winston sat on the couch staring mindlessly at the cordless phone praying that Officer Kawano would call him at any minute now…like he had done for the past four days in a row now.

Julia walked out from another room in the house and spotted her husband in the same spot he'd be in for four days now doing the exact same thing everyday. She smiled at Winston.

"You're gonna make yourself sick if you keep doing that, yah know." Julia said joking around.

Winston looked up at her.

"Sorry…just getting sick and tired of waiting." Winston replied.

Julia sat down on the chair on the other side of him and placed her hand on her belly which had grown the size of a watermelon.

"Now you know how I feel; I've got another three months of waiting before I can start getting my body back to the way it was." Julia replied.

Winston smiled at her.

"Yeah…I guess that's a little while ways yet." Winston replied.

Julia smiled and nodded.

"I wonder what it is," Winston questioned.

Julia smiled and got up to walk into the smaller hang-out room across the hall from the living room.

Winston smiled.

"You know; don't you," Winston cried.

Julia looked back at him still smiling and then looked back and continued walking.

Winston ran after her and found her looking out the window in the hang-out room.

"Well," Winston asked.

Julia turned around and looked at him.

"Well, what," Julia responded joking around with him.

"What are we having?!" Winston asked starting to chuckle.

"I didn't say I knew what it was,"

"No, but I can certainly tell by the look on your face, dear."

"I could be smiling for a number of reasons,"

"Julia, I know I'm correct, honey."

"…Alright, maybe you're right on this particular thing,"

"Come on; tell me if it's a boy or a girl!"

Julia laughed silently.

"Winston…we are indeed having a daughter." Julia replied.

Winston's face lit up with a smile bigger than his face.

"…A girl…we're having a girl?!" Winston asked about to spring for joy.

Julia smiled and nodded.

"We are," She responded.

Winston walked over to Julia and hugged her and kissed her cheek. Julia smiled.

"A girl…thank God; I don't have to play baseball with her," Winston said relieved.

Julia giggled.

"I guess we'll have to get a lot of pink; dresses and ribbons?" Winston asked.

"I guess so," Julia responded.

Winston and Julia smiled at each other when the phone rang. Winston was too happy about Julia having a girl, that he didn't notice the phone ringing.

Julia leaned over slightly still smiling.

"I think that's for you, dear." Julia said.

"Huh…Oh," Winston exclaimed.

Winston ran to the phone and answered it.

"Hello," Winston answered.

Julia followed him and stood in the entrance of the hang-out room while she watched her husband talk to somebody on the phone.

"Oh, good; it's you; I've been going crazy for those results," Winston responded.

The man said something on the other line.

"Okay…okay…yep; we'll be there shortly; yes, thank you, Officer Kawano; good-bye," Winston finished and hung up the phone and looked over at his wife who was looking at him wondering what he and Officer Kawano had talked about.

"Well," Julia finally said.

"Officer Kawano wants us to meet him at his office right away; the test results came back," Winston replied.

"I kinda assumed,"

"Well, let's go,"

Winston and Julia put on their jackets and left for Officer Kawano's office to receive the test results they had been waiting so anxiously for.

Chapter 8

Officer Kawano sat at his desk with a big, brown envelope on his desk with Winston and Julia watching carefully from a distance as he opened the envelope and pulled out several papers out with results on each of them. He looked over them several times before he gave them the results to make sure he didn't miss anything important or didn't make a mistake and look over something.

Julia took in a breath and looked over at her husband who was seemed to be tensing up with anxiety and terror; he was scared to what the test results said…even though he wasn't sure what it was he was actually afraid of hearing of.

Officer Kawano nodded and looked at them.

"Well, the results from the note says it could be one of three people; all options being a married couple," Officer Kawano replied.

"A married couple," Winston and Julia said in unison.

Officer Kawano nodded.

"Didn't you notice that the handwriting on both notes you received look slightly different from the other one?" Officer Kawano asked.

Winston and Julia looked at each other and then back at Officer Kawano and shook their heads 'no'.

"It's alright; we can't notice everything; right?" Officer Kawano asked.

"I guess," Winston replied.

"So your options are Hayato and Natsuki Tanaka, Ken and Fujiko Watanabe, or Tatsuya and Emi Yamada." Officer Kawano replied.

Winston and Julia gasped.

"Tatsuya and Emi," Winston and Julia exclaimed in unison.

Julia looked at Winston.

"Our neighbors," Julia replied.

"I knew something was bad about them, but I didn't think anything so as extreme as this!" Winston replied.

"Wait…these two are your neighbors?" Officer Kawano asked holding a picture of them up.

Winston and Julia nodded.

"Why; is something wrong with them?" Julia asked concerned.

"Those two have been jumping town to town for years ever since something called 'The Party' ended in London; they have this crazy idea of trying to rebuild it and make it Japan's new form of government…good thing we have such a healthy and powerful emperor or we'd all be in trouble." Officer Kawano replied.

"So…after all these years, we've been living next to criminals?" Julia questioned.

"Oh, I don't like this at all; not one little bit," Winston replied.

"Please God in Heaven; not another Party; the last one was bad enough,"

"What is this 'Party' you two are talking about anyways?" Officer Kawano asked.

Winston and Julia looked at each other and gulped and then back at Officer Kawano who they've grown to trust so deeply.

"Okay; you might wanna sit back and get comfy…this could take a while." Winston replied.

Officer Kawano leaned back in his chair and nodded.

"Proceed," Officer Kawano replied.

Winston and Julia sat down in the chairs provided for them and started telling the story of The Party and their evil ways back in London which only seemed like yesterday to them.

"When Julia and I lived back in London, about ten years ago, there was a type of government in power called The Party; their leader was Big Brother and apparently he was always watching you whenever and wherever you are. They had things they'd watch you through called telescreens and they were put everywhere if you weren't a Prole which were people that weren't part of the Inner Party or the Outer Party. The Outer Party had it the worst of all; they constantly had to follow such strict guidelines and make sure they were following The Party's orders and directions; I was part of the Outer Party." Winston stopped to take a breather.

"I see; is that all?" Officer Kawano asked.

"No; that's only part of it," Winston replied.

Winston nodded to his wife so she got a chance to speak.

"The Party had many rules and restrictions…too many to go through right now; arranged marriages, education, religion, language…the list could go on forever; I worked at what was called the Ministry of Truth with my husband which basically fixed everything to what The Party originally said to make it to what it actually happened so it would appear that they didn't lie. There was also a thing called thoughtcrime, which was the worst crime possible to commit in that form of society; basically it was thinking thoughts that went against The Party's beliefs and rules of society." Julia replied.

"The Party felt that hate would bring everybody together instead of love; unfortunately, Julia and I went against The Party and fell in love with each other; eventually we were caught and I was arrested and Julia was sent to the hospital after being hit in the stomach repeatedly hardly and cruelly. My friend back in London, O'Brien, was arrested as well and we eventually thought of a plan to escape and I was reunited with Julia. Goldstein, another leader that went against The Party, somehow found us and saved us by arresting two of The Party members and Julia and I fleeted here to Japan as soon as she had recovered and discharged from the hospital." Winston finished.

"London's still trying to rebuild society after The Party basically destroying everything all in humanity over there and basically most of the world…thankfully, they found your country worthless; you guys were able to survive from going through that." Julia finished.

Officer Kawano nodded.

"Well…I say that you two have been through a lot for how young you two look." Officer Kawano replied.

"I'm almost forty," Julia said smiling.

"I am in my forties," Winston said smiling as well.

"You two look good for your ages then," Officer Kawano said smiling.

Winston and Julia blushed.

"Well, thank you for not thinking we look old," Winston replied.

Officer Kawano smiled.

"Well, come on," Officer Kawano replied.

"Go where," Winston asked.

"To your house,"

"Why,"

"I'm gonna stay with you guys for a few nights; do a stake-out,"

"I guess that would be fine with us,"

"This is too dangerous for you two…at least until your wife has that baby of yours," Officer Kawano said smiling at Julia.

Julia smiled and placed her hand on her middle. Winston smiled at his wife and put his hand behind her back and rubbed her back.

Officer Kawano grabbed his stuff needed for his stake-out and he left along with Winston and Julia.

Winston and Julia arrived home with Officer Kawano while Tatsuya and Emi were spying on them through a window in their living room with binoculars.

"There's a police officer at The Smiths' house," Emi said disgusted.

"They're wusses; what'd you expect?" Tatsuya asked.

"I guess,"

Emi turned around and looked at her husband and became furious.

"Tatsuya; what in the name of God are you doing?!" Emi exclaimed.

Tatsuya was eating some Japanese cookies with chocolate in the middle of them.

"I'm having a snack; can't I have a snack?" Tatsuya responded.

"No," His wife snapped at him.

"Well, then," Tatsuya got up annoyed and walked over to his wife concentrating deeply on watching every move Winston and Julia made.

"God…I wish I had one of those telescreens with us right now; I wanna know what they're talking about." Emi said disgusted at her neighbors.

"We will soon, Emi; all in good time," Tatsuya replied.

"How did two horrible creatures manage to survive through the strength and courage of The Party?"

"Don't worry; we'll get our revenge when time's right."

Emi and Tatsuya looked at each other with evil in their eyes and smiles. Both of them started laughing with corruption and demonic tone within them…as they plotted their revenge on Winston and Julia…and their revolution of reforming The Party and bringing it to the one country it hadn't affected the first time; The Land of the Rising Sun…Japan!

Part Two: Chapter 9

Julia brought out a cup of coffee for both Officer Kawano and her husband.

"Why, thank you," Officer Kawano replied.

"You're welcome," Julia responded.

"Thank you, dear," Winston said.

"You're welcome, honey." Julia replied.

Officer Kawano was messing around with a bunch of technological equipment and machines that Winston had no idea how to work properly; neither did Julia at that.

"So, what do you plan on doing during your stake-out?" Winston asked.

"I don't know; probably won't have a clear idea until the morning; just setting my equipment up for the night so it's ready in the morning if I need any of it at the break of dawn; I'd say I'll be here for about four days maximum to observe and watch to see if I notice any unusual movements or actions going on by the Yamada's'." Officer Kawano replied.

"What happens if there is?"

"Then, I'll contact Officer Yamamoto in Tokyo and have him come over and he'll help me further with this along with a few of his officers at command as well…assistants or back-up as so to speak."

Winston nodded.

"We have a guest room over there in the hall to the right of the bathroom if you're wondering where you'll be sleeping." Winston replied.

"Thank you; I'll be sure to put my things in there until further notice." Officer Kawano responded; he was too busy messing with his cords and wires to his machines, untangling them to bother to look at Winston.

"I think Julia and I are gonna hit the hay so let us know if you need anything; there's food and drinks in the fridge if you're hungry, the remote's right there by you if you wanna watch TV, and the phone if you need to make a call or anything." Winston said.

"Alright; thank you," Officer Kawano responded.

Winston nodded and walked to his wife who stood oddly close to the stairs.

"Come on, honey; let's go to bed." Winston said.

Julia nodded.

Both her and Winston walked upstairs and went into their room. Winston opened and closed their bedroom door as they entered and Julia walked straight to the window and started thinking about something.

"Julia; you alright, darling," Winston asked worried.

Julia turned around and nodded.

"I'm fine; just a little worried, that's all." Julia replied.

"You seem a little tense," Winston responded.

"How do you feel about having a police officer live with us for about four days?"

"I find it a little interesting; I feel safe, that's for sure…don't stress so much, honey; he's just another person; just act around him as if you would with any other person you'd talk to."

"Not how I act with my friends,"

"Well…maybe not like that, but you get the jest of it."

"What about Tatsuya…and Emi?"

"What about them?"

"What if they succeed with their plan?"

"Honey, it's two of them against an entire nation who's never had a government of The Party, nor necessarily wanted one in the first place; their chances are slim to none if you ask me."

"What if they have help back in London or they started forming some sort of group or gang or whatever you wanna call it and they're already thinking of ways to get revenge on us and reform The Party again?"

"Sweet-heart; O'Brien said nothing was going on over in London when I last spoke to him…besides the fact of them still trying to rebuild society which could take another few years or longer."

"Things could've changed since three months ago, dear."

"Honey, I really hate seeing you so worried about this; I feel bad about it."

"It's not just me I'm concerned for; it's also you…and our baby; if anything bad happened to one of you or both…I couldn't live with myself; I'm scared for all of us…even those in Japan I've never necessarily even met yet."

"Nothing's gonna happen to you, me, our baby, or Japan; we're all gonna be alright; Officer Kawano's on our side, O'Brien's just a phone call away, our friends…we're gonna be just fine; I promise, Julia."

Julia sighed and felt their baby move and kick inside her. She looked down at her swollen abdomen and smiled and put her hand on it.

"You're alright, sweetie; Mama's just being a fraidy-cat, that's all." Julia said smiling.

Winston walked over and smiled and held Julia close to him.

Julia smiled and held Winston tight.

"We're gonna be alright; all of us," Winston said smiling.

Julia smiled and nodded.

"Come on, honey; let's go to bed; we need all the sleep we can get before that little girl of ours' arrives." Winston said smiling.

"You're certainly right on that." Julia replied.

They both kissed each other and they got ready for and went to bed.

Chapter 10

The next day had arrived; Winston was at work and it was Julia and Officer Kawano in the house.

Officer Kawano sat on the couch looking at papers and messing with something that looked like a radar and walkie-talkie wearing his police uniform while Julia was in the kitchen making coffee and lunch for Officer Kawano as she wore her black boots, a long red skirt, and a long sleeved, button up white blouse.

She finished making Officer Kawano's coffee and lunch and walked over to him and gently placed his cup of coffee and plate on the table next to his equipment.

Officer Kawano glanced over after he was finished watching the radar for a minute. He looked up at Julia and smiled.

"Thank you," Officer Kawano said pleased.

Julia smiled.

"You're welcome," She replied.

"You gonna eat something?"

"I will later; I'm not very hungry; Winston made me a big breakfast."

"You and Winston are very lucky to have one another; my wife would never make me lunch like this; she always says you 'have two legs that aren't broken; use 'em'."

Julia laughed and placed her hands on her belly.

"I guess I just got lucky," Julia replied smiling.

"I guess so," Officer Kawano replied.

Julia smiled and walked back into the kitchen and sat down at the table and started reading a book of her's.

"Hey, Julia; you've ever talked into a walkie-talkie?" Officer Kawano asked.

Julia looked over at him and smiled.

"I have not," She replied.

"Would you like to?" Officer Kawano asked.

Julia thought for a minute, and then nodded. She heaved herself off of the chair at the kitchen table and walked out to the living room and sat down slowly on the couch. She looked over at Officer Kawano and placed a hand on her belly.

"Now it's very simple; you just push in this button into the side when you wanna say something and just talk into it…like a phone so to speak." Officer Kawano said.

"Alright," Julia replied.

Officer Kawano handed Julia the walkie-talkie and she observed it for a minute as it lied in her hands.

"Okay…how about…we contact a co. worker of mine; Officer Sato; he's always pulling pranks on me at work…this'll be good revenge; say 'Come in, Officer #4675; come in, Officer 4675; over." Officer Kawano said smiling.

Julia smiled and pushed the button in on the walkie-talkie.

"Come in, Officer 4675; I repeat; calling Officer 4675; over." Julia said.

She let go of the button and smiled.

"Good job," Officer Kawano said pleased.

Julia smiled and looked back at the walkie-talkie.

"Officer Sato speaking, over," Officer Sato replied through.

Julia looked at Officer Kawano.

"Just say 'hi' back for now; I'm still thinking of something good to say." Officer Kawano said smiling.

"Hello, Officer Sato; this is Officer Akihiro Kawano; do you read; over." Julia responded.

"…You're not Officer Kawano; you're a woman." Officer Sato replied.

Julia laughed.

"Okay, okay; reply with 'This is his mother'; do it; it'll be hilarious." Officer Kawano said laughing.

Julia smiled and nodded.

"You're right; this is his mother speaking; over." Julia responded.

Both Julia and Officer Kawano started cracking-up.

"Uh…hi, Mrs. Kawano…" Officer Sato quivered.

"Oh; I got one," Julia said.

Julia pushed the button back in.

"Yeah; um, my son tells me you and him have been sneaking out at night to go to some rated 'R' movies I tell you two not to see; is this true?" Julia questioned.

"One time; one time I tell you!" Officer Sato pleaded.

Officer Kawano and Julia broke out in laughter.

"Okay; we've had our fun." Officer Kawano responded.

Julia smiled and nodded. She handed Officer Kawano back his walkie-talkie and went back to the kitchen table to continue reading her book. She looked back at Officer Kawano and smiled.

"Winston, I wish you were here; you'd be laughing so hard right now and be having so much fun too; I can't wait till you come home tonight." Julia thought smiling. She picked up her book and went back to reading.

It was 5:30 pm; Winston came home from work and entered the living room. He took off his jacket and put down his brief-case wearing a gray suit and black tie to find his wife watching Officer Kawano work and observe his radar and machines.

Winston smiled.

"Looks like you two have been busy today," Winston said smiling.

Julia looked over at her husband and smiled.

"Winston, you're home," Julia cried smiling. She walked over to him.

"Hi, honey," Winston said smiling.

They kissed each other and Winston wrapped his arm around her.

"Your wife can come with me on the force anytime she wants; I taught her how to use a walkie-talkie today." Officer Kawano said smiling.

"Oh really now; you haven't even had our baby girl yet and you're already looking for work; that's a new one." Winston said joking.

Julia smiled and leaned against her husband. Winston rested his head against her's.

"I wish you could've seen it; Officer Kawano and I prank-called a friend of his earlier today." Julia said.

"Oh really huh," Winston replied.

"It was really fun; right, Julia." Officer Kawano responded.

Julia nodded still leaning against her husband.

Winston kissed his wife's head and it made Julia smile.

Officer Kawano smiled and picked up his walkie-talkie.

"This is Officer 5479; come in Officer 4267 in Tokyo; over." Officer Kawano said.

Winston and Julia assumed he was trying to contact Officer Yamamoto.

"…Officer 4267; Masahiro Yamamoto speaking; over," Officer Yamamoto responded. It sounded like he was in a cop car running.

Winston and Julia gasped with smiles on their faces.

They've longed to hear or meet Officer Yamamoto; Officer Kawano told them many good things about him and what a kind and fun personality he has.

Officer Kawano smiled.

"Yeah, can I get a background check on Tatsuya and Emi Yamada; over," Officer Kawano replied.

"Uh…sure; hold on for a moment, over," Officer Yamamoto replied.

"Hi, Officer Yamamoto," Winston and Julia cheered.

Officer Kawano chuckled.

"The people I'm staying with for a stake-out, Winston and Julia, say 'hi', over," Officer Kawano said to please them.

Winston and Julia smiled.

"Konban-wa,Mr. and Mrs. Smith-san," Officer Yamamoto said friendly.

Winston and Julia looked at each other and smiled and then looked back at Officer Kawano as he waited for a response from Officer Yamamoto on the background check he asked for.

Julia walked off to the hang-out room and had Winston follow her.

Chapter 11

Winston walked in to find his wife looking up at the night sky through the window.

"Something wrong, dear," Winston asked.

Julia turned around and smiled.

"No…just thinking," She replied.

Winston smiled and walked over.

"Thinking of what," He asked.

"Oh…a lot of things,"

"What kinda things?"

"What's London like now; how O'Brien's doing; what our lives are gonna be like after our daughter arrives,"

"Well, last time I spoke to him, O'Brien said he was fine and they were still rebuilding society and our lives are gonna wonderful after our little girl arrives."

"You know, we have everything planned out for when our daughter, but we don't have a name for her."

"You're right; we don't…but don't worry; we have a little while left before we need to start worrying."

"I only have three months left; we don't have a lot of time to decide."

"Well…let's start saying some names then until we fall in love with one we both like."

"…Hmmmm; what's a name I'd like for a girl…"

Winston and Julia both stood and said nothing to each other for minutes as they thought, and thought, and thought, and thought some more; none of them could think of a name they loved or liked the sound of for their daughter to have.

"…What do you think of the name Emma?" Julia asked.

"It's a little common, wouldn't you think?" Winston replied a little unsure.

"…Probably right,"

"…How do you feel about Jenny?"

"It's not my favorite name, but I don't dislike it."

Winston and Julia thought again of some more ideas.

"You know, this is probably the hardest decision I've ever had to make." Winston responded.

"I know; whatever we choose as a name, our daughter will be stuck with for the rest of her life; whether she likes it or not." Julia added.

"Do you like the name your parents gave you?"

Julia thought for a while.

"I guess; I'm alright with it; I don't know of a name I like much more than my own, but it's not something that causes a problem in my life or how I live my life; what about you; do you like your name?" Julia replied.

"I'm not crazy over it like some people are with their names; I don't hate my name…I don't necessarily love my name either…it's just…there." Winston replied.

"I agree,"

"Don't worry, honey; we'll think of a name eventually."

"Good; I didn't think we could call our daughter Baby girl Smith forever."

Winston smiled and he hugged his wife.

"Winston; Julia; come here, you two," Officer Kawano called.

Winston and Julia walked out to the living room.

"Any information on Tatsuya and Emi," Winston asked.

"A little bit, actually," Officer Kawano replied.

"Like what,"

"Well, both of them have family members that fought in battle during World War II."

"That's interesting,"

"They used to live in Shikoku, until they were wanted for a bank robbery of $375,000 and left town."

Winston's eyes bulged from his sockets.

"Three hundred…seventy-five…thousand…dollars," He exclaimed.

"What do they plan on doing with that kinda money?" Julia replied.

"They plan on reforming The Party and over-throwing the current government system we have here in Japan by persuading Japanese citizens and as well as our very own Emperor of Japan." Officer Kawano added.

"Not another Party; the last one was bad enough." Julia moaned.

"How many people are on their side now?" Winston questioned.

"I don't recall; Officer Yamamoto didn't specify that information." Officer Kawano replied.

"How do they plan on over-throwing the current government in Japan?" Winston questioned.

"Forget how they plan on doing it; what about if they succeed in doing it; what will happen to us; will we have to separate from each other; what about our little girl; where would she go; what would she do without her mother and father?" Julia cried.

"If anything, they'd probably kill you and me and take our daughter and raise her to be a member of the Inner or Outer Party and start working for them at a very young age…at least start training her at the age of seven if they decide to keep the same ways as the original Party." Winston replied.

"No; I won't die knowing that's what'll happen to our sweet, little daughter!" Julia cried. She started balling as she felt frightened and afraid for if Tatsuya and Emi were to succeed in their God awful plan to reform a new generation of The Party.

Winston held Julia close to him as she continued to weep and sob.

"Sshhhhhh; it'll be alright, Julia; everything's gonna be okay." Winston said comforting.

"How; how can you be sure of that?" Julia balled.

"We fought against The Party once and won, remember; we can do it again; I know we can."

"How,"

"Well, Tatsuya and Emi can't have that many people on their side right now; right?"

"I guess not,"

"So, if we get most of the population on our side before them, they don't stand a chance against us; majority wins, they always do."

"It doesn't matter; unless they can't get through the Emperor of Japan, we might as well start preparing for our deaths now."

"We'll get the Emperor on our side; we've got Officer Kawano, Officer Yamamoto, we'll get O'Brien to help us if needed, our other neighbors…lots of people will help us; I'm gonna be fine, you're gonna be fine, our daughter's gonna be fine…everybody's gonna be alright."

Julia leaned her head back against Winston and continued to cry.

Winston held her and tried to calm her.

"It'll be alright…it'll be alright," He said softly.

Julia continued crying.

"I'm scared," Julia pleaded.

"I know, I know; I am, too; we're gonna be alright though, I promise." Winston replied.

Julia remained sobbing and crying.

Winston continued to hold her.

"We're gonna be okay…everyone's gonna be okay." Winston said.

"…I hope…" Winston thought in his mind.

Chapter 12

The stake-out had ended and Officer Kawano went back to his home and work; he had given Winston and Julia his number just in case they needed to get into contact with him.

Julia was due in less than a month; she had grown slightly agitated by moving around a lot as it wore her out easily and felt like a huge effort just to walk from the living room to the kitchen which in perspective wasn't that far of a distance, but Winston could understand why she'd feel that way with all that extra weight she had gained. She also suffered some minor body and back-aches from time to time because of the weight distribution. Winston sometimes felt sorry for her, but knew she was a tough enough woman to deal with it and she rarely complained about her pain either.

Winston had started having the hobby of staring outside the living room window hour after hour, day after day, just standing there and saying nothing; he just stood there and thought.

Julia was on the couch reading a book when she started wondering about her husband. She put her book down and looked at him puzzled for a minute.

"You okay, dear?" Julia asked.

Winston turned around and looked at her.

"I'm alright; just thinking of things." Winston replied.

Julia put down her book and walked over to him.

"Like what," She asked.

"Just wondering what I could do to make you feel safer about this whole thing." Winston replied.

Julia smiled which made her blue-gray eyes twinkle like stars.

"I feel safe because I have you." She replied.

"What about when I'm not here; like at work?" Winston responded.

"You said it yourself; you're safe, I'm safe, our daughter's safe, everybody's alright."

"I guess…when you put it like that,"

Julia hugged her husband and walked back to the couch and went back to reading her book.

Winston turned around and looked at her; Julia was too focused on her book now to notice him for the moment's notice. Winston walked over to her and sat down next to her and wrapped his arm around her. Julia looked up at him and smiled and then back at her book and continued reading.

Winston put his hand on Julia's middle and smiled. Julia looked down and smiled at her husband's hand and placed her hand on her middle. She then went back to reading.

"You seem very interested in that book there," Winston replied smiling.

"It's a pretty good book," Julia responded.

"What's it about?"

"Just a mystery story,"

"Well, no wonder you're interested in it,"

Julia smirked and flipped a page in her book.

"Did I ever tell you I wanted to write a book?" Julia asked.

"You did not," Winston replied.

"I was into English class in high school; I always told myself I'd write a book someday, but I never got around to it…never really had anything to write about to be honest."

"Did you ever have some idea of what it would've been about?"

Julia put her book on her belly and thought for a minute.

"You know…now that I recall on it, I do remember at one point wanting to write a murder mystery or a love story…or a combination of the both of them, but I never could decide which one I would rather do." Julia replied.

"That's the difference between you and me; the most writing I'll ever wanna do will be writing in my journal." Winston responded.

"I'm not gonna have time to start it now; I've gotta worry about becoming a mother in less than another month."

"Yes…yes, you do,"

"One of these days…one of these days,"

"What do you think our daughter will grow up to be?"

"She can be whatever her heart desires; it doesn't bother me…I just want her to be happy and healthy."

"Me too, dear…me too,"

Julia smiled and picked up her book and went back to reading.

"How would you feel about O'Brien coming out?" Winston asked.

"I wouldn't mind, why?" Julia questioned.

"I was thinking of calling him and asking him to come out; I'd feel better knowing someone was here with you while I'm at work."

"Oh, honey; I'm glad you're worried of me, but I'm better now; I'm not as scared anymore; besides, isn't O'Brien busy with helping London rebuilding society?"

"He might as well be, but I think he'd come out and see us,"

"It's up to you, dear, but I'm much better than I was a few months ago; I promise."

"You may say that…but it's finally getting to me…"

"If you don't worry, neither will I; can we make that promise?"

Winston smiled and nodded.

Julia smiled and went back to her book.

"I think I'm gonna go write in my journal," Winston said.

Julia nodded too into her book.

Winston rubbed her back and walked upstairs to go to their room where he'd sit at his desk and write in his journal like he did on most days…still worried about Tatsuya and Emi, the possibility of the reformation of a new generation of The Party, Japan, himself, more importantly…he was worried about Julia and their unborn daughter.

Chapter 13

A few weeks had passed and it was the end of January entering the beginning of February. Winston had become wrapped around in work as he was preparing for a deadline at the end of the month and Julia's life seemed to be nothing, but reading and books.

Remembering the note saying to bring money with them at their next encounter with the people who were leaving the notes, Winston didn't have an exact idea of how much money they wanted since it didn't specify, so he decided on bringing anywhere from $200-$300 with him and Julia when they had to meet him again.

Julia was on the couch in the hang-out room reading a book wearing her boots, a long white skirt, and a short-sleeved, pink t-shirt, elevating her head with her hand and arm when her husband came home from work one night in his business outfit. She was too deep into her book to notice he'd come through the door.

Winston was about to go upstairs when he noticed his wife in the hang-out room. He smiled and entered the room.

"Why, hello there," He replied friendly.

Julia looked up and smiled, then back to her book.

"Hello," She said.

"How are you?" Winston asked.

"I'm alright; and you; how was your day?" Julia responded.

"The same as usual; meetings, work, lunch, more meetings, more work…same old, same old."

Julia smirked.

"You and me both," Julia replied.

Winston sat down in the chair next to his wife who was reading in nothing, but a lamp light on a stand lighting the room.

"You still are reading that book?" Winston asked smiling.

Julia looked up and then back at her book continuing to smile.

"I just started reading this book," Julia replied.

"I see," Winston responded.

Julia nodded and flipped a page in her book.

"Guess who we might get to say 'hi' to in another few weeks?" Winston questioned smiling.

Julia smiled still reading.

"Yep; it's coming up fast, isn't it?" Julia responded.

"I can't believe we're gonna become parents in just a few weeks," Winston said.

Julia nodded and smiled.

"We still don't have a name for her." Julia added sounding a little upset.

"Don't worry, honey; we'll think of one; it'll hit us at the right moment." Winston replied.

"I hope; I don't wanna have her and not be able to know what to call her."

"We'll think of a name soon enough."

Julia sighed giving a faint smile.

"How's your body feel?" Winston asked.

"Alright; I ache a little, but I shouldn't be complaining; if anything, I'm gonna ache a lot more after I have this kid." Julia responded.

"Probably true…no offense."

"None taken,"

Winston smiled and walked out of the room. Julia got off the couch slowly and walked out to her husband.

Winston looked back at her and smiled.

"You could've stayed in there and read for a while; I would've made my own dinner." Winston said smiling, yet feeling guilty.

"No; I need to get up and walk around anyways, I guess; even the littlest of moving feels like exercise lately." Julia replied.

"Well, why don't you go lie down on the couch; I'll make us dinner."

"You don't have to; I feel well enough to,"

"Maybe so, but I want you to have as much energy as you can get; you're gonna need it after delivering…I guess we both will."

"Honey, I feel fine; making dinner isn't gonna kill me,"

"Can I just spoil you for one night?"

Julia sighed and smiled.

"…Alright; one night; don't expect me to not making you breakfast though." Julia responded.

Winston leaned over and kissed Julia's cheek.

"Now, go lie down and read or watch TV; I'm gonna make some nice soup and a big glass of milk." Winston said smiling.

"Okay, dear," Julia responded.

Julia walked out to the living room and sat down on the couch. She spotted her book, picked it up, and opened it up to where she left off in it and continued reading.

A few hours passed and Winston and Julia had finished eating dinner. They were sitting on the couch. Winston was doing paperwork for work while Julia was watching a game show on TV.

Winston looked over at her wearing his reading glasses.

"You alright there," Winston asked.

Julia looked to her right and back at the TV with no expression on her face.

"I'm alright," She responded.

"You don't seem that happy, that's all," Winston replied.

"Oh…I'm just tired; I probably should start thinking about going to bed."

"I probably should too; I gotta big meeting tomorrow with an important Japanese law office and whether or not they wanna consider buying one of our television sets."

"That's good,"

"I guess…I'm a little nervous; I wanna impress them and my boss."

"Would your boss have made you his assistant if he thought otherwise?"

"…I really don't know; I think he likes me, but I could be wrong; he seems to enjoy me and my ideas, but…you know,"

"No, I don't; I'm here for eight hours a day while you're at work; I have no idea how a TV company functions or operates."

Winston smiled and put his arm around Julia.

"I don't love yah any less or more either way." Winston said.

Julia smiled and leaned her head against Winston.

"I'm glad to hear that," Julia responded.

"What are you doing tomorrow?" Winston asked.

"…Reading; watch TV, clean, cook…nothing interesting."

Winston nodded and went back to paperwork.

Julia looked at her husband for a minute.

"Winston," Julia asked.

"Yes, dear," Winston replied.

"Do you think Tatsuya and Emi have a chance at their plan succeeding?"

"I don't know, honey; at the moment's notice, I wouldn't say so."

"I don't want another Party."

"I don't think anybody wants another Party, Julia."

"They're the reason I almost lost you once…I don't wanna lose you again…let alone have it be forever this time."

Winston smiled and rubbed Julia's back.

"You'll never lose me; I'll always be there, Julia." Winston replied.

"You promise," Julia asked.

"…Cross my heart, Julia."

"Good…I'm glad,"

Winston and Julia hugged each other.

"I think I'm gonna go to bed, dear." Julia stated.

"Alright, honey; you sleep well." Winston said.

Julia smiled.

"I will," Julia said.

"I'll be up in a while," Winston added.

"Okay,"

"Good night, sweetie."

"Good night, Winston. I love you,"

"Love you, too, dear."

Julia smiled and walked upstairs. Winston smiled and went back to his work.

Chapter 14

It was 5:30 am the next day; Winston was getting ready for work while Julia slept as that was their normal morning routine.

Winston was putting on his tie and tuxedo jacket when Julia fluttered her eyes open and looked at Winston. She gave a faint smile at him.

Winston looked over at her and smiled.

"You don't have to wake-up, dear," Winston said softly.

"It's alright; my stomach aches a little," Julia replied.

Winston grew concerned, but remained calm. He walked over to Julia and knelt down beside her.

"Like a searing pain or what?" He questioned.

"No…I think I'm just hungry," She responded.

"You want me to make you some breakfast; I have quite a bit of time before I have to leave for work, honey; I don't usually get to the train station until 6:30 anyways."

Winston took a bullet train to work like basically everyone in Japan did to get around for work and other places; people in Japan did use cars, but if you lived in a big city such as Tokyo or Osaka, your main source of transportation was usually a bullet train or city bus…at least to go to work that is.

"No; it's fine; I can make my own." Julia responded.

"You sure; it's not a problem what so ever." Winston replied.

Julia shook her head 'no' and smiled.

"I'm fine; you get ready for your big meeting today; I want everything to go well." Julia replied smiling.

Winston smiled and got up.

"You want me to walk downstairs with you?" He asked.

Julia smiled still half-asleep.

"I'd love that," She replied.

Winston smiled.

Julia slowly got up and put on her cotton pink bathrobe that went down to her ankles like her cotton white nightgown.

Winston wrapped his arm around her which made Julia smile and they walked downstairs together.

Julia walked into the kitchen and turned the lights on while Winston turned on a lamp in the living room; he assumed it was too early to turn on the living room lights at five in the morning.

"You need a lunch, Winston?" Julia asked looking in the cupboards for something to eat.

"No; we're going out to lunch as a business lunch on my floor with the law office we're presenting to today." Winston replied.

"You need any money?"

"I've got some,"

"You have everything?"

"Everything I need's in my brief-case, dear."

"Alright,"

Winston smiled and walked over to his wife who had gotten some eggs out of the refrigerator and was starting to make scrambled eggs for breakfast. He placed his arm around her and smiled at her. Julia smiled back still focusing on her eggs.

Winston kissed her cheek.

"I love you," Winston said.

"Love you, too, honey." Julia responded.

"Have a good day,"

"You, too,"

Winston leaned his head against Julia and Julia leaned slightly against her husband.

After saying their good-bye's', Winston walked over to the door and put on his jacket and picked up his brief-case and looked back at Julia as he opened the door.

Julia stopped what she was doing and looked over at Winston and smiled.

Winston waved 'bye' as Julia did the same as well.

Winston smiled and closed the door as he was off to work.

Winston arrived at his office at 7:00 am; he usually arrived at 7:30, but he arrived early to get a head start on things before the Japanese law office arrived. He caught the 6:00 train instead of his usual 6:30 or 6:45 train; depending on how late he was running in the morning.

He entered his office when his boss entered.

"Ohayo-gozaimasu, Smith-san," Mr. Inoue said.

"Konnichiwa," Winston responded.

"You ready for the meeting today?"

"I'll be honest…I'm a little nervous."

"Don't be; they'll buy from us as long as we give them what they want."

"What if we can't give them what they want?"

"Well…we'll just have to make a compromise then; this is business, Winston; most of the time, you don't always get what you want; people know this when they come into business or have to deal with business."

"I guess; has anyone else checked in?"

"Masaki and Takehiko; I haven't seen Hideyo yet and Rob said he was running a little late because of the train station in Tokyo; they're running a little behind schedule; Brandon and Elliot are here, too."

Brandon and Elliot were two other co. workers Winston worked with in his business. Elliot was the newest one on the floor; he'd only been working there for about two years, but learning quickly for someone in their company…Winston was quick to learn how their business worked as well.

"Shall I get set up in the board room?" Winston asked.

"I think you got a little time to work or socialize with your co. workers; I don't expect the law office to arrive till about 8:00 or 9:00…8:00 at the earliest at least." Mr. Inoue replied.

"Okay, then,"

Winston sat down at his desk and turned on his computer and opened his brief-case to grab some paperwork and files he wanted to work on before the law office arrived.

"You want some coffee?" Mr. Inoue asked.

Winston held up his coffee he had bought from a store at a little shop at the train station back at the Nipponbashi Station; one of the first few stops on his way to work.

"How's your wife doing?" Mr. Inoue asked.

"She's fine; she aches a lot, but I wouldn't see why not; carrying all that extra weight must be torture on somebody; I feel bad for her at some points." Winston replied.

"I've meet Julia once or twice; she's a strong lady; she'll be just fine."

"I know; she maybe strong physically, but she's sweet as a flower when it comes emotionally."

"So are you,"

"Well, thank-you for that compliment; I try to not act that way when at work to give myself an ambitious look; someone that doesn't back down…you know?"

"I do; I was like that when I was a businessman instead of a CEO; now, you're just ambitious without even trying."

Winston smirked.

"I will admit; you are a well-built and strong leader; I can very well see why you'd be a CEO." Winston responded.

"You might become a CEO one day." Mr. Inoue said.

"Maybe; I haven't given it much thought; I care about being a good businessman, husband, and soon-to-be father right now."

"Well, I think you're capable of all three."

Winston smiled and got back to work.

"Keep doing what you're doing, Winston; we're happy to have you here." Mr. Inoue replied.

"I'm happy to work here, boss." Winston said.

Mr. Inoue left the room to get ready for their meeting.

It was about 8:15 in the morning and Rob and Hideyo had checked into work after their endless train ride here. They told Masaki, Takehiko, Brandon, Elliot, and Winston about it when they were socializing in the breakout room with their coffee and work pagers. Their work papers, brief-cases, purses, and what else was on the table as they walked around or sat and talked and laughed.

"That's ridiculous!" Masaki cried.

"I highly doubt that happened!" Elliot replied laughing.

"I could make up a better story in my sleep!" Brandon said laughing.

All of them started cracking up again.

"No, it's true!" Rob cried trying to stop laughing.

"Okay; so me and Rob are sitting there waiting for our train somewhere in Tokyo still when this man comes up to us; German or something, one of those nationalities; so anyways; he sits down besides us and we don't even realize it for ten minutes…" Hideyo stopped.

Everyone started laughing again.

"Okay, so here's where it gets better; so we look over at him and introduce ourselves and the guy says…" Hideyo paused again. Everyone turned around when they noticed the door opened. They saw Mr. Inoue, but they were all still laughing at Hideyo and Rob's outrageous story of their ride here this morning.

"What is it, Mr. Inoue?" Winston chuckled.

"They're here," Mr. Inoue replied.

"About time," Takehiko responded.

"There are more of them then I thought so we're going downstairs to the bigger board room down there next to the secretary offices." Mr. Inoue said.

All of them nodded and grabbed their stuff and followed Mr. Inoue to an elevator to go downstairs to meet the Japanese law office people for their meeting to begin.

The eight of them arrived downstairs and walked into the board room to get ready for their meeting. There were about seven of them from the law office; the one on the end was the tallest of them all and assumingly their boss; Winston feared him most of all by the mean and stern look he gave, like it took serious skill to impress this man; he looked about the same age as Winston himself, maybe a tad bit older, but not by a lot. He was certainly younger than Mr. Inoue who was about in his mid-fifties.

All of them had tuxedos and blazers on and they all wore black and matched one another; they all looked mean and judgmental.

Winston and his co. workers looked at one another and how their outfits were a variety of grays', blacks', browns', and colored ties and shirts. They all felt intimidated and un-professional to some degree.

All of them looked over at Mr. Inoue with upset looks on their faces. Mr. Inoue nodded to them assuring them that it was fine…even though he blended in with the law office people quite well.

"Everybody, these fellow women and gentlemen are from the Oh-Ebashi LPC and Partners Law Firm; it's the largest law firm in Osaka and the 8th largest in all of Japan." Mr. Inoue said.

Rob made a noise of intimidation and that he might be sick. His co. workers glanced at him.

Winston gulped as did the rest of them. They all looked back at Mr. Inoue.

"I'll introduce you all; this is Arata, Emiko, Daiki, Haruko, Ichiro, Eiji, and the man in charge of their business…Mr. Kazuhiro Nakamura." Mr. Inoue said.

Mr. Kazuhiro Nakamura was who Winston feared the most; the look in his eyes reminded him scarcely enough of Tatsuya Yamada who he'd soon meet again with in less than a few weeks away. Winston shuttered at that fact and pulled himself back together fairly quick.

All of them sat down and started their meeting.

"And that's why you should by our television sets for your company." Hideyo finished.

Mr. Nakamura nodded not giving any emotions what so ever. None of them from the law firm even applauded after the presentation was over; they sat there, glaring at them, as if they had better things they could see than this.

Winston gulped and looked over at Mr. Inoue.

"Alright, well thank you, everyone, for attending this meeting." Mr. Inoue said.

"Yes…we'll be in touch." Mr. Nakamura said with no emotion in his voice.

The seven of them from the law firm got up and left to go back to their work leaving eight businesspeople disappointed and dis-pleased. There was a long awkward silence between the eight of them.

"That was terrible," Brandon finally said.

"I don't think they liked it," Takehiko said.

"I wish we would've thrown in more discounts." Masaki said.

"What good would've that done; they didn't like us the minute we stepped in the door." Rob responded.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Inoue; we really tried our best." Winston said.

"It's alright; law firm people don't tend to show much emotion in hardly anything. I met Mr. Nakamura a few times; I've only ever seen him smile once." Mr. Inoue replied.

All of them nodded. A secretary had run into the board room out of breath within a blink of an eye. Winston recognized her; she worked on their floor.

"What can I do for you, Takara?" Mr. Inoue asked.

"Winston, your wife's…in…ER," Takara spat out.

"What," Winston exclaimed.

Winston grabbed his stuff and jetted out the door.

"What's wrong?" Masaki asked concerned for her co. worker.

"I don't know; but I've gotta go to Julia; what hospital?" Winston asked hurrying.

"Sumitomo Hospital," Takara responded finally catching her breath a little.

"Okay, that's near here; I gotta go," Winston replied.

He ran out the door.

"Oh, Julia…hold on, sweetheart; I'm coming!" Winston muttered to himself. He ran down to a near-by elevator after quickly going back to his office and gathering his things as he left for a train station to take him to Sumitomo Hospital.

Chapter 15

Julia lied in a hospital bed that was somewhat roomy, yet small. Her light was bright with a lamp light and hospital lights on in her room along with machines making beeping noises. She was staring outside her window looking at the darkness the night made in Osaka. She sighed.

Winston ran in completely out of breath.

"Julia," He spat.

Julia turned slowly.

"Winston," She said smiling.

Winston ran to her.

"God, are you alright?" He asked freaked.

"I'm fine; I was just having some pain in my lower right side, that's all." Julia responded.

"How'd you get here?"

"Our neighbors, Mark and Jen, drove me here."

"But our house is so far from here,"

"Yes, but this is one of the top hospitals in Osaka."

"I guess I can't argue; the hospital lobby on the first floor is huge."

Julia smiled and sighed. She closed her eyes being so tired.

"How do you feel?" Winston asked.

Julia took a deep breath.

"I'm alright," Julia responded tired.

"What about our little girl?" Winston questioned.

"She's just fine; she's making a lot of movement though."

Winston smiled.

"You don't think you're gonna deliver?" Winston asked.

Julia shook her head 'no'.

"No, I know for sure that's not what it was," She replied.

"What could it be?" Winston asked.

"I don't know; Dr. Numata should be in at any minute now with test results."

Dr. Shigeo Numata was Julia's doctor; he always took care of her and was on top of everything. Both Julia and Winston were very fond of Dr. Numata and didn't think better of any other medical professional more than Dr. Numata. Dr. Numata was tall and had thick, wavy black hair. He was young, a little younger than Winston by a few years.

Dr. Numata walked in with a clip-board and was flipping through it with a pen in his hand as he was marking and writing things on sheets of paper.

He looked at Julia and smiled.

"Julia, you're just fine; just a muscle spasm caused from your stomach; it can be very painful, but easily treated and cured; medicine and rest will be best for you. I'd recommend you stay here overnight, just for some careful observations to be safe." Dr. Numata responded friendly.

"Rest and medicine for how long," Julia questioned.

"A few days…a week at the most; nothing serious,"

"That's good,"

"You're lucky; when you first came in, one of my assumptions was appendicitis."

Julia nodded.

Dr. Numata patted Julia's shoulder and walked out of the room.

Winston sighed.

"Thank you, God!" He cried.

"See, I'm fine." Julia responded.

"I think I'm gonna call O'Brien out here."

"How come; something with Tatsuya and Emi,"

"No…just so someone's with you during the day; I won't go to work knowing you're all alone in a house when you're not even two weeks from your due date."

"I guess; I'm fine though, dear; you heard Dr. Numata; you know he'd never lie."

"I know, and I'm not denying Dr. Numata for a second…I would just feel better; that's all."

"I understand, honey."

Winston leaned over and hugged Julia.

"Thank, God you're alright," He said relieved.

"You seem like you're about to keel over."

"I might just pass-out,"

"Aw, Winston…"

Julia rubbed her husband's arm to calm him. Winston smiled and gazed at Julia with his eyes saying 'I'm alright' to her.

"Is it just me, or do you feel like someone's watching us?" Winston randomly asked.

"I feel fine," Julia replied.

"I have the strangest feeling we're being watched."

"You're probably just a little spooked from everything that's just happened today."

"Maybe…you think I could just be imagining things?"

"Possibly,"

Winston sighed.

Winston continued to socialize with his wife and told her about his day at work while his assumption of being watched was correct as Tatsuya stood outside Julia's hospital room, staring at them…not making a single movement…and not a single noise.

Chapter 16

Julia came home the next day after Winston finished work. She was put on serious bed rest for about a week's notice and medicine from controlling her stomach from having another spasm.

O'Brien had flown in a day after that and basically was being a house servant for Julia since she couldn't perform her daily tasks. She sometimes asked to help out, but O'Brien insisted in her getting lots of rest or her husband would have his head if something bad were to happen to her.

Julia was on the couch watching television wearing black flats, black pants, and a long red sweater. She sighed knowing reading and watching television were her only options for activities for a little while which made her often very bored doing the same thing over and over again; at least when she was able to perform physical activity, she could get up and move around from time to time.

Winston came through the door as he was done with work and O'Brien along side him from taking out the trash. They were discussing something. Winston looked over at his wife and smiled, then walked over to her. She looked up at him and smiled.

"Hi," Julia said.

"How are you," Winston asked smiling.

"I'm bored; I wanna get up and move around,"

"I know, but you heard Dr. Numata; one week of bed rest and you could go back to minor physical activity next week."

"I'm just tired of watching television and lying on this couch; I feel like my body's rotting away to nothing."

"It's kinda hard to visualize that metaphor when there's a baby inside you due in another week or so."

"I guess, dear,"

Winston ran his fingers through Julia's hair.

"You're gonna be alright; just hang in there a while," Winston said.

Julia smiled and closed her eyes.

"I know, dear…I know," Julia replied.

O'Brien sat on a chair in the living room. Winston leaned over and turned on a lamp light, then plopped in the other chair along side Julia and the lamp. Julia looked back at the television set; apparently her comedy show had turned into a basketball game. She sighed and turned off the TV and closed her eyes.

"So…I guess we better start talking about the big reason I'm here other than to just here to take care of Julia, I assume." O'Brien replied.

"Probably so," Winston responded.

"So…your neighbors turned out to be hard core criminals,"

"Jump from town to town to try and get people in on our idea; I ran into Tatsuya the other day."

"How did that go?"

"He said him and his wife had gathered a few other people and formed a party…not The Party…a party."

"What's 'a' party?"

O'Brien used fingers to put quotations around 'a'.

"It's basically a group of people that want to reform The Party, but obviously you need more than just six or seven people on your side to overthrow and entire government system that's run Japan for God knows how many centuries." Winston responded.

"I see," O'Brien replied.

"Winston, could you help me sit up, dear?" Julia asked.

Winston smiled.

"Of course, Julia," Winston replied.

He walked over and gently helped push Julia up-right. She leaned against the couch and Winston sat down next to her and wrapped his arm around her. She smiled and closed her eyes.

"So, like…do we form an army to overpower them?" O'Brien said throwing an idea out there.

"No…that would take too long; Tatsuya and Emi would basically have won by the time we'd have one strong and trained enough." Winston responded.

"What about writing a letter to the Emperor?" Julia asked.

"The question is 'would he read it in time'?" Winston responded.

Julia nodded understanding that factor.

"We need a plan so full-proof; Tatsuya, Emi, and anyone on their side don't stand a chance against us." Winston said.

"Would Goldstein be able to help us?" Julia asked.

"No; he's too busy reforming London…especially since I'm on leave." O'Brien replied.

"Sorry about that," Julia said sounding guilty for him being there.

"Don't be sorry; I'm not mad; I've actually been interesting in seeing where you guys live; so far, it's beautiful here." O'Brien responded.

"Japan's a very beautiful, happy country; everyone's friendly here…well…almost everyone." Winston said.

"I can see why you two left London to come here."

"God, I can't stand to think Tatsuya and Emi might destroy this wonderful country; there's nothing wrong with how's it running now."

"Very true, very true,"

"How long would it take to just go straight up and ask the Emperor of Japan to help us?" Julia questioned.

"Probably a long while; if anything, we'd have to make an appointment that would be too late by the time our scheduled time arrived." Winston replied.

Julia sighed.

"Don't get upset; you've got very good ideas for someone not into politics, but we just need something quick and fast…you know." Winston said smiling.

Julia gave a faint smile at her husband appreciating his kind words.

"What about that officer you were talking about?" O'Brien asked.

"…You mean Officer Kawano," Winston questioned.

"Yeah, that guy,"

"He's got other things to worry about, too."

"Yeah, but he's a start,"

"I guess you make a very good point,"

"We could get in his friend from Tokyo you mentioned, as well."

"I don't have any clue on how to get in contact with Officer Yamamoto; he's probably busier than Officer Kawano considering he works with the Tokyo Police Department."

"True, but again, it's somewhere to start,"

"What do you think, Julia?"

Julia closed her eyes; she had been very tired lately with the fact of suffering a painful muscle spasm and that she would soon have their child.

"Julia," Winston asked again.

Julia fluttered her eyes open and yawned.

"I'm sorry, honey; what did you ask me?" Julia asked.

"What do you think of having Officer Kawano and Officer Yamamoto helping us?" Winston asked.

"I thought they already were,"

"They are, but Officer Yamamoto would become more involved and he'd probably actually come out to Osaka and help us instead of communicating with him through electronic devices."

"I guess it's a start,"

"Alright, we're getting somewhere; I like it!" O'Brien cheered.

Winston and Julia smirked and smiled.

"O'Brien…you always was a clown." Winston said.

"What can I say; it's in my genetics." O'Brien said.

Julia smiled. She felt something move inside her; her baby was moving around again like it usually did.

Julia smiled and put her hand on her middle.

"Yeah, I know you're in there." Julia said sweetly.

Winston smiled.

"I can't believe you two are having a baby; above all people, I never thought I'd never see the day Winston Smith wanted to have a child." O'Brien said.

Winston shrugged and smiled as if saying 'what are you gonna do'?

"Another week," Winston said smiling.

"Another week," Julia repeated.

Winston's eyes bulged.

"Another week…and we have to meet Tatsuya and Emi again." He gasped.

Julia froze and slowly turned to her husband.

"Oh no," She said.

"Oh yeah…and I better not forget to bring that money…" Winston said. Fear grew in both his and Julia's eyes as they kept thinking about it slowly and quietly creeping up behind them as they least expected it.

Chapter 17

It was February 26, 1995; Julia was in the kitchen at the table, reading a book. She was wearing her boots, a long, periwinkle dress that brushed her shins, and a long sleeved white shirt under it that had tiny blue flowers on it.

O'Brien was out running errands picking up stuff Winston needed for work; he had another presentation coming up and he wanted to impress his boss to the extreme.

Winston came home from work and did his usual routine of taking off his coat and putting down his brief-case. He smiled at Julia and walked over and kissed her cheek. Julia looked up and smiled.

"Hi, there," She said friendly.

"Hi," Winston said friendly.

"How are you?"

"I'm alright; and you?"

"I'm alright,"

"No baby still, huh,"

"Nope…not yet,"

"You're late,"

"Only by a few days,"

"You were supposed to have that baby on the 21st; it's the 26th."

"Five days…not so bad,"

"Ugh…"

"It's alright, honey; our baby will come eventually."

"When will that be?"

"Soon,"

Winston sighed.

"Alright, Julia; I'll take your word for it," Winston replied.

Julia shook her head smiling and went back to reading.

"No dinner yet," Winston asked.

Julia looked at him.

"It's five o' clock; you know I don't start making dinner till 6." Julia replied.

"Sorry, I'm just hungry," Winston responded.

"Make yourself a snack, then; there are plenty of things for you to eat before I make dinner."

Winston walked around in search of something to eat. He found an apple in the fridge. He picked it up for a minute and decided to eat it.

"We gotta go meet Tatsuya and Emi again tonight," Winston said.

"I know; have it written in the calendar." Julia replied.

"Where's O'Brien?"

"He's out running errands getting your supplies for work."

"Oh,"

"Where are we meeting Tatsuya and Emi again?"

"If I recall, I think the basement of Osaka Castle."

"Oh…that place is so pretty at night!"

"I know, dear,"

"If we have time, I wanna look around it after were done with Tatsuya and Emi."

"We'll see, hon,"

Julia smiled and went back to her book and Winston went back to eating his apple.

Time had gone by and it was now seven at night. Winston and Julia put their coats on and left their house.

As Winston was locking the door, Julia went into thought.

"Just a thought that came to mind; what if O'Brien comes home and sees we're gone?" Julia questioned.

"Don't worry; I left a note saying where we are if he forgot; I told him though so he should remember that's where we are if he forgets." Winston replied.

Julia nodded.

Winston and Julia walked to their car to leave for Osaka Castle for their Friday evening.

When Winston and Julia got to Osaka Castle, it was almost 7:30 pm. They had got to the basement of Osaka Castle. Surprisingly to them, it looked somewhat relatable to a parking garage…it was big like one at least.

"I don't like the feeling of this, Winston." Julia said.

"Don't worry; we're alright," Winston replied.

Julia suddenly made a face that made her seem she was in somewhat in a lot of pain. She placed her hand on her middle and took in somewhat short breaths and closed her eyes.

Winston looked over and became concerned.

"Sweetie, are you alright; are you honestly that scared?" He asked worried.

Julia stopped and took a breath of relief in. She glanced over at her husband and back at the ground.

"I'm alright, honey…now at least." Julia muttered the last part.

"What," Winston questioned.

"Nothing, dear,"

"Julia, are you okay; you don't seem like yourself all of a sudden."

"No, I'm fine; I'm just tired."

Winston looked at her as if she were lying which he didn't know frankly.

"Are you sure?" Winston asked.

Julia nodded.

"Don't worry about me, dear; I'm fine…really; I'm just tired." Julia responded.

"That seemed more like pain if anything," Winston replied.

Julia shook her head.

"I'm good," She replied.

"…Alright," Winston responded. He looked back at the other side of the wall giving a chance for Julia to give a silent sigh of relief without Winston knowing.

"I was expecting you two to come," A familiar man's voice said. It made Winston shiver right down to his bones. He looked slightly to the left and saw Tatsuya and Emi standing side-by-side.

"What do you want; Tatsuya; my wife and I did nothing to you." Winston said firm.

Julia stood somewhat far behind her husband as she looked on and observed…saying and doing nothing.

"First…I want my money," Tatsuya replied.

Winston pulled out $250 and counted it to make sure it was the correct amount and gave it to Tatsuya. Tatsuya was about to grab it, but Emi was quicker in speed and snatched it and gave her husband a dirty look. Tatsuya reflected her look back at her.

"We next wanna make sure you two don't interfere with our plans on bringing The Party back!" Emi snarled.

"And to Japan," Tatsuya added.

Emi rolled her eyes at her husband's comment.

"Why do want such a terrible form of government; what Julia and I suffered in London ten years ago was horrific!" Winston responded.

"We were spies for The Party and sent here to Japan three years before you decided to try and overthrow it and bring things back to normal. Our leaders were abolished, destroyed, God know's what else you did to those great people…and Big Brother!" Emi snapped.

"Big Brother is the reason so many innocent lives were taken like Jones, Aaronson, and Rutherford!"

Jones, Aaronson, and Rutherford were three men that went against The Party's beliefs and they were tortured and eventually killed for their crimes…Winston learned about them so long ago, he could hardly remember what they had done that The Party wasn't pleased with.

"Oh…don't even say those names!" Emi yelled.

"This is Japan; I have the freedom of speech of here!" Winston snarled.

"So does the United States; what's your stinking point?"

"Japan is a wonderful and beautiful country with many wonderful people who love it and care for it like we do; we all want what's best for it and bringing a new generation of The Party won't do anything, but wreck a beautiful country we currently live in and is running fine how it is now."

"If you interfere with our plan of The Party's rejuvenation, you can say good-bye to your wife and your child!"

Julia gulped.

"You leave my wife and my baby girl alone; you understand; you don't lay a single hand on either one of them!" Winston hissed. His eyes of blue-gray grew red and orange with flames growing inside them with anger, protection, and rage. He wasn't gonna let anything happen to Julia or his daughter and he certainly wasn't letting these two psychotics bring back a new generation of The Party to Japan; it did fine without one ten years ago, it was doing fine without one now.

"Either that or we'll bring back your worst enemy of all…your ex. Wife!" Emi snarled.

Winston gasped, shuttered and screamed with hate and fear, too. He was terrified of rats; his worst fear was rats, but if there was something that scared him more besides something happening to Julia or his daughter…it was Katharine; his ex. Wife from when he was arranged marriage with her by The Party so they could have children to grow their population. He despised Katharine with every part of his body.

"No…not her; dear merciful, God…anything, but her," Winston screamed.

Tatsuya and Emi gave wicked laughs.

Julia gave a look of sympathy towards her husband when she felt more pain attack her. She clutched her belly and shuttered and gave a somewhat soft moan. Winston failed to hear her.

"Stay away from our Party!" Emi warned.

Winston glared at her; out of both Tatsuya and Emi, it was Emi he had more hatred towards; he felt there was some hope left in Tatsuya…Emi was just pure evil; a reincarnation of Joseph Stalin, Benito Mussolini, Adölf Hitler, or worse…all three of them combined.

"Come on, Tatsuya; let's go; we've got things to do," Emi snarled looking at Winston.

Winston glared and shook his head back at Emi.

After Tatsuya and Emi left, Winston walked back over to Julia who was fine now.

"Well…thank God that's over." Winston said.

Julia clutched her stomach again and wailed in agonizing pain not being able to stand it anymore. Winston caught her before she had a chance of falling. She was still standing up somewhat straight.

"Julia, honey, what's wrong?" Winston asked afraid.

"Get me to Dr. Numata!" Julia cried out.

She let out another scream of pain.

Winston nodded and they rushed off to Kansai Denryoku Hospital and he knew exactly what the reason for being so…he was about to be a father.

Part Three: Chapter 18

Winston sat in the waiting room for hours sitting or pacing back and forth or staring out into the night at the city of Osaka. He felt his nerves and muscles tighten in every part of his body; at one point, he felt as if he could hardly move. All he knew was Julia was with Dr. Numata, his assistant, three other nurses, and he wasn't allowed in the room with her. It made him feel somewhat better knowing Dr. Numata and how well of a doctor he was, but it wasn't good enough as it would be there actually being in there with Julia, sitting by her side, and giving her confidence.

Winston tapped his fingers on his knees as he sat in the hospital chair which was highly un-comfy and got up and started pacing again with thoughts and questions racing and agitating his mind furiously.

O'Brien came out of an elevator and walked over to Winston calmly. Winston was too busy pacing to notice him. He paused for a moment and looked over slightly to his left, saw O'Brien, and looked back down at the ground; he made no facial expressions what so ever.

"Hi," Winston said softly.

"Hey, man; you look exhausted." O'Brien replied.

"I am exhausted,"

"How is she?"

"I don't know; Dr. Numata's been in there with her for over an hour now; what's worse is that I'm not aloud in there with her."

"Julia's a tuff lady; she'll be alright."

"Dr. Numata's in there with her; he'll make sure nothing bad happens."

"I hope; Dr. Numata hasn't steered us wrong yet…I hope he doesn't now."

"He won't; he's a very good doctor."

"It's one thing to not let a crowd or complete strangers in the room, but another to not let her husband in there; to comfort her, to give her confidence; I'm sure Julia wants me in there with her just as much as I wanna be in there with her."

"Dr. Numata will make sure Julia feels comfortable and strong as much as he can; he wouldn't make her feel un-comfortable."

"I guess…I hope,"

Another hour passed and Dr. Numata came out of Julia's room, finally. He walked over to Winston and O'Brien in the waiting room that was patiently waiting in chairs for some news on Julia. Winston and O'Brien looked up; Winston jumped up and ran to Dr. Numata.

"How is she," Winston pleaded.

"Julia's doing fine," Dr. Numata responded.

"Doing…you mean she still hasn't delivered?!"

"I don't control when babies are ready to be delivered; that's their job."

"Well…can I see Julia, then?"

"I'm afraid I can't let you do that; as much as I wish you could, I can't let you; you know the rules."

"But she's my wife!"

"I don't make the rules, Winston…I just enforce them; if I broke them and let you by my personal feelings, I could get in big trouble, not to mention lose my job."

"I guess that makes sense."

"I will make sure nothing bad happens to Julia or your daughter; I promise."

"Thank you, Dr. Numata."

Dr. Numata bowed and walked off as he flipped through his clipboard back into Julia's room after stopping at the nurses' station for something; Winston assumed it was to pick up or drop off papers.

Winston went back to pacing and stress building back up in his body.

"You're gonna make yourself ill if you keep doing that." O'Brien said. He sounded so much like Julia, it made Winston shiver.

"You sounded so much like Julia, it was scary." Winston replied.

"Well…I've only known you and Julia for how many years now?"

"Yeah…God, if anything happens to her or my child…" Winston stopped. He couldn't finish his sentence; he didn't even wanna imagine losing either one of them…or both worst off yet.

Winston took in a huge breath so he wouldn't start crying like a little kid and looked back out the window at the night view of Osaka; the city looked pretty as ever. Winston was being hopeful and hoping that was a good sign that he had nothing to worry about.

O'Brien walked over next to him. They stood there side-by-side for quite sometime not saying anything to each other…not one single word.

"What made you and Julia decide to live in Japan?" O'Brien finally asked.

"Probably it was the only country not being controlled by The Party." Winston responded. He was too focused on looking at the city of Osaka shine so bright in the dark night.

"You think you'll show your little girl Tokyo someday?"

"Maybe…I hope…"

"You can't think so negatively now; Julia and your daughter need you to be strong for them now."

"How; all I can do is worry and question."

"You're questioning all the bad possibilities; question all the good possibilities."

"O'Brien…you'll understand how I feel one day when your married and have your first child."

"I don't think I'll ever get married at this point; I can't find anybody I'm interested in."

"No one; not in all of London,"

"Not a single gal,"

"Maybe you'll find someone here,"

"It's a possibility…an unlikely one, but a possibility, indeed."

"I thought you were the one telling me to think positively."

"For you; my love life's a mess; the chances of me finding a wife are slim to none."

"Mine isn't a pretty one either, O'Brien."

"How many girlfriends have you had…not including Katharine."

"…How many did you have?"

"…I wanna say…about…I've had nine; all of them ending badly."

"I've had…I wanna say about seven…including Katharine."

"And Julia,"

"Who do you think is my lucky seven?"

"That's nice,"

"You'll find someone,"

"They say third time's the charm,"

"They're wrong on that…whoever that actually is."

O'Brien nodded.

"What time is it?" O'Brien asked.

Winston looked at his watch.

"About 9:40," Winston responded.

O'Brien nodded.

Winston and O'Brien saw someone standing behind them in the window of the waiting room. They both turned around and saw Dr. Numata; he made no expression on his face at all. Winston became tense again.

"How…how…how is she?" Winston stuttered. He literally forced himself to say his sentence; he was afraid of the answer he was about to receive.

Dr. Numata suddenly gave a friendly smile; his eyes seemed to glitter like stars like the ones in the night sky currently covering Osaka like a blanket.

"Why don't you see for yourself?" He responded.

"I can go in?" Winston questioned.

Dr. Numata nodded.

"You may," Dr. Numata replied.

Winston ran off to Julia's room with a big grin on his face. He quickly turned around and looked at Dr. Numata.

"Thank you," Winston said smiling.

"You're welcome," Dr. Numata replied softly like he usually did. His voice was never honestly much louder than an indoor voice.

Winston smiled and ran off to see Julia.

Chapter 19

Winston finally found Julia's room; it was a little farther than where he was before, but not incredibly far.

Winston opened the door and quietly entered Julia's room and smiled to what he saw; his wife in a soft, white, hospital nightgown that had somewhat long sleeves, holding a little bundle wrapped in a pink blanket with a little white hat with teddy bears on it.

Winston stood next to the entrance of the door for quite sometime and did nothing…absolutely anything…but smiled.

Julia looked over at Winston and smiled. Her eyes seemed to twinkle and very much remind him of stars set in the sky around midnight at night; radiant and magnificent as they controlled much of the world underneath them.

"Hi," Winston whispered smiling.

"Hi," Julia responded. She sounded like she'd been crying from being overly happy.

Winston walked over and rubbed Julia's shoulder, then sat on Julia's left side of her bed and leaned over and looked at his daughter in great amazement at her existence.

She had a little round head with blue-gray eyes like her mom and dad. Winston thought she was as tiny as a loaf of bread. She was adorable as can be. She clutched her tiny hands into fists.

"She looks so much like you, Julia." Winston gasped in astonishment.

"She has your cute little ears," Julia responded.

"Good thing she looks like you in resemblance most of all,"

Julia smiled.

"I can't stop looking at her," Julia said softly.

"Neither can I." Winston responded.

"She's so tiny,"

"We all were that tiny at one point in our lives,"

"I guess…it's just different when it's your own, though."

"I'll say,"

"Such a sweet little baby she is."

"She seems like it alright; I won't argue,"

Julia rubbed the little baby's cheek with her finger. Winston placed his hand gently on the back of his newborn daughter's head.

"You're too sweet to be apart of The Party; yes you are," Winston cooed.

His baby daughter looked at him with her sweet little eyes as if she knew who he was; of course she didn't smile at either him or Julia; she's was too little yet…barely even an hour old yet, but she was just fine to Winston and Julia…she couldn't be anymore right to them.

"She doesn't have a name, dear." Winston stated.

Julia looked up and smiled.

"I thought of one," Julia replied.

"What," Winston questioned.

"No, no, I won't say it,"

"You can tell me, honey."

"What if you don't like it?"

"How do you think I'm gonna know if I like it or not if you don't tell me what it is you're thinking of naming her?"

"What do you think would be a good name for her?"

"I haven't got a clue, so you might as well tell me what name you thought of for her; who knows; I may absolutely love the name…not as much as I love her or you, of course."

"I know, dear…I know,"

"So, go on; tell me what you think we should call her."

"…Lulu; Lulu…Taylor Smith,"

Winston smiled.

"I think that's the most beautifulest name I've ever heard for a baby girl." He replied.

Julia smiled and looked back at Lulu.

Lulu had closed her eyes and fallen asleep; Julia wasn't the only one that had a ruff night; Winston could imagine how exhausted both of them must have felt.

Winston leaned over and kissed his little girl's head. She took her fist and rubbed her face from where he kissed her. She made little tiny grunts, moved her head from side-to-side, and fell back to sleep.

"Julia, I don't think we could ask for anything better in our lives now," Winston said.

"I don't think so either, dear," Julia responded.

"You did a good job,"

"If I hadn't known you were in that waiting room, I couldn't have done it so in a way; you did a good job yourself."

"I guess, but you're the one who had to do most of it,"

"Probably true, so to speak…but it doesn't matter now,"

"No…no, I guess it doesn't; we have each other and…now we have an adorable, new little baby girl in our lives."

They both heard a knock at the door and turned their heads in the same direction; O'Brien was standing in the door-way. He walked in and smiled at Lulu.

"She's beautiful," O'Brien said.

"We know," Winston replied.

"What's her name?"

"Lulu Taylor Smith,"

"Sounds like a suitable name to me,"

Winston smiled and nodded.

A nurse walked in to check on Julia.

"Konban wa," The nurse said.

O'Brien looked over and fixed his eyes immediately on her: she had long, black hair that shined like the night sky and dark brown eyes that went perfectly with her tan skin; she was Japanese…and O'Brien was in love…instantly.

"…Hi," O'Brien finally said.

She looked at him with no expression and then back at her clip-board.

"What's your name?" O'Brien asked.

"…Nurse Sasaki," She questioned back.

"Alright then…what's your first name?"

"…Takako,"

"That's a pretty name; what's it mean?"

Takako ignored him and went back to her work.

As soon as she was finished checking Julia and Lulu, Takako left to go back and do her job with a love struck O'Brien following her asking her questions and trying desperately to get her to notice him.

Julia looked down at Lulu and smiled.

"I love you, Lulu." Julia said sweetly.

Winston smiled.

"I love you, too…my little Lulu." Winston replied.

Winston leaned forward and kissed his wife's forehead.

For the rest of the night, Winston and Julia sat in amazement and adored their new little baby girl who've they've waited and wanted for so long…their little baby, Lulu.

Chapter 20

Julia came home with Lulu after a little more than three days. Julia spent most of her days sleeping and was exhausted along with an aching body. O'Brien would take care of Lulu until Julia got enough strength back to do it herself. She made an effort after a week's worth of rest, but Winston insisted on a little longer. Julia started taking care of Lulu by herself after about two weeks.

After Julia was able to take care of Lulu, Winston and O'Brien started making plans on how to bring down Tatsuya and Emi and their plan of bringing back a new generation of The Party to Japan.

Winston and O'Brien were on the couch thinking of a plan while Julia sat in a rocking chair where one of their chairs used to be rocking Lulu who was now eighteen days old.

"Okay; we need to do something about Tatsuya and Emi and we need to do something now." Winston said.

O'Brien wasn't listening; he was gazing out the window day-dreaming about something.

"O'Brien," Winston said.

O'Brien didn't respond.

"O'Brien," Winston said louder.

O'Brien shook his head and snapped out of his trance. He turned to Winston.

"Yes," O'Brien questioned.

Winston sighed and then smiled.

"Man…you have it bad, O'Brien." Winston said.

"I can't stop thinking about her; Takako, Takako, Takako…such a beautiful name…such a beautiful gal…Takako has stolen my heart." O'Brien said going back into his trance.

Julia smiled rocking Lulu who was playing with her tiny fingers.

"I think you've found who you've been looking for after all these years." Julia said smiling.

"You think so," O'Brien replied.

"I've never seen you so over the moon with someone before," Winston responded.

"I don't know how to grab her attention, let alone get into contact with her." O'Brien replied.

"Well…if you help me figure out a plan on how to bring the Yamada's' down, I'll help you with Takako."

"You mean it,"

"Absolutely,"

"Yes,"

"Alright…where were we,"

"What did they say when you last encountered them?"

"If I stepped in their way, they'd bring back…oh; I can't even say such a vulgar word."

Winston shuttered.

"What," O'Brien asked.

"They'd bring back his ex. Wife," Julia finished for her husband.

"…Katharine," O'Brien questioned.

"Ah; don't say that name; it burns!" Winston wailed.

"Winston…that's worse than rats for you," O'Brien replied.

Winston nodded and shuttered again just thinking of her. How he dreaded Katharine and the thought of ever seeing her again made his whole body shiver in fear.

"I can't bear of even thinking of that happening…I just can't." Winston replied.

"They said they didn't want you to interfere…so all we have to do is interfere without them knowing it's us doing it." O'Brien responded.

"How do you plan on doing that exactly?"

"We'll gather the neighbors and form our own anti-Party group to rebel against the Yamada's' pro-Party group; we could even try getting the Emperor in on it…and Officer Kawano and Officer Yamamoto, too."

"O'Brien…that's brilliant!"

"I thought so,"

"Alright, we're getting somewhere!"

"I just have one question,"

"What's that?"

"What do I wear to meet Takako?"

Winston smirked and shook his head smiling.

"Come on; I'll help you find something.

The two of them walked upstairs leaving Julia and Lulu by themselves in the living room. She looked down at Lulu and smiled.

"You're a cute little baby, you know that?" She cooed.

Lulu smiled and made little noises.

Julia smiled and kissed Lulu's tiny forehead and continued rocking her.

Chapter 21

Winston and O'Brien went to Kansai Denryoku Hospital to find Takako. O'Brien had a bouquet of flowers for her and a box of chocolates for her. He was wearing his best tuxedo for her.

"I'm nervous about this," O'Brien quivered.

"Don't be; I felt the same way with Julia when we first started dating; just be yourself and she'll like you for you." Winston responded.

"You sure,"

"Positive,"

"Alright…I'm going in,"

"Go get 'em tiger,"

O'Brien gulped and walked to Takako's desk. She was flipping through papers and documents for work when she paused and slowly looked up at O'Brien. Her eyes seemed to glitter and her face seemed puzzled.

"Can I help you?" Takako asked un-certain.

O'Brien flashed the flowers and chocolate in her face.

Takako gasped.

"Are…those for me?" She questioned.

"They aren't for Dr. Numata," O'Brien replied trying to be funny.

Takako sighed and gave a small smile.

"Thank you," She responded.

O'Brien nodded.

"Let me guess; you're not gonna quit bothering me until I say 'yes' to a date with you…are you?" Takako replied.

"…Kinda," O'Brien said.

Takako tilted her head towards him and smiled.

"Fine…I'll go on a date with you." Takako replied.

"Really…cool," O'Brien replied.

He turned around and started mouthing 'Yes, yes, and yes'! He turned back to Takako and became professional again.

"So…where were we?" He asked.

Takako giggled and gazed into O'Brien's green eyes and O'Brien did the same with her eyes of brown. There moment was interrupted when Tatsuya and Emi walked over to them.

"Takako; ready for lunch?" Emi questioned.

"Yes, Emi," Takako responded.

"Wait…you're on…their side?!" O'Brien exclaimed.

Takako's eyes bulged.

"You're talking to…this guy?!" Emi exclaimed.

"…No!" Takako replied quickly in fear.

O'Brien stood in amazement.

"Come on, Takako…and I never want you to see this man again; he's bad news." Emi snarled.

"…Takako…" O'Brien said softly.

Takako looked back at him with kind eyes.

"I'm sorry," She mouthed.

Takako looked back at Tatsuya and Emi and followed them out to lunch.

O'Brien sighed and scuffed his shoes on the hospital floor.

Winston walked over to him and patted his back.

"I'm sorry, O'Brien." Winston said with sympathy.

"No, it's alright," O'Brien responded.

"There's still more out there."

O'Brien shook his head.

"No…no, no, no; I know I have a chance at saving Takako yet." O'Brien replied.

"Are you really gonna spend so much time trying to bring Takako to our side?" Winston questioned.

"I may have only known her for a short amount of time and I may sound crazy for saying this so soon, but…I love her…I love, Takako."

"You love her or do you think you do?"

"I know people can be blinded by 'love at first sight', but it's different with Takako; I've never felt like this about anybody…it maybe early, but still…haven't you ever felt like this with somebody before?"

"Actually…I have…Julia."

"I can't give up on Takako…I won't give up on Takako…I know I have a chance at saving her before she slips too far into Emi's grasp."

"If anything, it's Emi who's our enemy…not Tatsuya."

"…Don't worry, Takako…I'm coming for yah, hon."

Winston and O'Brien came home later that day and found Julia balling on the living room couch. Winston ran to her side.

"Julia, what's wrong, honey?" Winston asked worried.

Julia looked up at him with her red eyes and tears streaming down her face.

"Lulu…she's gone!" Julia wailed.

"What do you mean?" Winston questioned.

"I was taking a nap with her in my arms on the couch and when I woke up, she wasn't there anymore; only this note."

Julia handed her husband the note and he read it:

To make sure you behave yourself, I've taken your daughter for ransom;

Stay away from us and our reformation of The Party or your daughter gets it.

-Emi Yamada

Winston looked up and his eyes grew with rage and anger; pure hatred towards what Emi was doing to him and his wife; not only that, but to their sweet daughter who wasn't even a month old yet.

"That's it…it's war now…" Winston muttered angrily.

Chapter 22

Winston and O'Brien got very busy with trying to stop Tatsuya and Emi and trying to bring Takako back to their side and Lulu back to Winston and Julia's arms.

It was Friday night and Winston and O'Brien had gathered Mr. Inoue, Rob, Hideyo, Masaki, Takehiko, Brandon, Elliot, Takara, Officer Kawano, Officer Sato, and even Officer Yamamoto from Tokyo in the breakout room to make their plan on attacking Tatsuya and Emi and their group of minions which besides Takako, Mr. Nakamura and his employees were involved with as well.

"Alright, guys; there's thirteen of us and ten of them; that's a start." Winston said.

"If anything happens to you and Julia's little girl…I'll see to it that Tatsuya and Emi both die!" Masaki said infuriated.

Masaki was very good friends with Julia along with Takara and a few other girls Julia hung out with.

"Okay…let's not get crazy now," O'Brien stated.

"But they kidnapped Winston and Julia's baby!" Masaki hollered.

"And we'll get her back…and save my Takako."

"How do we do that," Rob whined.

"First off, no one likes a whiner; second off, if we knew where they met or what they were planning on doing at this very moment, we could catch them off guard and be ahead of them maybe just slightly." O'Brien replied.

"I bugged their house when I was having that steak-out at your house, Winston; maybe I can get some recordings from that." Officer Kawano said.

"Officer Kawano, you're brilliant!" Winston cheered.

Officer Kawano ran over to a computer in the breakout room and got onto some software on the computer that looked like a heart monitor in a hospital, but it measured voice activity of people talking and recorded everything they said. He pushed a button and all of them could suddenly hear everything:

"Hear anything from Winston or Julia?" Emi asked.

"No; Julia just continues to sob uncontrollably." Tatsuya replied.

"What a wuss,"

Winston rose in anger, but O'Brien pulled him back down. They continued listening in on their conversation.

"What do you have to report, Kazuhiro?" Emi asked.

"I don't think I'll be buying their television products anytime soon, but that's all from me." Mr. Nakamura replied.

"That…jerk; and to think I was gonna give him a 50% discount for that stupid TV!" Mr. Inoue exclaimed.

"Sshhhhhh; listen," Officer Yamamoto snarled quietly.

"What about the baby?" Mr. Nakamura questioned.

"What about her?" Emi snarled.

"What do you plan on doing with her exactly?"

"Those Smith's' can listen to my instructions, or I'll kill Lulu all together."

"No," Takako wailed.

"Takako," O'Brien whispered.

"I'm sorry; are you showing emotions for the enemy, Miss Sasaki?" Emi sneered.

"…No; it's just…well…she's just a tiny little baby; how would killing her do anything?" Takako responded trying to safe herself from trouble.

There was a brief silence.

"You've gotta point there," Emi responded.

"Really," Takako replied.

"Of course not; I'm not sensitive towards others' feelings; this is reality, kiddo; get used to it."

"Yes, ma'am,"

"Prepare to meet with the Emperor; we've got big plans ahead of us, guys."

Officer Kawano turned off the recording.

"Well…what are we standing around for; to the Emperor's Palace," O'Brien exclaimed.

"Do you even know where it is?" Officer Yamamoto asked.

"It doesn't matter right now; we've got a lady and a little baby to save; come on, guys!"

All of them ran out following Winston and O'Brien as they left to fight the biggest battle of their lives.

Chapter 23

Winston, O'Brien, and their group had reached the Emperor's Palace before Tatsuya and Emi along with their clan of people. Officer Kawano, Officer Yamamoto, and Officer Sato were off location listening in and planning for their entrance so they could arrest Tatsuya and Emi at the right moment.

"Do you think they're already here?" O'Brien asked.

"I don't think so; we would've heard something by now." Winston replied.

"Looking for us," A familiar, icky voice called.

All of them turned around and saw Tatsuya and Emi standing there a few feet away with their members behind them.

"Emi…what an unpleasant surprise finding you here," Winston snarled.

"Not very pleasant finding you here either, Smith," Emi sneered.

"Where's my daughter?"

"Your daughter is somewhere you'll never find her,"

"Give her back to me, now!"

"And what makes you think I'll do just the sort?"

"My daughter has done nothing to you; she wasn't even born when The Party originated in the first place!"

"And you and your wife are suffering what you did now by having me take your precious little girl away from you two."

"Give me back my daughter you demented demon of Satan!"

"Now is that anyway to act to get your daughter back?"

"Why you little…"

"Excuse me,"

"…ugh; you make me ill!"

"I always win, Winston…I always do."

"Just give me Lulu back and I won't interfere with you anymore!"

"Oh…if only I could believe that."

"You corruptive little devil!"

Emi pulled out a gun.

"You want your wife to live?" Emi snarled.

Winston gulped. He was petrified to reply with anything; now not only Lulu, but Julia was at risk of being harmed as well.

"…Smart man," Emi replied. She put the gun back into her pocket.

"What's going on here?" A fierce, strong voice called.

All of them turned and gasped; standing before them was no other, than the Emperor of Japan!

"Mr. Emperor…your majesty…I'm not worthy!" Rob wailed. He fell to the ground and kissed the Emperor's shoes. The Emperor was mortified at his sight and shook Rob off of him and glared at him for a short while.

"…What's wrong with this man?" He questioned.

"Yeah, we're not sure." Masaki replied.

"Mr. Emperor…if I may call you that…these two people and their clan have kidnapped my daughter along with trying to reform The Party." Winston exclaimed.

"The Party…you mean…that despicable form of government that was in play over ten years ago in every country besides ours'?" The Emperor questioned.

Winston gulped. He nodded.

"Are you being truthful?" The Emperor asked.

"Mr. Emperor…I would die before lying to someone as important as you are to Japan." Winston replied meekly.

"…Very well then,"

"Please…I need your help…I need my daughter back…both my wife and I."

"What do you mean 'you need your daughter back'?"

"Well, you see, they've kidnapped her as a threat to trying to stop them with their plan of bringing a new generation of The Party back; my wife has become terribly depressed about it and not to mention me as well."

"I see…well Mister…uh…"

"Winston,"

"Winston; I have children of my own…and if anyone tried harming them as a threat to me…you can bet money I won't stand for it."

Winston smiled and nodded.

The Emperor smiled back at him and looked at Tatsuya and Emi and gave an evil glare.

"Well…if it isn't Mr. and Mrs. Yamada…why am I not surprised?" The Emperor sneered.

"Back off, twit!" Emi snapped.

"You never were friendly."

"You'll think less of me after I destroy Winston and Julia's daughter right in front of their eyes!"

"Leave my daughter alone!" Winston yelped.

"Shut up," Emi snarled.

Winston was breathing frantically now and felt tears burning in his eyes.

"God…oh great, God…please don't let anything happen to my little Lulu; I'll never forgive myself and Julia will just die…please, God…please!" Winston thought.

"Give Winston his daughter back, now!" A feminine voice cried out.

Emi turned and was surprised to see it was Takako.

"Takako…what are you talking about?"

"I helped his wife deliver that little girl and I refuse to stand here and watch you torture these innocent and kind souls!" Takako snarled.

"Takako, stop talking crazy right this instant!"

"No; I'm leaving your side; it would've never worked anyway; it didn't work the first time around…why would it work ten years later?"

"You little brat,"

"You heartless she-devil,"

Takako ran off to O'Brien. O'Brien looked at her and smiled.

"What made you change your mind?" He asked surprised.

Takako paused a minute and looked at him, then smiled.

"…You…mostly…" She responded.

O'Brien smiled and at that moment, both of them kissed.

"God…that…was…sweet," O'Brien cried.

Takako smiled.

Tatsuya walked in with Lulu in his arms. She was squirming and squalling at the top of her lungs.

"Lulu…my little Lulu…come to Daddy," Winston exclaimed. He ran towards Lulu until Emi pointed the same gun as before at Lulu.

"Step any closer and Lulu dies," Emi snarled.

"You are not, that; sick as to shoot a baby!" Winston growled.

"Freeze; put your hands up where I can see 'em!" Officer Kawano yelled.

All but Tatsuya put their hands up in the air with fear filled in their eyes.

Officer Yamamoto walked over and gently grabbed Lulu out of Tatsuya's arms; she was still crying and afraid. He walked over to Winston and gently placed Lulu in her father's arms. Winston held her close to his body and she continued crying and screaming.

"Sshhhhhh; sshhhhhh; it's alright; it's alright now; everything's alright; Daddy's got you…Daddy's got you." Winston said softly.

Lulu stopped screaming and started to calm down and looked at her father with her sweet and big eyes. She gave a small smile with tears still falling from her eyes and made tiny little noises.

Winston smiled and kissed her tiny little head.

Officer Kawano and Officer Sato put Tatsuya and Emi in hand-cuffs.

"I hope you two like prison, 'cause that's where you two will be spending a long time in." Officer Kawano snarled.

"In the same cell," Officer Sato sneered.

Tatsuya and Emi looked at each other.

"Nooooooooooooooo," Tatsuya and Emi both shrieked.

Officer Kawano and Officer Sato roughly took them off to the cop car they had driven on-site.

Officer Yamamoto looked back at the remaining of the members.

"Oh, don't worry; I got back-up coming for you guys." Officer Yamamoto replied.

They gulped.

Officer Yamamoto looked back at Winston and O'Brien who was busy staring into Takako's eyes as she was doing the same.

"You guys alright?" He asked.

Winston looked up from cradling his daughter.

"…Yeah…just a little shook up, that's all." Winston replied.

"Well, don't worry; you won't have to worry about those guys for a very long time." Officer Yamamoto responded.

"Great,"

Officer Yamamoto looked at Lulu and smiled. He took his finger and rubbed her cheek. Lulu looked at him and made tiny grunts.

Officer Yamamoto looked back at Winston.

"She's a cutie," Officer Yamamoto said.

"Yeah…my wife and I tried having a baby for a long time so when she came along…it was a miracle…Julia…can you take me home; she'd love to see her little girl!"

"Sure,"

Winston followed Officer Yamamoto, but stopped and looked back at O'Brien and Takako who were laughing and giggling.

Winston smiled at them.

"You guys coming," He asked.

O'Brien and Takako looked at him after coming out of their trance.

"Oh, yeah; we'll catch a train home." O'Brien replied.

Winston smiled and shook his head. He ran off to catch up with Officer Yamamoto; he was going home to Julia…with baby Lulu along with him.

Chapter 24

Julia was on the living room couch reading a book. She looked tired and deeply upset, like nothing mattered anymore. She looked over at the tiny table in between the couch and the chair across from it. Sitting there was a lamp, a telephone, and a picture of her, Winston, and Lulu the night she arrived; all of them were smiling and happy as can be.

Julia felt a tear roll down her cheek. She sighed and went back to reading her book.

Winston quietly entered carrying Lulu in his arms without Julia noticing he had come home. She had gone too far into her reading like always when reading a book.

"Julia, I gotta surprise for you; can you close your eyes for a minute?" Winston asked smiling.

"I don't see why it matters, but alright." She replied tired.

She set her book down and closed her eyes.

Winston walked over to the couch.

"Hold out you arms," Winston responded.

Julia did as he told her.

Winston gently set Lulu in her mother's arms. Lulu looked up at Julia and smiled knowing who she was like she did with Winston.

"Alright, honey; open 'em." Winston said smiling.

Julia fluttered her eyes open and looked down at her arms to see what felt so warm and soft lying in her arms. She gasped and smiled about to cry tears of happiness.

"Lulu…you're okay! Oh, my little girl's okay!" Julia cried.

Lulu smiled and squealed happy noises.

Julia leaned over and kissed her baby's tiny little head.

"Oh, Lulu…I love you more than anything!" Julia said smiling.

Winston smiled and sat down besides her and wrapped his arm around her.

Julia looked at him and smiled and leaned against him holding Lulu in her arms.

"…Where's O'Brien?" Julia questioned.

"Oh, he's off somewhere in Osaka…hanging out with his new girlfriend." Winston replied.

"I didn't know O'Brien was interested in anyone, let alone wanted to be in a relationship."

"Believe me; it kinda stunned me at first, too."

Julia smiled and looked at Lulu and held her close to her body. She suddenly frowned and looked back at Winston.

"What about Tatsuya, Emi…and the rest of their gang?" Julia asked softly.

"Oh, nothing to worry about; those guys are locked up for a long while." Winston replied.

"That's good,"

"Yep,"

Julia looked back down at Lulu; she had fallen asleep in her arms. Julia leaned over and kissed her tiny forehead again. Winston smiled at both of his girls. Julia looked back up at Winston and then they both looked down at their beautiful daughter sound asleep.

"We're together again." Julia said softly. She was smiling still.

"We are, honey…that we are." Winston replied softly.