"Binding the Broken Ties that Bound Us"
by AngelicSummer
A/N: This is my first fanfic, so it's probably going to suck, but hey, at least I tried. Yes, this fic is mostly MOMO-Jr. centric, so if you don't have much taste for this pairing, I suggest you turn back now. This would also contain mild spoilers for XSIII, so if you STILL haven't played it or finished it and don't want spoilers, either skip them or turn back. The Prologue is set right after Xenosaga III, while the rest is set two years after. What's the change that happened to MOMO, you ask? Well, read!
One more thing, the Prologue (the one below) is SUPPOSED to be short, so please don't complain about that. I hope this goes well. Rated T mostly for Jr.'s ever-so-wonderful mouth and partly because the game is rated T.
Prologue - A New Life
A tall brunette woman looked upon her "daughter", a petite pink-haired girl. The little girl looked very sad. Her eyes drooped as well as the rest of her looked down on the ground from the bed she was sitting on in a room given to her by Scientia. Juli Mizrahi, the woman, felt her daughter's sadness surge through her body. Though she may not know the complete reason for her daughter's sadness, she felt like she was troubling upon the same situation her daughter's in. She approached her daughter slowly and gently stroked her head like a good mother would. Soothingly, she asked, "What is troubling you, MOMO? Are you all right?"
MOMO's head lifted up a bit and she looked straight into her mother's eyes while her own are reflecting the sadness that's been causing her to be down. Seeing this, Juli once more felt the sadness surge through her and flinched a bit, as if feeling her daughter's pain. She stroked her daughter's head again, and then pulled her into a motherly hug.
The little girl smiled and hugged her mother back, feeling a little bit better. "I'm all right, Mommy," she said reassuringly, though part of her still felt the sadness. "Thank you," she said gratefully with a small smile on her face, just to let her mother know that she's doing fine.
Juli smiled back, but she knew that there was still something troubling MOMO. She patted her daughter's head and told her, "Let's go home and call it a day, all right? You've been working hard lately. Let's take a rest, even for just a day."
MOMO nodded in agreement. She can't possibly say no to her mother can she? Even if she wanted to stay a little while and work more.
With that, they both stood up and headed out.
MOMO felt a little happy as she entered through the familiar doors of her home. This is the house that she lived in since Juli invited her to just... a year ago? The exterior of the house remained whitewash as she remembered it along with the picket fence and the garden swing that hung on their front porch. The interior isn't as white as the exterior, but it was a very light shade of cream. The stairways; however, were fully furnished brown and you can even see your reflection on it. MOMO's room is just on the second story of the house, at the end of the corridor. The door was white, but inside there was absolutely no trace of the white that decorated almost the whole house. Her dresser was furnished brown like the stairway. The carpet that lay down on the floor was a furry purple while the walls were "furry" pink. MOMO had decorated most of the room with her stuffed animals, mostly Bunnies. She had a simple and cotton ball-soft red bed by the side, near the purple-framed windows. On the other side, by her dresser, MOMO had a desk furnished-brown like the dresser standing beside it. The desk was pretty big and convenient, with little shelves and a wide variety of drawers on it. She could stuff her other items in that desk no problem. Yes, this is her home and she missed it.
With a smile, MOMO ran up to her room. Juli felt a little comforted that she was able to lift her daughter's spirits even just a little. She then headed into a small library right beside her own room. Juli had forgotten about that library for the longest time that it was completely untidy.
"Oh, dear. It seems that maybe I have some cleaning to do," she said with a small chuckle to herself.
MOMO had noticed that it was well past 7 in the evening and she was starving. She swiftly picked herself up from her bed and ran down the stairs. To her surprise, her mother wasn't in the kitchen cooking like she always used to be before she temporarily left for the mission. "I know!" MOMO said with an imaginary lightbulb flicking over her head, "I'll cook for mommy to show that I love her! She'd be surprised!"
She quickly grabbed the Bunnie pan that she insisted chaos to buy for her when he was still here with her and the others. After that, she took the other necessary utensils and ingredients to make the curry that Shion had taught her before. She knew that she wasn't as good as Shion yet in terms of curry, but at least she can make her mommy happy!
After half an hour...
MOMO wiped a bit of sweat off her forehead with her wrists as she gazed on her finished curry. It looked scrumptious! She smiled proudly at her work and couldn't wait to eat it along with her mommy. Then, she noticed something, "Uh... where is mommy?" she asked herself.
She then exited the kitchen and looked around the house in search for Juli.
The clock read 7:30 PM. "Oh, have I been in here for that long? MOMO might be getting worried," she told herself. She was about to exit the library when she noticed a golden folder stuffed full with documents and records placed on a nearby desk. "What is this? Joachim's?" she asked as she gently lifted it off. She opened the folder and looked through its contents. Her eyes and her smile grew wider with each word that she read from it. "MOMO would certainly be happy when she sees this!" she told herself excitedly, fixated on the joy that this would bring upon her adorable daughter.
"Mommy? Where are you?" Juli heard MOMO call from outside. She closed the folder and headed out the library. MOMO happened to be passing by and noticed Juli come out of the library which she didn't notice before. Seeing her mother's head pop out, she jumped up and down excitedly, like the little girl she is, and said in an anticipated tone, "There you are, mommy! Come on, I have a surprise for you!" She grabbed her mother's hand and dragged her into the dining room, not noticing what was in her mother's hand.
Juli wondered for a moment at what her daughter wanted to show her until she saw the meal her daughter has so-lovingly prepared on the dining table. She then felt hunger and looking at the meal seemed to stimulate her appetite. Juli looked down on her daughter who was looking at her with happy eyes.
"What do you think, mommy?" she asked excitedly.
Juli smiled at her daughter and said, "This is... amazing. Thank you very much, MOMO."
MOMO smiled a wider smile and anticipated her mother to eat, "Come on, mommy! Let's eat!"
Juli chuckled at her daughter's enthusiasm and sat down across her daughter and they both started to have their dinner. 'It looks like I'd have to show her later," Juli thought.
An hour had already passed after their meal and MOMO felt sleep is trying to overpower her when she heard a knock on her bedroom door. It would be Juli, no doubt. Seeing as there's no one else in the house besides her and Juli. She promptly stood up and approached the door to open it. As expected, Juli was standing right there.
"MOMO, I'd like you to read this," Juli said in her usual gentle voice as she handed MOMO the folder that she found lying around the library earlier. MOMO took it from her mother's hand and opened it. There, she found plenty of documents left behind by her late father, Joachim Mizrahi. It wasn't the kind of thing that was as dark and important as the Y-Data inside her. They were more like personal documents about him and his newfound daughter, MOMO.
MOMO didn't hesitate to start reading them. As she progressed through the papers, she started to smile, then her smile and even her eyes grew wider in excitement. After reading, she was almost teary-eyed with happiness. She looked up to her mother, who looked as happy as she was. "Oh, mommy, is this really true? Am I going to be...?" she asked.
She stroked her daughter's head and smiled reassuringly, "It is, MOMO. It is."
A/N: Okay! That ends our prologue. Quite short isn't it? Wait... I already said that it was supposed to be short.
I'd really appreciate reviews right now. Stupid verb tenses confused me. My english teacher didn't really make sense... oh wait, she's a teacher, she's not supposed to make sense. Flames aren't welcomed, but CC (constructive criticism) is. Geez, this is what I get for trying to write fanfictions while listening to Japanese music.
~Summer