Author's Note: Helllooo all! So to make this TL;DR I use to write Lupin fanfiction under a different name, and a vastly different story and title. But life happened and I fell out of writing these characters. Ten years later, you experience life, and things and ideas change. Needless to say, I got the bug to write my characters again, but in a new direction. And after a huge amount of debating, I figured "why not?" and decided to post them. So enjoy :D

Obviously I do not own Lupin III and the gang. I can claim Suiza, Miya, and the other OCS that I will write about. Also the song used in this chapter was written by John Phillips, and sung by Scott Mackenzie.


Tell Me, "Once Upon a Time…"

Chapter One: San Francisco (Be Sure to Wear Flowers in Your Hair)

"If you're going to San Francisco, be sure to wear flowers in your hair…"

-San Francisco, California. The War Memorial Opera House, backstage-

"This wasn't the life I wanted for you, you do realize that?" an elderly woman spoke, she was short and thin, her gaunt thin hands were holding onto a floral bouquet that contained pink roses. The woman's dark brown eyes locked on the young performer in front of her. Her modest green gown accented the emerald ring she wore on her left ring finger.

"I know, but I didn't have much choice when ojiisan died. Rudy doesn't want it, and you're still here. When you are gone who will take over? Someone with no ties to our family? No. I may be young Nana, but I know what our family has done, what it is capable of doing. And I will not let it fade away into nothing. I promise." The young woman looked back at her grandmother; she was a little taller than her, with the same dark brown eyes. She was wearing an elaborate 18th century gown. Her dark brown wavy hair was put up in an intricate style.

The elderly woman sighed, "Last chance, you're only twenty-five; you have a promising career as a performer like myself and your mother before you. I can hold out as long as I can."

"And then after? Nana, I made my choice seven years ago, back when I found out what Switzerland meant. What ojiisan sacrificed, what we lost. I cannot be swayed, I am here for our family."

The elderly woman sighed she placed the flowers she had in her hands on the vanity. She took off the emerald ring she wore, and gave it to her granddaughter. "Then there is nothing else to say, this is yours. No doubt you know what this means, both literally and figuratively."

The young woman nodded as she put the ring on her right ring finger. "I do."

The elderly woman hugged her granddaughter, "Closing night is always a relief. Break a leg, Reika."

"I will nana, and I don't intend to change my name. I'm still Susanna, I am still Suiza."

"If you're going to San Francisco, you're gonna meet some gentle people there…"

-San Francisco, California. The Embarcadero Ferry Building -

"Ah, nothing beats the cold fall in San Francisco than a bread bowl with clam chowder, wouldn't you agree, old friend?" Lupin smiled as he sat down with the food he had ordered from the food hall.

"Please don't tell me we came to San Francisco for something we could've easily gotten in New England." Jigen replied as he sat across from Lupin, taking a sip of the beer he ordered.

"Ever the pessimist, aren't we?" Lupin replied before stirring his chowder, to help it cool down, "Maybe I just want to take in the sights, have you seen that atrocity that is Millennium Tower?"

"Heard it's starting to crack." Jigen took another sip, slightly disgusted with what he ordered, "Ugh, who ever heard of this crap? What is with San Francisco and their obsession with dark IPAs?"

"This city is a hippie's Fantasyland come true. Despite the fact that the so-called "Summer of Love" is over," Lupin responded as he ate a spoonful of his chowder, "But now it is becoming a hub for the rich and elite, all thanks to the tech industry. Displacing hard working people out of their homes, gentrifying the neighborhoods. It's a damn shame."

"Okay, what is with the righteous act?"

"It isn't, it's how I genuinely feel. Besides, this is all tying in to what I am about to show you, once I finish my lunch of course."

Jigen sighed, "Fine."

Meanwhile a few tables down, a woman in her mid-thirties sat as she finished her coffee, Her long straight blonde hair was put up in a neat bun, her bangs reached to her blue glasses she was wearing, which helped her read the San Francisco Chronicle. She took the last few sips of her coffee, finishing an article that talked about the San Francisco's Opera final performances of Zéphire.

She got up, dusting off her light blue workout shirt and black leggings, she grabbed her gym bag and her empty cup. Walking up to the garbage counter, she put her used cup in the compost bin, and began to walk away when her phone rang, "Oui?" She answered in a soft French accent.

"I see he is in town, do you think this will compromise anything?"

"I doubt it," She responded as she walked out of the ferry building to the bustling streets of San Francisco. She followed the other pedestrians across the street to the center of the Embarcadero district. "Him being here isn't a coincidence, I know why that idiot is here in this godforsaken city. He's looking for the same thing, he's after the Smaragd of Hesse as well. It's the only reason why he would even bother to come to this cesspool."

"Then we must acquire it before he does, I am counting on you, Genevieve."

"You will get it, if anything I will do a much better job than you ever did, and I can do it without breaking the princess' heart. And without him messing it up."

"For those who come to San Francisco, summertime will be a love-in there."

-An office building in the Financial District-

" , Zéphire just finished it's run at the War Memorial to fantastic reviews. And now, you are set to star in the production of The Marriage of Figaro." A reporter began as he interviewed the young performer, "Any thoughts on the upcoming production?"

"Well, what is there to say?" The young woman replied as she put back a bit of her short dark brown wavy hair behind her. Suiza Shikibu then looked towards the camera, placing her hands (where the right one now had the Emerald ring her grandmother had given her) on her lap, "Only that the SF Opera is working on a beautiful elaborate production, and I will for the first time be performing alongside my grandmother, opera veteran Miya Shimada." She smiled wide as she presented the reporter to her grandmother.

"Oh yes, that was one of the big reveals! And this is the first time in thirty years you are going back on the stage is it not? Last time was in Switzerland when you performed with your now late daughter-in-law Eva Macedo for The Magic Flute, is it not?" The reporter asked Miya.

Miya nodded, "That is correct, oh it was a marvelous performance, to be fair I honestly didn't think I'd return to the stage. But Susanna was quite insistent, especially with the new turn of events."

"Turn of events?" The reporter asked quizzically.

Miya sighed, "Susanna wants to take a small sabbatical from opera to seek other ventures. First with helping my late husband's company here in the San Francisco Bay Area, afterwards she wants to tour as a solo performer for a while."

"Is this true?"

Suiza nodded, "Yes it is. With the passing of my grandfather, Sojiro Shikibu, I've taken it upon myself to help maintain the company he has built. We are currently in the process of financing and developing subsidized housing for the residents of both San Francisco and my hometown of Oakland. Right now, thanks to the boom that is Silicon Valley, hard working people are being displaced and forced to move out. It isn't just low income, our working class which are our teachers, police, and medical personnel are all being forced out of the Bay. And I don't think it fair or right; I do love performing do not get me wrong, but helping my family, and my home are on my list of priorities right now. Which is why I wanted to at least perform once with my grandmother, before the change."

"Oh I see, do you think you will return to performing operas?"

"Maybe one day," Suiza replied, she gracefully adjusted the end of her blue summer dress to cover her knees, "I do love it, but I need a change of pace for a while. But please do come and see The Marriage of Figaro, it sure is a classic comedy." She smiled as she looked into the camera.

"In the streets of San Francisco, gentle people with flowers in their hair."

-The Palace Hotel-

Lupin hummed as went to his suitcase, looking for a few books he had brought with him for the trip. He had already taken off his signature red jacket and put it on the sofa chair of the suite he and his crew were staying in. Jigen was sitting on the couch, indulging in a glass of scotch as he was watching the interview with Suiza ands her grandmother.

"Jeez, this broad is almost as righteous as you with her spiel on displacement and subsidize housing."

"Trust me, she's benefitting from this tech boom as well." Lupin answered as he got up from the floor and sat on the couch across from Jigen.

"How do you know?" Goemon asked from his spot on one of the beds, where he was meditating.

"Because she is the reason why we are here."

"What?" Jigen asked as he turned his head to face Lupin, putting his now empty glass on the glass coffee table.

Lupin rolled his eyes, "Jeez, would it kill you to use a damn coaster?" He said as he grabbed one of the coasters from the side of table to put underneath the glass.

"Hey, I finished it! It shouldn't give off ringlets."

"It still does."

"No it doesn't."

"Children, behave." Goemon interjected, "Lupin, what does an opera singer have to do with us being here?"

Lupin grinned as he opened his book, showing off a picture of Czar Nicholas II and Czarina Alexandra, the last monarchs of the Russian Royal family. "I am assuming we are all familiar with the history of the Russian royal family. But let us focus more on Alexandra, the last Empress shall we? You see, she was the granddaughter of Queen Victoria, practically her favorite I might add. When Princess Alix of Hesse as she was formerly known decided to marry Nicholas of Russia for love, Queen Victoria gave her and emerald ring before the wedding, the Smaragd of Hesse, aptly named after the luscious green that is the Duchy of Hesse." Lupin continued as he flipped the page to a picture of the ring, and another photo of Alexandra wearing it.

"Okay, so why do we want this ring, and what does it have to do with the opera broad?"

Lupin pointed to the tv, where Suiza was wearing the said ring on her right hand; the emerald's luminosity gleamed on the television screen. Jigen and Goemon were surprised, "How did an opera singer acquire of a valuable piece of history?" Goemon asked.

"When Nicholas II was forced to abdicate, his wife and daughters kept their jewels in case they were able to safely escape Russia, the emerald ring including. The women sewed the jewels into their corsets as a concealment measure. Unfortunately, they were executed under orders of the Bolsheviks; when executioners dumped their bodies, they stole the jewels. Until one man, an undercover officer that stayed in Russia after the Russo-Japanese war, stole them. This man, was Kouta Tamayama, who later changed his last name to Shikibu when he went into hiding."

Lupin continued, "That's right, that man is that performer's great-great-grandfather. Years later her grandfather, Miya Shimada's late-husband used a bit of the fortune left by dear old papa to climb the ranks from enforcer of the Yakuza, to a leader. He later proposed to a young opera singer, Miss Shimada with the ring and moved to the San Francisco Bay Area to start legitimizing his businesses. Sojiro Shikibu was a shrewd and ruthless man, built his empire first from arms smuggling and drug trafficking. Around the time he moved to America, there was some dispute with another rival Yakuza, needless to say, it got bloody. Around that time, my grandfather took it upon himself to attempt to steal the Emerald and locate where the rest of the Romanov jewels were."

Jigen spoke, "And let me guess, he failed."

"Worse, my family got caught in that bloody feud. It's a long and complicated story that I'd rather not get into. Point is, we get our hands on the Emerald, and see whether "Grandmother Willow" over there, knows more than she is letting on."

"Should we really be messing with a Yakuza family? I mean," He looked back at the women on the television screen, not seeing a trace of cold-blooded killer or savagery in them. But Jigen knew better than to underestimate women, "They can be dangerous."

"Jigen, please. They are opera singers, you act as if they are Cersei Lannister or Daenerys Targaryen."

"Whom?"

"...am I the only one who watches Games of Thrones here?"

"Apparently so." Goemon added.

"One is old and the other is gorgeous young upstart. Point is, I want to accomplish something my grandfather couldn't, and get some answers to that feud that I've had since I was ten."

"Oh, so this is personal?"

"A little. More to the point, those Romanov jewels are an amazing 401K, as is that ring." Lupin looked back at the television, admiring the emerald. Contemplating on whether or not he was ready to seek the answers that he needed.