"Mom-ee, mom-ee, mom-ee, is this it? Is this Japan?"
Mimi didn't answer right away, her eyes were busy roaming the busy airport of Tokyo, Japan. It had been so long since she had been here, almost six years to be exact. She had been nineteen, and though she hadn't really wanted to come back then either, she hadn't been dreading it the way she was now.
"MOM-EEEEEE!" cried Celo, tugging on her hand, finally growing impatient with her silence.
"What Cel?" Mimi snapped sharply, her face tense.
Celo whimpered at his mother's reaction, she never lost her temper with him. "Is this J-Japan?" he whispered, trying not to cry.
Mimi's face softened as she gazed down at Celo. "I'm sorry Cel, I didn't mean to get mad at you." She said as she pulled him of to the side of the airport, and knelt down so she could be at his eye level. "Mommy is just a little stressed out right now."
"Oh." Celo nodded his head, wiping his nose with the back of his hand. "But, mom-ee, what does "stressed out" mean?"
She sighed, before smiling lovingly at her son. "It means mommy has been feeling a bit upset. Sort of mad, and sad, and worried all put together."
"I don't want you to be stressed out then. I think you should be happy. Aren't you happy you get to go play with your friends?" Celo asked innocently, staring at her with his big hopeful, blue eyes.
"Yeah, I'm happy to see them. It's not something you should worry about Cel. Mommy will be fine." Mimi told him earnestly, her thoughts wandering for a moment before she pulled herself back to reality, and her little boy. "Now, what was it you asked me in the first place?"
"Is this Japan?"
For once Mimi's smile was like the ones she use to have when she was just a young girl. "Yes, Cel. THIS is Japan. Welcome to the place where I grew up."
With Cel playing with his toy train, on the floor of the hotel room Mimi had rented for them, she settled herself down on the couch just a few feet away and tried to read the novel she had brought with her.
After two pages she gave up. Her thoughts kept wandering to what was going to happen in three days at the reunion. She was so tense about it that she was driving herself insane. 'And yelling at your own son, just for asking a simple question!' A cruel voice in the back of her head reminded her. 'What kind of mother does that?' Mimi sighed and looked over at Cel. She couldn't stop beating herself up about the incident in the airport. She never raised her voice at Celo. She just never had any reason to. 'But you did today anyways, even without a reason.' It was just that no one knew about Cel. She had hidden her pregnancy, and his birth from the Digidestined out of fear that if they knew anything about him they might be able to guess whom his father was.
"Mom-ee, do you want to play choo-choo-trains with me? It's not very fun playing by myself." Cel asked suddenly from the carpet, his eyes wide with hope.
"I have an even better idea Cel. What if mommy took you out for ice cream, and then I showed you some of the neat things about Japan. How does that sound?"
"Good! Let's go right now. Come'on mom-ee, right now." Celo cried in excitement jumping a bit unsteadily to his feet, forgetting all about the train set that lay at his feet.
Laughing Mimi jumped to her feet as well, and in one quick movement swooped Celo up into her arms, tickling him mercilessly, as she grabbed the keys for the room of the table.
"Mom-ee! Stop! Mom-EE!!! That tickles!!!"
"Why Cel, that's the whole point!" she exclaimed in mock surprise. "Didn't you know that?"
"Mo-"
But he never got to finish, as Mimi went into another frenzy of tickling, laughing along with him, as she headed down the hall.
After a bowl of ice cream, a few more tickles, a walk through the streets of Tokyo, and a bit more tickling Celo decided he wanted to go to a park. Mimi shook her head. Of all the things she could be showing him, it was the park that he wanted to go to. Oh well, she knew of a park close by that was one of the most beautiful she had ever seen, at least.
Upon entering the park both Mimi and Cel gasped, but for slightly different reasons. Cel, because he had never seen so much pink before in his life, and Mimi, because she had forgotten that the Sakura trees would still be in bloom.
The Sakura trees, or Cherry blossom trees, were Mimi's favourite flower. They were such a sweet colour, and the smell the let off was simply heavenly. Nothing else in the world could compare. She felt a small tear come to her eye. She couldn't believe she had forgotten. Had she really been away that long?
"Mom-ee, wha- what is… this?" Cel finally asked, thoroughly confused.
Mimi smiled. "Oh, Cel. This is one of Japan's greatest treasures! They're called Sakura Trees, and they're just at the tail end on there blooming. Aren't they beautiful?"
"They're aw- awfu-lee… pink."
"And what is wrong with pink?"
"Well, mom-ee, pink is. Well, pink is, ummm… for girls!!!"
She laughed.
"It's not fun-ee!" Cel pouted, sticking out his lower lip.
"Celo Amicitia! Pink is not just for girls, and the Sakura blossoms are for everyone! Besides sweetling, haven't you smelled the air yet, nothing that smells that wonderfully could be given just to girls."
Cel stared at her. Then at the trees. Then back at her.
"They're Pink."
That's all for now folks! Remember to review. The more reviews I get, the faster I'll come out with the next chapter!