Sakura was sitting with her friends eating her breakfast when Kim sat down next to her with two of her friends who were sharing a dorm with Sakura's friends. The girls gossiped and chatted about music and movies and Kim elbowed Sakura and as they went to put their bowls back into the kitchens for the boys who had to wash dishes for trying to sneak into one of the girl's dorms the night before. Sakura rubbed her arm and looked at her sister who led her into one of the rooms at the old castle they were staying at.
"What was that for?" Sakura asked rubbing her arm.
"I have had the most brilliant idea ever!" Kim replied, her eyes glittering.
"What?" Sakura asked.
"You want to know what Mum is like and I am busting to meet Dad. At the end of the week when we go home, we could switch places!" Kim said.
"That is completely and utterly… mental! We only met yesterday, we can't swap places!" Sakura replied.
"No, hear me out. We could teach each other about our home lives and with our hair down you could see that if it wasn't for the fact you're wearing your Cardiff Blues jersey; our best friends wouldn't have been able tell the difference between us. We're the same height, same clothes size, same shoe size, same everything. We could do this and nobody would be any the wiser." Kim explained.
Sakura chewed her lip, "But if we did swap. And I went to London and you went to Cardiff; no matter what we couldn't a façade forever. Sooner or later they'd work it out and … swap us back." Sakura's voice trailed off as she realised what Kim was suggesting.
"And to do that, Mum and Dad would have to meet. Face to face." Kim smiled.
"After all these years…" Sakura added.
"I told you it was genius. When they work out that we're not who they think we are; they'll have to meet up, switch us back and when they reunite see how daft they were to have spilt us up in the first place. It's foolproof. Nothing could go wrong." Kim smiled.
The smile fell from Sakura's face. "There is one flaw in the plan. Dad has a girlfriend."
"What?" Kim asked.
"Her name is Gwen and she's a cop. She is a complete Jekyll and Hyde. Around dad she's simpering and nice and the prefect girlfriend. Once she's gone she turns into the wicked witch of the West and treats me like something the cat dragged into the house or like a five year old." Sakura explained.
"Then we'll have to get rid of her. Doesn't Dad see her for what she is?" Kim asked.
Sakura gave a dry laugh. "You'd be so lucky. Ianto doesn't like her either. He and Dad were best mates in college and when Dad came to Cardiff, he and Ianto shared a flat before we got our own place. Ianto's always been a good mate and he's like my uncle. He's totally cool and Gwen basically treats him like he's a butler."
"We should go upstairs and plan this out. It's our battle strategy." Kim said.
"We have got the morning free and it's archery in the afternoon." Sakura replied. "We could sue it as a test run. I'll wear your clothes and you wear mine and we'll see how long it takes for anyone to work out who's who."
They went upstairs and sat cross-legged on the floor discussing the plan. Sakura took a notebook from her bag and they drew up the main objectives of the plan.
1, learn each other's mannerisms and accents.
2, swap all belongings
3, return to London and Cardiff, reunite with parental figures
4, evade being found out for as long as possible
5, get rid of PWS (potential wicked stepmother)
6, reunite parents
7, live as a family again
"Do you really think we can pull this off?" Kim asked as they looked over the list.
"Of course we can. I can do a London accent no bother. Now come on, try and master my Welsh brogue." Sakura asked in a London accent.
"What like this?" Kim asked, her welsh accent was atrocious.
"Keep practising. You'll master it soon enough." Sakura encouraged.
"This is gonna be harder than I thought." Kim replied in a slightly more passable Welsh accent.
"Keep trying, you're almost there. My accent is a mix of Welsh and London so don't focus too much on the Welsh part." Sakura said.
"Why Uncle Jack describes the Welsh accent as 'those beautiful Welsh vowels' I will never know." Kim muttered.
"Almost there now. Who's Uncle Jack?" Sakura asked.
"Mum's best friend. They were at college together too. He's an architect and has been Mum's best friend for years. He moved from America to London to study and has stayed here ever since. Jack's really funny and he will flirt with nearly everything and everyone." Kim explained.
The rest of the morning was spend perfecting each other's accents and behaviours before going downstairs to meet up with the others for archery. The girls had swapped their clothes and joined their friends, being careful when they were talking so their accents wouldn't give them away. It was a success but there was a moment when Kim almost cheered for Sakura when she hit the target when posing as Kim. When they returned inside they swapped clothes back again and returned to being themselves. As the days passed and the end of the week approached they did different sports such as abseiling, climbing and an adventure course as well as things such as dance, drama and art. On the final day there was to be a BBQ, rugby game between the schools and a small disco. Then it was one final nights sleep in the dormitories before packing up and heading for home. People were going about swapping email addresses and promises to add each other on Facebook. The twins packed up each other's stuff and swapped phones and iPods. When they headed outside, everyone else was waiting on their buses.
"Good luck Kim." Sakura whispered.
"You too Sakura, give Mum a hug from me." Kim said.
"And give Dad one for me." Sakura replied.
See you soon." Kim replied and headed for the bus heading for Cardiff and Sakura rushed over to the bus intended to return to London.
After three hours of travelling the bus pulled into the grounds of St David's High School. Kim took a deep breath and followed the others off the bus to gather up her stuff. She looked around all the waiting parents and her eyes fell on her dad. Owen Harper hadn't aged much from his picture and he had a slight smirk on his face as Kim approached. 'Please like me Dad. Please' Kim thought in her head as she reached her father.
Owen smirked slightly as his teenage daughter approached. "What's the matter? Are you too cool to hug your old dad in front of all your friends?" Owen teased.
"I might be." Kim replied and let herself be swept into the hug before Owen let her into the car.
"How was the trip? Worth the money I paid for it?" Owen asked.
"It was fun, made a few new friends and got a holiday out of it. An all-round good trip I'd say." Kim replied.
"That's my little Sakura. Gwen's coming round to dinner later. We've got something to tell you." Owen smiled. Kim felt a curl of dread twist itself painfully around her stomach. Why didn't she have a good feeling about this?
In London Sakura tried not to stare at the different landmarks they were passing. Finally the bus pulled into the grounds of a school whose car park was filled with cars and parents and siblings. Sakura jumped off the bus and joined the scrum for bags before looking around for the woman whose picture was the only bit of her she'd had for twelve years. Toshiko smiled as her daughter approached her.
"How was it?" Tosh asked as she hugged her daughter.
"Brilliant. Made some new friends and had loads of fun." Sakura replied.
"Lovely. Let's go home." Tosh smiled and they got into the car.
Sakura smiled as they returned home and wandered up to Kim's room which was now hers. She'd only been here five minutes and she liked it. Maybe this was a good idea and their plan was going to work. Sakura's thoughts were interrupted by the slamming of a door and an American voice booming through the house.
"Where's my Kimmie?"
Sakura walked out of Kim's room and grinned at the man who was standing in the hall. Jack was like Kim had described. He was tall and handsome and as they sat chatting, he had her in fits as he slagged off some of his more annoying clients. Tosh rolled her eyes and ordered in pizza for them. When Sakura went to bed that night she felt thrilled and excited for what tomorrow would bring.