The next morning Sally and Cruz were having breakfast together at Flo's restaurant. Because it was so early, the only people there were Flo and them. Well, actually, it just Sally just eating breakfast with RSN currently on the TV at low volume. Cruz was just absentmindedly poking the pancakes on her plate with her fork. Sally stopped eating and gave Cruz a worried look.
"You okay, Cruz?"
Cruz stopped playing with her food. She put the fork down and gave a long sigh.
"I'm fine. I guess I'm just not hungry. Still kind of excited from last night."
Sally sighed. "Yeah, it was exciting for me, too. Thanks for giving me an excuse to go down memory lane."
"You're so welcome.", Cruz rolled her eyes.
"We now have breaking news from the underground world of street racing."
The women immediately paid attention to the TV after hearing that. It showed a clip of two cars racing each other, one of them with four rounded taillights, the other with nitrous bottles, purple LED lights and a color matching flame coming out the exhaust.
"In this video that has now gone viral with over a million views, it may look like a typical street race on Interstate 40. On the right is a car belonging to the leader of the Delinquent Road Hazards, a gang of street racers based in Carburetor County, Arizona, where this footage was taken. The car on the left is a black Nissan Skyline GT-R which, according to the gang, had done a surprise high speed solo pass minutes earlier, going upwards of 200 miles per hour. Not surprisingly the Skyline won the ensuing race against the gang's leader. But what sets this race apart is the license plate of the Skyline. As we pause and zoom in, you can see it reads 'SPDKUĪN'. The last time anyone saw this particular car with this tag was in Japan 17 years ago. At the time, it was being driven by a mystery woman known as the Speed Queen, who was the fastest street racer in Japan. Even to this day nobody has found out her true identity. All we can see in this video are the silhouettes of two women in the Skyline. Our video enhancing software has failed to make out the faces. For all we know, the driver could possibly be the Speed Queen herself. When the race was over, the Skyline's occupants made rude gestures to their opponent to add insult to injury. We will give updates if more information becomes available."
The women looked at each other. They started to laugh. Flo was cleaning the tables nearby while also watching the report when she heard them laughing. She stopped cleaning the tables and glared at them both, realizing what they had done last night.
"I oughta spank you girls. Especially you, Sally."
"Go ahead, Flo. I love getting off to being spanked.", Sally quipped.
Flo just rolled her eyes and headed away to the kitchen to check on something. Cruz looked rather worried.
"She knows!", Cruz whispered.
Sally nodded. "I told her years ago. Ramone and Lightning too. I never told Doc. Instead I caught him looking through my old VHS tapes, a few days after I first came here."
*flashback*
An elderly man with gray and white hair was in a small storage room just behind the office of the Cozy Cone Motel, watching something on a VHS tape. He was amazed at he was seeing on the television screen. There were two women inside of a car racing along a stretch of highway. One woman was holding the camcorder to film while the female driver expertly kept the car steady as she chased a green Toyota Supra through a long tunnel at mind-blowing speeds.
"Hot snot...", Doc whispered. "...she's good."
"Sign says stay out.", a female voice called out to the old man.
Doc wasn't startled at all. He calmly pressed the power button on the television set, making the screen go black. Then he got up from the stool he was sitting on, turned around, and looked to see Sally, the newest resident, standing in the doorway, wearing a furious expression.
"You look like you're ready to kill me, Sally.", Doc smirked. "Don't worry. I won't tell Sheriff."
He put a hand on her shoulder.
"Because I also know what it's like to give up something you love doing."
Tears started coming down Sally's cheeks. Doc pulled her closer and enveloped her in a sympathetic embrace.
"Thanks, Doc."
*end flashback*
"I don't understand, Sally. Why did Doc want Lightning out of this town, but not you?"
"Because he truly understood my pain. He also wanted to stay out of the limelight at all costs, even if it meant keeping my identity a secret. If he had decided to have me extradited back to Japan, it would have made headlines and his name would have been mentioned. That was the last thing he wanted. You know how gossip magazines can be, right?"
"Ugh, I know.", Cruz frowned. "Always blowing things out of proportion just to make a quick buck. I know I'm sounding impatient here, but I want you to tell me from the very beginning."
Cruz took out from her pocket the photo of Sally and her ex-girlfriend. She handed it to Sally with the hopes of getting her to open up. Sally took the cherished item in her hands and looked at Cruz.
"Please, Sally."
Sally extended the back leg of the photo frame and propped it up on the table. Then she began her story.
"I first went to Japan in June of 1997. I was 18 years old. Fresh out of high school. Young and dumb."
Cruz giggled.
*22 years earlier*
"Welcome to Tokyo Narita International Airport.", a female voice with a Japanese accent announced on the P.A. system. "All international arrivals please make your way to customs. We hope you enjoy your stay in Nippon, the Land of the Rising Sun."
A very young Sally was wearing a blue hoodie, white tee shirt, blue jeans and brown boots while standing in front of a customs official who was checking her passport. The official looked up her, then back at the photo in her passport to confirm her eyes were blue and her hair was blonde. He then set the passport down, flipped a few pages and stamped it before giving it back to Sally.
"Welcome to Japan, Miss Carrera."
Sally took her passport and said, "Dōmo arigatō."
The official nodded. Sally proceeded with her carry-on bag to the baggage claim area to collect her checked bags. When she arrived there, her bags had not yet come out of the chute that was connected to the carousel matching her flight number. Sally decided to set her carry-on next to it and walk over to some vending machines. She pulled out a ¥100 bill from her hoodie pocket and inserted it into the cash slot of one vending machine. She decided on a bottle of water since she was a bit dehydrated after the long flight from San Francisco. The cold water bottle fell into the slot, and she picked it up. She opened the bottle and took a nice long sip.
"Oh, that feels so much better.", she sighed.
*bzzzzzzzzzt*
The sound of the carousel's buzzer knocked Sally out of her euphoria. She walked away from the vending machines back to the carousel which was now spitting out checked bags belonging to other passengers from her flight. After a few minutes, two large red suitcases came out of the chute and onto the carousel. Sally took them off the machine and checked the stickers to make sure they were hers. After confirming that they belonged to her, she got a cart from a nearby stall and loaded them onto it. She then made her way to the exit of the airport where many people were standing and holding signs with names of passengers. One sign had her name on it. The person holding it was a Caucasian woman who looked about her age with brown eyes and a black ponytail that had a purple highlight. She was a wearing white tee shirt just like Sally, but wore a red jacket with green pants and black shoes. Sally waved to her. The other woman waved back. Sally took out her passport and showed it to her to verify her name. The woman smiled and looked up at Sally when they were very close each other, clearly indicating that Sally was a good half foot taller than her.
"Follow me.", she said to Sally as she escorted her to the front entrance of the airport.
When they came out, they walked over to a purple Toyota AE86 that was parked next to a few limousine buses.
"Yours?", Sally asked.
"Yup."
"Cool."
The woman opened up the rear hatch of the car and loaded up the bags one by one. She closed the hatch and the baggage cart was promptly taken away by an airport employee.
"Get in."
Sally opened the left door and settled herself in the passenger seat, with the other woman getting behind the wheel of the Toyota. She inserted the key into the ignition and started the engine. After revving it a few times she put the car in gear and gently pulled away from the airport entrance, heading towards the city.
"What's your name?", Sally asked.
"Dottie."