Thanks so much to Hofttailing for reviewing!!! I'm glad you think its cute, I liked the idea too!

I planned to update sooner than this, but things will be as they will be, so we're here now at least.

Oh, I don't own Jubei chan 2, nor any characters, so don't sue me.

Chapter 2

The first thing she noticed, as she stepped past the automatic doors, was the lack of noise. It was genuinely quiet. Had she really been away so long, she wondered, that she'd forgotten the peacefulness of this place? Freesia stood in front of the airport, baggage beside her, and felt that she would rather be wearing a light summer dress as opposed to the heavy denim jeans and over-sized grey and white checked hoody she had on.

I must've been so sleepy when I got up this morning, she thought, usually I have better dress sense.

With a shushing noise, a taxi pulled up beside her. "Excuse me, miss?" A man with spiky, dark hair leaned out the cab's window. "Would you like a ride?" His tinted glasses glinted in the sunlight.

"Yes, please. Take me to Union Square, if you will." Tossing her hair over her shoulder as she regarded him, she felt he was distinctly familiar.

"Put your bags in the back and I'll take you right there!" He grinned cheerfully.

Sitting in the back-seat, she only half paid attention to his idle chatter while they drove, instead choosing to look out at the scenery. That was, until she realized he was asking her a question.

"Say miss, what did you say your name was? I have a feeling we've met before." He peered at her over the rim of his glasses, and she noticed that he only looked with one eye.

"Kita? Kita Furo?!"

"Yeah, that's me. And although you're very good looking, I say you'd be even better with a name." He grinned lopsidedly at her.

"It is me! Freesia!"

His jaw dropped, and after a few seconds of what could be described as uncomfortable silence, she decided to comment.

"You know, I really think it would be better if you kept your eyes on the road." She smirked, somewhat pleased that he had been so surprised.

"Freesia…well, I can't think of anything else to say, other than you've certainly gotten…bigger."

"Kita!"

He laughed, a joyous sound, making her feel more friendly towards him "But it's true. You look much more like your counterpart now."

"Is it really so noticeable?"

"About as noticeable as the Yagyu Shinkageryu swordless defense technique. Will you be staying here long? Will you visit everyone else?"

"I won't be staying longer than a month at most, Kita. And as for visiting everyone, I'm not sure how much they will want to see me." Freesia's brow furrowed as she wished she could have done some things differently.

"I'm sure they will. You know, we've all missed you, but no one could find any way to contact you, even while Sacchan and Maro were in the city for College."

"Maybe they did not look in the right places." Freesia laughed.

They continued chatting like that for a while, and they even exchanged phone numbers and e-mails, until Kita finally said "Well, here we are Freesia, Union Square. You sure you don't want a ride anywhere more specific?"

"No, I will be quite all right." She replied with a light smile.

"I'm sure you will be. If you want to hang out again, talk to Jiyu. She'll be sure to organize something." Kita gave Freesia a friendly grin as she got out of the cab, taking her luggage with her.

Freesia's smile faltered slightly at the casual mention of Jiyu, but she quickly fixed it firmly back in place.

"Thank you for the advice Kita! I'll see you later then!" she called as the vehicle started to drive away. Kita waved a hand out the open window in response.

Freesia stood on the pavement watching the taxi head off further into the town. The reunion had been unexpected, to say the least. She'd planned to settle herself in her hotel first before seeking out her old friends the next day. And Kita's easy use of Jiyu's name had made her uneasy. I thought she liked her friends to call her Jubei, Freesia thought curiously, and she wondered just how much had changed since she'd left. She wasn't used to having things throw her off balance like this.

Almost reluctantly, she shook herself free of her thoughts and made her way to her hotel. The streets were as busy as she remembered them, even though there were nowhere near as many people as in the city, and when she finally booked in she found it was with no small amount of relief that she twisted the key in the lock and entered what she would be calling 'home' for the next month or so. The room contained a comfortable looking double bed, and the walls were a deep red only enhanced by the light of the setting sun now streaming through the large window directly opposite the door she came through. Enjoying the brief respite from all the eyes she'd felt on her as she walked there, she fell onto the bed. Turning her head to the left on the pillow, she looked out through the window at the quaint, seemingly thriving township.

"Now that I'm here, what should I do?" she wondered aloud.

She knew what she wanted to do. Her eyes took on a distant look as she imagined her old friend greeting her with open arms. Freesia could almost hear that familiar, sweet voice welcoming her back. But then those only half-broached feelings of the time when they were closer clashed against her daydream, and she roughly pulled herself away from the thoughts that would only serve to get her hopes up.

"Perhaps leaving without telling her was not the greatest of ideas…" Freesia guiltily admitted to herself, "But if we had not fought, then I wouldn't have felt that it would be better if I left…" her voice trailed away as she realized the uselessness of that sentence. There was no longer any point in pondering what could have happened, and yet…Freesia had changed while she was gone. She'd started changing before she left, but leaving had hurried the process along. Although she still had that wide streak of confidence mixed with arrogance in her personality she recognized that at times it was necessary to defer to certain people, especially those in control of your salary. And yet even her natural confidence wasn't always a match for her nerves, her doubts. Especially when those nerves were caused by Jiyu.

"I've missed you, Jiyu" The blonde murmured into her pillow, muffling the words.

Pulling her cellphone out of her pocket, she flicked to Jiyu's home number. She hoped she still lived at the same place.

I'll call her tomorrow, she thought, gazing at the screen with determination, I'll definitely call tomorrow.

Grinning to herself, she lifted herself off of the bed and decided it was time to go out for dinner.

Restaurants seemed common place as Freesia walked down the avenue lit by street lamps, and small decorative lights that hung outside shop fronts. Most were closed, but the ones that weren't were crowded with merry people, enjoying meals with friends or family.

Freesia hugged her little take-away box close to her chest trying to ignore the voices and laughter that seemed to be the only thing she could currently hear, no matter how hard she tried to block it out. She'd really wanted to go to one of the many small bistros or good-quality bars that the area was known for, but they were all much busier than she'd expected. She didn't like feeling lonely when there were so many happy people surrounding her, especially when one dangerous glare from her sent them scurrying away leaving her more alone than before. It made her feel worse. So she'd given in and bought some take-away instead. She sighed quietly. Her evening had most certainly not gone the way she would have liked.

Looking through some of the windows she'd seen some familiar faces, bringing an almost painful feeling of longing to her chest. In one place she saw Bantaro, laughing with those two monkey guys; in another Sai sat cramped into a corner, furiously typing on a laptop while Mikage smiled and chatted with a man whom Freesia assumed was her husband. But she hadn't stopped to say hello, she had instead hurried past hoping they wouldn't notice her. She didn't want them to see her yet, if she could avoid it. There were things she wanted to get out of the way first, like knowing if Jiyu was ok with her staying for a bit. She closed her eyes against the thought that the other girl might refuse her and for a few moments Freesia struggled to breath.

Successfully, she made it back to her hotel. She'd eaten her food on the way there, after realizing that she would only have been saving it for an empty room and not particularly caring for the idea. Tiredly she tossed the remaining trash from her meal into a bin, and retreated to her en-suit for a warm shower before crawling into bed.

When I see you, Jiyu, Freesia thought, before falling asleep, will you hold me like before?