A/N: Huge thank-you to my beta, Alastair, whose sharp eye for mistakes and incredible patience made editing this chapter far easier than I thought it would be! I hope you all enjoy this chapter and please review.
*Baby's knee caps grow in when they are about a year old.
"As far back as I can remember I have unconsciously referred to the experiences of a previous state of existence." - Henry David Thoreau
Chapter One - A Time of Firsts
Age: One month old
Doreen Abend nee Nakano knew there was something strange about her daughter as soon as she was brought home. The woman would often spend her nights staring down into Chie's crib, wondering why her daughter wasn't like other newborns.
It started when she noticed that Chie didn't wake up during the night — or so she and Kenzo thought. They had taken her to a doctor, wondering if their daughter had some sort of disorder. The doctor's eyes had been accusing as he informed them that Chie was malnourished and sleep-deprived. Despite their futile arguments to the contrary, the man had remained convinced that Chie was waking up and that they simply couldn't hear her. Following his advice, they had bought an expensive baby monitoring system that set them back 15,280 yen. Not a peep was heard, even when they both stayed awake the entire night just listening for the slightest sound.
Finally, Doreen decided to stay up the entire night and watch Chie. She was shocked by what she saw. The woman had just walked over to the crib to check on her baby, only to find a pair of dark blue eyes, just like Doreen's, looking up at her. Even from this distance, she could hear her daughter's tummy growling. Feeling momentarily weak-kneed, Doreen reached out and grabbed the edge of the crib. Her grip tightened until the skin around her knuckles was white and tears began to well up in her eyes.
"Why won't you cry? If you would just make some noise, Kenzo or I would come and feed you," she whispered, practically pleading with the infant that lay in the crib.
I've dealt with hunger pains most of my life, woman. This isn't going to break me down and make me cry like a baby! Jodie thought indignantly, her pride making it difficult to accept that she was a baby.
Doreen sighed and lifted Chie out of the crib, taking care to support her head. She carefully made her way down the stairs and into the kitchen where she grabbed a pumped bottle of milk. Popping it into the microwave, Doreen set the timer and pressed start. Tilting her head downwards, she resumed staring at her newborn.
"There's no point in going hungry, Chie. You obviously need it and we're more than happy to feed you." Ding! The milk was ready and Doreen carefully set her daughter on the counter, taking care to angle her away from anything sharp. Getting the bottle out of the microwave, she tested the milk on her wrist first. It seemed fine, so she picked Chie up and sat down at the kitchen table, cradling the infant against her chest and bringing the nipple of the bottle up to the child's lips.
Chie didn't need any urging as she greedily latched onto the tip. Gulping noisily and completely focused on the relaxing feeling of the warm liquid, she didn't notice the sad smile being sent her way by the woman holding her.
Chie was now sucking on air in an attempt to get the last few drops left in the bottle. Doreen shook her head and tsked before she obliged the baby's silent command and got another bottle ready. That one quickly went the same way as the first and so did the two after it.
When Chie was done with the fourth bottle, the baby released a surprisingly loud belch. Doreen blinked before giggling at the odd look on Chie's face, which was a strange mix between embarrassment and contentment.
"Time to go back to bed, little one."
Without further ado, mother and child made their way back to the nursery room. The baby was settled in the crib and Doreen sat in the rocking chair, only to doze off a few moments later.
What felt like barely a minute later, she was rudely awoken by an odd sound. Cracking one eye open, she squinted at a nearby digital clock that displayed the time as eighteen minutes past four in the morning. She grumbled and closed her eye, wondering why the noise wouldn't just — oh my God!
Both eyes shot open and she whipped her head around to stare at the crib. Chie was actually squirming and crying, begging to be fed. Where most new mothers would have been grumbling and slouching over to the crib, Doreen practically bounced over to Chie with a mega-watt grin on her face.
"Time to get you something to eat, sweetheart."
No point in turning down free food, especially when someone else feeds it to you, Jodie thought and grunted in satisfaction when the woman picked her up.
Age: Five and half months
"No."
A small, pudgy hand swatted at the onesie with a cute floral pattern. Doreen stared down at Chie in surprise, her mind having stalled for a moment.
"No." Again the baby swatted at the pyjamas and kicked her feet for good measure.
If you think you're sticking me in that awful, pink, horrifying contraption, then you're dead wrong, sister! Chie thought and inwardly cringed at the mental image of herself wearing it.
"Oh my God... you spoke, you just — Kenzo, Kenzo! Come here quick and bring the video camera!" Doreen grinned when she heard her husband running up the stairs but didn't turn around when he burst into the nursery.
"W-what is it? Emergency? Did something happen?"
"Oh no, nothing like that, honey!" Doreen chirped, almost giddy with excitement. "Turn the video camera on... is it on? Good, okay Chie, can you do that again for mommy?"
Chie stared at her parents for a few moments before feebly kicking her feet.
"Is that what you called me up for? 'Cause we already have multiple videos of—"
"No, that wasn't it!" Frustration coloured her previously happy tone as she pouted at the infant in front of her. "Come on Chie, say it again."
"Wait, 'say'? You mean she—"
"Yes, yes, now shush!" Kenzo obliged and shut his mouth, not wanting to irritate his wife further.
The child continued to stare blankly at the adults while silence reigned for a few more minutes.
"Look, honey, I don't think—"
"Just hang on!" Doreen huffed and scratched her chin, the offending onesie gripped by her free fingers. Wait, that was it!
She brought it forward and brushed it against Chie's toes. This immediately garnered the right reaction as the baby's face screwed up in frustration and she uselessly swatted at the air.
"No!"
"Isn't that just amazing, Kenzo? Chie is so smart!"
Kenzo gave his wife a blank stare.
"Are you really happy that 'no' is her first word?"
Doreen sighed then rolled her eyes.
"I mean, isn't it amazing that she can talk at five and a half months? All of the books say that babies don't start talking until they're about eight months old!"
Doreen picked Chie up and cradled the baby against her chest, staring at her in awe.
"Our little girl is a genius, yes, she is!"
Baby talk me again and see what happens...
Neither of the parents seemed to notice that it had been spoken in English, a language neither of them had ever spoken around her.
Age: Thirteen months
Doreen peeked into the living room, her attention having been drawn there by a series of faint grunts and thuds. She moved slowly and quietly as she lifted the video camera up to eye level. She zoomed in on the almost-toddler lying on the floor. Even as she watched, the little girl was already getting to her knees and struggling to her feet.
"Come on, Chie, you can do it," Doreen quietly chanted under her breath. She had realized months ago that Chie would immediately stop what she was doing if she saw a video camera pointed at her.
Goddamn legs, the knee caps have grown in* so walk already! Jodie inwardly cursed at herself. She'd made good progress in the other areas of her life. She was learning Japanese and could speak in full sentences. It had taken forever to get that damn tongue to work so why couldn't she walk? Jodie had dug her fingers into the baby fat surrounding the general area of where each of her knee caps should be and felt something hard. That meant that today was the today! She finally going to walk!
She swayed for a moment, almost falling again. She barely lifted her foot off the floor then carefully moved it forward and, because of this, she finally managed to take her first step. Chie repeated the procedure and succeeded in taking another step. She continued to do this and kept moving forward, a look of stern concentration on her face the entire time.
In the doorway, Doreen struggled to restrain a cheer, but the urge was quick to die. She gasped when Chie suddenly tripped and slammed into the end table, her head colliding painfully with the edge.
Doreen completely forgot about the camera and hurried forward to help her daughter. In response to this show of motherly worry, Chie just grunted and pushed the woman's hands away.
"I can do it! Leave me be!" Even though Chie had said it in a high-pitched and petulant tone, the words had stung.
Toddlers were supposed to cling to their parents like lifelines. They were supposed to run to mommy (or daddy) asking for their wounds to be kissed and extra hugs. Not Chie, not her daughter.
The independence was cute at first but after a while... Doreen learned the hard way that even though she had given birth to Chie, the child would never refer to Doreen as her mother.
Age: Two years
Chie stopped herself from snorting as Doreen continued to lay out the different coloured blocks. The older woman had begun to notice certain things about her daughter, namely that mentally, she seemed way ahead of the usual learning curve. She had devised a simple test to see just how far ahead the little girl was.
"Chie, can tell me what this colour is?" Doreen asked, pointing at the block right in front of her.
"It's green." The "obviously" went unsaid.
The woman nodded and sent her daughter an encouraging smile.
"Very good, now how abou—"
"Blue." Chie didn't bother letting Doreen finish since she had already seen which block the other female's finger was moving towards.
Doreen frowned, her confidence badly shaken. Sometimes Chie acted so old that it was almost like it was an adult was sitting across from her and not a toddler.
"Well, do you know which one—"
She was cut off as her daughter heaved a sigh.
"Red, mama, it's red," Chie muttered, exasperation and boredom ringing clear in her voice.
Doreen had been overjoyed to receive the title of 'mama' but hearing it now, she was unsure how a toddler could make her feel stupid with just four words.
The woman's train of thought was cut off when she noticed something. "Say that again, Chie."
Chie furrowed her eyebrows and was struck momentarily silent by the odd request.
"Um, it's red?"
How could she have been so stupid? Why didn't she notice this before?
"Chie... when did you learn English?"
Age: Three years old
Chie stared down at the red ball as though it had been puked on. She remembered how to kick it properly from playing soccer when she was a kid in her old life. Of course, she had been signed up against her will, but it still counted... maybe.
"Kick the ball to mama, Chie!" After many stubborn refusals, Doreen had finally accepted that Chie would never call her "mommy". Her and Kenzo were slowly becoming accustomed to hearing Chie speak English too, though Doreen tended to flinch whenever her daughter spoke in strangely fluent English.
She glanced away, then back at the hopeful woman's face. There was no way she could say no to that because the guilt would simply eat her alive. Stifling a sigh, Chie pulled her leg back and remembered her mom's words as she did so.
"Make sure to use the side of your foot to kick, not the tip. If you use the point you have no control over where the ball will go."
Her heart gave a painful twist at the (imaginary) sound of her mom's voice, and she lost her concentration. The point of her foot collided with the ball instead and went sailing over not just Doreen's head, but the wall dividing their backyard from the neighbours'.
Doreen frowned and glanced back at Chie, her head having turned to follow the ball's path. Her daughter's ears and face were flushed bright red, plus her shoulders were hunched up, almost like she was trying to hide. Chuckling, the woman made her way over to the toddler and held out her hand.
"Well, we should go get the ball back, right?"
Chie nodded but kept her eyes on ground. She allowed Doreen to guide her around the house, out the front gate, and over to the neighbour's house. The heat was just beginning to recede when Doreen pressed the buzzer by the neighbours' front gate.
"Yes?"
Chie perked up, confusing flickering across her face. That voice sounded familiar...
"Ah, I'm sorry to disturb you, but my daughter accidentally kicked our ball into your yard. Can we come in and get it?" Doreen rubbed the back of her neck and sighed, she had always hated meeting new people. Looking so distinctly European made her a bit of an outsider among the other women in the area.
The electronic lock on the gate was released just before the front door opened. Doreen and Chie stepped into a well-kept front yard just as a pretty brunette with long hair made her way towards them.
"Hello, I'm Sawada, Nana."
Why did Sawada ring a bell? It sounded sounded so familiar, but Chie just couldn't place it.
Doreen bowed respectfully.
"I'm Nakano, Doreen and this is my daughter, Nakano, Chie." Chie felt a hand press down on her shoulder and did a clumsy imitation of Doreen's bow.
Glancing up, Chie saw that the brunette was giving her a kind smile. She felt another nudge and threw Doreen a questioning glance.
"Go get your ball, Chie." The aforementioned girl twitched but left without a complaint.
It was your fucking idea to play in the first place! You get the goddamn ball! she thought indignantly and pursed her lips in frustration at the entire situation.
Before turning the corner, she managed to catch the first part of their conversation.
"I'm really sorry about imposing on you, she's usually better coordinated than this."
"Oh, don't worry, my son's only a few years older! I completely understand."
Their voices faded away, only to be replaced by the high-pitched giggles of a child and the deep chuckles of a man.
"That's it, kick it just like that!"
Were they playing with her ball? Chie's facial expression soured as possessiveness crept over her like a disease. She stomped around the corner only to have all of her fight, in fact all of her thoughts, simply fade away. Instead, she stared owlishly at the small boy chasing her ball around the backyard.
That hair, those eyes, that face...
I'm living next to Sawada fucking Tsunayoshi!