Hana

"He is my father and he will love me, or he is my father and he will wish I had never shown up at his door. Or he is not my father. No, no, he is my father. He has to be. No he doesn't, mom only said she dated him, but the old article I found said they were almost married. I almost grew up in a normal house with a mother and a father. Would mom have been happy then? If she had gotten her prince and a castle, complete with a little princess. No, she probably wouldn't have had me." I mumble to myself as I walk down the hallway up to the door that could possibly hide my father behind it. "What should I say? Hi, I'm your daughter, love me. Hey dad, nice to meet you. No, no, no, why is this so hard? Hey Ren, I ran away from home, please adopt me. Oh by the way, Nana's my mother. What the hell is that noise?"

To my surprise my finger is ringing the doorbell. I gasp jumping in panic, but still I wait by the door. I anticipate a confused face staring down at me. He will look at me and not know who I am, and that thought hurts. I can feel a rush of pain as I imagine my own father asking me who I am. He will think I am lost or that this is a prank. He will send me away. He'll call the police and have them take me back home. No one comes to the door, and I feel like I have been waiting forever. Impatient I knock a few times.

"This must be why Nana left you. Making a lady wait so long is bad manners." I hear footsteps and my heart jumps. "No, wait I'm not ready." My feet are carrying me down the hall before I even finish the sentence.

"Stupid! Stupid, Hana! Why did you think this was a good idea? You're so stupid." I scold myself quietly. The door opens and a masculine voice mumbles something. "What were you thinking? The godlike rock star would open that door and invite you inside and say 'of course you're mine. I'll take care of you and love you forever.' No! He'd never say something so stupid, he won't want you."

Ren

The little black head ducks behind the wall and I marvel at the height of her, or lack thereof. From here I would guess she came up to my thigh. A strong magnetic pull moves my legs forward and I quickly cover the distance between us. I make it to the corner just in time to hear her give herself a pep talk.

"Of course he wants to see you. Mom said he always wanted kids, it was her who left. She's the only one you should be afraid of, he'll protect you from her. Oh god mom! She's probably so pissed." Her words give me cause for concern. Did her mother mistreat her?" I bet Kenta is there comforting her. Weaseling his way into her life. I can't believe I trusted him. Wonder what dad will have to say about that. God Hana you can't call him dad yet, what if he doesn't want you?" She slaps her face and her mumbling is beginning to remind me of Hachi. If I didn't know any better I'd think she and Takumi had another kid. "Ren will want you. He will look into your eyes and fall in love and be everything you ever wanted your father to be. I hope he isn't still addicted to drugs. Oh what if he has a girlfriend and kids?"

"I don't." I say feeling a need to stop her from driving herself crazy with her rant. She screams jumping out of her crouched position and turning to run. "Hold it young lady."

Catching her by her shirt I lift her up in the air. I hold her before me examining the slender body, and those eyes, Nana's eyes. Her black hair is wild and long unkempt as it is, it reminds me of Nana explaining to me why she preferred her hair to be short. It was still a mess even when it was short though, sticking up every which way.

"You're rather pale. Torn clothes full of spikes and chunky black boots? You're like a mini Nana." I set her back down but keep a hand on her arm. "Where are your parents? It's a bit early in the morning for you to be wandering around by yourself."

She looks down for a moment face looking grim, "I sort of ran away while my mom was on a date. I waited for my babysitter to fall asleep then I sneaked away with my saved up birthday money." A sheepish smile lights up her face. "I found out where my dad moved to and I wanted to see him just once."

"Hmm." I nod knowing the feeling better than she could imagine. "Your mother must be worried though. When exactly did you run away?"

Shame faced she replies, "Two days ago. It took a day to get to Tokyo by train. Then I got lost but somehow I found my way here. Mom must be crying."

Feeling sorry for everything I had done to drive Nana away I kneel down and offer the girl my hand.

"I'm Ren." Taking a chance I ask, "Is your mother Nana?"

"Yes! Nana, she was your girlfriend, right? She's my mom. Seven years ago she ran away from home too." Her eyes brim over with tears and she flings herself into my arms wrapping her thin long limbs around me in a constricting hug. "Hana! My name is Hana Osaki, but if you would allow me to, I want to be Hana Honjo." Doing my best to catch my balance and not pass out from the shock I hug her back just as tightly.

"Hana?" I have a daughter. "You're mine?"