"Someone talked to me, Daddy." Her eyebrows curled with her red wet cheeks slightly puffed as she pouts. The hands of the child continued to shiver, recalling the scene in her head. With her mouth curled to a frown, Oliver Davis couldn't help but notice that she was in great pain.
"Calm down, Jean." His calm and gentle voice reached her. Arms around his neck, he felt his daughter's heart beat close to him. The child held her father close and soon held his shoulders as she pushed herself away from his father's head. Finally, she calmed down.
"I don't want to sleep anymore, daddy." Her pouted lips made him worry. She rubbed her eyes to take off any excess tears from his eyes. With a sigh, Oliver Davis finally places her back on the seat. He noticed that the child was still looking down, bothered by her mind.
"What did you see, Jean?"
"I saw a young boy, about my age. He looked like you daddy, but he had weird eyes. He was bald, wearing a robe or something. He was meditating near the falls when all of the sudden there was a scary voice. It called his name, Ray(Rei)… Ray(Rei)… It said."
His hands slowly rubbed her back to ease her mood. It was his way of gesturing comfort into his daughter. However, his mind couldn't take out the fact that the name Ray was mentioned to him by John 7 years ago in the orphanage. The baby boy who was also left in the orphanage the next day after Jean was left. He wanted to hide the fact from her daughter for now since the situation got a little more complicated than he expected.
"Ray… That name sound familiar…" Naru snapped out from his mind talking and heard Bou-san's words. He was worried that the boy might really be his son and that Bou-san might know his whereabouts. The brunette snapped his fingers and then finally remembered. His eyes slowly glanced towards the sniffing child.
"I met a young boy like that. He was taken there by the monks in Mt. Koya. He was a silent but adorable child." Bou-san finally got what he wanted, the attention of the little girl. The child leaned forward and tried not to sniff anymore. To Bou-san's surprise, she looked like the cinnamon friend he known years ago. He suddenly felt like he wanted to protect the child in front of him.
"Really? Can we visit him there?" Jean asked Naru was amazed at how the child could think of visiting a person all the way to Japan and doesn't even know who their visiting.
"That's out of the question Jean."
"But, Father, The dreams about him won't stop. He used to call me." Jean's heart was pounding, her eyes were worried but determined, and her tone was something that he didn't expect.
"Give the child a chance, Naru. If it's in her dreams that mean that the boy is connected to Jean somehow. "She is Mai's child after all."
"When did you start dreaming him, Jean?"
"A year ago, I didn't want to say anything since dreams can compromise the facts."
"Is he all you dream about? Are there anything else?" He asked again.
Jean started to fidget adorably with her pink cheeks puffed up and her head looking down. She started to murmur some words that Naru couldn't understand.
"I'm sorry, Daddy…" She silently talked to herself.
"I can't hear you, Jean. Speak up." She flinched hearing his father's tone.
Her head looked up at him with a worried look. "I also dream about momma." She sheepishly replied.
"I'll… I'll get some water." His expression made Jean more worried; she knew that his father would try to avoid any topic that was linked towards her mother. She was scared to think that maybe her father didn't love her mother after all and just really abandoned her. But, she was an understanding daughter. She also thought about his father's emotions and how he deals with it by avoiding it. She knew that her father might be avoiding the topic about her mother because he was alone or hurt when he lost her. He couldn't blame him for what happened. She watched as his father walked away towards the hallway.
"What does your momma do in your dream?" Madoka simply asked as she approached her, she knelt down and looked at the adorable child.
"Well, momma would usually prepare tea for me. She says that father doesn't really like my type of tea since it was too sweet and maybe daddy only likes it because of me. He likes to drink black tea with a small incy-wincy honey. He doesn't know that she puts honey in it. That's why he despises Uncle Lin's tea so much since it's too bitter like his dark soul."
Madoka, Bou-san, and Ayako chuckled lightly as they listened to the child. She then started to pout again. "She also told me to take care of the father. Even though I'm the kid, he also needs to be taken care of since he's still hurt."
"That's Mai after all. Your mother was a hard worker, an optimistic and very patient person." Ayako smiled.
"I heard she was the only one aside from me who would stand up against my father. Father John mentioned that he couldn't resist her requests as well." Jean chuckled and then watched Madoka stand up and sit on the sofa."I want to meet her and hug her, but that seems impossible now. Ray must know my momma. Since I had a dream about him talking to her once."
"If that's the case, we better meet him." Oliver Davis walked towards his daughter and placed the phone on the coffee table. "Let me help you pack for tomorrow's flight, Jean." He reached for his daughter's hand. To Jean's surprise, she leaped from her chair and jumped towards his tall father. She wrapped her arms around him smiling and thanking him as she hung on him.
"I can't wait to go back to Japan! Are we also going to visit the old office there? The office where Uncle Yasuhara is managing?" She sat on his father's arm as she asked politely with a smile. His head nodded.
"Can we also packUnnie? Fr. John gave that to me in the orphanage."
The child couldn't stop talking for an hour, but she, later on, got tired and went to sleep early. Leaving her father wandering back towards the gravestone they visited earlier. He gently looked at the name on the tombstone with sadness in his eyes. He dropped a small lily on top of it and squatted down touching the tombstone.
"What else are you hiding from me, Mai?" He paused for a while and then frowned. "I could have done better. You should have told me."
The office looked different since the great Oliver Davis left. The bookshelves just filled with books; there was also a small fish bowl with a goldfish inside. The kitchenette looked like it used for a long time and the sofa looked brand new.
Small giggles came from the little girl as she saw a photo hanging on the wooden wall. Her eyes sparkled with delight as she stared at her mother's smiling face while his father looked irritated and annoyed. It was a photo that she considered to be golden. She knew all the people in the photo except for the girl in the kimono, but she saw her in some other peoples.
"Uncle Yasu, Who's that woman there standing behind Dad?" Her finger pointed at the young woman in kimono. Yasuhara slightly leaned forward and surveyed the picture.
"That's your Auntie Masako; she was also part of the tea. She had a huge crush on your father before." Yasuhara chuckled.
"Oh, so that's her" Jean started to nod and looked at Yasuhara return back into his office.
Jean's attention quickly shifted as she noticed a shadow behind the main door. She assumed that it would be her father, but she knew that it wasn't when the man opened the door and stepped inside. His face has a big scar, he had an eyepatch and wore a mask to cover his nose and his mouth.
"Is this SPR?" He asked looking at the young girl. Jean nodded with doubt.
"May I speak with your manager?"
Oliver Davis looked at the photos of the autopsy report that was given to him years ago. He paused and read it and then gave the x-rays to the red-headed doctor. She looked irritated because she was looking at the x-rays of her old friend. Her eyes squinted as she saw an odd discovery, she wrote it down before creating any assumptions. Convincing the great Oliver Davis was an achievement, but lying to him would make him angrier. He was convinced before that the remains they found were his lover's but, he had to make sure that it was her. So, he thought of bringing the report back to Ayako, who minored in anthropology.
"All the trauma in her body would indicate that it is her, the DNA is hers, but I do think that it's possible that she's still alive, Naru."
Naru swiftly placed the papers down before turning to the doctor. "What makes you say that?"
"Her pelvic bone, if you're right that Mai delivered a child before she was a killed there should be trauma here. You also mentioned that there is a possibility that Jean's a twin. This pelvic bone is too small; this isn't Mai's remains, Naru."
And his heart started to beat in hope again.
