Chapter Seven
The next morning when everybody woke up they were surprised to find Sakura talking in Japanese and Damon writing it down. "What's going on?" Ulrich asked looking confused.
"We have to go shopping today." Morgan answered looking over a list of things they would need. "So if anybody has anything that they absolutely need I'd suggest telling somebody so we can get it written down."
Abby ran into the living room when the phone started ringing and shouted, "Mommy! Its grandpa!"
Morgan took the phone from her daughter and started talking in Japanese, writing down a list. "Hai, ji-chan. Hai… sayonara." Morgan said before hanging up the phone.
"What?" Jason asked when Morgan came back into the kitchen.
"Grandpa would like us to pick up some wine and Champaign." Morgan answered.
Jim looked surprised and said, "But you're not twenty one!"
Morgan nodded and said, "That's why grandpa calls the stores we go to. When we want to get sake, we just have to pick it up."
"List made!" Sakura shouted.
Morgan grabbed the list and shoved it in her back pocket. "Alright, lets go!" Morgan shouted.
Within half an hour they were at the store and walking around trying to find everything. "Mommy, can I have some candy?" Abby asked looking innocently at her mother.
"Not right now. We're going to be stopping at the mall."
Abby grinned and noticed the pleased look on Sissy's face. "So what are we doing here in this dump and not at the mall right now?" Sissy asked with an eager look.
Morgan looked slightly annoyed and ripped the list into two, giving one piece to her brother and keeping the other piece. "Easy. Its called we're getting food to last until next week." Morgan said before talking in Japanese to her brother.
"You guys come with me." Jason said with a stern look. "Odd, this is a PUBLIC place so I'd better not be hearing that you and my sister have your faces attached to each other."
Odd grinned a little and said, "You won't. I admit your sister is hot but I have enough sense not to embarrass her in any way."
Morgan rolled her eyes and started walking down the different aisles, barely aware that a few people were following her. "So what are we looking for?" Milly asked looking slightly confused.
"We're getting eggs, ramen, milk, flour, rice, a few female things, chicken, some pork, a bit of beef, some ice cream that I know Sakura's going to be craving, and.. Amaya, don't even think about it."
Abby, who had been trying to sneak some candy into the shopping cart, grinned innocently and put the candy back. "But, mama, I want candy." Abby pouted.
"No... Can somebody get the rice?"
"Uh, sure." William said looking around at the different items before finally finding the rice.
"Mommy, can we make rice balls when we get home?"
"We'll see."
After half an hour they all met at the checkout counter, both carts rather full. "You guys eat that much in one week?" Sissy asked looking shocked.
"You saw how many chores we got." Morgan answered before talking Japanese to the clerk while handing the clerk some money. "Arigato."
They grabbed the groceries and carried them out to the van. "Okay, we got everything and everybody?" Jason questioned, his eyes looking around as the groceries were loaded into the van. "Everybody in the van. Ami, is there anywhere you guys have to go?"
"Yumi and I have to pick up a new dress since a COUPLE OF PERVERTS decided to get us the scantiest dresses they could find." Morgan answered getting into the car.
Everybody got into the van also and waited to get to the mall. "Mommy, do we need anything else from the mall?" Abby asked playing with a doll she always kept in the car or whatever her mother felt like using when they went to town.
"We need to pick you up some new clothes. I saw those holes, Amaya, so what have you been doing?"
Abby smiled innocently and held onto her mother's hand. "I was climbing some trees and fell out of one of them." Abby answered before noticing the worried look on her mother's face. "I didn't get hurt or nothing."
Morgan sighed and shook her head. "She's your daughter." Yumi said with a small smile.
"Okay, girls come with us and guys go with my brother. We'll meet in the food court in about three hours or so."
"Hold on a minute, it'll take you girls only an hour to choose your dresses and only half an hour for us guys to choose our outfits. What's so important that you girls need two hours?" Jason questioned.
Morgan smiled innocently and said, "Privé1."
"Bah."
A giggle escaped Morgan's lips as they started walking in opposite directions. "So where are we going?" Sissy questioned.
"A really cool dress shop. The owner can literally tell what kind of person a girl is just by looking at them thus being able to give the girl a dress that reflects her personality." Yumi answered with an almost excited look in her eyes. "The guys are going to a different place since its always going to be a surprise for them what the girls are wearing."
"Sounds like fun." Aelita said looking surprised when they walked into a dress shop.
"AMI! YUMI! What a pleasant surprise! I had a feeling you two would be coming in after those two boys bought those two dresses from that other shop. I see you've brought some friends too, how nice." A somewhat chubby woman with hazel eyes said looking excited.
Abby giggled a little bit at the look of embarrassment on her mother and aunt's faces. "Uh, yeah." Yumi said looking uncomfortable. "We need some dresses so can we have them in about an hour?"
The woman put her hands on her hips and said, "Don't insult me, Yumi. I'll have them ready in about fifteen minutes. Yes, everybody's personalities are very interesting indeed and thankfully I have the dresses."
"Thank you and love you forever."
The woman laughed a bit and started saying something about girls these days. "She seems… nice." Milly said after a few minutes.
"She scares you, doesn't she?" Morgan questioned with a slightly amused look.
"Yeah. But the dresses are beautiful."
"Do you girls have any scars or deformities that you wouldn't mind showing off?" the woman shouted.
"I got a scar on my leg from a bullet." Yumi said. "Ami has a bunch of scars all over."
"Almost all over!" Morgan protested. "Believe me, its easier to name a body part that doesn't have a scar."
The woman laughed and said, "Your father was a monster, I know, so its natural that after living with him you've got scars."
Morgan shook her head and looked at some of the recently made dresses. "Mommy, want to know which one I think would look really pretty on you?" Abby questioned.
"Which one?"
"That one." Abby answered pointing to a forest green dress that sparkled almost as if there were diamonds in the fabric.
"Your daughter is adventurous." The woman said walking out of the back with a bunch of dresses draped lovingly over one arm.
"face it, Ami, she can read your daughter's personality better than you can." Yumi said with a slightly amused look.
Morgan shrugged and carefully took her new dress, looking surprised at the style. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the amazement on the other girls' faces. "This is the most beautiful dress I've ever seen!" Aelita said looking amazed at the light pink dress she had received.
"How much are they?" Sissy asked rudely.
The woman laughed a little and said, "Well, since all of you came with my two best customers, they're all free."
Morgan took some money out of her pocket and attempted to give it to the woman. "Take it. I insist on paying for your finest work."
The woman pushed the money back to Morgan and gave her a stern look. "You're like your grandmother, Ami-chan. She insisted on paying for my finest work as well, but I'll do exactly what I did when she tried to pay me. I didn't take her money and I'm not taking yours." The woman said with a smile.
Morgan nodded in agreement and put the money back in her pocket. "Can we try them on?" Milly questioned holding onto her dark pink dress.
"Go ahead."
The girls all smiled and went into the different dressing rooms to try their dresses on. Only Morgan and Yumi stayed behind with Abby, both girls knowing from experience that their dresses would fit perfectly. "You two really trust my work, don't you?" The woman questioned.
"Of course. You've been working on dresses since you were little, its only natural you know how to tell a woman's size just by how she looks and stands." Yumi answered with a smile.
Abby looked up at her mother and saw how pleased she was with the color of the dress. "Mommy, will uncle Odd be happy that you'll look pretty for him?" Abby asked curiously.
"I hope so." Morgan answered waiting patiently for the girls to come out of the dressing rooms.
Once the girls showed off their dresses and had changed back into their normal clothes, Morgan left some money on the counter and they left. "She didn't want to be paid, Kaze." Sissy said glaring at the Japanese girl. "Why couldn't you have just left her alone?"
"Because I felt the need to leave behind something to pay for her services." Morgan answered simply.
All the girls giggled and started walking around the mall, buying outfits they thought were cute. After a while they met up with the guys, amazed that they had actually bought something, before getting something to eat and heading home.
Later after everybody had eaten supper, they were clearing away the table when somebody knocked on the door. Abby ran to the door and opened it a little, surprised to see a tall man looking solemn. "Who are you?" Abby asked suddenly feeling defensive.
The man looked slightly confused so Abby repeated the question, this time in English. "Is there an Ami Kaze here?" The man questioned.
"Who are you?"
"I'm with the American police in New York."
Jason pushed Abby towards the kitchen before opening the door. "What's my sister being accused of this time?" Jason asked coldly.
"You must be Sano Kaze." The man said looking surprised.
"Who are you and what do you want?"
The man handed Jason a card and said, "Detective Jonathan Brown, New York homicide."
"My sister didn't kill anybody." Sano said looking at the card before putting it in his back pocket.
"I know. Unless she snuck into a maximum security prison and helped your father and three others break out then killed your father." Detective Brown said calmly.
Jason backed away and shouted for his sister before heading upstairs. "Make sure he's alright and isn't having an attack." Morgan told Sakura and Damon. "If he is, shout."
Sakura and Damon nodded before heading upstairs. "May I come in?" Detective Brown questioned.
"Go ahead. Would you like any tea?" Morgan questioned.
"Water will be great."
Morgan nodded slightly and headed into the kitchen to get the detective some water. "What happened?" Yumi questioned.
Detective Brown looked grateful when Morgan gave him the water and drank almost half the glass of water before answering, "About a week ago Himurei Kaze and three others escaped from the prison they were serving their sentences in. When we learned of the escape the police over in France were notified of the situation. They talked to the principal and learned that miss Kaze was in Japan on a school trip so we were notified."
Morgan sat down in shock and felt her lungs starting to constrict, a sign that she was about to have a breathing attack. "No." Morgan whispered shaking her head.
Yumi looked at her cousin's face and saw how her cousin seemed to be breathing less. "Deep breaths, Ami-chan." Yumi said moving so she was sitting on the back of the couch behind her cousin.
Detective Brown sighed before saying, "A few days ago we received a phone call. Apparently somebody had found a body so we went to check it out. There was no identification on the body so we had to rely on fingerprints. The fingerprints revealed that the body was Mr. Kaze."
"He's dead?"
"I'm afraid so."
"Has my mother been informed."
"The guards have her on suicide watch now."
A silent tear rolled down Morgan's face as she thought quietly. Her father hadn't suffered as she had and had been granted the pleasures of death while she hadn't. "I'm going upstairs." Morgan said, her eyes showing no emotion but her fingers were twitching showing what she wanted to do.
Odd grabbed his girlfriend's wrist and held her close to him, knowing almost automatically what she wanted. "No, you're getting better." Odd whispered softly, holding his girlfriend tightly. "Don't slip."
"I'm not going to." Morgan murmured trying to go upstairs.
"Miss Kaze, if you don't mind me saying, but you don't seem to be upset much about your father's death."
"Who killed him? I want to send them a thank you card." Morgan answered. "Then I want to kick their ass."
Detective Brown stared at the Japanese woman in mild surprise before saying, "They haven't been caught yet. We received information that your father wanted them to kill you."
Morgan suddenly felt a sharp contraction in her chest. No, don't do this. Morgan quietly begged, forcing herself to calm down. "They have to find us first." Ulrich pointed out.
"Unfortunately, they have perfectly good ideas where everybody is."
That did it.
Morgan quickly got up and attempted to go upstairs but found herself on the floor staring at the wall in shock as her body started jerking around from the lack of oxygen. "AMI!" Yumi shouted jumping over the back of the couch and sitting down next to her cousin. "Its okay. Take deep breaths."
If her chest didn't hurt so much, Morgan probably would have yelled at Yumi that she was trying. "UNCLE! UNCLE!" Amaya screamed sounding scared.
Sano ran halfway down the stairs before jumping over the banister and landing next to his little sister. "Oh shit, oh shit." Jason kept muttering trying to get his sister to relax.
"The guys who murdered your father know where everybody is." Yumi said before running into her cousin's herbal room trying to find something.
"Should I call 911?" Jim asked grabbing a phone.
Jason picked his sister up and shook his head. "You," he started glaring at Detective Brown, "get the hell out of my house before I call the police."
"I'm with the American police."
"I don't care. Get out."
Detective Brown glared at Jason before leaving the house. "Keep the doors and windows locked, upstairs and downstairs." Jason said wrapping his sister in a blanket.
"You're going to call, right?"
"I always do." Jason answered before walking out the door with his little sister safe in his arms.
"Somebody should go with him… I mean, what if she dies or something?" Sissy asked.
Amaya covered her ears not wanting to listen to Sissy and shouted, "MY MOMMY ISN'T GOING TO DIE!"
"Sissy, shut up." Yumi said watching as Damon picked Abby up.
Damon sighed and felt Abby hold tightly onto this shirt. "It'll be okay, squirt."
They waited for a couple hours until the phone started ringing. "Jason?" Yumi asked eagerly when she grabbed the phone. "that's a relief… yeah, we're all worried… so when's she gonna be released? Alright. You're staying the night with her, right? Alright… yeah, talk to you tomorrow. Love ya, bye."
Yumi sighed when she hung up the phone and leaned against the wall looking slightly frustrated. "What's wrong with her?" Aelita questioned.
"Her lungs completely closed themselves up. The doctors gave her something to help open her lungs up again."
"She got that upset over her father dying? That's stupid." Sissy said looking like she could care less.
"Wasn't her father she was upset about. Her father telling people where they were was what set off the attack."
Abby pulled away from her uncle suddenly and ran outside. Everybody ran outside after the small girl and looked surprised when they found her near a grave praying. Yumi smiled softly and took her boots off before walking next to the small girl. Quietly, she got down onto her knees and bowed slightly before closing her eyes. "Their grandmother protected both Kaze kids and Ishiyama until her death. Hiroki wasn't born when she died but they like to think that she's protecting him." Derrick explained watching as Abby started to cry.
Yumi hugged the small girl and let her cry her fears. "Why can't we be like other peoples?" Abby sobbed. "I don't want her to be scared, so she won't have those stupid attacks! What if she dies from an attack, auntie?"
"What if the sun didn't shine and the moon and stars didn't come out at night to show us the way home? What if there was an everlasting darkness that only the creatures of the night could endure for eternity?" Yumi murmured holding onto the small girl.
Abby kept sobbing until she cried herself to sleep. Quietly, Yumi got up and bowed slightly before turning and walking towards the group. "She's that scared?" Aelita questioned when they had gotten back to the house and Abby had been tucked into bed.
"Every time Ami-chan has one of those attacks, it gets worse. Because of that, we try to make her life as less stressful as we can manage." Yumi answered before heading upstairs. "Now everybody better get to bed. We have a big day tomorrow."
Everybody nodded and headed to upstairs to their rooms. Within a few hours, everybody was sound asleep. "The plan is almost complete..." A cold voice whispered.
"Leave mommy alone.."
"She'll die."
Suddenly Abby woke up and ran into her mother's room, wanting to be comforted by her mother's warm and scarred arms but when she remembered where her mother was, tears swelled up in her eyes and she started crying. "MOMMY!" Abby screamed jumping onto her mother's unmade futon and crying.
Surprisingly, nobody came into the room to find out why the small girl was crying. Slowly, Abby closed her eyes and cried herself to sleep; her tears drying to form tearstains on both her face and her mother's pillow. For the rest of the night, she slept almost peacefully, comforted and surrounded by her mother's sweet scent.
lostmoonchild: 1 is French for private. Believe me, I've got that written on a poster on my door... unfortunately nobody understands French. Anyway, read and review, flames are accepted. I don't own Code: Lyoko or any of the anime mentioned. some songs aren't mine so don't sue. characters who aren't part of Code: Lyoko are mine so if you wanna borrow them, ask.
