Kata Himura owned a house now.

Well, it wasn't really a house. It was an apartment. Still, it was really big. She met with the landlord of the building and he offered her the apartment for the money she had. It was a fairly large apartment, in a desirable location, on the fiftieth floor of a sixty-five-storey building.

She thought it was a shame that the landlord hadn't recognised her, especially since the last time she saw him was only five years ago. But she supposed five years could be a lot when you had a lot on your plate, as he did. Still, it did hurt that he chatted to her as if she were another tenant, while on the inside she was screaming at him to recognise her. She barely held it in, mostly because she knew he was most likely still married and she had no chance of being with him.

She had sold her car and caravan for some extra money, without which she probably wouldn't have been able to afford the apartment. But she still had a surprisingly big amount of money left after buying the apartment, so she paid almost everything she had left to build a small room at the front of her apartment, with the front door at the front of it, for telling fortunes. She 100% planned to keep up with that; it was a good money-maker. She decorated it as a gypsy fortune teller would have: with the bead curtain and lots of astronomical stuff. She didn't really understand it but she found people generally paid more if she looked more traditional.

After this, she decided to visit the man she loved, who was the landlord of her building, "coincidentally". If anyone was to ask, she would say no, of course I didn't choose this apartment just because I have romantic feelings for the landlord, that's just a bonus. She went up to the penthouse and knocked on the door. She received a call of "it's open!" so she opened the door and went into the room. She found the landlord, clad in a lab coat, standing on the balcony, looking out. He turned when he heard her approach.

"Oh, hello. You're the woman who just moved in, aren't you?"

She nodded. "Yes, that's me."

"So what can I do for you?"

"Um…" Now that she was up here, it was incredibly hard to get the words out. "I'm not sure if you remember me," she began. "But five years ago, we were close."

"Close?" the man repeated. "If we were close, why don't I remember you?"

"Maybe if I tell you my name, you will remember."

He put his head on one side. "Oh wow, I just realised I don't know your name. I should have looked at your application form, I apologise. So what is your name?"

There was no going back now. She took a deep breath and said, "Kata Himura."

The effect was instantaneous. His face turned pale and he stared at her. "Kata…!" he repeated in a whisper.

Kata nodded. "It's certainly nice to see you again. I don't know if you still have romantic feelings for me—or if you ever did—but I need to tell you now that I have never stopped loving you, Heinz."

He continued to stare at her. Finally, he said in a voice that was barely above a gasp, "You're just as beautiful as the day you left."

That nearly made Kata cry but she continued to hold Heinz's gaze. "You were married, so that was the main reason I left."

"I'm not anymore."

Now it was Kata's turn to stare. "You're not?"

"Charlene and I divorced four years ago," Heinz explained. "I still have my daughter, Vanessa, whom we share custody of."

"So…are you in a relationship?" Kata asked hesitantly.

Heinz shook his head. "I tried dating a couple of times. Didn't work out well until I met this girl, Olivia, who loved evil, just like me. But something happened and she suddenly didn't love me anymore."

Kata was nodding; she had heard of the whole "evil" thing. "So where do we go from here?" she asked. "I know I kind of showed up out of the blue, but I couldn't keep away any longer."

Heinz hesitated for just a moment. "I haven't forgotten about you, after all these years. I didn't recognise you because I wasn't expecting you. I do want to get to know you again, though. Would you be willing to give a relationship a go?"

"Do you mean going out on dates and spending time together like ordinary couples?"

"Yeah."

There was a pause. "Absolutely," beamed Kata. "But I need to tell you something just before we agree to commit. Because you might not want to be in a relationship with me after this."

"Not possible," Heinz said, but he added, "Okay. Shoot."

"When I left, I was pregnant with twins, both yours."

Heinz nearly fell over. "Wait, what?"

"They were both girls but non-identical. I named them Rai and Shika, to stay true to my Japanese heritage. They were beautiful; Rai had your eyes, and Shika had your hair."

"You're speaking about them in the past tense," Heinz noted with a sense of foreboding. "What happened to them?"

Kata felt tears prick behind her eyelids as she explained, "I took them to the park one time, five months ago, when these evil people attacked the park with large guns and fire. Rai and Shika…they were taken." Her voice cracked and she began crying as she added, "They were only four years old."

Heinz put his hand on her hand. "It's okay, Kata. Did you see where they went?"

Kata shook her head. "No. This bald guy with glasses snatched my girls from me and used this small explosion to knock me out." She pulled down the neck of her top slightly, to reveal the reddened area. "It scarred me."

Kata noted that Heinz looked angry. "You say he was a bald man in glasses? Was he wearing a white lab coat like mine with shoulder things?"

Kata frowned, trying to remember. She nodded. "I think so, yeah. He had a really weird voice." A thought struck her. "Oh no. Was that your evil organisation?"

"My former one, yes. I betrayed them because they were insane. The guy you described sounds like Rodney, my most hated enemy. Even when we worked together, we disliked each other. He knew I betrayed them so he somehow knew you and the kids would be at the park at the time you were."

"He did it because of you?"

Heinz was virtually shaking with anger. "Yes. Rodney hurt you and stole our girls to get back at me."

"So you're not angry?" Kata asked without thinking.

"I'm not angry with you," Heinz told her gently. "You did nothing wrong." His voice hardened. "But you bet I'm angry at Rodney. I need to get our girls back."

"But I always thought those evil people killed my beautiful little girls."

"I don't think they would have," Heinz said, thinking hard. "If I know Rodney, he'll try and use them against us somehow."

Kata took Heinz's hand in hers. "We need to get them back."

"We will," Heinz promised. "I'm not going to rest until they're back with us."

Kata loved how he was speaking; it was as if she had never left, as if they were married.

"Do you have a photograph?"

Kata nodded and pulled out the same photo of Rai and Shika that had been on the sideboard in her caravan. "This is their fourth birthday."

Heinz gazed at the photo. "What were their names?"

"Rai and Shika."

"Rai and Shika," repeated Heinz. "They're so beautiful. Shika in particular reminds me of you."

Kata looked at her watch. "I'm really sorry but I have to go. I'm booked to dance in the Wentworth Club in half an hour."

He looked sideways at her. "I didn't know you could dance. What kind of dancing?"

"Belly dancing," Kata replied. "Both my parents were born in India, and they made sure I grew up with some of their culture. I have a glittery Bollywood-type outfit."

Heinz sighed. "I wish I could afford to come and see you."

Kata smiled. "I wish you could too. But for my second performance, I'll be given a spare ticket so I'll give that to you."

Heinz also smiled. "Thank you, Kata. I really do want to get to know you."

For a moment, it seemed like they were going to kiss. But then Kata stood up. "See you later."

"Do you want to come over for dinner? Vanessa's hosting a movie party downstairs so maybe you could meet."

Kata nodded. "Yeah, I'd like that."

As she left the room, she couldn't stop the massive smile. The man she loved was still interested in her! Better yet: there was a chance they were going to get Rai and Shika back!