Takiko set down the pot of boiling water, letting the hot steam enter her lungs and warm her a bit. She took out the tea packets and started to pour the water into a cup.

"Would you like some green tea?" She called over her shoulder to Limdo. He was looking at the pictures of her family on the coffee table. Most were color but a few were black and white, things her mother had let her bring to America to remind her of home.

"Sure." Limdo put down a picture of her grandmother and instead turned his attention to a picture of a happy child with rosy cheeks, Takiko as a young girl.

After pouring a second cup of tea Takiko sat down in the chair opposite Limdo. She quietly sipped her tea and waited for him to begin talking. It was a long wait. She finally decided to break the silence.

"You said you wanted to talk?" She shifted her legs into a more comfortable position as he turned to face her.

"That's right, we do need to talk." He picked up his tea and took a sip. Takiko wanted to scream with impatience but she kept her composure. "I know I acted a little strange these past couple of days, and I'd like to apologize. It's just that you look very familiar, like someone I used to know. I thought at first you might be her, you had just forgotten me, and that upset me quite a bit. So I tried to get you to talk to me, I went out of my way to spend as much time with you as I could." His eyes were intense, focusing on her face. She blushed and looked away. He continued on. "No matter how hard I tried you couldn't seem to remember me at all, and that frustrated me. It frustrated me so much that when I meant to be nice and helpful I was harsh and rude. And for that I apologize."

Takiko looked up, hearing the sincerity in his voice. She knew that it was probably hard for him to apologize. She felt like she shouldn't pry but she just had to ask…

"Who was the girl, the one that looks like me? Was she important to you?" Limdo grimaced and Takiko instantly realized she said something that she shouldn't have said. "Wait, you don't have to answer that, I'm sorry I brought it up."

"No, no. That's okay; you have a right to know. She was my…" He trailed off, seemingly at a loss for the right word. "Well I guess you could call her my girlfriend, though that doesn't seem to be the right term. We were very close but…" A pained look crossed his face and he seemed to be looking at something Takiko couldn't see. "We were abruptly separated, I haven't seen her since. So you can see why I was so eager to talk to you, you look and sound exactly like her."

Takiko was at a loss for words, so instead of replying she took a big gulp of steaming hot green tea. She instantly began to cough and sputter as the liquid seared her throat.

Fire, burning and hot raced toward her, coming along the same strange ropes that bound her. She struggled but couldn't break free, a little ways away she could here someone yelling. She looked into the eyes of the man that was going to kill her, eyes that were suddenly filled with shock as the ropes were cut and a deep slash ran from head to stomach on him.

Takiko fell to the ground, and looked up to see the same woman she had seen in her first vision, only this time she looked very familiar. Her mouth opened and formed the started to form the word…

"Limdo?" Takiko paused, confused. For a split second she felt like she was caught between both worlds, speaking to both people, then with a snap she was dragged back the present.

"'Limdo?!' ' LIMDO?!?' You pass out and all you have to say is 'LIMDO?!?'" Limdo stopped in his tracks and stared down at Takiko. Takiko didn't answer; instead she looked at his chest.

"You don't have boobs…" She patted his chest, and then looked up at him. "It's flat."

"I know." He seemed more amused than irritated now. Like there was some joke that only he knew the punch line to. Takiko was irritated; this was her least favorite look of his. Not only that but she was sure that the girl in her vision had been Limdo, they looked alike in everyway. Except of course that was a girl, and Limdo is a guy.

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Eheheh, sooooo i have a lot of apologizing to do. I have not posted in a very long time and for that i am REALLY sorry. When school started things got kinda hectic around here and then i got grounded (in fact i kinda had to sneak on late at night to post this) so i have been unable to write, or update, or do pretty much anything except sit in my room, which sucks... But anyway, so i meant to write more and this is reeeeeaaaally not where i wanted to end it so i thought i'd sacrifice length and all that good stuff for posting. Once again, many apologies, please don't kill me alice, and a fond farewell for now. Believe me, from here on out things will start to be picking up and there will be more chapters in less time.

Mata Ne!
Ari

p.s. For the first year ever my school is offering japanese, i am so excited and happy to be in that class!!!! But right now i only know 25 hiragana, greetings, random things in the classroom, and how to tell time... Oh well, at least if i go to Japan i can tell you that that is a pencil and that it is 2:00!