Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon Crystal Tokyo
Episode Fourteen: Reaching for the Stars
Hinata was fiddling with her new brooch, noting that it had changed drastically. No longer in its sun form, it was shaped into a heart where inside, her White Crystal filled out in a heart shape, faceted in this form. She heard the knock on her door and tucked away her brooch as she hurried to the door out to the hallway.
Usagi beamed. "Family time! Uncle Shingo is here with Auntie Mika and Rui and Grandma and Grandpa are almost here."
"I bet Ru is really excited," Hinata and Usagi giggled. Indeed, the youngest member of the royal family was super excited, prancing around his only cousin with glee who didn't look quite happy to have a child hanging onto her.
She hurried to her aunt's side the instant the Queen appeared. She beamed at her with glee. "Hi, Auntie Usagi!"
"Akarui, honey, so nice to see you!" Neo Queen Serenity hugged her niece tightly. "Why not say hi to Mamoru? Or are you still in that stage where you ignore the little ones?"
"I don't ignore the little ones!" Her niece protested as Mamoru tugged on her short skirt. Akarui was dressed well, in a rather adult outfit so that she would be thought more of as an 'adult' instead of a teen.
"Can't wait for Mom and Dad to get here," Shingo was excited himself, rubbing his hands tightly.
"What for?" Neo Queen Serenity asked.
"You'll see!" Mika giggled, holding onto her husband with glee. Neo Queen Serenity glanced at Akarui who looked irritated.
She caught her aunt's stare and explained. "They won't tell me, either. They say it's a good surprise."
"I sure hope so," Neo Queen Serenity leaned to pull up Mamoru who had given up getting his cousin's attention. When the older siblings arrived, Akarui become a lot more social, giggling and chatting up a storm with Usagi while Hinata bobbed her head time to time.
It was soon a family party, everyone sitting around and talking as dinner was being prepared. Akarui was shooed to her parents who sat her in between them. Soon, Shingo was shushing everyone, once more getting really excited.
"So, something happened recently that took Mika and I by complete surprise!" He began.
"Oh, you've gotten a promotion!?" Papa Kenji blurted out.
"No, Dad! Not yet, anyways."
"Darn it."
Everyone giggled at that. Papa Kenji wanted his children to be the best and a promotion for his son was something he dreamed for.
"No, see, well…"
The couple looked at each other before Mika blurted out. "I'm pregnant!"
"Oh, wow!" Mama Ikuko was the second to stand, Akarui being the first. Her voice rose above all the others.
"You're pregnant?! You're having another child? WHY!?"
Shingo shushed Akarui. "It wasn't planned, Akarui and we're certainly not considering this a bad thing.."
"Yea, no, of course not! I'm just not that good enough of a daughter, right?!"
"Akarui!"
"I don't want a sibling! I already have competition with these three, two of them who have magical abilities! I don't have anything! I don't want to have to fight for your attention over a cuter thing than me!"
She burst into sobs and ran out of the room.
"I didn't raise her to be so selfish," Shingo burst out himself. "She should be happy!"
"Shingo, not every sibling is going to be happy about having them. Remember how you and Usagi were?" Mama Ikuko said pointedly. "You used to fight like dogs and cats!"
"We did not!" The two siblings protested loudly.
"Besides, this is a great thing," Shingo continued, looking upset. "I thought she'd like to have a sibling!"
"She used to want them," Mika said sadly. "But then she got older and got to see how much different her cousins were to her.."
"We're not that different!" Usagi began.
"No, she's right. You all have the ability of something no normal human has," King Endymion corrected her. "Even Mamoru will one day show this. I've been noticing for a long while that Akarui has changed from a loving child to a rebellious teenager. We all are so busy that sometimes, we may not have enough attention."
"Are you saying that I'm not a good father?" Shingo asked lowly.
"No, I'm saying all of us had seen this and just thought she'd just grow out of it." King Endymion was fierce. "I remember how we were with Usagi when she was a toddler. You try to teach them to be an adult so young, they often get alienated. We had to learn this the hard way."
Everyone lowered their heads in remembrance of Black Lady, as Usagi stood up. "I'll go talk to her."
"No, I will," Hinata said suddenly. "I.. I.. Grew up in the shadow of my sister, I know how it is to feel… inadequate."
"But you're not..!" Usagi began.
"I know now but she doesn't."
Usagi stilled and then nodded. "All right."
Hinata found Akarui under one of the large trees in the gardens, poking at the dirt as she glowered in general.
"Akarui."
"Go away, Princess. Not in the mood."
"Hinata."
"What?" Her cousin looked up.
"My name is Hinata. Princess is just a title, nothing more."
"Oh, really?" Akarui said snidely.
Hinata thought hard on what to say, looking at the ground. She thought of her mother and her sister, her father and the Guardians. She thought of the other children, how easily things had been for them compared to her. "Rui.. I know what's it like to feel like an outcast."
"No, you don't!"
"I do," Hinata raised her head slowly, eyes bright with tears. "I can't talk.. Unless I'm with those I'm familiar with.. Even then, there are times when no words will come. I…can't use power like my beloved mother or even my sister, who ascended to power at a far younger age than I. I spent my entire childhood, trapped in the shadows of my family, feeling as if I was never going to be good enough, that there was nothing of them in me.."
"But there is." Hinata reached to Akarui. "Just like you. Just because we have power doesn't make us special. It's not how you use it either. Power means nothing if you have no heart. To go without power, that is the true gift. For us to awaken means that danger lurks and we must all protect this world. And we can protect it in so many ways, that power alone won't be what saves it. It's our heart, Rui, what makes us so strong. Our will, our minds, our hearts, and even our bodies are necessary."
Hinata stretched out her arms. "We're all needed for this world, not just those who can do the impossible. Anyone can do the impossible, if they want to do right in this world. Everyone loves you, Akarui. Don't forget that."
"And," Hinata shook a finger lightly. "Your sibling will love you too. Just like how my siblings love me and we all love you."
Akarui's jaw moved tightly. "But.. It was just so sudden…"
"It happens. You think Mamoru was planned? Or me? My parents only knew of Usagi, nothing more."
Akarui blinked back tears then wrapped herself around Hinata, sobbing like a little girl as Hinata began to feel uncomfortable in the rather tight grip. She patted her cousin on the head as she heard movement. Mika smiled as she patted Hinata's head, mouthed 'thank you' as she took her daughter away to have a heart-to-heart talk.
"That's my girl."
Hinata turned bright red, looking at her father with surprise.
"Just like your mother. You are truly like her, Hinata. It's why we named you Felicity." He beamed like the sun at his daughter. "And you are right. It's our heart that makes us strong and what helps us win against darkness. I hope you remember your own words when the time comes."
"I will, Papa."
"Come on, dinner will be a little late until Mika is back with Akarui but I believe Mother Ikuko is pulling out some games to play."
"Yea!" Hinata burst out, falling back on fond memories of games with her grandparents.
Meanwhile, next to her, King Endymion was marveling at how much Hinata was opening. Being a soldier was a lot more beneficial than any of them realized.
Ami was trying to make her home right, seeing how dusty things had gotten. She sneezed, trying to sweep out the kitchen. Ryu was working in the living room while Chiyuu bounced around between the two, still absolutely giddy that her parents were not only all right but home again. "And then at Auntie Makoto's home, the twins were fighting up a storm! It was so strange, to see them so upset. I'm not sure if reaching the next level will help them, but I sure hope it does!"
"And you reached it too," Ami said fondly, tapping the necklace gently.
"I know! I wonder what I can do?"
"You can do anything you put your mind to." Ami told her firmly. "As long as you know what you can do, what you believe in yourself, and how everything will turn out, then anything is possible."
While it seemed as if all things were going great, not all was well. Jadeite was now down to one last faithful follower, captured in his own delusion that Aragonite was under his control completely. Though it was quite clear that Aragonite wasn't even home in his own body.
Jadeite was livid, wanting nothing more but to rise above the Earth and start a wrath of destruction, killing and maiming all those who had dared to go against him. His fury was boundless but in moments of weakness, he kept remembering his life from before. Memories that had been wiped from him by someone he wanted to recognize, someone he was slowly being bound to. Jadeite had dreams of losing control and becoming something worse than he had ever thought of. But he felt in full control when he was awake so he often would disregard these nightmares.
Even though everything he'd been striving for was fast unraveling before his eyes. He stormed around in the throne room, before delving further back to where the mind-wipe table was set in front of the large, soft-glowing rocky orb. He looked into it, remembering seeing his old mistress in front of it, offering it all the energies the generals had amassed.
His eyes narrowed slowly. Jadeite slowly walked forward, carefully, cautiously. He stopped directly in front of it, looking into the murky reflection. All this time, he'd felt nothing. He'd seen nothing. He spent so long encased in ice, his senses had dulled and being with humans had changed him even more. Things that he had never noticed.
Until he was losing in his battle. In his search to find something. He wanted the universe, the stars, a place to call home, to belong to. Being rejected had been the breaking point in his existence, he had given up his old life for his old mistress.
Though, again, this was another delusion as Beryl had merely controlled their minds, warping them to her own goals. The same as Jadeite had done to his own. None of them realized it, none of them ever got that chance.
Until now as Jadeite slowly raised his hand toward the orb. It was radiating coldness, a sense of déjà vu, of something more dangerous than he had ever seen before. Jadeite wanted to be in control, so he forced his mind upon the orb, finding something deep and dark inside.
And in a matter of seconds, there was no Jadeite to speak of. His body turned ridged, head snapped up sharp as eyes turned pitch black as a slow, evil smile spread across his face.
He slowly lowered his head, his eyes becoming hooded. "Time to reveal the truth. I'm coming for you, Moon Princess. I shall consume this world into darkness and take all that you love with it."
He turned with a snap, waltzing out the door with a slow, high-pitched whistle as the man left the throne room.
Chiyuu awoke in a cold sweat. The vision of Jadeite being consumed in blackness, a blackness that was much like how she had seen Hinata's memory of her one time in the Dark Kingdom. She was full-on terrified as she threw aside her blankets. "Mama! Mama! Mama!"
She came barreling into the bedroom, her parents diving apart as Chiyuu nearly caught them being intimate. She lunged and grasped her mother, sobbing in fear as she held her tightly. Ami was surprised and tried to sooth her daughter.
"It's so dead, Mama! It's free!"
"What's free, honey?"
"It's evil, dead! Something foul and it wants the Queen!"
Ryo looked to Ami, his eyes widening. "Metallia? No…this is a much darker piece of Metallia…something of a much bigger picture…"
"It's Chaos…" Ami slowly said. Her eyes closed tightly. "That's what it's always been.. But this time… it's not some random form… it's the true thing, isn't it?"
"Only a piece," Ryo tried to comfort both his wife and daughter. "It'll be all right. I promise." He patted Chiyuu on the head with looked at him with teary eyes. "Chiyuu, we can win, I promise?"
But both Ryo and Chiyuu would later get the same vision of the future. Something that covered the world in entire blackness, as people were laid to waste and the light of the White Moon consumed by the darkness.
The morning was a hectic case, as Ami was fully intent on bringing together the elder soldiers to discuss this new problem. She wasn't the only one with this idea as Helios had appeared to King Endymion in a panic. There was something shifting inside the Earth, trying to reveal itself. It reeked in darkness and was casting deep and dark shadows in Elysion.
Voices rose in over the King and Queen. Neo Queen Serenity was wincing, plugging her ears as her Guardians shouted at each other, while the outer soldiers were trying to devise a plan of attack.
"LISTEN TO ME!" King Endymion screamed at the top of his lungs, his voice cracking as it reached a rather high pitch. He took a hard swallow of his water and then slammed it down, the water spilling upward and around as he stared out at the group. "We're on edge, I understand that. Our first priority is to make sure everyone is all accounted for."
"We brought all of our children here with us," Haruka said firmly.
"Sansai and Raijin are here!" Makoto added.
"Oh, oh!" Minako was furiously waving her arms.
"All right, we can all be assured that we brought all of the children here… and spouses?"
"Well, duh," Minako muttered.
Artemis was next to her, in a rare appearance as a human as he frowned and pinched his mistress. She shrieked and danced away from him as Luna whapped her mate across the back of his head.
"Let's just start with tracking, shall we?" King Endymion nodded to Ami who started up with the portable, frameless computer, opening up from the small disc underneath to spread out to a larger vision. She typed in quickly as the window warped into a view of the Earth. It refocused then into an area close to the North Pole, of something cracking underneath hard ice. "Whatever it is, it's big, powerful, and fully locked out. There is no way in at this point and we cannot even land a missile on this thing. We're going to assume that it's the Dark Kingdom's castle and Jadeite has finally…"
"It's not Jadeite."
King Endymion frowned at Ami who shook her head slowly. "Both Ryo and Chiyuu have had the same vision. It was what formed Metallia, what was expelled from her when Beryl was consumed by her own leader. Chaos, as we all know, is something that has been seeking to end life as we all know it, from our world to the entire universe."
"Its need is driven to find the Ginzuishou and Serenity," Ami lowered her head slightly. "Jadeite wanted control of the Time Gates, this was clear when Sanshi and Lawsonite told us that same fact."
"Why did Jadeite want the Time Gates to begin with?" Haruka asked suspiciously.
"Sanshi thinks that his subconscious wants him to go home, that is, to his family. Once upon a time, the Generals were human, just like Beryl had been, reincarnated as all of us had been. Jadeite awoke and chose to live among us and for that, he made a life for himself, a reason to be instead of trying to start a war. But something happened to him and he disappeared." Ami answered.
"So this was just a decoy? To want control of the universe.. So that when this thing of Chaos takes over, it can put the universe into darkness?" Makoto asked carefully. At Ami's nod, her teeth gritted. "Why must we continue to fight this thing!?"
"Makoto," Neo Queen Serenity spoke gently. "We know why. It's an endless battle of good and evil, of protecting all around us. We chose this life and we must do what we can to protect it."
"I wasn't complaining about that! I just get tired of this thing.. And now our children are involved!"
"Kind of hoping evil would skip a couple generations," Minako muttered darkly.
"Well, it didn't and our children ARE involved." King Endymion sat down hard. "They've already grown stronger, not as in a new form but they're becoming a better team. They've always been good together, when the time comes, they will save all of us."
Hinata sneezed, trying to not turn red as her friends looked at her. "What?"
"Nothing, it's just you sneeze like a little mouse," Raijin felt himself get poked. He turned to glare at Sansai who stared at him with a false innocence.
"Shouldn't be flirting with her, she's got a boyfriend already!"
"I do not!" Hinata squeaked as Raijin pinched his twin.
"I wasn't flirting, you twit!"
Mitsu and Puroko were playing cards, ignoring the background topics. Raijin and Sansai were already starting to argue as the children were tense but most didn't understand quite why.
Chiyuu wanted to explain but every time she focused her mind upon the form of Chaos, she was utterly terrified. As it was, she was mute and still, pushing a pencil on the table as she bit her lip and chewed anxiously. Zenshin settled next to her before carefully shaking her. "You all right?"
"Are you afraid of the things that go bump in the night?" She asked hoarsely. "It was so cold, so dead…"
Hinata turned her head, having heard the last few words. "Chiyuu?"
"Chaos… it's seeking power to take over the universe. It wants to destroy everything.." Chiyuu burst out, tearing up. She was visibly trembling. "It's so strong! How can we fight it?! We won't win!"
Setsuko had hurried to the girl's side at this and shook her. "Don't talk like that! We are all sailor soldiers! We fight and we win! We always have!"
Chiyuu was sniffling as Setsuko softened. "You're still a child, Chiyuu. Thinking like one. Remember who you really are, a proud sailor soldier, a fighter for light and life. We have had our obstacles and we have always passed them. Sometimes with some losses, sometimes with a gift, but we have always stood together as an unbreakable team."
Hinata had listened to Setsuko and found something moved inside. She climbed on top of the table, her hands shaking but she stood up tall and proud.
"She's right! Setsuko speaks the truth! In all of the battles that our parents have fought, they had won. Each and every time. There have been losses, there has been pain and suffering, but that's what war is. There are never winners, only those who manage to stay on top. And we must fight! Not for just ourselves!"
Her hand swept across to the other children, as each of them slowly stood up at attention. "But for each other, our parents and family, our friends and the people who we know and have yet to know! For the people who live on this world, on all worlds! We will win against this monster, we will be as we have always been, those who managed to stay on the top because we fought for love, truth, and justice! Who are we?"
"Sailor Soldiers!"
"I ask again! WHO ARE WE?"
"Sailor Soldiers!" Their hands rose in triumph as each of them turned into beacons of light, cast in their respective powers.
Chiyuu was the next to get on the table. "No more fear!"
"I'm with you!" Zenshin grasped the hand she offered, pulling him up.
Raijin and Sansai looked at each other then with a tight hug. "We'll stand together because we are more than ourselves, we are one and the same!" They, too, climbed onto the table.
"We can believe in ourselves!" Jun announced, as Hinata and Sansai helped her up.
"There's nothing we can't do!" Puroko laboriously climbed onto the table before dragging Mitsu up with her.
"Are we men or are we mice?" Everyone stared at Maku in confusion. "I read it in a book once. It means we're supposed to be men! Uh.. And women too."
"I would hope so," Setsuko said dryly, looking up at them before she sighed. "Oh, all right, I'll get on. It's a team!"
As she got on, the door flew open as the children watched their parents enter and falter into a confused stop.
"Uh… motivational speech." Setsuko said sheepishly.
"I'm sorry, Mama. I was trying to inspire everyone," Hinata said, her entire body red.
Neo Queen Serenity blinked back tears and beamed as she walked to the table. "Then help me up." Her hand offered to her daughter as both smiled at each other. The children helped the Queen get up as the table began to shake.
"I told you that you should stay away from the sweets," King Endymion said cheerfully, at the side of the table as he smirked at his wife.
"Excuse me, but there are like a million children on here!" Neo Queen Serenity stamped her foot as on the far side of the long table, the leg broke off as everyone fell off with shrieks. Neo Queen Serenity was caught by her daughter as King Endymion drolly stared her down.
"Shut up."
Hinata couldn't help it as she giggled uncontrollably.
"Look what you did, Mamoru!" Neo Queen Serenity stood up, brushing her dress. "Embarrassing your wife, how rude!"
King Endymion pulled his wife to kiss her before telling her fondly. "You do it all on your own."
Nighttime came as Hinata resided in her wing. She was looking at her brooch, thinking hard. On how different she felt, on how more open she'd become. She had always been silent, still, and in general terrified of all those around her, even those who she grew up with and loved dearly.
But awakening as a soldier gave her a new look on life, a different purpose, a reason to raise her voice. She remembered Sanshi and her mother, both saying that Jadeite was a good man, though one didn't know he was a enemy of the Moon Kingdom and the other brainwashed.
"Chaos is trying to raise the Dark Kingdom."
Hinata looked up to Usagi who had snuck in. "Chiyuu and I had a long talk about it. I thought it'd be better for her, you know?" She sat next to her younger sister with a sigh. "I wish I could transform but I gave that all up to be a future Queen. I'm sorry I can't fight there with you, Hinata."
"It'll be fine. We have so many helping us," Hinata pointed out. "So what did Chiyuu tell you? She wasn't really talking earlier."
"She's only ten. It takes a long time to process her thoughts when a child's fear is stronger than her will." Usagi paused. "She says she sees Chaos in Jadeite. That who gave birth to Metallia, Queen Beryl. The original source that came from the moon. This one isn't completely Chaos, no," Usagi remembered that final battle for Eternal Sailor Moon. "But something from it. I don't think it has a name, I mean, it's just something evil, like a demon possessing humanity."
Hinata was shivering as Usagi wrapped an comforting arm around her. "It's been festering a long time, since that battle that Mama had with her original soldiers. It had been left as a shattered piece in Jadeite and when he was preserved, it lived. When he awoke, he wasn't the same, he wasn't as tainted because Beryl's hold on him was nearly gone."
"But not enough," Hinata said quietly.
"Now that it's just him and his last general, Aragonite, that monster must be getting frantic."
"Do you think it can breach the Palace?"
The two thought on that.
"Well, Aragonite and Lawsonite did get in… but if it could really get in, then it would've happened by now, right?" Usagi scratched her chin. "I suppose the others get in because they were human. I mean.. I got in."
"What?"
Usagi grew flustered. "Oh, nothing. Something that happened a long time ago."
"Oh… that part of your life that no one wants to tell me about?"
Usagi looked to Hinata and then smiled at her. "You would never fall, you know that? You're so much more stronger than you realize. You have Mama's heart and Papa's spirit, that's a fierce combination."
"You have that too!"
"I have Mama's stomach and Papa's brains, entirely different."
"You really think I can win this?"
"Of course! We women of the Moon Kingdom have never fallen! We have always won, in one way or another. And you know we're not alone, we have so many with us."
"Then what's our next step?" Hinata and Usagi both thought hard, as Hinata eventually held her head and glanced at her sister, who was doing the same thing.
"Too much?" Hinata asked.
"Geez, I wish it was easier to figure out a solution to fighting evil. I can only think of going to the place where it's trying to break free and just crash it down."
"Why not?" Hinata asked suddenly.
"Because it'd be stupid."
"But didn't Mama do it? When she and the elder Senshi faced off Beryl? Wiseman? All of them, she walked to them to fight and defend. She didn't wait for them to cause more damage. She stopped it where it laid."
Hinata stared down Usagi. "Let's think on it for a few days, see what the others think." Usagi said finally. She stood up and stretched. "I promised I'd call Helios tonight, so I have to go. Sleep well, Hina."
"Night, Usagi."
Hinata wished she could talk to Diamond. It'd been a while, after all of this excitement, it'd be nice to have someone else to confide in. Usagi was going to be distracted and she thought she should do what her older sister would do to be closer to the one she loved, talk to them.
So she found herself staring at the phone. 'Just pick it up. You were having a fantastic conversation with Usagi, this isn't any different.'
'Pick up the phone.'
'Come on, chicken, pick up the phone!'
'Bwak bwak bwak!'
Hinata gritted her teeth. Zenshin's attitude was stuck in her head. She knew that others could rub on you but she really didn't need his 'I'd do it because I'm the boss!' attitude.
She jumped up high as the phone rang and she hurriedly pressed the button, blurting out. "I wasn't doing anything!"
Diamond blinked at her as she turned hot. "Oh, I.. I mean," Her voice trailed into nothingness and she found herself moving her lips but no words coming out. Her hands covered her face in grief and embarrassment.
"Are you all right? I…well, thought something might be wrong."
Hinata looked at him, confused.
This time it was Diamond's turn to turn silent with embarrassment. He finally coughed and spoke after a lengthy pause. "I'm sorry I haven't been by. I've heard there's been a lot of excitement."
"Yea, a lot." Hinata agreed.
"Heard that you were giving a stirring speech."
Hinata squeaked and turned red again. She then narrowed her eyes at him suspiciously. "Who have you been talking to?"
"Well, not really talking as his Royal Highness won't let me have word in edgewise."
Hinata giggled, realizing that her father must have been spending time with Diamond to gauge the man. She then turned serious. "He.. Likes you, right?"
"Of course he does. If his wife does, then so does he. She's a good judge of character."
"She is?" Hinata asked skeptically.
Diamond chuckled. "Yes. Just like you are."
"You know.." Hinata began slowly. "Before all of this.. Business of being a sailor soldier, of having to protect…" She paused, wanting to say 'you' but corrected herself carefully. "A lot of people, it's…amazing how much one can change."
Diamond beamed. "Yes, it is. It all depends on how things turn out, what can make a good man evil or what can make an evil man good."
Hinata studied him silently. "You're talking about yourself."
"When it's a more proper time, I'll tell you more about myself. It wouldn't hurt for you to know and make an educated decision.. Of things." He faltered, looking a little down at that.
"Nothing that you could have ever done would have stopped me from…" Hinata touched the screen, looking at him lovingly. "From falling for you. If I'm a good judge of character, than I judged you well."
His hand reached out to touch hers before there was a blip and a tiny screen opened up with a frowning father.
"Ah, damn it," Diamond muttered.
"Are you talking after bedtime!?"
Hinata tried to smile at King Endymion.
"I just had to tell your sister to get off and now I have to do it to you! It was hard enough with Usagi, honey, I need you to stay young a little bit more longer!"
"Papa!"
"Fine, just get off the phone. You," King Endymion directed his attention to Diamond. "Obviously need to talk some more. You're keeping her up from her bedtime. Honey, say good night."
"Good night, Diamond."
"Good night, Princess."
"NOW GET OFF THE SCREEN."
Diamond fizzed out after King Endymion's dark tones as he then brightened. "He listens well. So does Helios."
"Papa!"
"I won't trouble him much. He likes the attention."
Hinata rolled her eyes.
"Good night, Hinata. Sleep well."
"Good night, Papa. I love you."
And his screen fizzed out as she sat alone. "Suppose I ought to go to bed."
Elsewhere, Diamond was holding his head as King Endymion yelled at him for keeping his daughter up. As he couldn't get a word in otherwise, he just settled in for a very long, one-sided conversation.