{8 Years Ago- Rhodes Island}
"Madam Ch'en?! You haven't been here for ages!"
"I suppose it has been a few years, Amiya." Ch'en replied. "Anyway, I'm not here to stay, I...just need to talk to Talulah..."
Amiya stared at her for a moment.
"Are you sure?" She asked. "She still harbors quite a bit of resentment for you, as far as I can tell."
"I am aware..." Ch'en paused. "...Tell her to put that aside...as well as our bad blood and to just try to talk to me as half-sisters. It's really, REALLY important."
"Alright..." Amiya turned. "I'll try, but no guarantees."
"I appreciate it, Amiya." Ch'en muttered then sat down on a nearby seat and began waiting in anticipation.
...25 minutes passed before Amiya returned.
"You're in luck, she says she'll talk, but only for 15 minutes." Amiya relayed.
"That's all I need." Ch'en stood up and lightly stretched. "Lead me to her."
Amiya silently complied and began to lead Ch'en down the many walkways towards Talulah's room.
"So, how has she been doing as an Operator here?" Ch'en broke the brief silence.
"I'd thought you'd never ask..." Amiya whispered to herself. "Well, contradictory to the time it took for her to come around, she has been entirely devoted and a worthy ally."
"I didn't think she'd actually join you..." Ch'en lamented. "I was expecting something like 'I'd rather die than join you, traitors!' or 'You killed many of my companions and now you want me to be compassionate? How laughable...' you know?"
"We did get quite a lot of that sort of thing from her, but it didn't dissuade us in the slightest." Amiya smiled bitterly. "And I guess not even the leader of the opposition has an unbreakable will."
"Well, whatever, as long as it worked..." Ch'en trailed off.
"Here we are." Amiya proclaimed. "Should I come in with you?"
"No, this is a more...private matter." Ch'en retorted. "Thanks anyway."
"You're welcome, Madam Ch'en." Amiya bowed shallowly. "In that case, I'll get back to work, goodbye."
"Yeah, bye..." Ch'en did a weak wave to Amiya's back, then held her hand just in front of the door, ready to knock. She hesitated to breathe and think over what she wanted to say.
Ch'en breathed out heavily, than knocked on the door.
"Come in..." A cold voice replied from inside. "...Ch'en, I know it's you..."
Ch'en entered and was immediately met with the piercing glare of Talulah sitting on one side of a small table with two chairs accompanying it.
"Please, sit." Talulah gestured to the empty seat, without looking away from Ch'en.
Wordlessly, and apprehensively, Ch'en sat opposite her half-sister and quickly psyched herself up to speak.
"Talulah, I'm going to get straight to the point..." Ch'en began.
"Good..." Talulah immediately interrupted. "The less time I have to see your face, the better."
"I..." Ch'en ignored the insult. "I have a child, Talulah. A son. I don't suppose you've heard?"
"First I'm hearing of it." Talulah leaned back and averted her gaze. "Congratualations...and whatever..."
"No, Talulah, I didn't come all the way here just to tell you that." Ch'en's words got Talulah's attention back. "I'm here to ask a favour of you, for him."
"Oh?" Talulah leant forward. "Did he send you?"
"Talulah, I haven't told him about you yet." Ch'en denied. "It'd be wrong of me to get him included in this at a young age, let alone ever."
"Ohoh! Why should I listen to your request on behalf of a child that doesn't even know of my existence?" Talulah grinned.
"Because, you're his Aunt!" Ch'en exclaimed. "Er...half-Aunt? Whatever, my point is, he's family."
"Well, so are you." Tal retorted. "Yet we have much animosity."
"Look, Talulah, he hasn't done anything wrong." Ch'en breathed to control her anger. "No matter what you think of me, do not project those feelings towards Zhang, he is a separate person."
"Zhang, huh?" Tal looked to the table briefly, than back to Ch'en. "I see you're fully engrossed in Yen's culture."
Ch'en overlooked her comment. "Anyway, I traveled here to request of you this; If anything were to happen to me, in the near future, could you please take care of him, until he's old enough to go on his own path?"
Talulah stared at Ch'en, bemused.
"I ask this..." Ch'en continued. "Not as your rival, adversary or nemesis. Just your little half-sister, no more, no less."
Tal narrowed her eyes. "Why ask me to do this? Surely, you could've saved a lot of your precious time and energy if you'd just asked Hoshiguma or that Swire girl."
"I thought about it, but there are a few reasons why I didn't..." Ch'en pondered.
"Elaborate?" Talulah patted the table.
"Well, Hoshiguma admitted herself she's not great with kids and I think she maybe a bit intimidating to a young one. And, Swire's got a lot of problems with her own family and their business, I fear she wouldn't have the time to take care of Zhang full-time."
"Mhmmm..." Talulah nodded to herself. "And what if I said no?"
"Well..." Ch'en stared off at a wall. "I don't know, I didn't think that far ahead."
"Really?" Tal's eyes widened. "The great Chen Hui-Chiey lacking foresight?"
"Just give me an answer, Talulah." Ch'en returned her eyes to Talulah. "We're approaching your 15 minute limit."
"Already?" Talulah checked her watch. "Hm, I guess talking to you has been more entertaining than I imagined. Anyway, I agree to this arrangement. Even though, I feel like I've been cut out of his life so far."
"Thank you, Talulah." Ch'en sighed in relief. "But, you've never been 'cut out from his life', you've always been free to visit."
"Pretty hard to visit someone I've never met." Talulah stood up. "Even moreso, when they've never even so much as heard of me."
"Talulah, I just meant if you wanted to see me." Ch'en explained. "As unlikely as that sounds, the possiblity has always been there and it always will, as long as bring Zhang no harm."
"What kind of person do you take me for, Ch'en" Tal returned her icey stare at Ch'en.
"I'm just being cautious." Ch'en said. "I do know that you're not a bad person really, Talulah. You were just corrupted by intense emotion."
Talulah stared at her half-sister for a second , stunned into silence.
"That's...that's the nicest thing you've said to me for a long time." Tal's voice changed from boisterous and sarcastic, to soft and kind, and she, for the first time in years, managed to crack a genuine, non-bloodthirsty, smile.
{Present Day-One Week After 'The Incident':Zhang's Perspective}
Ever since last week, Mum has refused to leave me at home when she works. As a result, I find myself being bored out of my mind in her office 95% of the time.
Right now, Mum's interrogating the guy that instigated my kidnapping, while Aunty Swire and Hoshiguma are acting as bodyguards of sorts as they take me on a tour of my mother's workplace, an attempt to alleviate the crushing boredom.
I end overhearing part of a conversation between two L.G.D officers.
"What did you say was happening with the new perp we brought in?"
"He's in custody. Currently, he's being catechized by Madam Ch'en herself, poor bastard."
"Yeah, I heard she's vicious when it comes to interrogations."
"That's for an ordinary crime. This guy, he committed a felony that's very personal to her, so I'm sure her ferocity has increased thousandfold!"
"If I was in his position, I'd want her to kill me..."
So, that's Mum's harsh side?
I've barely seen that part of her, though I'm led to believe it is the larger part of her. If so, I'm impressed by how much she manages to suppress it around me, especially, since many people have told me that I have a similar temper to my mother, though she's never onced yelled at me, at least as far as I can remember.
"Zhang, we should head back to the office now." Swire says to me. "Don't want your mother having a panic attack because you're missing from her office."
"She's right." Hoshiguma agrees. "Come on."
I comply and silently follow them both back to the office.
"Ah, Hoshiguma, would it be all right if I left him with you for a little bit? I've got to make an important phone call, so I'll be gone for a while." Swire says outside the door to Mum's office.
"Sure, that's fine." Hoshi nods at her and opens the door for me.
I enter and take a seat on the sofa.
"But, don't take too long, I'm not sure if Ch'en would be happy with just one of us watching Zhang." Hoshiguma calls after Swire.
Hoshi walks into the office and closes the door gently behind her. She then looks at me and smiles.
"Zhang..." She sits beside me.
Even though I've known her my whole life, it doesn't make Hoshiguma's stature any less awe-inspiring.
"To be honest, I actually wanted Swire to leave." She says.
"Why's that?" I ask.
"There's been something on my mind that I've been wanting to tell you for the past 3 days, so now I have a chance." Hoshiguma turns to me.
I nod for her to continue.
"First, what do you think of your mother? How do you see her?" She inquires.
"Huh?" I ponder to myself. "Well, to me, she's stern, yet kind, determined, yet lax. She's definitely a very impressive person."
Hoshiguma laughs dryly. "Well, that what she wants you to think..."
"Wh...What do you mean?" I ask, of genuine confusion.
"Ch'en, has always wanted to maintain that sort of image in front of you, ever since you were a toddler." Hoshi explains. "But, the truth is, no matter how strong or firm she acts when you're around, it doesn't change the fact that she has a great deal of pain inside her."
"I-I don't follow..." Hoshigma's worrying me.
"It's a long story." She places a hand on my head, a gesture I'd usually find annoying from anyone except Mum, but I'm too confused to care. "I'm just gonna say, before you were even conceived, your mother went through a lot. She lost so much that she cared about. Throughout it all, she hid behind this image of the Lungmen Guard Department's Special Inspection Unit Chief. A leader like no other."
Okay, now I'm even more bemused.
Hoshiguma continues. "Did you know, your mother graduated from the Victorian Royal Academy with top marks? Did you know, she became the fastest promoted L.G.D officer in the history of Lungmen itself?"
"What?!" I'm unable to contain my surprise.
All these 14 years I've been alive and Mum never told me about her achievements? Now that I think about it, I don't know much about her on a personal level.
"Of course you didn't." Hoshiguma smiles. "Your mother rarely focuses on the past, and it seems she wanted to make you the same way."
"But, why?" I simply ask.
"Because..." Hoshiguma trails off. "I actually don't have a bona fide reason on that, but my best guess is that, despite the many great things she's done, it's far too painful for her as she's endured so much hardship. That's all I can tell you for now, Zhang. Oh, and don't mention any of this to your Mum or Swire."
"Wait!" I speak without thinking. "Can you at least tell me why you decided to tell me all this in the first place?"
"Well, I guess, what I'm trying to say is, look after your mother, okay? She needs the support, and I think it'd be most effective coming from you." Hoshiguma straightens her posture. "Remember, keep it subtle and don't say anything about what I told you to Swire or Ch'en."
Just that moment, Mum enters the office with Swire close behind.