BGC P2040

Bubblegum Crisis Post 2040 Fanfic Series

"Stripes in the Jungle"

Chapter 4: Daddy's Girl

by P. Kristen Enos

http://members.aol.com/bgcpost2040

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A Bubblegum Crisis Tokyo 2040 English Dub Version Fanfic. All rights belong to AIC, ADV Films and the other creative powers that be. I just want credit for writing the story.

Contains spoilers! Rated PG13. Nothing in here should be a shock if you've watched the episodes and paid attention. All I'm doing is filling in the gaps with my own interpretation of events! Most of these stories take place AFTER the TV Series!!! So DON'T blame me if I ruin the ending for you because you read these stories first!

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Richard Chang sat by himself in the large living room.  The mansion felt unusually quiet and peaceful considering over fifty people lived within its walls.  As the head of the household, Richard wasn't about to question the quiet, instead relishing it while he could as he watched the fireplace gently glow before him.  He stared down at the solid ebony ring on his right ring finger, his habit for solitary moments like this.  The firelight gave the carving of the tiger's head an eerie aura, as if fully symbolizing the hundreds of years of power it had come to represent.  And once again, Richard couldn't help but ponder the price he paid for it personally, as well as countless other lives the power touched directly or indirectly.

"Dad?" a sleepy voice called out from the doorway.  "Mom said you wanted to see me?"

He turned to see his personal pride and joy standing there, though clearly suffering from the effects of jet lag and time change.  Although pleased, his mild annoyance was evident.  "I told her to send for you only if you were finished with your nap."

Dressed in a shorts and an oversize t-shirt, Reika closed the door and indulged in a yawn and stretch before she came over and joined him on the couch.  "She caught me on my way to the bathroom.  You know Mom.  If you're moving, she thinks you're awake."  Although her Japanese was still fluent, she clearly had the accent of a woman who had spoken almost exclusively English for the past five years.

He smiled as she snuggled against his arm and rested her head on his shoulder, a position she had claimed ever since she was much smaller and much younger.  He privately relished the fact that she looked like the spitting image of her mother when the latter woman was her age, which was no small compliment since it was well known in their social circles that Mitsune was quite the natural Japanese beauty.  His daughter's resemblance was even more striking now that she had actually let her black hair grow out and drape freely down her shoulders.  Richard was a handsome man himself, born of a Chinese father and a British mother, but he was glad his genes took second place to her mother's, except in the area of height.  Reika was tall for an Asian girl at 5' 9", but her slender figure and grace complimented it well.

Richard kissed the top of her head and said, "Well, I just wanted to insure that we would have at least one time where we could talk with just the two of us.  I mean, I know you're here for a whole month, but I expect most of that time is going to be devoted to helping Irene prepare for the wedding."

She looked up at him with a much more alert expression as she frowned slightly.  "I'm here to spend time with everyone.  Even with Grandpa.  But I know what you mean.  You and I haven't had a chance to really spend time with each other since I moved to America.  Actually, even longer than that if I think about," she admitted with a sad smile.  "So what do you want to talk about?"

"Are you sure your producer was okay with you leaving the play in mid-run?"

She shrugged and said, "Ticket sales have been dismal.  It was a pathetic play so there was no reason to keep going.  And no one had the guts to call it quits.  So I guess I made the decision for everyone by leaving.  I think everyone was relieved though so there shouldn't be any hard feelings with anyone other than the producer."

"So what are you going to do when you get back?"

"Go to more auditions.  Attend more workshops.  Do more commercials or modeling if I had to just to pay the bills.  My agent is hunting a couple of small movie roles and a t.v.  pilot right now.  Nothing real concrete at the moment.  I still have substantial money coming in for some commercials I shot in January.  I'm having more and more friends talk about relocating to New York to try the theatre scene there, but I really like Los Angeles and I don't want to move."

Her father winced slightly and remarked, "That's on the other side of the country.  You'll be even further away."

Reika rolled her eyes and said, "No matter where I am in America, you'll always say I'm too far away."

"There's always the possibility of coming back to Japan," he offered even though he knew they were following the path of a discussion that was years old.

"And go through my own culture shock?  I know you, Mom and Grandpa would insist that I have a full-time bodyguard or two and reside in a high-security complex if I were to ever live on this side of the Pacific.  That's why I need to be in a place that doesn't know or care who my family is.  At least at this point in my life.  I need to be 'a' Chang, not one of 'the' Changs, even though I will never deny my family heritage.  Unlike Irene, I'm not willing to change my last name just so I can live a private life in Tokyo."

"And it's that Chang fire that makes me all the more proud of you even if you aren't home more often."

"Well, don't be too proud.  I always have it in the back of my mind that if things ever got really tough, I'd call for money.  I'm just grateful it hasn't reached that point yet," she confessed with a sheepish grin.

He laughed and said, "Actually, I have a confession too.  Your mother and I are extremely proud of your work.  Every time we see one of your plays, your mother always brags about you to our friends.  And to Grandpa, too.  Even in that play where you spiked your hair and wore painted stripes on your face."

"Really?!" Reika was clearly shocked.

"Yes, well, don't tell her I told you.  She wants to maintain that impression that you should be living in Tokyo no matter what.  But she always make certain she gets twenty copies of any magazines your ads appear in."

She giggled and said, "The secret is safe with me."

They settled in a comfortable moment of silence as they both watched the fire before them.

"So," her father began carefully, "Is there anyone special in your life?"

Reika took a deep breath at the familiar subject of dread.  "No, I've been too busy to think of dating.  And there's no one I've been interested in since Sarah."

"Oh, that's too bad.  I'm sure you'll find the right person eventually."

Another moment of silence.

Reika finally sat up and looked her father directly in the eye and asked, "I know we've never really talked about this but are you and Mom honestly okay with me being a lesbian?"

He turned away and looked at the fireplace.  Even in the odd light, it was clear he was blushing from embarrassment.  He finally said, "Well, let's put it this way: will the answer affect your dating habits, or just how honest you'll be with us?"

Reika lowered her gaze sadly and said, "I never want to be dishonest with anyone.  That includes you and Mom, and myself."

"And I would not want anything less from you," he said as he leaned forward and kissed her forehead.  "Reika, I honestly just want to make certain you're happy.  Your... preferences may not have been my ideal for you, but I can't say it's a shock.  After all, we've known for a long time, even before you decided to be more open about it."

Reika narrowed her eyes suspiciously and asked, "How long have you suspected?"

He smiled softly and said, "Your mother and I had many, many conversations about how close you and Sylia were."

It was his daughter's turn to be embarrassed.  She and Sylia's friendship started and blossomed because they both went to the same elite girls school all through their pre-teen and teenage years.  Their personal chemistry had grown naturally and deepened over the course of time, which had been helped along by their raw physical attraction to each other.  However, she thought the two of them had been particularly discreet in the years that they had been lovers rather than just friends.

"No wonder you two never liked her," his daughter remarked.

"Wait a minute, I want to clarify that," he said firmly.  "I liked Sylia tremendously.  I thought she grew up to be extremely well-adapted given how much she went through as a child, what with being orphaned the way that she was.  Your mother felt the same way.  We just didn't like the fact that she had no ambitions.  She was clearly bright and should have been able to go to any university she wanted, but to be content to spend the rest of her life existing on her father's money just indicated someone who has no passion or desire in life.  We were afraid that lack of ambition was going to rub off on you."

Reika bit her lip for a moment as she tried to come up a suitable reply.  "Well, Sylia definitely had her own priorities in life no matter what anyone said."

"Is that why you two eventually stopped seeing each other?  I mean, we were never clear when the relationship actually ended.  We just noticed when you stopped talking about her after you had been at Tokyo University for a couple of years."

His daughter squirmed uncomfortably for a moment and then admitted, "It was a combination of accepting the reality of differences in life desires and the fact that she fell in love with someone I couldn't compete with."

"Oh."

"Don't get me wrong," she added hastily.  "It was an amicable end.  I still consider her to be a dear friend even though we haven't spoken to each other in years.  I guess it was our way of knowing that we had reached as much growth in our relationship as possible without making things extremely complicated."

"Are you still in love with her?"

"I don't know.  I think I'm over her, at least I hope so," she answered honestly.  "I would need to see her in person to be able to confirm that, and I don't have any plans to do so.  And I don't think she's ever been a factor in any of my other romances.  I just think I haven't met the right person that I've really fallen in love with, ever."

He smiled and said, "It'll happen.  You're too good of a catch to not have that happen eventually."

She chuckled and said, "Thank you but I do think you're biased, Dad."

"Happily so."

Reika then decided that this was an opportunity to ask a harsh question.  "Dad, have you ever regretted not having a son?  Or at least a child who showed more interest in the family business?"

He let out a small sigh and said, "I would never regret having a son if it meant at the expense of either you or Irene.  But as for a child who would succeed me in the business, that one is a little tougher to say.  After all, I know I didn't grow up feeling like I would have the weight of being the next generation Chang since all of the expectations were on my older brother Ken.  I had planned to be a teacher because I loved history so much and wanted to share that with as many young people as possible."

"I didn't know that," Reika admitted in amazement.

"But when Ken died in that skiing accident before I graduated from college, I knew my fate was sealed and there would not be any compromises.  So I changed my major to business and took on the role of the successor with every intention of doing my best to not let down our family or taint our family honor.  By the time grandpa retired to let me take over, I was completely prepared.  I know things and I've made decisions that I would never wish on either of you, but that worry is always in the back of my mind in case something were to happen to me before we can prepare the next successor."

A chill went through Reika as she once again snuggled against her father.  "So have you met Sho yet?"

"Yes, he's a very pleasant young man.  A scientist type who works for Genom.  As a wedding gift of sorts, I've acquired a company that has scientific research resources that he can take over to develop his own projects.  He was suitably impressed and enthusiastic about the prospect even though he's committed to Genom through the end of the current project he's on.  He's a nice change from your sister's previous boyfriends in that he actually has a functioning brain between his ears."

Reika giggled and said, "And have you educated him on the realities of our family heritage?"

"He took it surprisingly well.  Apparently it helps to have a reputation once he realized we were 'the' Changs.  He fully understands that the successorship would fall directly on the shoulders of the children he and Irene would have.  Just in case, I may have to groom him for preparation if my leadership doesn't last until their children can take over.  I think he's capable of it."

"Dad," Reika began softly, "Do you honestly always worry about dying suddenly?"

She felt him kiss the top of her head before he said, "That's why I want you and Irene to live your lives with as much freedom as possible.  I made my sacrifices so you two wouldn't have to, within reason of course.  As much as we are respected, we are also hated.  And retribution may not come as a result of anything I personally did but because of our family legacy as a whole.  For me, the fears and sacrifices are worth it if I know you two have the best quality lives possible as a result."

"Thanks, Dad."

"You're welcome, Honey."

-- End Chapter 4 --