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 --