Author's Note: And here's chapter two. I have to thank the readers who have reviewed thus far. I'm glad people like it. Also, a shout out to all the Henrika lovers out there. I'm contributing what little I can since this couple doesn't seem to be as popular as the others.
The only annoying part of this fic would be all the flashbacks that I've put in. But those are necessary for the storyline.
This is the shortest author's note I've written for any fic, considering I usually have tons to say. ^_^
Again, thank you to those who have reviewed my fic.
Disclaimer: Another chapter, another disclaimer. I do not own Digimon and nor do I own any of the characters from the anime.
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~Chapter 2~
Makino Nonaka grumbled as she fumbled around with her shopping bags and one purse. She muttered silently under her breath at how inconsiderate her current boyfriend was for leaving her at the department store by herself. Joshua knew how much she would have to carry home, it's not like it was a big difference every time she went shopping.
She growled inaudible profanity when she realized he had taken the car with him when he left about an hour ago. Now she'd have to hail a taxi cab, or if worst comes to worse, take the subway or the bus. She absently shivered from the cool breeze that blew by while she stood by the side of the road, waiting semi-patiently for any sign of a taxi cab coming her way. So far... nothing.
Whimpering angrily because of her tired arms, she gently set down her ten to fifteen bags from the various department stores she'd been to that morning. She ran a hand through her sandy blonde shoulder length hair and then rolled her eyes at the passersby who gave her crazy looks for spending so much on unnecessary items such as twenty different perfumes from Estee Lauder. The woman shook her head as she pulled her wool coat tighter around her body, trying her hardest to keep out the cold.
They wouldn't understand, Makino sighed in exasperation at how ignorant some people were to her needs. She reach up and tightened the dark purple scarf around her neck, then hugged herself, gently rubbing her upper arms to keep warm. After all, they weren't famous supermodels. SHE needed to keep up with the latest fashion. That was what most models did, right?
She didn't have time to contemplate the subject anymore as she spotted the first taxi that had appeared down Bell Lane all morning. Finally, she thought, reaching one arm down to pick up half her bags and extending the other arm to hail the taxi. Mentally, she checked off a list of complaints she would be naming off to Joshua when she saw him next: one, cold nippy air; two, long wait for taxi; three...
The taxi stopped seconds after Makino had waved for it, but before she could even reach for the door, something slammed into her causing her to fly off, away from the vehicle. She gave out a cry as she felt herself lunge toward the ground, a few of her bags become crumpled under by her weight and her purse flung off of her arm. Fortunately for her, though, she fell into a nice pair of strong arms which happened to be passing by at the time.
"Are you alright, Ma'am?" a dark haired young boy smiled down at her. His gray eyes twinkled from the afternoon sun and the warmth shown through his eyes.
Makino smiled warmly back at him, glad that there were at least some considerate young people now a days. She nodded and glanced back toward the taxi cab just as the door slammed shut after a tall, scrawny boy climbed in. She scowled and stood to her feet as she watched the taxi drive away. That's another thing Joshua will be hearing about, she mentally checked off the next item of complaints on her list as she cursed her bad luck. She didn't even have a chance to scream at that scrawny taxi stealer. She hmphed, He probably wasn't even in that much of a hurry.
She huffed angrily, then remembering the boy who'd aided her just a few seconds ago, she turned to face him. She found him bent on the ground, retrieving all the fallen contents of her bag. She smiled and squatted next to him as she studied the strong muscular build of this young man hidden underneath the baggy black leather coat and black t-shirt he wore. His barely noticeable strands of hair fell across his right eye as he was stooped over picking up the items from the model's purse.
"Thank you very much, young man," Makino acknowledged. She smiled warmly at him. If only she were twenty years younger... He was about her daughter's age. Makino shook her head, shooing away all the sinful thoughts and the depressing thoughts from her mind. She reached for her purse and allowed the young man to stuff the items he'd picked up back in. Then her eyes laid on the last item. Her eyes saddened and all she could do was stare. Of all the things to see today, it had to be "that."
The young man reached for the same item, but he, himself stopped in mid-reach as he eyed the open wallet with a look of recognition in his eye. He finally picked it up and examined the picture inside the wallet, then looked back up at the woman who seemed to be out in a daze.
"Ms. Nonaka?" Henry couldn't believe who was squatting right in front of him at the moment. He wasn't too sure at first, though Makino Nonaka was a famous model. But models always seemed to look different in person. There was also the fact that Makino was no longer the famous young model she used to be. The people of Henry's generation would undoubtedly not recognize her that easily. Fashion crazes changed every day and so did celebrity crazes. As for Henry, he'd been tied up in all his work so much lately that he didn't even bother with the latest celebrity news. Not that he really cared for it too much.
He looked down at the picture he held in his hand. The picture of three females stared back up at him. One, an old sweet looking grandmother whom anyone would readily curl up by the fire with a nice long book with; the second, a beautiful young mother who nobody would've ever guessed was a mother; and lastly, a young girl with that ever so rare smile and her twinkling violet eyes. If it hadn't been for this picture, Henry would've never guessed who the woman in front of him was... and his memories he had temporarily laid aside would remain forgotten also.
"How did you-?" she began in confusion, but then stopped and smiled. Finally, she'd found a young person of the new generation who recognized all the fame and glory she'd worked for when she was younger! She felt her drab mood lighten up, until the boy spoke to her again.
"Rika," Henry whispered softly, recalling one of his childhood friends. Actually, his best friend after he'd been able to break through the cool, cold-hearted and uncaring exterior that Rika Nonaka built up to ward off possible friendships. He smiled and handed the wallet back to Makino so she could replace it back into her purse, "You're Rika's mother. Remember me, Ms. Nonaka?"
Makino almost frowned, but only sighed in disappointment. Face it, Makino, she thought, you're old news now.
"Is something wrong?" Henry looked taken aback at the woman's change in expression.
"Oh, nothing," Makino stood up, "Nothing at all." But her expression immediately became curious, "How do you know me?"
"I'm Henry Wong," Henry replied, "Remember me? I was one of Rika's friends."
"Henry?" Makino blinked as she retraced her memory of before she'd moved to America, leaving behind Japan... and her daughter. She sighed sadly and looked up at Henry, "I have a vague recognition of you." She then tilted her head in more curiosity, "When did you come here? The last I remember..." She trailed off as thoughts of her one and only daughter arose in her mind again. She could recall that last day she'd stayed in Japan with her daughter as if it were yesterday. It had been the very last time that she'd seen Rika, or spoke to the auburn haired young girl.
There hadn't been one day in her whole life that she thought about Rika... and searched for her.
*flashback*
The sliding door flung open causing the people in the house to look up in surprise. In burst Makino Nonaka, waving excitedly in her hand a small envelope. A large smile covered her face.
"You'll never guess!" she shouted aloud, "This is so exciting!"
Rika exchanged glances with her grandmother sitting next to her. She then looked up at her mother questioningly, though her grandmother asked her question for her.
"What is it, Dear?" the old lady smiled sweetly, though a little concerned for her daughter's outburst.
"Take a look at this!" Makino placed the unlabeled envelope down onto the low table right in front of her daughter. She then knelt down across from Rika as the young girl curiously reached for the item, all the while searching her mother's face for answers.
She glanced to her left where her grandmother sat. She nodded, urging the young girl to continue.
"Open it," Makino eagerly awaited her daughter's reaction, hoping that the young girl would be just as thrilled as she was.
Rika lifted the flap of the envelope and carefully pulled out two slips which looked suspiciously like plane tickets. Upon flipping the two slips of hard stock paper over to look at the shiny and colorful side, she confirmed that they were indeed, plane tickets. Rika looked up at her mother, and shook her head, not understanding her mother's intentions.
"They're plane tickets, Rika!" Makino stated.
Rika looked down at the tickets in her hand again. The words on the tickets clearly noted that the destination was Los Angeles, California... in America.
"We're leaving in two weeks," Makino beamed, "Isn't that exciting? I'm already all packed... Well, Ken told me that there wouldn't be too much of a need to pack everything. What we don't bring, we can find there." She pointed at the tickets in Rika's hands, indicating that she meant America.
"What do you mean?" Rika's former happy expression from the morning slowly slipped into one of dread and anger.
"You, your grandmother, and I are going to America!" Makino squealed, "Those are you're two tickets. Ken has mine." She smiled dreamily at the mention of her most recent boyfriend.
"You mean, as a vacation?" Rika carefully spoke. She hadn't been on a vacation in a long time. Maybe this might be a nice get away, though she'd really hate to leave her friends behind. She couldn't possibly think what she would do without her friends... without one particular friend by the name of Henry Wong...
"Of course not, silly!" Makino sighed and clasped her hands dreamily, "Ken offered me a job in LA as a supermodel. He is, after all, the owner of a top agency in America. And if I'm going to be working in America, that means that we'll be moving there."
Rika blinked, unbelieving. She looked at her grandmother, whose expression remained neutral, though Rika could see right passed her. Her grandmother was not at all thrilled with the idea of moving to America. At least not at her age. But as usual, she remained silent.
"Oh! This is like a dream come true!" Makino continued to daydream out loud, "I can't believe I'm actually going to America. I can't believe we're all going to America! This is so exciting! Think of all the things we could do there, Rika!"
"Mom," Rika spoke softly, though her mother seemed not to hear as she continued to chatter away, mostly to herself.
"Maybe we can finally find some nice designer clothing for you, Rika," Makino suggested. She set her hand on her chin and studied the Digimon print white t-shirt Rika was wearing with her usual jeans. She didn't remember when Rika seemed to have stopped wearing that broken heart shirt she was always seen with. Makino shrugged, "Maybe not the fancy stuff, I won't force you into it-"
"Mother," Rika tried again, with no luck.
"I know how much you hate wearing dresses," her mother continued, not even noticing the escalated anger in Rika's voice and the concerned looks on the older lady's face, "I can start by buying you designer jeans. I just know you'll love them-" She stopped abruptly when Rika roughly stood to her feet. The young girl's chest heaved heavily as she took in each breath in anger.
"Rika?" Makino looked up, and for the first time, saw the hurt and angered expression on Rika's face ever since she'd shown them the tickets.
"Mother," Rika spoke tartly, not even attempting to sound compromising, "I'm not going to America. I'm staying right here." Before anyone else could say anything- before Makino could protest- Rika had already ran out of the small living room. The tickets still sitting on the small table in the room.
"What?" Makino blinked, not comprehending the situation at all.
"You still have a lot to learn about your own daughter, my dear," the older woman spoke sadly and shook her head at Makino.
"But I don't understand, Mother," Makino pleaded with her own mother, "Why doesn't she want to go to America? Why must Rika be so difficult?"
"And why must you make decisions of her life, for her?" Grandmother Nonaka sighed, "Don't you see, Makino? Rika doesn't want to go anywhere. She's still young and this is where she grew up. This is where she wants to grow up. Where all her friends are. Where she's familiar with the area. Moving to another location will be hard for her to adjust."
"But-" Makino began but her mother cut her off.
"Listen to me, my daughter," she continued, "I know how exciting this is for you. And how happy this experience will be for you. But have you stopped to think about Rika's happiness. You two have just begun to connect. Don't ruin it by doing anything impulsive. You understand what I'm saying?"
"Mother," the young model slumped to the ground, "I- But- Won't moving be a great experience for Rika, also?" She watched as her mother answered her with a shake of the head, 'no.' Makino nodded, in understanding. It would definitely be hard for Rika to move away. After all, like her mother said, all her friends were here. If they moved, then Rika would have to leave behind all her friends. And that would mean Rika would be unhappy. The last thing Makino wanted was to see her only daughter unhappy.
*
The sound of footsteps alerted the thirteen year old girl, causing her to look up. Immediately, the scowl on her face subsided though her downcast expression was still there.
"Hey, Rika," Henry smiled down at his best friend, his gray eyes seemed to be twinkling all the time from his joyous mood. He walked around the herb garden and sat down next to Rika, leaning against the huge tree trunk.
"Hey, Henry," Rika barely mumbled as she stared at the swaying grass on the ground next to her.
"Hey, what's wrong?" Henry sat up and tilted his head to get a good view of Rika's sad face. He reached out and gently pulled Rika to face him.
Rika shivered. Even the mere thought of Henry even touching her gave her tiny jolts of excitement and caused her heart to pound at a faster rate.
"What's wrong, Rika?" Henry asked. He lowered his hand, much to Rika's disappointment, "You can tell me."
Rika sighed and looked down. She shook her head. What good would telling Henry do? It wasn't like he'd be able to stop her mother's rash decisions. Besides that, she didn't want to ruin Henry's mood at the moment. He seemed very cheery. Also, she didn't want to have to explain to Henry what was going on. That she had to leave soon, and why she felt so strongly about staying.
"Come on, Rika," Henry again placed his hand on Rika's face and pulled her back up to face him, "You know you can tell me anything. We're best friends."
Rika nodded, "Yeah. Best friends." And that's all we are, Rika sighed. She still didn't want to tell him. But if best friends was all they would be, then there would be no harm to him if she mentioned anything. And if she was going to leave soon, she may as well drop a few hints before she left. If she didn't say anything now, then she'd never get a chance to tell him how she felt. That she liked him... as more than just a friend... more than just a best friend.
"Okay," Rika began, "My mother-" she was cut off by a woman's voice calling her name. Rika looked up and saw her mother standing at the entrance to their herb garden. The petite woman was smiling warmly at her, with a look of pleading in her eyes.
"Rika, honey," Makino slowly spoke, "I think we need to talk." She glanced at the boy sitting next to Rika and nodded to him as she fully understood one of the reasons why Rika was so unwilling to leave her home, "Hello, Henry."
"Hi, Ms. Nonaka," Henry responded. He looked toward Rika and smiled, "You can tell me later." He looked back at the older woman, realizing that this was important to her. That she truly needed to speak to her daughter.
"But-" Rika had really wanted to tell Henry her feelings. What if she never had a chance like this again?
"Rika, please," Makino bit her lip in anticipation of her daughter's reaction.
Rika looked from Henry to her mother, then back to Henry. He smiled warmly at her, letting her know that he would still be there when she returned. That she could tell him then. Rika finally nodded and pulled herself to her feet. Taking another glance at Henry, she circled around the garden and joined her mother.
*
"I understand, Rika," her mother began as soon as they'd entered Makino's room, "That you don't want to leave your home." She remained facing the back wall, waiting for a reply. When she didn't receive one, she slowly turned around to see Rika looking at her, expressionless, as if waiting for her to continue.
"I just wanted to talk to you about this, Rika," Makino lowered herself onto the ground, seating herself comfortably on the rug beneath her. Rika did the same, seating herself across from her mother.
"What is there to talk about?" Rika spoke tartly, though she knew that she should at least give her mother a chance to speak first, "I'm not going to America, Mother. I'm staying here. I thought I'd already made that point clear."
"Rika-" her mother began to speak, but was cut off.
"And what about Grandma?!" Rika burst out, "Grandma isn't exactly as young as she used to be. She can't go moving to another country just because you decide to follow another one of your boyfriends there. How could you ask her to do something like that for you?"
Makino remained silent. She looked down at the red and yellow patterns of the rug lain across her floor. The longer she stared the more the colors seemed to swirl into each other. Finally, she looked back up at Rika who had remained expressionless the whole time.
"Rika," her mother spoke, "Do you truly feel that strongly against leaving this home?"
Rika only nodded to confirm the statement. She thought she'd already made herself clear. Never had she ever thought of moving away from her home... from her friends. From Henry. She didn't think she was being very selfish at the moment. After all, she'd been right about one thing- her grandmother couldn't very well just up and move away from their home and live in a completely unfamiliar area. It wouldn't be very good on her health. So that would mean that Makino had made a selfish decision by agreeing that she and her family would be leaving for America in two weeks just so that she could pursue her modeling career and live with her rich boyfriend, Ken, who wasn't even all that good looking anyway.
"Why?" Makino knew she'd hit a sensitive subject, but her curiosity had gotten the better of her. Better ask now than never.
"For grandma," Rika answered too quickly as if she'd already rehearsed what she wanted to say if she were to be asked a similar question.
"Is that all?" Makino insisted, "Or is it also for your friends? For that boy? Henry?"
If possible, Rika's eyes narrowed even more than they'd been already. She didn't like where this conversation was going. All she wanted was to make clear that she would be staying in Japan and not leaving for America. She wasn't about to sit around and talk 'girl-talk' about boys and silly crushes. At least not now. Now was not the best time.
"He has nothing to do with this conversation, Mother," Rika spoke slowly, making sure that her mother understood each word that was coming out of her mouth. Unknown to her, however, her eyes had deceived her. Just as eyes always do for a human, they showed her true emotions and feelings. What she was really thinking. She had been told before by her best friend that no matter how much she tried to mask her true self, her eyes would always betray her.
Makino understood and only nodded, knowing that if she pursued the subject any further, Rika would most likely never speak to her for months. It had happened before, and there was no doubt that it could happen again. Fortunately for her, Rika had softened over the past year and was no longer the cold uncaring person she had pretended to be- that she had made everyone around her believe as Rika Nonaka. And because of this, her relationship with Rika had grown closer and more openly expressed. She was thankful for this. Her mother was right, she didn't want to ruin what she had with Rika right now. That would be horror on her part.
"Rika," Makino began again, "Hear me out. Please. I won't force you to do anything that you honestly don't want to do. I'll let you decide on your own what you want to do. But I truly, from the bottom of my heart, hope that you will join me.
"This opportunity in America," she continued, "You know how much I've always wanted to expand my career to the American cities. It's the chance of a lifetime! I can't give it up. And I wanted you to be there with me. I also hoped that we, as mother and daughter, would be able to spend more time together. To get to know each other again. Start from the beginning.
"But," she bit her lip, "I also want you to be happy, Rika. If you really want to stay here, then I won't force you to leave. I'll just inform Ken and he can easily return the tickets. What do you say Rika? Please, think it over."
Rika sighed. She felt mixed emotions. She was dead set on staying home, but after hearing what her mother had said, she wasn't too sure if she wanted to disappoint her mother. But there was also the factor that her grandmother wouldn't be able to travel. She couldn't be left at home by herself either. And since she loved her grandmother more than anything in the world, Rika knew exactly what her answer was. There was also a tiny bit of the fact that she really didn't want to leave her friends... Henry. She just wished that there could be a way to satisfy her mother as well.
"Mom," Rika spoke gently, "I really wish that... It's not that I don't want to go with you..." She looked into her mother's eyes to see the disappointment, but also understanding. She didn't know how to finish off her statement. She knew her mother would be disappointed and sad. She looked away, not speaking while an awkward silence followed.
"Promise you'll write to me?" Makino smiled and spoke after a few seconds, "And I promise that I'll write back. And I'll come and visit you also, when I have the time."
Rika nodded and gave her mother one of her rare warm smiles, "Thank you, Mom." She scooted closer and gave her mother a tight, loving hug- yet another rare action Rika Nonaka did.
"Now, go get dinner ready," Makino sighed, "Oh, and ask Henry if he'd like to stay for dinner."
Rika nodded and turned to leave, but stopped, "Mom?"
"Yes, Dear?" Makino was in the middle of pulling herself up and heading toward the shower.
"If Henry asks, can you not mention that I decided to stay, you know, just so that I don't have to explain why," Rika blushed a small tint of red.
"I thought that Henry had nothing to do with your decision," Makino teased.
"Mother," Rika warned. When she received the expected nod from her mom, she let out a relax breath and headed away.
*end flashback*
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So how was it? I keep asking that same question when I know you'll let me know in those reviews. There isn't very much romance in it yet. Nor is there action, but I'm working my way into those. It's pretty dramatic though, don't you think?
So let me know what you thought. Remember to review. ^_^