Chapter 10
Parental Guidance Pt 2
Facing your past is hard, especially when it involves your parents. I'd proven that by unconsciously threatening my own father and ending up in jail for a night. And I knew the day would come that my friends would want to seek out their families. Two weeks had given all of us plenty of time to settle in and get back to life as normal as possible. Before a month was out, we'd all been to see our parents. I went for revenge. Ami just to see what had happened to her mother, Mina to the Tsukino's to tell them the truth and Serena went with her, of course, to see the family she'd been away from for so long. Darien and Serena had been married two years on the day of Serena's visit to her family but they decided that Darien would stay behind, instead choosing to annouce their marriage at another time. I was asked by all of them to go along for support but I knew that I wouldn't be able to offer them a thing. Besides, after that fiasco with my father, I didn't want to. So instead Andrew and I had a lunch date followed by dinner and a movie that day.
With a box of tissues in hand, I listened to their stories, each one more emotional than the last. This is what they told me...
*****
It was funny, Ami thought, how sometimes the weather matched feelings. She couldn't help but note with irony that the first cold day in months happened to be on the day she was going to see her mother. The clouds hung low, a thunderstorm was rumbling in the distance as she nervously rechecked the address and stepped up onto the small concrete porch of her mother's house. 'I'm not ready for this,' she thought as she reached for the doorbell. But she waited and tried to look as calm as possible, though she was shaking to badly she was sure that passersby would clearly be able to see her shaking from the street.
When the door opened, Ami felt her heart leap into her throat for a second. She couldn't see very clearly who it was who had answered the door because the person was completely shrouded in the darkness of the house and a screened door didn't help her any.
"Yes?" The person demanded. Ami sighed inwardly with relief, it was her mother's voice.
"M - Mrs. Anderson?"
The aged woman nodded. "I am she. What do you want?"
"I uh, I don't know how else to do this than to just come out and say it but...Mom, it's me, Ami. I'm back." Ami said with an enthusiastic smile
Her mother eyed her strangely. "Ami who?"
"Mac- I mean, Anderson. Your daughter."
"I have no daughter." Her voice was rough with emotion. She moved to close the door. "Go away."
"Wait! Mom, it's me, Ami! I can prove it!" Ami thought fast. "You...you used to be a doctor at Tokyo General. You gave birth to me in the back of a cab! You told me it was the worst pain you'd ever been through but when you looked into my eyes, you knew it was worth it!" The woman froze and Ami continued. "After Daddy left, it was just us. I learned to cook and we alternated cooking dinner. Remember how you taught me how to make cookies? You said that every woman should at least know how to make a decent batch of cookies and that no matter what's going on in her life, there's always time to bake... You were there when I won third place for my first science fair, you were right up front! You wore that navy blue suit that you said you loved so much!" Ami didn't realize until later that she'd begun to cry as she desperately grasped for time with her mother.
"You know," Mrs. Anderson began softly, "I remember a few years ago someone with your name being in the news. This man, Malachite was his name, he said terrible things had been done and that you did it. You and a few other girls. He said you would be what brought on the end of the world.."
Ami shook her head. "No, no, he was lying! He hated us, he was mad! We never did any of the things he talked about. I could never-! How could you believe him?! Didn't you trust me, didn't you know me?!"
"I believed him, yes I did. I believe every word that man said."
"I'm married," Ami said quickly, trying to change the subject. "I have a child, a son, named Greg. He looks just like you, he's a beautiful child. Wouldn't you like to see him? Some day soon? He and my husband, Adam, they're coming to live here soon so you could see Greg as often as you want. " She dug into her purse. "I have pictures -"
Mrs. Anderson fixed her eyes on Ami. The look was cold and hateful. "That man.. he made me scared for my life, made me scared of you. I'm old. I'm too young to be old but I am. And it's because of you. I'm an old woman because of you."
"Mom, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean...."
"I have no daughter. Now go away."
With that, Mrs. Anderson closed the door, leaving Ami still staring at where her mother had just been.
*****
Ami told me that once her mother had gone, she realized then she was crying. But she refused to completely let go until she saw an empty phone booth. She closed the door, dropped her purse, and just sobbed. She knew, Ami said, that her mother had changed but when she denied having a daughter, Ami knew Malachite had done major damage not only to us but to the people we cared for. The world would never be the same again because of him.
*****
Mina told me that she'd been incredibly excited about going home to Serena's parents and to be able to tell them the truth. Both she and Serena knew they'd be terribly shocked at first but they both said the Tsukino's were kind people and would quickly understand the reasoning behind the deception. Because of the bonds shared between them all- Serena, of course, for being their biological daughter and having 14 years with her and Mina because she'd gotten so close to them over the past few years, they would accept both women as family.
She also said that she'd had to fight against the urge just to run into the house as she'd done so many times before. Serena's seriousness calmed her and made her handle the situation differently, more as an outsider than an actual participant. Serena herself had been terrified. That old fear of her parents came back; although she'd been away from them for almost eight years, Serena felt as though she were 14 all over again and about to tell her parents about another failed test. Outwardly, she was sober and calm. Inwardly she was more afraid than she'd ever been in her life.
Mina forced herself to remain as she and Serena were ushered into the house and while introductions were made. By Serena's prodding, though, Mina quickly got down to business.
Mina began by taking a couple of deep breaths so as not to loose her nerve. "I have something to tell you," she said, slowly taking her hair down from the buns. "I wish I didn't have to do this but it's got to be done. You see, I'm not who you think I am. I am not Serena Tsukino. My real name is Mina Aino. I was born on October 22nd, an only child. I love acting and I hate too many sweets."
The Tsukino's stared at Mina for a second and then started to laugh. Mina looked at Serena with sad desperation in her eyes and Serena knew she'd have to say something.
"It's true, you know." She declared, her voice just loud enough for them to hear her and quiet down. "I am Serena Tsukino. Eight years ago, when I disappeared, my friends and I were being hunted down by the whole world, by people we'd grown up with, people who we thought were friends were brainwashed. We didn't have many choices, especially when our dual identities were revealed. Mina, as Sailor Venus, faked her death and became me. We're so alike that I knew if Mina could remember a few little quirks of mine, no one would really notice the change. I myself completely disappeared in order to achieve certain goals for me and my friends. Mina lived her life precariously, always having to keep a balance of how you knew me without forgetting who she was. I gave up my family in order to survive and Mina gave up her life. Now I'm back - we're back," Serena quickly corrected, "and we felt we owed it to you to tell you the truth."
"When everything happened, you were so wonderful to Serena. You didn't care about what was being said about her, you loved her regardless of all the terrible ugliness that surrounded us. I never heard from my family. They just kind of disappeared. But when I promised Serena that I'd basically become her, you never questioned the changes, just accepted them. When you accepted her, you accepted me." Mina's lip trembled slightly as she continued. "You became my family and I love you as my own. I'm sorry for the deception, I'm so sorry I couldn't tell you the truth."
It was obvious to both women that Mr. and Mrs. Tsukino were shocked. They sat in silence and Sammy went into the kitchen. Mina and Serena sat uncomfortably before the couple, not really sure what to do next. For a few minutes, no one moved. Serena grabbed Mina's hand and squeezed it just as the Tsukino's stood.
Mrs. Tsukino was crying and she dabbed at her eyes with one hand and held tightly to her husband's hand with the other. Mr. Tsukino looked weary and Serena felt as though he'd aged greatly.
He hesitated at first but with a deep breath, spoke. "This is all quite a shock. Our daugher isn't who we've thought her to be. Instead, she's two people. However, to tell the truth, we had our suspicions. Both you girls have unique qualities that can't be faked no matter what you do." He looked at Serena. "You, young lady, have a lot of catching up to do. You've been gone too long and I want to hear about everything my daughter has been up to for eight years." He placed his hand on Serena's cheek and wiped a tear with his thumb. "Welcome home."
Serena let out an emotional cry as she flung herself into her father's arms. "Oh Papa!"
"Our family isn't quite complete, yet, Kenji." Mrs. Tsukino said after Serena had calmed down. She moved to Mina and smiled with tears still in her eyes. "Oh, Mina. We know how hard it's been for you to pretend to be something you're not. But you yourself just said it all. We accept you, Mina. We are your family and we love you as our own!"
It was that moment that Mina allowed herself to breakdown and she, like Serena, threw herself into Mrs. Tsukino's arms. Mrs. Tsukino grinned and held the young woman tightly.
A few minutes later, when everyone had calmed down, Mina grinned as she pulled out a familiar object from her purse and, sighing happily, pulled her hair back with her signature red bow.
"I've been waiting for years to do that!"
~To be Continued...coming soon: Chapter 11: The Church of Serenity~
An: It probably wasn't my best chapter and I honestly am not as pleased with it as I should be. But, I love the line of Mina's: "When you accepted her, you accepted me..You became my family and I love you as my own.." *sigh* Sometimes it's nice to be able to quote from your own stuff. Anyway, 4 chapters more to go and they are beginning to present a nice challenge to me. That's because the coming chapters will probably be less emotion based. Now it's time to get into establishing themselves and their credibility, not to mention creating a system of government that works for the whole world, not just the inner group. Oh! And one or two familiar faces will popping up somewhere around chapter 13, Raye and Andrew's relationship will be further developed to keep it fun for Raye, and you'll finally be able to meet Ami's hubby. That's all for now. If you have any ideas as to what you'd like to see happen, let me know, I might fit it in! Atheistmoon ^_^
Parental Guidance Pt 2
Facing your past is hard, especially when it involves your parents. I'd proven that by unconsciously threatening my own father and ending up in jail for a night. And I knew the day would come that my friends would want to seek out their families. Two weeks had given all of us plenty of time to settle in and get back to life as normal as possible. Before a month was out, we'd all been to see our parents. I went for revenge. Ami just to see what had happened to her mother, Mina to the Tsukino's to tell them the truth and Serena went with her, of course, to see the family she'd been away from for so long. Darien and Serena had been married two years on the day of Serena's visit to her family but they decided that Darien would stay behind, instead choosing to annouce their marriage at another time. I was asked by all of them to go along for support but I knew that I wouldn't be able to offer them a thing. Besides, after that fiasco with my father, I didn't want to. So instead Andrew and I had a lunch date followed by dinner and a movie that day.
With a box of tissues in hand, I listened to their stories, each one more emotional than the last. This is what they told me...
*****
It was funny, Ami thought, how sometimes the weather matched feelings. She couldn't help but note with irony that the first cold day in months happened to be on the day she was going to see her mother. The clouds hung low, a thunderstorm was rumbling in the distance as she nervously rechecked the address and stepped up onto the small concrete porch of her mother's house. 'I'm not ready for this,' she thought as she reached for the doorbell. But she waited and tried to look as calm as possible, though she was shaking to badly she was sure that passersby would clearly be able to see her shaking from the street.
When the door opened, Ami felt her heart leap into her throat for a second. She couldn't see very clearly who it was who had answered the door because the person was completely shrouded in the darkness of the house and a screened door didn't help her any.
"Yes?" The person demanded. Ami sighed inwardly with relief, it was her mother's voice.
"M - Mrs. Anderson?"
The aged woman nodded. "I am she. What do you want?"
"I uh, I don't know how else to do this than to just come out and say it but...Mom, it's me, Ami. I'm back." Ami said with an enthusiastic smile
Her mother eyed her strangely. "Ami who?"
"Mac- I mean, Anderson. Your daughter."
"I have no daughter." Her voice was rough with emotion. She moved to close the door. "Go away."
"Wait! Mom, it's me, Ami! I can prove it!" Ami thought fast. "You...you used to be a doctor at Tokyo General. You gave birth to me in the back of a cab! You told me it was the worst pain you'd ever been through but when you looked into my eyes, you knew it was worth it!" The woman froze and Ami continued. "After Daddy left, it was just us. I learned to cook and we alternated cooking dinner. Remember how you taught me how to make cookies? You said that every woman should at least know how to make a decent batch of cookies and that no matter what's going on in her life, there's always time to bake... You were there when I won third place for my first science fair, you were right up front! You wore that navy blue suit that you said you loved so much!" Ami didn't realize until later that she'd begun to cry as she desperately grasped for time with her mother.
"You know," Mrs. Anderson began softly, "I remember a few years ago someone with your name being in the news. This man, Malachite was his name, he said terrible things had been done and that you did it. You and a few other girls. He said you would be what brought on the end of the world.."
Ami shook her head. "No, no, he was lying! He hated us, he was mad! We never did any of the things he talked about. I could never-! How could you believe him?! Didn't you trust me, didn't you know me?!"
"I believed him, yes I did. I believe every word that man said."
"I'm married," Ami said quickly, trying to change the subject. "I have a child, a son, named Greg. He looks just like you, he's a beautiful child. Wouldn't you like to see him? Some day soon? He and my husband, Adam, they're coming to live here soon so you could see Greg as often as you want. " She dug into her purse. "I have pictures -"
Mrs. Anderson fixed her eyes on Ami. The look was cold and hateful. "That man.. he made me scared for my life, made me scared of you. I'm old. I'm too young to be old but I am. And it's because of you. I'm an old woman because of you."
"Mom, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean...."
"I have no daughter. Now go away."
With that, Mrs. Anderson closed the door, leaving Ami still staring at where her mother had just been.
*****
Ami told me that once her mother had gone, she realized then she was crying. But she refused to completely let go until she saw an empty phone booth. She closed the door, dropped her purse, and just sobbed. She knew, Ami said, that her mother had changed but when she denied having a daughter, Ami knew Malachite had done major damage not only to us but to the people we cared for. The world would never be the same again because of him.
*****
Mina told me that she'd been incredibly excited about going home to Serena's parents and to be able to tell them the truth. Both she and Serena knew they'd be terribly shocked at first but they both said the Tsukino's were kind people and would quickly understand the reasoning behind the deception. Because of the bonds shared between them all- Serena, of course, for being their biological daughter and having 14 years with her and Mina because she'd gotten so close to them over the past few years, they would accept both women as family.
She also said that she'd had to fight against the urge just to run into the house as she'd done so many times before. Serena's seriousness calmed her and made her handle the situation differently, more as an outsider than an actual participant. Serena herself had been terrified. That old fear of her parents came back; although she'd been away from them for almost eight years, Serena felt as though she were 14 all over again and about to tell her parents about another failed test. Outwardly, she was sober and calm. Inwardly she was more afraid than she'd ever been in her life.
Mina forced herself to remain as she and Serena were ushered into the house and while introductions were made. By Serena's prodding, though, Mina quickly got down to business.
Mina began by taking a couple of deep breaths so as not to loose her nerve. "I have something to tell you," she said, slowly taking her hair down from the buns. "I wish I didn't have to do this but it's got to be done. You see, I'm not who you think I am. I am not Serena Tsukino. My real name is Mina Aino. I was born on October 22nd, an only child. I love acting and I hate too many sweets."
The Tsukino's stared at Mina for a second and then started to laugh. Mina looked at Serena with sad desperation in her eyes and Serena knew she'd have to say something.
"It's true, you know." She declared, her voice just loud enough for them to hear her and quiet down. "I am Serena Tsukino. Eight years ago, when I disappeared, my friends and I were being hunted down by the whole world, by people we'd grown up with, people who we thought were friends were brainwashed. We didn't have many choices, especially when our dual identities were revealed. Mina, as Sailor Venus, faked her death and became me. We're so alike that I knew if Mina could remember a few little quirks of mine, no one would really notice the change. I myself completely disappeared in order to achieve certain goals for me and my friends. Mina lived her life precariously, always having to keep a balance of how you knew me without forgetting who she was. I gave up my family in order to survive and Mina gave up her life. Now I'm back - we're back," Serena quickly corrected, "and we felt we owed it to you to tell you the truth."
"When everything happened, you were so wonderful to Serena. You didn't care about what was being said about her, you loved her regardless of all the terrible ugliness that surrounded us. I never heard from my family. They just kind of disappeared. But when I promised Serena that I'd basically become her, you never questioned the changes, just accepted them. When you accepted her, you accepted me." Mina's lip trembled slightly as she continued. "You became my family and I love you as my own. I'm sorry for the deception, I'm so sorry I couldn't tell you the truth."
It was obvious to both women that Mr. and Mrs. Tsukino were shocked. They sat in silence and Sammy went into the kitchen. Mina and Serena sat uncomfortably before the couple, not really sure what to do next. For a few minutes, no one moved. Serena grabbed Mina's hand and squeezed it just as the Tsukino's stood.
Mrs. Tsukino was crying and she dabbed at her eyes with one hand and held tightly to her husband's hand with the other. Mr. Tsukino looked weary and Serena felt as though he'd aged greatly.
He hesitated at first but with a deep breath, spoke. "This is all quite a shock. Our daugher isn't who we've thought her to be. Instead, she's two people. However, to tell the truth, we had our suspicions. Both you girls have unique qualities that can't be faked no matter what you do." He looked at Serena. "You, young lady, have a lot of catching up to do. You've been gone too long and I want to hear about everything my daughter has been up to for eight years." He placed his hand on Serena's cheek and wiped a tear with his thumb. "Welcome home."
Serena let out an emotional cry as she flung herself into her father's arms. "Oh Papa!"
"Our family isn't quite complete, yet, Kenji." Mrs. Tsukino said after Serena had calmed down. She moved to Mina and smiled with tears still in her eyes. "Oh, Mina. We know how hard it's been for you to pretend to be something you're not. But you yourself just said it all. We accept you, Mina. We are your family and we love you as our own!"
It was that moment that Mina allowed herself to breakdown and she, like Serena, threw herself into Mrs. Tsukino's arms. Mrs. Tsukino grinned and held the young woman tightly.
A few minutes later, when everyone had calmed down, Mina grinned as she pulled out a familiar object from her purse and, sighing happily, pulled her hair back with her signature red bow.
"I've been waiting for years to do that!"
~To be Continued...coming soon: Chapter 11: The Church of Serenity~
An: It probably wasn't my best chapter and I honestly am not as pleased with it as I should be. But, I love the line of Mina's: "When you accepted her, you accepted me..You became my family and I love you as my own.." *sigh* Sometimes it's nice to be able to quote from your own stuff. Anyway, 4 chapters more to go and they are beginning to present a nice challenge to me. That's because the coming chapters will probably be less emotion based. Now it's time to get into establishing themselves and their credibility, not to mention creating a system of government that works for the whole world, not just the inner group. Oh! And one or two familiar faces will popping up somewhere around chapter 13, Raye and Andrew's relationship will be further developed to keep it fun for Raye, and you'll finally be able to meet Ami's hubby. That's all for now. If you have any ideas as to what you'd like to see happen, let me know, I might fit it in! Atheistmoon ^_^