Hello! I'm back!! Hello! I'm back!! Hello! I'm back!!
Alex: ALL RIGHT ALREADY! THEY GET THE IDEA!!!
Alex Ultra: So? I thought I would rub it in!
Alex: Well, you don't must!
Alex Ultra: Don't must?
Alex: I meant to say 'Don't hafta.' But the computer decided it liked 'must' better. I don't know why. HAHAHA!!! I never knew computers had a sense of humor!! HAHAHA!!
Alex Ultra: They don't, it just doesn't know what 'hafta' is. Though it puzzles me as to why it would want 'must'.
Alex: Well, I just went by what the computer wanted 'cause it was funny!
Alex Ultra: Well, if we went by what this stupid computer wanted all the time. No one would be able to understand this fic at all! Frieza would be freezer, Vegeta would be vegetable, Goku would be joking, and the whole sound of the fic would be interrupted!!
Alex: ... So, what you're saying is, our readers should thank the heavens that we don't listen to the stupid computer?
Alex Ultra: ... Yeah, basically. Well, on with whatever it was I got my lazy butt over here to do!
Alex: And what was that?
Alex Ultra: ...
Alex: Well?
Alex Ultra: I forgot...
Alex: Augh! Just write the chapter!
Alex Ultra: THAT'S IT!!!
Alex: [Blinks] Huh?
Alex Ultra: Oh, and you won't actually be in this chapter.
Alex: WHAT DO YOU MEAN!!??
Alex Ultra: It will still be about you, but you won't be in it.
Alex: I don't get it... what do you mean?
Alex Ultra: You'll see.
~~~~~~*** REFLECTIONS ***~~~~~~
~~~ Mom ~~~
My name is Leanne Hintuki. Yes, I must say I was afraid. The day I first met Alex, Jennifer and I were taking a break from the endless meetings my husband was a guest at. We were shopping in one of the few sections of West City that had English-speaking stores.
Jennifer was hyper though, and she wanted to play.
But when I heard that car screeching around the street the way they were, the only thing I could think about was protecting Jennifer.
But, seeing that car barreling down on us the way it was, I froze. My mind drew a total blank.
I thought it was all over, I didn't even see my life flash before my eyes. There wasn't enough time.
I froze, but she didn't. I didn't know why or how, but right before my blank eyes, she stopped that car.
Impressed? Yes. But more than anything else I was shocked, speechless, and totally grateful.
I had noticed a small smile cross her features, and I knew she was glad that she had saved us.
She said something to me, I'm sure it was in Japanese but I really couldn't tell. "Thank you." I looked her directly in the eyes and thanked her from the bottom of my heart.
And the thing that struck me hardest was how young she was. Perhaps not much younger than my oldest, Jeff.
She smiled again and spoke again, in English. "Are you two alright?"
I was so shell shocked at hearing her speak English so flawlessly that all I could manage was to nod numbly. But Jenn was never one to do things quietly. "Hey, you don't talk funny! My name's Jenny, what's yours?"
She smiled, a surprisingly warm smile. Despite her youth, I got the feeling she knew things I didn't. Like she'd been around the block a few times. "My name's Alex. Good to meet you! You know, you really shouldn't play in the street. It's dangerous." She led us to the sidewalk, honestly, I'm glad she did. Because I'm not so sure I could have found it on my own right then.
But Jennifer wanted to make friends with everyone. I loved that about her, but sometimes I feared she was just a bit too open. "Okay! Hey, you wanna' play?" She smiled that warm smile again, and looked around wordlessly. She seemed nervous about something I couldn't figure out. But Jennifer wasn't deterred by not having an answer. "So where's your mommy?"
I could immediately tell she had asked just the wrong question. Alex's warm expression immediately turned to a pained one. "I... don't have one. Orphaned."
She squirmed a bit. Orphaned. That one word was heard so much in Japan, but this little girl didn't deserve it. "Excuse me, I have to go. Good- bye." She broke away from the crowd and ran down an alley.
Jenny pulled on my shirt to get my attention. I looked down at her to see her innocent face covered in confusion. "Mommy? What's 'Owerfanned' mean?"
I thought for a moment, then smiled. "It means... that you're going to have a new sister to play with soon." I don't know if she was sure what I meant, but she smiled, satisfied.
She had saved our lives. Perhaps I could return the favor and offer her a new one.
~~~ Less than a day later ~~~
I didn't have much to go on. I only knew two things. A name and the fact she was an orphan. And what made it worse was that I still had to attend those meetings from 10:00AM to 4:00PM. That left only a couple hours to check every one of the dozens of orphanages in West City.
"Honey, just give up!" I gave Leon a nasty look almost instantly.
"Jennifer and I would be DEAD right now if it wasn't for her! I can't just let her go!"
He backed off right away. Heh, I can be a real bitch when I haven't had enough sleep! "Well, at least don't worry about it so much. You've barely slept in the past two days, and the convention is over so we'll have more time now. Just calm down and we'll keep looking." He was currently driving down one of West City's many streets headed for one of the last two orphanages in the city. If it wasn't one of these two then we'd have to search every alleyway and gutter. But judging by her clothes I didn't think she was living on the street. They were just too clean, and only had tears where the road had torn them when she had torn up the road. (I had made sure to pay for the damage, out of good conscience.)
That fact still bothered me. 'How can a little girl stop a car and tear up the road like that!? It just doesn't make sense!'
"Mrs. Hintuki? We are here."
"Where?"
"Well, I guess it translates to 'Time Creek Westside Orphanage'."
"Oh, the orphanage. Hehe, sorry. I was thinking again."
Leon laughed slightly. "Hehe! Now, what have I told you about that?" I smiled and followed him inside.
I didn't see her on the way in. It almost made me give up right then. But I wanted confirmation; she could have been out or something.
"Alex? Let me see. Oh yes! She came in about three years ago. Sad story really."
"What do you mean? What happened to her parents?" I wasn't prepared for the message I got, or maybe I was. I'm not sure and I don't think I was then either. Nothing could have prepared me for the story I heard, not really.
"Well, apparently they were killed." She looked me in the eye. "Right in front of her. Would you like to hear the tape?" I was shell-shocked, but I nodded.
What I heard was horrible, and the tape relayed every word in the soundproof room. "And what about your parents? Why aren't they here?" The first sound was the counselor.
"They're gone." Alex's voice came next.
"Oh, where t..." The counselor didn't even get to finish her thought.
"He killed them." A short pause and she continued, sounding agitated. "He killed them, right in front of me! And he liked it!" She stressed that she saw it, and her dislike at him liking it, not that I blamed her. "He gauged their eyes out, crushed their heads and carved out their hearts!" Her vivid descriptions of their deaths frightened me a little. "And he did it, all while smiling. He ENJOYED killing them! My friends, my family. He killed them ALL!" I could barely hold back tears as I heard slight gasps coming from the counselor on the tape, and a worried male voice as well. "And I couldn't do a thing to him." Her voice got a bit softer as she went on. "No one could. Not even the cop. Cold-blooded killer, deadly monster! I'll never forgive him!" Now she started sounding hysterical. "Nothing... MONSTER!" She was talking to herself, I could tell. "All of them. Dead. Nothing left. Nothing. Nothing!!!" She sounded suddenly weak. "Oh, man. I... I..." A light thud was heard as I assume she passed out.
The counselor stopped the tape there. I had tears running down my cheeks as if I had just been there myself. "That's it, she fainted from there and hasn't spoken about it since." I nodded.
I was already sure it was the right one, but I still needed to know for sure. "Can I see a picture?"
"Certainly!" She reached in a file and pulled out a sheet of paper with a picture clipped to it. It was her.
I nodded again and she opened a door. She stopped a young boy and said something in Japanese. He ran off and soon after she walked in.
That was how we took her into our family.
~~~ Jennifer ~~~
I like her!! Haha! She's fun!
What? Hey! How was I supposed to know that 'Cricket' was a game!? Huh? Oh! Right!
Uh, how to start? I was too young to really remember the day we met, so why don't I go over something a little more recent?
"Whatcha doin?"
She looked back to me coldly, I'm not used to her being so cold with me. But she instantly warmed back up. "I'm going somewhere."
"Where?"
"To my past..." She wasn't even really looking at me, more like through me. I must admit there're a lot of things I don't know about her.
She smiled and pulled her energy to her arm. She turned around and punched a hole, that black one she likes so much. This was a cold one and I could tell she was going to another world. The cold ones always meant something was different; the warm ones meant she was going to town or something...
"Hey, wait! Can't I come?" She put an air-helmet on and looked back to me.
"Sorry, no. This is something I have to do on my own." She locked the helmet and jumped in, I'm not sure what she was expecting, but it couldn't be good if she didn't take me along.
But there was nothing I could do, so I waited. The gateway closed but I still waited. I was still there after dark but I still waited.
Then it opened again. And she hopped out.
I smiled and wanted to drop everything to welcome back. But something stopped me.
She had been crying, I could tell. Her eyes looked irritated and she looked tired. But that wasn't what stopped me.
She was different; she looked, and felt, stronger. And something else.
Her hair, it was a different color, as were her eyes. Both brown, and her hair was straight up in the air, kind of like the pictures of Vegeta she had shown me.
Wordlessly she calmed down and dropped her ki. Almost instantly her hair went limp again and her eyes returned to blue. She simply walked quietly out of the room, leaving me confused.
That was yesterday. And she says she has something to tell me.
I don't care if it's bad, just as long as it's really her. That's what matters.
~~~~~~*** End of Chapter 13 ***~~~~~~
Well, that fills in some of the gaps. Well, I hope so, that's why I made this chapter! Oh, and Alex narrates the next chapter again, and just because it's not really complete without it, she'll be telling what happened while she was gone, and why she left.
Some may already know, but it belongs in this fic, so it will be placed there.
But till then, review me and tell me what you think, kay?
LATER
Alex: ALL RIGHT ALREADY! THEY GET THE IDEA!!!
Alex Ultra: So? I thought I would rub it in!
Alex: Well, you don't must!
Alex Ultra: Don't must?
Alex: I meant to say 'Don't hafta.' But the computer decided it liked 'must' better. I don't know why. HAHAHA!!! I never knew computers had a sense of humor!! HAHAHA!!
Alex Ultra: They don't, it just doesn't know what 'hafta' is. Though it puzzles me as to why it would want 'must'.
Alex: Well, I just went by what the computer wanted 'cause it was funny!
Alex Ultra: Well, if we went by what this stupid computer wanted all the time. No one would be able to understand this fic at all! Frieza would be freezer, Vegeta would be vegetable, Goku would be joking, and the whole sound of the fic would be interrupted!!
Alex: ... So, what you're saying is, our readers should thank the heavens that we don't listen to the stupid computer?
Alex Ultra: ... Yeah, basically. Well, on with whatever it was I got my lazy butt over here to do!
Alex: And what was that?
Alex Ultra: ...
Alex: Well?
Alex Ultra: I forgot...
Alex: Augh! Just write the chapter!
Alex Ultra: THAT'S IT!!!
Alex: [Blinks] Huh?
Alex Ultra: Oh, and you won't actually be in this chapter.
Alex: WHAT DO YOU MEAN!!??
Alex Ultra: It will still be about you, but you won't be in it.
Alex: I don't get it... what do you mean?
Alex Ultra: You'll see.
~~~~~~*** REFLECTIONS ***~~~~~~
~~~ Mom ~~~
My name is Leanne Hintuki. Yes, I must say I was afraid. The day I first met Alex, Jennifer and I were taking a break from the endless meetings my husband was a guest at. We were shopping in one of the few sections of West City that had English-speaking stores.
Jennifer was hyper though, and she wanted to play.
But when I heard that car screeching around the street the way they were, the only thing I could think about was protecting Jennifer.
But, seeing that car barreling down on us the way it was, I froze. My mind drew a total blank.
I thought it was all over, I didn't even see my life flash before my eyes. There wasn't enough time.
I froze, but she didn't. I didn't know why or how, but right before my blank eyes, she stopped that car.
Impressed? Yes. But more than anything else I was shocked, speechless, and totally grateful.
I had noticed a small smile cross her features, and I knew she was glad that she had saved us.
She said something to me, I'm sure it was in Japanese but I really couldn't tell. "Thank you." I looked her directly in the eyes and thanked her from the bottom of my heart.
And the thing that struck me hardest was how young she was. Perhaps not much younger than my oldest, Jeff.
She smiled again and spoke again, in English. "Are you two alright?"
I was so shell shocked at hearing her speak English so flawlessly that all I could manage was to nod numbly. But Jenn was never one to do things quietly. "Hey, you don't talk funny! My name's Jenny, what's yours?"
She smiled, a surprisingly warm smile. Despite her youth, I got the feeling she knew things I didn't. Like she'd been around the block a few times. "My name's Alex. Good to meet you! You know, you really shouldn't play in the street. It's dangerous." She led us to the sidewalk, honestly, I'm glad she did. Because I'm not so sure I could have found it on my own right then.
But Jennifer wanted to make friends with everyone. I loved that about her, but sometimes I feared she was just a bit too open. "Okay! Hey, you wanna' play?" She smiled that warm smile again, and looked around wordlessly. She seemed nervous about something I couldn't figure out. But Jennifer wasn't deterred by not having an answer. "So where's your mommy?"
I could immediately tell she had asked just the wrong question. Alex's warm expression immediately turned to a pained one. "I... don't have one. Orphaned."
She squirmed a bit. Orphaned. That one word was heard so much in Japan, but this little girl didn't deserve it. "Excuse me, I have to go. Good- bye." She broke away from the crowd and ran down an alley.
Jenny pulled on my shirt to get my attention. I looked down at her to see her innocent face covered in confusion. "Mommy? What's 'Owerfanned' mean?"
I thought for a moment, then smiled. "It means... that you're going to have a new sister to play with soon." I don't know if she was sure what I meant, but she smiled, satisfied.
She had saved our lives. Perhaps I could return the favor and offer her a new one.
~~~ Less than a day later ~~~
I didn't have much to go on. I only knew two things. A name and the fact she was an orphan. And what made it worse was that I still had to attend those meetings from 10:00AM to 4:00PM. That left only a couple hours to check every one of the dozens of orphanages in West City.
"Honey, just give up!" I gave Leon a nasty look almost instantly.
"Jennifer and I would be DEAD right now if it wasn't for her! I can't just let her go!"
He backed off right away. Heh, I can be a real bitch when I haven't had enough sleep! "Well, at least don't worry about it so much. You've barely slept in the past two days, and the convention is over so we'll have more time now. Just calm down and we'll keep looking." He was currently driving down one of West City's many streets headed for one of the last two orphanages in the city. If it wasn't one of these two then we'd have to search every alleyway and gutter. But judging by her clothes I didn't think she was living on the street. They were just too clean, and only had tears where the road had torn them when she had torn up the road. (I had made sure to pay for the damage, out of good conscience.)
That fact still bothered me. 'How can a little girl stop a car and tear up the road like that!? It just doesn't make sense!'
"Mrs. Hintuki? We are here."
"Where?"
"Well, I guess it translates to 'Time Creek Westside Orphanage'."
"Oh, the orphanage. Hehe, sorry. I was thinking again."
Leon laughed slightly. "Hehe! Now, what have I told you about that?" I smiled and followed him inside.
I didn't see her on the way in. It almost made me give up right then. But I wanted confirmation; she could have been out or something.
"Alex? Let me see. Oh yes! She came in about three years ago. Sad story really."
"What do you mean? What happened to her parents?" I wasn't prepared for the message I got, or maybe I was. I'm not sure and I don't think I was then either. Nothing could have prepared me for the story I heard, not really.
"Well, apparently they were killed." She looked me in the eye. "Right in front of her. Would you like to hear the tape?" I was shell-shocked, but I nodded.
What I heard was horrible, and the tape relayed every word in the soundproof room. "And what about your parents? Why aren't they here?" The first sound was the counselor.
"They're gone." Alex's voice came next.
"Oh, where t..." The counselor didn't even get to finish her thought.
"He killed them." A short pause and she continued, sounding agitated. "He killed them, right in front of me! And he liked it!" She stressed that she saw it, and her dislike at him liking it, not that I blamed her. "He gauged their eyes out, crushed their heads and carved out their hearts!" Her vivid descriptions of their deaths frightened me a little. "And he did it, all while smiling. He ENJOYED killing them! My friends, my family. He killed them ALL!" I could barely hold back tears as I heard slight gasps coming from the counselor on the tape, and a worried male voice as well. "And I couldn't do a thing to him." Her voice got a bit softer as she went on. "No one could. Not even the cop. Cold-blooded killer, deadly monster! I'll never forgive him!" Now she started sounding hysterical. "Nothing... MONSTER!" She was talking to herself, I could tell. "All of them. Dead. Nothing left. Nothing. Nothing!!!" She sounded suddenly weak. "Oh, man. I... I..." A light thud was heard as I assume she passed out.
The counselor stopped the tape there. I had tears running down my cheeks as if I had just been there myself. "That's it, she fainted from there and hasn't spoken about it since." I nodded.
I was already sure it was the right one, but I still needed to know for sure. "Can I see a picture?"
"Certainly!" She reached in a file and pulled out a sheet of paper with a picture clipped to it. It was her.
I nodded again and she opened a door. She stopped a young boy and said something in Japanese. He ran off and soon after she walked in.
That was how we took her into our family.
~~~ Jennifer ~~~
I like her!! Haha! She's fun!
What? Hey! How was I supposed to know that 'Cricket' was a game!? Huh? Oh! Right!
Uh, how to start? I was too young to really remember the day we met, so why don't I go over something a little more recent?
"Whatcha doin?"
She looked back to me coldly, I'm not used to her being so cold with me. But she instantly warmed back up. "I'm going somewhere."
"Where?"
"To my past..." She wasn't even really looking at me, more like through me. I must admit there're a lot of things I don't know about her.
She smiled and pulled her energy to her arm. She turned around and punched a hole, that black one she likes so much. This was a cold one and I could tell she was going to another world. The cold ones always meant something was different; the warm ones meant she was going to town or something...
"Hey, wait! Can't I come?" She put an air-helmet on and looked back to me.
"Sorry, no. This is something I have to do on my own." She locked the helmet and jumped in, I'm not sure what she was expecting, but it couldn't be good if she didn't take me along.
But there was nothing I could do, so I waited. The gateway closed but I still waited. I was still there after dark but I still waited.
Then it opened again. And she hopped out.
I smiled and wanted to drop everything to welcome back. But something stopped me.
She had been crying, I could tell. Her eyes looked irritated and she looked tired. But that wasn't what stopped me.
She was different; she looked, and felt, stronger. And something else.
Her hair, it was a different color, as were her eyes. Both brown, and her hair was straight up in the air, kind of like the pictures of Vegeta she had shown me.
Wordlessly she calmed down and dropped her ki. Almost instantly her hair went limp again and her eyes returned to blue. She simply walked quietly out of the room, leaving me confused.
That was yesterday. And she says she has something to tell me.
I don't care if it's bad, just as long as it's really her. That's what matters.
~~~~~~*** End of Chapter 13 ***~~~~~~
Well, that fills in some of the gaps. Well, I hope so, that's why I made this chapter! Oh, and Alex narrates the next chapter again, and just because it's not really complete without it, she'll be telling what happened while she was gone, and why she left.
Some may already know, but it belongs in this fic, so it will be placed there.
But till then, review me and tell me what you think, kay?
LATER