Disclaimer: Sailor Moon and the characters in them don't belong to me.
By Lady Fenix
"I'm so glad to finally meet you, my dear." Rhonda Ellsmere, said to Rei as she settled down on one of the two chairs in the tiny studio apartment in Lower East side.
"Me too." Rei told her mother's best friend and smiled.
Despite the fact that this was probably the first time in nearly twenty years that they meet, Rei didn't feel the least of bit awkward in the older woman's presence. The two of them had exchanged letters ever since Rei's mother died when she was seven years old and Rhonda wrote to Rei to express her sorrow and offer moral support. While the letters had not been frequent, Rei was at least sure of one thing and that was the genuine fondness the woman held for her.
However, she had been caught momentarily by surprise when the front door was opened and she had come face to face with her. Since Rhonda was the same age as Sakura, Rei knew she should only be in her mid forties. The woman that greeted her had looked closer to seventy with her crown of bushy gray hair and strong facial lines; lines that seemed to be the result from harsh dealings rather than age.
"So how do you find the Big Apple?" Rhonda asked and set down the coffee pot with the water on the table without breaking eye contact with Rei. She moved with an easy grace that was quite startling considering her large frame, and a confidence that spoke of a good knowledge of where everything laid in the room despite the jumbled mess.
"It's different. Vibrant, impatient and …" Rei gestured helplessly with one hand which had the other woman chuckling.
"Yeah I know what you mean. Had the same effect on me too when I first arrived. It's the feeling; it's powerful and indescribable at the same time. The crowd shouldn't be a problem for you though, right? From what I remember Sakura telling me, Tokyo is swarming with as much people if not more."
Rei smiled. "Somewhat." She remembered her reaction as she entered the underground this morning and seeing the stations and city trains. They had certainly differed from the pristine clean and gleaming subways in Tokyo. She had been kind of surprised that some of the trains were actually able to move considering how old and run down they looked.
"Its interesting seeing so many people from different nationalities all mixed up one place. It's feels strange to be one of the minorities. Well that is until I walked through China Town." Rei added and laughed. She had taken the wrong train and ended up in Canal Street instead of East Broadway and thus had to walk through half of China town to reach the apartment which was situated close to eastern periphery of the area.
"Yes, there's quite a lot of Chinese here. And you certainly could be mistaken for one of them, wearing those shades." Rhonda nodded towards the dark tinted glasses that were currently perched on top of Rei's head.
Rei could attest to that, having been called after by several vendors eager to sell their merchandise to her. Not that she understood what they said but it was not hard to miss their meaning. In a way she had quite enjoyed herself, smiling and shaking her head at them before continuing her journey. She liked the place; if possible it was even more hectic than midtown where she was staying. The people here were dressed more normally – definitely no lady in purple fur walking her poodle. The characters on the signs were familiar enough that she could nearly feel at home. And the smell of the delicious food that streamed out from the many shops and restaurants that completely made her mouth water.
When Rei told Rhonda that, the sturdy woman clucked her tongue at her obvious refreshing fascination of something that she herself felt was rather common. "Just make sure that you don't get too distracted by the sight that you loose awareness of your surroundings. There are a lot of riff raffs running around these areas too. A pretty girl who looks like she doesn't belong here can easily get into trouble. And I don't just mean getting your purse snatched." Rhonda handed Rei one of the two large cups she had poured. The cup was so large that even holding it both of her hands Rei wasn't able to let her fingertips touch on either side.
Since the admonishment was so much like what a mother would be telling her daughter and she could easily see the concern in the woman's dark eyes, Rei couldn't find it in her heart to become angry. "Don't worry about me. I might look small and harmless but grandfather has taught me marshal arts so I'm capable of defending myself from unwanted attentions."
"Even those karate moves won't save you from a bullet if you piss off the wrong person and believe me most of those kids out there belonging to gangs carries."
"Well it's no different from any other place in the world." Rei told her in a patient tone and tried hard to keep the laughter from showing. From the way she spoke, one would think that New York was the only place with crimes.
Rhonda, seeming to understand where she was coming from, shook her head. "Forgive me, I just can't help myself. My daughter Zelda keeps telling me that I can't go on an hour without nagging at somebody about taking precautions. It's just that ever since Zeke died….." Her voice trailed off.
There was a long moment of silence. Rei didn't know what to say. She knew Zeke was Rhonda's son and that he had passed away a few years back though she was never told the reason behind it. From what had been said here today it was not hard for her to figure out that it must have been violent.
"Anyways let's talk about something else. How are you handling the time difference?" Rhonda asked and broke the awkward silence. "It dawned on me after I hung up that maybe I shouldn't have asked you to come out so early. You must still be feeling jetlagged."
"No I'm fine." Rei refrained from saying that yesterday she had been so exhausted that she had completely broken down over the phone with her friend. At least that was, according to Ami, the reason she had felt so down. The combination of a long trip, the time difference, being nearly killed and having an ugly confrontation with a hag, well hag was Rei's reference of Tanya not Ami's, anybody would feel down and homesick. And like always Ami was right, after a good night sleep Rei had indeed woken up this morning feeling much better.
Rhonda smiled. "Resilient. Just like your ma." Then as if realizing just what she said her face turned remorseful. "I'm so sorry. This was supposed to be a happy occasion and here I go bringing up your ma like that and no doubt waking up a lot of sad memories for you."
"No it's all right. Actually I'm glad that you brought her up." She took a sip of the coffee and just as she suspected the thing was brutally strong. Hoping that she wasn't to develop a serious case of burned stomach, Rei continued. "Grandfather doesn't talk that much about her and even if he does it's mostly about how she was as a child. It's nice to talk to someone who knew her from another period of time."
Rhonda nodded her head as if she had expected something like that. "I doubt he ever had the chance to get to know the Sakura that came back before her untimely death."
It was the bitterness in her tone that prompted Rei to ask softly. "Tell me about her. Tell me about my mother."
"Sakura?" Rhonda leaned back against the chair. It gave off a soft creaking sound but held under her weight. There was a far away look in her eyes as if she was thinking back to those days and visualizing them. "She was a sweet girl, loyal, naïve and very, very shy." Her face pulled back into a wistful smile as if remembering something fondly. The creases on her face increased making the skin resemble old leather.
"When I first met her, we were taking arts classes together and there was a special group assignment. She barely spoke two words to me. She was beautiful and very popular with her well mannered ways and while I on the other hand was loud and abrasive. I thought she was stuck up and didn't want to associate with someone like me. But as it turned out later on as we gradually became to know each other and Sakura won over her initial shyness, the two of us hit off pretty well and we became friends. I didn't even hesitate to offer her to live in my apartment when her scholarship ended and she couldn't afford to stay at the dorm and pay for her tuition. I have to say, there had been times I have regretted that offer, since staying in the city had meant her path had eventually crossed with his"
There was no mistaking the resentment in her tone. Leaning closer her violet eyes intent on the older lady's, Rei asked tentatively. "How did they meet? My parents, that is?" She hadn't meant to ask but something was prompting her.
Rhonda was silent and for a moment there Rei feared she was not going to answer her and then woman started talking. "Sakura was working extra at the Japanese bookstore close to the school to help pay for the tuition and your father was there to look up a reference book for a paper he was writing. It had something to do with the Marshal aid that the US sent to Japan right after the WWII. Sakura turned out to be a better reference since he wanted to write about the Japanese point of view and his grasp of the language was spotty at the best. Any blind fool could see that it he wasn't as much interested in the papers as he was in her."
"And my mother?"
"Sakura?" Rhonda gave a decisive laughter. "She was smitten the moment he spoke to her and who could blame her? The man was handsome, charming, educated and rich as Midas. It was like stepping into a Cinderella story. He completely swept her off her feet. Flowers by dozen arrived everyday at work and to our apartment until the place looked more like a flower shop than a living quarter. He took her to plays, fancy restaurants and even traveled to far off places. The two of them were inseparable and so in love it became revolting to be anywhere near them. I wasn't surprised when they announced their engagement two months later."
Rei caught something in the tone of her voice. "You were against it?"
"She was still too young and too inexperienced to jump into a marriage, especially with someone like your father. He had a complete different background and came from a complete different world, a world that she was going to have to live in. But she was in love." Rhonda continued though she seemed to be talking more to herself than to Rei. "She was so in love then and so sure love would sort everything out for them. I didn't have the heart to add more pressure to her, she was getting enough of that from Mr. Hino and her friends back home. I couldn't trample all over her happiness as well. Especially seeing how devastated she was after each conversation with them. She wanted so much to have someone that was happy for her and I wanted to be her friend, to give her the support a friend is supposed to give. And instead …." Her voice trailed off.
Watching those chocolate brown eyes fill with remorse and sadness, Rei felt a lump build in her throat. She never knew that Rhonda had felt responsible for Sakura's fate. Because she had gone through nearly the same thing when Mako met Nathan, Rei could understand the hardship Rhonda had been through. It was never easy being a true friend. Were you supposed to make yourself feel better by speaking your mind and risk hurting the friend's feelings or be supportive and let her make her own decision and live her own life, despite the fact that you felt it was wrong? Who could decide what was right and wrong?
In Mako and Nathan's case, Rei had been adamantly against the relationship, fearing that Nathan would end up hurting Mako the way her mother had been hurt by her father. She hadn't wanted to give them her support because she felt Mako was making the biggest mistake of her life but then Ami had told her that being a friend didn't mean taking over that person's life and telling them how to live it. She could voice her opinion but in the end the life was Mako's and the road hers to walk. The only thing they could do as her friends is to make things easier for her and just be there for her, for better or for worse. Grudgingly she had to give in and as it turned out Rei was the one who had been wrong about Nathan. In the ten years she had known Mako, Rei had never seen her friend happier than from the day she married Nathan.
But in Rhonda's case Rei knew for a fact that she did nothing wrong. "You made the right choice. I don't think that mama would have changed her mind even if you had spoken up. But what you managed to achieve instead by keeping your own counsel and making things easier for her, is to make her happy. Something that I know she appreciated."
Hearing that last sentence Rhonda pinned Rei's eyes. "She told you about it?"
Rei nodded her head, violet pools shadowing with the memories. "It was during her last days. She was delirious from the pain and didn't know the past from the present. She was recalling her wedding day, the second most wonderful day in her life, next to the day of my birth and how you were part of doing that. The help you gave her, the preparation you made. Especially your gifts: The earrings, the perfume, your grandmother's necklace, and the bouquet."
"Something old and something new. Something borrowed and something blue." Rhonda murmured softly and laughed but it held a tinge of irony in it. "Took me a while to find the right combination. They were supposed to be her good luck charms."
"The important thing was the meaning behind the gesture and not the consequence." Rei told her firmly, not wanting her to blame herself anymore for something that she clearly couldn't be faulted for.
Rhonda looked at her and the smile she bestowed her was as a gentle as the pat she gave on the hand that was resting on the table. "You are a nice girl. You're mother would have been proud of you."
Because those words touched her deeply, the only words Rei could utter were simply. "Thank you."
"No," Rhonda shook her head softly making the crown of gray hair swing back and forth, "it is I that should say thank you. Thank you for putting up with an old lady and her memories. I'm sure you could have done a lot more exciting things with your time than spending it here in this dingy rundown place." She threw an embarrassed glance at the limited space around them.
Having not had a chance to really take a good look around the apartment since she entered it, Rei let her gaze sweep over the approximately three hundred square feet of area. A small bed was situated by the wall next to the front door, Rhonda's grandson, Elias was currently sleeping there blissfully with a silly grin on his cherubic face. A wooden wardrobe filled with clothes, baby things and toys separated the sleeping area from the rest of the studio. A faded yellow couch covered with a colorful quilt came next, facing a small sized TV and the bathroom. Whatever space was left was used for the eating area which included a counter, a stove and a fridge by the only wall that had windows, and a square table with a pair of mismatched chairs. Pots, pans, dried flowers hung from the walls in the kitchen area, and photographs and colored drawings clearly made by a child covered the rest of the place. A considerably large pile containing newspaper, was leaning against the side of the couch, threatening to spill over and cover the miniature sized fire truck with missing headlight on the floor. It might be littered with things, but Rei could sense that everything there was there for a purpose; the love and care that had been put into everything in this place made one feel comfortable and welcomed.
"I couldn't think of a better way to spend my time here than getting to know my mother's best friend. Besides it's not the size that matters, it's what inside it. You have made this place into a home that any woman would be proud to call her own." Rei told her truthfully.
"Oh," Rhonda's voice hitched. Emotions welled up inside her, filling her chest and warmth spreading her throughout her body. "Now you've done it. I swore I wouldn't be too emotional today." Her eyes filled and she leaned over to grab a few tissues from the Kleenex box to dab at them. Part of her had been a bit worried about what the girl would think about her place, knowing her privileged background. She wanted so much to give a good impression to daughter of her best friend. The difference in social status never bothered Sakura after her marriage into the Holden's, but Rhonda knew that Martin and his family had given her a lot of grief about it at home. Keeping a correspondence through letters was one thing, but now that she was here and had seen the money and the power she was connected to, Rhonda had feared Rei might have been influenced by that. She was glad to see the girl had taken up a lot more of her mother than her father.
"Oh before I forget, I got something for you." Rhonda rose from her chair and hurriedly walked over to the closet next to the bathroom with a speed and grace that belied her appearance.
"You shouldn't have gotten me anything." Rei told her embarrassedly as she watched the woman rummage through the mountain of clothes inside.
"It's nothing like that. Ah here they are." She pulled out a small worn shopping bag with Laura Ashley written on the outside. "Actually these are yours to begin with. I've always meant to mail them to you but somehow I never got the chance to. Since you're here now and especially considering your questions earlier I think you would like it."
Mystified Rei took the bag she offered her and peeked inside. There were two things in them: one which looked like a small book and the other a large box. Rei pulled out the box as Rhonda cleared the table for her to set it down. She cast the woman an inquiring look and getting a nod of encouragement, Rei slowly opened the box. Inside was a photo album in cream velvet with the faces of her mother and father smiling back at her. Sakura was wearing a wedding dress.
"It's her wedding album. She left them here on her last day in New York." Rhonda explained to her.
Rei traced a hand slowly over her mother's face, the plastic film soft and cool underneath her touch. Young, she looked so young there. Her eyes moved over her father's. Actually they both looked young. Vulnerable somehow. There were no pain shadowing her mother's dark eyes and no cynical coldness in her father's. Rei settled the lid back on the box and took out the book bound in red velvet.
"That's her diary." Rhonda told her gently. "She used to write them whenever something special happened to her."
Emotions churned inside her, threatening to overwhelm her. "Thank you." Rei told her softly. She tore her gaze away from the diary to look into the woman's eyes. The emotions churning in her violet depths were easily distinguished. "Thank you for keeping them safe all these years."
Rhonda shrugged, feeling slightly embarrassed by the obvious gratitude. "They're yours by right. I've always figured Sakura left them at my place because she wanted me to keep them safe for you. Probably figured she would get too emotional and burn them up if she kept them. Well the photo album at least. As for the diary I think given your earlier questions what better way for you to get to know your mother?" After a moment of hesitation she added. "Or your father for that matter?"
Something flickered in Rei's eyes and seeing it made her recall the reason the girl was in town to begin with. Out of real concern for Rei rather than any warm feelings towards her sire, Rhonda asked. "How are you holding up with the whole thing, by the way?"
Rei didn't pretend she didn't know what she was talking about. Martin had asked her the same question last night when he came by the hotel to take her out for dinner and she gave Rhonda the same answer she had given him.
Unlike the man who had accepted it and moved on to other subject, Rhonda snorted.
"The man ignored you for most of your life. Then fell of the sky, plunged into the sea one stormy day and croaked. But all in all he was the man who sired you. I don't think alright under the circumstances, sums it up. You'll feel the loss and the pain and swirling in all of that a lot of anger too or I'll eat my slipper for breakfast."
Rei stared at the woman, her full lips parted in the act of denying it but then seeing the challenge in those warrior-like eyes, she let out a reluctant small laugh. "You're good. I thought only Ami and Mako could read me that well."
Rhonda snorted. "I was planning on taking a degree in psychology before I hitched myself to a looser and got knocked up it the same process and had to burn those bridges. But there's still some of that in here." She tapped at her temple.
And no doubt she would probably have made a fine shrink, Rei thought, if life hadn't dealt her such hard blows one after another. Here was another woman who had had thought she had met her soulmate, given him all her love and abandoning her promising future only to have him completely ruin her life.
Mako might say what she wants, but in Rei's opinion love was just a weak thing that made reason fly out the window and the brain turn mush and definitely, nothing for Rei.
"So tell me about the girl. Rumors had it she nearly went into a meltdown with Tanya." Darien inquired with one arched black brow as he sat down on one of the two chairs opposite Jay. Amusement could be seen in the wry quirk of his almost smile as he stretched out his long legs in front of him and rested his feet comfortably on the shining surface of the mahogany desk.
The office in London was quiet given the late hours most had already headed home. Jay had flown over to go through some last minute details before the business meeting with the Minister of Culture in the morning. As the head of Marketing, it was Darien's job to brief him so he would be prepared for tomorrow, but he was at the moment more interested in other things than work.
Jay gave him a sore look. "Is that what you do on your time? Listen to gossip like a housewife?"
Not the least of bit phased by his friend's obvious dark mood, Darien dusted away a speck of dust on his impeccable gray suit. "Hard to miss it considering it seems to be the main topic everywhere. News of the collision spread like a forest fire in the middle of summer, through the company. Rich got the mail forwarded to him two hours after it happened and from the long list of addresses it had already passed through all the North American branches and most of Europe before reaching us here."
"If Rich spend as much time writing his speeches as he does reading those damn mails of his, our sales would probably increase twenty percent." Jay muttered sourly.
"Careful there, mate. My wedding is coming up and Sere will have a fit if I put in more work than what I already do now."
At the mentioning of Darien's fiancée and soon to be wife, Jay felt the familiar smile pull at him but he kept a firm control over his facial muscles. He was not through scorching his friend yet. "I don't see you doing a lot of that when you dumped me the other night with the Russians." He pointed out.
It was due to twenty years of friendship that Darien didn't even have the grace to look guilty. "You handled that one pretty well. Besides didn't I come by to pick you up later and haul your ass back to your place?"
"You fucking dropped me at the door and left."
Darien made a tsking sound. "Demands and more demands. You are never satisfied, are you?. I could have left you at the bar and let you wake up next to Ivan. I'm sure he would have loved the cuddling and the spooning."
Jay choked. "You didn't!" His memories were still blotchy of the night and horrified emotions slashed at him like knifes.
Face completely grave, Darien nodded his head. "Cute picture you made too. Him all big and strong next to your scrawny built with his tree trunk of an arm draped over you like that. Heck if you grew your hair long, you could probably be –"
"Dare, in five seconds, I'm going to come over there and kill you with this blunt instrument." Jay growled and waved the strange looking tool in his hand; one that Darien recognized as one the many gadgets he used when he was drawing sketches.
Deep friendship also gave him intimate knowledge of when to retreat from a battle. "Ok, ok. So it hadn't gone that far but it was close. Another half an hour or so, who knows?" He gave a devilish smile that had his friend scowling.
"Since I showed a great amount of loyalty and friendship there, care to give me some inside details? I hear you got a little one on one with her too."
"Keep pushing your luck and I'll work your ass so hard you'll be glad to be able to attend the wedding much less the bachelor party."
Dark brow's arched at the innuendo. In response he got the object thrown at him. "Ouch." He massaged his chest where it had hit him. So much for blunt object.
"Obviously the lack of sex life has your mind going on overdrive. I for once can't wait 'til next month when Sere finally hauls your ass to the altar."
"Careful there mate. Or I'll have to take you down to the gym and whoop your ass." Darien warned sapphire eyes turning from merry to serious within a second. Friendship was one thing but his sex life was at the moment a very sensitive topic, especially since Sere had decided to make it traditional by requesting no sex before the wedding.
Now that the table was turned, Jay gave him an arrogant sneer. "From what I recall the last time I was the one who whooped your ass. Gave you a rather impressive blue eye too." Not that he had gotten scratch free himself, both Serena and Mina had doubled teamed on him and busted his chop and all they did was use their voices, he recalled.
"You were just lucky. My attention was diverted at that time or you would never have managed to get in that hit." Darien grumbled.
It was true to a certain degree, Serena had walked in to their training at that time and Jay had used the opportunity to his advantage and delivered the finishing blow that made him the winner. A little low of him but hell, he got to brag about it for a long while afterwards. Plus it always put that dark scowl on Darien's face that made him feel so much better.
Figured he owed him a little, Jay decided to be amiable. "She had Tanya quivering from head to toe."
Blue eyes lighting up with interest, Darien dropped his feet to the floor and leaned forward to rest his elbow on his table. "Oh really? What did she do?"
Tanya had never been among either of their favorite persons. As children the redheaded woman had treated Jay as the poor relative and Darien as the bad element. Neither was to be associated with for fear of contamination.
"She threatened to bust her chop."
Darien chuckled evilly. "I think I'm starting to like this girl."
"She's different that's for sure." Jay agreed recalling the scenes from yesterday and how she had both surprised and impressed him by facing him and Tanya temper for temper. The girl had practically crackled with fire. "What?" He asked, catching the strange look his friend was giving him.
"Uhuh. You tell me. What's with that look?"
"What look?"
"That look that you always get when something strikes your interest. Come on, man, I've seen that look often enough. You used to wear that look in high school whenever you went sniffing after a girl's skirt or in these days when something strikes your interest."
"She's hardly my type." Jay told him in a slightly affronted tone. Sure she had been beautiful in a strange exotic way and while he could enjoy that, there was no way she would attract him. Not with that temperament of hers. He was not a masochist, who enjoyed being raked up one side and down the other by that razor sharp tongue of hers.
"Oh yeah, " Darien snorted. "I forgot you like the sleeked, worldly, pampered types with more hair than brain."
"I don't date women like that." Jay grumbled under his breath. From the way Darien described him, one would think he was just a shallow ass.
Darien grinned and shrugged. "Could have fooled me with Sophia."
"That was the exception." Annoyance was cutting into irritation. So his last choice of a mistress had been a bit wrong. How was he to know that the woman really was as empty and shallow as the character she played on the movie set? He had thought she had talents to pull it off so realistically. He hadn't figured it wasn't talent as much as her just being herself. "Hey, Tory was smart." He pointed out, his blue eyes lighting up like a boy who had found a candy.
"Yeah she was smart alright. The piranha kind of smart. No, she would fall under the pampered, sleek type."
Jay named a few more names and Darien easily filed them into each category in the end feeling more affronted and slightly panicked, Jay said. "Hey what's with the whole dissing the women I date all of a sudden? From what I recall you used to go out with women just like that before Serena came along. Actually they were worse. Remember Gianna? Or Carol?" Those two had been not only temperamental but down right violent as well when Darien had broken off with them. Gianna, especially with her Italian temper, even managed to scratch her nails down his face before he was able to contain her.
"That was then, my friend. This is now. I'm a reformed man." From the look he got thrown at him from his friend, it was obvious Jay didn't agree. It didn't bother him as long as Serena trusted him. "But seriously what's she like?"
Instead of answering though, he was thrown a question in response. "What's with the sudden interest?" Jay demanded and gave his friend a studying look. Ever since Serena had entered his life, it wasn't like Darien to show that much interest in a woman unless it was of professional need.
"No reason except for curiosity I suppose." He pulled out a cigarette from the inner pocket of his jacket and lit it. Leaning back against the leather chair, his long legs stretched out in front of him, Darien gave an indifferent shrug with one shoulder. "Maybe it's a fault of mine but I find myself intrigued and wanting to know more about the girl whose existence most people around here have tried to ignore for the past sixteen years. The weakness of the human specimen I suppose. The more people try to hide things the more curious one get."
Because he had been thinking and wondering about the woman too in the past day, Jay reluctantly said. "I didn't get the chance to talk to her much except for the name calling and threats to get a load of her character."
"Does she resemble Marcus?" Darien asked casually and blew out a smoky haze that filled the room with the scent of tobacco.
Jay frowned and absently played with a golden pencil, rolling it between his fingers. "A mixture of both I would say. The eye color is his but the exotic slant in them are certainly oriental. Bold I would say, doesn't back down from a battle easily much like her father when it came to politics. She doesn't have his tact though." He recalled the way she spoke to him and to Tanya. She reminded him of a person who usually said her mind before thinking it through. In Marcus' case having a trait like that would have not lasted him long with his political career. "As for the rest," He shrugged "you'll get to find out when you see her at the funeral. You're coming right?" Jay threw Darien a speculative look.
"I wouldn't miss it for the world." Darien said a bit dryly. At the look Jay gave him, he added. "So funerals and dead people are not my things, but I will be there for Sere's sake. And Madame's." He added the last as an afterthought.
No matter what, the old lady always had that impact on the people around her. She might be strict and aloof and not to mention a bit harsh in her methods, but somehow she still inspired loyalty in people even to those that in many people eyes have been treated unfairly by her, people like Jay's grandfather and Serena.
Because he always felt uncomfortable whenever the subject of death and funeral came up, Darien said. "Now going back to the subject of Marcus' daughter. Since we've established that she isn't your type, then I suppose she falls under the other category." Leaning closer and lowering his voice, Darien said. "You figure she can be of use to you regarding your plans?"
Jay met his eyes steadily, the blue orbs turning cool and detached as did his voice when he said, "We'll know in two days won't we when George reads the will?"
Back in her hotel room, unaware that on the other side of the planet, two men were in deep discussion over her, Rei settled down comfortably on the sofa by the window with her mother's diary perched on her lap. Her heart was beating a bit rapidly as she stared down at the velvet bound covers. Inside she knew were her mother's thoughts, her memories and her past.
Should she open it? A small part of her felt guilt at reading the content. A diary was after all a very private thing. But overriding that emotion was an overwhelming sense of curiosity, a need of knowing just what kind of woman her mother had been. And, she admitted, finding out what had happened between her parents. What could make a woman who obviously was still very much in love leave the husband? What could have gone so wrong that he would refuse to even see her at her deathbed? It was an act that had infuriated Rei enough that she had simply refused to live with him, not that he had objected much either.
So taking a deep breath and steadying herself mentally, Rei reached out to untie the small ribbon that kept the book closed. Her hand she noticed was unsteady. She flipped the cover open and saw the graceful lines of her mother's handwriting over the slightly faded pages and began to read.
August 20th 1976. New York.
Today is my first day in New York. It feels like a new beginning, The start of a new life. Somehow it makes sense to begin keeping my own diary as well. I want to remember my time here forever. In case I get so old that my memories starts slipping I want to be able to read back to this time and remember the adventure I had here and the feelings I experienced, especially the feelings. .
I'm so excited and slightly frightened too. The bubbles in my stomach just keep on rising up and down and I'm not even sure which of the emotion is causing it. Either way it doesn't matte because I'm here! I'm finally here! After so many years of waiting, of dreaming, of longing I've finally managed to work hard enough to acquire a scholarship to take me here. Educational purpose with the tuition and living paid, even papa can't have anything to say about it this time.
I know he means well but sometimes he can be so overprotective of me. I feel like I'm slowly suffocating under his well wishes. But I can't tell him that, not without hurting his feelings. I just hope that after this year has passed he will start regarding me as the adult that I am. After all I'll have survived a year in "big bad New York" as he calls it.
Oh I can't wait to explore this place. It is just as I had imagined it would be: the buildings, the people, and the excitement in the air. I feel so free and so happy. This is going to be so great I have a great feeling about my year here in the States. It's going to be one of the best years of my life. And maybe I'll finally figure out what it is that draws me so much to this place....
AN: Sorry about dragging it out, I know most of you would like to read more of Rei and Jay interacting but Sakura's and Marcus' past play a large role in this story and I needed to lay some groundwork here.
I do hope you enjoyed Jay's and Darien's scene though. Some of you might have noticed that Jay seems a bit more colder and less funloving the way he's usually portrayed and Darien a bit more "perky". All I can say is I'm trying to stick to the description given by Naoko about Jadeite: "typical beautiful person. A ruthless, serious type." Don't worry though, to those he loves, Jay has a funloving side too. I guess the question is, whether or not Rei will bring out those traits in him too. ;) As for Darien, I'm going to plead patience again. ^-^ I'm just starting to explore his character.
Next chapter might take a little longer to come out. I'm going to be a bit busy the coming week. As a teaser I can say more dysfunctional members is going to turn up as Rei will finally get to meet the rest of the Holden clan including her infamous grandmother. So will spark fly? ^-^
A special thanks to K.Wyse for all her help and for putting up with my ramblings.
To all those who have reviewed and given such wonderful comments and encouragement thank you so much. And here are some comments to some of the questions you left:
Like Cats: The reason for Jay's anger towards with Rei will be explained soon. Hopefully in the next chapter.
Kayla and MaLee: Thank you both for reviewing every time. It truly means a lot.
Strife: Yes Jay was pissed and it did cloud his judgment somewhat but I hope I managed to answer your question with this chapter regarding Jay's impression of Rei.
Ice: Hope you have a wonderful time in N.Y and get loads of inspiration. I want to see more chapters of Soulmates coming up soon.
Princess Ren: Good hunch. Not completely on target but close enough. If I say more I'm going to be revealing too much. ^-^
Miyaka: As you can see Rei's defiance and spirit caught Jay's eyes too.
Lady Mischief: Let's just say that Jay's got enough confidence for a whole fleet. He going to need it since it won't be the first time Rei brushes him off.
// Fenix