Standard disclaimers apply. I don't own anything.

Chapter 5: Going Somewhere

"Where are we going?" The question seemed so simple, yet it bewildered her immensely.

Where were they going? In truth, she wasn't so sure herself. A minute ago she was sitting in her office, checking records and tending to important calls. The next, she was telling Takako to cancel all her appointments and practically dragging Reki out of the room.

She would be lying if she said that the kid's presence in her office did not bother her. It did, especially since she had expected Reki to behave horribly. He didn't. When she had told him to he could look around while waiting for her to finish her tasks, he had sat down on a chair and played with his bear. That concerned her. Most children usually jumped at the chance to explore.

However, his actions reminded her of herself as a child. Her parents had always been busy, and she had behaved for their sake. Most likely that wasn't the case with the boy's parents, but perhaps it was because he was the eldest? Yes, possibly. But for some inane reason, she couldn't bear to see him like that. It made her think of her loneliness. Hence, she had decided to take him out so that he may at least enjoy his childhood. But back to the situation at hand.

Her charge was looking at her, face innocent yet obviously waiting for an answer. She sighed and replied honestly, "I don't know. Where do you want to go?"

"I don't know, Aya-basan." She winced at the honorific. It made her feel old. Especially since it had been the first time she had been called such. Despite that, she managed an encouraging smile.

"What do you want to do, Reki-kun?"

"I'm hungry."

"Hungry? Uh…what do you want to eat? Come, there's a cafeteria downstairs. " Finally she was going somewhere. Having no direction scared her almost as much as rejection.

…

Meanwhile, in a building somewhere in the bustling city, Otohata Rei followed his superior reluctantly. A question had been bugging him ever since they hired him on the spot.

"You know I don't have the experience, why accept me into the firm?" He rarely spoke, and when he did, it was direct to the point. No flowery words, no needless chatter…just plain straight.

"We need fresh mea--I mean fresh faces around here," The words made Rei dubious, and he contemplated on leaving, but in the end, his need for a steady salary won out. His irregular pay at the disco was not enough to sustain himself and his pursuits on Aya.

"So, what do you want me to do?"

The woman, whose name he could not remember for the life of him, smiled almost menacingly.

"You'll be training under me. Now come on, there's a hearing and I want you to take notes."

Ugh. Maybe leaving had been a better option. But at least he was going somewhere. Now, if he could say the same with his relationship with Aya things would be splendid.

But he had yet to see her again.

…

There was sweat and blood, but it seemed to be all in the past now. The mother sighed heavily as she relaxed, her eyes closed in tired but peaceful way. It had been a tough night.

"Kotobuki-san?"

Her eyes flickered open, and she noticed that the man was holding a bundle. Her bundle of joy. With the last amount of strength she could muster, she reached for it and cradled the infant in her arms.

It was a girl. Miyu smiled at the future that lay ahead of her daughter and promptly fell asleep.

…

They looked adorable, walking hand in hand, albeit the difference in pacing was rather of large proportions. The hospital staff greeted them cheerfully when they came across them, especially the child, who seemed to be thoroughly enjoying the extra attention.

"Where next?" It seemed like a role reversal to Aya, but she didn't mind being the one dragged.

"I want to see mama!" He was pretty adamant when he had something in his head; She had barely managed to persuade him to visit the gardens instead of another helping of ice cream, which eventually led to her promising of treats AFTER dinner. But we're straying from the topic.

"Really? Well then…" She knew this time she could relent, seeing as Miyu's operation had been finished an hour ago (she had asked to be notified immediately). A room would have been prepared and by simply asking, she could find it easy.

The receptionist at the desk seemed ready enough to answer to Aya's request. "She's in room 204." If her memory served her well, that room was up the stairs, left at the nurses' station and the second to her right. For some bizarre reason, Aya had taken to memorizing all the nooks and crannies of this place.

It was not a regular white hospital room. None of the hospital rooms were painted white. That had been one of Aya's preferences when she had chosen to work there. There was something to whitewashed rooms that made people feel eerie or uncomfortable.  Unfortunately, she had been one of them, and had trouble going to hospitals as a kid.

Wallpapered with a patterned red and white rose design, the said room was void of life forms, save for Miyu, who was fast asleep on the bed. The place was enveloped with a serenity that seemed to be unperturbed by Reki's sudden outburst.

"Mama!" He let go of Aya's hand, and rushed to his mother's bedside. The woman on the bed cracked one eye open and groggily semi-hugged her son with her arm.

"Hi, baby. What have you been up to?" Her voice was soft and soothing, but it was obvious that she was still weary.

Aya reflected on her hasty decision to bring the child, bearing in mind that Miyu was still worn-out, but erased these thoughts of uncertainty when she saw how happy both were. Deciding the two needed to be alone, she left the room, trying to make her exit as soundless as possible.

Outside, she leaned on the wall, sighing contentedly. Today had been a new experience for her—she was an only child and had not felt the joys of taking care of children. Her relatives were few and far in between so she had been alone for the better part of her childhood. Because of this, she had been quite taken with the idea of becoming a pediatrician for it involved exposure to the young.

It made Aya wonder, watching the two occupants of the room she had just left, if she would ever get to know the joys of motherhood and the painstaking hours of childbirth. Somehow, she held on to the possibility that she might (she was only 26 after all) but there was her other 'half' to consider. Pssht. No such luck there.

While she was on that area, it was not difficult for her to remember her current situation.

She was drawing a blank on where Rei stood in her life as of today, and where she stood in his. They were both adults, both in control of their own lives. Actually, she had to admit, that if he had not been her shoulder to cry on that fateful night ten years ago, she would not have taken a liking to him. She used to be such a naïve little girl.

Truth be told, she was pretty confident that Rei was going through the same phase, if not already resolved. He had been the one who had sent that red rose, right? That had to mean something. Of course, her reaction had been a bit too melodramatic; she still blamed it on too much ice cream.

Speaking of which, there were still some left in the inner recesses of her freezer. Maybe another movie would polish that off. But there were some things ice cream and movies could not remedy. And for that there was the mobile phone.

 "Rei, hi. It's me."

…

For some reason he could not fathom, Rei had survived through that boring session at court. Maybe it had been the new song he had thought been composing in his head. Or was it the comforting thought of Battle Realms? He was supposed to be mature now, but sometimes he had to do something to keep his sanity. The paycheck was a reassurance too.

Driving at a slow speed of 40 kph (he tended to do 120 on the highway once in a while), Rei sat in the driver's seat of his dark automobile, enjoying the sounds of Laruku seeping through his stereo. He had toned the volume down a bit for he was expecting a call from Yuuya—he had missed the last two because his supervisor required him to listen to every single word and hang on it like his life depended on it.

Rei wasn't on his way home. Though the ideas of songs and computer games were all well and good, there were times when they weren't enough. This was one of those times. Of course, he always acknowledged last week's night to be one of those times too.

He reached the hospital in record time despite the traffic Tokyo was notorious for. It was raining, again, but he was ready with an umbrella when he crossed the parking lot to the main building. The receptionist was just as compliant as she was with Aya—Hoshino-sensei's office was at the third floor of the annex building. He thanked her and made his way towards the said room.

It did not come as a surprise when his phone started ringing, most likely Yuuya asking to meet somewhere to talk—the pressures of fatherhood were looming on him slowly but surely.

"Moshi moshi."

"Rei, hi. It's me." He hadn't expected her to be the caller. Sometimes he would suddenly forget that she was actually back in the Orient. Her departure had been a major reality check for him after all.

His mind was silently contemplating what to say without letting on that he was glad that she was calling.

"What's up?"

"I-I was just wondering how you were doing." He could almost imagine the blush that she was carrying. Now, if he could find that wretched office of hers before the call was terminated his non-existent love life (in his opinion anyway) would stop ceasing to exist. Mobile conversations lost to real life encounters in his book.

"I'm fine." There was a sign saying 'annex' pointing to the left so he followed it. Ah, there it was. In a few minutes he would be graced by her surprised face. A small inscription labeled this office hers. However, a failed attempt at twisting the knob made it clear that it was locked. Damn.

"Is something wrong, Rei?"

"…"

"Uh, Rei?" She needed reassurance that the line wasn't dead, and he needed reassurance that she was somewhere in the building. Hopefully, him speaking would fix that.

"…where are you now?"

The way she spoke gave the impression that she was biting her lip. He hated it when she did that. "I'm still in the hospital. Miyu gave birth a few hours ago…" She let the information sink before she continued.

"I'm taking care of Reki-kun for her so…"

"…where can I meet you?"

"I'm heading for the nursery…that's on the second floor of the main building."

"I'll see you there."

"See you, Rei."

…

There were rows and rows of them, wrapped in pristine white cloth, eyes either squinting or closed in sweet slumber. Reki was absolutely thrilled to be there, she could tell.

"Ne, ne, Aya-basan! Which of these babies is my sister?"

In some way, Aya had gotten herself stuck babysitting Reki again. She didn't mind. She understood the situation. Yamato was on his way, according to Ran's voice message on her phone.

"She's the one over there," Aya led the child to the window and tried to carry him to get a better view of the infants. After a few moments, her hands wavered and she struggled to find a more comfortable hold on him.

"May I?" Suddenly, strong arms took Reki from her. Aya smiled in recognition.

"Arigato, Rei." She received a curt nod from the man and a toothy smile from her charge. Content with just watching the two, she sat herself on a bench across the window.

Rei seemed to handle the young boy expertly, seemingly unfaltering as he placed the kid on his shoulders. The Kotobuki waved to her from his high position and looked smug. Aya laughed and waved back.

"Be careful, Rei. Don't drop him." Rei gave her a deadpanned look that said 'as if I would be dumb enough to do that'. She blinked.

'Did that just happen?' But when she looked again, Rei's face was passive, as per usual.

When Reki demanded to be put down, he wandered over to the other side of the hall. Aya let him, her eyes following his small figure in a parental sort of way. Rei approached her, but didn't sit down.

"…so this is what you do in your spare time?" She was startled by his question, but shook it off.

"Yes, Otohata Rei, I baby-sit children during my free time." His reaction was a 'hmm' and she wondered if he knew she was joking. Probably not.

"You wanted to see me?" She asked, her attention turned to more important topics. He nodded, shifting his weight on his other leg, uncertain.

"I…wanted to ask you something," He was serious from the tone of his voice. Ooh.

Aya looked away, and replied, trying to still her quivering voice, "w-what is it?" Her heart was thumping rapidly.

Stupid Aya. Get a hold of yourself. It's going to be okay…just don't look into his eyes and you'll be fine.

"What do you think is the color of my eyes?" She gulped. At least it hadn't been 'are you in love with me?' But she knew for some reason, she could've handled that query better.

She still wasn't facing him. "I-I don't know." Of course, that wasn't the truth. She had always been fascinated with his eyes and had stared at those orbs too long not to have speculations.

"…are you sure?" He pressed.

Tilting her head so she could see him, but not really SEE him, Aya felt herself drawn to his gray-blue eyes. Ugh. So much for self-restraint.

When she was sixteen, she had wondered what the exact hue of his eyes was. In the light, it was a faded blue, but most of the time it was a mixture of pewter and cobalt. She remembered thinking that was odd, but she couldn't help but drown in those pools.

"I'm sure," she whispered.

His face was inches from hers when she finally shut those wondrous eyes out and their lips met.

And finally they were going somewhere.

Tbc

Author's Notes: This had to be the most difficult of all the chapters to write. Haha.  Honestly, I have no concrete plans for this fic…sort of whatever pops up. My muse is Utada Hikaru and her music, so as long as I listen to her, I'll have inspiration. Now, if only my cd player would work… (bangs on it).

anna-darkfate9: I know what you mean. It's been a while since the episodes involved those two. Gah. Waiting for episode 50…tick tock tick tock.

hentaigigi: I don't know a lot of pinoy authors…most of them are part of the AyaxRei yahoo group I belong to. However, there are others who write for Card Captor Sakura, GTO and the like.

Comments and suggestions are greatly appreciated.