Author's Notes: As if the tragedy isn't enough, Kaede will face another challenge in this chapter. Enjoy and thanks for reviewing!

Echoes Of The Past

Another Blow

"The wedding shall go on as planned." Mr. Nagasaki's words fell on deaf ears for while Kaede's mind and body was covered in a mournful cloak, her spirit was far away.

"Kaede! Are you even listening to me? Your mother and I have agreed, the wedding would go on as planned." Her father's voice boomed into her room, but Kaede remained still as she was moments ago before her father had barged in the locked door. This was to be expected. Mr. Nagasaki always did handle the business and family problems, from cutting deals with other businessmen to which guests they would entertain for dinner. While the only problem Mrs. Nagasaki dealt with was what to wear for the day and if she had accessories, a bag and a pair of shoes to match.

When she was young, Kaede always wanted to look as perfect as her mother. Mrs. Nagasaki always looked like the rampway model that she was, keeping her trim figure-8 and long, raven, satin hair in tip-top condition. She was up to date with the latest fashions, dressing up to the nines wherever she goes. Kaede of course benefited from her mother's fashion inclination as well. She was dressed like a doll, with frills and laces when she was a mere baby; with the cutest rainbow colors when she was three and with the latest fashion when the sizes fit her. It was fun for a girl of course. Who wouldn't want to be the envy of all the other girls when you're only seven and already clutching Versace and clinking Ferragamo?

But as they say, children won't stay young for long. Soon, she found her mother's passion for superficiality quite tiresome. She got bored of their thrice-a-weekly shopping sprees and hour-long dress-ups just to go for tea with her mother's "friends." Like any girl who was just entering puberty, she needed to be guided on what to do and how to act, not just physically but emotionally as well. This is the part where her mother failed...greatly.

When Kaede was three, her mother was horrified when she had accidentally peed on her. The look on her mother's face and the shriek in her voice was enough to warn Kaede never to even mention about "disgusting" things again. So when Kaede had her first period, she had to resort to revealing her fear to Tama, a household helper that has been in their family even before she was born. Tama then corrected her wrong notion of running out of blood and dying even before she reaches age fifteen. She taught her how to wear a sanitary napkin and how this meant that she was becoming a young lady. Tama was the closest thing she had to a real friend.

Through the course of time, Kaede learned to keep things to herself for fear of rejection. And as years passed by, her mother and her had become distant acquaintances. Her father, the son of a military general, on the other hand, was and still is a hard man who never said more than, "you did well," as a sign of affection. If you received a handshake from him, well, that meant you've met his expectations, which happened once in about every five years.

Kaede barely understood what was it that made her family different from others. Their family had a father, a mother and a child. What was wrong? Was it her? Was she not trying hard enough? She had always asked these. But the passing of time made her forget the question that never found an answer. Up until present time, an exchange of a few formalities was enough for a family conversation. They usually had nothing to talk about anyway, because though they lived under one BIG roof, they hardly knew each other at all.

This tête-à-tête, with the minutes actually ticking by, was a very rare occurrence.

"The invitations have been distributed to more than a thousand guests from all over the world. The banquet and ceremony has been arranged even months before. Your dress has been sent in from Italy a week ago." Mr. Nagasaki was not one to beat around the bush. If there was one thing she learned from him, it was "time is money." And there's not one minute or one penny to waste. "Everything is in order."

Everything is in order...

What does he mean by 'everything is in order?' Kaede's brain slowly minced and digested the words. How could he say that everything will go on as planned where her husband to be, the groom, is dead? Kaede moved from her sitting position and entered from the balcony. Though she kept her mouth shut, her eyes beheld all the questions inside her.

"Listen Kaede—"

"Father," Kaede interrupted quietly. "Hisaki... is gone." She almost choked on the last word for it was saying the words out loud that pierced her painfully inside.

"Yes he is. I'm sorry for that," Mr. Nagasaki's voice, however, did not even waiver from his even business tone. "But Doumyouji, the name that we have built this engagement on, still lives..."

What was he talking about? Kaede's mind spun from the whirlwind of thoughts that purged into her head. It was just a week ago that her wedding dress arrived; just a week ago that Hisaki had died in a car accident; just a week ago when life was still worth living for. A week could stretch on like seven lifetimes, it seems.

"I, I don't understand," Kaede sat on the bed for support. It was almost two weeks since she had eaten a full meal and fatigue was taking its toll.

"While Hisaki had unfortunately died in that... car accident and thus could no longer fulfill his duties as a groom..." Mr. Nagasaki made it all sound like some business venture, a contract that the two parties, Kaede and Hisaki had mutually agreed upon. It sounded like it was Hisaki's duty and responsibility to marry her, as it was hers to marry him. "...Therefore, I have found a worthy replacement." The stress on the word 'worthy,' however, did nothing to soften the surprise effect on Kaede.

Replacement. What in the world was happening? Were their technology advanced enough to create a clone? Unlikely. But how? How would you replace someone like Hisaki, someone as kind, as loving, or as intelligent?

Impossible.

As if reading her thoughts, Mr. Nagasaki spoke again, this time in a slightly kinder tone. "Kaede, we can not cancel the wedding because it would erupt into a controversy for sure. Who would believe that Hisaki, through some strange coincidence, died from some accident just a couple of weeks from the grandest wedding of the year?" He sat beside her to offer perhaps the little comfort he could give. "People will insinuate. They will make stories. They will believe anything. Anything except the truth."

"Father, we have proof..." Kaede looked into her father's eyes for compassion.

"Do we really? All we have are "pieces" of what happened... No one can even guarantee that it was indeed Hisaki who came into the store and bought flowers... Kaede, you are a grown woman now. You must understand that people will certainly misunderstand the chain of unfortunate events that has befallen us... Enemies will spin lies and the controversy will never rest. Most of our business partners will take advantage of the opportunity to drag our company down and take hold of the major shares. It is something that I will not allow to happen."

"No Father. I will not marry another man." Kaede's voice was firm. Ironically, in its calm and rather soft-spoken tone, it simply screamed NO.

"Kaede, I did come to ask for your permission." The cold in his voice chilled Kaede to her very bones. Her father's earlier shows of sympathy were gone now. "I am merely letting you know that the wedding will push through." With that, he straightened his suit, stood up and left her room.

Kaede was left to ponder with her own thoughts once again.

Kaede had not left her room for weeks after that. Her insensitive jerk of a father had managed to crush what little optimism, for lack of a better word, was left, leaving her in such a confused and desolate situation. Meal trays were left at her doorstep three times a day because she refused to open her door to anyone. A week followed with the same routine.

It was because of Tama that Kaede was able to resolve her internal conflict in peace. If not for a bite of the bread in the morning or a slice off the portion of meat at dinnertimes that Tama's sharp eye noticed, Kaede would seem to be starving herself to death and her father would've surely seen to it to wreck her door to pieces and force the food down her throat. What little nourishment Kaede had was because Tama would bring the tray of food, whisper what few words of comfort she could give through the thick door and beg for Kaede to eat.

But beyond that crack, a thin string that still connected Kaede to the real world, she was dealing with grief on her own, in a place where fantasies came alive, where dead fiancés still live, where time could be turned back, where happily-ever-afters exist.

...And if you believed that, like Tama and her less-than-concerned parents did, then it just shows how little you know of Nagasaki Kaede.