::Chapter 2::
Darkness. It seemed to be everywhere. There was almost no end to the darkness that incased everything. Without warning, dim light flowed into the room, chasing back the darkness that had once reigned over it. Four forms could now be made out as they sat at a rectangle shaped table. The table itself almost seemed to be made out of some form of metal as well as the chairs that sat around it. A glowing ball of light levitated in the middle of the table, in clear view of the four still unidentified forms.
A tall, dark skinned man sat at the head of the table. His black eyes reflected the light coming from the glowing sphere. A scar from a battle long ago ran just above his left eye and ended at his ear. The headman of the four Supreme, he was known for his bloodthirsty attitude and lust for battles. Described by some as a wild man, it's no wonder why he became the headman of the Supreme.
"So our Goddess has finally awakened," proclaimed the deep and chilling voice of the man seated at the head of the table. He clasped his hands in front of him on the tabletop as if in prayer as a smirk played over his mouth.
"Hai, but Sirous was not able to turn her and keep that Goddess awake. Now she slumbers once again," a second voice from amongst the group spoke up. This man had an olive tone skin and green eyes that stood out in contrast to his amber colored hair with red streaks. The man sat his arm on top of the table and a tattoo of a snake winding its way down his upper left arm could be seen.
"Slumbers maybe, but she is not totally asleep again. Our Goddess still lives deep beneath the surface," a third voice now came into the conversation. Milky white eyes were now focused on the amber haired man across from him. At first glance one would think that he were blind but he saw all, even that that was unseen by others. Gray hair streaked black in places tumbled over his shoulders and tribal tattoos lined his face and arms.
"She awaits for her chance to be set free again," the last of the group now spoke. Fire red hair stood out in contrast with his orange eyes and fair skin. Scars lined his arms and chest from battles that he had fought in. He had a temper to match his hair and loved a good challenge. "Ichiro, what have you got planned?"
"For now I have plans of observations," the man known as Ichiro spoke from his seat at the head of the table. "The girl knows nothing of us as of now, maybe just our name, but nothing more and that's the way I would like it to stay. We will lay low for now and learn as much as we can about her, Shiro."
"And you have someone already picked out to do the job, Ichiro?" the second man spoke now.
"Of course he does, Katsuro," the man known as Shiro spoke up and flicked his fire red hair from his face. "When has Ichiro ever made a plan and not had someone lined up to do the job?"
"What I need is someone who can get into the house without them becoming suspicious and watch her," Ichiro spoke again as he stroked his chin in thought. "Someone who can make just about anyone do what she wants."
"She?" came the startled unison repeat from the remaining people seated around the table.
"Hai, she," the headman Ichiro confirmed to the rest. "She, as in the Enchantress, Ume."
As if beckoned, a woman entered the almost completely dark room now, the doors swinging shut behind her and returning the room to his previous almost completely dark state. Leather pants slung low on her waist revealed a tattoo of a bleeding heart with a dagger piercing through it. A belly chain was wrapped around her waist and a slinky red halter clung to her chest, exposing a little more than enough cleavage. Gold bracelets dangled from her slender arm and her high heeled boots clicked as she walked. The woman stopped once she had reached the seated man at the head of the room and then turned and smiled to the others.
"Men, meet Ume, our new observer," Ichiro introduced the Enchantress to the other Supreme seated before him. A few whistles and catcalls came as their greetings to her. Ume simply smirked at them and tossed her hair over her shoulder. "Well, say hello to the boys Ume," Ichiro told her with a suggestive smirk.
Smiling enticingly, Ume turned her gaze onto the three other men in the room and said in a sultry, seductive voice, "Hey boys." Immediately it was as if a spell had been cast on them. Their eyes glazed over and an almost happy, dazed look fell over their faces. The only thing they could see was the beautiful woman standing before them.
Ichiro chuckled at the demonstration of Ume's power. He hadn't expected all of them to be sucked into her spell so easily. "Alright, you can let them go now," he said to her.
With a smirk she released the men from her spell. Blinking, the three Supreme came out of the stupor they had been in ---confused to a certain extent about what had just happened to them. "Any doubts that Ume can't do the job right?" the dark skinned man asked. Three heads shook a no as an answer to Ichiro. "Good," the man continued on with a pleased expression. "Then it's settled. Ume will be our observer."
The Enchantress, Ume, smiled brightly at the decision that had been made. This was her chance to finally prove to them that she was worth their time. Her one and only chance if she messed this assignment up, but that wasn't going to happen ---Ume would make sure of that.
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The front door opened and then closed again as a woman came into the foyer, dropped her shoes by the door and put her car keys on the hook that hung on the wall. Flipping her black hair over her shoulder she proceeded into the house, depositing her purse on the kitchen table as she walked past it. Picking up the portable phone from its cradle on the counter she dialed a number and then placed the phone to her ear while pulling things out of cupboards for dinner. "Konnichi wa, this is Kiylee Hashiba, could you please page my husband for me?" Kiylee said into the phone and then waited for a reply from the person on the other line. "Sure, I can wait."
Kiylee moved around the kitchen, grabbing pots and various other things while still holding the phone against her ear. Placing a pot on the stove after filing it with water, she lit the pilot and then adjusted the flame. "Hey koibito," she said into the phone cheerily while moving from the stove. "So how long are you going to be tonight?"
Silence followed her question while Kiylee waited for her husband on the other end to give her an answer. Cradling the phone against her shoulder and ear so that both her hands were free to chop up the green, leafy substance on the cutting board she replied into it, "Why? Well, maybe because I would like to have a nice dinner with my husband and maybe because I have very important news to tell you."
Rona waltzed into the kitchen then, hearing her mother's voice talking to someone and curious as to whom it could be. Pulling out a chair to the kitchen table, the blue haired teen sat down and waited for her mom to be off the phone. Kiylee kept her back to her daughter while she chopped something up and talked into the phone at the same time, "What's the important news? Well you'll just have to wait and find out when you get home in time for dinner tonight, won't you?"
Silence once again followed before Kiylee chuckled some and smiled while saying, "Alright if you have to go, fine. I mean it Ro, you'd better be home in time for dinner tonight or I'm not telling you." A pause came while the raven haired woman listened to her husband on the other end speak before replying with, "Alright, love you too, bye," and hung up the phone.
"What was that all about?" Rona asked, gaining her mom's attention as she turned around to replace the portable phone on its cradle.
"Oh nothing. You'll find out later," Kiylee replied with a playful wink and a smile to her daughter before returning to her cooking.
The sound of the front door opening and then closing came before trudging footsteps followed after it. A midnight blue haired young man came into the kitchen then sporting his father's trademark hairstyle and headband. Kiylee turned around from the stove she had been cooking at and screeched when she saw her son. "Kyle Hashiba! Get your muddy shoes out of my kitchen boy!" she shouted at him angrily. "You know better than that!"
Rona snickered as her brother smiled sheepishly at his mother and then turned from the kitchen and headed back to the front door to deposit his shoes there. Kiylee sighed while shaking her head in dismay and grumbled, "The kid has no brains what so ever. I swear he doesn't."
"Yeah, because I have the brains in the family mom," Rona added with a smile to her mother.
"So what," Kyle pronounced as he came back into the kitchen and good heartedly teased while brushing his hair back in a modeling way. "At least I got the looks of the family."
Rona laughed at her brother's comment as she shoved him away from her. Her brother only smiled more as he walked over to where his mother was cooking at the stove. "No, I think I got those too Kyle," she told him with a smirk.
"Says you," he retorted and leaned his head over his mother's shoulder to get a whiff of what she was cooking. "Mhmm, that smells good, Okasan. Can't wait to eat it."
"Yeah, well if you don't back away from me and this food you won't get any," Kiylee threatened her son, knowing the thought of not having dinner would make him turn tail and leave.
"Ok, ok, point taken," Kyle replied while backing away slowly from his mom and the stove with hands raised where she could see them. "I'm leaving."
"Bye," Rona waved to her brother as he left the kitchen and Kyle in turn made a face at her. "Mom!" she then shouted at the gesture her brother had made at her.
"Kyle," the ebony haired woman replied warningly without even turning around. Kyle chuckled as he left the kitchen and took up refuge in the living room. The young man flipped on the tv and flopped down on the couch, trying to find something to do while his dinner was being made.
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People came and went from the restaurant known as Little Tokyo. The restaurant its self sat in the center of Toyama, amongst the various shops and other eateries. As small as it was, the place actually pulled in a lot of business. A few of the big businesses, along with the one Ryo worked at, sat close to where the restaurant was located. That gave the place a lot of orders and business around lunchtime.
Ryo sat, facing one of the far windows in the back of the eatery with his son in front of him. The ebony haired man glanced at his watch as the hands struck six o'clock and still his daughter had yet to show. Ryu smiled and shook his head as he watched his father. "I don't understand why you let her leave if you already knew she wasn't going to come when she was supposed to, Dad," the brown haired young man said to his father who was seated across from him.
Sighing, Ryo replied with, "Because I have a problem with telling my kids no when I know I should."
"Kids? Are you sure it's not just, kid?"
"Hai, I'm not so old that I don't remember giving you your way when I knew I shouldn't have as well," he retorted to his son with a smirk as he sat back in his seat, trying to relax as he waited for his daughter to show up. His eyes absently searched the faces of the people who passed by his window, looking for his daughter.
Ryu opened his mouth to reply to his father when he caught the sight of his sister sneaking up behind the black haired man who sat in front of him. Rylea put her index finger to her lips in signaling for him to not say anything. The young man half considered alerting his Dad to his sister's presence but instead sat back and decided to watch what she did instead ---figuring he might at least get a few chuckles out of it at his Dad's expense.
Two hands covered Ryo's vision, making everything go black without him knowing it and then a familiar voice came from somewhere beside him with, "Guess who." Chuckling he replied to the voice who still held their hands over his eyes, "You're late, Lea."
"How am I late?" the girl he'd spoken to retorted while retracting her hands from where they covered his eyes and slid into the booth beside him.
"I said be here by six and you got here at," he started and then glanced down at his watch before continuing with, "five minutes after six."
"Wow, I made record time then," sarcastically Rylea replied with a smile on her face while she clasped her hands together on top of the table. "So, did you guys order yet?"
"No," Ryu replied as he folded his arms over his chest and semi glared at his sister. "Dad wouldn't let me until you showed up."
"Aw, how nice of him. Well I'm here now so can we please order? I'm starving."
"You're always starving. So what else is new?" Ryu threw back at her, his voice giving way to how annoyed he was at her. She'd always been able to get her way no matter what and because of that he had been made wait to get his food.
"Don't start you two and I mean it," came Ryo's authoritative voice as he gave his children a stern glare. Rylea was too busy looking at the menu to even give him a second glance while Ryu had gone to staring off somewhere. "Did you two hear me?"
"Hai," his son grumbled out.
"Yep, read you loud and clear, Otosan," his daughter added while still glancing over the menu in her hand. Rylea looked up from her menu surfing now to peer over at her brother and father with a questioning look when the table had gone quiet. "Um," she started in an unsure voice. "We gonna order?"
"Yes, Lea we're going to order alright," Ryu snapped irritably from his seat across from her.
"Ok, but you didn't have to snap at me Rye. A simple 'yes, we're going to order sis' would have been just fine," the dark haired girl retorted just as angrily to her much older brother as her eyes narrowed into a glare at him. "Geez, someone sure is pms-ing."
"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" retorted Ryu while he leaned his face over the table closer to his sister's, glaring adamantly at her.
"It means you're acting like a girl who's a premenstrual case!" Rylea replied as she too, leaned her face in closer to her brother's and glared back.
"Knock it off!" Ryo ordered in a voice raised a little louder than his normal speaking voice. A couple heads from behind them turned to see what was going on and then just as quickly turned back around, uninterested in a family squabble. The black haired man glared threateningly at his children, almost daring them to say something else to the other. On instinct, the two rowdy kids went silent and said nothing else to each other, but continued to glare at one another.
Still not satisfied, Ryo continued to reprimand them. "What part of 'don't start' don't you two understand? You want to fight with each other than wait until we get home and you can both go at each other's throats for all I care," he stated to them while glancing from one to the other with a pointed glare. "Now, do you two understand this time what I just said and don't say yes if you don't because I can go into more detail for you if needed be."
"Hai, we got it," both of them droned in unison and then looked away from the other with a sneering glare.
"Good," he replied and his gaze lightened some what while he sat back in his seat again and the waitress came up to the table. Taking all three of there orders, the woman then smiled at them before then going off to give them to the cook.
A little while later the same waitress returned with the food they had ordered and dispersed it to its rightful owner. Thanking her, each began to eat his or hers own food in silence. Unexpectedly, something or someone in the restaurant alerted Rylea's senses of a demonic presence. She froze with chopsticks posed mid air and uneasily searched the small area for who or more like, whatever was there ---not knowing what exactly she was looking for. That other side of her started to awaken with the presence of evil close by, slowly stretching as it began to pace just below the surface ---desperately longing, wanting to be set free. Her skin began to tingle as she could sense that presence more now, sending cold shivers down her spine not in fear but in delight.
The two men sitting close to her glanced at each other and then back to the dark haired girl who sat frozen, or almost in a daze as she looked around at everything and everyone around them. Frowning, Ryo laid a hand on his daughter's shoulder and was surprised when she jumped as if startled out of her thoughts at his touch. "You ok?" he asked her with a concern laced voice.
"Yeah," immediately she replied back with a fake smile to reassure him while searching her brain for a lie to cover for her. "I just thought I saw someone I knew."
One dark eyebrow raised in uncertainty at her reply, but instead of pushing the issue more he simply let it drop and went back to his food. Ryu on the other hand wasn't so convinced. He didn't fall for the old 'I thought I saw someone I knew' trick, having seen his sister use the same one on his Dad so many times before that he knew it inside out. Clearing his throat and grabbing his pop up to take a swig from he said to her, "Who exactly did you think you saw, Lea?"
Two sets of vivid blue eyes came to rest on the brown haired man at his question. Ryo peered at his son in questioning, not sure of just what he was trying to get at. Rylea on the other hand glared at him silently as she replied back cheerily from behind gritted teeth, "Just someone. No one that you'd know."
"Oh really? Try me," he replied back challengingly and folded his arms on top of the table they sat at while resting his unwavering brown eyed gaze on her. He was enjoying making his sister squirm now under interrogation; this was his way of payback for making him wait to order his food. "I did go to the same school as you after all."
"I'll be right back," Rylea quickly replied while getting up from the table and taking off in the direction of the bathrooms in a way of escaping her brother's drilling.
Ryo flicked his blue eyed gaze back over to his son after he watched the fleeing back of his daughter head away from the booth they sat at. His questioning gaze brought a confused expression to the young man's face. "Nani?" Ryu asked the black haired man sitting across from him who still peered at him in that unsure, almost questioning way.
"Nothing," he replied back innocently with a shake of his dark head. "Nothing at all, Rye." The sound of crashing plates and dishes hitting the floor, along with angered shouts, alerted his attention to the commotion behind him now. "What the hell?" he said while scanning over the scene before him.
"I'm so sorry," a young waitress repeated again and again to the dark haired girl who now sat sprawled on the floor with food spread out all around her.
"Why don't you watch where you're going! What are you, blind or something?!" the dark haired girl raged back at her, obviously not listening to her apologies.
Ryo groaned as he and his son got up from the booth they had once been seated at and went to the aid of the girl sitting on the floor. Ryu tried as hard as he could to refrain from laughing at his sister's predicament, but found that it was harder than he had first thought. Busting out into laughter, he was immediately hushed by his father's less than amused glare in his direction. The brown haired man cleared his throat and regained control of his laughter at once, smiling sheepishly in his father's direction ---Ryo just shook his head at his son.
"I really am very sorry," the waitress once again said once she had the majority of the dishes picked back up and then extended her slender arm to the girl still sprawled on the floor. "Here, let me help you up." The waitress had luscious dark hair with spirals of gold, silver and red weaved through it and deep brown eyes. As simple as her waitress uniform was, it still seemed to show off her curvy figure.
Grumbling still, Rylea accepted her hand and immediately afterward wished she hadn't. An icy cold wave of power washed over her as the waitress pulled her to her feet and all her senses went haywire. Her Goddess powers clawed now to be let go and the sensation of having to use all her will to keep it locked up caused Rylea's vision to blur slightly. Jerking her hand back from the waitress as quickly as she could, the young Roninette then stared at her in stunned silence while trying to figure out what she could be.
The confused waitress blinked at her several times before then saying, "You ok?"
Rylea didn't reply. Mutely she just stared at the woman standing before her, almost mesmerized by her. The waitress then turned to the two men who had come up behind her and smiled apologetically, "I really am sorry about this. It's my first day and already I'm screwing up."
"Don't worry about it," Ryo replied as he waved off her apology with a smile.
"Yeah, if I know my sis she prolly walked right into you," Ryu added while snagging Rylea around the neck playfully, snapping the girl from her thoughts as well. Angrily the dark haired girl glared up at the boy who held his arm around her neck.
"I'm Ryo by the way," he said with a smile and extended his hand for the waitress to take.
"Miki," the waitress replied with her own smile and shook his hand. Discreetly her eyes wavered over Ryo's form for a few more seconds before she let go of his hand.
Coming out of her daze, Rylea smirked at the mention of her name and replied rather rudely, "Do you know your name means 'tree trunk'? I don't know about you but if my name meant tree trunk then I'd highly consider getting it changed."
A smile tugged at the corners of Ryu's mouth as he fought once again to keep from laughing and suddenly came down with a fit of coughing. Astonishment at how rude his daughter was acting flashed across Ryo's face before it was replaced with a not so happy glare at her. "Rylea Marie!" he scolded in a heated and ashamed voice as his eyes narrowed into a glare that meant she was in trouble.
"Nani?" the girl he was glaring at replied innocently as if she hadn't done anything wrong. Nonchantly she folded her arms over her chest and stubbornly held her head up in a challenge to his authority.
"Apologize to Miki now young lady," Ryo said to his daughter from behind gritted teeth. Not only was he enraged at the fact that she would say something like that to a stranger but was also embarrassed beyond belief at her. Rylea had been raised with more manners than what she was displaying now and the way she was acting reflected on himself as a parent.
Rylea didn't open her mouth or even make an attempt to apologize to the lady she had just been rude to ---just kept her back half turned to her as if she wasn't even standing there anymore. Mutely she glared back at her father, daring him to make her apologize to the waitress. Ryu looked in-between his glaring father and sister, sighing at the whole thing. Before his father could correct him he was already saying to the waitress standing before them, "I'm really sorry for my sister's comment. Please forgive her rudeness."
"Ryu don't apologize for your sister," Ryo reprimanded him, now turning his glaring gaze onto the young man who stood as tall as he was.
"Yeah, don't apologize for me," Rylea added in as she glanced up to throw an unhappy look up at her brother.
As the three family members argued amongst themselves, the waitress watched in somewhat startled confusion. Clearing her throat to hopefully gain someone's attention she said, "It's ok, really. I get that a lot."
"Yeah Dad, so that means I'm not saying sorry or taking back what I said," came the slightly more than angered voice of Rylea as she glared stubbornly back at the black haired man.
Ryo was silent for a moment as he struggled to keep a hold on his temper. He pursed his lips together until they were nothing more than one thin line and his eyes narrowed into dangerous slits. Sensing that his father was nearing the end of his rope, Ryu spoke up into the conversation again, "Um, we still have food that needs to be eaten."
"So get some boxes for it," Ryo replied back to his son and willed himself to peel his glaring eyes from his daughter long enough to look over at him and say, "We're leaving."
"Ok then, I'll get right on that," the brown haired man retorted almost too cheerily and then left the other three people to pack the food up.
When he was gone Ryo turned back to his daughter with a forced, almost angered beyond belief smile and said, "I'm going to go pay for the food and guess what you're going to do."
"Um, stand here?"
"No, you're going to go to the car," he replied back and then once his daughter had left for the car he turned to the waitress still standing there with an apologetic look on his face and said, "I'm really sorry about the way my daughter behaved. I don't know what came over her, she usually isn't like that to strangers."
The woman smiled back and her deep brown eyes twinkled. Tossing her dark tresses over her shoulder in a discrete but seductive way she replied nonchantly, "Like I said before, it's ok. No hard feelings or anything."
"Good to hear," Ryo replied with a warm smile to her and then added. "Well, I've got a check to pay and a child waiting in the car for my wrath. Hope you have a nice day." Waving to her, he left to go pay his check and then left the restaurant.
As quickly as he had gone then the smile on the woman's face melted into a feral grin as she watched him get in the car and drive off. Licking her bottom lip seductively she said to her self, "So that's the Sanada family. Shouldn't be too much of a challenge for me." Chuckling sweetly she then added, "At least the father is pleasing to look at. Makes my job a lot better, not to mention fun." Turning from the big picture window that sat before her then, the woman walked back towards the kitchen with a sly smirk spread over her lips.
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Small talk sounded around the table as the Hashiba family sat down to dinner. It was a rare thing for Rowen to actually sit down and have dinner with his family but today he had made a point of making sure he was home. Now he sat next to his wife Kiylee at the table with his two kids, Kyle and Rona seated beside them, devouring his meal. "Mfm mm mfm," Kyle said around a mouth full of food he was still chewing.
"What was that? I couldn't understand you with all that food in your mouth," Kiylee replied to her son from across the table with a humorous smile on her face.
"I said," Kyle started as he swallowed the food in his mouth. "This is really good."
"Well thanks sweetie, but you missed some," she said and motioned to the corner of her mouth with her index finger to show him where he had food.
Rona laughed as she watched her brother lick the missed food from the corner of his mouth. Swallowing the food that she had been chewing, she then turned her attention onto her mom and said, "So, what was the thing you were talking about earlier that could wait til now?"
"That's right," Rowen added as he came into the conversation, peeling himself from his meal to look at his wife. "What was the important news that I just had to be home to hear, Kiy."
"Well," Kiylee drawled out as she placed her own fork down and looked around at the faces of her family seated around her.
"Yes? Well..... What?" Rowen said, urging her to go on with what she was going to say.
Kiylee smiled more as she let the tension build in the room, envisioning what each of their faces would look like once she had told them what the important news was. Kyle now chuckled as he said, "Come on mom, tell us."
"Ok, ok," she said while resigning herself finally to stop teasing them all about it. Taking a deep breath she smiled and pronounced happily, "I'm pregnant."
Choking sounds came from beside her as Rowen almost choked on his bite of food. Kyle came to his father's aid as he hit him on the back. Rona stared, wide eyed at her mother, not saying a word. Silence fell over the table as Rowen's choking had now ended. You could have heard a pin drop it was so quiet. Kiylee's smile faded into a frown as she glanced around at everyone. This wasn't exactly the response she had envisioned getting from her family. "Well, isn't anyone going to at least act like they care?" she asked, seemingly a little more than offended by the fact that no one had bothered to say something nice about it.
"You're pregnant?" Rowen replied in somewhat of a stunned fashion as he raised one blue eyebrow in question.
"Hai, isn't that what I just said?"
"How far along are you?" Kyle asked next, coming out of his once shocked stupor that he'd have one more younger sibling.
"Two months," Kiylee replied to her son.
"Boy or girl?" Rona asked, somewhat indifferent about the whole thing, even happy that she'd have a younger sibling to take care of.
"That's the thing," Kiylee drawled out and nervously went to twiddling her thumbs under the table.
Rowen smirked at his wife, just knowing there had been something she wasn't telling them all. The thing that bothered him the most, almost made him uneasy, was the fact that she looked nervous about something. Gaining the courage to ask he said, "What's the thing you haven't told us?"
Kiylee was silent for a minute as she contemplated telling them all now or waiting until later after the initial shock that she was pregnant had passed. Thinking it'd be better to just get it all out in the open right now, Kiylee closed her eyes and replied, "I'm having twins."
Three jaws hit the floor at her statement along with a fork and someone's food that was about to go into their mouth. A deafening silence fell over the kitchen at the news that there would be two new additions to the family. Nervously, Kiylee glanced over at her husband and smiled sheepishly at the completely thrown for a loop expression she found there. No words could describe how dumbfounded everyone at that table was.
The phone rang unexpectedly and made them jump. "I got it," Rona chorused while hurrying to grab the phone and then left the now devastated kitchen to the confinement of her room where she could take the call.
Clearing his throat, Kyle smiled once again and began to eat his food. "Man, did I say how good this meal is?" he asked cheerily, trying to lighten the mood in the room. Two annoyed faces came as his reply and Kyle took the hint that it wasn't joking time as he ate the rest of his food in silence.
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Heather twirled one blond strand of hair around her finger as she sat on her bed with the phone held to her ear. Long since dried tears still stained her face and no words could describe how terrible and confused she looked. Sighing, the girl brushed the few pieces of hair that had fallen into her eyes from her face. Drawing her knees up close to her chest she said into the phone to Rona who was on the other end, "Everything just seems so weird, so wrong. My Dad's already moved most of his stuff out and has somewhere else to live while my mom acts like she's taken a vow of silence. I thought my teenage years were supposed to be the best years of my life, not the worst."
Silence followed while she listened to the blue haired genius talk on the other end and then her eyes lit up as she exclaimed, "No way! Your mom's pregnant?" A pause came as she listened once again to her talking and then added, "Well, I think that's great news. Too bad my parents aren't going to have another kid. I'd love to have a little brother or sister."
A knock came at her bedroom door and then her mother's sandy blond head popped out from behind it. "Heather? It's time to eat if you want to come to the table," she said to her in a voice that lacked emotion.
Putting her hand up to the bottom end of the phone Heather replied, "Alright, I'll be right there," and then her mom left the room, shutting the door behind her again. "I have to go, it's time to eat. So, should I call you later or no?" she said into the phone.
Pausing to hear what Rona's response would be, Heather then said, "Alright, talk to you later then. Bye," and hung up her phone. Sighing, the blond haired girl forced herself to get up from her bed and head to the table ---preparing herself for the sense of emptiness and incompletion she would find there.
Coming into the kitchen she found her mom sitting at the table, picking at her food with fresh tears falling down her face. A feeling of grief filled the young Roninette of Halo at the sight of her mother looking just as lost and confused, as she felt right then. Tentatively she entered into the room, not really wanting to disturb her but thought that maybe her company would make the woman feel better.
Hannah Date's head jerked up at the sound of footsteps and quickly she wiped away the tears that had fallen down her face. Putting on a strained smile, she sniffed and said, "Heather, you'd better eat your dinner before it gets cold hunny."
Ignoring her seat with the plate of food sat in front of it, Heather went straight for where her mom sat. Wrapping her arms tightly around her mother's shoulders she hugged her silently, feeling comfort and security from it. Hannah blinked in confusion at her daughter's actions before she hesitantly returned the hug. Stroking Heather's golden blond hair she whispered to her, "It's going to be ok baby. Everything's going to be ok."
Pulling back from her mother's embrace, Heather eyed her for a few silent moments. She'd never seen her mom look this bad before in her life. There was no make up on the sandy blond haired woman's face. Her hair had just been pulled up into a messy ponytail instead of being down and did into its normal professional looking style. Confusion and betrayal could be read clearly on her face even though she tried to hide it with a smile here or there. Hannah looked like her world had just fallen apart.
Frowning at her mother's appearance Heather said pointedly, "No it's not." Hannah glanced up with a questioning gaze at her daughter's remark, taken off guard by it. Before her mom could say anything Heather continued on, "Nothing is ever going to be the same or right ever again. You know it and I know it. Mom you look the worst I've ever seen you and I know why. You can't get over the fact that Dad's gone and for good this time. He's not just staying at a friend's house for a couple days while you two blow off some steam...... He's really gone. He's gone mom and now everything is turned upside down because of it."
Recognition settled over Hannah's face as Heather's words set in and actually registered with her for the first time since Sage had dropped the mother of all bombs on her with laying divorce papers down in front of her to sign. She hadn't wanted to accept it. She didn't want to believe that her marriage to the man she thought loved her and that she had given two children to, was over. Even now when she slept in her bed at night alone, wishing that he were there, she still couldn't come to terms with it. To her it still seemed like it was just something that was all just going to blow over and he'd be back ---but he wasn't going to be coming back this time. There was going to be no making up after a fight. It was over for them.
Sighing as new tears welled in her eyes, Hannah looked up into the face of her daughter, her and Sage's daughter and said, "You're right. You are absolutely right, Heather. I don't want to come to terms with it just yet because I'm not sure that I could actually handle it. Just not right now."
Heather was at a loss of words now. She didn't know how to reply to what her mother had said or even if she should say anything. Silence fell over the two, an uneasy silence that was deafening. A door shut in the front room and the sounds of keys jingling alerted the two in the kitchen of another person in the house. Footsteps came around the corner and into the kitchen before Hojo was even seen. The young man stopped once he had reached his destination and stared at his mother and sister, an eyebrow slowly rolling up in question to what was going on.
"I thought you wouldn't be home for dinner tonight?" Hannah said to her son as she got up from her seat at the table and headed to pull another plate from the dish rack.
"Dad couldn't stay long, he had things to take care of so I just figured I'd come back here," the blond boy who bared a striking resemblance to his father said while taking a seat at the table. A plate crashing to the floor alerted Heather and Hojo's attention to their mother who stood at the sink, broken fragments of the plate lay at her feet while she gripped the sink.
Hojo glanced at his sister and both shared the same unsure look on their faces. Turning her gaze onto her mother's back Heather said tentatively, "Mom? You ok?"
"Yeah," came the shaky reply from Hannah as she tipped her head back and sniffed before bending down to start picking up the pieces of the broken plate.
"Here let me get that," Hojo offered while getting up from his seat at the table to go to his mother's aid. Hannah protested but Hojo wouldn't hear it as he cleaned up the mess and directed her to the living room. Once his mom had left the room, the young blond man looked at his sister and both knew what the other was thinking without any words having to be said.
Silence fell over the room then as Hojo worked to finish cleaning up the broken plate mess and his sister had gotten up, without even glancing at her food that still sat at the table untouched, and walked back down the hall to her room. Sighing, Hojo ran a hand through his hair and sat down at the kitchen table. He didn't know what to do right then. Didn't know what to do to help his mom and that made him feel terrible. Putting his hands on his face, the young man sat at the table quietly, his thoughts over whelming him.
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A/N: Well, once again, pretty dull chappie with exception of a few things here or there. Sometimes starting out stories can be so boring. Oh well, it'll get better as it goes on. Actually, well, I won't say anything. Don't want to spoil anything that's coming up. Well thanks this time go out to Rogue, MorganRay (twice) and LG for actually pre reading this thing for me. Feeling lazy right now so I'll wait to post the other one. Curious as to how many reviews I can get before I post it though.