I know it's been a while! I'm sorry! I've been trying to work up the motivation to write, and finally over time I managed to come up with this much. Don't worry, though, hopefully the next part will be up soon. My apologies for it being so short!
I would also like to thank my friends Mike, Char350, Cass, Psyco Haro, and anyone else for helping my ignorant self out with some of the terms, foods, names, and essentially the whole Chinese culture. XD
- SporkGoddess
Doshite Ja Nai
Chapter 2: China Girl
Their destination was not a government building, but an apartment building located across the street from a park, which was the only sight of green in the city other than a few trees scattered on the sidewalk. The building itself was one of the nicer ones, with carpeted stairs that they walked up until they reached the top story.
Jarek was the one who knocked on the door, and the sound of scuffling could be heard until finally the door was opened. Their gaze met a little girl with soft black braids circled above her shoulders, and dark eyes that looked up at them shyly.
"Are you the…"
She was interrupted when another girl came to the door, this one a little taller and obviously significantly older.
"Dylan! Mu qin told you that I should answer the door!"
"Did not!"
"I won't even have this argument!" The older girl stalked away. They could hear her yell, "Mu qin, they're here!"
"Are they? Goodness, I haven't finished making lunch yet!" The voice that answered didn't sound much older than that of her daughters'.
The elder girl had reappeared. "Be thankful for that," she whispered. "Fu qin's the real cook in the family, and it shows."
"I heard that!" Azami looked over and saw a pretty woman standing behind them. She was wearing an apron over her modest pink dress; which was uncharacteristically motherly and gave her the look of a young girl trying to help her mother bake brownies. It didn't help that she was still very short, either. In some cases, though, looking young is good: her figure betrayed the fact that she had borne two children, her emerald-colored hair still retained its youthful sheen, and her eyes still sparkled as though they belonged to a teenager.
The woman wiped her hands on her apron before extending one to Jarek. "Pleased to meet you, I'm Ce…" She stopped dead upon seeing his face.
"I know, Aunt Cecil." He grinned.
Cecil turned a bit pink. "Now now, Jarek, you're not a little boy anymore. And who's your partner?" She asked, turning to Azami.
"Don't you recogn….Ow!" Jarek stopped as Azami kicked him.
"I'm Midori." She said quickly, wishing that she had taken the initiative to ate least dye her hair.
Cecil still regarded her suspiciously, but shook her hand without questioning anything else. "I'm sorry that the place being such a mess." She said apologetically, "We're staying here temporarily. At least, we were supposed to be. We've been here for almost a year now."
"Fa qin missed us too much." The oldest of her two daughters announced, proudly.
"Oh, I'm sorry!" Cecil said. "These are my two daughters, Chia-Ling and Dylan."
"I'm the oldest." Chia-Ling said smugly, which caused her little sister to roll her eyes.
"But I'm the cutest." She told Jarek, who smiled.
"You're both going to grow up to be quite the lookers, ladies." He ruffled Dylan's hair, and she giggled.
"You're Chinese and Danish?" Azami asked.
"Yes. Their father named Chia-Ling, and I named Dylan." Azami studied the two. Both were definitely Asian with their slender builds, porcelain skin and angelic faces (even Dylan's hair, green like her mother's, was dark enough that it looked black); but both had blue eyes. Grudgingly, Azami had to admit that Jarek was right—the two would definitely be gorgeous when they grew up.
"Cute kids." She said airily, then turned to their mother. "We were told to meet with the representative of Neo China. Where is he?"
"My husband is away right now," Cecil said, "But I know what to do for you. Are you hungry? I've almost finished cooking lunch."
Jarek nodded. "Who could resist Chinese food?"
Azami was about to protest, but then her stomach grumbled. She blushed. "I suppose we have time."
"Wonderful. Chia-Ling, would you set the table please?" The girl, beaming at the responsibility bestowed unto her, jumped up and walked the short distance into the divided kitchen area.
"Ma ma, is there anything that I can do?" Dylan asked timidly.
Cecil looked thoughtful. "Well, if you want to help you can show our guests around while I finish cooking lunch."
"Okay!" Dylan, showing the same enthusiasm that her sister had, grabbed both Azami and Jarek's hand and pulled them along the hallway.
"Oh my," Cecil laughed, as she adjusted her apron and went over to the stove.
A few messy rooms and an even more cluttered bathroom later, they all sat down to lunch. Azami had an acquired taste for Chinese food; it had taken her quite some time to like it.
"I sort of picked up Chinese cooking from my husband's cuisine, and living there for so long." Cecil laughed as she dished out steamed rice, bok choi (which, Azami recognized as a Chinese cabbage), and cooked meats. "It's not as good as my husband's cooking, but hopefully it'll do."
"It smells great." Jarek said.
"Oh good, you know how to use chopsticks." Cecil smiled.
"Yeah, you kind of have to when you live in Neo Japan. And Az… Midori here has used them her entire life."
Azami, who had been busy shoveling food into her mouth, looked up when her name was mentioned. "I'd love to hear you continue this drivel, but Cecil still hasn't told us anything."
"Oh! My apologies." Cecil blushed. "The representatives on the council love the higher life. Very cultured. They're always flying about to other colonies to see shows, or have romantic dinners in Neo France."
Azami rolled her eyes. "Typical politicians."
"Precisely. That's partly why I'm so supportive of reinstating the rights of Neo Japan; it's disgusting the way that they just spend their money like that. Anyway," Cecil said, "my husband and I know that you want to meet Asano, so we've taken the liberty of arranging everything."
"Oh?" Jarek asked in between mouthfuls.
"Yes. My husband arranged to attend the symphony in London with him; but he also told him that his friend's son was in town and asked if he and his girlfriend could attend as well. Of course Asano said yes… so it's all figured out."
"Wonderful." The Russian beamed. The symphony? Azami thought with displeasure.
Her disdain must have shown, because Cecil took the moment to say to her: "You'd better get used to this if you plan on becoming close to Asano. He goes to a different thing at least once a week."
"Great," Azami muttered.
"Well, you two had best get back to your hotel and change into the appropriate clothes. Jarek, you should wear a tux. Azami, I'm sure that you have a nice evening gown."
Jarek nodded, pulling Azami away before she could utter obscenities in front of the children. "Thank you for your help."
"It's no problem. After all, you're practically family." Cecil smiled and waved as the two left.
She waited a few moments after the door had closed. "You really are like your father, Azami." She mused. "You might have gotten away with it if you'd inherited some of your mother's craftiness." She looked over at her eldest daughter. "Chia-Ling, honey, can you get the phone for Ma Ma?" Chia-Ling nodded and hurried off. The Danish woman shuffled through her drawer, tossing aside her daughters' school directories and the Neo Hong Kong phonebook. Finally, she surfaced with a pleasant-looking, flowered address book.
"Let's see," she mumbled as she flipped through it; then, propping it open as soon as she'd found a specific page, dialed the listed number onto the phone.
Mu qin is the Mandarin formal term for "mother." Ma Ma would be the informal. Cecil and her family use Mandarin because, while they are in Neo Hong Kong, they are at home and therefore use their native language (by now, it would be native to Cecil anyway). Either way, though, it is not uncommon to hear Mandarin spoken in Hong Kong.