Jess: (evil glare) Why are you writing another fanfic?

Katie: (shoves) OUT! OUT! Wrong fic! Shoo!

Kyo: Is it safe now?

Katie: (nods) You can come out too Momiji. Maris isn't here either; I'm attempting not to confuse people as much anymore.

Hiro: As if that will work.

Katie: You know what… I would kick you out but I think I'll just bother you instead.

Hiro: O.O

Momiji: Oh! Oh! I'll help!

Kisa: Me too…

Hiro: TT I've been betrayed.

Katie: Anyway here's my new, relatively serious fanfiction!

Chapter 1

The girls large brown eyes flickered open as the world around her tumbled and bumped. She sleepily blinked at her surroundings. 'Where am I?' She began to realize, as her sleepiness started to wear off, that the ground didn't usually shake like this. She anxiously gripped her armrest as she sat bolt upright, alarmed by what was happening. 'Armrest...? That's right... I'm on a plane.'

She took a few deep breaths, her head looking up into the small fan of the type they put on planes, waiting for the adrenalin to leave her system and allow her heart to beat normally. The plane was one of the larger commercial flights that has three rows of seats in the middle along with two rows of seats on the side. Everything was white except for the worn seats, which were a navy blue with red and yellow triangles. The plane hit turbulence again and a man a few rows ahead moved and grumbled in his seat. In fact everyone was asleep. 'I guess that's what happens when you take such a long flight...'

Her own sleep had not left her feeling fresh and alert at all. It felt like Gravity had decided to hang weights off of her eyelids and pull on her arms and legs, trying to make her comply with his rules. She tried to brush the sleep out of her eyes in vain. Sighing, she held her shoulder length brown hair back in a ponytail. 'It's so hot!' Reaching up she turned the knob on the little fan to make it blow harder but it was of no use. She fidgeted like an uncomfortable baby.

The feeling of dread in her stomach was making her feel uncomfortable. 'I can't believe I'm flying all the way to Japan for this...' The girl was on the way to see her sister. The one she had never met. 'But how will I tell her about her dad...?' She didn't even know the girl! What was she supposed to do! Walk up to her sister's doorstep, knock on the door, and tell her, "Hi, I'm you sister! By the way your dad--" The plane hit hard turbulence and it seemed as if the wings would fly off on their own, they were shaking so hard. When it was over she leaned her forehead against the glass, trying to tell herself that she was just upset over the past week's events. That was why the pit of her stomach felt as if it were an empty tube of toothpaste that some cheapskate just kept squeezing. 'Why me?' She felt the now familiar swelling in her head that always occured right before she began crying. Her throat tightened painfully. She didn't want to cry again. Not in front of so many people. Strangers. The only connection she had with them was that her mouth, too, was stale with the taste of a sourly long flight. The girl banged her head lightly against the glass (she was always afraid the windows would break) and, feeling the cold from the high altitude starting to seep into her skull, withdrew and rubbed her forehead to warm it up. There was a light smear of grease on the glass where she had rested her head. She scowled at it, 'Puberty! Yuck!'

What was wrong with her lately? She had always been a 'nice, sweet girl' (at least that was what everyone told her) and she had never lacked food and shelter... she had always been grateful for her life. She knew that what she had was good, even if she had only spoken to her father once, and then only in an awkward phone conversation. But maybe she was only in this bad mood because of her mother... she wanted her mother to come back—

As if on cue the short, 'pleasantly plump' toddler sitting next to her began sniffling and whispering "Mama..." as he came out of his nap. He looked up to the girl with the large, warm brown eyes with hair that matched and started to speak more loudly. Reaching up to her he cried, "Mama!"

She looked around frantically, where was this little boy's mom? She bit her lip and then plucked him from his seat, replacing him on her lap. She cradled his head and smoothed his thin, wispy baby hair whispering all the while, "Shh. It's all right. I'll find your mommy."

The little boy looked up at her with large eyes and she was tempted to give him a large hug, although she didn't because she was afraid it would scare him. "What's your name?" She made sure that her voice was soft and warm.

His lip was still trembling as he replied, "Charlie…"

She gave him a bright smile, "Why that's a very grown up name!" She was rewarded with a small toothy grin from him. "How old are you, Charlie?"

"Four." He had a very small lisp, but she figured that was normal for little kids. Now that he was settled in her lap he seemed much calmer and he was even starting to sound happy. Which is always a good sign, she reminded herself.

A flight attendant came down the aisle, peering into the rows to check and see if all of the passengers were sleeping so that she could go take a quick nap herself. When she saw the girl a few aisles away she sighed, 'Well… maybe I'll just wake up Susan…' She walked over to the girl with a smile plastered on her face. "Hello—" as she got closer she saw that there was a little boy sitting on the girl's lap. "Oh, I'm sorry dear but the 'fasten your seat belt' sign is still on." She gestured towards the small neon sign.

The girl looked up and gasped, "Oh! Uh, um, I'm sorry! I didn't realize! He just started crying and--"

The flight attendant cut off the rambling girl with a shake of her head, "No, no. It's all right. Please just return him to his seat." Honestly! The people they let on planes these days!

The girl hurried to do as the flight attendant said. After Charlie was buckled into his seat the flight attendant granted her a quick nod and went of to find Susan so that she could get a nap.

Charlie whimpered and pouted, upset at not being in the nice girl's warm arms anymore. She leaned over to him, panicking a bit that he would start crying.

"It's all right, Charlie!" She said quickly. "Now… where is your Mommy? If you tell me maybe we can find her."

He sniffled a little and looked innocently up at her. "Daddy said she would peek me up when I get off the pwane."

For a moment she was confused; then she realized he meant 'plane'. "Oh. All right," she thought for a moment. "How would you like it if I helped you find her when we get to where your mommy is?"

Charlie nodded vigorously and she smiled, ruffling his hair. "All right, bud! Sounds like a plan."

He smiled and tilted his head at her. "Whas yer name?"

She gave him a motherly look and said, "My name is--"

She was cut off by the man who had mumbled in his sleep before. "Will you be quiet? Some of us are trying to get some sleep."

She apologized quietly and leaned in to tell Charlie her name.

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"We will be landing in twenty minutes time." The pilot announced over the intercom.

The girl smiled at Charlie. He had fallen asleep with his head in her lap (she raised the armrest out of the way). She put her head back and closed her eyes as well. 'I haven't really slept a wink this whole trip…' She was exhausted. But what else did she expect? She had been on a plane from the United States all the way to Japan and the whole time she had sat there dreading her arrival so much that the thought of sleep hadn't even entered her brain. A few minutes after she closed her eyes she was in a deep and all encompassing sleep.

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Forty-five minutes later the girl stood with Charlie in the terminal. She could already tell that she would be experiencing extreme jetlag; probably increased by the fact that she had gotten about ten minutes of real sleep during the whole flight. After adjusting the strap on her carry-on to make it more comfortable she turned her attention to Charlie. "What does your mommy look like?"

The little boy clung to his Care Bears backpack with a scared look. The hustle and bustle of the airport in Tokyo probably was a lot to handle for a little boy… "She's pwetty."

The girl smiled, not bothering to press further. "Can you help me look for her?" She led Charlie over to the side and tried to look for someone in the large crowd that seemed like they were searching for a small boy. She noticed a tall blonde woman frantically standing on tiptoe, trying to magically grow taller than the tall man in front of her so that she could see the passengers who were unloading. Before she could venture a guess as to whether or not the woman was who she was looking for, however, Charlie screamed a loud, "Mommy!" He ran over to the woman on his small stubby legs and she scooped him up, the tears in her eyes visible even from a distance.

The girl smiled. She was glad that he had found his mother. 'He'll be all right now. He has his mother.'((AN: If you haven't picked up the vast hints about mothers yet… well I guess now you will.)) She hiked her bag up higher on her shoulder and turned around, walking straight ahead without looking back, secure in the knowledge that the little boy she had grown so fond of was safe. The last thing that she wanted to think of was that one day he would grow up. When that happened who knew what misery would befall him? Her greatest wish was to spare him that kind of anguish.

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After going through baggage and getting her suitcase she headed towards the automatic doors leading to Tokyo. She had to get a taxi to her sister's house. After ten minutes of waving down possible cabs one driver finally pulled up to the curb and shouted, "Hop in!" through the open window.((AN: 'Cause the cars are all backwards in Japan… ok, I'll shut up now up.)) Putting her luggage in the back seat she slid into the front next to the driver. She told him where she wanted to go in her awkward Japanese; it was probably a good thing that her mother had forced her to learn the language, although she was still atrocious at writing in anything other than English.

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After paying and thanking the cab driver she turned around and faced the street. 'Now what was the address…?' She dug around in the pocket of her jacket for the piece of paper. 'Here it is…' The scrap had the name and address of her sister on it. She had found her sister's address and phone number in her mother's address book, but when she had called she had discovered that her sister had moved. Her sister's grandfather had given her the new address.

She exhaled, creating a cloud of water vapor, and started to walk along the street, her suitcase rolling on its tiny wheels behind her. She was led to a tiny side road that led through the edge of a forest. 'Hmm… sort of secluded.' Walking along the path she rehearsed again and again what she would say as soon as the door was opened.

She finally emerged onto a large lawn. A friendly looking, Japanese style house was a few hundred yards away from her; she started towards it.

After tripping a few times on unseen obstacles (her mother used to say that her daughter tripped on air) and several thoughts of turning back and forgetting the whole business the girl reached the door.

She bit her lip. Her stomach was in knots that were coiled around each other like a sea monster. They even felt like a sea monster, well… an angry sea monster, she supposed. She shook her head, trying to rid herself of such a ridiculous daydream. 'Just. Knock."

It was the right thing to do. Yes, it wouldn't be fair of her to back out now and not tell the sister-that-she-had-never-met the truth.

With a deep breath, the girl reached up and knocked on the wood of the door.

She waited for what seemed like forever to her aching soul. At last, right before she was about to knock again, the door opened. A girl, who seemed a few years older than her, smiled. She had long, chestnut brown hair and large brown eyes. In fact, both of the girls looked very similar.

The older girl blinked at the visitor, "Can I help you?"

The younger girl, startled out of some inner reflection, hastened to reply, "Um… yes! Is this the home of…," she glanced down at the paper which had her sister's name etched onto it, "…Tohru Honda?"

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Katie: I feel really bad…

Hiro and Kyo: Why?

Katie: Because the only reason I have you guys in the Author's Note right now is because I haven't introduced the name of my original character yet… then I'll replace you guys with her…

Kisa: That's all right, Katie-chan! I'll come visit you anyway.

Hiro: I feel so loved.

Kyo: What the hell was up with not telling your OC's name anyway?

Katie: (chucks cheeseburger at Kyo) NO CURSING! And I didn't tell because… that would ruin the surprise.

Shigure: Oh, really? I thought you just hadn't decided what name you wished to give her yet… you could borrow a name from one of my books if you like.

Katie: Umm… no thanks….

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Quick note: If you've gotten this far already would you please take just a minute to review? I would really love some constructive criticism!