The Thumbelina bells on the door jingled. Their music echoed in the dark, empty bakery. The sound woke up Kikuko. She got out of bed and walked down the stairs, grumbling something in annoyance. Once she reached the bottom of the stairs, Kikuko saw a figure standing by the door.

"Kiku-san," the figure said softly.

Kikuko's eyes widened. "Saya-chan?" she whispered.

In the faint moonlight, Kikuko saw the girl nod. She moved closer to Sasaya, wrapped her arms around her, and pulled her in for a hug.

"Oh, my dear girl, where have you been?" she asked as she stroked Sasaya's curls. "I was worried about you!"

Sasaya pulled away from Kikuko's grasp. "Don't lie," she said quietly.

Kikuko looked a little taken aback. "What did you say?"

Sasaya looked up at Kikuko with no emotion whatsoever written on her face. There was some anger in her voice. "Don't lie to me. It's demeaning. You weren't really worried about me."

"What are you talking about?" Kikuko asked with sincere surprise. "How could I not be worried about my own granddaughter?"

Kikuko reached over to stroke Sasaya's hair, but she slapped her hand away.

"You're only doing this because you promised Hinageshi-san and Madoka-san. You promised to raise Chie and myself together so we could be friends. My mother and her mother were friends that were victims of that awful curse, weren't they? Just like Chie and myself."

Kikuko's eyes grew wide with this information. "How did---?"

"Satoshi filled in some of the blanks, but a part of me already knew I wasn't a Ryoyu." Sasaya lifted her arms and stared at her palms. The lights cast strange shadows on the myriad lines that told stories to those that could read it. "I look nothing like Chie. I don't have the gift of music nor can I paint. The only thing I can do easily is dance and, according to you, that's not what a Ryoyu does." Sasaya dropped her arms and glared at Kikuko. "A Ryoyu paints or sings her emotions, but a Shinchu dances them. I always wondered why you hated my dancing so much. Now I know. It reminded you of the family you hated the most. The Shinchu family."

Kikuko pulled out a nearby chair and sat down with a sigh. "It's obvious we really need to talk about these things. Have a seat across from me."

Sasaya shook her head. "No. I have no business with you."

Kikuko frowned a little. "Sasaya, we're family and families talk things out."

"We're not family. We're nowhere near that. A family is a group f people that love and care about you. It's not like that song that has double meanings."

"You mean 'Onnagokoro'?"

"No, that's not what it's called. It's called 'Motherland'. A motherland is the place you were born. It's like a family. You can do awful things and they will forgive you no matter what. But what happens when your motherland isn't so forgiving? It spits you out and you're alone. It's not like you can just say, 'Please let there be a place I can return to'. You can say, 'There's always a home for you', but you can't expect someone to give you a place to return to."

Kikuko rubbed her temples. "Sasaya, you're giving me a migraine. Where are you going with all this?"

"I don't belong here, so I'm leaving. This isn't my motherland."

Sasaya turned to leave, but Kikuko jumped out of her seat and grabbed her arm.

"Let go," Sasaya whispered.

"You're fourteen years old!" Kikuko shouted. "You're not going anywhere by yourself. So what if I only raised you because my daughter and her best friend begged me to? You're practically my granddaughter and this is your home no matter what! This is your motherland! You belong here."

"You're going to wake up Chie."

"I don't give a damn if the dead wake up and threaten to drag me down to the depths of hell! I'll shout until you get the point!"

"Let go!" Sasaya shouted.

Sasaya raising her voice didin't faze Kikuko in the slightest. She started pulling the girl away from the door. Both started a strange game of tug-of-war. Sasaya held onto the door knob and Kikuko held onto to Sasaya's arm. Neither one was about to let go.

"You're not going anywhere! This is your home!"

"Leave me alone! Leave me alone!"

"No, you incorrigible brat. Now let go of the door!"

"If you don't let me go, I'll bring out Sana and make her kill you!"

Kikuko gasped. She dropped Sasaya's hand and took a few steps backward. Sasaya immediately regretted her words. She turned around to face Kikuko with a funny look on her face: half-startled, half-relieved. Kikuko was sitting in the chair with her long hair covering her face.

"I didn't mean that," Sasaya whispered.

"Yes, you did. Get out, you little bitch," Kikuko spat.

Something in Kikuko's voice made Sasaya open the door and run outside. She slammed it behind her and the Thumbelina bells jangled wildly. The music they produced wasn't light and airy, but very angry and a little sad. The music was that of a person reluctant to leave, but, at the same time, eager to get out.

Kikuko covered her face with her hands and sighed.

"Sasaya," she said, shaking her head.

Sasaya stood in front of the bakery, trembling. Her eyes were squeezed shut and her hands were balled into fists. Satoshi, who had decided to tag along, watched her from the nearby streetlight.

"Don't cry," she kept mumbling to herself. "Don't cry."

"Sasaya, are you okay?" Satoshi asked.

Sasaya nodded and rubbed her eyes. "Yeah, I'm okay."

"Are you really leaving this place?"

Sasaya nodded miserably. "I can't stay. They won't forgive me. Even if they could, they would never trust me again."

Sasaya started walking away, but Satoshi grabbed her hand.

"Where will you go?"

"I have a place that belongs to no one. I'll go there."

Satoshi remained silent for a moment. "Do you really want to do this? What about Ryoyu?"

"She'll be fine. She's too high up in the clouds to notice what's going on with us miserable mortals," Sasaya responded, her last sentence dripping with sarcasm.

"I'll go with you."

"Don't," Sasaya responded, the sarcasm completely gone. "If you tag along with me, you're going to die."

"We're all going to die one day. The question is how and when."

Sasaya laughed ruefully. "I can answer that. If you stick with me, you're going to die very soon and in the most brutal way possible." Much to her annoyance, a tear trickled down her face. She quickly brushed it away with her thumb before Satoshi could see it. Or so she thought.

Satoshi had seen the tear. He knew Sasaya was heartbroken, but he didin't know what to say. Satoshi wasn't used to dealing with sad people. He wasn't used to comforting them. All he did was squeeze her hand, trying to reassure her, but of what he wasn't so sure of. Sasaya looked at him and smiled.

"You know, there's this part in 'Motherland' that reminds me of this. I like it because it almost speaks to me. It tells me to let my tears fall freely and wish for a better tomorrow. Then I'm supposed to fall asleep without a care in the world." Two tears trickled down her face and she quickly wiped them away. "That song is so naïve. It almost reminds me of Chie's way of speaking."

Not knowing what else to do, Satoshi nodded. Sasaya didn't mind his staidness. She knew he didn't know what to do.

"Let's go," Sasaya said and both started walking in the dark, lonely night.

I wonder how the original chapter for this one sounded like. It was probably a whole lot better. I wasn't sure of what to do with Satoshi that I almost didin't put him in here. Then I remembered that, besides Chie, Satoshi's the only friend Sasaya has. It'd be sad just to leave her on her own. Then I remembered that Satoshi's not exactly the compassionate type. So, all in all, this chapter pretty much sucked.

By the way, Shinchu means something like "innermost feelings". Sasaya doesn't like to cry in front of people. Actually, she doesn't like to cry at all. She would rather keep things locked up. I guess her name does suit her after all.