A/N - I do not own these characters.

Chapter 2 - A Storm is Brewing

The storm was projected to make landfall in only six hours. Yumi knew she needed to get underway if she planned on skirting the Stormfront safely. However, even after so many years and so many accomplishments under her belt, accomplishments she owed to no one other than herself, she found she still couldn't deny Sei. Not Sei who had always pushed her to be more than she thought she could be. She owed more to Sei than she could ever successfully catalog. And so, Yumi waited despite her better judgment.

It was noisy at the pier where she waited to depart. After years of studying and working so much on her own, Yumi found she disliked being in crowded and loud places. Places like that always had her anxiety up and she found she couldn't relax until she got away. Even if it had only been for a day, being back in Tokyo had been a nightmare for her. The city didn't harbor tons of bad memories. No, really only a few bad memories marred the city for her. She had simply changed too much to ever be truly comfortable in the city again. Not to mention that the subject of those bad memories also graced the city with her presence. A certain someone she had nearly run into today, actually. Ogasawara Sachiko, the princess of the Ogasawara business empire, wife of Kashiwagi Suguru, and long-time holder of Yumi's fragile heart. Yes, none other than the woman who had acted as her sister for years, all the while ignoring the clear signs of Yumi's love.

That was alright though. Sachiko could keep her heart, shattered as it was. Yumi had no other love than the ocean now. She looked out over the churning waves and couldn't help a smile from touching her lips. Having devoted her life to the study of the wide expanse in front of her, she couldn't imagine a place where she would belong more than on those waves. It was the ocean that had led her to the discovery that had paid for her lifestyle after all. That dive she had been on those many years ago had ultimately funded a lifestyle that would have otherwise been an impossibility for Yumi. And so, she was eternally grateful to the waves that splashed harshly against the side of her treasured boat.

Her yacht was nothing incredibly massive, though it could sleep up to eight people comfortably. Which made it perfect for when she had to staff a dive or study. Otherwise, yes, it was difficult to man by herself. Ideally, the Artemis, previously called the Hortense, would be manned by a crew of two, but Yumi rarely needed or wanted the assistance. It was a slower process, doing everything by herself, but she preferred it that way. To welcome another person onto her boat was to open her heart to trusting someone again and even after so long she still felt the act a betrayal of herself.

"Well, don't you look the brooding recluse staring off to the horizon like that."

Yumi couldn't help the smile that spread over her face at the sound of Sei's voice. Despite her hermit ways, this woman would always draw her out of her shell. Turning from her place at the bow, she found Sei walking along the narrow path of the deck leading from the stern to the bow. A wide, toothy grin on her angelic face the entire time. Two small boxes clinked in her hands as she set them to the side. Moving to meet Sei with an enthusiastic hug, Yumi laughed. "What can I say? My heart cries for the sea." Sei wrapped her long, slender arm around Yumi's shoulders and slowly walked them back to the bow, staring out at the waves. To the untrained eye, they looked calm enough, but Yumi knew the ocean, had spent years courting its waves and learning to judge its moods. Those years of intimate knowledge told her that anger was hiding just beneath the surface. She would have to leave soon or resign herself to staying until the storm passed. Thoughts of the Artemis being smashed against the pier with the crashing of the waves quickly resolved her intentions to leave before the storm struck.

"Is it just the sea your heart cries for? Or are you merely willing the cries for the sea to drown out the cries for something more?"

Sighing, Yumi leaned her forearms against the metal rail. She welcomed the cool sting of the steel beneath her arms. Somehow it helped to center her and resolve herself not to be swept away by Sei or any of the others who had tried to mend the rift between Sachiko and herself. "Yoko-sama failed to convince me and so you are here to try and convince me where she couldn't?" Yumi forced a small chuckle from her throat. "I'm sorry to burst your bubble, Sei-senpai, but Yoko-sama is far more convincing than you ever have been."

As if unphased by her words, Sei merely smiled and shrugged, joining Yumi in leaning on the rail and staring out over the water. "It never hurts to try, Yumi-chan."

At this, Yumi shook her head. "But it does hurt, Sei-senpai. It does hurt."

From the corner of her eye, Yumi saw Sei's smile drop for a moment and her eyes swept back toward the pier. It was only for an instant, but Yumi couldn't blame her. She must already be thinking about leaving Yumi to herself and that would make sense. Who wanted to listen to anyone complain about something that happened over seven years ago. It was old news and anyone with any lick of sense would have put it behind themselves by now and moved on with life. Yumi had never claimed to have any amount of sense and therefore found herself unable to move forward in that area of her life.

A gentle, firm hand on her shoulder drew her back from her thoughts and Sei was once again smiling at her, this time with kind understanding in her eyes. "Sometimes forgiveness is more about self-healing than it is about absolution for the offending party."

Yumi blinked once, twice, and then giggled. "Wow, Senpai, that was pretty profound for you."

"I've been living with Yoko for nearly ten years now." Sei shrugged with a grin on her lips. "Some of her ways were bound to rub off on me eventually." Then her gaze grew more serious and her touch heavier as if she wanted to convey the importance of her next words with just the simple touch of her hand. "My words are true though, Yumi-chan. I can see the pain you are in. I hear it in your voice when we talk and read it in the words of your emails. Are you really still convinced that your work, the ocean, is all that remains for you in life? Do you really believe that there isn't more for you? Either something new or…" She hesitated, her grip loosening a moment as if she were reconsidering her words only to tighten a moment later with resolve. "Something that might be rejuvenated?"

"What is there to rejuvenate, Sei?" Yumi's voice came out harsher than she had intended, but she didn't stop. "For years I stayed by her side. I advertised my feelings for her so much so that not a damn person we went to school with was unaware. In return, she kept me close, but never close enough." She leaned back, now gripping the icy steel of the rail in her hands until her knuckles were pasty white and her arms were shaking. "Do you know how she told me?"

Sei shook her head, honestly never having heard the story of how Sachiko had broken the news of her wedding to Yumi.

A bitter smile played at the corner of Yumi's mouth. Instead of looking Sei in the eye, she stared down into the dark waters that surrounded her boat. "She took me shopping." She gritted her teeth and pounded the rail with the palm of one hand. "She took me shopping for an appropriate outfit to wear as I stood for her at her wedding." She turned to face Sei now, hot tears stinging her eyes. "She wanted me to stand with her family during the actual ceremony, Sei. Knowing my feelings, knowing my heart, she actually expected me to stand and watch and, what's more, be happy for her?" A scoffing laugh left her lips, hard and quick. "She didn't even ask me. It was as if I were merely expected to continue in my silence and stand by her regardless of my heart shattering to pieces in her hands. And so, I said no." Yumi wiped the tears from her eyes and turned with her back to the rail and leaned into it, ignoring the way the round metal unpleasantly pushed on a nerve. "Once that one word was out… I swear, Senpai, the flood gates opened. I couldn't stop. In a matter of moments, I had spoken the words of longing and love that had forever been written on my face."

Yumi was quiet for a whole minute before Sei's tentative voice came from her side. She was now leaning her side into the rail, concerned eyes boring into the side of Yumi's face. "What happened, exactly?"

"I was told to stop. In no uncertain terms, she made it clear that my declarations were unwelcome and that she had a duty to her family." Her next words came as a sharp dagger to her own heart just remembering how it felt to hear them from the woman she had loved. "She said she needed things to stay as they were and we should just forget my little outburst."

A growl of frustration made its way from Sei's throat and to Yumi it looked as if she were rethinking something. Finally, she spoke. "I am sorry, Yumi-chan. All these years and I never asked you what happened. I honestly believed the details didn't matter, but I see now why they matter to you. Still," She leaned in and let her warm arm drape around Yumi's bowed shoulders. "For your own sake, please search your heart for a way to forgive Sachiko-chan. We are all human and make mistakes. We say things we don't mean and spend our whole lives regretting them. I don't want to see you regretting your own decision to stay away when you're eighty and reminiscing about the past."

Yumi smiled at the thought of still being friends with this amazing woman in fifty years' time. "You'll get tired of me long before then." She laughed, though part of her believed her own words.

To her surprise, Sei pulled her into a bone-crushing hug and whispered into her ear, "Never, Yumi-chan, never."

Returning the hug, Yumi for once relished the feeling of being held in a protective embrace. It was never like this anymore and she would be lying if she said she didn't miss it. She would have liked for it to continue, but just then a blaring alarm came from the cabin where the helm and all of her equipment was housed. In a rush, she moved into the cabin, Sei on her heels. The weather radio was blaring and an announcement crackled over the speaker, warning that the storm was picking up in speed and intensity.

Her heart rate rocketing, Yumi swung to her radars, one that was intended for her underwater explorations remained dark, but the one detailing the oncoming storm was a massive blur of swirling green heading straight for them.

"Can you still leave safely?" Sei's eyes were big as she looked at the oncoming storm.

Doing some quick calculations in her head, Yumi nodded. "If I leave in the next thirty minutes and don't dally, I should be able to avoid the worst of it. The edge of the storm will hit me no matter what though."

Fear lit Sei's eyes and she swallowed. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have asked you to wait. Maybe you shouldn't risk the trip now then? Maybe wait until it passes?"

Yumi shook her head. "If I wait there is a risk that Artemis will be damaged and then it'll be even longer before I can get home." After everything that day, she needed to leave.

Sei must have seen the desperation in her eyes because she nodded. "Okay, what can I do then?"

Without hesitation, Yumi knew what she needed from her friend. "At the base of the mainmast and the stern mast, there are little levers. They will enable the automatic retraction of the sails while I'm out at sea. In a storm, it'll be dangerous for me to leave the cabin and be exposed on deck. If you can switch those two on for me, I'm going to secure the jib myself."

With a mock salute, Sei disappeared through the door and back to the lower stern deck. Meanwhile, Yumi charged forward and pulled the rigging in for the jib. She liked utilizing the sails while she was on the water, but today she would be sparing the sails from the beating of the storm and using the engine instead.

She could feel the wind picking up and she paused only just long enough to look to the horizon, darkness gathering far in the distance and heading her way. Despite the danger, she couldn't help the small smile that touched her lips. Oh, how she relished a challenge.


Sachiko paced the lower deck of the boat anxiously, waiting for the moment Yumi realized she was there and would come racing down the stairs to see her. Would she be relieved that Sachiko had made the effort to show up? Or would she be mad at the intrusion? Or even worse… Would she be indifferent? Scenarios kept racing through her mind until she heard the thud of the door above opening and slamming shut. She held her breath and stood, preparing herself to face Yumi only to find Sei, glaring and huffing with anger.

With a growl, she pointed at the bag at Sachiko's feet and said, "Forget this. Forget all of this. Grab your bag. We are leaving!"

Confusion and a hint of fear coursed through Sachiko as she tried and failed to understand the sudden change in her friend. "Whu- What? But Yumi-"

Sei didn't let her continue though. "No, no. You lied. You've been lying for seven fucking years." Sachiko opened her mouth to respond, but Sei cut her off again. "You didn't just tell her about the wedding. There was so much more to it! How could you do that to her?"

Horrified realization lit Sachiko's face, followed swiftly by shame. Casting her gaze to the floor she tried to force a response through the thickness in her throat. "I- I was- I took her for granted. I made a mistake."

"I'll say!" If it were possible, Sachiko could imagine steam rising from Sei's ears with how angry she was. "A big fucking mistake! And now I've betrayed Yumi-chan's trust too, just by bringing you here, thinking that I knew what was best for her. Shit!" An alarm blared in the distance and Sei stepped forward to take Sachiko's bag, fully intending to usher the younger girl off the boat while Yumi was distracted.

Seeing the urgency in her eyes, Sachiko pulled back from her outstretched hand and narrowed her eyes. "You seem a bit frantic. What's wrong, aside from my supposed lies?" There was no way she would admit to lying about the contents of a private conversation, knowledge Sei had no legitimate claim to, to start with.

"We have to hurry. There is a storm coming and Yumi-chan needs to leave, like an hour ago. Our delaying her has already put her in increased danger, now come on!" Sei stepped forward, only for Sachiko to retreat another step.

"You said she is alone on this boat. She's not seriously going into a storm by herself, is she?" Fear gripped Sachiko's heart as she imagined the worst happening.

Sei scoffed at her reaction. "Yumi-chan is an expert at handling this boat. Artemis is merely an extension of herself and she's done this hundreds of times by now. Now, come on!"

Hundreds of times? Yumi? An expert on a boat? Suddenly faced with all she didn't know about Yumi, Sachiko couldn't bring herself to leave. Instead of retreating, Sachiko merely raised her hands in front of her chest. "No, Sei. I'm staying. I'll take all the blame for being here, but I would be a fool to let this opportunity slip out of my hands. I let her go once, I'm not doing it again."

Anger ebbed away to be replaced with pity. "Sachiko-chan, you realize she isn't going to be happy to see you, right? She has done her best to move on, but that doesn't mean she has forgiven you. Actually, I know for a fact that the pain you caused is as fresh to her as the day it happened. Her tears a few minutes ago told me as much." With a sigh, she lowered her outstretched hand. "Are you sure you're ready to face that? To… To face a Yumi you don't know?"

In all honesty, Sachiko had no clue. The thought both excited and terrified her. What would happen when she looked into those brown eyes again? Would she see any trace of the love she once relished finding there? She had to find out whether or not it ended up going the way her heart prayed it would.

"I have to be." Was her only response.

"Shit. Fine. Do what you want." Sei mumbled under her breath and turned back to the stairs. "I have to go help her. You stay below and don't try to go on deck during the storm, got it? You'll honestly only get in her way, untrained as you are in sailing."

Sachiko wanted to argue but knew there was no point. Nodding, she retreated to a smooth wooden bench with deep burgundy upholstery over the padded seat and back. The booth was well lit and Sachiko appreciated that the lamp was mounted above the table, rather than left to move along the table with the sway of the waves.

Satisfied that she wouldn't follow her up on deck, Sei nodded and before she turned to go added, "Be careful, Sachiko-chan. Despite being pissed with you right now, I do love you." Without waiting for Sachiko's response, she disappeared back up the steep staircase and was gone.


Yumi had just finished securing the loose items on deck when Sei reappeared and activated the auto feature on the mainmast. She was curious as to what had taken her friend so long but didn't question it. They worked quickly together tying down and securing everything along the deck. When it finally came time for Sei to climb back onto the pier, Yumi felt a sudden wave of dread. Dread at saying goodbye to her friend yet again and not knowing exactly when life and the waves would bring her back.

As if sensing the change in Yumi's mood, Sei smiled softly and opened her arms wide. Without a word, she folded herself into Sei's waiting embrace once more. If she were being honest, she would admit that she could get used to these hugs. "Don't let years go by without me actually seeing your face again, okay?" Sei's words were soft and Yumi could hear the emotion thick in her throat as she spoke. "Your frequency hasn't changed, right? Or do I need to adjust my sat phone?"

Yumi shook her head, all the while never releasing her hold on Sei. "It's the same. So, we're still on for our bi-weekly chats?"

"Of course! But I want a special call when you make it to your place safely." With that, Sei leaned back to meet her eye with a hint of laughter in her own. "One day you'll have to tell me where that is exactly."

With a laugh, Yumi reached into her pocket and withdrew one of her business cards. Handing it to Sei, she grinned broadly. "There you go."

Confusion crossed Sei's face as she looked at the card that had a small embossed logo of rolling waves in the top right corner. The center read Dr. Fukuzawa Yumi, Ph.D. in Marine Biology and Oceanography. The bottom left corner had her satellite phone number and email, the only two reliable ways of contacting her wayward friend. Yet, still no address. Meeting Yumi's laughing eyes, she asked, "This is an impressive card, Yumi-chan, but I don't get it."

Yumi motioned for her to turn it over. On the back were written two words, Lat and Long, beside each word was a number. Realization took a full minute to sink in. "Is this latitude and longitude?"

Yumi nodded and Sei had to laugh. "Because giving me your street address, complete with city and country would just be too normal?"

"Well, if I had any of that then I'd probably give it to you." Yumi's eyes flashed with mischief. "These are the coordinates to the island where I live. We don't have a landing strip, so you're holding the only means by which anyone can find us. You can fly into Fiji, but then you'd have to hire a boat and give them those coordinates. It's the better part of a day's journey from the mainland, so bring a book." Yumi laughed at Sei's shocked expression. "Not exactly what you were expecting?"

"Understatement!"

Yumi cocked an eyebrow at her and shook her head. "So you thought we had to communicate via a sat phone, why? Because of my own quirks and eccentricities?" Rolling her eyes, Yumi squeezed her friend one last time before releasing her and stepping back.

"Fair point, but I just thought you liked to stay out at sea too much or something like that." A sadness tinged Sei's gaze and Yumi couldn't help but acknowledge it.

"What is it?"

"Oh, it's nothing. I guess it's just that I've finally realized that Tokyo really isn't your home anymore… is it?"

Slowly, Yumi shook her head. "No, and I don't think it ever will be again. Though they do say home is where the heart is, Senpai, so a small piece of home will always be here." She smiled, leaned forward, and kissed Sei sweetly on the cheek. "Because you'll always have a piece of my heart."

When she backed away, Yumi spotted the single tear that trailed down Sei's cheek, but neither acknowledged it. Over Sei's shoulder Yumi could see the growing stormfront. "I'm sorry, Sei-senpai, but I should get going. The trip will take me roughly ten days if all goes well."

That flash of alarm and uncertainty returned to Sei's eyes as she looked toward the back of the boat. Being used to her friends worrying over her lonely ventures at sea, Yumi merely smiled and tried to reassure her. "I'll be okay, really. I'm used to being on my boat alone. It'll be fine and I'll check in with you every few days if that'll make you feel better."

Sei visibly hesitated before finally letting her shoulders drop in resignation. "Right, okay. I guess I should get going then… Good luck out there Yumi-chan. Call me… uh, whenever you need to."

"Sure." Yumi smiled and waved her friend off as she climbed off the boat onto the pier.

Yumi had just finished untying the boat from the pier when Sei reappeared, yelling over the rising wind. "Yumi! You said we!"

Narrowing her eyes in confusion, Yumi shook her head. "Huh? What?"

"When you were talking about your island, you said we. You said we don't have a landing strip." For a reason Yumi couldn't discern, Sei looked almost distressed. She nodded. "I don't live alone on the island. I like solitude, but I'm not as much of a hermit as you must think." Yumi laughed, despite Sei's eyes growing even wider. The boat was rocking on the waves and Yumi had to struggle to keep her precious boat from ramming the pier. Stepping into the cabin, she spun the wheel and pulled the accelerator toward her chest. Slowly, the boat began to move away from the pier. Stepping out of the cabin, Yumi waved up at Sei. "Sorry, Sei-senpai! I have to go or risk damaging the hull!"

The wind was picking up and she couldn't be certain because of the rumble of the engine, but Yumi could have sworn she heard Sei yell that she was sorry.

A/N - Hey friends, thanks for reading my new story. This is helping me work through a lot right now. An update for those who have been so kind as to pray for me and mine... We said goodbye to Guinan on Sunday. She is finally at peace. I went through another trauma the morning of the 26th though. My husband had a seizure in my arms and I nearly lost him. The good news is he is home and expected to make a full recovery. Please continue to keep us in your prayers. I've been somewhat traumatized.