Okay, new chapter…update should get faster soon as we are nearing the E+T, which is obviously the most important part of the entire fic.
Once again, I wrote a little less than half of this many months ago, probably only a few weeks after chapter 5 actually…that's a year…
But I did the rest, well, today. I've proof-read it but it probably still has lots of mistakes. Please point them out to me!
Note: Once again, because I never seem to have time anymore, and that it's been OVER a year since I last updated…I am once more asking everyone to please help me out and review. If you don't I'll presume that no one is reading this fic and pause the fic until someone wants to read it again. If I get a minimum of one review I'll keep writing because I'll know that I'm not wasting time and effort and that people actually want to read this!
Enjoy!
The Parent Trap
Chapter 6
Ami fidgeted. She was getting increasingly nervous about being with a man she had never met before. Of course, she was also getting increasingly excited about sitting next to her father but it was becoming rather clear that she was going to have a hard time adjusting to the lifestyle of her twin.
Earlier, they had passed this quaint little English village and she couldn't help exclaiming in amazement.
She soon found out that her father had exceptional hearing as he had asked her, "did you just say 'sugoi'?"
"Huh?" she remembered saying, startled. Damn, she had thought, I've only met dad five minutes ago and I've already slipped into Japanese. But the damage was done and Ami had less than a second to give her father a plausible excuse. "Yeah…my friend from camp, Sakura, is Japanese and I just…um…picked up a few things from her." Well it was true. Sakura was Japanese. And she did pick up a few things from her…it just had nothing to do with languages that's all.
Now they were on the motorway heading towards Lake District, towards the house her sister lives. She fidgeted.
/\/--\/\
Eriol Hiiragizawa casually glanced at her daughter who was staring around her in vivid fascination. There was something different about her but he just couldn't place his finger on it.
She looked exactly the same, wearing that worn out denim jacket he had given to her on her tenth birthday. Her aura was as weak as ever and her nails…
Eriol glanced at the jagged edges and sighed, "still biting those nails I see."
"Dad, you noticed!" his daughter yelled happily. Eriol frowned in confusion and amusement.
"Notice? You've been biting them since you could chew."
She opened her mouth, closed it, and then opened her mouth again. "But I've decided to stop, dad. It's a horrid habit." Horrid Habit?
"Right, and when are you going to start learning to strengthen your aura?" The sorcerer could see her daughter wince as she always did when he asked about her aura. Guess he was just overreacting.
"Well we meant to train, dad - "
"We?" Eriol interrupted.
"Oh…yeah…my friend…Sakura!" She's stuttering. "She has magic too."
"I guess the two of you became very close friends then."
"Yeah, " the girl said, nodding enthusiastically. A pause, then. "You could say we're almost like sisters."
"Sisters?" Eriol chuckled, oh the irony.
His daughter grinned back at him, "she's a lovely girl, dad." Lovely girl?
"Horrid habit, lovely girl," Eriol said to himself, then turned to his daughter. "I send you to summer camp and you finish in school?"
"Daaaaaad!" Now that sounds like the Haylie I know.
/\/--\/\
Oh my god. Haylie stared at the house, jaws dropping…again. It had taken them fifteen minutes just to drive up from the gates. Now she was standing in front of the largest house she has ever seen in her life. This isn't a mansion; it's a bloody palace!
A cough, "Shall we go in, miss?"
Haylie nodded absently, trying in vain to act normal as she followed Zachary inside. It was strange that such a large house could exist in a city where apartments were more common due to their large accommodation space with the minimum usage of land. Damn, really starting to sound like Ami. Then again, she was suppose to wasn't she.
Tomoeda wasn't a particularly big town. It was more of a suburb area but it was still pretty busy compared to the endless mountains and hills in the Lake District. Besides, Tokyo was less than an hour drive away and that was one of the biggest cities she has ever been to.
"Dear me, who is this young lady?" Haylie tore her eyes away from the sparkling chandeliers to the person standing at the doorway. Red hair, short cut…definitely not mum. So who was she? Fortunately for her, the woman spoke again. "You can't possibly be my little granddaughter?" Mum's mum, of course! "How have you been?"
"Grandmother!" Haylie returned the hug given to her. "I feel wonderful. It's great to be home." Not that she's ever lived here or anything.
"Ami?" someone else spoke. Haylie broke away from her embrace with her grandmother while her eyes found the source of the voice. There, in the middle of the staircase in all her glory, was Tomoyo Daidouji. Mum.
Purple hair cascading down her back; porcelain skin under an elegant, white dress; bright amethyst eyes shining; Tomoyo smiled in delight as her daughter raced up the staircase. "It is you!"
Falling into her mother's arms, Haylie could feel tears welling up in her eyes. "Mum!" She buried deeper, smelling the sweet scented perfume and feeling the smooth satin beneath her fingers and face. It was unbelievable, she was hugging her mother.
"Hey, what's wrong?" Tomoyo asked worriedly when she felt tears dropping onto her shoulder.
Reluctantly, Haylie pulled away. "Nothing," she nearly sobbed out. "It's just…I've missed you so much." Her mother wiped away the tears, then pulled Haylie back into a hug.
"I've missed you too," she whispered. "It's been so strange without you here."
Haylie sniffed, nodding, smiling and feeling happier than she has ever been in her life. She finally got her wish. She's finally met her mother.
/\/--\/\
Oh my god. Ami stared at the archway, jaws dropping. It was beautifully crafted and decorated with strategically placed grapevines. Behind the archway and the fences next to it, Ami could see an old fashioned house with the black painted beams and white walls. It was amazing. And bigger than Haylie had described.
"AHHHH!" A loud scream made Ami jump a foot into the air. "Oh my god! She's home, little Haylie!" Ami blinked as she was suddenly enveloped into giant hug.
"Mmhmm-can't…breathe…" she managed to mumble.
"Oh sorry kiddo! My my, you've grown! Well, I've made some special lunch. BBQ ribs with extra sweet source. Your favourite!" Ami blinked up at the energetic woman flittering around her. Name, name. I need a name.
"Hey, Chelsea," fortunately her father came to her rescue. "I heard something about sweet source and ribs?"
"Honestly, men! All they think about is food," Chelsea winked at Ami. She gave a nervous smile in reply. "It's on the stove. Come on, hun, let's go unpack. We'll bring some ribs up with us."
Ami blinked…"I can eat in my room?"
Chelsea turned back to her and frowned in confusion. "Of course you can!" she laughed. Then gasped, "don't tell me they've been drilling stupid rules into your head at camp. Next thing I know, you'll be tidying your room!" With almost hysterical laughter Chelsea headed into the house.
---
BBQ pork is sweet enough without extra sweet source…Ami grimaced as she took another tentative bite. And here she thought that being identical twins with identical taste buds meant that they had the same tastes. No, it's probably because we're used to different foods. But who on earth invented this 'extra sweet source'?
"You okay, hun?"
"Oh, fine and dandy!" Ami smiled then frowned as she heard giggling outside her window. That's not dad, I don't remember there being anyone else living here.
"Ah, she's here again." Chelsea pressed her lips together.
"Who?"
"Your dad's new publicist. She's a hot shot from Kyoto or something like that."
Ami crawled to the window, hurriedly taking her camera and activating the zoom. There were the two of them, strolling along the grass, hand in hand. Behind Ami, Chelsea continued to talk.
"Your father hired her at the beginning of the summer to advertise the vineyard," she said, dumping the duffel bag on the bed and ruffling through it. "Though if you're asking me, I think she's better at selling herself than the grapes." Chelsea words trailed off as she frowned at the stack of neatly folded clothes inside the large bag. Ami's question brought her out of her musings, however.
"What do you mean?"
"Well, she had supposedly been head-over-heels for this childhood friend of hers. They'd been together for, like, over ten years. Practically about to get married!"
Ami nodded half-heartedly as she followed the two with her camera, focusing on the clasped hands and clicked. Their embrace, click. Their kiss…well, Ami assumed it was a kiss since a stylish black hat was blocking her view, she clicked anyway.
What she was going to do with these photos? She didn't know. If worse comes to worse, she'll fax them to Haylie or something.
"And then she and her fiancé broke up and she called up your dad! Asking him if he needed help with the vineyard. I mean maybe she just wanted to see a familiar face, or just hang around someone who also has magic for a while, but doesn't it strike you a little odd that she'd just jump into another relationship like that?"
Ami moved away from the window and gave Chelsea a despairing look, "you think she's using him, like, as a rebound or something?"
"Ah, hell, what do I know? See for yourself. Don't let me influence you."
---
"There she is!" Eriol smiled as his daughter walked up to them in a large t-shirt and a swimsuit underneath. Understandable of course, they were next to the pool. "Haylie," the girl smiled at her father as he drew her forward, "there's someone I want you to meet. This, is Kaho Mizuki."
Kaho Mizuki slowly lifted her head and gave a bright smile, her auburn red hair shining as it draped over a creamy, smooth shoulder. "Hello, Haylie," gentle voice, calm like the young girl's father's.
"Hi…Kaho Mizuki," Ami forced a grin upon her face as she looked upon the beautiful woman before her. A plain white, two-piece sundress with a sophisticated cutting, curving around her hourglass figure. Black, summer stiletto heels with string straps wrapped around her ankles multiple times, like a snake coiled upon her leg.
Subtle, yet attractive. This was not a stupid woman.
"Wow, with the way your father talked about you I expected a little girl," the woman smiled, "but you look so grown up."
"I'll be twelve soon," Ami said, then added slyly, "how old are you?"
Her father chuckled and admonished her, "Haylie!"
Mizuki laughed too, "a woman never let's her age known."
"Oh…so how did you and dad meet?"
"What is this twenty questions?" Eriol asked, amused.
"I was an assistant teacher while your father was at school," Mizuki replied calmly.
"Wow!" Ami gave a mock-amazed look, "it takes four years in university for a teacher's degree. So if you didn't take a gap year, went to university at the age of 18, got a degree you'd be 22. Dad would have been 5 when he started school so you must be 17 years older than my father!"
Eriol laugh heartily, "I was in my last year of school, Haylie."
"Oh…so 5 years older. How old are you again, dad? Because all you had to do is take that 5 years away from my age, 12. Then take away how old you are, dad, then I'll find out how much older you are than me, Kaho Mizuki!"
"Wow," Eriol chuckled, copying her mock-amazed face, "suddenly you're so interested in maths." He laughed lightly, "listen I'm going to go inside to get some more food…and maybe a bottle of champagne to celebrate."
"What…are we celebrating?" Ami frowned.
"Er…"
"Your homecoming of course!" Mizuki smiled. Ami gave another tight grin in return.
"Be right back!" The two females watched as Eriol entered the house.
As soon as he was out of sight, Mizuki began talking again, "so. How was camp, Haylie? Was it fabulous?"
"Oh…yes…it was great!" Ami gave a weak laugh. And turned towards the pool, subsequently away from Kaho Mizuki.
To Be Continued……
Disclaimer: I do not own CCS or the film The Parent Trap. I do own the writing and any original ideas seen in this fanfiction.
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