After a weekend at Ushio's family, Charlie and Ushio returned to Kaori and Kousei's, Ushio had reconciled with her family as well as Ushio's family warming up to Charlie whom Sanae, Tomoya and Nagisa viewed as a perfect match for Ushio, whlist Akio jokingly played more baseball with Charlie to test to see if he was the right person for Ushio.
Kaori and Kousei decided to take Charlie, Ushio and Chopin to a theme park near where they lived, Chopin had spent the weekend at his grandfather Takahiko's for the weekend whlist Ushio and Charlie were at the Furukawas.
As they got there, they went on rides such as large roller coaster as well as bumper cars numerous times, eventually Kaori got exhausted from the swerving and high speed of the bumper cars and sat down with Charlie sitting right next to her.
"Hi Charlie, did you enjoy the rides" said Kaori
"Yeah I did, I liked the roller coaster and bumper cars, a lot of fun" said Charlie
"Thats good" said Kaori
"Mom, can I ask you a question" said Charlie
"Fire Away" said Kaori
"How did Kousei know about me" said Charlie
"Well..." said Kaori as she began to tell the story
Flashback
Kaori was in hospital after what appeared to be a heart attack, she hadn't suffered cardiac problems since before her intial life-saving surgery back when Kaori was desperate for a second duet with Kousei many years ago.
Kaori and Kousei since Kaori returning to Japan had performed many duets both in Japan and around the world , won many competitions (Kousei won more due to actually going by the composers intent compared to his wife's wild style), started a family with the birth of Chopin Arima and Kaori reuniting with her parents and her and Kousei's friendship with Watari and Tsubaki and their son Lionel.
However Kaori realised as she woke up in her hospital bed with Kousei and Chopin by her side, there was someone missing, someone who should be there, Kaori remembered that she had another son with her old university fling Dil Pickles by the name of Charlie Miyazono Pickles, Kaori was feeling guilty that 14 years of Charlie's life that she never had a part in and that she missed so many milestones in Charlie's life that now he was certainly likely to be a different person to when Kaori last saw him as he watched her leave their house for a final time.
Kaori also hoped Dil found new love after she left him, that Charlie had a motherly figure in his life , she was aware that he had an affair at the summit which went nowhere due to the long dimensional distance between the two organisations involved (ARI and the Intergalactic Research Organisation) and the person Dil had an affair with being fired not long after for reasons Dil didn't know about and then he met and married Lil as Lil started calling Kaori a year or two prior to Kaori's heart attack and from what Kaori could tell, Lil was a good person and Lil told Kaori about Dil and Charlie's lives after Kaori left .
Kaori woke up to find Kousei holding her hand, on her bedside table was a bouquet of roses and her favourite treat Canales, Kaori still felt weak, but comforted by the fact that Kousei, Chopin and her favourite treats were by her side.
"Your okay, thank god, I was getting really worried Kaori" said Kousei as he smiled
"I was scared I wasn't going to make it, but I'm glad I did, are those pastries for me" said Kaori
"They are, but only after all your medical tests are completed" said Kousei
Kaori frowned and childishly said "Meanie Kousei, won't give me Canales"
"Its for your own benefit, we are not fully clear on how bad your heart attack was" snapped Kousei back
Kaori Chuckled and then said "Kousei, there is something serious I need to tell you"
"What is it" said Kousei
"You know I was in America for a while right" said Kaori
"Right until half a year after you graduated from university right" said Kousei
"Yeah, well there's something you need to know" said Kaori
"What is it" said Kousei
"I have a son in the United States who was born when I was at university" said Kaori
Kousei was in total shock, he could never imagined Kaori loving anyone else and to have another son that Kousei didn't even know, Kousei also was feeling that Kaori should of told him
"Kaori, who is he and why haven't you told me about him" said Kousei
Kaori sighed before answering "Because It hurt leaving him behind, his name is Charlie Miyazono Pickles and he lives in California, his father is Dil Pickles, a Interdimesnional Research Scientist that I had a relationship with when I was at university"
Kousei remained slient for a bit before answering "You along with me and Chopin need to meet him, he's your son, my step-son and Chopin's half-brother, he probably would love to meet you, you should of told me earlier, but I'm glad you did before it was too late, (Kousei began raising his voice) what if you didn't make it, Charlie would of never met his birth mother and have a lasting memory of you leaving him as his last memory of his mother, my last memory of my mother was one of the main catalysts for me not being able to hear the notes when we met, so please Kaori, reconcile with your son, I also want to meet him, he has grandparents that have never met him, please Kaori reunite with Charlie, he's part of our family"
"Your right Arima, I will try and arrange to meet him maybe next year as I'm retiring from performing" said Kaori
"Good idea" said Kousei
End of Flashback
"And that is how I told Kōusei of your existence" said Kaori
"I see, how come it took years for you to tell Kousei about me" said Charlie
"Because leaving you behind in America was probably the worst thing I ever did, plus I was focused on my music for so many years" said Kaori
"Do you wish you took me with you" said Charlie
Kaori had to stop and think before answering her sons question, Kaori hadn't seen or spoken to Charlie for 14 years and so over time Kaori began regretting not calling Charlie even on milestones such as birthday and christmases, at the time Kaori left Charlie, Kaori thought of Dil and how he would of lost both a girlfriend and a son in one morning if she took Charlie with him and Kaori didn't want to do that to him, he was too nice of a guy to do that too, the only reason she is leaving him is because her heart wanted to be back with Kousei the pianist that she fell in love with and in her home country of Japan.
Kaori left a memento behind for Charlie, her old violin and case, the same violin where she peformed her first duet with Kousei, the same one that she used to dazzle audience's in Towa Hall with her wild style of playing.
"In many ways and hard for me to say this, no" said Kaori with the last word she said sounding sombre
"Why not" said Charlie
"Because it would of hurt your father, when I left you and your father, it was because my feelings for someone else and the fact that I haven't seen my family in over 6-7 years" said Kaori
Charlie angrily glared at Kaori before answering "Mom, you do realise how hurt my father was when you left him, he still feels hurt by the mere mention of your name and also why didn't you call me on birthdays, Christmas or even mothers day, for 14 years I wanted to meet or at least call you, you know I used to wish that on my birthday or christmas that you would return even for just one day"
Kaori looked down, she had failed Charlie as a parent, he was almost an adult and she hadn't been part of his life for a good part of Charlie's childhood, in fact Lil was a better parent to Charlie as she had been there throughout Charlie's life since Dil and Lil got together after Lil left the military, Kaori had been too busy to even call Charlie especially on special events and focused on her music career and family with Kousei.
"I should of tried to at least contact you over the years, I apologise, from now on I will promise to keep in contact with you" said Kaori
"Promise" said Charlie
"Promise" said Kaori as she and Charlie hugged briefly before Ushio, Kousei and Chopin returned
"That Pirate ship ride was awesome, why didn't you come on Charlie" said Ushio
"Pirate ship rides may me feel queasy, plus I was catching up with my mother" said Charlie
"I see, hey Chopin wanna go on that large ghost train ride" said Ushio
"Yeah, come on mom, come on the ride with me" said Chopin tugging at Kaori's hand to go on the ride with him
"Sure thing Chopin, Charlie want to come on the ride" said Kaori
"I'm good thanks, the rollercoasters and bumper cars made me feel queasy so I'm taking a break for now" said Charlie
Kaori and Ushio chuckled "See you later you two" as Charlie and Kousei were left behind as Ushio, Kaori and Chopin went on the ghost train.
"So Charlie, are you enjoying today" said Kousei
"I am Kousei, I am, what about you" said Charlie
"Yeah its been a fun day out and also getting to know you and Ushio" said Kousei
"Yeah its nice to meet my stepfather, so what kind of instrument did you specialise in" said Charlie
"Piano" said Kousei
"Who's the better musician, you or mom" said Charlie
"Your mother's style is more free-spirited and colourful than mine and also she can play other instruments besides violin such as Cello's, Pianos, Guitar and Melodica, while I can only really play piano. However in terms of competitions I was better as you mom refused to be bound by the composer intent or tone, instead focusing on the artistry of the piece" said Kousei
"I see, so you were more technical and mom was more of an artist" said Charlie
"If you put it that way, then yes when I was younger I was given the nickname the 'Human Metronome' because of my very precise and technical way of playing a musical piece" said Kousei
"How did you and mom meet anyway" said Charlie
"Well you mother saw me perform when we were both 5 which inspired her to take up violin and then 9-10 years later, I was hearing a melodica whilst on a walk in spring where I first saw your mother performing on a park stand and it was beautiful" said Kousei
"What happened next" said Charlie
"Your mother thought I stole her leggings and proceeded to beat me with the melodica for taking a picture of her until she realised who I was and then she along with my two friends Riyota and Tsubaki forced me to watch her perform" said Kousei
Charlie laughed before asking Kousei a another question
"Kousei, what was it like to see my mother again when she returned to Japan" said Charlie
"Well..." said Kousei
Flashback
Kousei was at Hiroko's teaching students at her new musical academy, Kousei was still doing shows, but had just finished his studies at a music focused university and was helping Hiroko with her musical school to pay the bills.
Kousei was also still single, he had a small fling with fellow pianist Emi Igawa after Kaori's supposed death, but it went nowhere as she got a musical scholarship at a university in America after they both graduated from school and had been over there now for 4 years, Tsubaki had received a softball scholarship in South Korea so Kousei wasn't able to see her for a long while.
Kousei had offers to do a musical scholarship aboard, however he refused them on the grounds of not being interested in moving aboard plus he wanted to kind of move into teaching music as he found constant solo performing tiring and wanted to apply his knowledge of music to future musicians.
Kousei was walking down the street where he received a message from Yoshiyuki Miyazono who was Kaori's father, he still kept in contact with the Miyazono's after Kaori's supposed death and visited their bakery from time to time.
"Come to the Bakery, there is someone here that wants to see you"
Kousei rushed to Ma Fille bakery, the weather was pretty bad as it had been pouring down with rain, after all it was November and it was cold.
Kousei walked in to find someone he thought he would never see again, a violinist that had inspired him all those years ago.
"Kousei, its been a long time" said Kaori
Kousei couldn't find a answer to come out of his mouth, Kaori was thought to be long dead, it had been nearly 8 years since they last saw each other and now here she was all those years later, she looked a little older and was no longer as frail as she once was, but Kaori still hadn't changed much in the looks department.
Kaori immediately ran to give Kousei a hug
"If you were wondering Arima, Kaori's surgery was actually barely successful, however there were many things that went wrong and a new kind of surgery had been introduced in the United States, but because Kaori's surgery was highly experimental and the 1st of its kind, we had to keep it a secret and thus we faked Kaori's death and the surgery was a success, however because Kaori wanted to study her last year of high school plus 4 years of university, she stayed in California for the meantime, but its good to have you back Kaori" said Yoshiyuki
"Its good to have you back Kaori, so how was America" said Kousei
"It was great, the weather was warm and the buildings were huge" said Kaori
End of Flashback
"After that, I began performing again although mostly duets as it was nowhere near as tiring as performing solo, your mom and me got married around 8 years ago and since then we have done various musical related stuff as well as raising Chopin" said Kousei
"So my mother came out of nowhere from my grandparents bakery and you ended up reuniting" said Charlie
"That is my recollection of events, yes, looking back I wished I met you earlier as you could of gone to many of our shows as well as gone to me and your mothers wedding, but Kaori had to wait until she had a heart attack to tell me about your existence" said Kousei
"Well at least I'm here, why do you think my mom took so long to tell you about my existence" said Charlie
"Well your mother tends to focus more on others and music than herself and I think because she felt guilty leaving you behind and it had been weighing in on her, she was most likely shy about it" said Kousei
"Even so, Its taken 14 years for me to meet my mother again after she left me a few months after I turned 3, most of my childhood was spent with just my father and stepmother, although my father went to the Alien/Intergalactic Summit when I was 4 so I spent virtually a whole year at Grandpa Stu and Didi's, I just wished she had seen me at least on birthdays or Christmases as a surprise like Christmas miracle or something" said Charlie
"Its been a long time and with regards to wishing to see your mother on Christmas and Birthdays, I can actually relate to you considering my parents situation, my mother died when I was 12 of a terminal illness, but she pushed me to my breaking point when it came to music which is why I can be seen as very robotic in the way I play, as for my father he is a workaholic CEO of the Takahiko Corporation, he would come in and out of home from time to time with my neighbours whom I'm still close friends with looking after me and at one point for 3 years he apparently fell through a dimension portal and ended up being pulled out with the help of the Takahiko Corporation and ARI..." said Kousei
"ARI, that's who my dad works for" said Charlie
"I've heard, Dil Pickles isn't it, he apparently a senior member there" said Kousei
"Yeah he is the Vice-President of the Alien Research Institute, he sometimes goes off exploring many dimesnions as well as universes in our multiverse" said Charlie
"He sounds very senior in ARI, my father set up his own space division in the Takahiko Corporation as he is the richest man in the region plus he apprantly has tech knowledge from the dimesnion he was trapped in for 3 years" said Kousei
"Maybe they may become rivals someday" said Charlie chuckling
"Maybe" said Kousei
At that moment Kaori, Ushio and Chopin had returned holding ice creams
"We are back and we got both of you Ice creams" said Kaori smiling as she gives Charlie and Kousei ice creams
"How was the ride, Ushio" said Charlie
"It was a lot of fun, Kaori was scared of all the monsters on the ride" said Ushio
"No I didn't" said Kaori
Charlie and Kousei laughed as the 5 of them went on more fairground rides as well as going to a 80s themed neon diner afterwards