Author's Note:
In SBY 2199, Yamato returned to Earth on December 8th. The first party in this story occurs on December 15th, and the second on December 25th.
A week after her interview—interrogation as she'd dubbed it—Kazuko received her official birth certificate, written in Kanji and English.
Daiba, Kazuko
Born May 11th, 2180
A pale-yellow sticky note in Sanada's slanted print read, "You were aboard Yamato with us. The world doesn't need to know who you are."
She grinned as she read her birth certificate again, but Sanada's note triggered a pang of homesickness.
"You all right?" said Daisuke. He tapped the document. "What's that?"
Kazuko hid her sadness with a smile and tagged Sanada's note to the back of the paper before she displayed it to Daisuke.
"This is great!" He wrapped her in a hug. "She got citizenship!" he announced to Kodai who, at his friend's exclamation, nearly fell off the short ladder he stood atop.
Kazuko snorted as Yuki kept Kodai from toppling over. Balanced on one foot, he tacked up another string of old Christmas lights. "That's great, Kazuko," he said. "Congratulations."
"We should celebrate," Daisuke said.
Kazuko drew back.
"Sorry… You don't like that idea…" Daisuke sighed.
"No! I do like it. I was just… surprised."
Daisuke's face lit.
Half an hour later, the four sat around Daisuke's tiny apartment's table. A red and green tablecloth draped it and some tinsel decorated a simple centerpiece.
Japan celebrated the New Year with more family than Christmas, but this little party served well for both occasions.
Their meal was ordinary—nothing worth speaking of—but there was a cupcake waiting for each of them once they'd finished.
Kazuko wiped the crumbs from her mouth mid-meal as Kodai said, "Yuki has some great news."
"Isn't it a little early for your first child?" Daisuke quipped.
Kazuko snorted and coughed as she choked her sip of water down the wrong way.
Yuki looked a little offended but gave in to everyone else's lightheartedness. "It's about the decontamination," she said with a smile. "Everyone can leave the underground cities sooner than planned."
Kazuko's heart beat a little faster.
Yuki squeezed Kodai's hand and said through unshed tears, "We're going back to the surface!"
The announcement spread faster than the news of Yamato's return. So many doubted they would ever see the sun again. Kazuko often wondered the same, and she knew others thought they would die trapped underground, hopeless.
One night, when neither of them could sleep, Daisuke whispered to her, "Everyone's so happy to be leaving this place." He gave her a kiss and smile before pulling her close.
Kazuko wished he wasn't so… measured.
Kodai rolled over in the bed below them and snored.
Kazuko blushed and wondered when they would have the chance to live on their own, without having to dodge someone else's life while they lived theirs. She sighed and huddled closer to Daisuke as she fell asleep.
Kazuko dried her sweaty hands on the bottom of her dark blouse for the fifth—or was it a sixth—time? The elevator chimed with every floor it passed. She took out her compact again and gave her face and hair one more thorough check before she got to the bottom floor. She studied her hair—plaited perfectly—and the worry lines on her face didn't show too much.
She put the mirror away. Her jeans tucked into her leather boots—one of the few things she still had from Arcadia's time — and she made sure her blouse hung over the blush pink belt she'd borrowed from Yuki. She preferred black, but Yuki didn't own one that color and she hadn't had the chance to ask anyone else.
Alizé's necklace hung around her neck and Tadashi's harmonica, which she never let out of her possession, lay in her handbag.
"Stop worrying." Daisuke flicked a loose strand of hair out of her face. "Mom will adore you."
Kazuko nodded, too nervous to say anything.
Daisuke knocked on the apartment door and Kazuko's heart pounded as his little brother—maybe eight or nine years old—answered it.
Daisuke raised waiting arms, and the boy jumped into them with a happy laugh. "Big brother!"
Daisuke whirled the boy in the air then knelt beside him and titled his head toward her. "Jiro, I present Daiba Kazuko."
"Your sweetheart?" Jiro teased with a grin.
Daisuke blushed. "Yes, she is." He turned to her. "Kazuko, Jiro."
She smiled at the boy as he nodded a greeting.
A dark-haired woman, a little tired, but quite happy, embraced Daisuke, then hugged Kazuko like she'd known her all her life. The gesture reminded Kazuko of Ilana. She faltered but held on to her smile and pushed away the memory.
"I'm Saori," the woman said. "You must be Kazuko?"
She nodded.
"Please, come in."
All four of them crowded into the tiny apartment. How did the three of them live here? It's like a shoe-box.
The set table was neat, and Kazuko admired Saori's efforts to fill it. There was even a wine bottle set near the center of the table.
"Their father gave me this." Saori picked up the wine. "Before the rationing started. He… went out to fight at the first Gamilon appearance. He bought this not long after Daisuke was born. He intended to open it upon his return…"
The room fell silent.
"But I can't think of a better occasion than right now." Saori smiled but couldn't hide the deep sadness in her eyes. "Please, sit." She offered Kazuko the best of the four chairs. "Would you like some wine?"
"Oh… yes, thank you," she said and stared uncomfortably at the drink, but took a sip and discovered it wasn't as sharp as she'd expected.
"I wanna try some too!" Jiro insisted.
"This is for adults, dear. You won't like it," his mother warned.
"Yes, I will," Jiro said.
Saori gave in and poured a small sip into her own glass. "Here."
Jiro took a tiny taste. "Blech!" He handed it back. "Water, please."
Kazuko bit back a laugh at the child's exaggerated disgust. Through the rest of the meal, she opted to listen rather than talk. As the outsider, she didn't feel right intruding into the conversation too much.
"Where are you from?" Jiro's question caught Kazuko off guard. "You don't talk like us. If you're from another country, how'd you get aboard Yamato?"
Kazuko hesitated. Truth? Or lie?
Daisuke stiffened and stared at his plate.
"My mother was… German. And Dad was Irish. I was born here and raised in Germany. When the bombings started, we moved back—before commercial flights got suspended."
Daisuke relaxed and took another bite of his dinner.
"Are they soldiers?" Saori propped her chopsticks on her plate.
"No… But they… died…" Vivid memories of that terrible day came back. I'm lucky to be alive. But I can't think about that—or the Mazone—not right now. She touched her necklace out of instinct.
"Do you have any siblings? Or were you an only child?" said Saori.
Kazuko stopped, chopsticks poised two inches off her plate. "Oh! No, I'm not an only child," she answered a little too loudly. She glanced from Jiro to Daisuke. "My brother and sister… they're gone too, but I won't ever forget them."
Saori covered her mouth. "I'm so sorry, dear. I didn't realize…" She took another bite of her dinner as the room fell silent. Saori blushed a little. "I didn't dare to ask before, but, how did you two meet?"
Through the rest of the meal Daisuke told how their relationship began—how they hadn't spoken to one another until Tadashi's death. He related Kazuko's friendships with Yuki, then Kodai, and then him, but he left out the time travel part.
"Come into the living room," Saori said as she finished cleaning up the dishes.
Kazuko followed Daisuke and a radiant Jiro. In the corner stood an artificial fir, surrounded by a few colorfully wrapped presents. Saori handed one to Jiro and another to Daisuke. To Kazuko's surprise, she gave her one too.
I should have brought something for them. She undid each wrapped corner without tearing the paper. Under the box lid she found a dozen colorful hair clips, decorated with sparkling faux jewels.
"I haven't used them in a long time," Saori said. "I thought you might like them."
"Yes! Thank you so much." Kazuko smiled at the woman's thoughtfulness as Daisuke and Jiro held up similar trinkets and grinned.
When Kazuko checked the time again, it was eleven o'clock.
"Get to bed, Jiro," Saori said.
"But I'm not tired," he yawned as his eyes drooped.
"Go on," his mother shooed him. "You have school tomorrow."
"Christmas should never be on Wednesday," Jiro protested as he dragged out of the living room and down the short hall to his tiny bedroom.
"Why don't you two stay over tonight? It's late. You can drive back in the morning. I still have Daisuke's old room put together. And you can borrow some of my clothes." She left and returned with folded green pajamas. Kazuko took them and nodded.
"Thanks, Mom. Good night."
"Good night, dear."
Daisuke took Kazuko's hand and led her to his old room.
She stared at the posters and decorations sporting unfamiliar cartoon characters.
"I was a kid when we moved in here," he said sheepishly. "I thought Mom would have taken all this down by now."
"Not laughing," she said. "Want to know what my room looked like?"
"What?"
"I hadn't changed it since I was eight. The walls were bright candy pink, just like I insisted."
"Still like pink?"
"No," she chuckled. "I wanted to change it…" Her face fell. "But that never happened."
Daisuke laid a warm hand on her arm. "I'm sorry."
"It's okay." She shook her head. "I knew I'd never go back there. I accepted that a long time ago." Guess that's no different from anyone else around here—not being able to get back to the homes they loved. The clock near the door read eleven twenty. "You ready to go to sleep? I know I am."
Daisuke nodded and headed for the bathroom, pajama pants under his arm. When he came back, she was already tucked in. He slid under the covers beside her and wrapped an arm around her waist. His warmth dulled the room's chill, and she fell asleep to the sound of his heart.
I'm glad you're with me… Daisuke.
Kazuko woke a little after eight and got up. She could never get back to sleep once she was awake. Daisuke still slept. She let him. Wonder what he's dreaming about. The look of peace on his face made her smile. He seems happy at least.
She tiptoed out of the room to find Jiro at the table. He chewed a nutrient bar as old cartoons played on a small tablet. When she came in, he took out his wireless earbuds.
"Sleep okay?" she said.
Jiro nodded. "You want some breakfast?" He offered her a bar.
"Thanks. Shouldn't you be at school?"
"Nah. We start later now that everyone's moving out. Most of the teachers left already." He closed his video app. "What's a real breakfast like?" he asked through another mouthful.
"You—you don't remember?"
Jiro shook his head.
Her throat grew tight. What else must he not know…? How much did these people lose during that awful war? "It's… like any other food, I suppose," she said as she thought back to the many meals she'd shared with her adoptive parents.
"You excited to leave the underground cities?" Jiro said.
"Of course!"
"Will you live with Daisuke?"
"Probably."
"Not going back to Germany?"
She shuffled a little farther from the boy and eyed her nutrient bar. "No. I'm Japanese now."
"What did your home city look like?"
Kazuko took a moment. First bombardment was eight years ago… so that would make me eleven. "It was beautiful. I remember old buildings and green parks."
"What else?" Jiro's eyes brightened.
"My uncle… uh… Franz let me babysit his daughter, and sometimes he took us to my favorite park. It was like walking into another world—like you see in pictures sometimes." Well, Uncle Franz, you look a lot like Harlock. But you could be German, I guess. And there are gardens inside Death Shadow Island.
Jiro handed her his tablet. "Show me!"
Kazuko took the device. Germany—Germany. She found a website with a few pictures of old Germany and showed them to Jiro.
"Is he still alive, uh, Fu-rla-un-su?" He scrolled through the pictures in awe.
"Franz," she corrected. Of course, he can't pronounce German well. Should have picked something else. "I… believe he's dead."
"Oh…" Jiro didn't flinch at her answer.
What kind of world is it when death doesn't surprise children…? This kid deserves the chance to see something more than this dismal place. I wish he could experience it all right now. "Here. Let me see if I can find some pictures of old Japan."
"Really?" Jiro handed her his tablet again. "Sure!"