I did another thing, look at me being a productive lil writer even though I started classes!

All feedback appreciated!

Edited 1/2/23. Edit notes at the end of the chapter.

Lara stared straight ahead at Sam in shock. Hisao Nishimura's daughter? That Hisao Nishimura? The same one who would rather lay off hundreds of workers than raise wages in compliance with regional law? The same one who funded conversion camps in the United States?

"Bullshit," she blurted out with a frown, "there's no way." This only served to further anger Sam, who roughly shoved a hand into her pants pocket and pulled out what appeared to be a plain leather wallet.

"You want fucking proof?" She demanded, flipping it open, "here's my license and the ID card I use to get into his studio." She pulled those two things out and held them so close to Lara's face, she had to lean back to see what they said. Sure enough, on the left was a New York State driver's license that said 'Samantha Nishimura' on it, and had Sam's picture right next to that. On the right was a red identification card that said at the very top 'Nishimura Corporation' and 'New York' right underneath it, along with Sam's name and her photo as well.

"I suppose it looks real," she admitted quietly. Either Sam was telling the truth, or she was really good at making fake IDs.

"That's because it is real," Sam spat frustratedly, "why would I be lying about something like this? Why would I want to be related to my dad?!" Lara supposed she had a point, and immediately felt guilty for everything she had said to that point.

"I-" she began, but Sam shook her head disgustedly and put her wallet back into her pocket.

"I don't know why I'm wasting my time, you still think I'm lying. Forget it, what do I know?" She said, turning on the spot and throwing her hands up in the air, "I'm just a 'spoiled rich girl', after all." She started to walk away.

"Sam, wait!" Lara pleaded, one hand outstretched in front of her. Sam stopped mid-stride and turned around to regard Lara impatiently.

"What?"

"I didn't mean that, I was angry, I just-" Lara looked down at her watch and let out an exasperated sigh, "I'm going to be late for work, can we please do this after?"

"I'll think about it," Sam replied coolly, and then she walked off without another word, leaving a stunned Lara standing there all alone in the middle of a busy sidewalk.

What if Sam is actually telling the truth? Lara thought to herself. Supposing that was the case: that Sam was genuinely concerned that one day in London, that Sam was actually Hisao's daughter, what did that mean? That the fact Lara was a Croft didn't matter to her? That she was someone who genuinely wanted to be a friend? What did it mean, then, that Sam was now mad at her?

How long would it be until Lara encountered someone else like that, considering Sam was possibly the first? The more she thought about it, the more she remembered how open and inviting Sam had been right from the beginning. She had also been very respectful of boundaries, in general, up until that one day in London. Lara found herself wondering whether or not it was possible for all that to have been a lie, when she suddenly realized something.

She really was behaving like her father.

"Damnit, Dick!" Roth growled, slamming a hand down on her father's desk, "You can't just continue avoiding Lara like this! She's your daughter, for Christ's sake!"

"You don't understand," Richard said so quietly that Lara almost couldn't hear from where she hid behind one of the towering wooden doors that was cracked open, "every time I look at her, I-"

"I know you miss Amelia, Dick. But Lara is still your child, it's not healthy for her to grow up like this and it's not healthy for you to avoid her just because she reminds you of-"

"I'm not going to be told how to handle raising my own damn daughter!" Richard raised his voice at Roth before clearing his throat and resuming more quietly, "I'm going to have to ask you to leave."

"Richard, you-?!" Roth began before he was promptly cut off.

"I'm not going to ask again," Richard said dangerously. Roth paused for a moment, then sighed and shook his head before turning on the spot and leaving.

They hadn't known at the time that Lara was listening, but she heard everything. She knew that the reason her father constantly avoided her was because she looked too much like her mother. It was roughly around after she had heard that exchange that she started wearing her hair up in a ponytail instead of let down. It got her father to talk to her again for a brief period, but in the end it always ended up the same way.

Richard Croft: always avoiding, always emotionally distant, always refusing to trust or listen to anyone. Lara didn't want to be anything like that man; she needed to talk to Sam as soon as she could. But for the time being-

"Shit!" Lara exclaimed when she looked down at her watch, drawing a few glares from some elderly passersby. She was so lost in her train of thought that she nearly forgot she had to get to work. She immediately turned around and started lightly jogging to the Nine Bells. If she was lucky, she'd only be a few minutes late for her shift.

As it turned out, she was only a minute late but she still made a point of apologizing profusely to Wilson, her boss, all the same. Not that he was really worried about it considering he had an employee not show up earlier in the day, and was simply happy to get some reprieve. After clocking in and washing her hands off, Lara took up her position behind the bar and started to work her way through the crowd that had amassed on the other side.

Swamped as she was with taking orders, mixing drinks, and removing used pint glasses, she had little time for indulging her thoughts until her shift finally, mercifully ended. As she walked back down the same sidewalk Sam had confronted her on just hours before and pocketed her considerable wad of tip money, she wondered how she was going to handle the situation at hand. After all, it wasn't as though Sam was unjustified in being angry with her, assuming she was actually Hisao Nishimura's daughter.

She is Hisao Nishimura's daughter, Lara had to remind herself firmly. It was the only explanation that made sense when she tried to rationalize Sam's actions earlier. Unless Sam had known from the start she was a Croft and just wanted to get Lara to let her guard down? Stop that! Lara mentally berated herself. For once she was going to have to let herself trust someone else's word.

Her feet were heavier than usual as she ascended the steps to her floor in the dorm hall, and her hands were cold with dread. What was she going to say to Sam if she was there? What could she say to make her roommate less angry at her? She paused in front of her door, keys in hand, and hesitated. She could just walk away, and not deal with it. She could just avoid Sam until the end of the term the way she had been for the past week or two. They'd never need to talk again.

Then she remembered the way her father used to avoid her, and she inserted her keys into the lock with new resolve. She let the door slowly slide open, stepped in, pulled her keys out, and finally looked up as it swung shut behind her. Sam was looking up as well from where she sat on her bed, regarding her with suspicious, narrowed eyes. They sat there in silence for several minutes, and Lara slinked over to where her desk was and sat on the edge of it, unconsciously thumbing the jade magatama that hung around her neck. Then, she started speaking without really knowing what words were coming out of her mouth.

"You know…" she began, holding the pendant flat in her palm and looking down at it, "I found this thing on a dig with my father when I was only five years old. It was my first find, in fact." She smiled softly to herself for a moment before continuing, "Of course, my father was too busy to be bothered with seeing what I dug up, so I showed it to his friend, Roth, instead." She looked up from the pendant to see that Sam had closed her laptop, which had been sitting on top of her lap, by that point and had swung to a sit on the edge of her bed to listen more intently. Lara didn't continue to speak, so she began to speak.

"So you weren't very close to your father?" Sam asked.

"That's…difficult to answer." It was the truth. "Are you close with yours?"

"Not really. I'm not close with either of mine," Sam replied.

"You know what it's like to have a father who raves about conspiracies?"

"I know what it's like to have a father who screams about hate."

"Similar concept, I guess."

"Why are you asking all these questions?"

"I suppose it's because I'm trying to understand you instead of judging you the way I did earlier today." Lara looked Sam dead in the eye, "I'm really sorry about that, by the way." Lara scanned Sam's face for a reaction. Sam's general affect remained calm and neutral, however.

"It's okay," Sam said, getting up onto her feet, "I'm not angry. At least, not anymore. I was thinking about it when I got back, and I understand why you reacted the way you did. And getting an apology helps."

"You're...not mad?" Lara repeated slowly.

"Not anymore," Sam reiterated, "and before you ask, yes I accept your apology. I don't know about you, but I'm kind of relieved the cat's finally out of the basket and I can start being my real self around someone. What do you say to starting all over and reintroducing ourselves-our real selves-to each other?" She asked, holding a hand out.

"...Alright…" Lara agreed hesitantly, stretching a hand out to take Sam's.

"I'm Sam," Sam smiled cheekily as she shook Lara's hand, "Sam Nishimura. Wanna go dancing?"

Edit note: honestly didn't need to change too much, but I edited their conversation at the end because the old version was completely irrelevant and wordy. Trimmed some fat, too.

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