Mother

Hana paced nervously in front of the park bench as he surveyed the grass. Although he had only been there for ten minutes, he was anxious no one else had arrived. His bit his bottom lip in frustration and tightened his hands into fists.

"I'm sorry, Hana."

Mei's voice startled him. He spun around quickly to address her. She was standing rigidly in front of him with one of her hands rested flat against her stomach.

"Where have you been? I was waiting for you."

"I was delayed," she replied.

"She'll be here any minute," he sighed. "How should we do this?"

"Just talk to her in the same manner you would normally. I shouldn't need to say anything."

Hana shifted his body weight a few times between his feet and weakly exhaled. Mei sat on the left end of the bench and smiled at him. She didn't move her hand from her stomach, and Hana frowned at her.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"You should sit down, Hana." She ignored his question and sighed. "You'll need to be calm."

"Why are you holding your stomach? What's wrong with you?"

"She's here," Mei said abruptly.

"Oh, hello," Tamao said cheerfully as she approached. She slowed her pace and stood in front of the bench.

"Hello, Ms. Tamamura," Mei replied. "How coincidental for you to be here today. Why don't you join us?"

"Uh, yeah," Hana added uncomfortably. "Are you busy?"

"No, I have a few minutes." She sat beside Mei. "What are you kids doing out here?"

Hana sat reluctantly on the right side of the bench. "Just...talking."

"Really? About what?"

"Well..." He bit his bottom lip. "People at school keep talking about this girl named Matilda. I asked Papa about her, and he said she was Hao's friend."

Tamao viewed the swaying trees in the distance with an ambiguous expression.

"Did you know her?" Hana asked as innocently as possible.

Mei briefly closed her eyes and clenched her teeth as they waited for a response.

"Yes...I knew her."

Hana was greatly disappointed that she ended her statement there and knew she had no intention of elaborating. Mei rubbed her neck with her free hand and stared at the grass below.

"What was she like?"

"Yoh told you about her?" Tamao asked as if she needed confirmation.

"Well, yeah," he replied quickly, "but, we didn't get to talk for very long about it."

"She was Hao's only friend. But not the good kind."

"What do you mean?"

Mei clenched her teeth again and lowered her head.

"Hana, I don't really feel comfortable talking with you about this."

"But, Papa told me about her. He even told me about Hao."

"He did?" Tamao seemed surprised by the statement and frowned.

"I asked him about it, and he told me," Hana repeated. "He said they didn't get along because he was so different."

Tamao paused for a moment and bit her bottom lip. She clasped her hands together tightly in her lap and took a deep breath.

"Maybe you should talk to your father about this," she said finally. "It really isn't my place."

Hana opened his mouth to protest, but they were both startled when Mei fell off of the bench to the ground. Tamao knelt beside her quickly to help her up, thinking she collapsed, but she stood on her feet without assistance.

"Mei?" Hana called.

"Are you okay?" Tamao asked.

"Yes." Her tone was blank. "I'm very sorry, but Hana and I have to leave now."

"What?" Hana frowned at her.

"Well, let me take you back to the house at least."

"No, thank you." Mei politely waved her off. "Hana and I will walk."

"Are you sure you're up to it?" he asked.

"Walking will help." She narrowed her eyes at him. "Let's go. Now."

"Okay, well..." Tamao hesitated. "Please be careful. Stay out of trouble."

Mei brusquely grabbed Hana's arm and led him along the dirt path away from the bench. Tamao stared at them but didn't follow. They walked in silence for several minutes until Mei stopped her pace. Hana quickly pulled away from her.

"Is she still watching?" she asked without turning around.

"No, she's gone. What the hell was that?"

"Good grief. That woman's mind races like a wild horse."

"You...faked it?"

"No. It was overwhelming. Quite frankly, it made me nauseous."

"Really?" Hana folded his arms over his chest with an impressed smirk.

"She was thinking about so many things at once; I'm surprised she was able to have a conversation with you," Mei said bitterly as they continued their walk.

"So, what did you find out?"

"Matilda didn't lie to you about knowing Hao; Your father snores; And, from what I can tell, Hao is very evil and dangerous."

"You don't even know him yet. And, how would she know if Papa snores or not?"

"She lived with them before you were born," she replied. "I don't have to meet him to confirm that assessment. He tried to kill your mother."

His eyes widened, but the expression quickly morphed into a frown. "Are you sure it wasn't an accident or something?"

"No. He attempted it more than once. He hated her."

"Why would he hate my mother?" Hana was frightened by Mei's statement. His pace gradually slowed.

"I don't think you want to know the answer to that question," she said.

"You're not telling me everything, are you?"

"Hana..." She paused and swallowed. "As your friend and a person who happens to be slightly smarter than you, I strongly advise we abort this plan."

"What? We have to go! That was the whole point!"

"Yes, but now we know Hao is dangerous. Which means if he wants to meet you, it may be a trap."

"How can you say that, and you haven't even met him?" Hana kicked a nearby rock with anger. "Maybe he's just misunderstood like Papa said."

"I knew I wouldn't be able to convince you to abandon this," she sighed, "but, it was my obligation as your friend to warn you. We have to be careful, Hana. You have to watch yourself when we get there, and don't believe everything you hear."

She placed her hand over her stomach again, and Hana stepped in front of her.

"What's wrong with your stomach? Why do you keep doing that?"

"I'm fine."

She reached into the fold of her dress. He nervously took a step back.

"What are you doing?"

"I found this in my father's room," she replied as she pulled out a moderately sized photograph. "It was hidden underneath a floor board."

Hana stared at her and hesitated as she handed it to him.

"Look at it, Hana."

He held the photograph in both hands and stared at it for several moments without speaking. Mei studied his face intently and nervously waited for a response.

"What is this?" he asked finally.

Mei stood beside him so they could look at the photograph together. The picture was taken outside in front of a building they didn't recognize, and the group appeared to be teenagers.

"There's Mama and Papa," Hana said as he pointed. "Oh, and Tamao."

"And my father," Mei added.

"Who are they?" Hana pointed to a girl and boy in the group. The boy was taller, and they both had blue hair. The girl was smiling, but the boy wore an irritated frown.

"I don't know," Mei replied. "I've never seen them before. But, you're missing the point."

"What?"

"Look." She pointed at the center of the photograph. The girl standing next to her father had a very shy smile, and was much shorter. Ren appeared to be holding her waist, but Mei was unable to make out the image clearly. Hana didn't notice her until Mei pointed her out, and when he saw the white hair and scarlet eyes he blinked slowly and swallowed hard.

"Who is that?"

"She has to be my mother," Mei replied with enthusiasm.

"You look just like her. She's even wearing the same weird dress."

"Her dress is white, Hana."

"Yeah, but still," he mumbled.

"There are names on the back." She lightly rubbed an eyebrow with her finger. "The ones I didn't recognize were Horo, Jeanne and Pirika."

Hana stared at their faces again and exhaled.

"I'm assuming Horo is the boy with the blue hair, which leaves Pirika and Jeanne."

"It has to be Jeanne," he said lowly.

"How do you know?"

"Well, Pirika is a Japanese name, and, she's definitely not Japanese."

"Are you sure?" Mei asked skeptically.

"I'm Japanese." He seemed offended by her question. "I know a Japanese name when I see one."

Mei took a few steps in front of him and clutched her chest with her hands. Hana frowned at her, but his scowl faded when he heard her sniffing.

"Mei?"

"My mother's name...is Jeanne." The statement conjured unexpected tears.

"At least you know now."

"I have to find her," she said abruptly and turned around.

"Why?" He tightened his jaw. "She abandoned you. Why would you want to find the woman who gave you up?"

"I want to know why she did it," she replied. "I need to know if she loves me."

"But...there's gotta be a reason why Uncle Ren won't talk about her. He went through a lot to keep you from this. I mean, you said the picture was hidden."

"Did you think I just fell from the sky, Hana?" She glared at him with bitterness and resentment. "...That I'm some kind of scientific experiment?"

Hana didn't respond and watched her with a confusion.

"I have a mother." She lightly hit her chest with a flat fist. "I deserve to know her. I deserve to find her."

Hana glanced at the photo again and closed his eyes."Maybe we shouldn't go. You should look for her."

"No, we're going," she replied quickly.

"I don't understand." He scratched his crinkled nose.

"Hao must have known my father when they were teenagers. He may know my mother as well."

"You think he can help find her?"

"Well, at the very least, you'll be able to meet him," Mei said as she abruptly wiped tears from her face. "If he knows where my mother is, that would be a bonus."