"So, what exactly is going on here?" asked Kimi.

"So," said Tommy, "It's kind of a homage to Tarantino. We filmed a lot yesterday at this awesome monastery up in the mountains."

"So gorgeous." added Lil.

"So it's kind of based on Kill Bill." continued Tommy. "You've got your inexplicable explosions, your excessive blood spray and, of course, your babes."

"You don't have to sound so excited about that last part." said Lil.

And here," he said, pointing up, "Is my favorite part. See that there?"

Kimi shielded her eyes from the sun and glanced up. "What is that?"

"The girls are going to be sliding down on that cord, on these harnesses. After we finish, it's going to be really cool, like they're flying in anime style slow motion."

Dil put his arm around Kimi and grinned. "That does sound pretty awesome."

"The girls?" asked Chuck.

Angelica cleared her throat and tilted her head discreetly. Everyone followed her gaze. A gaggle of tall, slim and gorgeous Chinese girls stood nearby, talking rapidly in Mandarin.

Angelica made an indignant noise and swatted Chuck's arm. "Hey, linger much?"

"Sorry, sorry!"

"Alright, guys," said Tommy. "Pick your chins up off the floor. Even if you were single, you don't want those girls. They haven't exactly been a pleasure to work with."

"Hey, guys." Susie appeared, kissing Phil on the cheek. "Tommy, we good to go?"

"Yeah, everything's ready."

Susie adjusted her leotard and picked up a big sword smeared with red. "Alright, let's finish this up."

"Ok, everyone," said Tommy, "Let's get started. Ladies, you ready?"

The models approached, still giggling over something. The tallest one flipped her long, shiny black hair and it practically glittered in the sunlight. "Where do we go?"

"We're doing the zipline today. So, follow Frank to the—where is Ling?"

"She no come today."

"Um…because?"

"She sick."

"Wait, what? But we need six girls! Did the agency send someone else?"

"No one available. We do it with five."

Tommy pinched the bridge of his nose. "I'm the director here!"

"Wow, someone's letting success get to their head," said Lil.

Phil nudged Tommy. "I think she means you," he said in a loud whisper.

"Ok, girls," said Tommy, "Just follow Frank and get suited up in the harnesses. I'll be over there in a minute."

Tommy turned to the group. "What are we gonna do?"

Susie shrugged. "We can do it with five."

"Man, it'll ruin my whole concept."

"What about Kimi?" asked Dil.

"What?!" asked Kimi.

Tommy clapped his hands. "Kimi!"

"No!" she shrieked. "Are you guys crazy? I'm not a model!"

Tommy grabbed her shoulders. "You don't have to be! You just get into the harness and slide across the zipline. You're one of the most fearless people I know!"

"You can't have five Chinese girls and one Japanese girl! People can tell the difference, ya know!"

Phil tsk tsked. "White people."

"I think you'd be great," said Susie with a wide smile.

Kimi sighed. "Fine. But I'm not wearing one of those ridiculous costumes."

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"I thought I made it clear I'm not wearing a ridiculous costume."

"I'm confused," said Phil. "It certainly looks like you're wearing a ridiculous costume."

"It's not that bad," said Lil.

Kimi tried to smooth down the shiny red and gold fabric of her very short hanfu dress. "I feel like such a stereotype. And could this be any shorter!"

"Kimi," said Tommy. "I can't stress this enough. Thank you for doing this. Let's get you hooked up to the harness."

The models were already connected to their harnesses, looking bored. "Bout time." said one, examining her nails.

A crew member helped Kimi get into her harness and Susie took her place up front. "Ok," said Tommy, "You're going to feel yourself lifted up—"

Kimi shrieked.

"I told you."

"Thanks for the warning."

"You doing it wrong." said one of the girls.

"How can I be doing it wrong? I have no control over this!"

"You have to swing!" said another girl. "Your body! Go!"

Kimi tried to propel her body forward.

The girls all rolled their eyes.

"Um, is it just me or was that in perfect unison?" Angelica whispered into Chuck's ear.

"Creepy."

"She not a model!"

"I'm trying!" screamed Kimi. "I didn't even want to do this!"

She sighed and dropped her body limp in exasperation. She was now swinging around like a pendulum.

"Um, Kimi," said Lil, "I don't know if you're aware, but, you're putting on a little show for us all."

Everyone laughed.

"Oh, real mature, guys!" said Kimi, pulling her skirt down.

"Stop looking at my girlfriend's underwear!"

"She not even Chinese!" shouted a model. "She Japanese!"

Kimi rolled her eyes. "I'm Japa—wait, yes!" she shrieked. "I am Japanese! Finally! Someone got it! I can't—ahhh!"

At this point, Kimi catapulted forward.

"Sorry!" called a crew member. "Adjusting."

"Ok," said Tommy. "Let's do this!"

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"Can you believe this place?" asked Tommy.

"The whole street is like this," said Susie. "Nothing but antique stores, book stores and specialty shops."

"Some of this stuff is really cool," said Dil, pointing at a store front covered in gilded gold letters. "This place is dedicated to antique teapots."

"Well, we gotta go in there," said Phil with false enthusiasm.

"Yeah!" said Dil as he ran in.

"I was...kidding…ok, guys, looks like we're looking at teapots now."

A bell tinkled as they entered the tiny, dim shop. Dil was engaged in conversation with the shopkeeper.

Angelica picked up a bronze teapot and carefully inspected it. Lil appeared at her side. "Cute," she said. She lifted the price tag. "Ok, not that cute."

Chuck glanced up from the jade green glazed teapot in his hand. Tommy, Susie and Phil were talking with the shopkeeper. Angelica and Lil were chatting over some bronze teapots. Dil and Kimi seemed cozy in a corner, looking at, of course, more teapots. At least they seemed to be back to normal, thought Chuck. Angelica was still acting a little odd. He walked over to his wife.

"Hey there." Angelica looked up and gave him a weak smile. Lil smiled and left to inspect some red teapots on the opposite wall.

"I'm thinking about getting this green teapot."

"Uh, I don't know," she replied. "I mean, the teapot is nice, but what do you think of the teapot?"

He grinned. "I think it'll look nice in our kitchen."

Angelica nodded. "I think so, too…I saw some cups that would go perfectly with it. She took his hand and he felt really weird for a moment, but a good weird. Like when she held his hand for the first time underneath the old oak tree. She led him to a little nook. "Here." she said. She showed him the cups, an identical jade green, but the insides of the cups were a pretty earthy brown.

He kissed her golden head. "Perfect. Let's get them."

"Anyone else hungry?" asked Kimi.

"I am," answered Angelica, "As long as it's not carp."

Chuck went to the register to pay for his purchases. One by one, the group reconvened out front.

"There's a street vendor," said Susie. "We can get something to hold us over until dinner."

"Kimi," said Chuck. "Translation, please?"

"Let's see...snail noodle soup, stinky tofu, steamed pork bun…donkey…"

"I miss America," sighed Angelica. "I'd kill for a steak right now.

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"Here you go," said the server, setting down a large plate in front of a visibly elated Angelica. "Porterhouse steak, medium rare."

"Thank you," she said in a voice that sounded more like she had just received a life-saving organ donation, instead of a slab of beef.

After everyone assured her they were good, the server walked away to check on the next table.

"Are you happy now?" asked Susie.

Angelica nodded vigorously, mouth full of steak.

"And you didn't have to kill anyone," said Chuck, handing her a napkin.

Lil was excitedly showing Dil and Kimi photos of her dog, Copper, on her phone. Kimi smiled and nodded for what felt like the hundredth time and made evil eyes at Tommy.

Tommy grinned. "Babe, I think Kimi's trying to finish her food."

"Aww, but look! In his little Halloween costume! Did you guys see that?"

"Yes!" said the entire table in unison. Lil made a face. "Well, ok then. I'll stop with the pictures."

Phil nudged Tommy. "For the love of God, marry the girl already. This obsession with the dog is unhealthy."

"I don't think you're one to tell me what's healthy. You wet the bed until you were 12."

"Hey! Lil! Can't you keep a secret?"

"Holy crap," said Angelica. "That was the best meal of my life. And I kind of just want to go to bed now. Am I lame?"

"A little," said Tommy.

"But we don't hold it against you," finished Dil.

"My dear cousins, everybody."

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"I still can't believe it," said Angelica. "It's already over." She stood at the window, watching the sun rise over the skyline.

"Yeah," said Chuck, handing her a cup of coffee. "But we'll have a lot of good memories."

She took the coffee in one hand and adjusted her fluffy white robe in the other. She blew on the coffee to cool it. "Like what? The gross food? The sweltering heat? The oppressive crowds?"

Chuck raised his eyebrows.

"Ok, ok, I'm kidding…I actually had a great time. I guess I'm just trying to make myself ready to go home…because I'm actually not. It was a nice break from reality, you know?"

"We'll take another trip soon," he said, kissing the nape of her neck. "Maybe in the fall? To the mountains."

"Hmm," she said.

"Let's eat breakfast and pack." he said. "Flight's leaving in just a few hours."

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"So," said Susie. She held Angelica's hands in hers. "I guess this is it, for a while. Phil and I will be here a couple more days and then New York for a few days and then rehearsals and tour."

Angelica smiled. "I always knew one of us was going to make it big one day, Carmichael…I just thought it'd be me."

Every ding of the elevator startled Angelica. When Chuck got down to the lobby, they had to go and she had to go back to the real world.

The doors opened and Tommy and Lil stepped out. "Good morning!" said Lil. She bounded across the lobby and wrapped Susie in a hug. Susie grinned. "Let me guess."

"What?" asked Angelica. Lil grinned widely and raised her left hand. She wriggled her fingers. A diamond sparkled.

"Oh my God!" shrieked Angelica. "Really? Really?!" She started bounding up and down with Lil. "That's so exciting!" said Angelica, wrapping her cousin in a hug. "Congratulations!" Tommy hugged her back. "Thanks, Ang. We're really happy."

Dil, Phil and Kimi appeared, back from the breakfast bar. "Hey, check out these awesome hats Dil and I got at the gift store," said Phil. "I look like Indiana Jones."

Lil wriggled her fingers again and Kimi started shrieking. "How does she do that?" asked Tommy.

Phil grinned and clapped Tommy's back. "Congratulations. Welcome to the family."

The elevator dinged and Chuck stepped out, a cart full of luggage behind him. "Good morning." he said.

"Good morning," said Lil with what was supposed to be a casual yawn.

He grinned. "Yes, I see your ring, Lil. Congratulations." He kissed her cheek and gave Tommy a hug. "Soooo….lots of excitement this week, huh? Everyone ready to go home? Tommy, Lil, Kimi, Dil, wanna share a cab to the airport? I saw a van out there earlier."

Kimi cleared her throat. She took Dil's hand in hers. "Actually, we have an announcement to make."

"Oh, God." said Chuck. "You got my little sister pregnant?!"

Dil's ears tinged red. "What? No! We're just…not going with you guys."

"Come again?" asked Chuck.

"I'm staying in Japan, for now at least," said Kimi. "And Dil has decided to stay with me."

Tommy gave his brother a shocked look. "This is kind of crazy, man. Don't you think? You're not even going to go home to, I dunno, think about it? Or at least get your stuff or...?"

Dil shrugged. "I mean, yeah. It's crazy. But if we never did anything crazy, nothing would get done in this world. I mean, Susie wouldn't be a huge star and you wouldn't be a director and you guys wouldn't be living your dreams. And I think we all know Angelica wouldn't be married to Chuck."

Angelica shrugged. "I'll give him that. I mean, we all have done a lot of crazy things….Things that seemed insane and pointless….things that we were scared to do….but it got us to where we are today."

"Exactly," said Dil. "…I'll go home eventually. I'll get all that other stuff taken care of. But for now, we're taking a flight back to Japan tomorrow."

Chuck sighed and wrapped his arms around his sister. "I was sure I'd get to see you at home soon."

"So, you're taking the job in Kyoto?" asked Susie.

"No," said Kimi. "I'm not sure what I want to do, but I know I don't want to be stuck in one place for too long. And Dil has been so patient while I've been off finding myself. I think we'll do what he wants to do for a while."

Dil smiled and wrapped his arm around her shoulder. "Well."

"Well," said Susie.

"I guess this is good bye...for now." said Angelica.

"Yeah," said Phil. "Just for now."

There were hugs and good byes and see you laters all around and the departing party finally made it to the airport and started the long journey home.

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"So," said Angelica, yawning as she kicked off her shoes. "That was exhausting."

"I think you mean exhilarating." Chuck said, setting down his suitcase. He shut and locked the front door behind them.

"Both. What time is it?"

"You don't want to know. Let's get to bed. If we sleep all night and all day tomorrow, we might be caught up by Monday morning."

Moments later, Angelica was in her favorite silk pajamas and in her own bed and more than ready to sleep a ridiculously long time. Chuck returned, wearing plaid pajama pants, and crawled into bed with her. She sighed and snuggled up against his bare chest. He yawned and set his glasses down on the nightstand. "So, we've probably had enough excitement for a while, huh?"

Angelica opened her eyes as if she suddenly remembered something. "Chuckie?"

"Yes, Babydoll?"

"I—nothing."

He stroked her hair. "Are you sure?"

"I was just going to say—I think you're right. We've had enough excitement for now."

He smiled and kissed her head, then leaned over and turned off the lamp. "Good night."

"Good night."

End of Part 5. Part 6 up very soon.