A/N: This is Yumi's fight.

Chapter 20. Fight

"We're very sorry, but we can't grant your request, Mizuno-san, Satou-san. Let's just leave it that way," Fukuzawa Yuuichiro said once again to their visitors. He knew that they were her daughter's friends before, and that they cared for her, but he didn't want her daughter's life to be in a mess again.

"Mr. Fukuzawa, Mrs. Fukuzawa, we know that you only want to protect Yumi-chan, but I can assure you, Sachiko had already made sure that no member of her family would touch Yumi or any of you again. She had her grandfather's men stop from following all your movements, of Yumi-chan's movements," Youko said. She wanted this to be over. Sachiko certainly had done what should be done in her family, but on the matter about Yumi, she wasn't doing anything, because she didn't know how to convince the Fukuzawa couple, still feeling guilt about everything. If Sachiko wouldn't do anything, then she would.

The Fukuzawa couple shared a look. Knowing the power and wealth of the Ogasawaras, it's impossible to believe that nothing would happen to their daughter, or any member of their family for that matter, in the near future.

A silence ensued, before Youko decided to break it.

"You need not to even think about Sachiko, Sir, Mam. We want to ask you a question, is it really alright with you that your own daughter doesn't know some of her past? What she knows now is what you told her, not because she had known it all along. I guess that she knows now hardly covers everything about her past. What would you do once her memory came back? I'm sure she would be hurt to know you kept something important from her. We know you did what you had to, but don't you want Yumi-chan to be happy? Don't you want to have your real daughter back? Is she really happy the way she is now?" Youko asked the couple whose expressions turned into tormented ones.

"Please reconsider, Mr. Fukuzawa, Mrs. Fukuzawa. Here's my address and number if you have changed your mind," Youko said as she handed her business card to the couple.

---o---

"Mom, I don't want to leave!" Yumi said in surprise when her Mom said that they were going back to the US.

They can't leave. She can't leave.

"Yumi-chan, you will leave with us whether you like it or not," her Mom said sternly, using the tone that she hadn't used on her before.

She looked at her Dad who nodded, and then to Yuuki who wasn't saying anything.

"Please, Dad, Mom, I want to stay. I don't want to go against you because I know that you are the ones who suffered so much with what happened to me. But Mom, Dad, I want to remember, I want to know what really happened. I'm tired anymore. There are times that I thought I'd go crazy thinking about things about my past," she pleaded.

"Yumi-chan," her Mom said worriedly, her resolve wavering at the look in her daughter's face.

"Mom, please…"

"Think about Yana-chan. Do you want her to be caught up with all of these troubles?

Yumi paused, thinking about her daughter, before she shook her head. She wouldn't want Yana to be involved in what seemed to be her crazy past.

"I won't let anything to happen to Yana. And I know you guys won't allow it either."

"If you have to choose between your past and the safety of Yana-chan and yourself, what would you chose?"

"You know I can't choose, Mom, Dad. Both my past and the safety of our family are important to me," Yumi said pleadingly.

"It was a mistake coming back here. We thought that we could start anew."

Her parents looked like they had aged a lot. She knew that one of the reasons of them coming back here in Japan was the difficulty in living in a different culture. Her parents were aging, and wanted to spend the rest of their lives in Japan. Initially, they didn't want her, Yuuki and Yana to go back with them, but she had insisted.

"Please Mom, Dad, I'm begging you. Let me know who I am. Let me know Sachiko. I know she has a big part in my life. I can't stop thinking about her, and she's always in my dreams," she continued.

The three people in front of her were surprised.

"You remember your dreams?" Yuuki asked.

She shook her head.

"No, I don't yet. But I have dreams about Sachiko ever since we came back here in Japan. And I'm having flashes of memory, all of them pertains to her," she added.

The three shared a look.

"And, I'm sorry to say this, Mom, Dad, but I destroyed my passport. I won't cooperate to have a new one. I want to stay here. Please understand me, like you had always done in the past. I don't want to hurt you more than you already had, but this is my life. I want the missing parts of me back. I want answers. Please…"

---o---

She couldn't sleep. She didn't want to leave Japan without talking to Sachiko. Sachiko had plagued her mind for so long she was going crazy. She wanted to see her badly, to talk to her, to ask her questions.

"Where can I find you, Sachiko?"

She wanted to see her so much that it hurt her. She's so scared that she wouldn't see her again.

"Who's Sachiko?"

Yumi almost jumped in surprise at the sound of another person. She turned to the little girl beside her.

"Did Mommy wake you, Baby?"

"Yana couldn't sleep."

"Did you have a bad dream?"

"Did Mommy have?"

"No, I did not."

"Then why Mommy is crying?"

"Mommy isn't crying."

"You are. See?"

Yana touched her cheek to prove her point. She hadn't noticed that tears had dripped from her eyes. She quickly wiped her cheek.

"It's wet Mommy."

"I didn't know I was crying. Did Mommy worry you?"

"Mommy, don't cry. Yana sad," the little girl said as she snuggled to Yumi.

"I'm sorry, Baby. I was just worried that Yana is mad because Mommy hadn't play with her this afternoon."

"Yana will be if Mommy won't buy her ice cream."

"Really? What flavor does my baby want?"

"I want chocolate! Please?!"

Yumi laughed as Yana made puppy eyes. No one could resist those eyes of her.

"Don't you want strawberry? We have strawberry ice cream."

"I want chocolate," the little girl repeated.

"And if no chocolate?" She teased.

"Chocolate," the little girl said stubbornly, pouting at her.

She laughed. She knew eventually she would give in to the little girl. Yana would stubbornly fight for what she wanted and she didn't want to handle a tantrum at this dead of the night.

"If you will be a good girl and sleep right now, then Mommy will buy lots of chocolate ice cream tomorrow."

"Yay!! Good night, Mommy. Love you!"

"Sweet dreams, Baby. I love you, too."

She smiled as she sung a lullaby for her sweet little girl, forgetting about her problems for a moment.

"I'm glad you came into my life, Yana. You had always made me happy. No matter how hard it was because I couldn't remember my past, you always made me smile. You made it easier to bear the loneliness I felt because of the missing part of my life, of the inability to connect my past with the present, of feeling incomplete. I could only give my thanks to your parents who left you to me, to us. Wherever they are, I hope they are happy," she said softly as she watched Yana sleeping peacefully, her heart swelling with love.

She could still remember the first time she had laid her eyes on Yana. Yana was barely a year old then, while she had already recovered her strength from being bed-ridden for so long, and was in college.

"This is hard! How am I going to do this," Yumi complained to herself for the nth time as she glared at her assignment.

She wanted to get a break, walk around the neighborhood, or probably go out for a while. But she couldn't. Unless someone would accompany her out, she couldn't leave the house. She's getting frustrated with her family's protectiveness after she left the hospital. Once she was well enough to go to school, she was always with her brother, or either Mom and Dad taking her back and forth to school and their home like she was some kid who didn't know her way around.

Their protectiveness had gotten worse after someone got killed right in front of her.

Despite those reasons, she's still getting frustrated. Being tied up in the house and the many questions running in her head, she was restless most of the time.

She was about to go to the kitchen when she heard someone giggling. She wanted to ignore it, but the sound seemed to be just somewhere within the house. She followed the sound, which led her to the porch. Her eyes widened at the sight that greeted her.

There, a baby was trying to reach the butterfly hovering around her.

Her surprised was overcome with giddiness when the baby giggled cutely.

"Oh you're so cute!"

She looked around, trying to find who was with the baby. When she didn't see anyone, she reached for the baby and carefully carry her and made faces. The baby giggled and tried to reach her face.

She couldn't help but smile at the sight of the baby.

The presence of the baby was the beginning of her smiling a lot, easing the loneliness she felt inside. Her family tried to find Yana's relatives, but they failed. Because they didn't know who the baby's parents were and why she was left at their porch, they decided to keep the little sunshine. They had grown to love Yana during her stay in their home while looking for her relatives.

She felt better and enthusiastic with Yana's presence, diverting her mind off her frustrations. Yana's presence helped her face the confusion wrapped around her life. Yana healed her, even if the healing was incomplete.

A soft murmur brought Yumi's attention to the present.

"Ice cream…"

She stifled a laugh as she made sure that Yana was comfortable.

"Ice cream huh…Am I like you when I was a child, Yana? Am I stubborn too, just like you are now? If not, well, it's not too late. Like you, I'll fight for what I want and right now the truth is what I want."

She closed her eyes. She'd think about Sachiko and what she should do tomorrow. For now, she would get some rest.

A/N: Next chapter is entitled "Support". Yumi will have the support of someone very close to her.

Next update will take a bit longer because I acted very stupidly, resulting to two thumbs and fingertips in my right hand sore :( Because I was bored! I played phone games nonstop! Ah well, I got severe scolding from my friends afterwards. I couldn't complain because obviously, it's my fault ;)

---Arvendell---

12 November 2008

4:50 PM