Edit: 8/12/09. Again there isn't as much change to this one. The main difference is to the AU personalities. Jeri who seemed to be merely a ditz, has changed to a young Samantha (Sex in the City) if anything making her more forward (and therefore opposite to what was established in the first chapter) and a fashionista of sorts so as to make the point that not all changes need to be bad. Jeri's fashion sense is terrible - you cannot deny that - so I thought I'd give her that much. Takato has gone from merely a drug addict, to an overly anxious professional (making him neither genki, nor befuddled) with OCPD. He also loses his artistic nature, as he is one of the few characters who haven't become actors in the show. The main edit, thus, is to give more depth to their characters and to move away from the stereotypes. It has also lost some of the contrived elements found in the explanation.
"Before criticizing someone you should try walking a mile in their shoes. This way, when you do criticise them, you'll be a mile away and have their shoes."
Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon.
Someone Else's Shoes – Written in the Stars
"The place where we are . . . Is written in the stars . . ."
Rika blinked rapidly, not quite able to believe that Henry was about to say what she thought he was going to say, and not understanding why this was the moment when her heart finally decided to control itself around him. Now was exactly the kind of moment when a racing heart would be justified, but the organ just pumped away at its usual speed as though nothing of interest was happening.
She tried to distract herself by eating as he drew out his words, not wanting to get her hopes up too soon.
"Rika, I . . . lo-" he began to say.
Rika's eyes widened suddenly, but not because of what Henry was saying. They bulged as she struggled to breathe through the rubbery, cardboard-tasting food lodged in her throat. She tried to call for help, but all she could do was point stupidly at her throat by way of explanation.
Henry swiftly moved out is his chair and lifted her into his arms. He wrapped his arms around her from behind, tightening them just below her ribcage as he gave a mighty heave to try and dislodge the food. She couldn't help but notice the lack of butterflies as he did so, but she felt that her lack of reaction could be justified by the more pressing matters at hand i.e. survival.
"You ok now?" he asked with concern laced in his voice, but something about it seemed insincere. Perhaps it was his choice of words, and the way every action towards her seemed calculated and impersonal. His touch didn't feel quite right. His smile was a little too cool. And his eyes seemed to hold a sort of barrier she never remembered seeing there before.
"Good," he smiled as he went back to his seat. "Take two," he laughed as though it was some sort of joke between the two of them she was bound to get. "Now let's try this again. Rika, I lo-"
"CUT!" an arrogant voice called from somewhere behind Rika.
"Rika, what is wrong with you today?" a stout man asked as he walked towards their little table. He had stringy black hair and was dressed like he just stepped out of a bad seventies sitcom. "You've been improvising right from the start, which I accepted because I know how you feel about your craft," he rambled, waving his hand airily and rolling his eyes at her apparent attitude, "but that last stunt just ruined a perfectly good take!
"This is supposed to be the big romantic climax!" he cried dramatically, throwing his hands into the air. "It's the ultimate scene where they finally confess their undying love for one another. We can't just have that sort of thing interrupted by some random coughing fit!"
"I . . . un . . ." Rika tried, at a complete loss for words and confused by the turn of events. The dim lighting of the restaurant was gone now, replaced with the bright lighting of the stage. Now she could see the various mechanics that were going on behind the scene, including a large camera pointed directly at her.
"It wasn't intentional, Robert," Henry told the man.
Rika smiled at him, glad to see that Henry was standing up for her. Even though she hated the thought of being a damsel in distress, she wasn't entirely opposed to the idea of being Henry's damsel in distress. It was so like him to rush to her aid like that. Or so she thought.
Henry continued. "The idiot thought it was a good idea to eat the food," he continued snidely, snorting as he narrowed his eyes at the now gaping Rika. "What a moron."
Rika couldn't believe it.
It couldn't be true. It had to be some sort of joke. This couldn't be Henry. Henry wasn't like that.
Henry was sweet and kind and generous and always put others before himself (sometimes to Rika's chagrin). Henry never had a cruel word for anyone no matter what they said to him in return.
Her eyes frantically searched his face, looking for some kind of tell – something that would tell her this was just some cruel illusion, and this wasn't really Henry. Something to tell her it was just some dream. Nightmare, actually.
"What are you looking at, Nonaka?" he asked rudely, snapping her back to reality.
"I . . . uh . . ." she tried, but couldn't seem to form the words. She wanted to tell him that she was looking for Henry – the real Henry – and that if he didn't bring him back to her, she wouldn't let the fact that it was in Henry's body stop her from inflicting intolerable damage. It was as if her tongue had become numb, and her brain refused to send the instructions to the rest of the body. She just stood there staring at him stupidly.
"I . . . uh . . ." Henry mimicked harshly. "What is wrong with you, freak? Did you just get stupider in the last twelve hours?"
"Forget it," he muttered, rolling his eyes as he turned away. "I have better things to be doing with my time than standing here waiting for you to work out how to string more than two words together. You're not worth it."
He was gone before Rika could say anything else, leaving her to contemplate what had happened to the boy she was with moments earlier. Except for a few momentary lapses, the boy he had been at the table was lovely and everything she adored about Henry, but this boy was something else that was barely recognisable to her.
Rika watched as he walked away, stopping only as an auburn haired girl grabbed him suddenly and pulled him into a passionate kiss. He didn't even react – he didn't return her advances, nor did he push her away – and just stood there like a statute until she was done with him, continuing on his way like nothing happened. Rika couldn't even manage to muster up her usual jealousy.
"Rika, darling!" the auburn haired girl cried as she got closer, a satisfied smile on her lips. "There you are."
Rika scrutinized the girl carefully as she got closer. Her red-brown hair was a mess of short dramatic curls pinned away from her face by an equally dramatic fascinator. She wore a dark violet halter top (which if you looked hard enough, you could see through her skirt that it was actually a bathing suit) with a neckline so plunging that it continued beyond the belt of high-waisted black skirt made of layers of sheer black chiffon that flowed around her as she moved and opened at the centre to reveal two long legs encased in a pair of leather boots. Like anything truly glamorous, she treaded that fine line between haute couture and whore like the perfect acrobat.
Her face seemed familiar. The brown eyes were lined in black and thickly lashed, and surrounded by a smoky grey. The lips were painted deep red that made her look like a creature from a Film Noir – some sort of modern day femme fatale.
Once close enough, the girl blew a faux kiss to each of Rika's cheeks, and Rika was swamped with the scent of expensive perfume that seemed to hover around the other female. Rika suspected it would be days before she got the scent out.
But there was something oddly familiar about the scent – as though she had smelt it before in a much less intense way.
"Je-Jeri?" she asked, the scent triggering the memory of a young girl telling her about how she always wore her mother's favourite perfume to keep her memory alive.
Jeri raised a perfect sculpted eyebrow. "Who else would it be, Rika?" Jeri replied, scrutinising her friend worriedly. "Have you forgotten your best friend or something?"
"No, of course not, Jeri," she answered quickly, not wanting to offend. "It's just . . ." She trailed off, unable to find the words that would appease Jeri.
'. . . I just always thought it was Henry,' she finished off in her mind sadly as she turned her eyes once again to the direction he had disappeared in, hoping that he'd reappear with a his personality back to his normal, impossibly charming self.
"Jeri, why did you kiss Henry like that?" Rika asked, recalling the earlier incident.
Jeri rolled her eyes. "Really, Rika," Jeri sighed. "I thought you were over this. I know he's your ex and all, but you said you didn't care what he did anymore. You know it's only fun – no strings or anything like that. Just making things easy."
Rika didn't really know what piece of information to deal with first. Firstly, there was the fact that Henry was apparently her ex-boyfriend – she wondered when that had happened and how she had missed it, only mildly disappointed by the fact given Henry's current attitude. Secondly, there was the fact that Jeri's 'no strings fun' attitude suggested that her sweet and innocent and shy friend was no longer sweet and innocent. Thirdly, Jeri had kissed a guy that wasn't Takato, which she suspected was the most of wrong of them all, and decided to lead with that.
"But, Jeri," she cried, outraged by the thought of Jeri and Henry being together for reasons not related to her being madly in love with him, "what about Takato?"
Jeri shrugged. "Come on, Rika," Jeri complained, "you know that I consider Takato to be the best lay I've ever had, but if you want to take it any further than every once and a while, it's more effort than it's worth. Henry, on the other hand, requires no effort what-so-ever. He is – as you know better than anyone else – easy in every sense of the word."
Rika gaped at her friend.
"Oh don't give me that look," Jeri scoffed. "Remind me again how many women he was bedding on the side while you two were going out? Or better yet, why don't you remind me how many times you and Henry went out before you let him into your pants?" she asked sanctimoniously, giving Rika a superior look. "As I recall, all he had to do was offer to buy you coffee and you were all over him, so stop with your judgmental bullshit, Rika."
"I just don't want you to get hurt," Rika offered weakly, at least part of her answer being true. She wanted Jeri to be happy, and she didn't see how her friend could be happy without Takato in her life. The two were so close the last time she saw them – you couldn't have one without the other. "Henry's just so cruel."
"Hey, it's not like we like each other," Jeri replied. "We're just doing each other a favour. He's still a complete asshole, but you have to admit – he's the cutest asshole we know."
"Well there's always Ryo," Rika half-laughed in reply.
"Too bad neither of us are Ryo's type," Jeri replied, joining in with more enthusiastic laughter.
"Speak for yourself," Rika snorted.
"Oh please, Rika," Jeri giggled. "I know you totally thought he was hot when we first started this."
Rika started at the expression. "What is this?" Rika asked seriously. "What did we start?"
Jeri laughed loudly. "That's a good one, Rika. You're a real hoot today," she said before catching Rika's eye and noting the serious look on her face. "You're not joking, are you?" she asked, the smile falling off her face. "You really don't know what I'm talking about."
Jeri quickly turned in the direction of the same stout director from before, her features masking the concern that was shown moments earlier. "Hey, Bobby," she called. "We're taking a break. The two of us will be in Rika's dressing room if you need us."
"Whatever," the director replied moodily, pawing over the script with the head writer and two of his cronies. "Just take the whole day off for all I care. I don't know how I'm going to salvage that last take," he added with a glare at Rika.
"This way," Jeri said chirpily as she began leading Rika away. Jeri led her to a room with a violet star on it with Rika's name printed in the centre. The room inside was lush and decorated in shades of red contrasted against an almost clinical white and linings of gold.
"Sit," Jeri commanded, pointing towards a burgundy chaise longue. Rika did as she was told, bouncing a little on the squishy padding. She suspected the lounger was more for show than comfort.
"Rika, what is wrong with you today?" Jeri said finally, her voice eerily calm. "You should know better than to come to work hung over like this. You promised that you wouldn't drink like this on a weeknight."
"I'm not hung over," Rika protested. "I'm perfectly sober, aside from whatever they put in the water glasses on the table," she added, suspecting that the water was just as fake as the food. Had she asked, she would have been told that vodka gave a more water like impression than water and that nine out of ten test groups preferred it to actual water when questioned on all levels of aesthetics.
"Then it must be one of those crash diets," Jeri deduced. "Those things are always messing with your head. What is it this time, Rika?" she demanded. "Algae? Fruits? Foods starting with the letter 'Z'?"
"What foods begin with the letter 'Z'?" Rika questioned, unable to think of anything other than zucchini. "And why the hell am I on a diet? I'm perfectly happy with my body, thank you very much."
Jeri shrugged, the indifference shown drawing Rika's attention to Jeri's own body. Jeri had always had a slim figure, but now there were some very obvious enhancements that Rika had only been mildly aware of earlier. The most notable was not the increased bust size, or even the narrowed waist (Rika had heard about people removing ribs to do so), but rather Jeri's newly shaped nose, which was narrower, and more upturned than she remembered it to be.
Shaking her head, Rika decided it was best to get straight to the point. "Jeri, what was that in there?" she asked, her lips curving down into a frown. "One second Henry was sweet and kind, and the next he was a complete jerk telling me I was a moron and just walking away.
"I really thought he loved me," she finished sadly, glancing down at the ground.
Jeri gasped. "This is worse than I thought," she gaped. "You really don't understand any of this, do you?"
Rika shook her head, glancing up at her auburn haired friend.
"Rika," she said gently, her expression almost motherly, "I really don't know what's wrong with you right now, but you're not going to like what I have to show you." She walked over to the television hidden away in the far corner so as not to detract from the aesthetics of the room. She flicked through the channels until Rika's face appeared on screen, staring back at them with an expression of uncertainty.
"Well, do you have an answer?" a male voice asked as the image zoomed out to reveal two figures standing on a wharf in deep conversation.
Rika stayed silent, staring into the ocean. "No," she said quietly, her voice barely lifting over the sound of the waves crashing around them.
The boy laughed awkwardly, a forced smile upon his lips as anxious blue eyes tried to catch her own. "No, you don't have an answer, or no you don't want us to be together?" he questioned.
Rika turned sharply, looking at the boy with teary eyes. "How can you ask me that?" she demanded angrily. "You know how I feel about him, Ryo."
"How can I ask you that?" Ryo replied abruptly, his eyes flashing with anger. "Rika, can't you see. I'm in love with you, damn it! And I'm just sick and tired of waiting for you.
"I've loved you all this time," he told her sincerely, "but you can't see that, because all you see is him. It's about time you realized, Rika, there is more to this goddamn world than Henry –bloody– Li!"
Rika's expression seemed to sadden at the sound of Henry's name. "Maybe in your world, Ryo," she answered, turning her gaze back towards the ocean, "but not in mine. Henry is my world, and if you can't see that, maybe we shouldn't be friends anymore."
"And is there no room for anyone else?" Ryo asked, looking desperate. "Can't you find any room in your world – in your heart – for me?"
"I can't betray him, Ryo," she sighed. "It just wouldn't be right to give my heart to another when it belongs so completely to him."
"Betray him?" Ryo asked angrily, glaring through his chocolate coloured bangs. "You know what I think isn't right? The way you hang around just pining for him as if he's going to come back. You won't give anyone else a chance to even know you, Rika, you just stand around waiting for him to return to you. I know you don't want to replace him, but you won't let anyone close enough to even try just in case they can.
"He's been gone for two years, Rika!" he exclaimed. "Two –bloody– years! When are you going to give up on all this and realize he's not coming back to you?"
"He is coming back," Rika told him, her eyes narrowed in determination as she turned sharply to face him. "He promised he would, and Henry would never break his promise to me.
"I love him," she continued quietly. "I love him more than I have ever loved anything else in my life. More than I ever thought possible. I have never felt this way about anyone, not even close. We might have had something, but not like this, Ryo.
"I'm happy," Rika added wistfully. "This feeling, even though we can't be together right now, it makes me happy. I thought you wanted that for me, but I didn't realize you were so selfish. Why can't you just be happy that we've found each other through everything else? Can't you be glad that I've found something I would give my life for without hesitation, and just let me be happy?"
"No, Rika, I can't," Ryo insisted. "I can't because I'm in love with you, and because I know you're not happy. If he loves you so much, than where is he Rika? Why isn't he here with you if he feels as strongly for you as you say he does?"
Rika just glared at him, and Ryo shook his head sadly. "I love you, Rika," he said again, "and I would give up everything for you. I'm not leaving until you give me an answer."
"Then my answer hasn't changed," she told him. "You don't love me, Ryo. You love the idea of me, and the fact that if you have me, then Henry can't.
"And because of that, I could never love you . . ."
Stay, with me
Don't fall asleep too soon
The angels can wait, for a moment
Come real close
Forget the world outside
Tonight we're alone
It's finally you and I
It wasn't meant to feel like this
Not without you
Cos when I look at my life
How the pieces fall into place
It just wouldn't rhyme, without you
And when I see how my path
Seems to end up before your face
The state of my heart
The place where we are
Is written in the stars
"And so that concludes this weeks episode of 'Written in the Stars'," the overly perky voice of the announcer cheered as the last bars of the theme song finished. "Next Week . . ." the voice continued as scenes began flashing on the screen.
"These are the re-runs," Jeri elaborated, switching the television to mute as she explained. "That's from about a year ago. Obviously, Henry's come back since then and things have moved on. You see, he was like shipwrecked on a desert island for ages, and he lost his memory for ages and when it finally came back, he could only remember up to a month before he went away, which is before he told Rika that he loved her," Jeri recounted excitedly. "And Rika, even though she knew he loved her before he went, isn't sure that he still has those feelings and gets really sad. It's soooo good."
"I take it you're a fan?" Rika questioned, Jeri's giddiness completely at odds with her outward appearance of cool glamour.
"Very much so," Jeri answered. "I was a fan 'Evergreen', which is the show you and Henry were on before 'Written in the Stars' and I always wanted your characters to get together, so when that ended and I heard they were making a spin-off focused on you two, I just had to try out.
"By the way, thanks," Jeri added, dropping her dreamy expression. "By the look on Henry's face as he left, I'd say you just succeeded in extending our contracts for another year."
"Your welcome?"
"Sorry, I keep forgetting that you're all 'art-imitates-life' right now," Jeri said flippantly. "Obviously the whole plot of the show revolves around getting Henry and Rika together, right? So once they get together, that's the end. A season finale, maybe a couple of made for TV movies to wrap up some loose ends, but then we're all out of the job. And I don't know about you, but I love working here. It's easy, the pay is well above average, even for a supporting actress like myself, I get tonnes of endorsement deals to sweeten my pay packet, and at the end of the day, you won't find better writers than this in television.
"Of course, Henry doesn't want to do television," Jeri continued, rolling her eyes at the mention of the shows other star. "He wants to be a movie star, and he can't while the show's still running because it takes up too much of his time – he gets bit parts in B-movies he can fit around the show's schedule, but he can't do the break-out film he wants while he's still doing 'Written in the Stars'."
"Well, why doesn't he just quit and let them replace him," Rika suggested. "If he wants out so badly he should just go."
"Please," Jeri continued, "it would be terrible for the show, but it would be even worse for Henry. He'd lose his entire fan base, and he won't have a chance in hell with public opinion against him. He's stuck here until they write the end. He tried getting them to write him out for a while, but it almost ruined him. No, he's stuck here for the long haul."
"But what did I do?" Rika asked.
"You gave them something to work with," Jeri smiled. "Something to keep things going for another season. It's what you always do. You saved our jobs. I mean, I'm twenty-two and I've been doing this job since I was sixteen," Jeri shrugged, "there's no way I'm breaking free of the stereotype now, so I might as well just bide my time here and prepare myself a little nest egg for when it finishes."
"I guess that's sensible," Rika offered weakly. "How old am I?" she asked in surprise, realizing that this Jeri was almost seven years older than her counterpart.
"Twenty-three," Jeri replied, "you just play a teenager on TV. You've been in the business for nearly twenty-years now, so you're probably worse off than the rest of us. Everyone thinks you're exactly like Rika on the show."
"And what about the others?" she asked worriedly. "What happened to Takato? And the goobs? And Suzie?"
"Well, Takato you'll meet later. He's your agent and manager. He'll be with his therapist right now," she said after a moments thought. "Don't look so shocked," she added when she saw Rika's expression. "He's doing much better these days. The therapist is really helping him through his anxiousness and to over come his obsessive-compulsive-ness. Maybe then we can do things properly," she added thoughtfully, more to herself than Rika.
"By 'the goobs'," she coninued, "by which I assume you mean Kenta and Kazu. Well they're as they always are, they're-"
Jeri tried to say more, but her words were cut off by a loud cry echoing through the vast studios.
"HENWY!!!!"
~ to be continued ~
Character development, that's what it's all about. Feel free to let me know what you think, or ask questions. I'm going to work my way through these chapters, and then see if I can finish the sixth one I started writing ages ago. Chapter 4 may not get a make over, because it is the most decent one but we'll see. It might need just a little tweak to get it to fit the rest of them
Notes:
Li: That is simply to indicate that the 'Written in the Stars' characters will have the Japanese last names. This way, if someone is making a comment about a character rather than the person, you will know by the last name used.
Theme song: Written in the Stars by Westlife. The song inspired the soaps title, so I thought it would be appropriate to include. Also it fits the plot of the soap opera and has the right sound. If you hear it, you'll realize what I mean.
Ages: So in the first chapter, they're all around the sixteen age mark. I think of Ryo, Rika and Henry as being a little older than the others so I'd call Takato & co. fifteen, Rika sixteen, Henry seventeen, and Ryo eighteen or nineteen depending on my mood. These ages are what they would be playing on the show, but most teenagers on television are played by much older actors who need to shave four times a day just to play the part. Do you all remember 'Dawson's Creak'? James van der Beak was 27! when he started playing Dawson who was 15/16 at the start. That's a huge difference. Jason Behr was almost 30 when he was playing the 16/17 year old Max Evans on 'Roswell'. I know this jumping age business seems funny, but it seemed sort of necessary to me at least. So Rika is now a seventeen year old in a twenty-three year olds body. Needed to clarify here due to the age inappropriate behaviour that was mentioned earlier. Given his role, Takato will be out of age order so he will be in his mid to late twenties rather than early twenties.
Next chapter: Drivers Side.