Chapter 1

Ashley awoke with a start, jolting upright. She heard the sound of paper rustling, and something dropping. "Wha…?" she started, then realized where she was.

She abruptly stood up, her bleary eyes staring in dismay at the leafs of paper scattered all over the hardwood floor. Somewhere in the mess, she saw her pencil still vibrating from the impact of its fall.

Biting back a string of curses, she knelt down and started retrieving the papers. Man, it took me forever to write this, she thought bitterly, her fingers scrambling to pick up and organize the mess. If I have to rewrite anything… She let the thought fall flat, choosing instead to concentrate on rearranging the disheveled sheets of her essay. Ten whole pages, all for her to find and put in order. And handwritten, as well. She didn't dare accidentally bend any of the papers.

When she was sure all was accounted for, she reached for and picked up her pencil, and sighed. Standing back up, she placed the essay back on her desk, placed the pencil next to it, and slumped in the chair. What time was it…? It was probably late, since she had fallen asleep. Running a hand through her long white hair (she had grown it out after leaving Blood Edward), Ashley glanced at the digital clock that rested at the very edge of the desk. In very clear, bright red lettering, its screen declared that it was, without a doubt, "2:23 AM". Marvelous.

"Well," she sighed, looking down at her neatly-stacked essay, "it looks like I slept for about four hours. Damn…" She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Knowing that no one would be able to hear, much less answer her, she continued, "I have to stop falling asleep, or I'll flunk out of school."

With that thought chilling her mind, Ashley grasped her pencil and, as she had been doing before she had dozed off, she began to leaf through the stack of papers, reading through the information and making sure that she didn't leave any mistakes uncorrected.

"Hey, Ashley…?" Richard raised an eyebrow, half curious and half worried. The carton of milk he had started to tip over was all but forgotten, as he continued, "You okay?"

Ashley, who had started to nod off (right into her bowl of cereal), jumped a little in her seat and scrambled to face her father. Putting on a reassuring – but weary – smile, she tried to put the man's concern to rest by declaring, "I'm fine, dad. Just a little… groggy."

Groggy, indeed! If she hadn't fallen asleep at her desk last night, her consciousness wouldn't be threatening to plunge her head face-first into her breakfast. She sighed inwardly, while pushing a stray lock of hair out of her face.

"Well…" From the expression that Richard wore, he was still incredulous about her condition, but he decided to let it drop. "Okay, but if you don't feel well –"

"I'm fine, dad," Ashley cut in, soft but vehemently, "really." By now she had turned back to her bowl, idly stirring the soggy cereal in the milk.

Richard nodded reluctantly, not quite sure what else to say. Even after two years, he still wasn't exactly proficient with communicating with his daughter: the huge amount of time that they'd been apart had proved to be a much larger obstacle than he could have anticipated, and it continued to be even now. The two just felt… awkward together, as though they had only just met. In fact, his sister Jessica was more of a parent than he could ever hope to be – with Jessica, Ashley was a lot more at ease, and more willing to talk. I'm a failure as a father, he thought for perhaps the ten millionth time since their first meeting at Blood Edward Island. Unconsciously, he set the milk carton down on the counter, its contents sloshing within.

He took another glance at Ashley, and was about to say something when there came the rhythmic tapping of footsteps. He shifted his attention to the stairs just in time to see a very pristine-looking Jessica coming down them, a hand lightly touching the handrail as she descended. He chuckled, shaking his head slightly. It was so early, nearly 6:30 AM, and she was carrying herself with the amount of energy and immaculateness that usually came with preparing for a formal occasion – in the evening.

"Looking at you, I'm inclined to believe that it's afternoon, not early in the morning," he laughed. His playful jest was met with nothing but a small, wan smile and a quietly-said "Good morning" on Jessica's part. Then, shifting her focus to Ashley, who was slouched in her seat, raised her head slightly and cocked a brow.

"Ashley, if you don't hurry, you might miss the bus," she reminded gently.

"Wha… uh… oh!" The two adults watched as the girl came out of her stupor and bolted up onto her feet, nearly knocking down her chair in the process. Before it had the time to tip backwards and fall, though, Jessica – who was closest to the piece of furniture – lunged forwards and steadied it. By the time she righted the chair and put it back in its original place, Ashley had grabbed her backpack and ran out the door, throwing a hasty farewell over her shoulder as she lumbered to the bus stop.

Jessica's wan smile transmuted into one of affection as she watched the front door creak closed. "She's certainly changed, hasn't she?" she asked, not turning her head but evidently talking to Richard.

Of course, though, he wouldn't know, at least not for certain. Two years was hardly enough time to gauge one's personality, especially if it was changing as rapidly as Jessica claimed it to be. Richard felt a tiny twinge in his heart: once again, he regretted handing baby Ashley to his sister and leaving them for so long. He felt pathetic as he stared at the now-closed front door where his daughter had just left: somehow, it reminded him heavily of that time, fourteen years back. He closed his eyes briefly, and carefully stated, "To be honest, the only thing different about her that I can notice is her hair."

Now Jessica turned an amused eye towards her brother, ready to exact vengeance on him for teasing her earlier. She immediately dropped the notion when she saw his face, though, and turned her whole body until she was facing the man. Then, walking over beside him, she said slowly, "You know, Richard, she grew her hair out for you." Quickly searching through her memories, she continued, "Once we got off that island and moved back into our house –" or Jessica's house, more like "—Ashley imparted a rather interesting bit of information to me. While she was searching for you, she saw a drawing of her that you drew; she said that the Ashley Mizuki Robbins in there had long, flowing hair. That's when… that's when she told me that she wanted to grow her hair out. To make you happy."

Halfway through her speech, Richard had opened his eyes in stupefied wonder. Now, he turned his head to look once more at the front door, and stared at it as though he expected it to come alive. "For me, huh…" he murmured, unaware of the happy smile that was spreading across his lips. "I was wondering why she refused to cut her hair. She was always complaining about it getting in the way." He chuckled lightly, and Jessica followed suit.

"Ashley is a very sweet girl," Jessica said, adjusting her glasses, "once she opens up."

And it seems like I've still got a ways to go before she'll open up to me completely, Richard thought in mild exasperation; he didn't voice his opinions though, and instead nodded. "Yeah, I know."