He listened to the chatter that filled the room, wondering if they would conclude things before he and the others met the next day. He tried to focus, yet his mind wandered. As the other nations came to his country, he found himself more and more along the oceans edge, watching and waiting for any sign of hope.

Kiku found himself growing restless as his leaders spoke freely with each other about the war and their government, it just seemed that they wanted to avoid the topic at hand. So, he dismissed himself and walked the halls. He was tired of the war, tired of how things had escalated from the year before and how they sat now. It was draining him and his people. Tighter boarders, tighter security, tighter rules, and anyone that disobeyed those new rules found themselves in a serious situation. He just hoped that his own thoughts were wrong with how things have turned.

Before Kiku made the corner, a body slammed into his as he heard the body hit the floor. Looking down he saw Liberty brushing herself off as she got back up.

"Oh, I'm sorry Mr. Kiku, I didn't mean it." she apologized to him.

"It's alright, are you ok?" he asked as he checked her over.

"I'm ok. I play with Alexei all the time and we rough house a lot. Well, that's what our mommy's say." she smiled at him as Alfred's voice called out her name.

Kiku turned to see Alfred sitting in one of the hall chairs as his little boy looked eagerly past his head, "Daddy! Lincoln!"

Before he knew it, Liberty ran towards the two as Lincoln's excited giggles filled the air. The little boy was more of a miniature Alfred than Liberty was, the only thing he had that wasn't his father was his mother's dark hair as Liberty played peek-a-boo with him.

Kiku gave a small chuckle as he continued his way to his office, his mind still stuck on the situation at hand, yet it also wandered to the ocean as well. He heard small chatter as he approached a room as curiosity sunk in to the familiar voices. Looking within, he saw Nora and Yao as they spoke to each other, Yao carefully taking Nora's leg and looking it over as she chided him for doing so.

He still could remember seeing as Yao carried her out of the hideout, her body a mangled mess, a pure miracle she was alive in the first place. He watched as she flexed her hands, moving each finger. Her wrists moving around as Yao moved her knee back and forth, even though Nora was healed fully, he was worried that she would still get hurt. Nora saw Kiku standing there, giving him a small wave as Yao went into another room. She came over to him, a bright smile adorning her face.

"Nǐ hǎo Kiku, you are escaping the meeting?" she asked.

"For the moment, it's still the same as earlier." he replied. "How are your hands?"

"Occasionally they get stiff but that's after a while on the computers, eyes strain too but everything is back to normal." she replied as she hiked her thumb towards Yao's location, "Just hard to have him believe that."

Kiku smiled knowing how Yao was when others were hurt. He remembered when Mei fell off the back wall of his home, nearly breaking her leg. Yao was a worried mess when he found her and wouldn't leave her side until she nearly shoved him away in annoyance.

"You seem puzzled, everything alright?" she asked him.

"Oh, no. There is nothing the matter, I promise." he reassured her.

She raised her brow towards him as she looked over her glasses, the very same look he saw the mothers give their children when they misbehaved. Looking back from where Yao last was, Nora took his arm and pulled him away as she made him walk the hall with her.

"I know you well enough, please don't hide from me." she spoke gently to him.

He couldn't help but laugh at her, "Nothing misses your eye, does it?"

"I was the one that figured out that Im Yong was cheating Yao out of his Lychee candies during Mahjong, so yes, nothing goes unnoticed."

"Didn't he also trick him out of ten Yuan?" he asked.

"Yes, and Mei thought it was hilarious when the pieces fell out of his pocket in excitement." she replied, "Now you, Kiku."

Kiku sighed as he felt her grip tighten upon his arm, "My mind wanders."

"To?"

"Past."

She nodded to him, waiting for him to continue, "It's more for the hope that lingers from past to be honest."

"Go on."

"Ever since I had Tomoe and Tokuko, I did as they both wished for me in life and did what they wanted. I continued for so long afterwards that I gave up after nothing but silence for years and being surrounded by loneliness. But after everyone was gaining Capitals, I started believing again. Yet there is still a part of me that is afraid." he explained to her.

"You are afraid she isn't there then?"

"Hai, correct." he nodded, "It isn't that I don't want to imagine it, it's just..."

"Just what?" she asked.

"At one point, I left one of them with what one would say a sour taste in their mouth. Wars within the nation had me in situations that I could not control my own mind and I lashed out at people I cared for. Her passing from me was one I wish I could rewrite."

"Time heals Kiku, I can tell you that. All honesty, wouldn't you think Brie would have nothing to do with Francis if that was the case? Or Lily with Ivan? It's not that the souls have left in bad situations, it's the people that they knew controlled you. They know you are not at fault. Don't dwell on it so, just concentrate on the thought that your Capital is somewhere out there, waiting for her Japan to pop into her life." she smiled at him, giving his arm another squeeze as they made it back to their original spot.

"You may be right." he sighed, "I am curious, how did you fair so well knowing everything you did then and now? I would think that it would be hard to imagine that it was real."

"It was a little rough at first, just like the others, yet I felt no fear when they showed me the past. Including your succession from China."

He felt himself stumble back slightly, he always assumed that Yao told her about that day and what he had done to his sensei.

"I did my homework, I know what happened. I saw it as the American revolution between Alfred and Arthur really, I understood the reason." she said as Yao came back in.

"Why are you standing?" he asked.

"I walked with Kiku as he discussed his affairs with his people. Seeing what may be ahead of us." she winked at Kiku.

He knew she wouldn't say a word to anyone about their conversation, it's why he didn't mind speaking to her about anything. Giving a light bow, he dismissed himself, his mind only on one thing. he traveled down the busy streets as both civilians and tourist took in his country. So much wonder and excitement filling them as they took in the history that laid beneath the concrete of the capital. Seeing a lone tree, he quickly went up and plucked a blossom from its branches as he heard the waves gently crashing upon the sands. The Odaiba beach came to sight as he made his way to his spot, twirling the blossom in his fingers as he said a silent prayer to it. Looking over the water as he leaned against the bars, he smelled the sweet aroma of the flower as he dropped it into the water below, watching as it slowly made its way out to see.

It was this that killed him, the unknown of things as his own heart tried to tell him it'd be fine. He saw the little blossom floating on as he made one final prayer to it, turning on his heels to go home. A small whisper caught his attention. Turning around, Kiku searched for the source of the sound, awaiting to see anyone around him, trying to gain his attention, yet no one was near.

"Odd." he muttered aloud, just to hear it again.

He looked back over to the blossom as it floated just barely in sight, hearing another small whisper come from the spot. The blossom slowly floated closer back to shore, the small whispering growing louder. It was the blossom making the sound, but how. Before he knew it, the little blossom veered off and began a fast trek down the beach. He stood their dumbfounded yet awed that he heard that, he heard it and it wasn't floating out to see, it was heading farther inland and that meant...

He didn't waste time as he chased after the flower, doing his best to keep it in sight as he booked down the walk and onto the sands. He disregarded all manners as he pushed, dodged, bumped, and escaped people and their leisurely walk. He couldn't stop to apologize nor could he hesitate in anyway as the flower seemed to speed faster down the beach's end. A crowd of tourist blocked his eye as they snapped countless photos of the sights around him. He grew frantic as the whispers and sight of it grew farther from him as he was attempting to escape them.

With a last rush, he found himself free of the people, yet the sight of the blossom was long gone, only faint whispers guided him further down the beach. He sprinted as fast as he could, hoping to see where it when, just to finally lose it completely. Making his way to the pier, he looked over the railing for any sign of it, yet all he heard was the waves as the water licked the piers barring's. Damn, he was so close yet so far away-

"Stay there!" he heard someone yell.

Kiku's gaze landed on a woman slowly sloshed her way into the water as she gathered something close to her chest, making her way back to the beach where a small bunny on a leash laid waiting for his owner.

"Finally found it, didn't we Usagi?" she said to it as she looked down in her hands.

His eyes couldn't believe what he was seeing, there within her hands was the blossom. Siting there as if nothing had happened and waited patiently for her hands and her hands alone. She picked up the animal as she held both tight to her chest.

"Come on now, time to have a little flower tell us all about Japan, huh." she said a she made her way back to the city.

It wasn't possible, it couldn't be. Yet there it was clear as day before him as she became smaller in the distance. His mind snapped to attention, she was leaving and he was standing there like a fool, letting her walk away. His feet moved before he even realized what was going on as he began to follow her. Walking just out of sight for her, yet his eye never leaving her as she entered the taxi. He followed suit in his own as they continued inward. He felt like a stalker, that he was invading her personal space, yet he had to know. No more than ten minutes later, she was out of the taxi and entering Akasaka Tower. His heart raced as he tried to see more of her, just to once more lose sight of her within the sliding doors.

Kiku couldn't believe it, after all this time, she was finally here and in Japan nonetheless. It was finally here. His phone began to ring as he took in the truth before him.

"Hai?"

"Oi, Kiku, Yao wants to know where you are at and what's for dinner. You don't hurry he'll cook." he hear Hong tell him.

He was silent for the moment as his mind tried to figure out what it was doing, "Kiku are you ok?"

"Nani? Oh, hai. I am. I just have a lot on my mind now." he said looking back at the apartment building, "I'm just not sure of what to do from now on."