Kamikaze Kaitou Jeanne Sequel

Dear readers,

I almost wasn't going to continue this because it's been so long and my writing has since developed... I apologize for keeping people waiting. Since I am still a major fan of KKJ, I've decided to pick this story up. I hope to finish it eventually. In the meantime, enjoy the story.

- Miaka

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Maron stood beside Chiaki in a crowd of bustling travelers. Some were just stepping out the revolving doors of the airport to greet loved ones, others brushing passed her to catch their planes to other paradises. Then there were tourists like Maron and her companions who took their first appreciative breath of Parisian air and wondered over the fun they would have during the next two weeks.

A limousine was waiting for them along the sidewalk. As soon as Maron and the others had managed to separate themselves from the crowd, a sketchy looking middle aged man walked up to them, looking Maron up and down. He was wearing a dark suit and matching, polished shoes. His thin blond hair slicked back over his head and the man adjusted his inpenetrable shades as he looked from Miyako to Maron. Maron stepped an inch away from him, not liking the fact that she couldn't see where his eyes were looking from beneath his sunglasses. Chiaki stepped between them.

"Kusakabe-san?" the man asked, ignoring Chiaki and instead looking over the boy's shoulder.

"Ah, yes?.." Maron answered, embarrassed by her nervousness.

"Your father sent me to pick you up," the man continued, removing his shades. All around her, Maron could hear unfamiliar languages.

"Thank you," Miyako said, nudging Maron for not breaking the silence.

"I'll take your bags," the driver said to them, opening the door of the vehicle for them to go in.

"Waaa! It's huge! Oi, Yamato! Watch where you're stepping!"

"Sorry, Miyako..."

Maron stood next to Chiaki, waiting for her other two friends to make room for her. She was about to step into the limo as her and Chiaki's arms touched. They stopped and looked at each other; she was blushing.

"Ladies first," Chiaki grinned, moving aside to let her go before him.

"Mou... hurry up!" Miyako yelled at the two. Maron complied, but not before rolling her eyes at Chiaki as she settled down next to Miyako.

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Around this time, Access had been following Fin across the city in search of the Kusakabe residence. Fin had trekked what seemed to Access like every neighborhood of the city. "Arrondissements!" Fin referred to them with an excited squeal. Access was thrilled to see her like this; he had no idea a simple vacation would make anyone so happy. Finally, they found themselves in a suburb (or banlieue) to the west of the city, Saint Cloud. It was there that Fin finally succumbed to Access's pleas for rest and it was only because they had found the place they were looking for.

They were perched in one of the horse chestnut trees that spread out across the yard in front of the Kusakabe home. Access and Fin both marveled at the house once they each caught their breaths. They had passed over an ironclad gate at the entrance and onward over the long, thin pavement that led to the house, but they had not expected the place to be so beautiful.

It was what Fin called a manoir, almost like a chateau, both of which which Access was finally familiar with. They could see a garden bordering the far right side of the yellow building. The shutters and frames of the house were white. Some of the windows on the second floor had little black rails in front of them, enclosing mini balconies from what Fin expected were bedrooms.

After minutes of staring, Access gently touched Fin's arm. With a pointed finger, he directed her gaze towards the long black vehicle pulled up in front of the residence.

"Do you have planned what you're going to say to her, Fin-chan?" he asked, watching her melt into tears when she caught sight of Maron. Fin shook her head a litte, trying to dry her cheeks with her palms. She knew this reunion would be a big deal to Maron. Her parents had meant the world to Maron and, although they had been under the control of demons, their distance and the constant instability of their relationship over the past years had really hurt their daughter. Fin silently wondered whether this visit would be able to repair the damage. Maron was a strong girl, she knew. But this was one thing she had always been fragile about.

"I don't," she sniffled, for once not objecting to the supportive arm Access had wrapped around her. "I wanted to give her a couple of days before I broke the news..."

"While I understand why," Access frowned, "I think it's important that we get it to her as soon as possible."

"What about Sinbad?" Fin suddenly asked. "Er... Chiaki... is he to be involved at all?"

Access couldn't suppress a grin as he remembered all the trouble he and Sinbad had put Jeanne and Fin through in their past rivalry, despite Sinbad's purpose having been to save Jeanne all along. God hadn't said anything about his assistance this time, but Access was sure if Chiaki saw him flying around, he would know something was going on. Access would undoubtedly be the first he'd ask for answers.

"I guess we'll see. That's entirely up to him," he finally replied.

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"I didn't realize your parents were so well off!" Miyako whispered to Maron when the driver had turned away from them to bring two of their bags into the mansion before them. Maron's heart was racing, not from the size or the ethereal setting around her, but with the realization that she was finally going to see her parents. What would she say to them?

Chiaki hadn't lifted his eyes away from her, all this time troubled by the condition he had found her in more than thirteen hours ago. Despite having teased her about the dream, Chiaki knew perfectly well that it hadn't been a sweet one. Minazuki stepped up to Chiaki's left and began to drone on about French architecture as Chiaki stared at Maron.

"HEY! You guys slept on the plane! You shouldn't be so spaced out like that," Miyako shouted at them all from the doorway. The driver was beside her, cringing at the pitch of her yell as he held out a hand to take the bag she was handling.

"Come on, come on, come on!" she beckoned them over, hauling Maron into the building as soon as she was within arm's reach. Minazuki exchanged glances with Chiaki before they entered the manorthemselves.

The group was disappointed to hear from the head of the serving staff that both Monsieur and Madame had business to attend to in a region known as Rouen. They were to be back by dinner and they were looking forward to seeing Maron and to meet her friends.

"Bah!" Miyako said softly to Maron, hoping her friend was not bummed out about it. "Business is business. At least they'll be back soon." Maron managed to smile for Miyako. Despite what her friends were probably thinking, Maron herself felt somewhat relieved. The thought of meeting her parents had stirred up so much anxiety in her that her knees had been shaking when she first stepped out of the limo. Now at least she would have some more time to think of what to say to them.

"Bonjour!" a voice greeted them from their right. The four of them turned in unison to see a blonde, petite, Fench Maid smiling at them from the bottom of a white, winding marble staircase carpeted by a deep blue. Miyako glanced from the maid to Yamato, scowling at the blush on his face. "Welcome to Manoir de Marron d'Inde.

"My name is Marguerite. I'm to take you to your rooms," she inclined her head politely, turning her head towards the stairs behind her. "Your luggage has been brought upstairs. You'll find it in one of the guestrooms. Ah..." Halfway up, she paused beside a window. "If you look to your right, you'll see the garden. Madame spends a lot of time there. There is also an indoor garden in the left wing. There's a small pool there, should you find yourselves wanting to swim." Minazuki, who was walking a couple of steps below Marguerite, found himself face first in the back of her black and white laced skirts as she suddenly stopped again in front of him. She smiled, pardoning him as he immediately spilled out embarrassed apology after apology. Miyako once again noticed the bright red on Minazuki's face. She was surprised by the faint sting she felt as she watched the interaction between the two.

"This is it," Marguerite gestured. Behind her was the reason she had stopped so abruptly. The group could see a hall that split both left and right. However, the floor there was no longer carpeted, but left bare so that the white marble shined delicately under warm ceiling lamps. "The guestrooms are to the left. The right has some more rooms, some of which the night shift servants use when they aren't on duty. If you were to keep going up this next flight of stairs, you would reach Monsieur and Madame's room. If you need anything, though, you can normally find me or any of the other maids downstairs." As Marguerite was finishing and turning to leave, she emphasized her last words while locking her silvery eyes on Chiaki. "Dinner is at 6 o'clock in the dining room. Feel free to relax until then, you've got a couple of hours... you're probably exhausted after that flight. And don't forget, don't hesitate to ask for anything in the meantime. I'd be more than happy to assist you."

Chiaki shifted uncomfortably as she brushed passed him with a smile. Miyako and Minazuki seemed to notice what had happened, but Maron had already walked in front of them to find her room. She was eager to unpack.

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Two hours later, Maron and her friends made their way to the dining room. Chiaki casually looked about the room and thought it was not much different from his father's. The long, socially limiting table that ran down the height of the room, the portrait of some distant grandfather hanging high from the center of the wall his back was now to, the candles at the center of the table, lit despite the room already having enough light from the chandeliers above everyone.

Maron's father had walked in first, greeting his daughter with at first a long, thoughtful stare. He was clearly taking in all the changes in his daughter and trying to accept that she had grown up all these years without him. When she spoke, he opened his arms to her and they hugged each other, Maron nearly bursting into tears when her mother joined them. Maron's friends were still seated, watching the touching scene. Of the three, Miyako was most moved, for she had known of Maron's loneliness for years. Maron finally introduced the other three, her parents recognizing Miyako and exchanging small talk with her while the food was brought out.

Maron did not recognize most of the foods that were lain on the table. The dish she was now eating from, her father told her, was Terrine Rustique, consisting of pork, salad, nutmeg and other ingredients. It was different than the food she was used to, but not necessarily bad. Beside her, Miyako was talking to Minazuki and Chiaki across the table about the people they had seen on the plane while Maron's mother was asking her questions about gymnastics.

"I'm so glad you brought your friends with you," her father said at one point, beaming at the three around Maron. "It seems like they've taken good care of you."

"Yes, Kusakabe-san!" Miyako smiled, nudging Maron. "You can count on us." Then, pointing a finger at Chiaki, she added, "Especially that one." Chiaki coughed a bit on the drink he was about to swallow at that moment, Minazuki pounding a hand against his back and hoping he was not going to choke. Once he had regained his composure, Chiaki gave a modest laugh.

"Ah, does that mean... the two of you..." Maron's mother tried to find the right words, not wanting to embarrass her daughter but wanting to clarify the relationship between Maron and the blue haired youth across from her.

"Madame," Chiaki decided to answer, politely looking from her to Maron, "I really like your daughter, but we're not exactly official yet."

Maron immediately stared down at her food, pretending to be preoccupied with poking at the cherry tomatoes on her plate while her parents inquired further.

"Not official!?" Maron's father chuckled. "Why is that?"

"We just aren't," Maron answered, her tone stiff. But everyone around her could see that she was blushing, more brightly than even Minazuki.

"Ah! Minazuki used to like Maron too," Miyako suddenly laughed, hoping to make the atmosphere less uncomfortable for her best friend. Indeed, Maron's shoulders relaxed as soon as the topic changed. "Maron's always had admirers." She showed Maron's parents a proud smile, although she had always been somewhat jealous of the number of guys Maron had always seemed to drawn; Minazuki included...

"I'm happy to hear it," Maron's mother said. She was the one Maron had gotten most of her looks from. "What about you, Miyako? The last time I saw you, you were playing detectives with Maron-chan. Do you have a boyfriend now?"

Miyako was surprised by the question, but did not hesitate to answer, "I have someone in mind, but he's a bit unsophisticated when it comes to things like that." Everyone in the room grinned a little, save for Minazuki, who had no idea what Miyako was talking about.

"Well!" Maron's father said once everyone was finished eating dessert. "Maron, your mother and I were hoping to have a word with you in the parlor... if your friends would like to take a self-guided tour of the house, they're welcome to."

"HEE!" Miyako said, enthusiasm all over her face. Chiaki and Minazuki sweatdropped, but got up with her and excused themselves, thanking Maron's parents for the lovely dinner before they left the room.

Maron had followed her parents through a door at the other end of the table. It led into a lavender room with white, pastel colored furniture. Even the curtains were white, with very faint blue ribbons lined along the bottom. Maron's mother guided her over to the sofa in the middle of the room. There was tea on the table for the three of them. As Maron picked up a cup, her parents sat across from her and quietly watched her. Maron tried to ignore the anxiety that had already started rebuilding up inside of her. So this was the inevitable, awkward conversation in which they would apologize for everything?

"Maron..." her mother began. But Maron cut her off.

"It's okay. I know you both had your... issues... I know. I admit, there were times that I wished you were both home. That you could get along well... I think what's important," she stood up, turning away from them as she started to feel her eyes water, "Is that you two are together now. And that everything's alright now. I don't want to talk about the past." She lightly parted the curtain away from the window to see the dusk outside.

"We're glad you feel that way, honey," her mother said. "But we actually have something that we... need to tell you."

Maron's heart stopped. She turned around. What could it possibly be?

"A colleague of mine passed away when you were a very little girl... you hadn't ever met him. Even if you had, you had only been a couple of years old at the time. You wouldn't have remembered. Anyway, he'd been living in France at the time. But I had met him in college and we had been best friends for... for years. That was the reason I came to France for the first time so many years ago, leaving you with your mother for a little while. When I came over here, I found that he had been taking care of a boy about your age... he'd adopted him before he left Japan after the boy's mother died in an accident. My colleague wasn't familiar with too many other people, so... I took the boy into my care and stayed here longer than I had originally planned. That was part of the what caused problems between your mother and I, in the beginning..."

Maron watched her father as he explained everything, her hands shaking at her sides. She didn't know how to take this. He wasn't even finished speaking yet. What more did he have to tell her?

"Just before your father and I called off the divorce, I met Shin... the boy your father had been taking care of. And after getting to know him, I realized I felt horrible about the way I had judged your father. Maron... there's a lot more to it, but the point is, we both grew to love him. And we hope... that you'll be able to do the same. That's also part of why we asked you to come see us so soon. The reason we never told you about him is because we thought you might feel... uneasy about it," her mother said, all in a soft, hopeful voice.

"Where is he now?" Maron asked, unsure of the tone of her voice and even more uncertain of how to feel.

"Upstairs, resting. He's staying here as well... he got here shortly before you did. He's been studying in England. The jet lag has him exhausted, but you'll get to meet him tomorrow," her father answered, holding his wife's hand tenderly.

Maron was relieved to hear that he hadn't been living with them. Or has he? She wondered. She bit her lower lip, realizing that her parents were waiting for her to say something.

"I'm glad that you met with him, Okaasan," Maron finally smiled. "If he's the reason you two decided not to get divorced, then I really look forward to meeting him." The latter of what she said made her heart sink. She didn't know if it was true, but somehow she thought so. If any of her pain was showing, her parents did not seem to notice. Instead they jumped up and pulled her into their arms. Her mother had even started crying from relief. As Maron rested her head against her father's shoulder, she decided that it would be better to act as positively as she could; to not envy this adopted brother of hers whom she had never met. So for now...for now she would tuck away her pain and smile for both of her parents; the way she always had.

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Marguerite, as she did every evening at half-passed 7 when the Young Master happened to be staying at the Manoir, stopped at the door at the right end of the second floor and gently tapped with her hand. In her arms, she held a silver tray with one of the light meals that the Young Master preferred. She knew exactly what he liked.

"Come in," a smooth voice said from the inside. Marguerite gave the door a light push and entered the dim room. She made her way to the window, setting the tray atop the night stand beside the bed. She felt, rather than saw, him sitting up in bed to watch her.

"Marguerite..." he greeted her, the name rolling off the tip of his tongue as he leaned over to light the candle on his night stand. "Is she here?"

"Yes, sir... she's here," Marguerite answered, standing with her arms folded in front of her. His arms wrapped around her waist as he stood up. He was taller than her by a foot, at the least; she had to look up to meet his eyes. They were dark, almost black. She could only see them because the candle light was dancing in them.

"If you don't mind my asking," Marguerite could suppress her curiosity no longer and decided to ask, "Why are you so interested in her?"

That was when he pushed her aside so that he could walk around her to the window. Marguerite kept her balance, but was surprised by the force he had used.

"I've been waiting to meet her for a very long time. For now, that's all I'll tell you."

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To be continued.