A/N: Whoops and I forgot to post this, Tomadashi Week Day 7: "New Beginnings" Also, to my readers: I see you with your suggestions! ;)

Her car battery dies somewhere between San Fransokyo and Santunis.

GoGo hits the horn in frustration and throws herself back against the seat, sighing. In the distance, the town of Santunis glimmers, a jewel sandwiched between the red sand and dark sky.

She pulls the keys out of the ignition, trying to gauge the distance between her and the city limits, and, after much deliberation, takes out her cell phone. Her mother picks up after two rings, voice drowsy with sleep: "GoGo?"

"Morning," mumbles GoGo, aware that it's 4:00 A.M. on a Saturday. "Just wanted to let you and Dad know that I won't be able to make it to lunch today."

"Hm," her mother says, a little more alert now, but if she senses the wobble in GoGo's voice, she doesn't press the issue. "All right." Quickly, she adds, "Be safe, GoGo," before GoGo hangs up.

GoGo lets out a sigh of relief as she ends the call. If this were during her teenage years, she could have expected an earful, something along the lines of where are you and what were you thinking? But moving out has been a weight off of her back, even as other concerns, like paying the bills on time, make themselves felt.

The next conversation is harder. GoGo scrolls through the five missed calls, thumb hovering uncertainly before she bites the bullet and taps the blaring red name.

"GoGo!" Honey Lemon practically shouts, though the cadence of her voice melts into concern shortly afterwards. "Are you okay?"

"Fine," GoGo says, biting the inside of her cheek to keep from saying anything else.

"Tommy came by with your stuff," confides Honey Lemon, and GoGo can envision her now, curled up on the couch of the apartment they share, sifting through her belongings. Knowing Honey, she's probably already started sorting the items into Tommy's and GoGo's—GoGo's to keep, Tommy's to deposit in the nearest garbage can.

GoGo stifles this thought, smiling bitterly.

"So you guys are really done, huh?" prods Honey Lemon gently.

GoGo blinks, takes a rattling breath. "Yeah," she says, testing the next words out on her tongue. "We're done."

"Where are you?"

GoGo squints. "About…half a mile outside of Santunis?"

"Santunis?" screeches Honey Lemon; GoGo winces. "GoGo, that's four hours away."

Three hours and forty-two minutes, if you hit the gas hard enough—which GoGo did. And maybe she should be chastising herself for acting so impulsively, but GoGo's always thrown herself into things headfirst. Throughout the years, she's found that the best way to deal with her problems is to leave them behind in the dust.

Which is exactly what drove Tommy crazy—the idea that she could just put things behind her and go, go, go, move on with her life, and he'd still wanted to marry her, and god, GoGo thinks, grinding her teeth, they're twenty-four; how could he have asked her a question like that and expected her to say yes?

On the other end, Honey Lemon whispers, "GoGo?"

"Here," GoGo says, fumbling for a piece of gum to keep her mouth and mind occupied so she doesn't do something dumb like cry, because she won't, not over something as stupid as this—

"It's okay to be sad, you know."

"I'm not." She settles for grape even though tonight is a cinnamon kind of night, snaps the gum between her teeth. "I'm mad."

"He wasn't—he loved you, GoGo."

"If he really did, he'd have understood."

He'd have understood that GoGo couldn't commit, not when she couldn't even decide what motorcycle she wanted to get or what color she wanted to dye her hair next, not when she has no clear vision of where she's headed, much less who she wants by her side as she barrels into the future.

GoGo tells herself this and knows she's right. Her reaction was justified, she'd been clear—but it still hurts. It hurts because she can't forget three years' worth of exploring San Fransokyo's night scene, playful wrestling matches and Friday night movie marathons, Tommy's dimple and the way he would swoop her into his arms and spin her around and around, how she'd pretend to hate it when she really didn't. She can't forget the way time had always seemed to pass slowly and all too fast whenever they were together.

But most of all, she can't forget the way he looked tonight: eyes flinty, mouth hard. The way he'd pushed himself up from one bended knee, snapped the ring case shut like something final and said, "I can't do this anymore, GoGo. I can't keep following you when you're always going to be chasing after something else."

So now she's here, aware that this time, Tommy won't be coming after her. There's a sick sort of satisfaction in that knowledge, and GoGo focuses on this as she pops open the trunk and grabs her bike.

The solar panels on her car are a bust until the sun comes out, and GoGo doesn't want to stick around for that long. That leaves only the town; hopefully someone is awake and willing to lend her enough juice to get her back home.

Sighing, GoGo locks her car and hops on her bike.

She doesn't look back.

o.O.o

She's worked up a sweat by the time she finds a cozy diner, its lights blinking Open 24/7 in the window. There are a few cars parked in the lot, and GoGo wipes off her brow and sticks her hands in the pockets of her leather jacket as she shoulders her way through the doors.

A bell tinkles faintly overhead, but few people stir. The lone person manning the counter looks up, smiling briefly before returning to mixing himself some coffee. Meanwhile, GoGo's gaze swoops through the diner, assessing.

She rules out the two guys with tattoos and the family of four whose father looks like he's about to fall asleep. That leaves only the boy tucked in the booth at the corner. He's wearing a blue button-up, the sleeves rolled up just before his elbows, and his black hair flops forward as he studies the paper in his left hand, reaching every so often with his right to take a sip from the tea-cup in front of him.

GoGo orders a shot of espresso, steels herself, and walks over.

"Hi."

"Uh—hi," says the boy, brown eyes widening a little as he sees her, and GoGo feels more secure about her choice, because he has a open, trusting look to him, as if he hasn't quite learned how to hide all his feelings yet.

"I'm GoGo," she begins, extending a hand.

"Tadashi," he replies, standing up to shake her hand. He pushes some of his papers aside—GoGo realizes, now, that they're scattered across the table and catches a glimpse of one that looks like a sketch for some mechanical part—and asks, "Did you, uh, want to sit down?"

"Sure," she says, sliding into the seat across from him.

Tadashi leans back in an attempt to appear comfortable, but GoGo catches him twiddling his thumbs before he rubs his hands against his pants (khakis and a belt, GoGo notices, thinks: business trip?) "So, is there something I can help you with?"

"There is, actually," she confides, looking out the window. "My car battery just died on the outskirts of town, but I need to get home." She winces a little at how sketchy the request sounds, but she's too tired to phrase it differently, and she'll figure something else out if he declines. When she brings her eyes back to Tadashi, he has a thoughtful look on his face.

"Where are you headed?"

"San Fransokyo."

Tadashi blinks in surprise. "So am I."

GoGo wants to laugh at the irony. It seems that no matter how far she runs, she can never quite escape the things that matter. "Well, isn't that something," she says.

Tadashi studies her, and GoGo resists the urge to shift in her seat. After a beat, he nods. "All right, I'll help you. How'd you get into town?"

"Bike."

His eyebrow jumps a little in surprise, and GoGo wants to roll her eyes.

"Okay, well, why don't you ride with me back to your car? It'll be faster," suggests Tadashi.

"Fine by me," shrugs GoGo. Then, a little softer: "Thank you."

Tadashi smiles, straightening out his papers before tucking them in a laptop bag and sliding out of the booth. "It's no problem. Come on, let's go."

o.O.o

The inside of Tadashi's car smells fresh, like cotton, so GoGo is a bit surprised when she pulls a strand of what looks like cat hair off the seat.

"Oh, yeah," Tadashi says sheepishly as he turns the key in the ignition, "that's from my cat, Mochi."

The car starts to life and he hurriedly turns the radio off, but not before GoGo catches snatches of the power ballad belting through the speakers.

"Why'd you turn it off?" she asks teasingly.

She can't quite tell in the dark, but Tadashi seems to redden a little as they pull out of the parking lot.

"You can turn it back on if you want," he says after a pause.

GoGo reaches out and fiddles with the dial, leaning back in her seat as "Total Eclipse of the Heart" soars into the space between them. She probably shouldn't feel so at ease in a stranger's car, but Tadashi is so unassuming it's impossible not to feel comfortable.

Besides, he doesn't look like he's ever been a fight, whereas GoGo knows a few tricks, should she need them.

"Wouldn't have guessed you listen to this kind of music," she discloses, crossing her arms over her chest.

Tadashi glances at her. "Oh? What would you have guessed, then?"

"Classical," says GoGo, eyes lingering on the neatly folded collar of his shirt.

"Ah." Tadashi clears his throat, fingers tapping the steering wheel. He changes lanes as he changes the topic: "So what brought you out to Santunis?"

"It's more like what chased me out of San Fransokyo," GoGo finds herself admitting. Immediately after, she wishes she hadn't.

"Oh?" Tadashi wonders but doesn't pry, and that sole gesture makes GoGo warm towards him.

"Bad break-up," she discloses, deciding that she has nothing to lose.

"How long?" murmurs Tadashi.

"Three years."

"Wow."

"Yeah," says GoGo, hand going to her seatbelt as she taps on the window. "Here, there's my car."

Tadashi pulls over to the shoulder of the road, positioning the hood of his car in front of hers. The sky is starting to lighten, and GoGo gets to work, tossing one end of her jumper cables over to Tadashi.

"What about you?"

"Me?"

"What's for you in San Fransokyo?" clarifies GoGo, brushing some of the hair out of her eyes.

"My aunt and my little brother," says Tadashi, getting ready to start the engine of his car. "I was away trying out this new internship."

"Robotics?" guesses GoGo.

Tadashi shoots her a surprised look from through the windshield, his voice a little muffled as he asks, "How'd you know?"

"Saw your papers," admits GoGo as her dead battery begins to charge.

"What do you do for a living?"

"Mechanical engineering."

"So we're both from San Fransokyo and we're both into tech," smiles Tadashi. "What else do you have up your sleeve?"

She detaches the jumper cables and shuts the hood, leaning against it as she leaves her car running so it can continue to charge. "Kickboxing, ultimate Frisbee, and bubblegum," she lists, crossing her arms.

Tadashi mirrors her pose, leaning against the hood of his own car, his hands shoved loosely in his pockets. He tilts his head, considering, before asking, "Soccer or football?"

"Football," answers GoGo. "Salsa or guacamole?"

"Salsa," chuckles Tadashi. "Waffles or pancakes?"

"Waffles. Books or movies?"

"Books," replies Tadashi, laughing when GoGo snorts and says, "Of course."

"What, you don't like reading?"

"I do," says GoGo, "on occasion. If it's interesting."

"Define interesting."

"Snappy dialogue, good amount of action—same goes for movies." She taps her fingers against the metallic surface of the car beneath her. "Okay, vanilla or chocolate?"

"Vanilla," Tadashi says without missing a beat, then winces when GoGo makes a small sound of outrage. "What, did I choose wrong?"

"Obviously," says GoGo. "Chocolate is clearly superior."

Tadashi's eyes widen. "Here's an idea—what if they mixed?"

"No can do, not for the purposes of this game. It's one or the other."

"You drive a hard bargain."

GoGo crosses her arms, a smile surfacing. "I do."

"Fine, then. I stand by my choice," grins Tadashi. "My turn: sunrises or sunsets?" He nods his chin slightly, indicating behind her.

GoGo turns to see that the sun has just started to peek over the horizon, the gray sky slowly bleeding into pink and orange. She looks back to find the morning light reflected in Tadashi's warm brown eyes. His gaze is focused over her shoulder, watching the sun come up, but his attention returns to her as he waits for an answer.

Last night feels like a distant memory, in this moment, a shadow that fades when held up to the light. And this moment will fade, too; GoGo will go home and so will Tadashi and they'll probably never see each other again, because San Fransokyo is a huge city.

But even so. Here they are in the early morning air, two strangers meeting for the first time. After that, it's anyone's guess. And GoGo isn't looking for a rebound, but she could sure use a friend.

"Sunrises," GoGo says. "I've always liked beginnings."

Tadashi beams. "Me, too."