"Hello." Juliena's voice comes over the phone.

Kyoko freezes at the sound. 'Wait. Why did you pick up so soon? Give my heart some time to prepare.' She thinks.

The last part is a lie. Kyoko had done nothing but try to prepare her heart for the last few days.

"Who is this?" Julie continues in a voice most people would call soft and gentle. But to Kyoko, it triggers all her anxiety about her not so perfect relationship with her mother-in-law.

Whenever Julie and Kyoko had met in the past, Kyoko had been completely confused by her mother-in-law's behavior. She had been gushing and effervescent. A person who so easily displayed her emotions that Kyoko had wondered how much of it was genuine. It had seemed just a teeny-tiny bit off. Such as, "I am sooo glad you came." or, "I don't really mean that." or "You'll kill me and send me straight to hell." The first time Julie swore, Kyoko had been shocked. But neither Kuu nor Ren-san had minded. 'Maybe it's an American thing?' Kyoko had thought, wondering how in the world she was going to be able to understand her mother-in-law.

Julie for her part had been equally baffled by her daughter-in-law. She seemed so stiff and formal all the time. Acting more like an indentured servant that the daughter Julie had always wanted. She could not have known about Kyoko's reflexive servility and duty-mindedness. Whenever Kyoko did not know what to do, she always defaulted to her ready-to-please inn hostess role. And especially with Julie, Kyoko had decided that she would try to be the perfect daughter-in-law to get Julie to love her, not realizing of course, that Julie already liked her. All the "Shall I get you some water Okaasama." and "Would you like to sit down Okaasama." and "Please let me know what kind of food would be most amenable to you Okaasama" had driven her nuts.

That Ren and Kuu had found it all very amusing had not helped anyone.

And now, sitting with her hand clutching the phone hard, hearing that same American accent and tone, all words flew away from Kyoko. At the other end, she hears Kuu calling, "Who is it?" and Julie replies, "I don't know. Probably telemarketing. I am going to hang up."

"Okaasama!" Kyoko cries the first thing that came into her head. The phone line goes dead.

Wait. What? Did she hear me and hang up? Or did she not hear me and hang up, still thinking I was a telemarketer.

Kyoko stares at the phone willing it to answer her question. When minutes pass and the phone remains mute, she quickly types the message -"Okaasama. I am not a telemarketer." and hits send. There. Now Julie should call back.

But Julie doesn't call back. Kyoko feels the familiar "I wonder what I did wrong this time?" feeling form into a tight knot in her stomach. 'Why is the whole Hizuri family keen on torturing me like a cat playing with a mouse. It can't be an American thing.'

And suddenly it strikes her - Julie hated being called 'Okaasama'. Kyoko had desperately tried to switch to 'Mom' or 'Mummy' as Julie had wanted but the sound would not come from her mouth. She had finally settled for 'Julie-san'. But now was not the time for settling. She had to know once and for all. And Julie-san is the only person who can help her. Kyoko grabs the phone and types up another message -'Mom, could you please call me back?' and hits send.

Within seconds the phone rings and Julie's dulcet tones once again come over the phone, "Took you long enough."

"I'm sorry, O- I mean Mom.," the last word comes out as a squeak. 'Stop being a mouse, Kyoko'

"It's ok." Julie seems to relent, "I did call you a venomous snake the last time you called."

Did she? Kyoko had forgotten all about it. Now she remembers that she had felt it completely normal for Julie to say that.

"No Ok- I mean Mom. You were right to call me a snake. I am the reason you are not able to see your son anymore."

There is a pause while Julie tries to stop herself from flinging the phone in a fury. "And why might that be?" she asks in a barely controlled tone.

"Your son stopped speaking with you when he left me. He was afraid you might tell me of his location."

"That is definitely not true, Kyoko," Julie replies sighing. As suspected Kyoko is still as self-blaming as she remembers. "He rarely ever talked to me even before that. It was the loneliest time of my life when he left home to become Tsuruga Ren. If anything, I sympathize with you now. It can't be easy."

Kyoko pushes back the tears that threaten to fall. 'Not now' she tells herself. "I'm so glad to hear you say that Mom. Because I do need some advice from you."

"What is it?" Julie asks.

Kyoko no longer feels any hesitation. She asks, "I want to know, you were a supermodel and you had your family. How did you manage the two? Did becoming a mother change your priorities? Do you feel any regret? I feel like I cannot become a good actress again without understanding the answer to this question. And I don't have anyone to ask but you." Kyoko finishes quickly feeling as though she hasn't conveyed what she was asking very well.

There is a long pause and then Julie's voice comes on again, "Sorry for the wait. I just walked into another room. Kuu was in the room with me and this isn't a conversation for men to hear. They never understand. Anyway, long story short -'Was I a good mother, was I a good wife'- I have never stopped asking those questions of myself. There is not a day that goes by that I feel like the hectic life that I had when Kuon was growing up affected him and continues to affect him in irretrievable ways. Sometimes I feel that him running away from you is a direct result of my actions.

But, if you ask me- do I regret having a career, being an internationally acclaimed supermodel. the answer is an unequivocal no. I loved every moment of it and I would not trade it for the world."

Kyoko feels puzzled but also a glimmer of understanding starts shining through. Across the eight thousand miles, what Julie was saying was the closest she had ever heard to what she felt.

Julie continues, "Being a supermodel is as much a part of me, who I am, as is being a wife or a mother. It is a part of my identity, what I chose to define for myself. I can never give up one part of my identity. It would not be fair to me nor would it be fair to my family to give them a version of me that is less than the whole. Kyoko, I understand what you are feeling but I want you to know one thing. No one can decide for you how much time and effort you should spend on your family or your career. It isn't an either-or either. Sometimes one needs attention, sometimes the other. You'll make mistakes. You'll drop some balls. But you are a smart woman, you'll learn from your mistakes and you will get the hang of it soon enough."

Kyoko feels a lump in her throat. Julie understood her like her own mother hadn't.

"But I do have one very important piece of advice for you."

"What is that, Mom?"

"Forget my son. He doesn't deserve you. Find someone else. Someone better."

And Julie hangs up.