DISCLAMIER I DO NOT OWN BROTEHRS CONFLIC IN ANYWAY SHAPE OR FORM
"Mmm!" Yusuke moaned with pleasure when he finished his sandwich, "this could put Ukyo's cooking to shame!"
"Hmm, that's nice," said Ema.
"Something bugging you?" Yusuke asked, "Besides the obvious?"
"Did you know Juli was an Elence squirrel?" Ema asked.
"Is he? I wouldn't have known," said Yusuke, "But how did an Elene squirrel end up in Japan?"
"I, don't know," said Ema.
"How did you figure that out?" Yusuke asked.
"I just saw a squirrel that looked like him. I sort of figured it out," said Ema, deciding not to tell Yusuke just yet about her actually being able to talk to another squirrel other than Juli. Her own brothers, aside from Louis, didn't really know she could talk to him like he was a normal person.
"Weird," said Yusuke, "Maybe your dad found him on one of his adventures and took him home for you."
"No, I don't think that's it," said Ema, considering Juli had told her he knew her real parents at one point. How did Juli end up in Japan?
"So, when are we going to get them home from Elence?" Tsubaki asked once Masaomi was done telling them all what he knew.
"I don't know, I'm going to call these two numbers that woman, Chrissy, gave me and hopefully one or both of them will be able to help us," said Masaomi.
"Our little sister said they were taken by force, do you think it was still possible they were taken by sex traders?" Azusa asked nervous.
"We shouldn't think like that," said Masaomi, "And besides, they're safe now, we know that. So how about, for right now, we all go to sleep and in the morning, we'll try handling this in a calmer rational matter."
His other brothers nodded and headed to their rooms. Louis walked over to the window and saw Juli sleeping there.
'I hope you don't get too upset when I tell you later what's become of Chi,' he thought as he carried him to bed.
"Chi," Louis suddenly heard Juli mutter, "Chi, I will save you, I will save you from Robert."
'Robert?' Louis thought, 'I wonder who Robert is.'
"So, should we go ahead and get some sleep?" Yusuke asked.
"Yeah, maybe we should try at least," said Ema.
Before either could react, there was once again a knock at their door.
"Hello, it's me Richard."
"Come in," said Ema.
Richard walked in with a smile on his face along with Chrissy and two maids, each carrying a bundle.
"We brought you some nightgowns to sleep in for the night and to inform you that tomorrow, promptly at 9, you are to have breakfast with his majesty King Stephon," said Richard.
"We're having breakfast with the king?!" said Ema.
"Why would the king want to have breakfast with two lowlifes like us?" Yusuke asked.
"He has his reasons and in either case you should be honored he has invited you," said Richard. "Now then, with that said, is there anything you'd like to have for breakfast tomorrow? Like some breakfast food from your home country the chefs could try and prepare?"
Ema and Yusuke looked at each other.
"It might be nice to have a traditional Japanese breakfast," said Ema, "But we'll eat whatever the king wants to serve since he is the one that invited us and he's our host."
"I'll see what the chef can do for you," said Richard, "so go ahead and change, and we'll be back in the morning with another set of change of clothes to wear to the meal."
"Thank you," said Ema nodding her head.
"You two will be okay sharing a room, right?" Richard asked.
"Uh!" Yusuke started to panic.
"Well of course," Ema added calmly.
"Good, it'd probably be safe to keep you two together," said Richard, "Good night now. Take care, I'm truly sorry this had to happen to you. I hope tomorrow goes better."
"Thank you," said Ema. She watched as one of the maids walked over to her and presented her with the bundle of clothes. Ema was a little surprise at how young she looked. She had to be about Futo's age, if not a little younger.
"Here you are my lady," she said.
"Thank you," said Ema, "Um what's your name?"
"Oh, um, it's Ami," said the maid, sounding a little surprise.
"That's a lovely name," Ema said. She also couldn't hope but also admire how beautiful she looked with a with blue eyes, and light brown hair that was tied up in a ponytail completely with a pink bow that seem to complement her perfectly.
"Thank you, I hope your stay here goes well," Ami said, bowing her head before she and the other maid walked out of the room, leaving Yusuke and Ema with their bundles.
"So, I guess, we can take turns changing in the bathroom?" Yusuke asked.
"Oh sure," said Ema.
"You can go first," said Yusuke.
"Thank you," said Ema as she walked into the bathroom. It looked like a mini spa as she walked in, with a fancy shower with all sorts of nobs and buttons and a bathtub that almost looked like a fancy hot tub.
"This place is amazing," Ema said out loud before she started to change. The night gown was one of the softest piece of clothing she could ever have imagine. She looked at herself in a mirror and was a little surprise how fancy the gown looked. She could almost wear it to school dance or something and no one would know the difference.
"You're turn Yusuke," Ema said once she walked out.
"Whoa!" Yusuke said when she saw her in her gown.
"What?" said Ema.
"Uh, it's just, that, it looks like the castle staff is being very generous with their gifts!" said Yusuke.
"I know, right?" said Ema.
Yusuke headed into the bathroom to change and soon came out looking annoyed.
"I feel like a girl wearing this!" he said as he looked down at his long night gown.
"I think you looked nice," said Ema. It still looked masculine to her.
"Seriously?" said Yusuke. Ema nodded sheepishly. "Well, thanks."
"Let's go to bed," Ema suggested. Both walked over to the two big and climbed in.
"Whoa, these are comfy," said Yusuke.
"Yeah, I guess they are," said Ema. Though to be honest, a part of her wished for her old bed back at the condo.
Yusuke looked over at Ema from his own bed.
'I'm sharing a room with her, she's mere inches away from me. This should be the happiest moment of my life! Why am I still all upset though?!' he thought.
Ema awoke the next morning to the sound of birds chirping and a slight breeze. She got up and walked over to the window and realized she had left it open the night before. She glanced out and saw the garden in a much better view. It looked so lovely with four trees with a different set of flowers in them, pink, yellow, blue and maroon. She'd never seen such beautiful flowers. She looked beyond them to what looked like a separate garden that had one single tree that sprouting what looked like golden flowers from its branches.
"Wow," Ema said as she looked towards the golden tree.
She heard a grunt and turned around to see Yusuke waking up.
"Oh, hey," he said when he saw her at the window.
"Good morning, Yusuke," said Ema, "Did you sleep okay?"
"Yeah, pretty good," said Yusuke, "how about you?"
"I did okay," said Ema, "I didn't have any nightmares at least."
"That's good," said Yusuke, "What time is it?"
"It's around 7:30 or so," Ema said looking at a clock on the table between their two beds.
"I guess they'll be showing up soon to get us to change for breakfast with the king," said Yusuke as he climbed out of bed himself.
As if on cue, there was a knock on the door.
"It's me Richard, are you two awake in there?"
"Yes, please come in," said Ema.
The door clicked and in came Richard, along with the two maids, one of them being Ami from the night before.
"How did you two sleep?" Richard asked.
"Pretty good," Ema said.
"I'm glad, I knew yesterday was terrifying for you, but I have a good feeling about today," said Richard.
"Are we going home?" Ema asked eagerly.
"We'll see by the end of the day," said.
Ema looked Yusuke eagerly who nodded in agreement.
"Anyway, why don't you two get changed and we'll get going to breakfast with his majesty," said Richard.
"Yes of course," said Ema, "Should we bathe first?"
Richard thought about it for a moment.
"We have some time, might be a good idea," he said. "You, um Yusuke, right? Come with me. Ema you can stay here to bathe. Ami, help her."
"Yes sir," said Ami as Richard led Yusuke out along with the other maid.
"Would you like a bath or shower?" Ami asked.
"How about a shower? It'll be quicker," said Ema.
"of course," said Ami as she walked to the bathroom and prepared shower for her. "I'll just wait out here until you're done."
"Thank you," said Ema. She stepped into the shower and let the water run over her. It felt so good! She tried hitting a button and could see shampoo coming out. When she hit another one, it let out a sort of body wash. She hit another one and realized the back of the shower was buzzing, like was some sort of massage or something.
"This is such an amazing shower!" Ema said. She decided to stop playing with the buttons and instead started to bathe and quickly got out. She realized there was a towel hanging on shower door for her to use. She wrapped it around her and it almost reminded her of being wrapped up in a cloud. She wiped herself off and headed out of the bathroom where she saw Ami had made her and Yusuke's beds and had laid out an outfit for her on her bed. Ema walked over to and saw it was a blue skirt, with a white and blue striped shirt, with a blue jacket.
"Madam, if you'd like to take a seat at the vanity table, I'll help dry and style your hair," Ami offered.
"Yes, thank you," Ema said as she did as Ami said. Ami was quick to set to work at blowing drying Ema's hair and then brushing it. It felt good, but Ema longed for Louis to be doing her hair instead. Even when Ami put her hair up in a lovely fashion with a yellow rose ribbon, all Ema could think of was how Louis would be doing her hair if he was here instead.
"Do you like it?" Ami asked.
"Oh yes, it's lovely," said Ema as she stood, "I should change now."
"Yes, I'll give you some privacy," said Ami as she bowed and walked out of the room. Ema walked back to her bed and started to dress into her outfit. She then went and looked at herself in the full-length mirror. She almost didn't recognize herself in it.
She was distracted with her own thoughts by the door knocking.
"It's me Richard,"
"Come in," Ema allowed. Richard walked in followed by Yusuke now wearing a pair of cackies, a white shirt, with a blue sweater vest.
"Wow," Yusuke when he saw Ema.
"Is it too much?" Ema asked.
"No, you look just fine, now come with me," said Richard as he motioned for Ema to follow him out.
Ema and Yusuke walked side by side behind Richard down some more long hallways, until he led them to a fancy conservatory that had a table fully set up with all sorts of foods on it and three chairs.
"Please take a seat, the king will be here soon," said Richard.
"Is there a certain way we should stand or bow when he arrives?" Ema asked.
"In this case, just stand and bow your heads and don't sit back down until he has seated," Richard instructed.
Ema and Yusuke walked over to the table and saw their names in front two of the chairs and took their seats.
"Hey, check it out," Yusuke said, "They have a few dishes from Japan on here."
"Guess they decide to combine the two huh?" said Ema, "That was nice of them."
Just then the two heard a fanfare coming out of nowhere and looked to see a few new people walking into the room. A butler walked forward and cleared his throat.
"Announcing his majesty, King Stephon," he said. Ema and Yusuke quickly stood up, as an elderly bald man with a while mustache, with cane walk into view. He stopped and stared at the two of them for a moment before he made his way over to Ema and looked her straight into the eye.
"So, you're Ema?" he asked.
"Yes sir," said Ema. The king smiled at her kindly.
"It's nice to meet you my dear," he said. He looked over at Yusuke, "And you are?"
"Yusuke sir," Yusuke said bowing his head, "Ema's brother."
"Brother?" Stephon said looking back at Richard.
"Stepbrother sir," said Richard.
"Oh, right," said the king, "Well, please have a seat, both of you and let's eat."
Both Ema and Yusuke did as they were told, waiting a little bit to make sure they didn't sit before the king was completely seated.
"Eat, please," Stephon insisted, "I think I'll try some of those Japanese dishes for a change. Can't remember the last time I had some authentic Japanese food."
Ema and Yusuke merely nodded as they two started to help themselves to some of the food.
Ema noticed the king was looking at her as the two ate.
"So, I assume you two are still feeling confused about what's going on huh?" Stephone finally asked.
"A little sir, yes," said Ema.
"Did you get in contact with your family back home?" Stephon asked.
"Yes, and Chrissy gave them some info to call to help us get home," said Ema.
"That's nice," said Stephon, "It's nice to have a family to care. All I have really family wise that's close is my," the king stopped and shuddered a little, "my nephew Robert, whom I assume you've met already."
"Hey yeah!" Yusuke said, suddenly dropping his fork, "What the heck was up with that?! Why did he kidnap us and bring us here to kill us?!"
"Well, he does a lot of crazy things being the heir to the throne," said Stephone, "At least since my daughter Yolanda left me."
"Why did your daughter leave me?" Ema asked, "If you don't mind me asking."
"Well, it's a long story actually," said Stephon, "and it has to do with Robert.
He is the son of my youngest sister Claudia. Being the youngest of all my other siblings and I, my mother felt a little sorry for her and did her best to make sure Claudia felt, well loved. As a result, Claudia became quite the spoiled little child.
And as she grew, her greeds and desires grew and developed into a sense of entitlement. So much in fact that she eventually started to feel she more entitled and deserving to the throne. A feeling she eventually passed onto her son, Robert. The two of them started working and fighting to place him on the throne over my own daughter Yolanda. However, none of their tricks worked and Yolanda remained at the top of the list to inherit after me. Of course, when that way didn't work, Robert turned to more, intense methods to get his hands on the crown. And that included trying to eliminate Yolanda all together.
Yolanda was the love of my life, especially after her mother died. I did all I could to make sure she was raised properly both as a father and as the future ruler of the country. I actually felt she was well on her way to making a good queen. But I never thought she'd have to worry about an attack from her own family.
I guess I should have really seen it coming, especially after Claudia died. Robert seemed to become unhinged and obsessed with getting to become king more than ever. It wasn't long after his mother's death that several death threats and actual attempts were made against Yolanda's life. They would come out of nowhere and unexpected. It almost felt that no matter where Yolanda went, or even if she stayed home, her life was in danger. We all had reason to believe Robert was behind all of it, but never had enough evidence to prove it.
Poor Yolanda's life was starting to turn to misery, until one day when we had some foreign visitors come to our country. They were explores that had come on assignment to study some of our historic landmarks and locations. Of course, they had to come before me to ask for permission. I'll never forget that day they came before us to ask. One of them made an impression on Yolanda that she started going with the two on their explorations just so she could be with him.
Before long it was beyond obvious the two of them were falling in love. They way they'd walk together, eat together, or just the kinds of conversations they'd have. I didn't think I could ever find a more suitable man that my daughter could love the way she loved him and was turn loved by him
I was even on the verge of preparing a wedding for the two of them. Of course, I wasn't the only one that seemed to notice the amount of love building between the two. Robert naturally noticed it too and wasn't too happy about it. As a result, the attempts on Yolanda's life increased and became more intense. And what was worse for her was, attempts were also made against her lover.
The worst was came one day, when Yolanda was doing some princess duties at a fundraiser for a children's hospital. Hundreds of people were there, along with her boyfriend. But then, halfway through the event, the convention center they were at, exploded.
So many people died that day, pointlessly. It was miracle that Yolanda and her boyfriend escaped alive. Needless to say, it shook Yolanda to the core. It was the last straw for her.
Not too long after the attack, Yolanda, her boyfriend, and the friend that had come with him all disappeared. They were never found again and I've never seen her or heard from her since."
"Oh, my," said Ema, not sure how to take what all it was the king had just said.
"That's interesting," said Yusuke, "But what does this have to do with us?"
"Well not much for you sir, I'm sorry to say," said Stephon. Then he looked to Ema, "But you my dear, this may have something to do with you."
"Me?" Ema said.
"Do you know the names of Yolanda's boyfriend and his friend?" Stephon asked. Ema shook her head no. "No? Their names, who happened to be from Japan, were Rintaro Hinata, his friend and the boyfriend's was named Kenji Nagami."
Ema could suddenly feel her breath stop at the sound of names.
"Those are the names of the two men you've known as fathers, correct?" Stephon asked seriously.
"Yes, yes, those are their names," said Ema.
"Wait, what, what does that mean," said Yusuke.
"It means, I have no doubt in my mind, that you, Ema, are in fact my daughter's daughter, that your mother's name Yukie was actually Yolanda and thus you are my granddaughter and the rightful princess of Elence."