Ch'en was currently facing an internal dilemma, "Is it right? How will Yua react? Will she have objections to it?" She was thinking to herself. As Ch'en was pacing around her room, she was worried how Yua would react to something she wanted to do; the blue-haired lung wanted to ask the doctor out on a date.
"Ugh, if I do this, will she somehow think I'm disrespecting her mother's memory? It could cause problems between us; I don't want that." Ch'en had really grown to like the doctor over the time she had been on Rhodes Island, he had many admirable qualities, she had also grown to like her fellow lung. The last thing she wanted was there to be any awkwardness between them or friction, she really wanted to see if there was a spark between her and the doctor, but Ch'en knew the best way to go about it was to ask Yua's permission first.
"I need to be careful how I ask about this, I don't want to offend her, the way she speaks about her mother make it sounds like she was an incredible woman, someone who loved the doctor greatly even though he had to leave them, I don't want Yua to think I'm replacing her mother." Ch'en was still struggling internally.
She knew she needed help, "I'll get advice from Hoshiguma and Swire. They might give me some help with this." Ch'en decided. Knowing where she needed to go Ch'en left her room and began searching the landship for her two friends. Arriving at the training room Ch'en could see Hoshiguma, and she was sparring with Yua.
"You're doing well, Yua! I see that working with the abyssal hunters has done wonders for you!" Hoshiguma and Yua hadn't sparred in some time, but Hoshiguma could tell Yua had improved massively. She was really on the back foot and struggling to get any offence going at Yua.
"Thank you, Hoshiguma! You helped massively as well!" she shouted over her swings. For the past week since her first mission with the abyssal hunters, Yua had been training with them relentlessly. While she still struggled with them, they admired Yua's determination, and decided to give her coaching, also the time she had spent with Hoshiguma had also helped, the lung definitely felt stronger than what she did in the future.
Noticing her friend watching the two spar, Hoshiguma called a halt to the spar. Secretly, she was glad as Yua was really pushing her to her limit. Ch'en walked up to the pair and said, "Hello Hoshiguma, hello Yua, I see you are both training hard."Hoshiguma replied, "Yeah, Yua has come on a lot since we first met, I'm proud of her." Yua beamed at this "Thank you so much, Hoshiguma, it means the world to me hearing that." This also brought a smile to Ch'en's face; the blue-haired lung definitely noticed the progress in her fellow lung.
Remembering why she was here she then spoke to the pair, "Excuse me Yua, I don't mean to be rude, but I need to talk with Hoshiguma in private, I apologise that it is interrupting you training session." Yua was fine with this, "It's okay Ch'en, I understand if it's important, I will see you both later." Ch'en thanked her for understanding, and she and Hoshiguma left the training room.
While walking Hoshiguma asked her friend, "Okay Ch'en, what is so important that it can't be discussed in front of Yua?" The lung responded to the oni, "It does involve Yua, but I need Swire here as well, I will explain to the both of you when we are all together and in private." Hoshiguma was confused but didn't question her friend, she would get the answers when they were alone.
Once they stopped walking, they had arrived at a door, it was the door to Swire's room. Ch'en knocked and a voice was heard from the other side "Who is it?" the voice asked. Ch'en responded, "Swire, it's me Ch'en, I'm here with Hoshiguma and I need the advice of both of you, are you busy?" After a few seconds the door opened and the feline was stood there "No, I'm not busy Ch'en, both of you come in." Ch'en and Hoshiguma walked in and Swire shut the door.
Once inside, Hoshiguma asked her friend "Ch'en, what is the problem? Why do you need me and Swire? Has Yua done something wrong?" Swire didn't understand, she thought Ch'en had just needed advice, "Why is Yua being brought up?" she thought to herself.
Ch'en took a deep breath and then spoke "No, Yua has done nothing wrong, but what I'm about to tell you does involve her and the doctor." This grabbed the attention of both of them, for the doctor to be involved as well it must be serious.
The two of them waited until their friend was ready to talk, after some more deep breaths to calm herself, Ch'en then decided to speak "Okay, I know this might sound crazy, and you might not believe it what I'm going to say but here goes... I want to ask the doctor on a date."
The two of them didn't respond at first, but after a few seconds they both simultaneously shouted "What!" They could not believe what they just heard, but seeing the blush on Ch'en's cheeks they knew that she did say it.
Hoshiguma was the first to respond, "Wow Ch'en, that's the last thing that I ever expected, what's brought this on? And how does it involve Yua?" The green-haired oni questioned the lung for clarification.
Ch'en then replied, "Well, I've come to like the doctor, I think that he is an incredible man, I want to know if there is something in the future for us so I want to test the waters. And the reason it involves Yua is because she is his daughter, I don't think she would feel comfortable If I dated her father without her permission, I could offend her, especially if she thinks I'm trying to replace her mother."
The two of them now understood the situation, if Yua didn't take kindly to the fact that Ch'en wanted to date her father it would fracture them and could cause a lot of damage. So, they realised Ch'en wanted advice on how to ask Yua for permission, it could be a tricky situation to navigate.
Swire then decided to speak, "I know this may sound blunt, Ch'en, but just be truthful with Yua, she does seem to like you, I'm sure she would appreciate it more if you did tell her, the worst that could happen is she could probably say no, and if she did happen to be offended you could apologise to her, but I'm sure it wouldn't come to that."
Ch'en was unsure of Swire's answer, "You really think it's that simple? That I just go up to her and ask her?" she asked. Swire confidently nodded her head; she was certain that Yua would have no problem with it. "Ch'en, if you are really uncertain, we will be there as well, we will stay out of sight but keep an eye on you two when you ask her, but again I'm sure she will be fine with it." Swire told Ch'en.
Seeing that she had the backing of her friend's gave Ch'en hope and confidence. Feeling invigorated Ch'en thanked her friends, and the three of them set off to find Yua. Looking around the landship, they could not find her. They then checked Yua's room, but they could not find her there either. The only place that she could be was the doctor's office.
When the three of them arrived, they could see that the door was open, when Ch'en looked inside, she could see Yua talking to her father, Hoshiguma and Swire waited outside and whispered to her, "Good luck." and gave her a thumbs up.
Noticing that Ch'en was standing by the door, the doctor held up his hand to Yua, and she stopped talking. Turning towards the direction her father was facing, she could see her mother standing at the door and wondered why she was here, "Hello Ch'en, do you need something?" Yua asked.
Ch'en was nervous, seeing both of them here brought butterflies to her stomach, "Oh no, why are they both here? This just makes it more difficult." She internally thought to herself, struggling to maintain her composure.
Taking a few minutes to compose herself, Ch'en shut the door and walked up to the pair, "Hello Yua, Doctor, I need to talk to you both, is Doctor Kal'tsit around? It's something private I need to speak with you both about." The doctor shook his head and replied, "No Ch'en, she is not around, Kal'tsit has gone to speak with some officials from Iberia today, we will be leaving soon and heading to Lungman, that's what me and Yua were talking about."
This got Chen's attention, "Heading to Lungman? I hope I don't have to see my uncle, that's the last person on Terra I want to see. I bet Yua isn't happy as well, it probably brings up bad memories for her." Ch'en thought to herself about the white-haired lung and her past.
Yua was not happy that Rhodes Island would be heading to Lungman, the last time she saw the place it had been completely destroyed by the seaborn, the white-haired also remembered when the Ch'en from her timeline took her to see her grand-uncle, that meeting did not end well.
Remembering why she was here, the blue-haired lung then spoke, "Well it's good that she is not here, what I want to talk to you both is very personal to me. Yua, I hope what I am about to say will not offend you, if it does, I apologise in advance." Yua didn't understand where her mother was going with this but let her carry on.
Ch'en then composed herself before looking at the doctor and started speaking, "Doctor, I think you are an incredible man, you have done some amazing things for the operators of Rhodes Island and the people of Terra, both infected and not infected, you have made sacrifices and set an incredible example of what all people of Terra should be, you are a friend and someone I admire...a lot". All of this caught the doctor by surprise, he was touched and embarrassed "Thank you Ch'en, that really does mean a lot hearing that coming from you, you are incredible yourself." The man gratefully replied at the lungs praise of him.
Yua caught on to this straight away, "Wait, is this what I think is happening? Mother is confessing to Father! This is amazing!" Internally, Yua was ecstatic. She really hoped she would get to see this. This was making her so happy, but she had to keep a neutral face.
The white-haired could not let her emotions slip and give everything away. Ch'en then turned to Yua, Yua, I don't want you to think that I am trying to replace your mother, I know you must have loved her greatly, so out of respect for you and her can I ask; may I have permission to date your father?"
"Yes mother! Yes! You don't need my permission! A thousand times, yes!" Yua was the happiest she had been in a very long time. To see her father and mother start their relationship was sending Yua's happiness into space. She wanted this more than anything in Terra.
The white-haired lung was struggling to keep her emotions bottled up, Yua wanted to hug Ch'en with all her might and tell her yes. Trying the hardest she ever had in her life to keep a straight face, she told Ch'en "Yes Ch'en, you have my permission to date my father."
Ch'en was relieved. She really thought that Yua would say no. "Thank you, Yua, this means so much to me, I promise to do right by your father." Ch'en then turned to the doctor "That is, if you would like to date me." The doctor was happy that someone such as Ch'en wanted to date him, it was an incredible honour, "Yes Ch'en, I'm privileged to date someone such as yourself." He told her.
Ch'en then spoke, "Well, when we I get to Lungman, I promise to give you the authentic Lungman experience, you won't regret It, doctor." The doctor replied "I look forward to it Ch'en, I can't wait." Seeing that her job was done, she bid both Yua and the doctor farewell and left the room.
Once outside she was met by Hoshiguma and Swire, they wanted to hear the answer. "So, what happened? Did Yua give you permission to date the doctor?" Hoshiguma asked her friend. Ch'en smiled from ear to ear and told them, "Yes, she said it is okay to date her father." Hoshiguma and Swire then hugged their friend, they were so happy for her, they believed that she finally deserved some happiness in her life with what she had been through, they would support her all the way.
One person, however, was not happy. She had overheard that Yua had given permission for Ch'en to date her father, it was Skadi...
The aegir had been on her way to meet with the doctor to start to try to win him over she saw Hoshiguma and Swire outside his office. She thought to hide behind a corner and wait for them to leave before speaking with him.
But now, knowing why they were there and hearing what she did, this got Skadi incredibly angry, and it felt like this anger wasn't all hers. "You see now, Skadi! This is what being passive and trying to get the doctor the nice way gets you! Ch'en is taking the doctor from you, right before your very eyes!" The voice told her.
Skadi hated this; she was thinking that the voice had a point. "You can not let this slide! You will lose him! You must make her pay! Kill her! Kill Yua! And show everyone else that the doctor is yours and yours only!" The voice was shouting in her head.
Skadi was really starting to agree with the voice as much as she hated to admit it. Ch'en and Yua were becoming a massive problem.
They had to be eliminated, but Skadi knew if she was going to go through with it, she had to wait for the right time and place. Killing them now would make her an enemy of Rhodes Island, an enemy of the doctor.
Deciding to head back to her room to try to calm down, Skadi promised herself that she would be rid of the pair of them, the doctor would be hers, and nothing would deny her...