Originally posted July 27, 2010
((I'm going to need to think about what to say for this one.))
"Please forgive me."
He could make out the words clearly as she mouthed them. Chance blinked, unaware of the small set of arms around his waist. Takeru-sensei. His master chef had sent Chance on a foolish errand; had set him up for this meeting. Of course the middle-aged cook would. He was an Arasaka long before he started working for Chance.
She looked just like he remembered, standing there beneath a tree, a picnic lunch spread out around her feet. Her red hair hung loose around her shoulders. The curves of her athletic body matched the outlines of Chance's dreams, dreams that would wake him, lying alone in his bed.
Korinna Arasaka looked remarkably fit for a corpse.
"Chance-papa.... that's Kori-mama! She's alive." Chance looked down at the short teenager who had embraced him tightly. He blinked at Gale's colored hair and facial piercings. He's eyes traveled back up to the supposedly dead woman not 10 meters away.
A single tear slipped down her cheek.
"Give us a minute, huh, musume?" Chance asked of his stepdaughter.
"Sure, Chance-papa," Gale answered. She looked back at her mother and called out, "I am going to the bathroom. Be right back." Kori gave a slight nod as the petite teen ran off to some nearby trees.
Chance walked slowly forward, stopping within arm's reach. He noticed their engagement ring. He would scan it later, checking for previously cataloged marks and flaws, and confirm its authenticity. Kori's head had dropped as the tears began to flow more freely.
"Where was the place we first kissed?" He asked. She responded with the name of a small, family owned sushi restaurant on a back street of Tokyo at a whisper.
"What is my pet name for you?" He raised a hand, out to her. It trembled as if it struggled against his caution. The fingers stretched with a want for contact.
"Kori-nyan." She answered, covering her face with her hands. Her shoulders shook with tears. He stepped closer, wrapping his arms around her body. The press of her body against his felt like home. "Kori," he breathed. "God, Kori. Are you safe?" Chance felt her swallow. She pulled her head away to look at him, her eyes red rimmed and wet.
"That night, at the tori arch, you wondered what I said." Her voice trembled and hitched slightly. "I was praying to the kami to let you be the one." Her throat moved with another hard swallow.
"Am I?"
"Are you?" Her eyes searched his for some measure of forgiveness. Chance placed a hand on each of her cheeks. She closed her eyes, breathing him in. "I thought...." His lips sought the certainty his mind ignored and found hers. The kiss lingered before settling into a close embrace.
"I couldn't lose you or Gale," she whispered.
"Are you safe?
He felt her nod into his shoulder. "And so are you."
His mouth struggled to form words. She lifted her head to look into his eyes, looking for them to turn hard towards her. Chance would need an explanation, later. For now, his body felt the comfort of her closeness. His eyes never hardened. "You may do that to me again sometimes, won't you?" He spoke a statement of fact, not a question.
She bowed her head then looked back into his eyes. "If only to save you and Akemi… I would." He drew her closer. "I don't expect anything. I had to see you again," she confessed. "I thought of a thousand ways to go to the restaurant, but in my heart I couldn't deceive you again, no matter the reason."
Chance blinked, nodding. He lifted her hand to his lips to kiss her engagement ring. "Are you changing your mind?"
"I never took it off." her tears started again. "Koi wa shian no hoka." Chance nodded, tears dripping down his cheeks. Love is beyond reason, indeed.
"There's," Chance began, swallowing. "There's nothing to forgive. You did nothing wrong."
"I did everything wrong," Kori insisted with a teary shake of her head.
"Did you accomplish your mission?"
Kori turned her head to look over Chance's shoulder. Her eyes found Gale's hiding spot a short distance away. She gestured, beckoning for the teen to join them. The redhead nodded. "We both did. My daughter teaches me, now."
"I love you, Kori-nyan," Chance confessed. "Let's... really, let's try not to do this again anytime soon."
Gale approached the two cautiously. Chance caught a whiff of cigarette smoke about her.
"So," the girl paused, her eyes traveling back and forth between Chance and Kori. "Are you two…?" she stammered and pointed subdued with her finger back and forth between them. “Does, does this mean?"
Kori spared Chance one more glance before turning to face her daughter. "Will my daughter be my maid of honor?" Chance found himself toppled by the squealing teen as her tackle took them all to the ground. He felt Kori embrace them both in the pile.
"Ack," Chance coughed. "No super-strength here!"
"Ohmygoshohmygoshohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh," Gale repeated in his ear, slowly releasing her parents. "Seriously?! Honto?!"
"Honto, yo!" Chance assured her. Gale released them to settle back on her heels. The width of her smile threatened to crack open her face as words spilled out rapidly. "OK like this ain't a dream please. Right? Seriously. I mean, if I am dreaming, I am really gonna be pissed waking up. Seriously?? Ohygosh!"
Kori and Chance settled onto the picnic blanket. The redhead began to busy herself with the basket, retrieving a bottle and glasses. "Chance," she said, "the wine seller delivered something to your restaurant, already. It's the last case of 73 Montelena. I thought it would add to the opening atmosphere."
"Our restaurant. It's your name on the door." Chance could not remove his hand from her. The fingers sought constant contact.
Kori smiled at him then turned her attention to the bottle. "I've never tasted this before…" her voice trailed off as her eyes shifted from the label to her ring. She nodded to herself. Chance reached out to touch her face.
"Hey, hey, hey! I know this is like all WOW, but kid here, remember?" Gale resettled herself. "OK. OK. OK. Seeing how this is a special thing, can I have some wine too with you both?"
"You will have to ask your father," Kori replied with a smile. Gale turned her eyes to Chance with her best impression of a puppy. "Chance-papa, please?"
Kori handed the bottle to Chance then reached out to towards Gale with a furious tickle attack. "Kori-mama! No! Please!"
Chance poured three glasses as he waited for them to settle. "I'm good with moderation."
"Sweet!" the teen exclaimed. Kori kissed Gale again as she reached for a glass. Chance handed one to his stepdaughter. "Wait!" she cried. "A toast!"
Gale's paused for a moment as she looked for the words. Kori lifted her glass to a level just below that of her fiancée and daughter. Gale smiled before speaking. "My barn having burned to the ground, I can now see the moon." She took a big mouthful of the deep red, her eyes watering and lips crinkling as she slowly swallowed.
Kori held her glass to her nose, breathing deeply of the bouquet. She looked at both of them, her mouth contemplating a few words before settling in a smile. She tilted her head back with a small sip, eyes closing with the flavor. After a moment, she sighed. A loud smacking broke the reverie.
"OK," Gale added. "Could I have some cider please?"
Kori opened her eyes to look at her daughter, reaching for a cooler. "Of course." Chance took the glass from Gale and poured the contents into his own.
"Seriously?" the teen asked, puzzled. "You both really liked that? I'm never going to be a wine drinker.
"It takes time," Kori assured her. "Like a relationship; an understanding of the flavors and yourself, your own palette and its sensitivity. It's ability to sense the subtle differences and a bit of compromise."
"Yeah. Well that is one relationship I can pass on thank you very much. I guess I am a soda kind of girl." Gale paused, biting her lip. "OK, so. We're all starting at a clean slate then?" Kori made a wiping motion with her hands.
"Well then," the short teen continued. "I owe Chance an apology." Gale straightened herself. "Yurushitene, Chance-papa." Gale bowed, touching her head to the ground. "I have been selfish in my own grief. I should have sought you out. There is no excuse. Gomen nasai." Kori reached out to touch her daughter on the shoulder.
"Musume," Chance began. "You don't owe me an apology. I knew you would have to find your own way and handle grief, uniquely."
"Domo." Gale lifted her head. "But still, I have gone through much and learned some things and I should have thought of you."
Chance's hand found Kori's and folded into it. "I love you both. All parts. All times."
"Asoka. There's something else you should know, something I just found out." She spared her mother a look, then a smile. "Chance-papa, it seems that I am not 13."
Chance blinked. "You owe me for two birthdays," she added with a grin. Chance looked towards both of them, nonplussed.
"It's a long story," Kori said into her glass.
"Hai," Gale agreed. "I am actually 15 but short and," she looked down at her chest, "small for my age. I think I'm owed some presents," she added with a giggle.
"I think we can swing that," Chance assured her. He cast a glance at Kori. "And all we have is time."
"I should also tell you, seeing how you are my Chance-papa," Chance refocused his attention on his stepdaughter. "I have been on the pill for a week now." Kori coughed and Gale looked at her. "No more secrets Kori-mama. He should know." Chance hid his grin behind his glass of wine. The light passing through the glass colored his cheeks. "I am trying to be responsible," Gale told both of them, "and make the right choices in my life."
Chance nodded as Kori regained her composure. "Six months of condoms, Gale." Years of being a peer sex-ed counselor made this conversation easier for the young man. "Then we'll get you and your partner tested."
"Me?" the short teen exclaimed. "But, but I am a virgin!" She lowered her voice as a few other people in the park took notice. "I mean I only touched it just the other… It wasn't like we were doing anything! I mean, just a Japanese bath. I thought it was a bar of soap! Honto!" She lifted her hands to hide her crimson face. "This honesty thing is going to be a lot harder than I thought."
"It will definitely take a lot of time to get used to," Kori asserted with a giggle. Chance laughed, naturally. "I think it's time to stop now, musume," he suggested.
"Hai!" she agreed. Her skin slowly returned to its natural color. "Nix is gonna take me to the opening, Chance-papa."
"He has a good heart," Kori reflected. Chance tilted his head. "You've met the young man?" he asked.
"Oh, yes. You remember Nix?" Gale asked her stepfather.
"Of course"
"He is... like perfect," Gale sighed, "even though he is a baka boy most the time," then giggled. Chance settled his eyes on Kori. "I know the feeling," he told her with a smile. "The perfect part, anyway." His fiancée's lips curled into a smirk.
"You know that shirt shop is just over there. Perhaps I should go and let you two talk a bit." Gale rose to her feet. "I'll pick up something for Nix."
"Thank you, Gale," Chance said. "Be careful," her mother cautioned.
"I will, Kori-mama." The teen turned and then looked back. "You know, I love you both." The couple nodded as Gale took two steps and stopped again. "Oh, and while I'm gone," she raised a finger to wag at them while grinning mischievously, "Behave yourself, you two. I'm not ready to share you with a little brother or sister, yet." The three of them laughed. Chance scooted closer as they watched the teen run off.
The two of them sat in silence for a moment, Chance's hand content with holding hers. She took another sip of the elegant red, closing her eyes as she slowly swallowed.
"What are your plans, Kori?"
Her head turned towards his as she answered. "Well, I plan to let Diana run the company for a while, whilst I take an extended leave. She is already prepared for a press release, which, thankfully, I don't have to be a part of, and then I plan to get some dinner," she added with a smile.
Chance winced at the mention of a press conference and took another sip himself. "I can imagine some very uncomfortable conversations in your future."
"Your," she paused. "The restaurant looks great." She offered him another smile. "I'm looking forward to the opening."
He took a sip then set down his glass to take hers in both. "Kori, do you think we can make this work, really?" He looked around, checking if Gale still lurked nearby. "It's just the two of here now. Beyond if you think it can work," he bit his lip, "do you want it to?"
"I should have taken time off a long time ago," she told him. "I think for me it was a matter of change, a fear I had and the notion that I had to let go. But where I was wrong was, I thought that letting go meant losing, when in fact it meant letting go before I lose."
Chance nodded and chose his next words carefully. "I don't want this relationship with me to feel like you're losing something, Kori-nyan. You bring so much to my life."
"It doesn't," she shook her head, not at all. It's something that I have been seeking for a long time."
"What's that? What have you been seeking?"
"I have been looking for an existence outside of duality." Chance tilted his head and took a sip, listening as Kori continued. "I am not part of the mask, the mask is but a part of me."
"What does that mean for us?" Chance asked with a nod.
"I'm not asking you to sacrifice for me any longer. I will be with you as a whole person. No separation. No deceptions.
"Is that possible?"
"Anything is possible."
Chance took another drink, swirling the red in his glass before he spoke. "Kori, I accept you, mask and all. To be honest, your money always made me more uncomfortable than that you were a superhero. I love all of you."
"The money makes me uncomfortable at times, too," she laughed. "I told you. I'm a much simpler person than all of that." Chance smirked behind a sip, savoring the flavor for a moment. "Sure," he said quietly.
"What!" she exclaimed with a gentle push. "OK. OK. So, I get lost in thought sometimes.
"When I asked you to marry me, I felt pretty sure I knew you and I knew what I was getting into." Chance looked down, resting his arms on his knees, holding his glass in both hands. "I didn't, not really." He paused and looked up at her, blonde hair tumbling into his eyes. "But I think I do now."
"I understand."
"I want you and I to be an us." Kori nodded, leaning in to place a lingering kiss on Chance's lips.
"Know that I won’t let anything happen to either of you," she told him, resting her head on his shoulder.
He paused for a moment, enjoying the closeness of her. "I will make you that same promise."
--
Musume: "My daughter"
Honto: literally "Truth." When used as a question informally, it could translate as, "For real?"
Honto yo!: A assertion of truth. When used informally, the closest translation my friends and I came up with was, "Word to your mother."
Yurushitene: "Forgive me," for use with family and friends
Gomen nasai: "I'm sorry," formal
Domo: "Thanks," informal
Asoka: "I see" or "Well then," informal
Nyan: the sound a cat makes
|