Between Us

Rebecca almost reflexively scoffed but stopped herself. It had been a while since she bothered listening to it. It had been like a annoying, dulled but persistent voice in the back of her head during her time with Elsa and before then. Only when did she have her change did she begin to hear it more clearly again. The only other time had been when she was a little girl and a bit older.

"I.." Rebecca gave a long pause. "..It tells me Ruby badly needs some form of stability and comfort after what happened. If she's raised alone or in foster care I'm worried that distrust will become worse, or may develop into something more severe then that. So..I want to take care of her and provide that for her. And I want her to see not all humans are bad, just like I have."

Atsuko chuckled. "Well, then why are you asking me what to do? It sounds to me like you already know."

Rebecca chuckled as well. "..I suppose. It's just I haven't listened to my heart so long..though it's like riding a bike. Part of you always will remember how. Anyway..how are things with you and Tomoya?"

And if she was going to keep Ruby around, she'd have to win her over. That was something that would take time. If she was honest, she was a bit nervous but she'd try.

Atsuko giggled. "We're just fine, though Tomoya talks about Elsa alot, I've noticed. I'm beginning to think he's already a bit smitten with her. Who knows, you and I might become sister-in-laws one day."

Rebecca smiled a bit over the phone. "Oh? That's funny, because Elsa talks about Tomoya all the time. There may be something there, so perhaps you're right. I would like you to meet Ruby sooner or later, it would be good for her. It'll take time but still."

"I understand. Tomoya and myself would love to meet her. It's best to wait until she opens up more and is more willing to accept that humans are alright." She sighed. "Anyway, thank you for calling. Also, Tomoya has mentioned his new friends. The Shuzen girls. I have a feeling you have something to do with that. Good call. It seems they've hit it off rather well. Should be good for them."

"Indeed it was my own doing that got that. I have..we'll I suppose I could call her a friend now, Akasha, their mother, I want you to meet. The father doesn't care for humans but that can't be helped. How about..this Saturdary I could set something up to meet Akasha?" She asked. "That is, if you're not busy then. I'd have to see what she's doing on that day as well. Busy woman, after all."

Atsuko sighed. "Unfortunately, Saturday isn't good for me. Naoyuki wants to go out for dinner." She didn't sound overly pleased by that, strangely.

"Hm..what day are you open?" Rebecca paused..then asked. "It could be my imagination but you don't seem too..pleased by that. I can count on my fingers of how many I have, but I consider you a friend Atsuko. So if ever want to talk or need someone just to listen..I'll try."

Atsuko thought about it... then sighed. "I'll be free for a bit tomorrow, actually, while the kids are at school... we can talk then, if you like. I don't really want to talk about certain things when Tomoya might hear."

"I see. I'll see about visiting then. In the mean time, I'm going to let you go. I'll talk to you later Atsuko. Take care." She hung up the cell phone. Rebecca couldn't help but wonder why Atsuko didn't seem thrilled, but she'd potentially find out tomorrow. Her..own marriage was something she didn't like to remember much but Atsuko's husband seemed like a decent man. So what was the problem?

I'll see later. Maybe.

She decided to head up stairs to check on the girls, knocking on the door briefly that edged opened with a slight whine of the creaky edges. Elsa was just showing Ruby her room. "I was just wondering if you wanted anything to eat Ruby. You hungry?"

Ruby looked up, and shrugged a bit. "Um, yes... please...." She seemed to be trying to be more open.

That caused a faint smile on Rebecca's part. "..All right. I'll see about getting something together. It shouldn't take more then fifteen to twenty minutes."

* *

Rebecca arrived at the next day at Atsuko's home, as promised. She knocked on the door and waited. The children she didn't have to worry about at the moment so that left her some much needed time.

Atsuko opened the door shortly, and smiled, pulling Rebecca into a hug. "Rebecca, it's good to see you. Come in, sit. Would you like something to drink?"

Rebecca returned the hug, pulling away. "Maybe just some tea? Or whatever you may have. Just no plain water; my kind can't drink or touch it. It's really such a inconvient weakness since much of the world is made of water I can't help but wonder why we even have such a waeakness, but I digress."

Atsuko raised a brow at that. "Then how do you bathe?" She moved to make some tea as she asked this.

"We use special herbs and the like. Or rather, anything to unpurify the water.." Rebecca seemed to be thinking "It's a peculiar weakness in itself. If I didn't know any better, I'd say its more akin to a curse considering how wide spread and common water is. There's no direct proof of that but wouldn't be surprised."

Atsuko thought about that. "Hm..." She didn't say anything after that, simply working on the tea.

Rebecca didn't have anything to say after that, and merely waited for her tea. She'd let Atsuko talk about whatever was bothering her at her own pace, that included bringing up the subject.

After the tea was done, and she handed a cup to Rebecca and they had sat down, she finally spoke up. "Rebecca, I'm sure you never believed me when I denied being the Atsuko who was a fighter?"

Rebecca took the tea, sipping it before putting it down. "..No, I didn't. However, I didn't press and at the time I wasn't exactly thinking too much about it."

Atsuko nodded. "Well... five years ago, I'm sure you heard that I simply disappeared, not even my friends at the time knowing where I went?"

Rebecca nodded, wondering where she was going with it. "That's correct."

Atsuko paused, then sighed. "Well... I was nineteen when I got pregnant with Tomoya. It was a drunken fling with my good friend, Naoyuki. I was celebrating a win, and... well, you know how that ended up. I didn't want any child of mine growing up without a father, and Naoyuki... he loved me. Still does. I just never felt the same way about him. I wanted him around though. I tried to make it work, but he was clearly unhappy, and kept asking me to marry him, and I just... caved. I thought, 'it's best for the baby, and he's a good man. We'll be happy, and I'll develop those feelings for him eventually.' Except... I didn't. And after what he did, I'm not sure I can. He forbade me to ever fight again. He said he couldn't stand to see me fight, constantly worrying if I'd get hurt. Eventually, our arguments got so bad that he decided he'd rather never see me again than to see me fight... and I couldn't do it. I couldn't let my child lose their father before they were even born... so I caved again... and while I would trade anything to be with Tomoya... I feel chained down. And while Naoyuki is a good, kind man... I just can't see him as anything more than that... you know, I swore I'd never be trapped in a loveless marriage like my mother was, and yet here I am..."

Rebecca was silent for a long moment, then reacted on what her gut told her and hugged Atsuko then pulled away. "I'm..hardly a person to be giving advice on the subject. All my encounters with romantic love have been more then miserable so I had a..arranged marriage where Elsa was conceived. The father though.."

She trailed off, seeming to let the subject drop. "It's admirable you went through such lengths to keep a family together even to your own misgivings..I'm not hardly that patient. I wouldn't have been able to do it. The only reason I was with Elsa's father because it was more or less forced. That is one thing, even back then, I swore I'd never do to Elsa or any other children I had."