A/N: I'd like to thank Daiji for articulating a thought that had been in the back of my mind for a while, I just wasn't able to call it anything. Critique partners, beta readers, alpha readers, I recommend all writers have them.
By now, most of you are probably used to Aoshi the intelligence officer. Starting with chapter 11, you all will get to see what Aoshi the father, the man, is like and how his career and his family created the person he is. At least that's my plan. ^_^ Oh yeah, and more A/Meg action for you guys in this one…
Aoshi watched as Misao embraced Okina, tears running down her cheeks. The airport terminal seemed so deserted.
Misao's bright blue eyes were illuminated by the terminal's overhead lighting. He hated to see her cry. Even if he knew...and she knew...that Okina would only be gone for a while, it still didn't stop her tears.
"Misao, I won't be in Spain forever. I'll come visit," Okina assured her.
"When?" Misao bit her lower lip.
The old man smiled tenderly at her. "I'm not sure. But as soon as I can, you'll be the first to know..."
Misao nodded and gave him one final hug.
"You take care of Aoshi, okay, Misao?" Okina gave her a kiss on the cheek.
As she pulled away from Okina, Aoshi placed his hands on her shoulders, squeezing lightly. Then he looked at his former guardian, his mentor. Another family member was being taken away. Okina had received his orders to go to Spain.
"Okina, please call when you get to Spain. Regardless of the time difference," Aoshi spoke up as Misao latched onto his arm. He felt a strange sense of loss.
"I will," Okina promised.
"Flight number fifty-seven now boarding all rows," the gate agent spoke up.
Okina gave Aoshi a pat on the back before turning to leave. Aoshi feigned a smile as Okina walked away. The old man handed the gate agent his ticket and gave a final wave before disappearing onto the jetway.
"I hate goodbyes..." Misao sniffed, wiping her eyes as tears continued to flow.
"I know..." he said softly. Aoshi's grip on her tightened, and he closed his eyes for several seconds. "We'll see him again..."
It was dark in his room when his eyes flew open. Aoshi glanced at the clock. Midnight. Saturday.
He pushed the covers aside and swung his legs over the bed. That dream...when Okina left for Spain...that was only a piece of what had been swimming in his mind over the last few hours. He just couldn't remember the rest of it.
Dressed in black pajama pants and gray T-shirt, he slowly walked to the kitchen to fix himself some hot tea, stopping short. The kitchen lights were on and Misao, dressed in blue shorts and a white T-shirt that said 'Girlz rule', was sitting on the kitchen floor, against the cabinets, next to the fridge.
"What are you doing awake?" Aoshi asked as he stepped over her extended legs to fill a kettle with water.
Misao hugged her knees to her chest to give him space to move around. "Couldn't sleep. Jiya's only been gone for a week...but it seems like forever..."
"It seems quiet without him here," Aoshi agreed. "Did you want tea?"
"Sure..." Misao reached for the bag of pretzels beside her and began to munch on one.
With her hair messy and her wide blue eyes, she resembled the little girl from ten years ago who always brought a smile to his face. It had been refreshing to see her during his vacation from the Naval Academy. He had almost forgotten how contagious her energy and joy were. Where was that girl now? He looked away and sighed. She was growing up...
"It's cold on the floor," he said gently.
"I'm okay," she assured him.
Aoshi then moved to sit across from her on the tile floor.
Misao grinned shyly. "I remember we used to do this when I was six years old...when you came home from the academy for Christmas break...we'd stay here and pig out on leftovers..."
He arched a brow. "I didn't know you remembered that..."
"I remember a lot of things," she said quietly.
They sat in silence for a couple minutes.
"Did Okina give you his new email address?"
Misao nodded. "Yeah. I told him I'll email him tomorrow." She opened the fridge and reached for a disc of cheese wrapped in wax.
"I'd like one, too..."
Misao handed him a piece and got herself one.
"How was your first day of hula?" Aoshi asked before ripping the wax off his snack. "I forgot to ask that earlier..."
"It was good. I feel a little out of place since I just started..."
Aoshi wadded up the wax into a ball and tossed it in the trash bin. It sailed cleanly through the air before easily landing inside.
"Nice shot," Misao commented, rolling up her wax and tossed it without even looking at the trash bin. Score.
"Not bad..."
Ever since Okina left, he and Misao had gotten along a lot easier. They didn't argue as much. And he decided not to bother her so much about school. She didn't seem to react well when he asked about school, so he decided to leave that alone. He'd know if she was doing badly.
"So what are you doing tomorrow?" he asked.
"I haven't decided yet," she shrugged.
Aoshi cleared his throat. "Why... Why don't we do something?"
Misao stared at him for almost a full minute.
"What?"
Misao shook her head. "I must have heard you wrong...you actually want to go out and do something? You? And me?"
"What's wrong with that?"
"Nothing..." Misao blinked. "Okay...so...what do we do?"
"We could drive up the island...see the beaches the tourists don't..."
"Okay." Misao nodded as the teakettle whistled.
Aoshi got up and poured the water in two mugs before steeping two tea bags. "Misao...if you could move to the counter...the tea..."
"Oh...right..." Getting up from the floor and taking her bag of pretzels with her, she sat at the kitchen counter stool.
He waited for a minute before serving the tea, standing across from her at the counter. Misao took several tentative sips.
"Aoshi?"
"Yes?"
"Why...Have...Have you ever thought about getting married?"
He paused in drinking his tea. "What makes you ask that?"
"Well...one of my classmates...her dad's getting remarried...just...curious..."
Aoshi frowned slightly. "I...never really gave it any thought..."
"Would you like to?" "I...suppose. Someday..." Aoshi studied her for a moment. "Why do you ask?"
"Just that you haven't...really...I don't know..."
Aoshi sipped calmly for a minute before speaking. "I did have a proposal once."
Misao's eyes widened. "What?"
Aoshi stared into his mug, the swirling liquid picking up the lights from overhead. "She was a JAG lawyer."
"Was this when we were in D.C.? What was her name...?"
"Renee DeWinters..." he supplied.
Misao leaned forward. "Right. So what happened?"
"We had been together for several months...she thought it was time to settle down. I wasn't ready to." He shrugged.
"Why not?"
"It wasn't the right time," Aoshi responded quietly. "So she found someone else who wanted to settle down not too long after I told her that."
"She cheated on you?" Misao's jaw dropped.
"More or less."
"You always told me that you didn't want to see her anymore...you never told me she cheated!" Misao sipped her tea before shaking her head.
He had been disappointed, but not particularly heartbroken by the experience. He should have thanked that admin officer for showing him what his girlfriend was really like.
"But you haven't dated anyone seriously since Renee."
He decided not to dwell on how correct her statement was. "Does my personal life matter so much to you?" Aoshi asked.
Misao sighed. "Just...Sometimes...I wonder what things would have been like if you got married..."
Aoshi said nothing for a couple minutes.
He had been right all along. He hadn't been able to raise Misao alone. Deep down, she wanted a mother. So what if she was almost a high school graduate? She'd still need female guidance later on, right? What would their lives have been like?
“I know that our family situation is…unconventional. But…I…thought we-”
“I do wonder what it’d be like to have a mom,” Misao interrupted quietly. Then she shrugged. “But I’ll be going to college soon. I’m not sure where. So…who’s going to…You’ll be…”
He understood. Aoshi merely replied, “I’m a Naval Intelligence Officer. It’s the life I chose. And sometimes…it involves being alone…”
“But it shouldn’t,” Misao said passionately. “Look at Jiya! I love him, and I know he loves us, but I don’t want you to end up like him! You deserve better than that…you both do!”
Aoshi’s eyes widened in shock at her outburst. What could he say? He had his share of relationships…they all failed. He hadn’t been joking when he told Okina that he took relationships seriously…he did. But he refused to give up his career. And he had yet to find a woman as dedicated as he was. Besides, he was only thirty-one. If he changed his mind, he had plenty of time.
“Thank you,” he said finally.
Misao looked up. “For what?”
“For saying that,” he said quietly.
He saw her look away, and she chewed on her bottom lip nervously. When she looked back, her eyes lowered to the counter, and her hands fidgeted.
“I just…I…” she trailed off.
“Misao.” Her wide blue eyes met his, and he gave her a small, reassuring smile. “I know.”
Breifly, she smiled back. Then she grinned, holding out her hand, pinky finger extended. “Promise.”
He blinked for several seconds, staring at her outstretched hand. They hadn’t done that in years. Close to a decade. When his eyes lifted to meet hers, she glared at him indignantly.
“What-?”
“Pinky swear, Aoshi.”
“You still do this?” he asked. Warily, Aoshi hooked his finger with hers. “I get the feeling I’m going to regret this promise.”
Then his ward announced solemnly as he sipped his tea, “I promise to find you a girlfriend by Valentine’s Day.”
He choked on his tea and coughed several times. “Misao, I don’t-”
“It’ll be fun!” She rubbed her hands gleefully. “Maybe Stella and Danielle could scope out some women for me…”
“Relationships take time,” he rationalized.
“I’ve got three months, Aoshi, that’s plenty of time!”
Glaring at her, Aoshi tried not to show how funny he found the situation. More and more, he was starting to see the young girl who had brought so much light. Misao wasn’t fooled. She was grinning like a Cheshire Cat. He glanced at the clock that hung on the wall.
"Misao, we should sleep. I'll wake you up at nine in the morning..."
"Okay." Misao stored the bag of pretzels away and put her mug in the sink. "It’s a promise, Aoshi. I’ll find you a girlfriend…Good night..."
"Good night." As she turned to leave, Aoshi began to wash their mugs. Girlfriend, indeed. After he placed the mugs on the dishwasher rack, he turned off the lights and headed back to his bedroom.
Aoshi adjusted his sunglasses as he lounged back in his chair. The mid-morning sun warmed the sand while a tropical breeze from the ocean caressed his skin. When was the last time he relaxed like this? It was nice to sit at a beach that wasn’t teeming with tourists. Not that he had a problem with tourists. They just tended to flood Waikiki. He was glad that he knew secluded beaches like the locals did. Dressed in black swimming trunks, Tom Clancy novel in his lap, an ice chest of drinks and food at his side, the shade of a palm tree over him, he was in paradise. Misao was in the distance, by the water, making a sand castle.
He smiled slightly, completely at ease as he closed his eyes.
It was short-lived. He felt something soft bounce off his lap before landing beside him.
“Mindy!” a woman’s voice exclaimed.
He opened one eye to see a little girl with curly hair hesitantly making her way towards him. She looked to be about six or seven years old. Several paces behind her was a woman he assumed to be her mother. Pushing his sunglasses to the top of his head, he glanced to the side to see a plastic pink beach ball. Aoshi picked it up and held it out to the girl.
“I’m very sorry about that,” the mother apologized.
“It’s all right,” he assured her.
The little girl smiled shyly at Aoshi as she accepted the ball.
“Don’t forget to thank the nice man…” her mother instructed.
“Thank you,” Mindy’s high voice automatically responded.
“You’re welcome,” he replied, smiling slightly as she went back to her mother.
“She just has me running in circles,” the mother joked.
“Children can do that,” he agreed. At that moment, Misao had looked up from her castle and waved. He lifted his hand to wave back.
The mother looked in Misao’s direction and smiled. “She’s yours?” At Aoshi’s nod, her smile grew. “She doesn’t look like a handful…”
“I thought that, too, for a while,” he murmured.
She laughed. “Well, thanks again. It was nice meeting you,” the mother said and turned to walk away with her daughter.
Aoshi watched Misao walk up with a handful of shells and rocks that she had collected during her walk on the sand. He held out an ice-cold bottle of water for her.
“Thanks.” Misao took several sips before staring out at the water. She glanced at him. “Aoshi?” “Yes?”
“Um…I’ve been meaning to tell you…” She took a deep breath. “There’s…There’s a father-daughter dance coming up in a few weeks. I…was wondering…if…you…if you’d like to go.”
Aoshi studied her for a few moments before putting his sunglasses over his eyes. “Sounds interesting. Let’s go.”
“Really?” “Of course.”
“Really?! Wow!” In her enthusiasm, she squeezed his arm.
“Just let me know when it is,” he said.
“Oh, I will. I will, don’t worry!” Then she sobered. “What…What if you have a mission?”
So that was why she seemed hesitant in asking. “I won’t,” he assured. “I’ll make sure I don’t…”
She grinned widely. He hadn’t seen her that happy in a long time. It felt good to see her that way.
"Here, let's check United."
"United Airlines?"
Click. Typing...click.
"Oh, my...am I seeing the decimal point in the right place...?"
"Check Microsoft..."
Aoshi paused as he passed by the cubicle his junior officers occupied. Were they checking stocks? Aoshi turned to see the four hovering over Theresa's desktop.
He cleared his throat loudly enough so they knew that they were being watched. The four scurried to their desks before looking up to see their senior officer staring at them.
"Sir..." Williams smiled sheepishly. "We...were...um..."
"Save it," Aoshi cut in, tossing her a folder. "Decipher this code." At the lieutenant's wince, he added in a low voice, "And check Southwest Airlines and Pacific Bell for me..."
She grinned.
Aoshi made his way to his office. Since he got back to work, all he and his four team members had were really small cases. Minor things. They usually didn't require all of them to work as a collective group. He would often just send two of them to investigate. Stolen government property, falsification of documents...monitoring nautical activity...and bundles of paperwork.
He settled in his desk, massaging his temples after glancing at the foot tall stack of files and paperwork he had to deal with. And it was Friday afternoon.
His phone rang. Aoshi reached over to pick it up.
"Lt. Commander Shinomori’s office."
"Hi, Aoshi," Misao chirped.
"Misao." He smiled slightly at the sound of her voice.
"Just letting you know that Stella and Danielle are going to take me to hula lessons. Could you pick me up when class ends? Stella has to go celebrate her dad's birthday and Danielle's brother is coming home from college for the weekend."
Aoshi glanced at the clock on his computer. Three forty-five. "I'll try...Hopefully I'll finish before then..."
"Oh..." She sounded disappointed.
He closed his eyes. He and Misao were on better terms. She was home a lot more now. They were communicating. He didn’t want to ruin the fragile peace between them. "I'll arrange a ride for you if I can't...but I'll try and be there early."
"Okay."
He had finished just before six. After fighting traffic out of Pearl Harbor, Aoshi decided to wait for her at the halau. Yuki Asawa's hula school was a traditional Hawaiian hut complete with a palm tree-lined backyard. After telling her assistant that he'd be outside, Aoshi settled in the lounge chair on the grass, unfolding his long legs. Dark sunglasses as well as the trees overhead shielded his eyes from the sun. His head was killing him...
Megumi peered outside the screen door that led to the backyard and smiled. Her aunt's halau was also a living area, with the upstairs serving as her aunt's living quarters.
Looked like Lt. Commander Shinomori was taking a nap. He seemed much more relaxed and at peace. His raven-black hair fell in several feathery bangs just above narrow eyebrows and piercing blue-gray eyes, which were currently concealed by sunglasses. His firm lips and strong jaw stated that he was a proud man who rarely showed weakness.
He looked good in a uniform. The khaki button-down short-sleeved shirt emphasized the power in his broad shoulders and definition of his forearms. A black watch circled his right wrist. He wasn't the most muscular of men, but his uniform certainly fit to the lines of his body. Even his facial features fit his body. Lean and strong. Too bad his nice-looking appearance didn't fit his personality...
He shifted slightly, and she took a step back, wondering if he had seen her watching him. If he could see her from this far of a distance. Then he became still.
Megumi glanced at her watch. Misao and her other classmates wouldn't be done for another forty-five minutes. She stepped outside and made her way onto the grass.
"Yes?" he prompted.
Megumi said coolly, "I didn't mean to disturb you...I just wanted some air."
He sighed, not missing her tone of voice. She probably wasn’t happy with him since the last time he saw her. "When did you get here?"
"Not too long ago. My aunts and I are having dinner together..." Megumi explained. "Misao...Misao learns very quickly. And she's only been to three lessons..."
"Okina always said she was a fast learner..." he murmured to himself.
“Okina?”
“Misao’s first guardian…who had been my guardian,” he explained hesitantly, rising to his feet.
“I see. What happened to him…if you don’t mind me asking?” The frost in her voice disappeared.
“Why would I mind?” At her silence, he continued, “He works at NIS in Spain. He recently came for a visit.”
“Misao must have been happy,” she said sincerely.
“She was,” he admitted after a pause. “The three of us went surfing in Waikiki.” Megumi’s jaw dropped. “What?”
“You went surfing?” she echoed.
“Yes…”
She blinked. “I can’t believe it…”
“Why not?” he asked, frowning.
With a teasing smile, she quipped, “Because I didn’t think an uptight Navy guy like you knew how to do that. That’s very interesting…”
Maybe it was being put on the spot…or the glint in her eyes, but he felt out of his element. Was it warm outside? He cleared his throat. “I-I don’t see how-”
“Tell me, Commander…did you go in full uniform?”
His jaw tightened. “You’re making fun of me.”
“And loving it.” She let out a laugh.
She had a pleasant voice. The kind that warmed the soul. And also the kind that brought men to their knees. He scowled at the thought.
Even facial expressions hurt. Aoshi removed his sunglasses and reached to massage his temples again.
Megumi's eyes rounded. "Are you all right?"
"Tension headache."
"Oh...Here..." she moved towards him and adjusted his chair to form a flatbed. "Let me help you with that..."
"I don't think-"
She cut him off by shoving him back to his position on the chair. "Relax, Commander, you're in good hands," she assured, kneeling behind him.
"Your hands are the last place I want to be," he said mildly.
"Are you afraid I might do something?" She smiled slyly, knowing that he couldn't see her expression. She really, really loved to tease him. "Or afraid you might like it?" She couldn't help but trace her finger lightly over the curve of his ear as she asked the question suggestively.
"That's enough-" he half-turned swiftly then realized his mistake. "Ouch..." He braced his hand against his forehead. He moved forward slightly as if to get away from her.
But she was faster and planted a hand on each shoulder. "All right, all right. I'll be good."
"And professional," he reminded.
"Of course." Megumi pushed her long hair aside. "Now where's the pain?"
"My entire head."
Megumi placed her hands on the back of his neck, her fingertips running over his cervical vertebrae. "You have a lot of tension in your neck...have you had this all day?"
"Practically."
"All right, hold on..."
She carefully began to loosen the tension in his neck, massaging for several minutes. When the muscles began to soften, she moved to the base of his skull, which joined his neck. Her slender fingertips pressed in circles at his temples before slowly making their way up his hairline to his forehead. Then she worked the back of his neck again, her hands coursing to his shoulders and upper back. She had spent a good half hour working on him before the tension left his body.
"How do you feel?" she asked.
"Better," he said quietly before standing up.
"Good," she replied, unable to stop herself from smiling. "Next time I feel tense, you can work on me..."
He shook his head. "No, thank you. I don’t normally interact with women who familiarize themselves so easily with men…"
Her eyes rounded. "Great..." She held up her right hand and ticked each of her fingers off as she spoke. "First I'm a drug dealer, then a homewrecker, now I'm a tramp?" Would he ever stop? "Go to hell..."
She got up and headed back to the halau. Just as Aunt Kyoko stepped outside.
"Megumi, how do you feel about Thai food? Yuki's craving pad thai noodles..."
"Sounds good," Megumi responded, pasting a smile on her face.
“Megumi, hi!”
At the sound of her name, she turned to see Kaoru and Kenshin at the café outside the exchange, sharing desserts. Placing her receipt in her bag, she walked over to them. She had just gotten off work and needed to purchase several essentials.
“Sit with us,” Kaoru offered, gesturing to the open chair.
“Thank you.” She gracefully sank into the iron chair.
“How are you?” Kenshin asked.
“Good,” Megumi admitted. Then she leaned forward, a faint smile lighting her features. “I understand we’re invited to a wedding some time next year…”
Kenshin laughed. “Sano tells me Katherine’s family is helping them. It’ll be interesting to see…”
“I think it’s great that you and Sano can get along now,” Kaoru commented.
“Are you kidding? I wouldn’t want to miss his wedding. I have to meet the woman who tamed him. So I have to stay on good terms with him,” Megumi retorted.
But she knew her friends weren’t fooled. She was accustomed to putting up a front. It had been one of the things that drove Sano crazy. But it was her way…due to her upbringing.
“Megumi…if you don’t mind me asking…what happened the day you two were supposed to meet up?” Kaoru spoke up. “Sano said he ran into your father…”
The young doctor sighed. “That’s a mild way of putting it.”
The husband and wife glanced at each other.
“It’s no secret my father never approved of Sanosuke,” Megumi commented. Then her eyes dimmed. “Seeing Sano again…made me realize that…that my father and I have a lot to talk about. I…I just don’t know where to start…”
Kenshin sipped his coffee. “You could always just say what’s in your heart.” When the women looked at him, he continued, “It probably will be the most difficult conversation you’ll have…but at least you’re speaking without rehearsed lines.”
“You’re right…it won’t be easy…”
“You’re your own person,” Kaoru assured her. “And he’s your father. He’ll love you no matter what, right?”
“I hope so…”
At work several days later, Megumi knocked on her father’s office door. She was terribly nervous.
“Come in…”
She opened the door to see her father’s eyes focused on the computer terminal at his desk.
His eyes widened in surprise. “Megumi…come in…Sit.”
She obliged and closed the door behind her before settling in the chair facing his desk.
“If you’re not busy, I was wondering if we could talk,” Megumi spoke up. “As father and daughter.”
His eyes widened. “This…is serious.”
“Very.”
“I see…” He pushed his keyboard aside and slowly walked around the desk to sit in the seat next to her.
She took a breath. “First of all…about Sanosuke…” Megumi trailed off, not missing the scowl on her father’s face. She cleared her throat. “He and I are friends only. He left for Virginia a little over a week ago. He’s getting married and I’m invited to the wedding.”
He nodded. “All right. But what does this have to do with-?”
“Throughout the time we were together, you never gave him a chance,” she responded, taking a deep breath. She couldn’t avoid the tremor in her voice. Her heart was racing a mile a minute. Nerves. That had to be it.
“He didn’t deserve you,” he answered simply.
“You will think that of every man,” Megumi answered.
“Not every,” her father countered.
Megumi sighed. “Regardless…you never gave him a chance. I wanted to be with him, and-”
“You were miserable. Every time you were angry with him it was the exact same thing over and over again,” Ryuusei Takani argued. “How could you want to be with such-”
“I loved him,” Megumi cut in. “And there was a time that he loved me. Our love obviously wasn’t strong enough to overcome the obstacles in our lives, I see that now. But whenever I came to you after he and I argued, you never hesitated to list his bad qualities. Instead of showing support and understanding, you kept telling me to end the relationship.”
“I was being supportive,” he insisted.
“It might have looked that way,” Megumi responded. “But I remember several times you offered to introduce me to someone…while I was still in a relationship with Sanosuke!”
Her father sighed. “Perhaps I shouldn’t have been as aggressive. I know you two loved each other, but the kind of love you had doesn’t last, Megumi. You need someone strong and steady to look after you.”
“I don’t need to be looked after,” Megumi replied softly. “And I accepted that we aren’t meant to be. That’s fine.” She took a deep breath, her confidence growing. “Also…I don’t intend on joining the Medical Corps.”
“What?” His eyes narrowed.
“Ever.”
“Why not?”
“I don’t want to become an officer,” Megumi shrugged. “In a few years I’ll be able to open up my own practice and I don’t want the Navy preventing me from doing that.”
“But it’s a good opportunity!” he insisted.
“It’s your dream, Father. Not mine,” she whispered.
“But…”
“This is me, Father. For once…I’d like to be able to interact with you and not feel as if I have to impress you,” Megumi said, her voice thick with emotion. “I’ve lived most of my life doing that and I’m tired of it…”
His eyes widened, seeing her eyes fill with tears. Impatiently, she brushed them away.
“I even went to the Navy ball with someone who I knew would impress you. I knew once you saw him, you would stop setting me up with other officers,” Megumi pointed out. At her father’s shocked expression, she continued, “I don’t know what caused us to be this way, but it ends now.”
“Are you saying you don’t wish to be a family anymore?” he asked incredulously.
“I don’t want to be pressured into being someone I’m not…doing things I really don’t want to do,” Megumi said quietly. “It’s exhausting.”
He took a deep breath. “Have I been that demanding?”
She lowered her eyes. “Yes.”
He studied her features for several moments. “Megumi…” He swallowed. “I know that it hasn’t been easy…with your mother passing when you were so young…I…I…”
Megumi looked up in shock. Her father never lost his composure. Now he looked like he was going to break.
“I didn’t want to lose you,” her father whispered. “Maybe…Maybe that’s why I was like that…I-if you did what I thought was best for you…I wouldn’t have to worry about losing you…I really do want what’s best for you…I always have…but maybe…Maybe I should let you make your decisions…without my influence…” He cleared his throat. “When your mother died, I was lost. I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t know if I could raise you and your brothers alone. I felt like I had lost everything. And when you three grew up…your brothers decided to leave Hawaii, yet you stayed. When they left, you were all I had. I lost your brothers, I didn’t want to lose you…I…I…”
He looked away, unable to continue. Now she understood. Her father had been mourning her mother’s death for a long time. He hadn’t been able to handle the loss. And he didn’t want to lose his children in the process.
“You never lost us, Father,” Megumi said softly. “We just wanted to make our own decisions. That’s why they left…you did the same thing to them. Only, I was the one willing to follow what you said.”
“I am sorry, Megumi…” he choked out.
After a confession, what else could a daughter do? Tearfully, she hugged her father, whispering, “I know. I…I’m sorry, too…for not being the daughter you wanted…”
He held her for a second longer before releasing her. “No…I am proud of you, Megumi. And I know your mother is, too…”
Megumi wiped her eyes and gave her father a shaky smile.
“So…now what?”
“I’ll stay here at Pearl Harbor…I love working with these people, so I’m not leaving,” she assured him. “And…maybe…later on…we can celebrate Thanksgiving and Christmas together. All of us. As a family.”
“I’d like that,” he answered, taking a deep breath. “So you really plan on attending Sagara’s wedding?”
“Yes.”
“You sure your feelings for him have changed?”
“Yes.”
“And you have no interest in Lt. Commander Shinomori?”
Back to that again. “None,” Megumi said firmly.
Her father sighed. “Just because I think he’s a good match for you doesn’t mean you have to disagree with me…”
An hour later, Megumi was going over a patient's chart when her phone rang. Reaching across her desk, she picked up her headset, placed it on and pushed a button.
"Dr. Takani's office."
"Good afternoon, Doctor."
She knew that voice. "Commander."
Silence on his side. Megumi said nothing. If he insisted on playing games, she could too.
Suddenly, "Are you available this Friday?"
"Why do you ask?" she asked in a neutral tone.
"A coworker gave me tickets to Aloha Tower Friday Night Dinner and Dancing."
"I thought you don't dance," she said skeptically.
"I don't dance at Navy balls," he corrected.
Megumi was quiet for a couple moments. "What brought this on?" Then she remembered what her father said. She wondered if she should have told him what his ‘ideal son-in-law’ thought of his daughter.
"I..." he trailed off in silence for a couple seconds before adding quickly, "If you can't come, that's understandable. It-"
"I'll go," she interrupted. "On one condition."
"What's that?"
"Don't add any more to the list." It kinda hurt. She had great respect for the man, even though she didn't even like him at first. She was slowly started to learn more about him, too, either by first-hand experience or casual discussions with those who knew him. And she liked what she was learning.
"...Deal."
When Aoshi hung up, he stared at the phone for several moments. Why did he ask her to go? Was he making up for the way he treated her? He remembered the hurt he saw in her eyes before she had walked away.
Women were complicated. As Dr. Megumi Takani’s face flashed in his mind, he wondered why they argued so much when they were around each other. It made no sense. She was an intelligent, caring…assertive…woman. She couldn’t be a successful doctor without possessing those qualities…qualities he admired in a person. And she had this unusual way of getting to him…something people rarely did. How did she do it?
A/N: I’m fully aware of the head-hopping in Aoshi and Meg’s scene. Hope it wasn’t too confusing. Now…concerning Misao’s promise for Valentine’s Day…I’m hoping I can finish this fic before then. We’ll see. It’ll be a V-Day Aoshi will never forget. ^_^
NEXT! Aoshi and Meg’s ‘date’, and even more Aoshi/Misao interaction!
