Renewed Acquaintances - Part 2
First Contact
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	A familiar figure stood partially obscured behind a stand of 
small trees, intently watching the small parking lot of the nearby 
neighborhood park.  Several children played noisily among the various 
apparatus, and the figure glanced over at them every few moments.
	In the figure's hand, a small device resembling a cell phone 
beeped quietly, then began to emit an increasing tempo of blipping sounds.  
The figure smiled beneath its beat-up fedora and hi-perf sunglasses, 
noting the relative position of a small dot on the device's screen.
	Hearing a vehicle approaching, the figure looked up to see a 
jade-green Mercedes convertible pull into the small parking lot.  A
black-haired woman and a young child exited the vehicle, and headed 
toward the playground.
	Looking down at the instrument again, the figure touched a few
buttons and waited for the readout.  When the results flashed across the 
small screen, the figure grinned.
	<"Hmm...  I thought so.  100 percent.  No doubt about it,"> the 
figure muttered in Japanese.
	Slipping the device into its large jacket pocket, the figure 
turned to head across to the park when a ball bounced gently off its 
leg.
	" the figure blurted, turning to see the ball roll off to 
the side.
	"Sorry, Mister!" a young voice called, as its owner ran up to
retrieve the ball.
	"Daijobu," the figure replied, stepping forward and nudging the 
ball toward the child.




	In the park, Eiko found a shady bench on which to enjoy her book,
while Kikuko ran off to join her friends.  As the weather had been 
cooperating of late, she'd been spending a lot of time outdoors, a fact 
reflected in her deepening tan.
	Just as she opened her book and found her place from the day 
before, her still acute senses picked up someone coming toward her.  
Automatically, she tensed a bit, waiting to see what the person's next 
move would be.
	"Hi, Amii...  Out with Kiko again?" a familiar male voice asked, 
from a short distance behind her.  Inwardly, she sighed, both in relief 
and about the name.  It had been one she picked on the spur of the moment, 
after one of her new neighbours introduced themselves the day she moved 
in.  It wasn't her favorite, but it worked on short notice.
	Turning, she saw Frank Thompson, a widower that lived a few 
houses away from her.  He stood smiling quietly a few feet behind the 
bench, folding a small sweater.
	"Hi, Frank...  Sorry I didn't see you.  I was reading," she 
replied, pleasantly.
	"That's okay...  I just got here.  The twins talked me into it,"
he said, searching the grounds for his children.
	"I know.  Kiko-chan can't stand a sunny day without the park.  
So, I take it you're off today?"
	"Vacation.  I spread it out to give myself a bunch of long 
weekends.  How about you?"
	"Just the usual.  I still haven't found a new job -- not that
I'm looking too hard.  I'd rather spend the time at home with 
Kiko-chan."
	"Yeah.  Wish I could.  The twins are growing so fast...  Hey,
want an iced tea?  I'm going to get one as soon as I see where they 
got themselves off to."
	She thought about it for a second, then decided there was no 
harm in it.  "Sure, Frank.  I have the change right here..." she began,
reaching for her purse.
	"Nope.  It's on me.  I owe you one for amusing the twins all
afternoon on Tuesday.  Remember?" he stated, still scanning the 
playground.
	"You don't need to do that.  The kids weren't any trouble,"
she protested, holding out a handful of change.
	"More trouble than if they hadn't been there.  Aha!  I see them.
They're by the slide with Kiko.  Lemon, right?" he confirmed, walking 
off toward the cantina.
	All she could do was nod, then shake her head.  She had
known Frank since she'd arrived, and this act was typical of him.  He
was a nice guy, and she knew he liked her, but she wasn't interested.
He wasn't exactly her type.
	A few minutes later, he returned with the teas, and promptly 
headed off after his children, not wanting to lose sight of them.  She
again shook her head, wondering how he was going to manage when his 
twins got older.
        With a sigh, she returned her gaze to her book, glancing up 
every so often to check on Kiko.  The little girl was a bundle of 
energy, racing from one apparatus to the other, easily outpacing her
playmates.  Eiko smiled, absently wondering if that wasn't a sign of 
things to come.
	As she lowered her eyes to the page before her, she sensed 
someone nearby again, only this time, the individual was trying to 
be discreet.  Her eyes narrowed as she listened intently to the 
measured footfalls, and assessed the person in question to be fairly 
large, and quite probably a threat.
	Closing her book slowly and placing it in her purse, she 
stood up and walked away, intent on circling around behind the 
person she had heard.  As soon as she was out of sight behind some 
trees, she dashed down toward the parking area.  Once she was sure 
she was far enough back, she braked to a halt, and turned toward the
location of the footfalls.
	Quietly approaching the treed area from the opposite side, 
she scanned the bushes for signs of movement.  Within a few seconds, 
she spotted a large, gray-clad figure, hunched down in the trees and
staring at the bench she'd just vacated.
	Face darkening in anger, she leapt up in the air, deflected 
off a convenient tree, and set up to deliver her famous 'Flying Foot'.
The stranger heard her and turned just in time to receive a 
medium-heeled size six square in the face.  She then dove on the 
flattened stranger, about to start pummeling away -- until she got a 
good look at the purpling face before her.  Stunned, she released 
her grip and stood up slowly.
	The stranger, despite everything, was the first to 
speak -- in perfect Japanese.  "O-Ohaio Gozaimasu... " a pained and very familiar voice asked.
	"D!  What the hell are *you* doing here?" she blurted, 
both surprised and angry.
	"" D replied, weakly.  
"" she continued, groaning as she tried
to sit up.
	"Damn right.  " she shot back, helping the 
large woman to her feet.
	"Domo, Magami-san.  " D assured, wiping the dirt and leaves from her jacket.
	"" she snarled, returning an angry 
look.  "" she continued, 
striding off toward the play area.
	D watched her depart, then shook her head sadly.  ""
	




	Once safely within her house, Eiko prepared some tea and sat
D down in the kitchen.  Seating herself across from the large woman, 
she glared at her over the table.
	"
	D only smiled broadly, then reached into her large pocket to 
produce the cell phone-shaped device.  "" D explained, 
happily.  "" she continued, grinning.
	"" she observed, flatly.
	"" she 
indicated, reaching to her inside pocket to produce a pink envelope.  
It was intricately trimmed in gold leaf and bore a very official 
looking symbol.  She handed it carefully to the stunned Eiko, who 
immediately suspected where it came from.
	Carefully opening the seal, she removed the ornately decorated
card and looked it over carefully.
	"" she noted, wryly.  "" she 
asked, reading on through the note.
	"" she exclaimed, 
leaping from her seat.
	"Hai! "
	"Ano... " she replied, looking back at the message.
	D sat quietly watching her read, smiling knowingly all the 
while.  She was quite well aware of what Shiko wanted, and fervently 
hoped Eiko would accept the offer.
	Eiko, meanwhile, gasped aloud as she read the last few lines
of the note.
	""
	"Hai!  " D explained, her eyes pleading.  "" D continued, her palms together, and eyes 
reddening.
	Eiko regarded her numbly as she spoke, then slowly dropped 
into her chair.  The card slipped from her fingers and landed on the 
table.
	""
	""
	""
	"" she stated,
slowly.
	D's large jaw dropped.  She hadn't been expecting such a 
negative response.  "Ano...  "
	"" she began, quietly but firmly.  "" 
she explained, lowering her head.  "" she continued, 
rising from her chair.  "" she indicated, anger starting to edge 
her voice.
	D couldn't reply.  All she could do was glare back with a 
combination of anger and disbelief.  After a moment, she stood up, 
bowed, retrieved her hat and sunglasses, then started for the door.  
Stopping momentarily beside Eiko, she turned and looked her hard in 
the eye.
	"" she stated, then turned toward the door again.  As she did, 
Eiko felt a quick brush against her skirt's outer slash pocket.
	"" she snapped, withdrawing a small 
device from the pocket.
	"" D replied, an unusual
bitterness in her voice.
	Eiko set her jaw in response, and watched the large woman 
carefully as she stepped through the door and strode down the walk.
	""
	D simply kept walking, not looking back.
	Eiko stood fuming in the doorway, watching her walk down the 
street until she rounded the corner.  Glancing down at the device 
in her hand, anger flashed across her face as she crushed it to bits,
then threw the pieces out into the yard.
	Closing the door with a deafening slam, she turned to see 
Kikuoko standing in the livingroom archway.
	"Mommy...  What are you so mad about?  Did that man bother 
you?"
	"In a way, yes," she replied, walking over and kneeling before
her little girl, face softening.  "I'm sorry, Kiko-chan.  I didn't 
mean to upset you.  That 'man' is someone I knew a long time ago.  He 
wants me to do something for a friend of his."
	"Does this mean we have to move again, Mommy?" the girl asked,
disappointment edging her soft voice.
	"What?" Eiko blurted, not expecting her to have remembered 
why they moved in the first place.
	"You said we moved from our first house 'cuz too many favors 
were asking.  That man wants one too, right?" she explained, sadly.	
	Brushing the child's bangs back away from her face, Eiko 
smiled at her intuitive response.  "Yes, honey, he does.  A big one."
 	"So now we have to move again," Kiko sniffed, looking at the 
floor and shifting her foot around.
	"Hai, Kiko-chan...  It looks like we do," she responded with
a sigh, reaching out and pulling her daughter into a tight hug.





	Later that night, as Eiko lay in bed staring at the dark 
ceiling, she replayed the conversation in her mind, remembering how 
distraught D had been in trying to convince her.
	In actuality, she dearly missed Shiko, and would love to have 
seen her again.  But, in asking what she had, Shiko had stepped over 
the line.  She wanted something from her.  That was the very type of 
situation she'd uprooted her life to escape, and she couldn't bring 
herself to fall back into the same trap.
	She was more than tired of giving up her life so that others
could achieve their objectives, no matter what they were.  It actually 
hurt her that her best friend, who obviously knew she'd gone to great 
lengths to drop out of sight, would be the one to 'blow her cover'.
	Rolling on her side, she cursed her lot.  To keep her new 
life, she knew was going to have to leave, and try again to disappear.  
The thought of going through that made her angry, since she had been 
in her current home just long enough to be accepted, and for her 
daughter to have made some good friends.  Friends she would miss.
	She felt her eyes start to moisten.  The first time, Kiko 
was barely old enough to realize what had occurred, but now, she was
older, smarter, and on the verge of a potentially disruptive change 
in her young life.  The little girl was going to need stability, but
that had just been utterly destroyed.
	"Kuso...  Why did you have to do this to me, Shiko?" she 
asked aloud, wiping away the forming tears with a sniffle.
	Abruptly, she felt a tug at her blanket, accompanied by a 
soft, hesitant voice still thick from recent tears.
	"Mommy...  Can I sleep with you?" Kiko asked, amid a soft 
sniffle.
	Her heart melted.  "Sure, honey..." she smiled, rolling 
over to face Kiko, who stood holding her favorite stuffed bunny by
one paw.  "C'mon in.  Were you crying, Kiko-chan?"
	"Hai, Mommy...  I don't want to move," she sobbed, even
as she snuggled in.
	"We may have to, honey...  Now that they know where I am, 
people may come around to ask me for things again.  I don't want 
that to happen...  It would take me away from you, and I'd miss 
you too much," she explained gently, hoping her daughter would 
understand.
	"I know, Mommy.  But I'll miss Sarah and the park and all
my friends at the monkey bars!  Please don't make us move again...
I don't want to go," she argued, starting to cry.  "Please, Mommy?
Please?" she begged, looking up through her tears.
	Eiko felt her chest tighten at her daughter's plea, and 
scooped the sobbing child into a tender embrace.
	"We'll see, honey," she sobbed, her voice choking to a
whisper.  "We'll see..."




	D, meantime, sat under a large tree in the park where she
had 'met' Eiko earlier.  As she finished the last of her submarine 
sandwich, she puffed a heavy sigh.
	"" she thought, sadly.
Sighing again, she fumbled around in the darkness for her 
tracker/sensor, which also acted as her communications link with 
her ship.
	Locating the unit, she activated it and prepared to report 
her disastrous news.
	"This is Operative DC138621S113, Codename 'D' reporting as
ordered," she stated in her native tongue, holding the unit before 
her face for a good picture.
	"Go ahead, Operative D," came the flat reply.
	"The news is not good.  I have located the target and made 
contact, but she *refuses* to return with us.  I have left a 
calldisk with her should she change her mind, but I'm not optimistic
at this point in Earth time."
	"This is not good, Operative D.  You are aware of the 
importance of this woman to our Queen, are you not?"
	"Yes.  I know it's more than just the Heiress issue, if 
that's what you're referring to.  I knew that long ago."
	"Good.  Then you will continue to monitor the target and if
necessary, make contact again and try to convince her to come 
willingly.  Regrettably, we can't force her, so use your best tact 
and diplomacy to try again.  This mission must succeed, D."
	"Right!" D replied, and shut down the link.  Closing the 
device up, she looked up at the starry night sky and sighed aloud 
once more.
	"I'd hate to see what will happen to our Queen if it 
doesn't."




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END - Renewed Acquaintances - Part 2            A FanFic by Coutuva.


Comments Welcomed - Flames Extinquished!
coutuva@gmail.com

    Source: geocities.com/Tokyo/Bay/9295