Tokyo, Japan. 2007

"English spoken" "Japanese spoken"

"Chichi! Haha!" Amaryllis called as she bounded down the steps. She rushed into the family room and stalled as instinctive shock spread across her face. They both sat on the couch next to each other. The man leaned in towards the little girl in a protective gesture and the little girl leaned into it with ease. The picture of a father and daughter.

The image was marred by the sight of her mother, who sat next to the little girl. It became the image of a family.

She feels a spark of disgust overcome her small being and laughed bitterly to herself. She didn't hate her parents because of the divorce anymore. She had sixty years to feel that hate and the emptiness that accompanies it. However, she still felt disgusted at the image in front of her. Amaryllis was six in 2007 and her half-sister was five. They should've divorced when Mimosa was born instead of waiting five years.

Masaomi, her father, took hold of Amaryllis hand and guided her to sit alongside him. "Ren-ren, your mother and I aren't going to be living together anymore. That doesn't mean that your mother and I don't want to be with you. Instead it's only mother and father who are unable to be together..."

Amaryllis couldn't keep her child-like fear and shock on her face as the words spilled past his lips. She remembered the speech. The words had haunted her during her entire childhood. The image of her mother forming another little family in America, leaving her behind, fueled her rebellious teenage years. She didn't need to hear it again. After all, her parents were only human.

"Chichi..." she whispered in a heartbroken voice. She may be understanding, but what six-year-old wasn't sad about this. "It's okay, Ren-ren is not sad. Ren-ren knows Chichi and Haha love her best." Amaryllis wouldn't doubt their love. She would transform her future with this first step, accepting her parents divorce.

"Ren-ren," Tsubaki, her mother, called out in a tight voice. She removed herself from her other daughter and embraced her eldest.

Amaryllis couldn't stop her body from trembling at the feel of her mother's arms around her. She was hugging her. Hugging her in front of others. She had never done something so emotional in front of others before. Such emotions were reserved for privacy and shouldn't be shown in front of others. "Haha, does Ren-ren have to stop loving Chichi?"

"No...Ren-ren can love Haha and Chichi equally," she responded and held her daughter close. Tsubaki was never a cold mother, but she was a stern one. She was prepared to scold her daughter if she overreacted, but she hadn't expected her to try and be brave. It broke her heart. It was easier to scold a tantrum then it was to comfort a smile.

"Daddy, why is that girl laughing at mommy?" a soft voice asked. The voice pointed at Amaryllis with a frown marring her sweet face.

"Mimosa," Remington, Mimosa's father, rebuked in a stern voice. She had forgotten what his voice sounded like. It wasn't like the clear cut of American actors. There was something a bit softer, almost artificially British in some of his words.

"I'm not laughing at her. Here, you address your mother as Haha," Amaryllis corrected pulling away from her mother's embrace. Amaryllis' English shouldn't have been as good as it was at her age. Perhaps, she might go the child genius route this time around. She had more time to learn additional skills.

"Ren-ren, you can speak English so well?!" Masaomi voiced in surprise as he looked at his young daughter. She hated her English tutor.

"Um...I picked it up from the American cartoons from Haha's business trips," Amaryllis declared with an enlightened expression on her face. Just accept the oddity of her English skills. She would only be astonishing her parents for the next several years.

"Then I can talk with you!" Mimosa declared with an excited voice. She sprang herself away from the couch and bounded towards Amaryllis. She had an infectious grin on her face and enthusiasm in her dark chocolate eyes. "Ren-ren is my big sister. Mommy is my Haha as well!"

Amaryllis smiled and, for the first time in her sixty years of experience, hugged her younger sister. "Alright, Mi-mi," She declared and allowed that smile to infect her.

The adults in the room looked at the two girls and felt relief fill them. They didn't hate each other. They were getting along. What little girl would suddenly accept a new sibling and her parents splitting apart? It seemed that Ren Kazuhiro was such a little girl. A one in a million little girl.

"Daddy! Can Ren-ren come with us! Haha! Can she?!" Mimosa declared and bounded up to her parents with her lower lip pursed. The perfect cuteness attack a little girl can employ on adults.

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Your ane approves! Amaryllis gave her a mental thumbs up. She would train Mimosa to be a strong, independent woman like she was...minus the angsty teenage anger and spoiled rich girl ungratefulness! She plans to have them take on the world together!

Kyoto, Japan. The next day

She had seen the shiny golden tower of gold in passing for years. Walked the grounds of Nijo-jo Castle with her maternal grandparents every year for her birthday. Celebrated the New Year Eve at Kiyomizu with her maternal family for years. She tasted the novelty of Nishiki Market every visit. Amaryllis had vague memories of taking Halloween pictures as a fox shrine maiden at the Fushimi Inari Shrine during her college years.

She had seen and experienced it all before. It didn't excite her, not anymore. It filled her with a smile, a warmth of sadness and happiness in her heart and mind. A good feeling.

"Ren-ren! Look! It's gold. It's made of gold!" Mimosa exclaimed and pulled her older sister from her thoughts.

Amaryllis laughed at her sister's behavior and held a finger up to her lips. "Mi-mi, you can't talk that loud. It's rude here."

Mimosa crossed her arms and looked to her father. He gave her a stern look, but Amaryllis could see the love in his grey eyes. She had never received that look from him. It was always hope tempered by disappointment. Amaryllis had only received wariness and scorn from his parents following her teenage years in America. She didn't live up to their expectation of being an heir to the Fontaine name.

She was determined to be better this time around. Amaryllis knew they were capable of loving her because they had tried when she first came into their lives. There was only so much unconditional love they could give a step-granddaughter. Especially, when they had their own blood-related granddaughter to protect from the outsider.

She shook her head from the negative thoughts of the past and took hold of Mi-mi's hand. "I'll race you!" she declared as they approached the main street. Both of the girls took off before one of the adults could stop them.

"Ren-ren! Mi-mi!" Tsubaki shouted and raced after the children which caused the girls to shriek in excitement. Remington had an amused expression on his face and followed after his wife(?) and their children.

———

Remington, Remi, had met Tsubaki when she was on a business trip. She had recently had an argument with her husband and was determined to drink her anger away in some dingy bar.

Remi had been the her target of revenge that evening. She attempted to hook up with him. Instead, it resulted in Remi carrying a completely wasted stranger to his hotel room because nobody knew who she was. He made sure she was alright in the morning and was prepared to send her back on her way. That intention was completely forgotten as the woman poured her heart out to him.

They became each other's support after that. A support that few others could understand. Was it rude to consider people like him and Tsubaki apart from others? Rémi couldn't see it that way. They were born into the power and temptation of wealth, but were able to harness the power without wasting away in its temptations. Some were able to do that and others weren't.

Such was the tale of people. Love was impossible to control, but marriage had to be maintained.

Tokyo, Japan. A week later

She knew it would happen. Amaryllis had kept it close to her like a childhood keepsake. The memory of her suddenly empty home. It was devoid of her mother's energy and she noticed how her own room seemed to be the only place untouched by it. Frozen in time.

She holed herself away in her room, feigning exhaustion from her trip to Kyoto. Amaryllis didn't know why she was feeling so lethargic. An unwillingness kept her firmly planted in her room, her little sanctuary from reality. As a child, she hadn't noticed how empty the villa became without her mother's presence or the regret that hung around her father like a ghost. What had her Chichi gone through knowing his wife left him and took their child as well?

The thought sent a stab of guilt to pierce her heart. "Chichi..." she murmured and felt her throat tighten with years worth of emotion.

She sprang from her bed and rummaged through her drawers for the jade carving of a snake. It was cheap compared to her other trinkets, but it was the one that meant the most. The jade's only remarkable quality was the detailed craving as it had poor color and transparency. It had been blessed by some religious person to wish the child good health. Amaryllis took it out only on special occasions. Moments when she needed it most.

It laid in the corner in a glass box. She had made a little bed for it from some folded cloth. It sat there and seemed to beckon her to clutch it again. Amaryllis shook herself from her own desire for its comfort and carefully removed the box from her drawer. She knew someone who needed it more.

She found her father in a heated argument on the phone in his office. He was talking with her maternal grandfather from the way he was addressing the other party. She caught snippets of their conversation and frowned. Her grandfather shouldn't be blaming her father for his daughter's behavior.

She pushed open the door and ran up to her father. "Chichi!" She shouted, a clear indicator for the adults to cease their arguing.

"I have to go," Masaomi hung up the phone and turned to face her. Amaryllis grinned widely at him and hid the glass box behind her back. "What are you hiding, Ren-ren?"

She beamed up at her Chichi and presented the box like it was a rare artifact. "Ren-ren will be leaving with Haha, right?"

The attentive expression on his face faltered. "En," he nodded and sank into his office chair.

She hurriedly placed the box into his hands. "Chichi, I'm giving this to you. She will keep you company while I'm living with Haha. She can remind you to email me every day."

Masaomi stared blankly at the box for a moment and at the jade snake. He looked back at the determined face of his daughter and felt that bit of emptiness disperse. "Alright, she'll keep me company, Ren-ren."

Amaryllis smiled at her Chichi and gave him a tight hug. She would soon be leaving Japan for America. The place which had felt like a punishment all her life as she was forced to becoming heir to a power which was never rightfully hers.

The Fontaine Faker as people liked to dub her.

No more. She would become worthy of it or she would give it all up. It was all or nothing this time around.