"Hey. You okay?" Akane reached out, rubbing Ranko's back supportively through her purple Minato Mystics Cheerleading tee shirt. "We gotta…"
Ranko shrugged, her mumbled response interrupting her wife. "I… yeah. I'm just… never gonna see it like this again." The redhead's forlorn gaze panned the empty wooden stage platform on which she and her wife both stood. She motioned with her hand to a spot at the center of the stage, not far from Akane's feet. "The first time I performed Rise, I was standing right there."
The melancholic young singer took a few steps to the left, pausing and looking down at her feet. "This is the exact spot where I married you."
Akane nodded, reaching for her partner's hand. "Yeah. It is. But you've performed Rise in lots of places. Lots of countries, even. And, I mean… your new stage is next door, and technically, you married me there, too. Try not to be so hung up on what's going away; focus on what you're getting in its place. This is an upgrade, princess."
"I know," Ranko replied quietly, fidgeting with her wedding ring. "And I'm not saying the new stuff won't be great. Just… I'm gonna miss this stage. I have a lot of good memories up here."
"It's not too late, you know. You could talk to Yui and the girls and ask them to leave it up, if it bothers you that much." Akane gave her wife's hand an encouraging squeeze. "I'm sure they'd do it if you asked."
Ranko slumped her shoulders. "I shouldn't. I know they need the space. Tearing it down is the right thing for them to do. It just hurts a little bit, moving on. That's all."
Bobbing her head, Akane started to pull Ranko's hand toward the trio of stairs leading down to the bar floor. "Alright. If you're sure. But come on. We need to get going."
Ranko gave Akane's hand a brief, tight squeeze, wordlessly prompting Akane to let her go. Once her hand was freed, Ranko stepped to the middle of the stage, gazing out over the empty bar room. Her eyes moved from the bar counter where Mei had taught her to spiral-cut oranges on her first day at the Phoenix, to the brick wall on the west side of the building that would soon be broken down to enjoin the room to the hallway connecting the Phoenix to the new nightclub next door.
"Sure, it seems just like a fantasy…don't know how it happened to a girl like me…" Ranko sang quietly to herself, drying her eyes with her fingertips. "But now, my happy ever after happens whoa-a-all the ti-i-i-i-ime…"
The young singer reached down to the floor, grabbing a huge red nylon duffel bag and slinging it over her shoulder with a loud grunt. She strode to the edge of the three steps leading down to floor level, where Akane waited for her, her hand extended for Ranko's.
Ranko turned, taking one last long look. In barely a whisper, four words escaped her lips as Akane took her hand.
"Once upon a rhyme."
Akane led her wife down the stairs, turning to face her and pulling her into a tight hug. "C'mon, flower girl," she urged quietly. "It's time to go. Aya's waiting in the car."
* * *
"You guys! You didn't need to…" Ranko blushed, pulling a long white skirt out of the slender red box on the table in front of her. The silver tissue paper that had obscured it from view fell to the worn industrial carpet at her feet. "It's so cute! Thanks!"
"Yeah, well," Hitomi said over the tooting of the noisemaker in her girlfriend's mouth, "happy birthday!"
The young celebrity looked around nervously, hiding her face somewhat with her hand. "Hey Ems… do you really need to draw that much attention to me here?!" Her words were almost growled through gritted teeth.
"Whaaaat?!" Emi giggled, blowing into the plastic horn again. She didn't stop until she was certain that at least some of the people seated at the surrounding tables had turned to stare at the source of the commotion. "News flash, girl! Even famous singers are allowed to have birthdays!"
"What are you doing?!" Hana shouted, rocketing out of her chair. She waved frantically at Mei as her daughter worked her way around the table. "Get that thing away from her! You're going to hurt her!"
Confused, Mei stopped her approach, stabilizing the confection she was carrying in both of her hands. She glanced nervously down at the cake, wondering if she should extinguish the candles so they didn't drip pink wax into the frosting.
Ranko shook her head, a blush forming on her cheeks as she turned to face her mother. "Mom! I told you. I've had this hyperesthesia thing since long before I met you. I've had, how many birthday cakes with candles on them since then? Four? And I'm fine. You don't have to baby me. I'll let you guys know if something's too much, I promise. Just treat me normal, okay? Please? This is why I didn't wanna tell you about it."
Part of the reason, anyway, she added silently in her mind.
The Phoenix clan matriarch scoffed skeptically. "If you're sure," she said, nodding in assent to Mei. "I'm just trying to look out for you, little star. That's all. I'm your mom; it's my job."
"I know, but…" Ranko grinned, excitedly eyeing the double chocolate cake as Mei brought it closer. "It's not me you gotta look out for, Mom. That cake is in trouble right now, for real." A round of laughter built among her family and friends as Ranko snatched up a clean fork from the tabletop. She scanned the table, searching in vain for a place to set her gift and get it out of the way.
"Make a wish!" Mei demanded as the cake platter came to rest in front of her youngest sister.
I wish… Ranko thought for a moment. I wish for answers in China. I wish for Yokai to leave me and Akane alone. I wish… oh, screw it. Just forget it. No point in crying about what I can't have. She blew out the twenty-one candles with ease, watching intently as Mei began to carve and serve the cake.
A long arm reached across the table, scooping the box containing Ranko's new skirt up from her hand. "I know you're traveling light, so I'll take all this loot back to the bar for you. It'll all be upstairs when you get home," Ayako promised. She reached down to the floor, adding the box to a small pile of gifts Ranko had already opened.
"Mmmkay," Ranko muttered through a mouthful of chocolate cake. "Thanks, sis!"
"I still don't get why you're leaving so early," Shinji remarked dryly. "What's so exciting about backwater China, anyway?"
Zoe chuckled, gesturing at the dour bassist with a mesh-gloved hand. "Welp, for starters, i' ain't got you innit, mate!"
"We just want a couple of days' vacation together," Akane said, supportively squeezing the hand of the nervous girl seated at the head of the long row of tables in the airport terminal steakhouse. "Just a quiet little camping trip, just the two of us. That's all."
I hope, she added mentally.
Jacob shrugged his shoulders against Zoe's cuddling frame. "I mean, it's not exactly a tourist hotspot, but if that's your jam… have a good time, I guess! Just don't forget to turn up come showtime, yeah?"
"I promise. I won't leave you guys stranded without a singer," Ranko replied through a smile and a giggle. "You just gotta make sure to bring the rest of my stuff when you come, so I'm not stuck in China with two pairs of jeans and a handful of tee shirts to get me through three weeks, okay?! I mean, I can rock a qipao with the best of 'em, but they ain't cheap."
"It'll all be handled, sis," Nabiki assured. There was a worry in her eyes, but about what, Ranko's Phoenix side of the family and her bandmates could not tell. The concern did seem to be shared by Nabiki's father, however.
"Now boarding, All Nippon Airlines flight thirteen-forty-one, with service to Seoul, South Korea," came a crackly announcement in a woman's voice that interrupted the instrumental music playing in the restaurant. "Passengers, please make your way to gate seventeen."
"Just think, Ran-chan…" Yui rose from her chair, walking around behind her youngest sister's seat and wrapping her arms around the smaller girl's shoulders from behind. "When you come home, you're gonna have your very own nightclub to perform in. New Year's Eve is gonna be insane, girl!" She gave Ranko a tight squeeze and a little shake.
"I'm gonna run to the ladies' room real quick," Nabiki announced, glancing intently at Akane as she pulled her chair out from under the table. She scooped up her orange leather purse, slipping the strap over her shoulder.
Akane nodded, rising out of her chair as well. "I'll come with," she offered in a voice that was almost a little too chipper and excited for a trip to the airport bathroom. She joined her sister, and the pair stepped out into the crowded terminal.
"Listen, I want you two to be careful out there on your own," Hana urged, her attention still focused on Ranko. "Are you sure you don't want to take Lance with you? I'm sure we can get him a ticket. I can't imagine overnight flights to Chengdu are full on a Thursday."
"Mo-oooom…" Ranko rolled her eyes, shaking her head with a smile. "What the heck kind of romantic camping trip are we gonna have with Lance looming over us? We're gonna be fine! We're gonna be in the middle of nowhere! What do you think's gonna get us? A tiger? A bird?!"
A tribe of territorial, moody Amazons? she thought, opting not to voice the one true potential threat she envisioned.
Laughing, Hana held up her hands in defeat. "Alright, alright. I'm your mom. I'm gonna worry; you can't stop me."
The young redhead beamed, nodding in response. "Please don't ever stop. That's how I know ya love me."
"Well, I think you're gonna be fine, and I still love ya," Izumi said, wagging a soup spoon in her sister's direction. "Only thing I'm worried about is people seeing you in public dressed like that."
Ranko shrugged, glancing down at her purple cheer tee shirt and gray sweatpants. "Again, Iz. Middle. Of. Nowhere. I went for comfort and function over style. Doesn't make a lot of sense to be traipsing through the wilderness in a freakin' ball gown."
"Maybe not," Izumi said with a laugh and a shrug, "but if anyone can pull it off…" She grinned broadly at her sister. "It's Akane."
"Hey!" Ranko gasped, resisting the urge to toss a hunk of crusty bread from the half-empty wicker basket in front of her at her sister. "Listen here, you little…"
* * *
Akane leaned against the wall just outside the women's restroom, craning her neck to scan the faces of the passers-by and ensure she recognized none of them. "Did you bring it?" she asked once she was certain no one she knew was eavesdropping.
Nabiki fished in her purse, removing a small object wrapped in white cloth and tied into a bundle with coarse twine. At Akane's direction, she had recovered the strange item from its hiding place under a loose floorboard in Akane's old bedroom at their father's home earlier that morning. "Here. It was right where you said it was. But, Akane… what the hell is it?! It's… weird."
Akane nodded, pocketing the small item without unwrapping it. "Insurance," she muttered.
"You know this is crazy, right? Taking her back… there?! There's a thousand ways this can go, and noneof them are good, sis." Nabiki reached out, clasping her hand on Akane's shoulder. "It's not too late to call this whole stupid thing off."
The black-haired girl gave a quiet sigh of resignation, throwing her hands up in a defeated shrug. "Her mind is made up. I think it's fucking nuts, personally, but she's gonna go whether I help her or not. At least if I go with her, I can try to keep her out of trouble." She glanced back across the packed terminal in the direction of the steakhouse where her bride was currently laughing with her friends.
"And if she doesn't like what she learns… at least she won't be all alone."
Nabiki rolled her eyes, nodding softly. "Alright. If that's the way it's gonna be. Just watch your asses out there, okay? Don't let her get so caught up in the past that she forgets she has a present, and a future, back here."
"I promise," Akane said, biting her lip nervously. "I'll bring her back safe. No matter what."
Nabiki chuckled darkly, throwing her arm over Akane's shoulder as the pair began walking back toward the restaurant. "While we're on the subject of promises, I'm gonna need one more from you, little sister."
"Mm?" Akane looked up, a curious expression forming on her face.
Nabiki smirked, reaching out and poking her sister's nose with her outstretched index finger. "Absolutely, positively no going swimming."
* * *
"Hey there, folks. This is Captain Zheng from the flight deck, and on behalf of myself, the copilot, the flight crew and everyone at Air China, I wanna welcome you aboard flight three-nine-six to Chengdu. In just a moment, we're gonna hit our cruising altitude of about ten kilometers, we'll turn off the seat belt sign, and you'll be free to move about the cabin.
"Our team will be around shortly to offer drinks and snacks, and we also offer a late dinner service. That'll come around about 2:30, by which time we should be just reaching the east coast of China. Our weather forecast looks good, so we're looking forward to smooth sailing all the way to touchdown in Chengdu with a total flight time of right around five and a half hours. Again, on behalf of everyone on the flight crew, thanks for flying with us tonight. Sit back, relax, and enjoy the ride."
Akane sighed, shaking her head with a smile as she turned her attention back to her wife. "I don't get you sometimes, Ranko. You have every reason to be scared shitless right now, and you look like you're gonna bounce out of your skin."
Ranko lifted the armrest separating her seat from Akane's, burrowing under her arm and snuggling against her body. "I mean, how many times did you hear me tell Pop I wanted to go back to China?"
Akane chuckled, glancing around the plane. With most of the cabin lights extinguished, she decided to risk a tender moment, lowering her head and kissing the top of her wife's head through a shock of flame-red hair. "Yeah, but a lot's changed for us since then. Still… if this is what you want, I'm glad you're getting it. Especially for your birthday."
Ranko nodded, nuzzling her cheek against Akane's yellow blouse. "What better way to spend my birthday than to show you the place where I was born?"