What if

What if...?

Mother's Day Special

Author's Note:

Please note that this is CANON, and occurs between Stories #1 and #2, and on the day after "Chat #1".

Chapter 1

Kaori looked around. It was Mother's Day, and though she had already done some things for her foster mother, she still wanted to do something for her biological mother, even if it was just visiting her grave.

Unfortunately, although she had often been to Saffron's many cemeteries, she had never found her mother's grave. She knew it must be here, though, because she knew from her foster parents that her mother had lived in Saffron her whole life.

So she was sitting on a park bench, contemplating what to do.

A petit, glasses-wearing girl with short, black hair walked over and sat beside her.

"Hello, Chiba." Kaori told her classmate.

"Hello, Kaori." Chiba replied.

They sat in silence for a few minutes.

"We're a lot alike, aren't we, Chiba?" Kaori asked her.

"How so?"

"Neither of us have ever met our parents, for one thing."

"Um, Kaori?" Chiba asked.

"Yes, Chiba?" Kaori replied.

"Well, I know you think none of your close relatives are alive, but I know of another Satō."

"Really? Who?" Kaori asked, hopeful.

"Well, at the orphanage, there's a woman named Miss Satō who volunteers a lot. Diverse as Saffron is, Satō isn't a very common name around here, so I thought that maybe you two might be related." Chiba told her.

"Great! So when can I meet her?" Kaori asked, even more hopeful than before.

Chiba took off her classes to clean them.

"Well," she said, putting her glasses back, "I think she's there now, if you want me to introduce you."

"Thanks, Chiba!" Kaori exclaimed, giving her friend a big hug.

"Oh!" Chiba exclaimed, surprised.

"I'm so lucky to have a friend like you!!" Kaori continued, squeezing Chiba tighter.

Kaori let go of Chiba, and saw that her cheeks were bright red.

"You're blushing." Kaori commented.

"W-well," Chiba replied, "You know... that was, um... embarrassing."

"Sorry." Kaori told her, looking down at her feet.

"Now you're blushing." Chiba said.

"Um... yeah..."

The two girls sat there for a moment or two, feeling very awkward.

Another girl their age had stopped in mid-step to watch them. Her name was Aiko Kaminari, and she felt like she was in a manga of her favorite type: yuri. She was smiling ecstatically, and watching to see what would happen next.

"Oh yeah!" Kaori said, remembering something, "Um, Chiba? Where exactly is the orphanage?"

"Well," Chiba said, getting up, "I'll just have to show you where I live! Could you come see some of the littler kids, too? They like getting visitors."

"Sure, Chiba." Kaori promised.

Chapter 2

Kaori and Chiba stood in front of a huge building in downtown Saffron.

"Here we are." Chiba said, "Home, sweet home."

"It's nicer than I expected." Kaori commented.

Aiko had been trailing them, and she was keeping her distance.

The first two girls entered the building, and were soon followed by Aiko, who hid in a corner.

Chiba pointed at the woman sitting behind the front desk.

"There she is, Kaori." Chiba told her.

"Hello, Chiba!" Miss Satō greeted her, "You weren't gone long. And you brought a friend!"

"Um, yeah, this is Kaori." Chiba introduced, "She wanted to ask you something."

Chiba walked over to a bookshelf, found a book, sat down on a chair, and started reading.

Kaori walked up to the desk.

"How can I help you?" Miss Satō asked her, smiling.

"Um," Kaori asked, "I know this is kind of straightforward, but my name is Kaori Satō, and I was wondering if you knew if we were related.

Miss Satō chuckled.

"Of course we're related, Kaori!" she told her, "After all, you're my daughter!"

Chapter 3

"Y-you're my mother?!" Kaori asked, shocked.

"Yes, Kaori." Miss Satō replied, "I'm your mother."

"But, but I thought you were dead!"

"Oh, no... I'm perfectly fine. A bit traumatized and scarred for life, but nothing serious." Miss Satō replied, "It might please you to know that our father is dead, though."

"Why would that make me-" Kaori started, "Wait, did you say our?"

"Yes, Kaori, I did." her mother replied, "I'm also your half-sister."

"What kind of rotten, sick, sinful, perverted, would do that to his own daughter?!"

"Well, he died in prison several years ago. He was there in the first place because of it."

"I highly doubt he's in Heaven." Kaori muttered, then asked her mother, "So why haven't I ever seen you before?"

"Oh, you have, Kaori. I've seen you, at least. I've just been trying to work up the courage to speak with you."

"Why were we separated in the first place?"

"Well, Kaori, I wasn't very old when you were born, and I couldn't raise and support you and take care of myself at the same time, so I had to leave you in foster care."

"Didn't you have any friends or relatives?"

Miss Satō shook her head.

"Why didn't you meet me earlier?" Kaori asked her.

"I'd been trying to, but I always choked and couldn't do it."

"Why not? If you really were my mother, wouldn't you want me to know you were okay?"

Tears started to form in Miss Satō's eyes.

"Yes, Kaori," she said, "I did want to talk with you, but I didn't know how you would react to meeting a mother who abandoned you."

"Mother, you didn't 'abandon' me!" Kaori told her.

"Oh, I almost forgot." her mother said, changing the subject, "My name is Tomoyo. If you want, you can call me by that."

"No, you're my mother, and that's what I'll call you." Kaori told her, "But anyway, what about your mother? My grandmother, I mean. Why couldn't she have taken care of us?"

"My mother died before I even came into this world. You are very fortunate, Kaori."

"Oh. I'm sorry to hear that."

"Oh, don't be. She died 31 years ago, anyway."

You, you were 16?"

"Yes. It was interesting to explain to my classmates why I was gone so often. You're quite good a math, Kaori."

"Thanks."

"Well, we did live with my grandmother until she passed away, leaving me alone. You were only a couple of months old at the time, and I unfortunately had to leave you in foster care."

Kaori started thinking about how all the pieces of the relationship fit together.

It wasn't a very pretty picture.

"So, c-can I live with you now, Mom?" Kaori asked her.

Tomoyo laughed.

"Sure, Kaori." she said, "But we need to get a lot of paperwork filled out, first, you know."

Nearby, Chiba was sitting on a bench, reading a book. The pages in front of her were soaked with tears, and she was crying quietly. A pair of glasses, wet with tears, sat next to her.

"I'm glad you finally found your mother, Kaori." she muttered, "Maybe now there's hope that I'll find my parents, as well."

THE END