Stars Fell on Tokyo | ✓

02 | moonlight

       LOUANNE LAID AWAKE at eight o'clock as she had stared at the silver moon for half an hour. The tides rushing back and forth were only white noise to her and yet, she couldn't fall asleep. Muffled voices vibrated through the thin walls of her bedroom. She was sure that whatever her parents were talking about, it must have something to do with his past. Louanne immediately crept out of bed, carefully cracked open the door, and did her best to tiptoe down the hallway.

       "She's bound to know at some point, Jiro. I know what happened those twenty-two years ago was something that was out of your control but we can't keep this kind of a secret from Lou," her mother's voice sounded like it was full of heartache.

       "And have her know that her father once fought alongside the enemy. So many people were hurt because of us. This will be too much for her to handle," Louanne's father had responded sorrowfully.

       The words did sting a little but not too much to hurt her and to which, she didn't want to hate him if it was something awful. Louanne continued to inch herself down the hallway, making the conversation become more audible.

       "Do you remember our wedding day?" the woman asked him.

       "I've always remembered that day. It was one of those that I was happy for once," he responded.

       "And the vows we made? One of them was, to tell the truth, no matter how ugly it may seem. That doesn't apply to just us, Jiro. It goes for our baby as well," there was a way in how her mother had said it. She knew him very well in such a short amount of time. It was one of the many reasons why Jiro fell in love with Nãlani. "I get that you want her to be happy and stay true to her culture but wouldn't it be a nice change of things if she learned about yours?"

       "What do you mean?" her father asked carefully.

       "I mean if you were to get in contact with your parents, arrange accommodations, and send Lou to Tokyo. I think this could be a perfect learning experience for the summer,"

       This had given Louanne a flicker of hope as if her mother had lit a candle in a dark room for her.

       "And have them judge her? I doubt they'd ever want to speak to me again. The entire reason why I left them is that I was on different terms with them,"

       "I fear that too but maybe things have changed. Everyone has. The war is behind us now. We can finally live in peace and I'm sure that your family must've moved on by now. You have to trust your daughter in how she handles those judgments and how she comes to grips with them. I love my family with all my heart and I want them to be happy. I'm sure one summer in Japan will be a life-changing experience—make it her first taste away from the islands,"

       "Judge me?" Louanne whispered to herself but not too loud enough for them to hear. She quickly snuck back into her room when she finally heard enough of the conversation.

***

       The next morning, Louanne sat quietly at the table during breakfast with her eyes glued to the slick wooden surface. She couldn't get over last night and there were different areas of her that seemed conflicted to her. On one hand, she was kind of excited if she were to be sent to Japan for the summer, just to spend time with her family. Granted, she hasn't even met them. On the other hand, she was mostly scared that she was going to be treated differently once she was there.

       Harshly.

       "Lou? Is everything alright? You've barely touched your food," her mother had snapped her back into reality soon as she touched her back.

       "No, I'm fine! I just-" she faked a yawn- "couldn't sleep last night."

       Her mother had poured a cup of coffee for her father. "I'm so sorry, Lou! I hope your mother and I weren't being too noisy last night,"

       "Not at all," Louanne shook her head.

       But it was a lie. What they said did keep her up last night and in actuality, she was having a hard time sleeping afterward no matter how hard she tried not to think about it. She wore her best smile, one of the best traits that she has ever gotten from her mother.

       "Are you sure you're okay?" her father asked.

       She hated lying to her parents' faces and maybe they can see right through her little façade but it was anything, really, to take her mind off of the Japan talk. After breakfast, Louanne took a nice walk along the beach to clear her head, or at least try to process what they were talking about last night. She still loved the feeling of the sand in between her toes and the sound of the waves. One of the great aesthetics of Hawai'i but she wasn't adapting to the tourists.

       Louanne felt like the place she calls home was being treated like a playground than a place to learn about the culture and the people. She quickly looked away when she stumbled across a couple making out on a towel and went back in the direction that she came from. If she had her polaroid camera with her, she would've spent her time taking thousands of pictures of the beach but instead, she followed the path back to the house.

       When she got back into the kitchen, she found her father sitting in his usual spot at the dinner table. His eyes focused on his favorite book, Alice in Wonderland, Louanne thought that he would've finished by now. The cool air blasted from the fan.

       "Dad?" Louanne began as she clung to the wall.

       "Lou?" He finally looked up from his book.

       "Can we talk?"

       "Sure, we can,"