Lincoln's new life

Spouses meet again

In Sakura No Hana the next day, Leni is studying in her room. She then hears a knock on the door. "Don't worry, Grandma Ema! I got it!" Leni said as she went to the door. Who she saw shocked her. "Pop-pop?" She said surprised. "Hi, honey." Albert said. Lucy then walked into the frame and saw Albert. "Pop-pop!" she exclaimed as she hugged Albert. "Hi, darling." Albert said as he hugged her back. 

That's when Albert stepped aside and revealed Suziko. "Aunt Suziko!" They both said as they hugged their aunt. "Hi, girls." Suziko said as she hugged them back. "We have someone else to show you." Suziko said as she broke the hug. "Lincoln!" She spoke. That's when Lincoln slowly walked into their sights.

"Lincoln...!" Leni and Lucy both said in unison. "Hi, girls..." Lincoln said. It was a bit of silence before Lucy and Leni both started pleading for his forgiveness. "Lincoln/pleaseforgiveus!/we'resorry!/wewantedtohelpyoubutwecouldnt!" he heard them say. "Hey, hey, calm down... calm down... I forgive you both... I know what happened and I get it. Yes, they are jerks. I don't think I can ever forgive them for that. You guy are forgiven." Lincoln said. This made Leni and Lucy both smile as they hugged their brother. "Hey, hey, I love you guys too." Lincoln said. After breaking the hug, they noticed his new appearance. 

"Wow, Linky, you've changed! A lot!" Leni said. "Yeah, different clothes, lost those buck teeth, different hairstyle, slightly taller, deeper voice, different appearance, and a lot more handsome. You look like you have a girlfriend. You looked goofy and wimpy before." Lucy said. "Thanks Lucy. And yeah, I kind of cringe at my old appearance." Lincoln said. 

"Speaking of girlfriends, do you have one? We promise we won't meddle this time." Leni asked. "Actually, I do. Her name is Akari Nakamura, and I love her very much." Lincoln said. "Aww..." Leni and Lucy both said. "Is she pretty?" Leni asked. "Is she cute?" Lucy asked. "She's adorable." Lincoln said. Eventually, they heard a voice, "Hello? Leni, Lucy, who is at the door?".

That's when Ema walked up. She saw Lincoln and Suziko and smiled. "Oh, my goodness! Lincoln! Suziko! How is my baby and my grandbaby?" She asked the two. "We're fine, o bachan." Lincoln said. She then saw Albert. 

"Albert..." the old woman said, "It's been so long since I've seen you.". "It has, Ema." Albert said. "So, how has life been?" Ema asked. "It's been fine... had my ups and downs like usual but you know..." Albert said. "Yeah..." Ema said.

It was then dead silence. Albert and Ema were staring at each other. Everyone else was just looking at them waiting for someone to speak. After what seemed like hours even though it was just a few minutes, Ema finally spoke, "You know, I missed you.". "I missed you, too." Albert said, "I'm going to admit it. I never stopped loving you.". Ema sighed and said, "Ok... I admit it too. I never stopped loving you either.". "Hey... I just remembered... remember when we went to that skating rink? Suziko was 6 and Rita was 9? When the love songs came, and we started dancing while skating together?". "Oh, that was romantic." Ema said. 

Suziko remembers it, but it wasn't so lovely for her as it was for her parents. While Albert and Ema were dancing, twirling and skating, Suziko was trying to skate to herself in peace, but Rita kept tormenting her by pushing her down, tripping her, or taking her hand, spinning her and then throwing her into the wall. She then had a kind of hurt face. She still remembers that day in 1991. 

"I still remember that night we went on our date together. Suziko was 9 and Rita was 12. Rita babysat Suziko. We went to that French restaurant. That was lovely." Ema said. "Oh yes it was. Great time." Albert said.

Suziko remembers that night in 1994. It was wonderful for her parents, but not for her. Rita would pin her to the ground, chase her, lock her in her room, and when Suziko would take her bath, Rita would take her head and shove her in the water for a large amount of time. After that, Rita would splash water in her face before walking out. She cried herself to sleep that night.

"We had some really wonderful, great memories together." Albert said. "We did." Ema said. They were smiling now as they remembered the good times. But Suziko was looking down with a sad face. Her eyelids were droopy and barely holding tears and her lips were quivering.  

Then Suziko got a memory of when she introduced Antoni to Albert and Rita in 2004. Rita completely humiliated Suziko in front of her boyfriend. She said gross, horrible and insensitive comments like, "I don't know what you see in this bitch. Sex sure probably isn't worth it. Her mind is boring like her...". You get it. That left her in tears and crying that night. She never felt so humiliated ever before in her life. Ever.

Another shitty thing Rita said to Suziko's face calling Antoni a "walking methadone clinic".  

It cuts back to present day. She couldn't hold it back anymore. She then ran to her car. "Is she ok?" Albert asked. "I'll go check." Lincoln said as he went to go check his mother.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Suziko was crying her eyes out leaning on her car. "I hate you, Rita! I h-hate you!" she said between as she was weeping, "I hate you...". She then hears a voice: "Mama, what's wrong?". She looked to her right to see her son. "Oh hi, honey." she said. "Are you ok? Why'd you run off?" Lincoln asked. "It-it's not easy explaining, koibito." Suziko said to her son. "Mama, you can tell me. I'm your son." Lincoln said. Suziko tried to resist but then said, "Ok... ok... I will tell you...". She sighed before saying, "For most of my childhood until my parents divorced, Rita was a horrible older sister to me. She would bully me, harass me, lock me in my room, and she humiliated me in front of Antoni when I first introduced him to her! I hate her! I HATE HER SO GODDAMN MUCH!!".

The white-haired mother then put her hands over her face and started crying. Lincoln wasted no time hugging her. She hugged back. "Oh, koibito... you don't know what I went through..." Suziko said. Lincoln immediately pulled back and said, "What?!". Suziko then remembered and said, "Oh, sorry, honey. I was just so caught up with the blonde demon tormenting me all my childhood... I forgot that you had the same treatment too. Please forgive me, son.". "It's fine, Mama. I forgive you." Lincoln said. "Thank you, amaimono." (sweetie) Suziko said. They hugged again. "Let's go back to your grandparents." Suziko said.

Meanwhile in Poland, Antoni is in his room in the rehab clinic. He is in a fetal position in the corner of his room and is gripping on his hair like there is no tomorrow. The green-eyed Slavic man is breathing heavily. "Równie dobrze możesz się poddać..." (You might as well give up...) He heard a voice. He looked up and saw what looked like Antoni himself in all black with his hoodie shading his eyes out. But he had no irises or pupils. His eyes were just a milky, white and blank. "Po prostu wróć do narkotyków i już przedawkuj..." (Just go back to drugs and overdose already...) the Antoni replica said. "Zamknij się, kurwa, nie będę cię słuchać... jesteś tylko wytworem mojej wyobraźni... nic więcej..." (Shut the fuck up, I won't listen to you... you're just a figment of my imagination... nothing more...) Antoni said to the figure.

The figure Antoni started walking slowly towards him. After getting close enough, he grabbed Antoni by his throat and put him up to his level. "Może jestem wytworem twojej wyobraźni..." (Maybe I'm a figment of your imagination...) he lifted up his fist, "Ale jestem też częścią twojego mózgu... twojej duszy... i twojego serca." (But I am also part of your brain... your soul... and your heart.). He then punched Antoni across the face, sending him down to the floor. Antoni slowly got back up and stared at him.

The figure came running at him, but something stopped him. He was then thrown back against the wall. The mysterious thing that stopped him was Zofia's spirit. She then put her hand on the figure, and it slowly faded out of sight.

Zofia then turned back around to see her son. She went up to him and hugged him. He hugged back. "Dziękuję Ci matko." (Thank you, mother.) Antoni said. "Nie ma za co, Antoni." (You're welcome, Antoni.) Krysia said. 

To be continued...

End of chapter 55. Hope you all enjoyed!