Lights, Camera and Love

Welcome to Japan!

"Welcome, Liz! Or should I say 日本へようこそ! (Nihon e yokoso! 'Welcome to Japan!')" A woman at her fourties with long black hair hugged me as she approached us at the Terminal at Narita International Airport.

"Hello Oba-san," I greeted as I hugged her back. (Author's Note: Oba = Aunt)

"Oh, please. Do not ever call me that. I'm too young to be your aunt. Look at me, I qualify to be your older sister," she laughed and turned to the two people standing next to me. "This must be Erin and Mia"

"Nice to meet you Ms. Okada." Erin smiled and shook her hand and so did Mia.

Mikasa Okada is a distant relative of my mother. Although their bloodline is very far apart, they were still very close. She was one of the few people who offered help to me when both my parents died.

It's Christmas Day today, and we accepted my aunt's offer to stay in Japan until New Years. I accepted her offer since Erin won't let me out of the house. Mia tagged along because she insisted. My aunt didn't seem to mind at all.

Her chauffeur drove us to her house that was not too far away from the city. It was huge and almost castle like. It did not show any hint of Eastern architecture. Everything looked Western and grand.

"Your mother designed this house. Although she graduated to become a business woman, she always had the talent in architecture. You got her talent in terms of arts," my aunt turned to me and smiled.

I smiled back at her. It bothered me when someone talks about my parents. I missed them and it's enough to make someone else make miss them more than I do. Trying to hold back my tears, I diverted my attention to the gardens that we just passed by.

"Make yourselves at home. The maids will escort you to each of your rooms. Liz, I know you and Erin are going out but you two would need to have separate bedrooms, okay?"

"That's fine auntie," I said. At the corner of my eye, I caught Erin make face in his slight annoyance. Mia laughed at playfully punched him in the arm.

Me, Erin and Mia decided to take a tour of the house. It felt like I was in a huge castle and it doesn't seem like the day is enough to go through every corner. The most beautiful place was the garden. There was a miniature maze in the middle of the garden while flowers of different kids and cherry blossom trees surrounded it. Mia decided to take a solo tour and left me and Erin alone together.

"Finally," he smiled and took my hand. My cheeks flushed red as he held my hand. "I now have you all to myself."

"The gardeners are looking at us, Erin."

"So? Let them look. They're just jealous because they don't have a beautiful girlfriend like you."

"That's very funny. You're still not letting me go wherever I want, will you?"

"Hmm." He didn't answer and just held my hand the whole time. The walk was nice. Everywhere was beautiful. I began to wonder how my aunt get to be so rich. She's single and only has one son who is studying abroad. I heard she did not own a company or any kind of business.

It was already getting dark when we finally got to go through the whole garden. I suddenly get this feeling out of nowhere that we were being watched.

"Erin, are the gardeners still here?"

"No, they left minutes ago. Why do you ask?"

"Nothing."

"If you're thinking of doing something with me here, that will be nice."

I shot him a look of annoyance. "Ugh, you're such a pervert."

"Hey, I wasn't thinking of anything like that. But you were," he smiled and kissed me on the cheek. "Come on, let's go back to the house. I'm getting hungry and I have always liked to have a Japanese dinner that's not made by me."

For a short while, I looked behind us to see if someone is really there. I let go of the feeling and obediently followed Erin back to the house.