On the High Frontier

3. Unavoidable Business (part 2/6)

Of course, being her mother, the reservations are at the Crystal Gardens in Prime. So almost twenty minutes later they finally arrive. She'd snagged her work bag on the way out, so she can avoid the office later. Even though her mother hasn't been to L4 for at least ten years, everyone knows her. Kimiko starts to remember just how annoying it is to be out anywhere with her, and how invisible she feels. They are quickly seated in a discrete booth away from the crowds. They even rate a privacy shield.

After they've ordered and have their drinks, her mother looks over the menu at her. "Don't worry dear, your secret is safe." Kimiko looks worriedly at her mother until she realises she is talking about their relationship. "The VE won't tell anyone, and I've told people I'm meeting a distant niece. So no one need know."

"Of course, I wouldn't want to spoil your perfect image."

"Dear, you know your father and I have always been very proud of you." The clarion call of parents regardless of the truth. Kimiko's grunt of disbelief earns her a slight glare. "Just because we don't bother you much, doesn't mean it's not true. Anyway, I thought that's what you wanted."

She has been sitting, stewing all the way over here, and the sycophancy whilst they were seated hadn't helped. It all just starts to come tumbling out. "Absolutely, but how does that square with abusing the alert channel, and what you just pulled with the VE?"

"I'm on station for a few days, there was no time for a slow subtle approach if I actually wanted to see you. Maybe if you answered messages occasionally. So there are times when a bit of creativity is called for."

The excuses just made her angrier. She had no idea what depths of her soul the words were coming from. "Creativity? I mean after all those lectures about following the rules, and not cheating. Not abusing power."

"Now that's not fair dear, it's not like any of it ..."

"Fair, fair! Since when has fair had anything to do with it?"

"I've always tried to be reasonable and not abuse my ..."

"Really! Who died and made you ..."

"Yoshida Kimiko! Have you quite finished?" The rebuke still works, and Kimiko finds herself sitting, staring at her mother's slightly flushed face. But there is something off about about her expression, almost embarrassment. "Yes, when you're raising children you try to impress them with your ideals. You want them to be better than you are, less ... compromised. You want to give them the best example you can, even if you aren't always that perfect. I'm sorry, I'm only human. I tried." Kimiko is not sure she has ever seen her mother like this. "We all pretend, everyone of us. It's like you think your father never swears. Just not in front of the children." Her mother's mouth gives an ironic smile. "His team used to joke that they could use him to weld seams when he was in full flow."

"Ummmmm ... " Kimiko isn't sure that parents should talk like this, and she is very sure that she doesn't want to deal with her mother talking to her like this. If it had been a link she'd have cut it off by now.

"You left suddenly. You were the first to leave home, and when you ran away to here, without a word; well it was hard not to be hurt." Her mother isn't looking at her, but rather past her, remembering.

Kimiko feels the need to justify herself. "I had to get away. I needed to be me, not Administrator and Doctor Yoshida's daughter." When she had rehearsed this scene in her mind, these words had been hammers to beat her parents down with, not a plea, hoping for understanding.

"We did come to realise it hadn't been easy for you. It's never bothered your brother, but he has always had his sports. He's doing well and looking to get into coaching." Her mother's pride starts to show, but Kimiko can't be jealous of Mamoru. "And as for Yuuko, your younger sister is taking rebellion to an entirely new level." Kimiko is intrigued, when she left Yuuko had been a quiet teenager who spent all her time in her room playing and listening to music, loudly, but that hadn't bothered her.