A/N: Sorry for the brief absence! I was busy with something, and during the breaks I did some rethinking and rewriting, so it took a tad longer. Next chapter will be the final one and we'll get a good ending that should wrap up their journeys nicely.

Flashback to 24 years ago

“I’m sorry, Sashiko, but I can’t come back by Christmas after all…”

Sashihara Rino gripped the already tangled cord of the phone tight as the news reached her ears.

“Unnie, but I miss you so much… Is something wrong?”

“No no, don’t worry about me. I just got a very important gig at the station. They are moving me to finance reporting…”

“But what about the transfer to the Tokyo bureau?”

“I… I would be just an apprentice researcher if I come now, but if I succeed in this stint, I can possibly transfer as a foreign correspondent.”

“...” Sashihara understood the importance of starting a career right, but at the same time, “You promised.” 

A long sigh was heard from the other end of the line.

“I’m sorry. How about this-- no matter how it turns out, I will take some time off in spring, and we can go to Ueno Park in Tokyo to watch the cherry blossoms, like you’ve always wanted. I know it’s not fair for you to have to wait any longer, but Sasshi--I want to make sure I’m good enough to take care of you.”

“I don’t need you to be any better than you already are, Unnie. But I understand...sorry for being selfish.”

“Baby, I can see your pouty lips even from across the landline, across the sea.”

“Unnie…”

“Promise me to cheer up, okay? Five months are going to pass in a blink of the eye...so wait for me, my love?”

“Okay. Don’t overwork yourself Kaeun-Unnie. I will work hard on my Korean too.”

“See you in Tokyo.”

Flashback paused

Sakura flips through the pages in the diary corresponding to the time when Kwon Kaeun-- their Eomma-- finished the exchange programme in Fukuoka and went back to Seoul. Meanwhile, their Okaasan was still finishing up her final year at school.

“It says here that she has never been out of Kyushuu at this point,” Sakura points to the part of the page to Nako. She started reading off and translating to Korean.

“ ‘I have never been this excited about the prospect of Tokyo. Even though now--I needed to adjust my dreams of taking pictures of my Kaeun under the spectacular Christmas lighting of Tokyo Tower-- I can still imagine picnicking with her in the sea of sakura petals. I keep writing to Oneesan (Haruka-mama), asking her about how life in the big city is like-- and she finally agreed to host me!’ ”

“Does Aunt Haruka know about her situation though?” Nako asks.

“No,” Sakura shook her head. “Both Dad and her were happily employed somewhere in Tokyo when Eomma visited Kagoshima. It says here in the diary that Okaasan was still hesitating how to let them know about her relationship. I think it’s still those times where you couldn’t openly talk about relationships like this.”

“And then, here.” Sakura turned a few pages and started looking at them solemnly.

“A month into the new year, Eomma stopped replying to her letters or phone calls. She even flew to Seoul and tried going to her apartment and her workplace. But she moved out. She quit her job. She just disappeared.”

“Why-- why would she do that?” Nako’s eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

“Because she’s pregnant with me.” Eunbi replied softly, her eyes looking hollow and lost. “I was born that autumn. The timing adds up. I never knew what exactly happened, nor does Irene-Unnie when she tried to investigate. We just knew that she went to a cocktail party as a journalist covering a corporate event and my father was there that night. Even that was covered up very well because none of the work she did on this topic ever saw the light of day. To this date, I don’t know if she was drunk, or was she drugged...or simply….”

Eunbi’s body started shivering as her conjectures brought her to places too dark for her to handle. Sakura quickly put down everything on her hands and held her close, kissing her forehead and rubbing her back as she calms her down.

“I wonder how many times Eomma thought--‘If only I had listened and stuck with the original plan…’-- when she was isolated in some room far away, all alone with nobody except a growing piece of m…fetus in her womb...”

“Shhhhhhh--- Eun-chan.” She cups her cheeks and forces the girl to face her, staring deep into her eyes. “Don’t talk about yourself like that. I’m sure it was a very difficult time, but she made a decision to be your mother.  She hid so she could make sure you are born a healthy child. And I know at least one other person who is eternally grateful for the love she has for you-- me.”

“Sorry, Kkura-ya.”

“My baby-unnie, stop apologizing… Do you want to take a break?”

“No...no it’s okay. I need to know what happened next.”

“Okaasan went back home from Seoul alone. But she still traveled to Tokyo in March.”

Flashback to Tokyo

It’s close to sunset, and the crowds started to disperse from the park. Sashihara was still sitting alone on one side of the picnic mat, with sandwiches and two cans of soda -- one coke and one sprite-- laid out in front of her. The petals from the tree above and around her were literally raining all over her setup, but for the whole afternoon, she had been diligently clearing the pink pieces out of the mat, looking around the park, and yearning for the familiar back of a leather jacket cladded woman with shoulder length hair to show up.

As night fell, Sashihara Rino realized that Kwon Kaeun was truly gone.

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

“Knock, knock, knock knock!” The heartbroken young woman was still carrying an empty can of beer when she caused a ruckus outside her sister’s flat.

“Okay, okay.” A man’s hurried footsteps can be heard as he rushed from within the flat to open the door. “Rino-chan?!” He exclaimed in surprise. “Why are you so drunk?”

The girl just slammed the can onto the floor, causing her sister’s boyfriend, Miyawaki Gentaro, to panic and pick the trash up along with his wasted friend as he scrambled to close the door, fearing the wrath of his neighbor, so also happened to be the landlord.

“Where is Oneechan?” Sashihara Rino started throwing a fit as Miyawaki finally pulled her left shoe off, allowing them to both stumble back into the sparsely furnished living space that he and Haruka cohabitate. They were both just starting off in their jobs and trying to save up to get married.

“She is staying the night over at a friend’s. Have you forgotten about what we told you this morning?”

“Gentaro….as serious and straight face as always!” Sasshi just looked at his face and laughed like a maniac.

“Shh--- lower your voice down!” He whispered loudly. “And no, don’t touch that!” He hurriedly leapt forward to grab his childhood friend, who was trying to sit in front of his computer, still quite an expensive commodity at that time. 

“Relax!” Rino reprimanded as they both tripped over onto the floor, with Gentaro on the bottom, shielding her from directly hitting the ground.

“Arrrgh---” He groaned in pain, but he eyed her worriedly. To him, Sashihara had always been like his own little sister, since they grew up together in Kagoshima. After he started dating her sister, they became even closer, and he had never seen her like this.

“Rino-chan…” He ventured. “Did you...did you get dumped?”

The drunkard flipped a finger, shocking the programmer even further. “Are you a walking calculator? How did you guess everything correctly?” The rowdy girl started to calm down as the melancholy of losing Kwon Kaeun sunk in. “It’s all over...it’s all over.”

The girl started repeating the same phrase over and over, causing her friend’s heart to soften in pain. He took her into his arms and started to soothe her, slowly carrying her into the bed to tuck her in.

“Gen-chan...don’t you leave me too.” She pulled him back as he tried to get off the bed. “Let me show you this.” She reached into the pocket and took out a handful of crumpled sakura petals. “She promised-- she promised to come and watch them with me. I’m going to keep them…” Her voice started slurring as the petals slipped from her hands and scattered all over the floor beside the bed. “So that when she comes back… she’d...she’ll know that I have kept my promise…”

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The sun rose and Sashihara Haruka quietly slipped into the apartment, afraid of waking her boyfriend, who was always a night-owl tinkering with his programs. Instead, she walked into her sister, snuggling up close into Gentaro’s arms as he laid sideways at the edge of the bed, his legs dangling on the floor that’s scattered with dull, withered sakura petals. He better not see me come back...the older sister thought as she recalled all the sweet memories the three of them spent together, with complex feelings. Carefully, she left the apartment and ate breakfast at the rail station cafe, before dialing from a phone booth to wake those two up.

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Flashback continues to 3 years later, in a Kagoshima hospital

“She’s doing great-- your baby girl-- she’s waiting for you to get well soon, Oneechan.” Sashihara Rino was holding her sister’s hand, trying to smile with teary eyes.

“Rino...Rino-chan...you’re still so bad at lying...ne?” Haruka tried to reach her hand up to her sister’s hair, but her arm felt too heavy, so Sashihara lowered herself to be touched. “Don’t cry my sister...you’ve grown up to be so strong and beautiful…”

“Stop saying weird things!” The younger sister started sobbing.

“I know my body well, Rino-chan.” The new mother chuckled despite the shortness in her breath. “I...I want to make sure they are taken care of when I….”

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