A heartfelt reunion...?

Kazumi softly stroked some notes on her guitar. She had been teaching herself through trial and error, and had gotten quite good at it. Kazu still hadn't seen Chace or Mis since she got back, and was sort of worried. Maybe something happend.... Kazu thought, fussing over the bandages on her fingers. Work + Guitar practice had shown no mercy on her hands. She started to play a random song and hummed along with it.

Chase liked to walk around the town. It was wide and open, perfect for processing thoughts that were otherwise totally cryptic. It was usually totally private, other than the odd person or two seeking their own solitude in secluded corners of the valley.

He saw one such person with a guitar, and would've thought it was Gustafa, but the brown hair was pulled up. He recognized her as he got closer, and grinned. "Kazumi!" he said, approaching her from behind. "Where have you been?"

Kazu stopped playing and flipped her head around to see Chase. She imediatley stood up, causing her guitar to fall to the ground. "Chase!" Kazu said grinning wildly. She ran up and threw her arms around him. 'How've ya been? I've missed you a lot!" Kazu laughed widely. "How's Mia been? How's your health? Are you eating properly?"

Chase laughed, stumbling backwards and falling on the ground. "I'm great," he answered. "Never been better." He grinned, excited to finally see Kazumi so he could tell her the good news. "Actually, Mia's pregnant," he chuckled. "As far as my health goes...well, I'm tired all the time, but really happy." He smiled. "How are you?"

"Actually, Mia's pregnant." Chase chuckled.

If you had been looking at Kazu very heardly at that exact moment in time, you most likley would have seen a thunder bolt shoot out from the clear sky behind her. "You....did....what...?" Kazu said quitely looking at the ground. Her bangs covered her face.

In the next moments Kazu appeared she was about to cry, she tackled Chase to the ground and, which both anger and excitement, started giving him a noogy at both sides of his head. "Mia's pregnant?! That's awsome! Oh but Chase, how could you?!?! The pain that poor girl must be going through!! But when did this happen!!? I wasn't even gone that long!! Ohh i see what's going on here, a conspiracy, right!? Mia gets preganant and you choose not to contact me. Then again I left without leaving, but that's not the point. YOU ARE AN EVIL SOUL CHASE!"

Chase hesitated for a moment when Kazumi looked like she wanted to kill him.

Uh-oh.


But he relaxed when she started to attack him playfully - at least, he thought it was playful. "I'm sorry!" he laughed, trying to fend her off. "Believe me, I tried to find you. But you fell off the face of the earth. At least I didn't waste any time the first time I saw you, right?" He grinned.

Kazu laughed and nodded. "AHH OW OW OW!" Kazu pulled her hands awat, gingerly rubbing them. "Shouldn't do that Shouldn't do that! Anyway, i probably owe you a big explanation." "Byt the way, is it a boy or a girl? Do you know? What are you going to name it?"

Chase shook his head. "We don't know," he said. "Mia wanted it to be a surprise." He smiled. "Thinking of names is beyond difficult. We fight a lot over it. We're both pretty opinionated." He flopped on his back, splaying his legs and arms on the ground. "What about you? Do you have any ideas? Maybe you should go talk to Mia. I'm sure she needs a girl to talk to about this stuff. I'm pretty useless."

Kazu laughed and ruffled his hair. "Hmmm perhaps." Kazu craowled over and grabbed her guitar and plopped down next to Chase, playing a few notes in a rythmic pattern. "For boy names, there's Carson, Shawn, Hunter, Lenny, etc." "For girl names, There's Abbey, Blossom, Grace, Crystal, Joy, etc."
"Hmmm now about my abscense.....sorry i left so suddenly. I'm not really sure why I left, I just kinda did. Although i've matured somewhat, no to brag or anything." "But i should go and visit Mia later. Although with he symtoms she may lash out at me. Alas, I probably deserve it." Kazu stopped playing and studied Chase's face for a second. "Just a little tierd?" You look positivley whiped." 'Do you need me to come over and help with anything?"

Chase smiled. "I've done that before," he admitted. "Packing up and leaving without notice. It's what got me here, actually. But now, I don't want to leave." He shrugged. "I'm glad you decided to come back, anyways."

"As far as names go..." He shook his head. "I'm hopeless. Totally unoriginal. The only ones I can actually think of are names like Mike, Brad. Stuff like that. Uninspired." He grinned. "You're ten times better. And as far as Mia goes, she's actually not moody. Relatively, I guess. I haven't really been around too many pregnant women before. But, other than the cravings, the whole thing's been pretty bearable."

"That's good." Kazu said smiling. "Also, if you ever need a babysitter, most likely i'll be free. I'm not working myself as hard as I used to.' Kazu smiled. "It's giving me more free time, and i;ve been able to meet a lot of new people, like Wess and Bren." "Wess can act a bit childish, but that's what makes him fun." "As for Bren....i still have a lot to figure out about him, and he seems to have had a hard life, he's also always complaing how there are no cigarettes around Fore-get-me-not. But I don't think he's such a bad guy." 'Oh shoot, i've gotten off topic. I HUMBALY APOLOGZE!"

Chase laughed and shook his head. "No, no, it's okay." He squinted up at the clouds against the sun through the lenses of his glasses. "It's weird," he said. "Never before have I considered things like baby-sitters and diapers and scary things like that. Makes me wonder if I'm going to be a half-way decent dad." He shuddered. "That's weird, too. 'Dad.'"

'I know it's strange." Kazu said smiling. "I know you'll be a great Dad. Just be yourself, Chase. And teach your kid things you would have wanted to be taught to you at that age." "Laugh when your child laughs, comfort them when they cry, and scold them when they do something wrong." "If they want to do something like play a sport or an insrument, support them. When they fall in love, watch over them and guide them to make the right choices." "My father always told me that you never really know what love feels like until you have a child. When you hold and look at them for the first time. And they look back up at your with that goofy smile on their face." 'Sure, it's a lot of work, but it'll all be worth it someday when they hug you and say "Dad.....thank you for everyting." Kazu felt her face turn beat red. "Oh man..umm was that too sappy!?"

Chase had to work to keep his jaw from dropping. "Wow. You got deep when you were discovering yourself," he finally said, smiling. "Yeah. Well, it's too late to back out now." He chuckled. "I guess I just have to do the best I can do. My parents were actually pretty great, so I'm hoping to learn from them. And I'll try to keep Mia from teaching him - or her - to jump off of roofs. I think that would just about kill my nerves."

Kazu smiled at that last part. "Darn streight they'll learn!" It could come in handy!" Kazu's expression turned somber. "I never knew my mother, and my father died when i was 8." "Of course after that i went to live with my distant aunt, but i moved back to my father's farm when i turned 14. By then i could work, cook, and clean." "My aunt had to work all the time, and she was in the middle of getting divorced at the time, so she was never really there. She was either working, in court, or arguing on the phone." "All i had to live off of were my home skills and the morals my father had taught me." "Anyway, always, always be with the child, you hear me? Spoil him/her to the bone and i'll make sure he/she's sure as heck thankful they have parents!"