Father/Daughter Bonding

	"Rei? Rei, you come back here!"

	Sitting back down, Hino Ryoji sighed. This was not how he 
wanted the evening to go. He hadn’t expected Rei to exactly be 
happy about the news of his engagement, but he had hoped she would 
at least keep any objections to the marriage to herself until 
after Saeko and Ami had left, forgetting that his daughter was not 
a shining example of propriety.

	"I’m sorry, Saeko," he apologized to his fiancée. "Please 
excuse my daughter’s rudeness. I don‘t know what has gotten into 
her."

	Saeko shook her head. "It’s okay, Ryoji. I’m sure Rei-chan 
is just in shock. We did kind of spring it on her."

	"Hino-san, would you like me to talk to Rei-chan?" Saeko’s 
normally quiet daughter Ami offered.

	The offer was tempting, but Ryoji knew it was his 
responsibility as Rei‘s father to talk to her about her rude 
behavior. "Thank you, Ami-chan," he said, again rising from his 
chair, "but I think I should probably be the one to talk to her. 
If you ladies will excuse me…"

	Ryoji had not seen where Rei went after she ran out of the 
dining room, so he asked his maid if she knew where his daughter 
was. Nanako informed him she saw Rei run upstairs.

	There was only one room upstairs he thought she might be 
hiding in, her old bedroom. Ryoji headed up the staircase, but 
took his time about it, not exactly relishing the thought of 
having to lecture his daughter.

	It was ironic in a way. Here he was, one of the most 
politically powerful men in Tokyo, yet when it came to his 
temperamental daughter, he was as meek as a mouse, afraid he would 
say something that would shatter what was left of their fragile 
relationship. It was only a few years ago that they had called a 
truce; Ryoji did not want to risk losing Rei again.

	When he finally made it to the door of Rei’s bedroom, 
Ryoji raised his hand to knock, but hesitated. The sound was 
faint, but it almost sounded as if Rei was…crying. 

	Had his engagement upset her that much?

	Ryoji brought his hand back down, unsure of what to do. An 
angry Rei, he could handle, but he was never good when it came to 
dealing with tears. Thinking it might be better to send her friend 
Ami to talk to her after all, he started to leave, yet, in the 
end, he stayed and knocked on the door.

	"Rei?" he said softly. "It’s your father. We need to 
talk."

	The sobbing stopped, and after what seemed like an 
eternity, Rei gave him permission to enter.

	Hesitantly, Ryoji turned the doorknob and stepped inside. 
There, he found his daughter laying horizontally across the small, 
twin-sized bed, a Hello Kitty pillow crushed against her chest as 
Rei stared blankly up at the ceiling. She had done her best to 
hide the evidence of her tears, but Ryoji noticed the handkerchief 
she held tightly in one hand.

	"Rei, what was the meaning of that scene downstairs?" he 
asked in a bit harsher tone than he intended.

	"Did you honestly expect me to jump for joy over the fact 
you are getting remarried?" Rei retorted.

	"No, but I had hoped you would accept our engagement with 
the proper decorum. How do you think Saeko felt when you ran out 
of the room without even a ’congratulations’?"

	"Fine," Rei said, finally sitting back up and starting to 
stand. "I’ll go apologize to Mizuno-sensei right now if that’s 
what you want." 

	"No, wait." Motioning for her sit back down, Ryoji inhaled 
deeply, then grabbed the nearby desk chair, rolling it toward the 
bed. "Yes, you will apologize to Saeko and her daughter for 
ruining dinner, but that can wait," he said, sitting down. "First, 
I think you and I need to have a talk."

	Rei rolled her eyes. "What is there to talk about?"

	"Evidently, quite a bit, Rei, if your behavior is any 
indication. Why are you so against the idea of me and Saeko 
getting married? I thought you liked her."

	She shrugged. "I like her well enough, I suppose. I don‘t 
hate her, at least."

	"Then why?"

	For a long moment, Rei didn’t answer him. She then stood 
up and walked over to the desk, where she picked up a picture 
frame and handed it to him.

	The picture inside was of Rei and her mother. 

	"I don’t understand," Ryoji said, placing the picture 
facedown on the bed beside Rei. Even after all the years that had 
passed, it still pained him to look at one of Risa’s pictures. 
"Your mother has been gone for over ten years now, Rei."

	"Yet you are making a mockery of her memory!" Rei 
declared, her dark eyes narrowing. 

	"What?"

	"Please!" Getting up from the bed once again, Rei began 
pacing the room, arms crossed over her chest. "You never acted 
like this when Mama was alive, all romantic and happy and lovey-
dovey. So why does Mizuno -sensei get to see that side of you? Do you 
love her more than you did Mama? Did you even love Mama at all, or 
was your marriage just a sham to make you look better to voters? 
The devoted family man? Ha, what a joke!"

	"Rei, that is quite enough," Ryoji said in a calm, but 
firm, voice, trying his best not to lose his temper, though his 
daughter was not exactly making it easy. "Sit back down, and let’s 
discuss this like rational adults."

	"There’s nothing to discuss, Papa," said Rei. "All you are 
going to tell me is lies, anyway. That’s what you politicians do, 
isn’t it?" 

	Despite his attempts to control his temper, Ryoji‘s hand 
involuntarily clenched in a fist. "Rei, sit down. Now." 

	With an exasperated sigh, Rei plopped back down on the 
bed, and Ryoji relaxed his fist, taking in a deep breath to calm 
himself down. When he felt he could speak without wanting to yell, 
he rolled the desk chair he was sitting on closer to the bed, 
hesitantly placing one of his hands over Rei’s. To his amazement, 
she didn’t pull it away, though there was still a fierce look in 
her eyes that reminded him of Risa.

	"You truly are your mother’s daughter," he said with a 
small smile, Rei’s eyes widening in shock. "Risa was the most 
passionate woman I ever knew. She was never one to bottle up her 
feelings. If she was mad at you, you can be sure as heck you knew 
it, yet she also possessed great love and compassion. That was the 
thing I loved most about your mother, and, yes, I did love Risa, 
more than you can ever know. The fact that I was not there more 
for her when she was alive is one of the biggest regrets of my 
life.

	"However," he continued before Rei could interject, "your 
mother is gone now, and I have met a wonderful woman with whom I 
would like to spend the rest of my life. It doesn’t mean I love 
Risa any less, and Saeko will never be able to replace your mother 
in our hearts, but she makes me happier than I have been in a very 
long time, Rei. Maybe I don‘t deserve such happiness after the way 
I treated you and your mother. I don‘t know. But I do know that I 
love Saeko very much, and nothing would make me happier than for 
us -- for me, you, Saeko, and Ami-chan -- to be a family. For all 
of us to live here in this house, together."

	"You want me to move back home?" Rei asked.

	Ryoji sighed. "I should have asked you to come back a long 
time ago," he admitted. "I just didn’t know if you would if I 
asked. You were so angry with me…"

	His voice drifted off, and the hard look in Rei’s eyes 
softened. For a long moment, they sat there, silent, neither 
knowing quite what to say. Then Ryoji felt his daughter lightly 
squeeze his hand, a small smile on her lips.

	"Let’s be a family, Papa," she said 

	Somewhere, up in heaven, Ryoji knew Risa was smiling down 
on them.

DISCLAIMER: Sailor Moon is the property of Takeuchi Naoko. 

AUTHOR'S NOTES: This was written for the sm_monthly community at 
Livejournal (Theme: Farce) and was the winner of Best 
Characterization for August 2007.