[Complete] Invisible Chains- Chapter 32
I was happy to find out that some of you wanted Asuka and her father to make up. I was worried that you may have felt that their relationship can't be repaired or should stay the same. Anyways, here is Asuka's mother's side of the story. I hope you enjoy and try not to cry! （＾▽＾●）
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Chapter 32
Dear Asuka,
First, I would like to congratulate you on your marriage. You must be very happy but surprised as well. I hope the man that you married will give you the happiness that you didn’t receive from us. Also I hope that when you have children, you will give all the love and support that a mother can give. Hehe. What am I saying? I guess you must thinking that I’m the most unsuitable person to be telling you all this. Yes, I had made mistakes in the past, your otosan and I, but we treasure you so much and I hope you know that.
You probably still have a grudge on your otosan and I for leaving Mariko at an orphanage. There is a reason for that. Your otosan and I didn’t have much have a choice. Our parents, especially your grandparents from your otosan’s side didn’t give us much of a choice.
You may think that we were happily congratulated when we got married but the truth was…we had a shotgun marriage. Our parents were absolutely against our marriage. Your otosan was on the rise as the CEO of Nakashima Industries and I was a young girl from a small town in the Aomori prefecture. When your otosan went to Aomori to look around for some suppliers, we met each other and instantly fell in love. Your otosan wanted me to go with him back to Tokyo where he said that he would take care of me. I wanted to go but my parents, especially my otosan, stopped me. He was afraid that he would abandon me once he found another girl.
However I ignored his warnings and secretly packed up my bags to leave with your otosan. For the first time ever in my life, I was immersed in an urban city and had to adapt to my new surroundings, and get used to using a regular accent. I was often depressed because I was unfamiliar of the places in Tokyo, so I decided to pursue myself in one of my favorite hobbies, pottery. My otosan had own a pottery-spinning wheel where he would make bowls, cups, etc. for our home. He made every dinnerware I had used when I was growing up.
I got a part-time job at a pottery studio after I showed them some of my works that I had cherished so much. I thought my life was turning out for the better. With some encouragement from my co-workers, I entered a pottery making contest and won first place. I received an award and was recognized by the art community. I was no longer called a country girl but a talented potter. Your otosan was supportive of me and encouraged me, even though our time to spend with each other had lessened.
When I was 25 years old, I found out that I was pregnant with you. I was surprised and knew that my life as a famous potter would be on hold. When I told your otosan about you, he was thrilled and happy to be having a child. A few weeks later we registered our marriage and we thought our parents would be happy with our news. But it had backfired and made things worse. Your otosan’s parents had wanted him to marry a girl from a rich family but now with my pregnancy and marriage registration, his parents were furious and thought he ruined any good chances to be successful. Even my parents were against our marriage and renounced my name from the family.
Even though our parents were against us being together, we tried to make best with what we had. Your otosan bought a small house (our current house was built on top of our old home) and we were happy. We thought that our parents could no longer stop us from doing what we want to do.
The day you were born was one of my happiest moments of my life. You were so small and so precious to both of us. We were going to call you 'Aimi' but when I was holding you, I noticed a bird perched on the ledge looking at us. I thought it was weird and the nurse had come in to see it. She quickly shooed it away. The nurse told us that the bird has a habit to look at humans so I immediately changed it to Asuka, from the characters asu (to fly) and ka (bird). We thought that it also had a double meaning. We decided that you should grow up like a bird. We wanted you to be independent so you could train your own wings and make them stronger. Then you could fly to wherever you want to with nothing stopping your way.
Our lives and home was filled with laughter and smiles everyday when I found out that I was pregnant with Mariko. We were thrilled to be having a second child whom could bring us more joy and laughter. But that came crashing down when your otosan’s parents pressure me that if I were to bore out a boy then I would be able to stay within the family and if I bore out a girl, then I would have to leave with both of you.
I didn’t want to happen because I had nowhere else to go. My parents had cut me off and the only people I knew in Tokyo were your otosan and the co-workers at the pottery studio. Of course I couldn’t ask my friends so I had no other choice but to stay with your otosan. I prayed every night that the baby I was carrying was a boy. But as you know, the gender of the baby was a girl.
At first I was devastated but then I was thankful. I was grateful that it was a girl. I always wanted you to have a little sister so you could take care of her, share secrets and borrow each other’s clothes. I always dreamt of you two becoming best friends. So when your otosan and I were discussing names for her, we already had determined that we weren’t able to keep her. We had to send her away. I know it was selfish of us to send her away but I didn’t want the three of us to live on the streets. I wouldn’t be able to take care of a five years old child and a few months old baby on the streets with no roof over our heads.
We decided the name Mariko, from the characters mari (long distance) and ko (child). We wanted the name to be significant. Mariko will be our long distance child. No matter where she is, she will always be in our hearts. One day we planned on taking her back from the orphanage when your grandparents pass away. Eventually that day came but we found out that she was already taken to a new family. We were a bit disappointed but also, kind of relieved. We were worried that she might feel like she was unwanted or unloved because we gave her up. Then we started to pray that she would get all the love she needed from her new family.
I know this might be a lot to handle and I know that you’re probably upset and angry with your otosan and I right now. I hope you can forgive us for all the decisions we made. We wanted to do what’s best for this family. You and Mariko are forever in a special place in our hearts and we love both of you.
Before I end, if you do find Mariko, tell her that I’m sorry I had abandoned her. Tell her that I loved her and wanted to be a mother for her. If she hates me then I will accept that because I was the one who placed her in an orphanage when she already has a loving family to be with.
Now you know the story, my last request for you is to forgive your otosan and at least interact with him more often. He truly loves you from the bottom of his heart and would do anything for you. I made a promise with him that he would make you happy no matter what. If you tell him to give you the company, I think he would do that, but I know you’re not selfish like that. Take care of your otosan for me.
-Love, Okaasan
Tears dropped onto the sheets of paper. I stared blankly at the letter and couldn’t believe what I had just read. Why didn’t my parents tell me the difficulties they had to go through? In order for me to have food and shelter, they had to give up Mariko.
My father quietly entered the bedroom and saw my face. He looked concerned and worried to see me crying like that. I bit my lower lip and looked at him with my bloodshot eyes and my tears-streak face. “Why?” I asked with sniffles. I was confused and dumbfounded. Why did they make those decisions? They could have found another solution that would solve all their problems? Why didn’t they try hard enough to find one? What seemed like the impossible could have been the possible.
I looked at him with more tears running down my face. Maybe telling him about Mariko wouldn’t be a bad thing. He confessed that he wanted to find her for a long time. “I found Mariko, otosan. She’s safe and knows who I am.” I said with a small smile.
He slowly approached me and gave me a hug. For the first time ever in my life, my father was hugging me. It was filled with love, care and kindness; something I always wanted to feel from him. I held tightly onto his shirt as I continued to cry.
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A/N: If you were wondering, I didn't make up the meanings for the names Asuka and Mariko. I did some research behind the meaning and found it to be a perfect fit for the story. khaulabear I bet you didn't expect the names Asuka and Mariko to have a deep meaning and connection to the story. (*´・ｖ・)
I would like to announce that next week will be my last time posting before my hiatus. I will put up the final chapter along with a short epilogue. Thank you for reading. Comments are loved!
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Chapter 32
Dear Asuka,
First, I would like to congratulate you on your marriage. You must be very happy but surprised as well. I hope the man that you married will give you the happiness that you didn’t receive from us. Also I hope that when you have children, you will give all the love and support that a mother can give. Hehe. What am I saying? I guess you must thinking that I’m the most unsuitable person to be telling you all this. Yes, I had made mistakes in the past, your otosan and I, but we treasure you so much and I hope you know that.
You probably still have a grudge on your otosan and I for leaving Mariko at an orphanage. There is a reason for that. Your otosan and I didn’t have much have a choice. Our parents, especially your grandparents from your otosan’s side didn’t give us much of a choice.
You may think that we were happily congratulated when we got married but the truth was…we had a shotgun marriage. Our parents were absolutely against our marriage. Your otosan was on the rise as the CEO of Nakashima Industries and I was a young girl from a small town in the Aomori prefecture. When your otosan went to Aomori to look around for some suppliers, we met each other and instantly fell in love. Your otosan wanted me to go with him back to Tokyo where he said that he would take care of me. I wanted to go but my parents, especially my otosan, stopped me. He was afraid that he would abandon me once he found another girl.
However I ignored his warnings and secretly packed up my bags to leave with your otosan. For the first time ever in my life, I was immersed in an urban city and had to adapt to my new surroundings, and get used to using a regular accent. I was often depressed because I was unfamiliar of the places in Tokyo, so I decided to pursue myself in one of my favorite hobbies, pottery. My otosan had own a pottery-spinning wheel where he would make bowls, cups, etc. for our home. He made every dinnerware I had used when I was growing up.
I got a part-time job at a pottery studio after I showed them some of my works that I had cherished so much. I thought my life was turning out for the better. With some encouragement from my co-workers, I entered a pottery making contest and won first place. I received an award and was recognized by the art community. I was no longer called a country girl but a talented potter. Your otosan was supportive of me and encouraged me, even though our time to spend with each other had lessened.
When I was 25 years old, I found out that I was pregnant with you. I was surprised and knew that my life as a famous potter would be on hold. When I told your otosan about you, he was thrilled and happy to be having a child. A few weeks later we registered our marriage and we thought our parents would be happy with our news. But it had backfired and made things worse. Your otosan’s parents had wanted him to marry a girl from a rich family but now with my pregnancy and marriage registration, his parents were furious and thought he ruined any good chances to be successful. Even my parents were against our marriage and renounced my name from the family.
Even though our parents were against us being together, we tried to make best with what we had. Your otosan bought a small house (our current house was built on top of our old home) and we were happy. We thought that our parents could no longer stop us from doing what we want to do.
The day you were born was one of my happiest moments of my life. You were so small and so precious to both of us. We were going to call you 'Aimi' but when I was holding you, I noticed a bird perched on the ledge looking at us. I thought it was weird and the nurse had come in to see it. She quickly shooed it away. The nurse told us that the bird has a habit to look at humans so I immediately changed it to Asuka, from the characters asu (to fly) and ka (bird). We thought that it also had a double meaning. We decided that you should grow up like a bird. We wanted you to be independent so you could train your own wings and make them stronger. Then you could fly to wherever you want to with nothing stopping your way.
Our lives and home was filled with laughter and smiles everyday when I found out that I was pregnant with Mariko. We were thrilled to be having a second child whom could bring us more joy and laughter. But that came crashing down when your otosan’s parents pressure me that if I were to bore out a boy then I would be able to stay within the family and if I bore out a girl, then I would have to leave with both of you.
I didn’t want to happen because I had nowhere else to go. My parents had cut me off and the only people I knew in Tokyo were your otosan and the co-workers at the pottery studio. Of course I couldn’t ask my friends so I had no other choice but to stay with your otosan. I prayed every night that the baby I was carrying was a boy. But as you know, the gender of the baby was a girl.
At first I was devastated but then I was thankful. I was grateful that it was a girl. I always wanted you to have a little sister so you could take care of her, share secrets and borrow each other’s clothes. I always dreamt of you two becoming best friends. So when your otosan and I were discussing names for her, we already had determined that we weren’t able to keep her. We had to send her away. I know it was selfish of us to send her away but I didn’t want the three of us to live on the streets. I wouldn’t be able to take care of a five years old child and a few months old baby on the streets with no roof over our heads.
We decided the name Mariko, from the characters mari (long distance) and ko (child). We wanted the name to be significant. Mariko will be our long distance child. No matter where she is, she will always be in our hearts. One day we planned on taking her back from the orphanage when your grandparents pass away. Eventually that day came but we found out that she was already taken to a new family. We were a bit disappointed but also, kind of relieved. We were worried that she might feel like she was unwanted or unloved because we gave her up. Then we started to pray that she would get all the love she needed from her new family.
I know this might be a lot to handle and I know that you’re probably upset and angry with your otosan and I right now. I hope you can forgive us for all the decisions we made. We wanted to do what’s best for this family. You and Mariko are forever in a special place in our hearts and we love both of you.
Before I end, if you do find Mariko, tell her that I’m sorry I had abandoned her. Tell her that I loved her and wanted to be a mother for her. If she hates me then I will accept that because I was the one who placed her in an orphanage when she already has a loving family to be with.
Now you know the story, my last request for you is to forgive your otosan and at least interact with him more often. He truly loves you from the bottom of his heart and would do anything for you. I made a promise with him that he would make you happy no matter what. If you tell him to give you the company, I think he would do that, but I know you’re not selfish like that. Take care of your otosan for me.
-Love, Okaasan
Tears dropped onto the sheets of paper. I stared blankly at the letter and couldn’t believe what I had just read. Why didn’t my parents tell me the difficulties they had to go through? In order for me to have food and shelter, they had to give up Mariko.
My father quietly entered the bedroom and saw my face. He looked concerned and worried to see me crying like that. I bit my lower lip and looked at him with my bloodshot eyes and my tears-streak face. “Why?” I asked with sniffles. I was confused and dumbfounded. Why did they make those decisions? They could have found another solution that would solve all their problems? Why didn’t they try hard enough to find one? What seemed like the impossible could have been the possible.
I looked at him with more tears running down my face. Maybe telling him about Mariko wouldn’t be a bad thing. He confessed that he wanted to find her for a long time. “I found Mariko, otosan. She’s safe and knows who I am.” I said with a small smile.
He slowly approached me and gave me a hug. For the first time ever in my life, my father was hugging me. It was filled with love, care and kindness; something I always wanted to feel from him. I held tightly onto his shirt as I continued to cry.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A/N: If you were wondering, I didn't make up the meanings for the names Asuka and Mariko. I did some research behind the meaning and found it to be a perfect fit for the story. khaulabear I bet you didn't expect the names Asuka and Mariko to have a deep meaning and connection to the story. (*´・ｖ・)
I would like to announce that next week will be my last time posting before my hiatus. I will put up the final chapter along with a short epilogue. Thank you for reading. Comments are loved!