EXAMINING EVERY ACE ATTORNEY CASE ON THE LIKENESS OF US BEING PAID
The topic that must be finally put to rest considering how every AA protag and money issues go hand in hand, how many cases did we actually get paid for?
PHOENIX WRIGHT: BROKE ATTORNEY
1 - literally spelled out by the game that larry left us with fuckall, a bad omen of the life to come.
2 - nothing could scare the law offices' balance sheet more than the entrance of maya, but in the frenzy of fighting for the life of our workspace we didnt even notice the whiff of the long-lasting implications.
3 - okay this is the first $u$pect that can pay our bills, no way will powers left us without a relatively phat check so GIRL WE MAKING MONEY!
4 - genuinely if edgelord somehow figured that money dont matter in a friendship, either it was my wallet that bullied him into killing himself between these games or he at least had the decency to utilise von karma's leaked pin code situation and allowed us to drain his bank account posthumously. either way my belief that edgeworth got the bill paid here is naively high.
5 - i dont care if lana was going to pay or not bc i billed her for every fucking turn she did at the detention center. either way whether her estate got arrested in the investigation or not it seems like she'd be forced to pay so im staying positive.
ACE ATTORNEY: RAMEN FOR ALL
1 - maggie. what exactly can maggie even pay me. i feel like the case was more of a friend request anyway so we're eating roaches for dinner again, but i also feel that maggie would be inclined to offer at least something. im not sure if putting down a "presumable twenty" counts as success. i'm going to go with no.
2 - maya is starting to get slightly comfortable being a liability to my expenses, this is my first warning girl.
3 - MAXIMUM GALACTIC PROFIT??? OH HE PAYIN. OH HE PAYIN EVERYTHING OUT OF HIS CLOWN ASS. CONFIRMED. FORCED.
4 - this HAS to be a case of the arrested estate being distributed towards paying the fee because i absolutely refuse to live in a world where maya's existence just keeps costing me money. engarde better have paid for it all. the gallows dont drop until he signs my check.
ACE ATTORNEY: TROUBLES AND REMUNERATION
1 - a very big question mark about what can peenie the fail art student pay and whether grossberg is someone who entertains himself a free case. the existence of case 4 may actually suggest something interesting so let's come back to this one later.
2 - i dont care what kind of crippling debt ma$k has because if his wife can allow a bike she CAN, and WILL, pay my fucking fee i dont care. she looks like the type to pay anyway.
3 - maggie. maggie, maggie, maggie. what does it matter musing on how things would've turned out differently if they had actually remembered my face in time. in either universe, this is another expense, in a crisis where my laundry bill is financially ruining me as coffee cups keep flying in my face.
4 - this is a convict already. what can a convict pay to grossberg law offices? suddenly it looks like his gig takes up on free cases bc usually this dude would get a state attorney, right? is grossberg providing such services? if we are getting paid here, it is only the bare minimum it seems, so in retrospect it IS possible for case 1 to have been completely unpaid. as for this one, marking it as unpaid bc Doubt what we'd get could even pay for a single-ply toilet paper + they'd find a way to pay out even less considering the trial technically didn't go through smh.
5 - bitchass fucking fey family, call it THE FEE FAMILY for the way NONE OF THEM ARE PAYING IT!!!! THEY PUT ME IN THE HOSPITAL!!!!!!!!!!!! FUCK FRIENDSHIP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Chronologically we have edgelord's two investigation games next so:
THESE TWO GAMES FOLLOW SEVERAL CASES CONDUCTED FOR A MILLIONAIRE'S OWN ENTERTAINMENT. WE DO NOT CONDONE MONEY PRIVILEDGE BEHAVIOUR AND WE BOYCOTT THE ANALYSIS OF THESE GAMES.
MONETARY JUSTICE: ACE ATTORNEY
1 - well money was probably one thing in the whole mess there, sure. Dick Wright jailed this barbie girl motherfucker just so he wouldn't pay the bill. girl we making no money era is back.
2 - weirdly enough but god might exist after all because no way the kitakis are not paying me. we are saved!!!!!
3 - in a grand twist, there is also no way that these moneyfucks are not signing me a phat one so big bet a hot meal was had that day! i think after lamiroir regained her memories she just decided that this fee was her paying off child support for both kids and fucked off forever.
4 - boy I lost my god damn job.
5 - an interesting situation here because this case was most likely sponsored by the state since it's testing out the jury system and all so. we got paid? almost three cases in a row? WOE MAMA!
ACE ATTORNEY: DOUGH'S DESTINY
1 - not this shit again. another freeloader caught up in the scheme of my monetary ruin. at the time when a teenager is feeding a company of four. peenie's new drip alone cost us six months worth of rent. girl we eating discarded prison gruel at the dumpster in this dark age of the law.
2 - oh a wrestler AND a mayor? oho. ohohohoho. ohohohohohoho.
3 - the humble beginnings of my empty wallet, innit. sure, let her get away this time. not my first rodeo.
4 - starbuck for the love of god i know they said their budget went down but he is PAYING that bill or im cutting wires on his rocket and doing phantom a favor here. he can afford to pay me.
5 - maya sure evaded leaving her footprint on my taxes but there's such a sweet difference between an employee and an independent contractor and athena saw why. sure, free case! its cost is taken out of your salary, baby. you're not eating for four months. at least.
6 - hey the aquarium folks Surely have the dough, right? they found us themselves too so that's a definite bill here.
BROKE ATTORNEY: NO SPIRIT OF JUSTICE
every case in the russian republic of village kurainovo was free which is a devastating stain on my financial report this year, remember how durke said we probably cant afford three meals per day? hello????
1 - motherfucker. this case actually cost us about 20 brazilian roubles because albi charged us for the magatama edible. the first case that lands us in the negative twenty. incredible.
2 - i fucking. if trucy thinks her main breadwinner status excuses her from freeloading a case that almost landed us in 3m debt then im selling rights to the gramarye IP to bozo the clown. family is Nothing to me. i havent eaten properly since 2016.
3 - stop fucking reminding me. not only that but fucking MAYA. THE BIGGEST EXPENSE IN MY LIFE IS BACK WITH NO JUSTICE DONE TO MY FINANCIAL WELLBEING. i havent showered in months. remember how nick told edgeworth that he "heard" that washing in the sink is good enough in the temple? so he didnt even do that himself. the lowest point of my life.
4 - with the urgency of it all and everything i have a strong suspicion the payment of this case was soba. max of what we're getting is food from that place. im shaking does this count as fair barter economy in their eyes? we're not in ancient fucking egypt.
5 - penniless, fatherless, across two countries too. whats not to like in this world. we havent seen a cent in this entire game.
6 - THE $PROKET$???? HELL YEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
Let's count the results:
31 cases across 6 games
13/31 cases most likely than not were paid for in acceptable capacity, which is less than a half. if we exclude cases where the situation isn't entirely clear (eg. engarde, lana), that is even less and we are looking at a third of all cases being remunerated for.
despite quite a few of the presumably paid cases involving rich clients, our gig most likely charges standardised fees, which makes the wealth of our clients irrelevant and simply further questions how much we actually made at the end of the day.
they are not lying, we really are making no money. this is concerning. ga'ran was right, fuck the attorneys just go and pick a state-backed position with the forces.
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burn your life down | chef luca x fem!reader | part twelve
summary: luca meets the kimura family. you and joe grieve together.
warnings: angst, grief, death, fluff, conversations about divorce, second person pov, swearing, very little connection to the storyline of the bear.
word count: 4k
listen to: the official 'burn your life down' playlist
a/n: while this is in fact the second to last chapter, i will write more of them. teehee. but also, can we believe we only have one more chapter left?! let me know if you'd like to be added or removed from the taglist.
part eleven | masterlist | part thirteen
This is not how you pictured starting October, grieving the loss of the matriarch of the family you once called your own, while on the precipice of something new. Straddling the intersection of the old guard and the new feels more complicated than you imagined, because how does one manage to feel so full, so loved, yet consumed by so much despair all at once?
Not to mention the merging of your two worlds: your old life in London and your new one in Copenhagen.
Your new one in Copenhagen with Luca.
The ceremony, mostly just for ritualistic purposes, considering Aiko was cremated – something only the Kimura siblings had been a part of, was held in the backyard of the Kimura. childhood home. You watch as your worlds collide, like two cars crashing into one another – something that seems inevitable, yet still manages to be equally strange, jarring, and confusing. Luca reaches across to shake Astrid’s hand, initiating the action of the merging of your two words.
“I’m Luca. It’s nice to meet you. I’m so sorry for your loss,” he says, his voice compassionate and kind.
“Thank you,” Astrid replies, a small smile on her face as she looks Luca in the eyes. “I wish we were meeting under better circumstances but. Thank you for coming.”
“‘Course.”
“It’s so good to see you,” you exhale, a sigh of relief leaving your lips as your best friend wraps you up in her arms.
You and Luca had shown up just before the ceremony started, and hadn’t even had a chance to say hello yet. Truthfully, you weren’t sure if it’d be right, if it’d be appropriate to show any earlier, wanting to give Joe, Astrid, and Lina the time they’d need beforehand.
“I’m so glad you were able to make it,” she says, squeezing you tighter than normal.
“Are you kidding? I wouldn’t have missed this for the world,” you assure her, as you pull back from your embrace. “It was a beautiful ceremony.”
“Thanks,” Astrid nods. “Think she would’ve rather liked it.”
You take a good look at your former sister-in-law. She looks tired, sad – the kind of tired and sad you get from running the entire show, from project managing your own mother’s posthumous arrangements.
“Thank you for coming,” Astrid repeats, her compliment genuine, before zeroing in on Luca. “The both of you.” Somehow, in the midst of her mother’s funeral, Astrid still has the energy to send you a look – that look – the kind of look that says ‘we WILL be talking about this hottie later.’
“Love?” Luca asks you, as you turn your head to look at him.
“Yeah?” you ask back.
“I’m going to head back inside,” he begins, placing a gentle touch against your low back. “Let you say hello to your friends. But please. Take your time.”
As you open your mouth to say something, it’s as if the timing couldn’t be better (or worse, but you’ll figure out how you feel about it later), as you spot both Joe and Lina approaching. They exchange a few words quietly between each other, walking over to you, Luca, and Astrid.
Joe walks with a sureness that comes from a lifetime spent being the golden son in a family full of daughters, while Lina keeps close to his side, protectively.
“Hey, thanks for coming, mate,” Joe says, immediately extending a hand in Luca’s direction. His voice is warm, friendly, yet distant, as if he’s putting on his bravest face to get through this afternoon.
“I’m Luca. Hi,” Luca introduces himself, meeting Joe’s assuredness with his own.
“Joe. Joe Kimura,” Joe replies, shaking the blonde’s hand.
“I’m sorry for your loss,” Luca says, courteously, your hand brushing against his at your sides.
Joe only nods, his lips pressed together in a polite, yet tight smile, before shifting his attention over to you.
“Joe,” you address him, a small smile on your lips as you greet your ex-husband. “It’s-, it’s good to see you.”
It’s strange really, standing next to your new boyfriend, one that brings you comfort, that makes you feel safe and loved, in a moment of sheer vulnerability and heartbreak across from your ex-husband.
“Hey. Thanks for coming. She would’ve been so happy to see you here,” he says, something softer in his voice as he refers to his late mother. Joe pulls you into a friendly, yet strained hug before releasing you.
“Yeah, of course,” you reply, pulling away. “I really wanted to be here.”
He nods, watching as you take a few steps backwards, so that you’re standing side by side with Luca once more. Lina lets out a disappointed sigh before greeting you, her greeting much more tense with Luca as he introduces himself to the last member of the Kimura family he’s yet to meet. The exchange is thick with awkward tension, but there’s no animus in it, from anyone, really. You don’t talk for long – just a few exchanges back and forth as everyone meets everyone – till Luca reminds you that he’s got to go on his way to meet up with his mum.
“I’ll walk you out,” you offer, before excusing yourself from your conversation with the Kimura siblings.
You know this home well, pushing through the crowd of people gathered in the family home, and out the front door. You’re not surprised that so many people have shown up to celebrate the life of Aiko Kimura, the legacy she leaves behind, apparent.
“No need to rush, love. Feel free to stick around for as long as you need,” Luca says, with patience and grace in the words he says.
You nod, giving him a half smile as you reply, “Yeah, I will. Have fun with your mom too.”
There’s a pause between the two of you, both of you unsure of how to fill it. There are so many things you want to say, with no idea of where to start, or how to say them.
“This is weird, right?” you ask, chuckling as a means to break some of the tension.
He nods, cracking a half smile of his own, “Yeah, there are other ways I’d imagined meeting your ex-husband.”
You shake your head incredulously, as you sigh. The reality of the situation would be humorous if it were under any other circumstances, really.
“How ya holdin’ up’?” Luca asks you, checking in before he goes.
“I’ll uh… let you know when I know,” you answer, honestly.
He mutters something under his breath, something about understanding, as he pulls you in close, pressing a kiss to the top of your head, hugging you close.
“Thank you for coming. Thank you for being here with me,” you whisper, against his chest.
“No need to thank me, my love. I’m here for you,” he reassures you, something genuine in his voice that instills a confidence in his words.
-------------------------------
“You could stay, y’know?” you hear the voice of the youngest Kimura sibling say, causing you to turn away from the photo board that hangs in the Kimura family living room.
“What do you mean?” you ask her.
“Come home,” Lina says this time, much more insistent, much more desperate. “You and Joe-.”
“Lina,” you warn her, as your face falls, because you’re not sure you can let her finish that sentence.
You feel for her, really, and you can only imagine that it’s easier for her to focus on resenting your new boyfriend than it is to feel the pain of this loss.
Lina sighs, shaking her head, her jaw clenched, “So it’s serious then? You and… the pastry chef?”
You wait a beat before answering,
“Yeah. It is.”
She shakes her head again, this time with an eye roll as she purses her lips disapprovingly. It’s as if she’s turning a decision over in her head, opening her mouth to say something, before closing it, going back to the drawing board.
“But he’s an Arsenal fan,” she finally scoffs, with a snort, trying her best to add a little humor to what feels like an impossible situation by nitpicking at his favorite football team.
You laugh, adding your own playful eye roll to the mix this time.
“I never said he had great taste in football teams,” you chuckle back, earning a groan from your former sister-in-law.
The two of you share a look, one that says, ‘I love you, you dummy,’ and you can see that she wants to say something else. You don’t know what it’ll be about this time, so you wait patiently, giving the youngest Kimura the space to get out whatever it is that’s eating her.
“I just-. I never understood… why you and Joe… why you couldn’t work it out,” she drags out, a disappointment in her voice as she finds the words she wants to say.
So she doesn’t want to talk about her mom.
You sigh, accepting that fact, while racking your brain for how to explain the question that consumed you for a year after.
“Because, Lina…” you trail off, choosing your words intentionally. “It just wasn’t-, because I don’t know if we were supposed to. I-.” You pause once more before continuing with, “Because we just… grew apart. Wanted different things. And we both deserve to go find them, even if it means it’s not with each other.”
You watch as she takes in your answer, only just beginning to process your explanation, as a man you recognize as Uncle Kevin approaches.
“Sorry to interrupt, ladies. Lina, will you come help me with something in the kitchen?” he asks.
“Sure. Yeah,” she nods her head, beginning to turn away from you.
But Lina pauses; she’s not ready to go just yet.
“It really is good…” she says with a sure nod of her head. “... to see you. I’m glad you came.”
Lina turns once more, following her uncle into the kitchen, without a look back. You take a deep breath, because it all just feels heavy. You’ve always been close with Astrid, but your relationship with Lina was different. She was much younger when you met Joe. While you and Astrid became close friends, much closer in age, you’d always suspected that Lina had put you and your relationship with her brother on a pedestal, the reality of your assumption becoming glaringly obvious now.
You can only imagine the divorce was something hard for her to stomach, to understand, especially with her limited life experience. You remind yourself not to take it too personally as you slip outside, making your way back into the backyard where the memorial service was held earlier that day.
There’s another photo board outside, propped up against an easel, with an entirely different collection of photos than the one inside. You smile to yourself as your eyes savor the familial images: younger versions of the Kimura children with their mother at the beach, baby Lina with a mess of noodles all over her high chair, covered in sauce, a photo of Joe’s graduation…. You reach out to touch one of the photos – a photo of you, Aiko, and Joe together, the day of your wedding.
You can feel the lump in your throat growing, your eyes welling with tears as you’re suddenly overcome with a deep feeling of sadness. A few tears run down your face, and you sniffle, wiping them away quickly, as soon as you hear the sound of footsteps behind you.
“I told Lina to be nice,” Astrid grumbles, as she approaches you and the photo board.
With a quick raise of your eyebrows, you turn to Astrid before telling her: “Lina thinks I should stay.”
“Lina is barely twenty five and I don’t quite think her brain has fully formed yet,” Astrid quips dryly, and you know she’s not entirely wrong.
“I can only imagine this is… all pretty confusing for her,” you say, suddenly feeling a little guilty for being here in the first place.
“She’s young. She’ll get over it,” Astrid shrugs, brushing off your concern.
To a stranger, her response would seem cold, callous, unemotional, but you know that Astrid has had to play the role of the eldest daughter her entire life.
She’s had to be strong for everyone her entire life.
“She always was a hopeless romantic,” you observe, turning your attention back to the family photos. “Lina.”
Astrid nods slowly, “I think she looked up to you and Joe. Looked to the two of you and saw what love could look like.”
“Just because it ended doesn’t mean we don’t still love each other,” you offer. “It’s just… different now. We’re not… in love, but we both still care for each other. Shouldn’t that be worth something too?”
“I think she’ll understand when she’s older,” Astrid replies in an attempt to offer you some kind of comfort.
“How’re you doing?” you ask her, the words feeling silly as soon as they leave your mouth.
“I’m… just going to be happy when this is all over,” Astrid admits, the fatigue in her voice more evident than ever. “Dunno if I’ve even had time to be sad. Been too busy doing… all of this. Think maybe I’ll crash the minute it’s over which… is bloody scary and also… guess, it’s something I’ve been waiting for too.”
You nod in concurrence, “Well, if you do, you know you have me. Right now I’m a phone call, a hop, skip, and a week away. You know, till we go home.”
She nods, stealing a glance your way, a small smirk on her lips in response to your usage of the word, ‘we.’
“And then of course,” you continue, slyly, hoping to plant the idea in her head now. “You can always eat, pray, love in Copenhagen… you know… if the mood strikes you. I feel like that would be, you know, healing.”
She snorts with laughter, “Yeah, I’ve got to get out there again anyways.”
There’s a short pause between the two of you, and Astrid’s still stuck on what you said earlier.
The ‘we’ of it all, really.
“So Luca’s really something. Showin’ up to your new girlfriend’s ex-husband’s mum’s funeral? That takes guts,” she says, prodding you for more information on Luca.
“Yeah.”
“Didn’t think the bloke could be even more handsome in person and yet….”
You chuckle in response.
“Yeah he’s… he’s pretty perfect,” you exhale, sitting into the feeling.
“It’s exhausting sometimes… trying to keep up,” you joke. “Only, then he tells me that I don’t have to be perfect and I can just be myself which… is even more annoying because it’s more proof that he is.”
“Well, I like him,” Astrid adds smugly, crossing her arms across her chest.
“Yeah?” you ask, a stark contrast between her and Lina’s reactions.
“Yeah,” she nods, enthusiastically. Her face softens as she says what comes next. “You look well-loved. That’s why I like him.”
“What do you mean?” you ask, hesitantly.
“You look like you’ve found your heart again,” Astrid answers.
And as you search her face for a reaction, for truth to her statement, you can see it in her eyes that she means it.
-------------------------------
After spending a little more time with Astrid in the backyard, you decide it may be time to find Joe. You’re not sure what you’re expecting, but you think that you should prepare for almost anything. It doesn’t take long to find him inside, so you wait for the right moment, watching him accept condolences from a couple you recognize as neighbors, as they’re on their way. Your heart pounds in your chest, your nerves skyrocketing because it’s all just so… weird… as you approach.
“Joe,” you call out to him, your voice grabbing his attention.
He turns to you, a small smile on his face as he sees that it’s really you standing behind him.
“Is now a good time to say hello?” you ask, trying your best to be respectful.
“Yeah, ‘course. I-,” he begins, before pausing, looking around the room. “You want to get out of here?”
“Wh-?” you start.
“Fancy a pint? I just don’t know if I can do this whole perfect son act for much longer,” he scoffs, a playful and mischievous tone in his voice.
“Uh… yeah,” you agree, unable to hide the surprise in your voice. “Yeah, fuck. I could use a drink.”
You shouldn’t be surprised, really, as you follow Joe out of the house. Your brain is flooded with memories of sneaking out of the theater to go get french fries, of parties to head to another party, out of his childhood home when you were staying with Aiko during your first holiday with the Kimuras.
There’s a pub down the street that you walk to, feeling naughty for leaving without saying goodbye, and relieved that you’re getting to escape from the bleak, depressing awkwardness that is any funeral. You remember this pub – one you and Joe used to frequent because it was only a few blocks away – when you’d moved to London. It’s a short walk and the two of you can’t get there fast enough, eager to flee the scene of grieving relatives and humorously sad music.
You and Joe find two seats at the bar, sitting side by side as you clink the glasses of your ice cold pints.
“Cheers,” you say.
“Cheers,” he parrots, the both of you taking your first sips.
“Fucking hell, I had to get out of there,” Joe exhales a huge sigh of relief. “Been at it all day. Makin’ other people feel better about my own mum’s death. I don’t know how anyone does this.”
“Yeah, it’s kinda fucked, huh?” you reply with a sigh.
“Funerals are weird. I’ll tell you that, mate,” he agrees, lifting his glass to his lips once more.
“This is…” you start, nervous yet bold in speaking truth to the moment. “... also weird, don’t you think?”
You watch as he thinks it over, a small smirk on his face as he agrees, “Yeah. Yeah it is.”
A beat.
And then another.
And you’re lifting your glass once more to your lips to take another sip of the amber liquid that brings you comfort in the moment.
“Is it alright? That I came? That we… came?” you ask, a little more seriously now.
Joe turns his head to you, and you can see that your consideration means a lot to him. He nods slowly as he answers:
“Yeah. I meant what I said before – that she would’ve wanted you here.”
He pauses once more, taking another drink from his beer glass.
“As for Luca. Well, it was bound to happen at some point or another.” You nod, your eyes fixed to the resin-sealed wooden bar top as you listen to him. “I think we both knew that this day would come… Can’t say it’s a walk in the park but… dunno if most things are supposed to be anyways.”
“Yeah I uh… I certainly feel like bambi learning how to walk for the first time on the wobbliest of legs,” you offer up, reassuring Joe that you have no idea how to navigate this either.
“Yeah,” he sighs.
“But,” you begin again. “We outgrew each other, yeah. Doesn’t mean I stopped caring about you. About any of you.”
Joe nods slowly, because he knows you’re right. He admires you for how fearlessly you’re charging into this conversation, and wonders if it’s the new boyfriend – Luca – whose helped get you to this point.
He can’t tell whether he wants to thank the bloke or if he’s envious, deciding that it’s probably a little bit of both.
“Doesn’t mean we can’t have a different kind of relationship,” you add, avoiding the cringe factor of using the word friendship, even though it’s what you mean.
Joe waits a beat, because he really would like to be friends, because he really does still care about you too.
“So how’s life treatin’ you otherwise?” he asks, as an olive branch – a yes to letting your relationship transform into something else.
You spend the afternoon catching up, ordering baskets on baskets of chips, and sharing what he’s missed over the past few years: that you have a restaurant now, that you’ve come around to cold brew, even though you swore you’d always hate it, all about the Mikkelson twins and how much he’d probably hate their wild streaks. In return, Joe tells you all about his new teaching job at a uni, that he’s recreationally been playing with the symphony as of late, and that he’s just taken a little break from the dating scene. It feels strange and normal all at once. While Joe feels familiar, like getting to spend time with an old piece of yourself, this rhythm and new kind of relationship that seems to be unfolding before you feels foreign, the dichotomy stretching you to opposite ends of its spectrum. It’s not something you ever saw for yourself – becoming friends with your ex-husband – but in the moment, as the pathway presents itself to you, you’re not sure you mind.
“I miss her. So, so much,” Joe finally admits, as the conversation returns to the matriarch you both love with your whole hearts.
“I know. I do too,” you say, reaching for his hand this time.
He looks at you, a softness in your eyes in response to the gesture, and with a small smile, you pull your hand away.
“I want to make a dish… for her at the restaurant. To honor her. And everything she taught me,” you finally say, almost as if it’s a declaration.
You search Joe’s face for a reaction, his expression beginning to break as his eyes begin to water.
“I think ehm,” he begins, his voice breaking. “I think she’d really, really like that.”
He clears his throat, because he’s not sure he wants to cry right now.
“You better send pictures,” he demands jokingly. “And you’ve got to make it for us, the next time you’re in town.” Joe pauses once more, as if he wants to make it crystal clear what he really means when he adds:
“You and Luca.”
Your heart swells and breaks all at once, in response to Joe’s blessing, because it means so much and so many things.
“Yeah. I-. We will. I promise,” you agree, your voice caught in your throat.
Joe nods once more, a finite kind of motion as he straightens up in his chair.
“C’mon. Think we should head back.”
And as you walk with Joe, it’s as if you both take your time, no longer in a hurry to get back to the Kimura family home as quickly as possible. There’s a weight with each step that contributes to the slower pace, and it’s hard to ignore the deep sadness that’s taken root inside of you. On one hand, it’s been a long, heavy day of grieving the loss of the Kimura matriarch – a woman who taught you how to cook, who loved you as her own, who poured every fiber of her being into building a family that knew they were loved. On the other hand, as you stand across from Joe on the street he grew up on, giving each other one more goodbye hug that lasts longer than the previous, this moment feels monumental.
Somehow, you feel the shift, the changes between you and Joe, even deeper than the day you signed your divorce papers. You’ve moved on and so has he in his own way, and you know that as you turn to go, you’re only just beginning a new chapter with him.
And with Luca, because it feels even more real now, more than ever.
The magnitude of it all hits you, as you straddle this ending and your new beginning.
It all feels very grown-up – very adult – and you can feel the pieces of you that you’ll leave behind as you do ‘said growing up,’ fall by the wayside.
“Goodbye, Joe,” you say, one last time as you try your best not to let your voice shake.
“Take care, darling,” he says back, releasing you.
And when you turn to go, all you can do is cry, grieving these endings, new beginnings, and the parts of you that you must leave behind.
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