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Endings and Beginnings- Part 2

The next day, Neku called in to work and told them he wouldn't be able to make any appearances for a few days. He was taking his family to France, and that was that.

One exhausting overnight flight later, the family arrived at a nice little motel on the outskirts of Paris. The first day was spent relaxing for the most part. Neku bonded with his daughters, and spent some time at the library reading up on local myths and legends.

Matsuda visited La Gallerie d'Art, and discovered his Lifetime Wish after viewing many exquisite pieces... He wanted to become a Master of the Arts!

Meanwhile, Shyla decided to get her adventure cap on and explore one of the local tombs. She quite enjoyed herself, except that one time when the hole she was inspecting turned out to be some kind of insect nest. Needless to say, she didn't stick her hands in any of the other holes she found.

Seems like you simply can't avoid the paparazzi, even when you're on vacation in a foreign country. This particular creeper liked sneaking around to take pictures of everybody while they were sleeping.

The next morning, Neku decided it was time to confront his fears and just confess to his wife. But how could he explain himself? Describe the pain he felt at having betrayed the love of his life? He stood in front of the mirror for hours, but everything he tried just sounded wrong.

Giving up for the time being, he went downstairs- and ran right into Shyla. Before he even had time to think, he was telling her everything.

"I'm so sorry, Shyla, but I haven't been completely honest with you the past couple of weeks and it's tearing me apart. I understand if you can't forgive me, but I really am sorry. Just please, talk to me?"

"Oh, honey... I've already forgiven you. I was kind of wondering when you'd decide to talk to me about it. More than anything, it bothered me that you were avoiding me."

"Really?" Neku was completely floored. All this agonizing over... Nothing? Well, he supposed he did earn it. "Oh, Shyla... I really don't deserve a woman like you."

"Nonsense. But if you ever cheat again, you do know I won't be sticking around, right?"

"It won't happen again, I've learned my lesson, that's for sure. Ummm... Would you like to join me for breakfast? I heard there's this nice little cafe around the corner that serves awesome crepes."

"That would be lovely, dear."

Sakura decided to see how her knowledge compared to that of the French, and challenged a few locals to chess matches. Only Gerard Morel accepted her challenge, but she beat him soundly.

However, he and his brother Pascal hung around for the rest of the day, getting to know the Mitsurugis. Pascal even taught Matsuda a French ballad.

Before leaving, Neku headed over to the local Nectary to try his hand at making some nectar. He nearly fell in, but he caught himself before he made a mess.

Upon returning home, things went back to normal. The kids had homework and after school jobs, Mom was defending the town, and Dad was entertaining again.

One night, Shyla decided to train Matsuda on the treadmill. She was hoping to encourage him to do something about the baby fat he'd been holding onto since he was a young child.

Yuki started showing an interest in gardening.

Then, one night while Neku was performing at the Stadium... Shyla went to meet her CAStor.

Yuki was the one who found her, and she was utterly devastated.

Shyla was buried in a shady corner of the backyard. Neku engraved the headstone himself, and the children planted flowers all around.

For a while, things were tough. The children took it especially hard though. Matsuda took up jogging, Yuki was always cooking something, Neku went back to his old training regimen, and Sakura spent chatted on the phone with her friends.

One day, their good friends Gerard and Pascal came by to visit. They'd been traveling, and Neku invited them to stay with him and the kids as long as they were in town.

A few days after Pascal and Gerard's arrival, it was time for the girls to become Young Adults. Yuki was a little sad as she approached the cake. She really wished her mother could have been there.

Sakura was a little more enthusiastic, but nobody was more excited than Matsuda.

Having matured some since their visit to France a few months earlier, Yuki began to look at Gerard in a new light. While he didn't have the greatest fashion sense, he was really quite handsome, and she found herself wanting to kiss him...

Matsuda, on the other hand, was not impressed.

Neku pulled Yuki aside as the party began to quiet down.

"Hey, sweetie. You have a minute?"

Yuki smiled apologetically at Gerard, before following her father to the corner of the room. "What's up, Dad?"

"Well, since your mother passed, I've been doing some thinking. I'm not exactly young, and it's about time I decided on an heir. I'd like you to take over the running of the household."

"Gee, Dad... Do you really think I can handle it?"

"Haha, of course I do. That's why I chose you, Yuki. Promise you'll do me proud?"

"Alright, Dad. I'll do my best."

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AN: Well, here are the girls as Young Adults.

Finally, I managed to get this chapter out. Hopefully it looks a bit better than the first half, haha. Thanks Whisper, for the tip on the pictures. ;) Wow... So, I'm now moving on to Stage 2, without Shyla. I knew she wouldn't last long, but I'm still a little sad. She lived to be 100 days old, which is actually pretty good I suppose. And now, I've got to get back to playing. Hopefully with the simpler posting format of Blogger, there'll be less wait between updates. ^^

Also... Technically, Yuki didn't wish to kiss Gerard. But! Neku was still technically my active head honcho, and he wanted to convince her to kiss somebody. Now, it's up to her to decide whether or not she wants French babies. Does anybody know how long foreign guests usually stay when they visit?

Endings and Beginnings- Part 1

Upon entering teenagehood, Yuki began taking an interest in the domestic arts of keeping a happy household. She helped with the cooking and cleaning whenever she had the time.

While Sakura, on the other hand, had shown more interest in furthering her knowledge. The morning after Matsuda's birthday, she sent an application to join an international chess association.

Now that Matsuda was also in high school, he began thinking of the future... And it was a big and scary thing to him, like the bogey monster under the bed when he was younger..

"Dad, what if I can't find a job, or find a place to live when I graduate?"
"Matsuda, do you really think your mother and I would ever kick you out? You're our son, and you are always welcome to call our home yours."
"Thanks, Dad."

Work started to pick up for Neku, he seemed to be performing at one venue or another every single night. The extra cash was nice, but it created a distance between him and the rest of the family.

The boys grew closer, but the girls seemed to be drifting apart. Yuki was always angry at something or other, and even made Sakura cry one day.

Staying out after curfew became a habit for Yuki, although she luckily never got caught.

Meanwhile, Sakura found a productive outlet for her loneliness. She was slowly but surely working her way through the ranks in the local chess circuit. Not only did she learn a lot from more advanced players, but she got to meet many new people.

One day, Neku got a call from an old friend, asking if he'd come to her party. He would have much rather gone home to spend the night with his family, but his publicist insisted it would be good for his reputation. How very wrong he was.

It turned out that the hostess was not just any acquaintance, but an old flame. Staring into her eyes, a wave of nostalgia swept over Neku and for some reason, he found himself unable to resist her advances.

One thing led to another... But the guilt wouldn't set in until the morning after.

Neku was not only ashamed of what he had done, but confused as to why Shyla had never brought it up. Someone at the party had blabbed, and the story was on the front page the next day. The anxiety ate away at him, and Neku found himself avoiding his wife, unsure how he was supposed to act.

 He spent more and more time working, and generally crashed on the couch until Shyla left for work. It was a vicious cycle.

Neku was so wrapped up in his feelings of remorse that he completely forgot about his own birthday. He aged up quietly, in the middle of the night.

Mike, however, had big plans for his birthday. He invited the whole neighborhood, and shortly after blowing out his candles, announced his plans to move out. He wanted to become a star, and felt that he'd be better able to spread his wings if he had his own place.