Hi. I'm back once again into writing stories because I'll be spending four months vacation already. But this is my first try of an AU fic so please give it a chance. THANK YOU!

"Are you sure she's inside?" a feminine voice asked.

"Yes, Ma'am," a masculine voice answered back to her. "She's inside. A doctor will call you shortly."

"Good. I've been searching for her for the past years," the young woman replied.

An auburn-haired young woman and a chestnut-haired man were inside a hospital and in the mission of finding a certain woman. Currently, they were standing in the middle of the hallway and waiting for a doctor to signal them to come inside. They were looking for a person and the search was already over when they knew that she was living in this hospital.

"How do you feel that she's found, Madame?" the man asked.

"Truth to be told… It's goddamn overwhelming. The last time I saw her was when I was still a child," the young woman replied. "I'm goddamn twenty-four and this goddamn search should be over."

The young woman was standing about five foot-six inches in height and she had auburn hair that was tied in a pony tail. Her violet eyes showed anxiety and overwhelming feelings as they were talking about the woman whom she had been searching for the last sixteen years. She was wearing a black long-sleeved shirt and a pair of brown pants together with black boots. Right now, she was with a magenta-eyed young man with chestnut hair who was currently wearing a black shirt and black pants together with black shoes.

Suddenly, a voice came from the doorway. The young woman and her companion looked up.

"Miss Ruki Makino? You can see her now," the doctor said.

The young woman, also known as Ruki Makino, nodded and walked towards the door. Her aid, Takato Matsuda, decided to wait for her in the hallway.

Thank God… Ruki thought as she walked in. I thought I'm going to wait for fucking hours just to meet her.

Inside the room, Ruki felt her heart increasing in beat. She was going to meet once again the important person in her life that left her a long time ago.

How does she look like? Will she still recognize me? Ruki thought while walking. It's been sixteen years since we last saw each other. Should I be mad at her for abandoning me and my grandmother?

Then her violet eyes directed her to a woman who was sitting on the bed. Tears were about to build up but she decided to suppress them, knowing that crying would not elaborate the pretense happiness that she was feeling as of this moment. As she went closer to the bed, she decided to call the woman.

"Rumiko?" Ruki called. "Mother?"

The tan-haired woman who was sitting on the bed turned her head to Ruki's direction. Ruki could see a faint smile outline the woman's lips despite her pallor.

"Ruki?" the woman called out.

Ruki walked towards the older woman and the woman stood up from her sitting as soon as she was in close proximity with Ruki. Her violet eyes that matched Ruki's sparkled as soon as she saw the young woman.

"Ruki!" the woman named Rumiko said.

Eventually, Rumiko followed her sentence with hugging her daughter. Ruki was dumbfounded but at least, her mother still recognized her.

"I missed you so much, Ruki," Rumiko said with utter happiness as she broke off her grasp from Ruki. "I'm glad I saw you again. No words could express how happy I am right now."

Ruki was speechless. In reality, she did not know what to feel as of that moment. Her heart was still wrapped in confusion with what happened with her mother years ago.

Happy? Oh come on, Mom… You're the one who left me and Grandma!

Ruki was only eight years old when her mother left her. The abandonment occurred because her mother got engaged to another man and the man wanted Ruki out of the picture. It was just Rumiko solely. Since Rumiko strongly believed in romance, she made a compromise. She would leave her daughter with her mother so that she and the man could end up together. Seiko agreed and Ruki went into her care, believing that Rumiko would give money to her daughter monthly. But as months passed, nothing came.

"How's Mom?" Rumiko finally asked. She wanted to know what happened to Seiko after she left them years ago.

Ruki suddenly wore a dark look after remembering what happened to her grandmother. The look of hurt in her eyes was totally evident.

"Mom? Are you kidding me?" Ruki asked sharply. "You're asking me what happened to Grandma? How could you ask me if you were not there to care about us? All you cared about was about the guy you loved! You even left me for him! Left me and Grandma for him!"

Rumiko stiffened at her daughter's words. Surely that Ruki was hurting for the past sixteen years. But right now, she was in the hospital and she was paying drastically for the sins that she committed.

"I'm sorry, Ruki… I'm really sorry… I know what I did was wrong… I realized that being with him made me even more hurt than before…" Rumiko replied pleadingly. "I know that you still hate me for what I did but I just want you to forgive me."

Ruki was striving between anger and pity towards her mother even if she found her again just now. It was actually her mother's fault why she became as cold as ice and as tough as steel. She refused to look at her mother straight in the eye right now.

"That's all I need before I die, Ruki," Rumiko continued wistfully.

At this point, Ruki's eyes widened with shock. She only knew that her mother was confined in a hospital but not this. She was definitely surprised with what was going on.

"Mother?" Ruki asked, her voice gradually softening. "What is going on?"

"Hush, child… It's nothing to be discussed… My days are already decreasing and I've found my happiness when I saw you again…" Rumiko replied while she smiled for her daughter.

"Mother!" Ruki replied sharply because she could not understand what Rumiko was telling her. "What the hell is going on?! Tell me the reason why are you here in this goddamn place and why are you telling those to me?! What do you mean that you're going to die?!"

"I've got cancer…" Rumiko admitted helplessly.

Ruki's feelings had built up to her head when she heard her mother say those words. They were unbelievable. Rumiko had cancer?! For Ruki, it was hard to believe.

"Mother…" Ruki answered helplessly.

"Dear… I know it's hard to believe," Rumiko replied as she held her daughter's two hands. "I think this is God's way of punishing me for choosing between you and Hakuno. And I should accept that. The only thing that matters right now is you… I found you again…"

When they heard the door open, that was the time Ruki realized that she and Rumiko needed to talk privately. Right now, they were actually talking about casual things and Ruki's vulgar language might greatly disturb Rumiko's roommates in the hospital.

"Let's go outside so we could talk things out…" Rumiko replied and her eyes diverted to the open window leading to the terrace. "Or the terrace, perhaps…"

Ruki nodded, suddenly feeling guilty for snapping back at her mother when all along, her mother had a condition that required her utmost care and attention.

Mother… I'm so sorry… I didn't know… Ruki thought as she realized that her hatred would not take her anywhere.

Eventually, the mother and daughter left for the terrace. It was not far from the hospital room and the mother and daughter found themselves in the place in span of minutes. Ruki found a seat and made her mother sit down and she followed.

"Mother, I'm so sorry I raised my voice at you… It's just… when you asked about Grandma… I was so hurt…" Ruki explained her actions to her mother.

"What happened to Mother, anyway?" Rumiko asked.

Ruki wore a look of dismay as the mention of Seiko Hata came once again.

"Grandma died…" Ruki replied sadly. "She met an accident when I was ten…"

This and her mother were the utmost reasons to why she became as cold as ice. She became tough and took the new job as the queen of the loan shark business. And more over, she employed men ten times her ability. Ruki became the titlist of "Queen of the Loan Sharks" and "Princess of the Night" for that matter.

And back to the older woman, a definite sign of sadness washed over her face as her daughter mentioned about the grandmother's death. She could blame herself for choosing a man over her family and this caused her daughter Ruki to be alone for the remainder of the years.

"I couldn't take it so lightly…" Ruki answered sadly as she remembered the death of her only parent when her mother left her. "I didn't know where to go… I was so alone."

Rumiko's eyes let out the tears that she had been hiding for the past sixteen years. She was wrapped in severe depression and disillusion as well.

"What about you, Mother? What happened to you?" Ruki asked, curious of what her mother did when she married that guy who ruined their family.

Rumiko took a deep breath because it was a sore subject for her as well. After all, she had forgotten so long the guy who took her from Ruki and Seiko.

"After I stepped in his house, he showed me his true intentions. One time when we're alone, he wanted to have a child with me. But I didn't cooperate so he ended up beating me until I got bruised," Rumiko explained, somehow shuddering at the memory.

Ruki swore another vehement cuss when she heard her mother's gut-twisting tale. "Kutabare…"

"Ruki! Watch your words!" Rumiko replied in shock because of Ruki's foul language. "I can't believe this."

"Sorry, Mother… I just can't believe that he did that to you," Ruki answered, explaining herself. The truth is, she had been vulgar when she was sixteen and the time she had learned the custom of Japanese streets and as well as adapting the ways of being a loan shark queen.

"I know… Then I lived being his wife but with no child… Because I never cooperated whenever we… you know… that was the time he started bedding different women," Rumiko continued.

"Oh… He's going to get it! Where is he?" Ruki remarked as she cracked her knuckles. "Stealing you away from me so that he could have his damn wicked way with you then he resorted to bedding other women?!"

Rumiko only nodded. "I know… But I'm really glad I never had a child with him. He's an addict, a gambler and good for nothing. I really regret that I chose him over you. I got to suffer the consequences."

"So, whatever happened to that good old man?" Ruki asked snidely.

"He was killed by a fellow gambler," Rumiko replied cautiously. "Then I got the money he got from his gambling. Well, for the cancer… I guess, it's my time for me to leave this world. We can never tell when is our time when God calls out for us."

"Mom…" Ruki mumbled and her eyes were letting out tears. If there was one person she would show her tears to, it would be her relatives, no matter how what happens.

"Ruki… The best thing that's ever happened to me is that I gave birth to you…" Rumiko assured her daughter with a smile.

"Mom…" Ruki answered back.

Rumiko let out a hand and hugged her daughter. Ruki returned the hug to her mother and she buried her face on her mother's chest.

"Mom…" Ruki replied as she suppressed the tears that were ready to fall. "I'm really sorry for hating you and I forgive you for everything."

"Ruki… I understand what you feel. Don't be too dramatic… I know you missed me for long…" Rumiko replied with a smile as she and her daughter were looking at each other face to face.

"That's why I organized the search party, Mom. I wanted to spend my time with you… I want to make it up for the years that had been stolen by that stupid man," Ruki answered truthfully. "And now I know that you have cancer, I'll do my best to prolong your life."

The look on the older woman's face gave a start of worry and anxiety.

"But we cannot tell it, Ruki… How am I assured that you'll be fine even without me?" Rumiko asked her daughter honestly. "I can't bear to know that you're only alone for the rest of your life."

Ruki was dumbfounded with her mother's request. She could not process right now what her mother possibly meant.

"What do you mean, Mom?" Ruki asked as she was trying to get her thoughts straightened up.

"Ruki, you do already know that my life's getting short, right?" Rumiko asked so her thoughts were able to be stated clear.

"Yes, I know that… But what do you mean, Mom?" Ruki asked, impatience hinting in her voice.

Rumiko's face wore a smile. "I wanted to see you getting married before I die, Ruki."

At this point, Ruki's eyes were wide as plates as she heard it. Surely, her mother was not joking!

"Are you serious?" Ruki blurted out. She did not see it coming. She first thought that her mother was bidding her goodbye.

Marrying was not in Ruki's priority. Why? It was her mother's goddamn marriage to that man which caused her to detest getting married. Besides, in her opinion, all men were all the same. For her, men would only try and get a woman's virginity and run away like nothing happened. But luckily, it was not the case with her mother at least. But marriage still disturbed her to the point that she wanted to be a virgin for the rest of her life.

"Yes, my dear…" Rumiko grinned. Even for a woman with a lingering illness, she still had her sense of humor.

Ruki found it unusual for a woman with a terminal illness. "Why, Mother? Why getting married? You know that I detest all the men ever since you married to that pig!"

Rumiko let out a soft smile. "Don't worry, dear. Actually, I wanted you to do it so that you could see a different kind of man who would enter your life and give himself a chance to prove to you that his kind were not the same. Why don't you try, Ruki? Besides, I always dream of my little girl having her Prince Charming…"

Ruki decided to do it just for her mother. After all, her grandmother would say the same if she was still alive. This is the only thing I don't like in being a woman. Getting married and everything!

"Please, Ruki…" Rumiko replied pleadingly and placed her left hand on her daughter's right hand. "The last thing I would leave you is love. What would happen when I'm gone? It's bad enough that we've been separated for sixteen years and I still haven't left a mark on you. And, who will take care of you when I'm really gone? You've been alone for many years because of me. Dear daughter, your happiness is all I long for before I die."

Ruki pondered on her mother's words. Her mother was right. She was alone for years now ever since Seiko Hata died in an accident. But she did not want to accept that she was alone. She was still seeing her mother in the flesh even if she was dreadfully sick. And, she was afraid to hear that painful thing: death.

"I'll think about it, Mother…" Ruki answered reluctantly, not really liking the suggestion fair enough. "There are a lot of guys out there who are foul-mouthed, vulgar and raunchy. Most of them act like damn pigs every single day!"

Rumiko only chuckled with her daughter's attitude towards men. She assumed that she got them because of what happened to them in the past.

"Dear, I'm sure that the guy you'll find won't be like the one I married. Just believe in yourself that you'll find a guy for you to love and… maybe have children with…" she added with assurance. "Besides, you're too beautiful! Surely, men are attracted to you in your current work if you do have one."

Ruki looked away for a moment at her mother's last sentence. As the queen of the loan sharks, she was not interested in her boss or her subordinates. Eventually, she suddenly remembered the purpose of her talk with Rumiko.

"Anyway, Mother… Now that I've finally found you, I decided that you go home with me. I want to spend time with you and maybe… we can treat your cancer so we can extend your life," Ruki explained, expressing her wish to make it up for the lost time.

Rumiko's face wore out a smile. "Dear… I can't believe this…"

"Mother… Please… It's the only thing that I'll ask you for now… Stay with me… in my house…" Ruki answered, making it sound like a request to her mother. "I'll help you treat your cancer… I've got the money… All I need is your cooperation."

Rumiko only nodded. "Alright… But don't get mad at me if the medicines won't work on me anymore."

"It will work, Mother. It will," Ruki assured as she placed her hand on her mother's. "I will. Let's believe in the power of the doctors who can help you."