Author's Note: Prior to Chapter Seventeen of Character & Fitness, here is an interim chapter about Mako and a few of her relatives during her early years as Stacker Pentecost's adopted daughter. I did some picking and choosing from the extended canon of the novels and Guillermo del Toro's early draft of Mako's biography, drawing primarily the ideas that Mako's father's family was upset that her mother failed to produce a son, and generally had very few male heirs who could learn the family tradition of swordsmithing, and Masao Mori bucking those attitudes and adoring his daughter. However, I imagined at least some extended family - primarily cousins and second-cousins - producing other children and teens of Mako's generation whose feelings might have been different. All of her relatives are original characters except for her great-aunt, Genya Mori, who Guillermo del Toro relates told Mako after Onibaba that nobody would come for her and she was the end of her father and the end of the Mori bloodline. Since this chapter overlaps a lot with events we've already had hashed out in multiple POVs, it will only focus on the interim years when Mako lived with Stacker Pentecost. You can assume Mako did remain pen-pals with her slightly-older cousin Emica, and her much older cousin Shion up until the war was in true crisis. Original character guide at the end of the chapter.
Canon/Fanon Note: The events of this chapter cover events in both canon, like the launch of Gipsy Danger and Mako's near-secret presence in Anchorage in 2016, and this series fanon, particularly when it comes to the kaiju engagements. You'll find the battles against Vaulimi and Hammerjaw and the launch of Gipsy Danger relayed in Chapters 15, 18, and 22 of Aurora Borealis.
Chapter Thirteen: Letters from the Front Lines
May 25, 2016
Mako Mori
Care of Tokyo Children's Refuge
Dear Mako,
Haku and I are so very sorry for the death of your mother and father, our Aunt Sumako and Uncle Masao. They loved you very much. We're also very sorry that you haven't been able to come back home. We asked our parents if you could live with us, but they say it's impossible.
We miss you and have asked if we can visit you in Tokyo or with your new family when you're placed. We've sent envelopes already stamped and paper. Please write back.
Love,
Your cousins Haku and Emica
May 30, 2016
Dear Emica and Haku,
Thank you for your condolences for my mother and father. They loved you too. I don't know when I'll be placed, but I hope my new family will let you visit. Please give my regards to the rest of our family.
Love,
Mako
June 25, 2016
Mako Mori
Care of PPDC Marshal Stacker Pentecost
Jaeger Academy
Kodiak, Alaska
Dear Mako,
We're very happy to hear you have been adopted, especially by the brave Ranger who saved Tokyo. Is he nice? We hear you are living in Alaska with him now. We asked to visit you before you left, but our parents said there wasn't time.
I hope you aren't too homesick. Haku isn't supposed to write anymore. Daddy wants him to concentrate on his studies, but Mama said I can do it. He said to tell you he misses you.
Love,
Emica
July 31, 2016
Dear Emica,
Marshal Pentecost is very nice. He took me to visit Tamsin Sevier, his co-pilot, in the hospital, since she was injured in the fight. We are in Alaska now. It's not as cold as I expected, and it's only dark for about four hours. The mountains are beautiful. I've enclosed some pictures. He says winter is the opposite, very dark and very cold, but he will show me the Northern Lights and the snow. We will be here until winter, then we're moving to Lima Shatterdome in South America, where it will be summer again.
I'm learning English. There is a new Japanese Jaeger being built here, and Coyote Tango is being repaired. I've met the new pilots of the Japanese Mark-2. They are very nice, but no one is allowed to say their names yet or give the name of the new Jaeger. It's bad luck.
Please tell your parents and our grandparents I hope they are well.
Love,
Mako
February 6, 2017
Mako Mori
Care of PPDC Marshal Stacker Pentecost
Lima Shatterdome, Peru
Dear Mako,
I am so sorry I haven't written back in so long. I'm sending this letter in secret. My parents wouldn't let me write anymore because they said it would make you sad. Haku told me to send you a letter after the engagement against Vaulimi was over. He thinks our family wants you to forget about where you come from. Haku put your hanbō in the display room in your father's workshop. Nobody but us knows it was yours. He says he gave Marshal Pentecost one of the swords your father made, the one you always liked the best. Grandfather let Marshal Pentecost have anything he wanted that belonged to your mother, but we thought you should have something of Uncle Masao.
I'm so sorry about Talon Tasmania's pilots. Did you know them? Please tell Marshall Pentecost we give our condolences.
Our cousins Kaede and Rei keep asking about you even though Aunt Satsuki and Grandmother keep telling them to stop. Haku started teaching Rei about swords and fighting in your honor. Grandfather caught them and punished Haku, but he says he's going to keep teaching her in secret as long as she wants to learn.
Cousin Shion is engaged to a nice boy from the Space Center. His name is Aito. He's skinny and nerdy, but he makes us laugh and likes playing with the little kids. Her parents are hoping he'll make it more likely they have sons, since he has two brothers. Haku said it'll be lucky if they can have any children at all after the way our family treated you. Father and mother punished him for that too.
Please write to me and tell me if you are okay. Do you remember Dr. Watanabe, who taught science? She says you can send letters to me care of her, and she'll keep them for me. Our parents opposed adding English to the mandatory curriculum at school - all of them. They say it's unnecessary, but Haku and I think they don't want us to be able to talk to you, and they're hoping you'll forget your own language. We're very angry.
Love,
Emica
February 10, 2017
Dear Emica,
I'm glad you wrote to me. I've sent this to Dr. Watanabe. I am learning English, but I speak Japanese with Sensei (that's what I call Marshal Pentecost) and Tamsin. I also have a friend from England who is learning Japanese and helping me with my English.
Everyone at Lima Shatterdome is very sad right now. This is the first time any Rangers have died, and Talon Tasmania's pilots married only a few months ago! They called the Jaeger "Tango" Tasmania because they could make her dance the Argentine Tango. Sensei used to get angry about it.
I'm glad Haku will inherit the house and the workshop. My father would be proud that he's teaching Rei. Tell them to try not to get punished. I don't want them to get in trouble because of me.
If you can send email, my email address is below.
Love, Mako
To: pentecost2
From: FujimotoE, Tanegashima Secondary
Date: March 16, 2017
Subject: Shion Is Married
Mako,
I'm not allowed to use email at home, but Dr. Watanabe made me a profile here at the school library. Shion and Aito got married last week. It was a very nice wedding, but Shion started asking Uncle Genkei about you right in front of Aito and his family. Grandmother was sputtering, and everyone was so embarrassed! Shion did it on purpose. She's never spoken of it until now to any of us, but obviously she was angry too, because she let Aito's family know you were Tokyo's Daughter. They all wanted to know why you had been sent to an orphanage instead of being kept with our family. Uncle Genkei kept saying afterward that he was glad Grandfather wasn't alive to be so humiliated, but Shion wasn't sorry, and neither are most of us. Dr. Watanabe was there too – I think she was smug. May I give your email address to Shion? I'll have to ask Dr. Watanabe to do it because none of us are allowed to talk to her, but she would like to write to you now that she isn't living with her parents and they can't punish her.
If you live in Lima now, it must be autumn there. That's strange to think of living in the Southern Hemisphere. I asked about it in environmental science last month, and Dr. Watanabe is letting me do my term project on weather patterns in Lima. I don't think any of our family made the connection, or Mama and Daddy would have made me change it.
Haku and I are looking forward to going to the beach when it's warmer. I am going to find someone to show me how to surf.
Love, Emica
To: FujimotoE, Tanegashima Secondary
From: pentecost2
Date: March 25, 2017
Subject: Re: Shion Is Married
Emica,
I asked Sensei and he said we can share my email with any of the family who want it as long as you trust them not to tell the public. The children of PPDC personnel are sometimes in danger from the public or just harassed by reporters, and he doesn't want that to happen to me. I told them I trust who you trust. Tell Shion and Aito I said congratulations and hope they'll email me from time to time.
I sent you an attachment about the weather patterns in Lima and how they affect the urban runoff. That's important for preparing for kaiju attacks. Lima is a beautiful city, but I don't like living in the Shatterdome very much. During the Vaulimi attack, it was awful even though the kaiju was hundreds of miles away. Sensei is looking into schools inland, although I don't know if I want to be separated from him for months at a time.
I'm sorry it's hard for any of you to talk to me. I don't want you to get into trouble. My mother would be happy to know you're still surfing even though she's gone. How are things with Haku and the workshop?
Love, Mako
To: pentecost2
From: FujimotoE, Tanegashima Secondary
Date: April 15, 2017
Subject: Cousin Shion
Dear Mako,
Thank you for letting Emica give me your email address. It's been so long since I've seen you, and so terrible that I didn't even get to tell you how sorry I was for Uncle Masao and Aunt Sumako's deaths. They were wonderful people and you are a credit to them. I also have to apologize for my parents' behavior, and I don't do so lightly. The older I got, the more I see how indefensible it was to fail to bring you home and raise you as Uncle Masao and Aunt Sumako wished. Emica and Haku feel the same about their parents.
Emica and Haku say you are happy with Marshal Pentecost, and I'm glad to know that. Your parents must be happy too, that the man who saved your life is raising you. I told Aito about you even before we were married. If you ever want to return to Tanegashima, even just to visit, you must stay with us.
Our little cousins Rei and Kaede understood even less about why you didn't come home, but even they thought it was terrible. Haku is still illicitly teaching Rei about swordmaking and fighting. He trains her with your hanbō sometimes. Kaede isn't so interested in swordmaking, but she wants to learn Jaeger Bushido. Lots of the kids at school do – I probably would if it had started when I was their age.
Emica tells me you're enjoying Lima but considering going to school somewhere inland. Would it be in Peru or England where Marshal Pentecost is from?
Love, Shion
Mrs. Nakamura Shion
May 1, 2017
Dear Shion,
I'm sorry it took me so long to write back. The Internet signal has been down for almost three weeks in the Shatterdome. The PPDC network is all a separate signal, but I can't use it to contact people by regular email, so I'm sending this in a regular letter. I hope you don't mind, I looked up your husband at the Space Center.
We're still considering where I might go to school. My English is nearly fluent but my Spanish is still very weak, and I would need to be fluent to go to school in Peru. So England and the United States or Canada would be more likely.
I'm sorry there was a scene at your wedding. I don't want anyone to get into trouble about me. I miss home but I don't think anyone in our family would have let me continue swordsmithing or study Jaeger engineering the way Sensei does. That's what I call Marshal Pentecost. We have a therapist who stays at the Shatterdome just to work with me. Her specialty is child trauma. She's very kind, but some of the things she has taught me would have shocked even my parents, I think. She's from Germany but speaks Japanese, and while I don't think some of the things she has me do and think about are wrong, they are definitely different from what the teachers at school would do. It's interesting.
Love, Mako
To: FujimotoE, Tanegashima Secondary
From: pentecost2
Date: June 11, 2017
Subject: Hammerjaw
Emica,
Is everyone okay? I was so frightened when Hammerjaw passed so close by Tanegashima. Sensei said no one was hurt and the ferries stopped in time, but transit is still down between islands. Did you watch the battle? It was so scary! This is the first time in history two Jaegers have fought together. Tacit Ronin and the crew of Silver Lion have been practicing together since the Vaulimi engagement, and other pilots are going to start doing the same.
Sensei and I have decided on a school. It's in Pennsylvania in the United States, Nittany Valley Preparatory Academy. I've seen pictures and it looks very nice. Dr. Schneider has been hired there, so at least I'll know someone. I'm nervous.
How is school for you? You must be in high school now.
Love, Mako
To: pentecost2
From: FujimotoE, Tanegashima Secondary
Date: June 29, 2017
Subject: Re: Hammerjaw
Mako, Hammerjaw was so scary! The Space Center went on lockdown and Shion came to stay with us because Aito had to work and she was too afraid to be home alone. But then she got into a fight with her parents, shouting and crying that if Hammerjaw destroyed Tanegashima, everyone should blame our family. In the end, she stormed out and went to stay with one of her friends. I'm emailing her from school now too because Grandmother disowned her.
She says you shouldn't feel bad if there are quarrels over what our family did to you. I agree with her; it's our parents' fault, not yours. Many of us have lost so much respect for them even though they're our parents and our elders, because there's no excuse for what they did to you.
I'll try to tell you some good news so you won't be too sad. I'm dating a boy from Nakatane. We met at the beach in the spring, and he was helping me practice surfing. My parents like him because his father is a senior official at the airport and his mother works there too. (But he tells me he doesn't want to work for the airport – he doesn't like planes. He wants to be a journalist.)
To: FujimotoE, Tanegashima Secondary
From: pentecost2
Date: July 9, 2017
Subject: New Jaeger Launch Tomorrow!
Emica, the new American Jaeger is launching tomorrow! Are you going to watch? Nobody is supposed to know her name, but I do. ;-D It's a "perk" of having a parent in the PPDC. We get insider information. But I can't tell – it's bad luck. Her pilots were Sensei's students. I've never met them, but asked him what he thinks of them…he made a funny face. Sensei's very serious. Some of the American pilots have a reputation for playing pranks, and Sensei gets embarrassed. (I think it's funny.)
What is your boyfriend's name? Is he cute?! He must be cute if he's a surfer! Tamsin says I'll have to start dating when I get to a school that isn't by satellite. I'm not sure what I think about that – Westerners date younger than we do. Tamsin was shocked that you have your first boyfriend at age fifteen. Do you even go to the same school? How often do you see him?
To: pentecost2
From: FujimotoE, Tanegashima Secondary
Date: July 15, 2017
Subject: Re: New Jaeger Launch Tomorrow!
Mako,
We all watched the launch of Gipsy Danger from the Space Center, just like we used to do. They still hold a special broadcast of the launch ceremonies all day long, and as long as none of our Jaegers are deployed, they broadcast the battles too. I don't go to watch the battles. Rei and Kaede go, but Haku and I reminded them to always remember that it's not a movie.
Do you remember Akiara, Cousin Taura's son? He's seven now. He said he thinks Raleigh Becket is cute – Cousin Taura's husband almost fainted! Cousin Taura just laughed and said it's a phase. Rei says Akiara always seems to notice boys rather than girls. We told her not to talk about it too much. I don't trust Grandmother or his parents not to be cruel to him about it.
Jomei goes to school in Nakatane, so I only see him once a week at most when we're both allowed to go to the beach. I don't think my parents would even let me date him if they didn't like his parents' jobs. He is cute, but I don't know if he's the person I want to marry, no matter what our parents say. His parents seem to like mine, but five years is a long time to date. Shion only started dating Aito when she was eighteen, and it was two years before they got engaged. I think I want to go to college first.
When do you start at your new school? Will they really let you date at age twelve?
Love, Emica
To: FujimotoE, Tanegashima Secondary
From: pentecost2
Date: July 31, 2017
Subject: Re: Re: New Jaeger Launch Tomorrow!
Emica,
The first school dance for me at Nittany Valley will be at the end of middle school, eighth grade. I can go with friends or have a date. I'm not sure about that either. We leave in just a few days. Tamsin and Sensei are both coming with me to say goodbye. I hope I don't cry.
Did you know Raleigh Becket is only eighteen? He's too old for me (definitely too old for Akiara) but maybe not too old for you. He is cute. He's the youngest Jaeger Pilot in history, but there are a set of triplets in Hong Kong who are qualified, but haven't been assigned to a Jaeger yet. There's another Chinese Jaeger launching from there next. Maybe they'll get it.
I want to learn Jaeger Bushido and engineering so I can go to the Jaeger Academy when I turn eighteen.
Love, Mako
~Fin~
For the conclusion of these tangled family affairs, read Chapter Seventeen of Character & Fitness later this weekend!
PLEASE don't forget to review!
Original Character Guide
Emica Fujimoto - Daughter of Mako's father's cousin, three years older than Mako. The two girls' casual friendship becomes deeper when Emica is sickened by their family's complete rejection of Mako in the wake of Onibaba's attack that left her orphaned. Before Mako's parents died, Mako's mother taught both her daughter and some of the younger cousins to surf, and Emica continued learning secretly in her surrogate aunt's honor.
Haku Fujimoto - Son of Mako's father's cousin, twin brother of Emica, only boy of Mako's generation in the entire extended family. He was reluctantly tapped by Mako's paternal grandparents to become Masao's apprentice in sword-making, and unlike his parents, Haku was happy to share that apprenticeship with Mako. Like his sister, Haku is horrified by the injustice to Mako, though he's less willing to challenge his family openly on the subject. But he has quietly rebelled by teaching his much younger female cousins, Rei and Kaede, about sword-making and fighting, and even trains them with Mako's hanbo in Mako's honor.
Shion Ueda - Daughter of a second cousin of the Mori family, ten years older than Mako, but fond of her younger cousins and old enough to be even more outraged by the family's treatment of her. Became engaged to Aito Nakamura after high school and married him in her early twenties, and broke her own family's unspoken vow of silence about Mako to her fiance almost immediately - and embarrassed her own family by revealing their shameful treatment of Mako at her wedding reception. Shion struck up an intermittent email correspondence with Mako after marrying, and ultimately couldn't cope with what her family had done and became estranged from them. She remained in illicit contact with Emica and Haku.
Dr. Watanabe - Female science teacher and Tanegashima's primary and secondary school, mentor of Mako and many of her cousins and friend of Mako's mother. Fostered an interest in science in Mako and applied it to Mako's father's sword-making, and later, helped Mako's cousin Emica carry on an illicit correspondence with her without her family's permission.
Rei Domen - Daughter of a second cousin of Masao Mori, three years younger than Mako, she's a rowdy and curious little girl still young enough to get away with those things - but old enough to sense something very wrong was done to Mako, so she asks about Mako at every opportunity. Her cousins, unlike her parents, aunts, uncles, and grandparents, are willing to tell her and make their feelings clear. She's curious about sword-making and fighting, and as her cousin Haku takes on a greater role in upholding the Mori family tradition of swordsmithing, he secretly teaches Rei about it in Mako's honor.
Kaede Saito - Daughter of another Mori cousin, four years younger than Mako, she's more interested in becoming a martial artist than swordsmith, but Haku teaches her as well.
Akiara Saito - Son of another Mori cousin, brother of Kaede. Jaeger pilot enthusiast - a little too enthusiastic about male pilots for his conservative family's taste. The only other boy born to anyone connected by blood or marriage to the Mori family, Akiara, like his older cousin Haku, is under a lot of pressure.