Warning: This fan fiction has biased opinions that may offend some of the readers. They are free to take offense if they wish or to laugh and enjoy the story.

Twice in a Lifetime Chapter One: The Rescue

"Daddy, do I have to go out in the water?" A five-year old girl asked while her father fitted a life vest over her lavender party dress. He lovingly brushed a few dark strands of hair from her face, their green eyes locked on each other. Her arms were wrapped around a large box covered with red wrapping paper and a yellow bow.

"Yes you do, sweetheart. Peter is being very nice about letting us onto his father's yacht, and we need to be nice too." He was wearing a light gray suit with a red vest and blue bow tie.

"But the water…" The tiny girl looked fearfully at the glittering river next to them. Her father snapped the life jacket in place.

"Just keep the vest on and nothing bad will happen."

"Mr. Gikkingen, we're ready for you."

The man carefully picked up his daughter and carried her onto the plank and into the main area of the boat, where a small group of children was waiting for her.

"Hah hah, Emily still needs to be carried around by her daddy!" One of the boys pointed and laughed as the little girl was set in their midst.

"Please control your finger-pointing, Robert; I know for a fact that you're scared of snakes." The gray figure straightened and tipped his hat at the children before turning towards another area of the yacht, where several older people were gathered.

"Ah, Baron! I was hoping you and your daughter would make it!"

The gray figure tipped his hat again in acknowledgement.

"Emily was thrilled to be invited to your son's birthday party, David. She was a little less excited about the party being over water, however."

All the men laughed understandingly.

"I remember when Julia refused to take swimming lessons after watching Jaws. I trust that's not why your daughter's scared?" An elder man questioned slyly. Baron scoffed dismissively.

"Like I would allow Emily to watch a film like that. Her mother disliked water too, so it's not entirely her fault." He decided to keep his own distaste a secret.

"Well, it looks like everyone that was invited came, so we're free to anchor off!"

The captain gave the orders, and the crew started on their duties. Within fifteen minutes, the yacht was sailing smoothly down the river to the chorus of children's music and laughter.

"I can't believe they're already through with kindergarten." One of the women shook her head sadly as the young ones began a game of red light, green light. Another one laughed.

"I know; I half expect my Robert to wake me up one morning soon and demand the keys to the Viper."

"You mean he hasn't yet?"

Everyone had a good laugh over that while Emily tagged another girl.

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

The afternoon passed pleasantly, the festivities giving away to cake and ice cream while watching the tourists take their small boats and go around the yacht. One of the elder men sniffed disdainfully at the people in smaller boats.

"Hooligans. I wish we could just get rid of all of them for good."

A sudden scuffle at the other end of the boat was followed by a sharp scream. All the adults turned to the children's section, a majority of them gathering at one side of the boat.

"Emily! Emily!" a chorus of kids shouted down at the water. Baron felt a cold fear grip his chest as he ran for the guard rail. The birthday boy was holding a spare life jacket in his hands, the Velcro straps flapping around his horrified face. When Baron got a look over the rail, he could see where his daughter was struggling in the water, and prepared to jump in after her.

A passenger off one of the nearby tourist boats beat him to it, and the sandy blonde man could see the swimmer closing in fast on his daughter. He was too far up to tell the gender of the rescuer, but to be honest, he wasn't caring at the present. Looking around, he spotted a large coil of rope, and hurriedly tied one end of it to the rail as the rescuer grabbed the girl and held her head above the waves. Seeing what he was about to do, a couple of the sailors gathered to help him.

"Hold onto this!" Baron shouted as he threw the majority of the rope down to the two in the water as the crew gripped the fastened end. A few seconds passed.

"Okay, I've got it!" A voice managed to be heard over the edge.

The sailors began pulling steadily on the rope, Baron at the front so he could grasp the slim hand that appeared over the edge gripping the rope. The hand switched its grip from the rope to his hand, and was followed by a soaking young woman that crawled over the railing, the little girl clutching her neck and crying into her shoulder. Baron didn't even bother to pry his daughter off her rescuer before enveloping both in a warm hug, not caring that his suit would be soaked by the action. The woman holding Emily seemed a little surprised that he was including her in his embrace, but what stunned everyone else was the young woman's face, which was very familiar.

"Louise? Is that you?"

The woman's dark eyes blinked once, confused by the question.

"Uh, if you're talking to me, my name's Haru, not Louise."

Baron stopped squeezing long enough to look her in the face. The young woman's eyes widened slightly, but she didn't say anything more. The blonde man turned to the woman who had spoken.

"If you'll recall, Urbana, not only did my wife have green eyes, but she is also deceased."

The woman reddened in embarrassment while one of the crew handed the woman a towel. Haru nodded gratefully at him and kneeled on the ground. Setting Emily down, she started to dry off the girl. The sailor had another towel ready for the girl, but held it awkwardly as the young woman toweled off the younger.

"I hope you'll be a bit more careful in the future, young lady. I nearly got a heart attack watching you fall."

The little girl was still crying into her hands, not looking her rescuer in the eye.

"It wasn't my fault! Peter pushed me and pulled off my life jacket."

Every eye turned toward the birthday boy, who dropped the vest in an attempt to look less guilty.

"I wasn't trying to-"

"It doesn't matter what you were trying to do! Emily could have drowned if this lady hadn't been here!" The yacht owner took his son by the ear and dragged the boy off to a private room for more scolding. He called back to Baron as he opened a door and pushed his son through. "Many apologies, Baron, Emily." The blonde man nodded slightly and turned his attention back to the woman drying off his daughter.

'There are some physical similarities between this woman and my wife, but Louise never would have jumped off a boat to save someone she didn't even know.' This brought his manners back, and he kneeled next to Haru and laid his hand on her shoulder to get her attention. His hand seemed to tingle with sparks, and it wasn't from the woman's cold and wet clothing.

"Words can't describe how grateful I am to you, Miss Haru."

She had thrown the towel over Emily's head and started drying off her hair, though her eyes were on him as she nodded in acknowledgement.

"The look on your face says it pretty well." As a finishing touch, she wrapped the towel around the girl, who was finally able to look at the one who saved her. Her eyes widened.

"Mommy?"

Haru blinked again, and laughed nervously.

"No sweetheart, I'm not your mother. But be good anyway, okay?" She kissed Emily's forehead, stood up, and gripped the rail next to her.

"What are you doing?"

She smiled at the gray suited man as she swung one leg over.

"Heading back to my friend's boat; she's probably ready to kill me for pulling a stunt like that."

"At least let me repay you."

The brunette quirked one eyebrow at him as she readied herself to jump.

"Your daughter's life and your relief is all the reward I need, but thanks anyway."

His hand shot out and grabbed hers. The spark from before seemed more powerful, now that he was touching her skin, and she turned back quickly to face him, like she had felt it too.

"What about your full name then? Mine's Baron von Gikkingen."

She smiled, a bit ironically, and looked at him in his full attire before turning to face the water.

"Haru Amasawa. Talk about coincidences."

In shock, he released her hand, and she executed a perfect swan dive from the yacht. She didn't have to worry about boats running over her, since they had all stopped when they discovered there was a child in the water. Her boat had floated fairly close to the yacht, and the people on top of the large boat could hear the woman getting her ear chewed off quite clearly as she climbed into the small boat below them.

"Baron? What did she mean, 'talk about coincidences'?" One of his companions asked as Emily wrapped her arms around his leg.

"Daddy? If her name's Amasawa, doesn't that mean she's-" He leaned down and hugged her fiercely before she could finish her question. They watched the boat speed away from them, Haru barely seen to be waving back to them, now wrapped in a body towel.

"Yes. That's exactly what it means."