Runaway

Jeremy Matthews POV

She will come back. Katsumi will come back. She has to. We have kids. She loves us. She loves me, and she loves Jake, and she loves Anna. It doesn't matter how angry she is at me. She'll come back for them. She loves them. They're her children.

Where could she have gone? Why would she run? I've given her everything she wanted? What reason is there for her to leave? I don't understand.

As I walk along I wonder
What went wrong with our love
A love so rare and strong

I remember the day we got married, how radiant she was. The day Jake was born, the day we got Anna.

She was always so happy. But in the last few years, every since Anna turned ten or so, she hasn't seemed so happy. The Katsumi I fell in love with has been disappearing for the last few years.

But I can forgive her for that. I still love her. I suppose the only thing I can do is wait for her to come home. She has to come home.

And as I walk along I think of
The times we had together
When our hearts were young

I look at my kids. They're so strong. Anna's only twelve, Jake thirteen. They don't deserve to have parents who throw things across the room at each other. They never did anything. They seem to understand what's going on, though. I'm not really sure how. They're just kids. How could they possibly understand the relationship I have with their mother?

Of course, I can't know for certain. Katsumi went out of her way to teach them Japanese, to make sure they knew her native language. Even after all these years, my knowledge of the language is still rather limited; I guess that's what happens when you try to learn a language as an adult. But when Jake and Anna don't want anyone to understand what they're saying, they speak Japanese. And even they are fluent enough that I have no hope of following their conversation.

And lately, they've been using Japanese a lot. Ever since their mother left.

Why would she leave? Could there be—no, Katsumi would never do that to me. She'd never do that to Jake, to Anna.

I'm walking in the rain
Tears are falling and I feel the pain
Wishing you were here by me
To end this misery and I wonder
I wa wa wa wonder
Why, why why why why why she ran away
And I wonder where she will stay
My little runaway, a run run run run runaway

I know that some of my little habits bothered her. Some of hers irritated me. But that shouldn't be something that means our marriage has to end.

Where could she go? From the beginning, she's been a stay at home mom. That was her decision, so that can't be something she's blaming on me. She doesn't have a job to support herself, and she hasn't been using our joint bank account.

And I got the papers in the mail yesterday. Requesting a divorce. I signed them, simply because I believe it will make her happy. If that's what she thinks she wants, I'm okay with it. When she comes back, we can get married again, start all over.

When she comes back. Who is she staying with now?

"Daddy?" Anna asks. I look up from the papers on my desk. What was I working on? Jake is standing next to her.

"Yes, Anna? What do you to need?" I ask. I have to be there for them, even if I can barely support myself. I have to be strong for them until she comes back.

I'm walking in the rain
Tears are falling and I feel the pain
Wishing you were here by me
To end this misery and I wonder
I wa wa wa wonder
Why, why why why why why she ran away
And I wonder where she will stay
My little runaway, a run run run run runaway

She looks at Jake. How can a twelve year old girl and a thirteen year old boy look so serious? Then Jake sighs and says, "Mom isn't coming back, Dad."

"What?" Yes she is. Of course she is. "Yes she is."

"No, Daddy," Anna says gently. "She's not. She's gone."

A run run run run runaway
A run run run run runaway

Well, there you go. I'm aware that all the characters in this...er...chapter belong to me, but that's because it's the little bits and pieces I talked about in chapter fifty...four of 'Runaway Train.' So...that's the first of several. They will be posted as I see fit, so that I don't reveal something in this story that shouldn't be revealed until later in the main story.

How odd that Anna and the other characters in this story have gotten so strong. Odd that this story seems so...real.

This chapter was a songfic, obviously, the song being 'Runaway' by Gary Allan.

I will answer all reviews in my normal fashion. :D