The Gift of Rio (The Gift of the Elements) Read online

  Rio scooted her chair around the table so she could stay on their side and continue the conversation. “What he did was awful, Mom. I mean, it was about as awful as anything someone can do. So, I’m not making excuses for that. But, in all fairness, he never knew the truth. So, he didn’t really have a chance to respond to any of this. He not only didn’t know about the woman in the park or the birth control, but to this day, he doesn’t even know he has a daughter. I’m old enough to take care of myself now. I want to confront him and give him the chance to respond.”

  Another moment of silence. This one was even longer than the first.

  “You’re right,” Toki finally spoke. “I didn’t trust him. So, I kept you from him. To protect you.”

  “Of course you did,” Anthony chimed in to stick up for his wife.

  “Absolutely,” Rio agreed. “I’m not second guessing that at all. I’m thankful you did what you did. You’ve given me a great life. You both have.”

  Rio grabbed one of each of their hands in hers. “This isn’t about undoing anything. Just the opposite. I’m trying to figure out what the rest of my life is going to look like. In order to do that, I just feel like I need to know the rest of the story that tells me where I come from. Does that make sense?”

  “It does,” Toki admitted. “But, that doesn’t mean it doesn’t scare me to pieces.”

  “I know. But, it’ll be okay. I’m sure of it.”

  Toki invited Hani to come out of his room as she told them where she came from. She told them all about her family and Sota’s, giving Rio every bit of information she could think of that would help her daughter go do what she needed to do and then get back home as quickly as possible. And, Rio, of course, took copious notes as if she was in class and the professor was giving out answers to the final exam.

  Rio appeared before the academic board and got permission to take her exams early on the grounds that this trip was going to be educational. She agreed to make a presentation when she returned and they were even going to give her elective credit for it. It didn’t hurt that her parents were faculty or that she was such a good student and a star on the swim team.

  Of course, the board also insisted that she finally choose her major. She picked marine biology and told herself she could change it later if she decided on something else while she was gone. But, at least this appeased the powers that be, for now and gave her academic advisor something to do when it came time to helping her schedule her fall classes.

  So, just over two decades after Toki fled Japan to save her daughter’s life, Rio was going back to try and figure that life out.

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  A New Vision

  Rio had set out everything she was taking with her the night before. And, she didn’t have to be at the airport, which was less than fifteen minutes from home, until about 9:30am. But, she still had to set an alarm because she needed to make sure she had plenty of time to get ready, put everything into her suitcase and backpack, and eat a hearty breakfast. Flying to collegiate swim meets had taught her to eat before she boarded because airplane food was generally not worth eating unless it was truly an emergency.

  So, when the alarm went off at 6:30am, Rio’s eyes popped open and she gave them a quick rub before springing out of bed. She picked up the outfit she had laid out to wear and took it with her into the bathroom. The shower felt particularly good that morning. Perhaps it was because she knew it would be her last shower at home for a while and she was trying to enjoy it as much as she could without wasting too much time. Or, perhaps it was just a really good shower.

  When it was over, per her usual routine, she finished drying off, got dressed, and immediately put her contacts in before doing her makeup. A few minutes into the makeup process, she noticed that she was developing a headache and it felt like her eyes were constricting.

  Wondering if she accidentally switched her contacts and put them in the wrong eyes, she held her right hand up and covered her right eye as she stared at her toothbrush. Then she repeated the action on the left side. Neither eye looked the way it normally did. So, she took her contacts out and put them in their case again. Blinking a few times and scrunching her nose, she finally opened her eyes and looked around the room. She was shocked to realize that her vision was suddenly better than she remembered it ever being without wearing glasses or contacts. She decided to leave her contacts out and wait to see if the room grew blurry again. But, instead, as her eyes readjusted, the headache went away and her vision became significantly clearer.

  The whole thing was truly confusing. In fact, it seemed to be impossible. But, it was happening and she wasn’t about to tell her mother who might use a trip to the optometrist as an excuse to cancel her summer in Japan. So, she finished her makeup, did her hair and packed everything up. She even included her contacts and solution, just in case it turned out that her miraculous optical healing was only temporary.

  Rio had never been an over-packer. Still, she went out of her way to be efficient for this trip. She wanted to be light and particularly mobile on this journey because she really didn’t know exactly what it would entail.

  The truth is, Rio had very little planned. Heading off to an unknown place with virtually no itinerary would terrify most people. It certainly scared Toki, who had tried to convince Rio to let her tag along. But, Rio refused. She didn’t want to put her mother through that after hearing about her daring escape decades earlier. And, Rio felt in her heart that this was something she needed to do alone. Besides, she was too excited about the possibility of finding her biological father to worry about any of the potentially negative outcomes.

  Of course, the fact that he might reject her had crossed her mind. So had the possibility of not finding him at all. But, she had pretty much dismissed those concerns and focused instead on the positive possibilities. She also knew that her plan was to find the places her mom had described, and in some cases circled exact locations on a map, and then to just start asking questions of the people she found there. But, exactly where their answers would lead was unpredictable. The truth was, as long as those answers ultimately led her from her landing in Osaka, Japan to Sota Tanaka, Rio really didn’t care about anything in between.

  She was completely ready waiting, with her carry-on suitcase and a backpack, by the front door at 7:45am. Rio went into the kitchen and helped her mom make her favorite breakfast. They sliced two papayas in half and hollowed out the middles. Then they mixed banana slices, chia seeds, granola, slivered almonds and blueberries into coconut yogurt and poured the mixture into the papayas. This, too, was something Rio would miss while on her quest to find Sota Tanaka.

  As they gathered around the table, the different culinary tastes of each family member were evidenced by the type of beverage chosen to go with their papaya boats. Toki had black tea, Anthony had coffee, Hani had orange juice and Rio consumed the only thing she ever drank: water. From the time she was a little girl, nothing had really quenched her thirst like a good old fashioned glass of water. When she was hot, she wanted it as cold as she could get it. And, when she was cold, she would heat it up. But, she never added anything to it. Not so much as a squeeze of lemon. Just plain water was perfect for Rio. And, if it ain’t broke, she figured, why fix it?

  Conversation was close to non-existent. Rio was trying to downplay her enthusiasm so she didn’t make anyone feel bad. Toki was too upset to talk. Anthony stayed mostly quiet because he understood how both Toki and Rio felt and he wasn’t sure how to engage one without making the other feel bad. Hani knew he would miss his sister but didn’t want to admit it.

  So, they all enjoyed their papaya boats and various beverages without more than a few words spoken. The things that were said were primarily small talk about how good breakfast was and how everyone had slept. And, when they were all done and the dishes were clean, it was finally time to take Rio to the airport, say goodbye and send her off to Japan.

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  Goodbye

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nbsp; The short car ride to the airport started out as quiet as breakfast had been. But, that ended quickly when Toki finally started to break down. She sat in the front passenger-side seat and kept her face forward for fear of truly losing it if she turned around to face Rio. Through tears, she begged her daughter to let her buy a ticket and go with her.

  “We’ve already talked about this,” Rio insisted. “I can’t put you through that, Momma.”

  “Letting you go alone isn’t any more bearable,” Toki contended.

  “It’s going to be fine. I’ll be back in a few months. Maybe sooner. And, I’ll call at least once a week.”

  It briefly went quiet again. The only sound heard over the road noise was Toki’s sniffles. Anthony looked over at his wife, then at Rio through the rearview mirror, and then at his wife again before returning his eyes to the road. “That is what we agreed to,” he said softly to Toki.

  “I know but Sota . . . ”

  Anthony looked over as Toki lost it. The tears were overpowering her.

  “She’ll be okay,” he offered as comfort. He placed his right hand on her back as he continued to speak and he glanced back and forth between his wife and the road.

  “Rio can take care of herself. You know how I know that?”

  “How,” Toki managed to ask through the tears.

  “She’s your daughter.”

  The comforting words helped but the tears didn’t stop. They arrived at the airport and Rio insisted that they leave her at the curb rather than coming inside and prolonging the difficult goodbye. As it was, the moment took so much time that a police officer had to tell them to move things along. Clearly, the event was hardest on Toki. But, even Anthony and Hani were fighting back tears. And, although she was excited to go, it wasn’t easy for Rio to leave her mother in such emotional distress.

  Still, the time had come to do exactly that. Toki slowly made her way back into the car, staring at her daughter as if trying to memorize every square inch of her face, and waving profusely as Rio finally disappeared into the airport. That’s when Toki’s tear ducts maxed out their workload capacity and flooded her face.

  Both Anthony and Hani knew it was going to be a long ride home and an even longer day once they got there. Everyone in the car missed Rio already. But, no one missed her more than Toki.

  Rio, on the other hand, felt bad for her mother and immediately missed her family. But, those feelings subsided quickly as she got checked in and started walking toward security. The excitement stirring inside of her overwhelmed the rest of her emotions and soon she was practically skipping as she entered the security line. She put her bags on the conveyer belt and walked through the metal detector. When her enthusiasm boiled over, she tried to start a conversation with a TSA agent by asking if he’d ever been to Japan. The agent sighed as he said he hadn’t and Rio was immediately aware that he was annoyed by her. So, she attempted to stifle her delight long enough to get her bags back and start her walk toward the gate.

  Her mom’s story about the elderly woman prophesying about Rio sprang to her mind. Perhaps, this trip would be an opportunity to learn more about that as well. She didn’t know how anything like that could come about. But, she figured that she had a better chance in the very place where the prophecy occurred than she would thousands of miles away from that place.

  It was hard to imagine what it all meant, but the thought of it added even more exhilaration to Rio’s mood. It didn’t take long and she was nearly skipping again. Sure, she was looking forward to the possibility of meeting her biological father. But, more than that, the adventure of the whole thing was really firing her up. She was going to find her family and meet people she had never met. She was going to see places that she had never seen. And, all of it was centered around discovering who and where she had come from. It was almost too exciting to fathom. She was so thrilled that she feared she might burst. Or, at the very least, break out in a song or a scream that could get her some interesting looks.

  Fortunately, she managed to contain herself. But, that eagerness carried her all the way to her gate where she couldn’t even bring herself to sit down. Instead, she stood just off the walkway and grinned at people as they walked by. She said hello to a few of them and most returned the greeting. Others ignored her. And, some even seemed a bit frightened by her. But, Rio didn’t care. Her adventure had begun. That’s what mattered. That’s what drove her overwhelming enthusiasm.

  Suddenly, she noticed an old woman standing across the walkway by a drinking fountain. The woman was staring at her. At first, Rio assumed that the woman was studying her odd zeal as she greeted strangers. But, the longer they stared at one another, the more it began to feel like the woman thought she knew Rio. Since Rio had never seen the woman before, that thought seemed ridiculous. Perhaps Rio just looked like someone she knew.

  It didn’t dawn on Rio that this could possibly be the same woman who her mother had met in Osaka all those years ago. The very same woman who predicted her pregnancy and declared Rio would be a special gift to everyone. But, that’s exactly who it was.

  The woman smiled warmly just before a man stepped in front of Rio and stopped, setting a bag down, and lifting a camera to his face that hung on a strap around his neck to take a picture of his wife and two young daughters. Rio tried to see around him but he kept moving, almost in sync with her, as he tried to frame his shot. Finally, he took the picture and the family picked up their bags and kept walking. But when Rio got a clear shot of where the woman had been standing, she was no longer there. Rio looked all around at the different people in the vicinity but the woman had flat out disappeared the same way she had done to Rio’s mother some twenty-five years earlier.

  CHAPTER NINE

  A Fountain Of Surprises

  Although Rio didn’t know the woman’s identity, her strange stare of familiarity and her even more strange disappearance captured Rio’s attention. Suddenly, she was as curious as a kitten encountering an empty Kleenex box for the first time. Her eyes darted all over the terminal as she searched for the woman but couldn’t find her. Rio bumped into several people as she made her way through the crowd, without truly watching where she was going, to the spot where the woman had previously been standing.

  Where could she have gone? Rio’s mind was racing with thoughts about the woman. That old lady can’t move that quickly. I’ve never met an old person spry enough to disappear like that. What just happened? Who was she? And, why did she look like she thought she knew me?

  Eventually, Rio’s eyes wandered from the faces and backs of heads in the crowd down to the drinking fountain just to the left of her. She felt thirsty. So, she stepped up to it and bent down as she hit the button to release the water. As she got closer she watched the water start to bend in mid-stream.

  Slowly, the water lifted off the stainless-steel basin and the stream turned toward Rio. As her eyes widened, she watched the stream of water straighten out and extend directly into her mouth. Panicking, she released the button and looked around to see if anyone had been watching. No one was looking in her direction. She wasn’t sure if she would rather have her anonymity protected or have someone verify that what she thought had just happened did in fact happen, to confirm that she wasn’t crazy.

  First my contacts and now this, she thought. What is going on here?

  She looked down at the light gray drinking fountain again. Slowly, she lifted her hand and hit the button one more time. Everything seemed normal. So, she bent down to take another drink. As she leaned in, the water began to bend again. Just like it had before, the water lifted off the basin. The stream turned and extended directly into Rio’s mouth. She quickly let go and looked around the same way she had the first time. Once again, she didn’t appear to have any witnesses.

  Suddenly, a little boy tugged on the back of Rio’s shirt. Startled, she turned around and looked down at him.

  “Can I get a drink?” the boy asked boldly.

  “Of course,” she quickl
y replied and stepped out of his way. She swiftly surmised that he was approximately eight years old before looking around for a parent. Rio spotted a man standing at the edge of the gate and the walkway. He was watching carefully so, she assumed it was the boy’s father. She looked at the boy again and he was struggling to stand tall enough to reach the water with his face. He was pressing down on the button and the water was pouring out as normal.

  “Do you need some help?” she asked.

  “No,” he insisted. “I’ve got it.”

  It was clear the boy was never going to get there. He stood on his tiptoes and pushed his lips as high as he could, like a flower straining to reach the sunlight. Rio looked over at the boy’s father who shrugged his shoulders as if to say, the kid insists on doing it himself. She tilted her head and shrugged her shoulders back at him, acknowledging the truth of his unspoken sentiment.

  Rio then sidestepped, folded her arms across her chest, and turned to lean her back on the wall and look down at the water. The boy was still several inches short. His eyes were squeezed tightly shut as he pushed with all of his might. Rio’s gaze shifted to the water. She wondered if she could somehow make it bend for him the way it had for her.

  Her eyes narrowed as her focus grew more intense. Rio pointed her left index finger at the stream of water. Suddenly, as she lifted her finger, the water began to rise off the basin again. She slowly pointed her finger toward the boy and watched as the water mimicked her movement. The water started to bend in mid-stream and extend out toward the boy.