Upside Down

"Whooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!"

As the little car spun faster with the enormous wheel it was attached to, Hitomi dove to her side and clutched at Emi. Across from them, Ranko and Crash occupied the other bench facing the center of the car, one of twenty that made up the Enterprise ride. As the giant wheel picked up speed, it began tilting upward, from a horizontal orientation toward a more vertical one.

"Holy shit," Ranko wailed as the centrifugal force slid her sideways across the plastic bench into Crash's hip. With the way the thrill ride tossed her about as it spun up, Ranko found herself grateful - not for the first time that day - for Hitomi's advice to wear shorts rather than a skirt. The spinning ride had to be moving at fifty or sixty kilometers an hour as it whizzed the little carts around. Ranko tried to look out at the rest of the Dream World theme park, but before her eyes could focus on anything, it was upside down again. The whole exercise was starting to give her a mild headache, so she turned her eyes from the open-air sides of the cart. She felt like the pressure of the spinning thrill ride would crush her chest, but it didn't seem to offend the Full-Body Cat's Tongue. It just pinned her to her seat.

"THIS IS AWESOOOOOOOOOME!" 

Ranko giggled, clearly recognizing Shinji's deep voice shouting over the roar of the whirling wheel from the next cart behind them on the wheel. Her bassist occupied it with Jacob, Zoe and Masa. 

Eventually, the ride began to slow, and eventually stopped with the wheel having returned to a horizontal position. Ranko stood as the doors of the carts were pulled open by a pair of attendants, stepping down off of the cart to the metal loading platform below. She took a few tenuous steps, wobbling slightly in her silver cheerleading sneakers as she slowly drifted to the right. 

"Whoa, easy there, you." Crash grabbed her shoulders through the yellow peplum top she wore over her denim shorts, steadying her as her balance started returning. "Don't need you nose-diving off this thing."

The redhead giggled, swaying on her feet. "Ugggh… whew, man, that thing really kicks your ass!"

"Right?! I'm going again!" Shinji whooped, throwing his fists in the air and grinning widely. 

Ranko chuckled as she watched him rush back to the ride's queue. "I don't think I've ever seen him so happy." A few more tenuous steps reunited her with Ken, who handed her back her black cross-body purse. As the drummer turned to return Hitomi her little silver backpack, Ranko gave him a little sigh. "I feel bad, Ken. The boys keep wanting to do the crazy rides, but they're not really the kind of thing that's your speed. You see anything you think you can do? C'mon, bud, you get the next pick."

"That roulette wheel thing over there looks cool," Masa said, pointing to a wobbling disc just across the walkway from the Enterprise. 

Ken looked up at it, and the green around his gills gave Ranko all the answer she needed, flashing a back off look and a shake of her head at her pyrotechnician.

"Alright, gimme a sec," the drummer said, reaching into the back pocket of his green board shorts and producing a folded brochure. He unfolded the park map, taking a moment to look it over. "This one, I could probably handle." He pointed to a ride at the far northwest corner of the park, a good hike from their current position at the southeast side, in the Country Fair area.

"Rocky Hollow Log Ride? Looks like a lot of water," Ranko said, craning over Ken's shoulder with a worried countenance. "Do you get wet on it?"

Ken flipped to the back of the brochure, finding the description for the ride. "Well, let's see… the Thunder River Rapids Ride one says you may get wet… where are you, Rocky Hollow Log Ride? Got it! An exhilarating log flume, yadda, yadda, welp, yeah… you will get soaked."

Ranko nodded, blushing a little. "I, uhh… I think I'm gonna sit that one out then, but you guys have fun! Actually, let me see that a sec?" She took the map from Ken, looking over the amenities in the central plaza near the front of the park. "Alright, cool. Looks like they've got some payphones over there by the entrance. I'm gonna peel off there, and see if I can get Mom or somebody on the phone at the bar." She grabbed Crash's left wrist without asking, twisting his arm to look at his wristwatch. "It's two o'clock their time; at least somebody should be there setting up for the night by now. I'll meet you guys… here," she said, tapping a spot in the northwest corner of the central area. "This ice cream shop." 

"Of course you'd pick the ice cream shop," Crash said with a chuckle."

Ranko rolled her eyes up at her friend. "Hey, a girl has needs. It's gotta be twenty-seven degrees out here. I'm freakin' roasting."

Emi giggled, fanning herself with her own copy of the map brochure. "She's not wrong."

"Speaking of, Ran-chan, you might wanna throw some more sunscreen on when you get a second," the blonde guitarist offered. 

"Yes, mother," Ranko said monotonously, rolling her eyes. She walked with them a bit further, as their paths converged until the Main Street area opened up to her left. "Alright. Have fun on the logs, guys! See you soon!" 

She approached the City Hall building, behind which was a first aid station and a bank of pay telephones. After a brief wait, one of the phones became available, and Ranko lifted the receiver, fishing in her purse for a coin. She dropped it into the phone, and it immediately dropped back out of the coin return flap at the bottom of the casing.

What the… Oh. Dumbass. She stuffed the 50-yen coin back into her purse, digging around more at the bottom until she extracted an Australian fifty-cent coin. The telephone seemed happier to accept its native currency, and she piled a few more of the coins into the machine. It's international; no idea how expensive it is, but I wanna get more than a few minutes if somebody answers, she thought hopefully. Especially if… 

She dialed the number for her former home, catching herself holding her breath as the other end of the line rang a continent away. She heard a click on the third ring. 

"Thank you for calling the Phoenix! How can I help you?"

"Yui! Hi! It's me!" Ranko grinned. It's so good to hear a little life in her voice again! 

"Hey! How you doing, Ran-chan?! Girls! Ranko's on the phone! Where you at, little sister?"

Ranko looked around at her surroundings. "We're at this really cool place called Dreamworld. It's an amusement park near Brisbane. Jake and Zoe brought us. Yui, you guys are gonna love them! They're so cool, and they're coming back to Japan to stay in a couple months! How's things there? You still being good? How many straws?"

"Seventeen," Yui replied into the cordless telephone behind the main bar of the Phoenix.

"Yui, that's so great! I'm so proud of you, hon! I love you so much! How's everybody? Hows…" The mirth in Ranko's voice trailed off a little. She heard Yui sigh into the receiver before her sister spoke again.

"We're all okay, Ran-chan. Akane's alright. She's quiet, but she's here. We're keeping an eye on her."

Ranko nodded, clutching the plastic receiver, hot from being out in the sun all day, as close to her ear as she dared. "Has she said anything? She hasn't returned my calls."

"I know, hon. She's upset. Whatever went down between you two, she's not over it yet, but she doesn't seem to be getting worse or anything. Just trying to let you do your thing out there, I think. You're not gonna believe what she and I did at the bar, though! I can't wait to show you when you get home. It's a surprise."

Ranko nodded. "I know. I can't wait to get home. At least, Akane won't be able to ignore me. Just twelve more days and I'll be on a plane!"

"Well, don't wish it away too fast. Try not to let this shit with Akane spoil your fun. She's still grumpy, but she's not gonna do anything drastic or nothin'. You don't need to worry. Oh, hey, hang on. Mei wants to talk to you."

"Hi, Ranko," came a new, excited voice from the receiver. "How's Australia?"

Ranko laughed. "Hot. Very hot. Not as bad as Hawai'i, at least. Seems like there's two kinds of people here: half of them wants to be your best friend the minute they meet you, and the other half would just as soon feed you to a crocodile as look at you. Not really much in-between. But Jake and Zo are helping us stick to the good kinds. It's so good to see him so happy, Mei. I'm going crazy being away from you all and Akane for two weeks. I can't imagine how he's survived it for so long."

Mei nodded, not that Ranko could see it from over seven thousand kilometers away. "I know it's not easy, but you're doing so great. Akane brought back a newspaper from the day after your show in Honolulu, and there was a review that couldn't say enough good things about you! We saved it for you."

"Thanks," Ranko said glumly, her mood darkening again at the mention of her estranged wife's name. 

"Are you guys having fun, at least?"

Ranko's smile returned somewhat. "Yeah. Nabiki reserved us a couple of days of downtime here in Brisbane so Jake and Ariel could see their families and stuff. Our first show down here is in Melbourne on the thirteenth. It's a few hours away so we'll probably head up on the twelfth. At least, Ariel, Masa, Lance and Norio will, anyway. We're at this theme park. I'm having a blast, other than missing you girls so damn bad. You should see Shin. It's like he's Hoshi's age out here."

"I'm glad." While Mei's ex-boyfriend was not her favorite topic of conversation, she was glad her sister and her friends were having a good time. "No! Go away! I'm talking to… hey!"

"Hey there, little star. How you holding up?"

Ranko answered, still giggling at Mei's protest at the confiscation of the telephone. "Hi, Mom! I'm good! Miss you bad, though."

"We miss you more, honey. But don't you worry about a thing. The bar is in good hands, and Orochi is keeping your stage warm for you. Ukyo and your friends are fine too. Shiori was here yesterday, and she says hello. She also says to tell you…" Hana's voice lowered to a whisper, as if she feared her daughters would hear her. "Rawr."

Ranko giggled brightly. "Well, send her one back from me, Mama!"

"Do I really have to," Hana pleaded, laughing with her daughter. 

"One minute remaining," interjected an audio warning in English from the payphone. 

"I'm almost out of time. Is there any chance you can get Akane to talk to me?" Ranko sighed. "Please?"

Ranko heard her mother sigh heavily through the receiver. "I'll try, baby. Akane? Come talk to her, honey. She misses you. She's worried about you. It won't get better until you two talk it out. Please?"

Ranko held her breath for several seconds until she heard a voice through the speaker again.

"I'm sorry, Ranko. She says to tell you she's not ready yet, but that she loves you and misses you."

Ranko sighed defeatedly, letting her forehead thump into the glass divider between her phone booth and the one to its left with a hollow bonk. "Alright. Just do what you can, Mom, please. It's killing me not being able to fix this with her from way out here. Give her a hug for me, and tell her again that I'm sorry."

"I know, sweetheart. I'll try. We all will. We'll look after her. And, you don't forget to look out for yourself too, either, you hear me? We all love you, ba…"

"Mom?"

"Your call has ended. Thank you for using Telecom Australia. Have a nice day."

Groaning in frustration, Ranko slammed the receiver back into its cradle, adjusting the weight of her purse on her shoulder. Stupid phone companies don't gotta make this stuff so expensive. It's gotta be cheaper to make a phone call happen than to, like, take a letter across the ocean.

She looked down at her hands, turning her wedding ring on her left hand where it had become slightly twisted on the ride. I love you, Akane. I miss you. 

Resigning herself to put her strained relationship out of her mind, Ranko made her way to the ice cream stand where she had promised to meet their friends. The whole of the group had reconnected, and Ranko giggled at the sight of the enormous Lance Ryder licking at a chocolate cone like a giant five-year-old for whom Christmas has come early.

"Hey, guys. Mom and everybody back home say hi." She grinned brightly as Hitomi handed her a styrofoam cup full of strawberry ice cream and whipped cream, topped with a maraschino cherry. "You, my friend, are my absolute hero."

"Oi, Ranko! I gotcha summat, mate." 

Ranko looked up at Zoe, wiping a bit of whipped cream from her nose. "Huh? You didn't have to…" She rolled her eyes, chuckling as Zoe reached down into the white plastic bag in their hand and produced a stuffed kangaroo. It wore a white tee shirt with the logo for the park on it.

"Now ya ain't gotta rent one, right?"

"Really?" The redhead giggled as she took possession of the stuffed animal, which was nearly the size of Starlight, almost as tall as the length of her forearm. "I'm never living that down, am I?"

Zoe chuckled, their hands balled in fists at the waist of their black pleated skirt. They also wore a pair of fishnet stockings that disappeared into the ankles of their heavy black combat boots. The hosiery made Ranko blush, remembering the one time Akane had convinced her to try a pair. I don't know how they pull those off in this heat. So itchy. But I did squirm all night in them, and somehow, I think that was Akane's intent from the beginning.

"Not a bleedin' chance in 'ell, Blue."

"Blue?" Ranko looked up to Jacob in confusion, repeating the word in Japanese to confirm she'd translated it correctly.

Jake laughed, nodding and replying in Japanese. "It's a thing we Aussies call people with red hair. Don't ask me why, we just do."

Ranko nodded, switching back to English as she looked the toy over with an amused grin. "Thanks, Zo. It's really cute!" She spread the kangaroo's plush arms apart and lifted its little shirt as if searching for something along its underbelly. "Wait a minute. I'm confused. I thought kangaroos were s'posta have pouches in the front."

Zoe laughed, turning their eyes up to their boyfriend. "Jakey, this one really don't know nothin' does she? Only the girl 'roos got a pouch, ya donkey."

Of all the people I didn't expect to hear about the differences between girls and boys from today, Ranko thought with a giggle. "How come?"

"It's where they keep the joeys at while they's still little, ya goose." Zoe leaned into Jacob's torso, resting their head on his chest. 

"Sorry. English. What's a joey?" Ranko looked up, mystified.

"It's a baby kangaroo, Ranko," Jacob offered in Japanese, after kissing Zoe on the top of their head through their shock of bright pink spiked hair. "Like how a baby cat is a kitten."

Ranko smiled, holding up her new friend to face herself. "Joey, huh? Well, hello there, Joey."

She turned her eyes to Jacob and his partner, beaming as she tucked her new companion under her arm and gathered up another bite of her rapidly-melting ice cream on a plastic disposable spoon.

"Well, okay then, tour guides. We've got go-karts, the Thunderbolt, the Vintage Car Adventure, and Eureka Mountain. What are we riding next?"