"Sakura, please. Please, follow all your dreams and never give up. Do your best in life. Remember, you can do anything if you believe in it enough."
    Sakura shuddered. She was on a plane, off to fulfill those words. They had been the last words of her father, who had died in a car crash when she was in fifth grade. Then they were the words of her brother, who was shot two years ago in a drive-by shooting. Both had died in the hospital. These words would forever haunt her.
    Sakura Kinomoto Jiann was twenty-four years old and had recently graduated college for archaeology. She had already gone through one marriage to Lewis Jiann, a Chinese-American who had been born into a Chinese family in America but moved to China and then Japan as an adult.
    Most of the time these days Sakura didn’t bother with her married name. Lewis had died recently in a fire. He had never had a chance to tell her his last words. She had never had the chance to tell him that she was pregnant with their second child.
    "You know, this is really getting annoying," Sakura said with a sigh. Nobody had found anything in the past week. One week out of only eight was already gone.
    "This is just ridiculous."
    "Yeah, but you know, at least you got a site right out of college. Didn’t you notice you’re the youngest one here. All of us have been looking for anywhere to dig for years," the girl next to her replied. She looked about five years older than Sakura. She had long violet hair and pretty eyes. Her skin was pale and a bit sunburned from being outside all day for the past week. She didn’t look the type to be interested in archaeology.
    "I guess so. How old are you then? Oh, I’m so impolite. My name’s Sakura Kinomoto, what’s yours?"
    "It’s quite all right. I’m twenty-eight. My name is Tomoyo Daidouji Hiiragizawa. I’ve got four kids and a husband back home in Tokyo."
    "Oh, you live in Japan too? I’ve been in Tokyo since I started college, but I come from Tomoeda."
    "Well, we have three houses. There’s the one in Tokyo, the one in Hong Kong, and the one in London. I’m Japanese, Eriol’s English, and he’s got close relatives in Hong Kong. Right now they’re in the process of moving to Hong Kong so that they can visit me here. He’s worried about me since I’m four months pregnant with number five."
    "Congratulations, Tomoyo! I’ve got my two girls and I can’t imaging having more as a single mother." Sakura smiled. It was nice to make a friend that she had something in common with.
    "Oh thank you. Are you really a single mom? Were you married before?"
    "Yes. To a man named Lewis Jiann. He died three and a half years ago in a fire right before I found out I was pregnant with Suzuran."
    "I’m sorry. I’ll have to show you pictures of my children sometime," Tomoyo said with a small smile.
    "No need for that, Tomoyo," a man’s voice called out. He was tall with blue hair and blue eyes. He carried two young boys in his arms and was followed by a little girl and a little boy.
    "Eriol! You’re here! And with the children!" Tomoyo squealed, running over to him and hugging him and her kids. "Sakura, this is my husband Eriol Hiiragizawa and our children. The oldest is Aster, she’s eight. Then Shino is six. Shuang is five and then Xing is three."
    "Nice to meet you all. It’s interesting that Shino has a Japanese name, Aster has an English name, and the other two have Chinese names. Why is that?" Sakura asked. Tomoyo blushed.
    "Their names are of the nation in which they were conceived," Eriol said with a smile. "The new baby is going to be named Maude if it’s a girl or Laramie if it’s a boy. We were visiting friends in Paris at the time."
    "Ah, I guess that makes sense," Sakura replied with a laugh. She noticed Hana and Suzu watching shyly from a few yards away.
    "Come here, girls. This is Eriol, and you know Tomoyo, I’m sure. These are their children, Aster, Shino, Shuang, and Xing. Everyone, these are my daughters. Hanamizuki is almost five and Suzuran is three and a half. I call them Hana and Suzu."
    Everyone smiled and the children began to talk to each other and make friends. They soon ran off in a game of tag.
    "So, dear, how has it been going?" Eriol asked Tomoyo.
    "Not so good. Absolutely nothing all week, not even a false alarm with one of the trainees. Unbelievable."
    "Oh, that’s too bad. Well, it’s time I got to the real reason I came here. You know our cousin in Hong Kong, Li Meilin? Well, it seems that the Li Clan will be gone soon. She got in a car accident yesterday. I knew that you wouldn’t have gotten the news yet all the way out here, so I came to tell you in person. I won’t lie, the doctors don’t think she’ll live more than two and a half months," Eriol said seriously. His cheerful face was now in the shape of a frown. Tomoyo’s grin faded into a grimace as Eriol’s news sunk in.
    "Oh, Meilin-chan! She’s really going to die? But she’s only our age, this is so horrible! I will have to visit her soon. Is she responsive?"
    "No, Tomo-chan. She’s in a coma. Her brain activity does go up when someone speaks or touches her, so she seems to be aware of what’s going on, but her nervous system isn’t working. If she manages to live, Meilin will probably be paralyzed or severely disabled for the rest of her life. All because some guy was high in the driver’s seat. He’s doing much better, although that rubs salt into the wound in a way."
    Sakura just watched the exchange with concern.
    "Tomoyo, you should go visit your cousin now. I don’t think anything will happen for the next couple of days. Anyway, the trainees will be here all this week. Take some days off, we’ll manage."
    Tomoyo looked at her with tears in her eyes.
    "Really, Sakura? Thank you so much! You have no idea how much this means to me!"
    Sakura just smiled weakly. "You’d be surprised. I went through this when my father, brother, and husband passed on, each at a different time, of course. I know exactly how much this means to you and you’re very welcome. Now hurry along, the sooner you leave the sooner you can get to see your cousin."
    Tomoyo, Eriol, Aster, Shino, Shuang, and Xing left in a large limousine shortly afterwards. Sakura explained to the rest of the staff why Tomoyo had taken the next few days off.

LOG – KINOMOTO SAKURA
DAY 14
    There still seems to be nothing to be found. It’s amazing that we’ve been here two weeks and haven’t uncovered one thing. I don’t know if it’s our own faults or if this site is just useless. The girls have started helping out. They have little plastic wheelbarrows they move dug-up dirt with. They love to mimic the team. One of the workers had his wife bring the wheelbarrows in for them. They used to belong to his two sons when they were little.
    Tomoyo returned late last night. Xing, her youngest son, has returned with her. He missed her so much that she decided he could hang out with Hana and Suzu while she works. And if he wants to go home, his father is only a few hours away. She seems very upset about her cousin Meilin and I can only hope that the girl gets better, although it seems very unlikely. Tomoyo was comforted a bit when she learned that my father died in a car accident similar to Meilin’s. But then she cried more since he had not survived, and that probably meant that Meilin wouldn’t either.
    I feel so horrible right now. It seems the only things going right in my life are the girls. I miss Lewis a lot on days like this, but I have to admit that as my memory slowly ebbs away, so does my strong feeling of love. It scares me to think that I can stop loving Lewis after everything. Well, this book isn’t supposed to be a journal, it’s supposed to be a log of what’s going on at the site.
    The trainee named Sasaki Rika seems to be slacking off lately to hang out with one of our experts, Terada Yoshiyuki – not that he minds. And the two trainees Mihara Chiharu and Yamazaki Takashi seem to be in love. I feel kind of bad for the other trainee – Yanagizawa Naoko. She’s all by herself when her comrades go off in pursuit of romance. But she’s a very dedicated worker and I’m proud to have her training under our team.
    All I can do now is hope that we’ll find something soon. Even something insubstantial would boost morale. Ah, it’s time to put the girls to bed.