"Hey, mom. This is kinda cute. What do you think?" Y/N asked, looking into the mirror with a black and grey dress.

Bernadette runs in with a hangar for another dress.

"No, no, no, no! You can't wear that! Black and grey is like going to a funeral. Here, try this. Blue symbolizes coolness, passivity as well as fidelity. It's a popular color in Japanese clothing. And you know, you like blue just like it matched your skin."

Y/N scoffed, walking away from her.

"Great. I was really going for that lucky baby maker vibe."

"Hey, you're the one who ask for my help. Picking on the dress to meet Espio's family."

"Only because I hardly know anything about him. Everytime I bring them up, he changes the subject."

"Maybe he's embarrassed. Maybe he's only told you about himself, and perhaps the rest of the family have secrets like that. You're going to have a wonderful time. You've always wanted to go to Japan. Who know, if all goes well in Tokyo then maybe you'll come back with a souvenir."

Bernadette held up a ring after stopping at a jewelry station, smiling cheekily. Jules and Sonic pops their head out from the hanging dresses.

"Be sure that he's good enough. I wish to have a grandson."

"If he hurts you, I'll gladly spin dash him all the way to the galaxy."

Y/N blushed in embarrassment.

"Mom, Dad, Sonic! Stop! Espio and I didn't even talk about that. I mean, his parents cannot like me, right?"

Bernadette in response pulled a face while Jules and Sonic looked at Bernadette.

"What was that look? I saw that."

Bernadette distracted herself by looking through the clothes.

"Nothing. It's just... Espio bringing a girl all the way that is, can mean a lot to meet all these families, and they're different from us."

"How are they differnt? They're Japanese and I'm learning to speak in Japanese. I'm a sensei that teaches students how to defend themselves and control their emotions."

"At least, you taught me how to speak in Japanese." Bernadette said.

"I'm still learning that in my program." Jules said, scratching his head in embarrassment.

"I don't understand it one bit and I'm not interested." Sonic said, making Jules smack his arm.

Bernadette began to speak Japanese a little.

"あなたの顔は美しいです。あなたは日本語を話します。しかし、ここで、
(Your face is beautiful. You speak Japanese. But here,)"

Bernadette motioned to Y/N's head and then her heart.

"...そしてここ... (...and here...)"

She switched back to English.

"You're different. You're kind, brave, loyal, and confident. That's what makes you wonderful. Wearing a lucky color will make a good first impression." she said, showing her the blue dress one more time.

Y/N smiled, knowing it was true. She had made plenty of friends in Hawaii. She just hoped the family liked her even if she doesn't know who they are.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

At the airport, Y/N and Espio stepped out of their taxi.

"Okay, game plan. Check our bags, get through security, and then we can eat one of the meals my mom made for us to ride. I brought some delicious takoyaki from the store before we--"

A Mobian flight attendant approached the two along with the other workers who pulled their luggage out of the trunk of the taxi.

"Good afternoon, Mr. Espio, Ms. Y/N. We'll take your bags and get you checked into first class."

Y/N silently laughed and looked at Espio for explanation.

"Oh, no. I'm sorry, there must be some mistake. We're not from first class. We're economy people"

"This way, please." Flight Attendant said, ignoring her confusion and walking towards the entrance.

Espio placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Just... go with it. Come on."

"W-What?"

"They'll be fine. Trust me."

"Okay..."

The flight attendant lead the couple past security and to the entrance of the plane with no holdups. She stepped through the coach section and pushed aside the golden curtain to reveal the first class where another attendant greeted them.

"Welcome aboard, Mr. Espio, Ms. Y/N. Here's the way to your private suite. And some champagne."

Grabbing the champagne and thanking them, Y/N was speechless as Espio casually stepped inside like he's been used to it and sat in one of the leather chairs.

"Thank you."

"You're welcome. After takeoff, would you like to enjoy the lounge chairs or should we convert your suite into a bedroom?"

Y/N immediately thrust her ziplock bag containing their meals into Espio's arms, smiling awkwardly.

"We're fine. Thank you."

"Enjoy."

Once the attendant left, Y/N picked up one of the nicest pajama.

"Espio, we can't afford this. These pajamas are fancier than any of my real clothes."

"My family does business with the airline. The seats are free of charge, don't worry."

Setting the pajama down, Y/N sat down next to him and picked up the bottle of perfume or cologne. She turned to him after hearing his words.

"What kind of business?"

"Real estate, investment, other things. Nothing interesting. And some." Espio stated, shrugging.

"...So your family is like... rich?"

"...We're comfortable."

Y/N raised her eyebrow.

"That is exactly what super rich person would say. It's not a big deal, obviously. I just... I think it's kinda weird that I had no idea. I mean, you took almost all of my dessert I like to eat, and when you first challenged me to a dual, I bested you. You thought you're the best ninja. You even meditate by the biggest tree in the world."

"I'm still not happy with that dual. Thank you very much. And yes, my family has money, but... I've always thought of it as theirs. Not mine."

She nodded in understanding.

"I get that. I'm going all the way to meet them and I kinda just wanted to know what I'm getting into. And you know, they're your family."

Espio shifted his seat to turn to her after a moment of thought.

"Well... my family is somewhat familiar to other families. There's half of them you love and respect, and there's the other half."

"Which half am I meeting?" Y/N asked, sipping her champagne.

"Well, there's my cousin Ash the Mongoose, based in Taiwan, works in musics."

Ash watched as a female yellow purple haired mongoose is singing the song beautifully as she sings "I Choose" from the movie the Willoughbys.

"Beautiful! Take break!" he said after the song ended.

"He's dating Mina Mongoose, the famous singer."

Ash gave Mina a kiss on the lips.

"Your singing is beautiful as always. Everyone is going to love it."

"I'm glad. I did my best."

"Okay, what about your cousin Lightning? You don't ever talk about him." Y/N asked.

"Well Lightning is a big time ninja in Hong Kong. A real family man."

Lightning, Nicole, and three Mobian lynx boys posed for the camera as they're in their kimono still as statues as the camera flashed in front of them.

"You know if you move, it will look more natural." Mobian photographer suggested.

"No, this way you get out off to more angles." Lightning dismissed.

"Uh, then we're done."

Lightning hurried over to the photographer and shook his hand with a polite smile.

"Quack, thank you so much. It's an honor to be photographed by you."

"My pleasure. People will love it in the next Hong Kong Vogue."

"Thank you, Quack." Nicole smiled.

The moment Quack and his assistant were gone, Lightning turned to Nicole, annoyed.

"Hong Kong Vogue? I knew it. Your kimono is a disaster. If you wore boutique kimono, like I told you to, we'd be in the American Vogue."

"You can wear that kimono to hell, Lightning." Nicole glared, slamming his face against the wall made from the floor, causing him to yell while she walk away.

"Then there's Rouge the Bat."

"Oh, I remember Rouge. She's like who I wanted to be when I grow up, except for jewel stealing."

"Rouge is awesome. And she's probably the only cousin who I'm actually close with. And she really grounded down and down to Earth once you get to know her."

At night, Rouge sneaked into the high-end boutique while going through securities.

"Rouge has the biggest heart of any of my cousins. Though, she may always steal jewels without being spotted she always leave money for them before leaving, knowing how much it cost."

She stepped through the door of the back room where there's a lot jewelries in each glass on a display. Rouge's eyes sparkled in awe and excitement as she looked through any jewelries she could take until her eyes landed on something that made her heart stop. There laid the diamond and emerald drop earrings.

"

My, my, my. Hello, beautiful. What are you?"

Rouge carefully removed the case without dropping, not before checking the security. She picked one out of the case. She did a quick research about this earring and was surprised what she was reading.

It isn't a surprise that beautiful people love to wear beautiful things. This is especially true for celebrities. The red carpet requires the famous to look their best, from head to toe, especially at exclusive events. In 2009, Angelina Jolie didn't disappoint the fashion critics when she walked the red carpet at the Academy Awards adorned in a pair of Lorraine Schwartz designed earrings.

"Wow... For celebrities. $2.5 million, huh? Not bad."

She took out her favorite bag and carefully placed the earrings in a nice small case and hid it inside her bag. Rouge went through some couple of more jewelries that interested her until she got what she need when she saw another one that caught her eye. The Rockefeller Emerald Ring.

R

ouge gasped in delight and picked it up, not caring the weight. She took another research and this made her even more interested than ever.

When the Rockefeller Emerald came to auction in 2017, many people believed that it could become the most expensive emerald ever sold but it was not to be.

The emerald was originally in a Van Cleef & Arpels brooch that was purchased by John D. Rockefeller in 1930 as a gift for his wife Abby Aldrich Rockefeller. Following her passing in 1948, Rockefeller instructed his favourite jeweller Raymond Yard to disassemble the brooch and the emeralds were distributed between their children.

It was David Rockefeller who received the 18.04 carat Colombian emerald and he entrusted Yard to mount the stunning gemstone in a platinum ring with diamonds. The emerald was assessed by the American Gemological Laboratories who said:

'the opinion of the Laboratory that the origin of this emerald would be classified as Classic Colombia, clarity enhancement: none; also stating that 'the unusual combination of size, provenance, absence of treatment and quality factors present in this material contributes favorably to its rarity and desirability'

Rouge eventually left not without leaving her card with the word "Thank You" in cursive with loads of cash attached to it. She then flew off to home, satisfied.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Later that night, Y/N and Espio were lying in their converted suite. After Espio's first explanation about his family, they moved on to watch the movie. After that, they have a nice dinner.

"So, if you have all those family there, why are we staying in a hotel? Aren't good Japanese sons supposed to stay with their parents?"

"Well, because A) I'm not that good of a son, and B)... I just want you to myself, just for a bit. That okay?"

Y/N smiled joyously, feeling lucky to have him.

"Okay."

Espio smiled and leaned in and kissed her, rolling himself on top of her as they kept kissing passionately.