It had been a long time since Henry had looked at her like that. He eyes were far away like he was seeing something she couldn't see. She wanted to touch him, but she waited.

Like lighting, Henry had been drawn back into his past--he could remember amber eyelids that blinked as she painted a petal with metallic paint. The drop of liquid gold bent down and then backwards, before Henry could see Ellie's face swim into his vision again. He could smell almonds and vanilla faintly as well as coco b.u.t.ter. He felt warm for a second as moisture began to swell in the corner of his eyes. He wipes them quickly before gathering himself. "I'm really happy that you're childhood was warm. Your father seems a lot kinder than I thought for a race car driver to be his daughter. You must have been much different from his other children."

"Oh, did Chou tell you? Yes, I do have some older step siblings. They are quite different from me. I'd always compare them to vultures who just wanted to take everything away from anyone they could get their hands on. I used to pretend I wasn't related to them when I was a child as they were nasty at school. We were such different people." Ellie mused. "As it's common in Asia, my grandparents arranged my father's marriage to a close family friend. They wanted to join their two houses in some sort of predestinated bond. You know the sort of thing where they hire a fortune teller and have star charts read? My father had a very auspicious marriage by that account. I don't believe in it and neither did my mother. My mom was a firecracker. She did whatever she wanted and was sure to be completely independent of her family. She didn't accept any dowry or gifts, she just took my father on their wedding day. As you could guess, they were very well matched. He would always say that mom swept him off his feet."