He never had stopped caring for Noriko. Part of the reason he'd left, let the fear consume him. Because of the terror he'd hurt her. He had been a dumb, confused kid back then, but that much he had known at time. There had been a score of women after her and one unhappy marriage that ended in tragedy, but none of them were the same kind of relationship. Not that he ever really wanted to talk about any of that. Unfortunately, he just might have to to make Izumi understand what had happened.
Rand would not claim to be her father. That word meant too much to him, considering his father was a good man who'd taken him back in even after how far he'd fallen. He shook his head again. "Not long," he admitted. "I only just found out you were here." He'd never thought that Noriko would go to Canada. That was his home, not hers. It didn't make any sense. "I've been looking for you for almost ten years." How did he even begin to explain? Especially here and now. He let out a sigh of frustration. "This is just not the time for this," he grumbled under his breath.