Happy Tears -- Chapter 1

I, Mike Allen, created the following fic.  
However, I do not own any of the characters 
that I am using.  That honor belongs to the 
honorable Rumiko Takahashi and any and all 
companies to which she has sold the rights.  
So, please do not sue me.

A Visit.

*********************

The figure in front of the family shrine 
clapped twice in order to gain the attention 
of his mother's spirit.  As he began rocking 
back and forth in prayer, his chant was a 
decidedly unusual invocation.  He merely 
repeated the word "Humminah" over and over 
again.  After a few minutes, he stopped the 
mantra and started talking.

"Please, forgive me, Mother.  It's been over 
ten years since I last spoke to your spirit.  
I'm no longer the little boy you loved and 
protected.  I am a man.  I have grown in both 
skill and wisdom, if not in stature.  When 
first you left, the world no longer held any 
warmth in it.  Losing you from the world, the 
sun, moon and stars shrouded themselves in 
grief.  While I now can see all of the lights 
in the heavens again, they still seemed 
tarnished, lessened by the loss of your 
spirit from the world."  

Pain still evident in his voice, he coarsely 
whispered, "Oh God, how I still miss you."

"I still remember your loving touch and words 
of encouragement.  I was but a little child 
then, and whenever the others would make fun 
of me, you were there.  You were always there 
willing to give me a hug and a kiss.  I loved 
how you always smelled, a unique combination 
of soap and kitchen... Why'd he have t..."  
Choking on tears, the figure couldn't 
continue.  

*********************

It was a small agricultural village of at 
most five hundred souls.  By modern 
standards, the majority of the homes would be 
considered one-room wooden shacks.  Muddy 
tracks at best, the streets connected the 
town to the farms that sprawled just outside 
of it.  The center of the town held the 
largest structures, a temple, a granary, a 
government administration building and a 
barracks.  Close by were the homes of the 
wealthy few, the largest of which was the 
Asai family estate.

A group of eight boys, looking to be from 
seven to ten years old, surrounded a younger 
boy, named Shiro.  He looked to be at most, 
four years old; he was actually five.  With 
long black hair framing his face, his large 
brown eyes seemed much too big for his elfin 
features. Standing in a muddied gi, he 
fearfully watched the leader of the gang 
while desperately seeking an escape route.

The leader of the gang stood sneering down at 
Shiro.  He was the son of a farmer and had 
the broad, callused hands to prove it.  He 
would have been called handsome, if it 
weren't for the fact that one of his father's 
pigs had half-chewed his left ear off.  All 
that was left of it was the stump of 
cartilage surrounding the ear canal.  As he 
moved forward, the boy looked to his 
followers seeking their approval.  Gaining 
it, he shoved Shiro down, driving his face 
into the ground.  

"Shiro, you are a little half-breed dwarf!" 
the disfigured boy taunted, laughing at his 
own cruel remark.

Sensing an opportunity to get in on the fun, 
the other boys chimed in, "Hey, look at the 
little worm! Does the dirt taste good?"  
"Nah, I think he's a chicken and was trying 
to find something to eat!"  "I think we hurt 
his feelings.  You gonna cry, Momma's boy?"  

Picking himself up from the ground, Shiro 
wiped the dirt from his mouth.  He looked at 
his hand, seeing blood mingled with dirt.  
Tears welling up in his eyes, he asked, "W-
why'd you do that? I never did anything to 
you!" The last of his control spent, he began 
to weep uncontrollably.

"You needed to be taught a lesson.  Just 
because your family is samurai, they think it 
can tell all of us what to do," the bully 
jealously snarled. "Well, the next time any 
of you command us, remember me and my 
friends.  We'll find you."  

As the other boys moved forward for their 
turns with Shiro, he saw a chance for escape 
and took it.  Running as fast as he could, he 
fled towards his home.  The older boys 
couldn't keep up with him; he was much too 
quick.  Realizing that he was going to 
escape, they taunted him as he ran.

"Run back to your momma, shrimp!"

"Yeah, next time, you're really going to get 
it!"

"You're not even Japanese!  You're just a 
barbarian mouse.  We'll get you!  That's a 
promise!"

Their shrill insults and laughter ringing in 
his head, he burst into his home, breathless.

"Mommy!" he cried upon entering the kitchen. 
"Those nasty boys were picking on me again! 
They called me bad names and hit me!"

As his mother picked him up, she cooed 
soothingly, "Hush my baby.  Don't let their 
words hurt you.  Always remember that when 
someone calls you a name, they are only 
jealous of you."  Underneath her calm 
exterior seethed a mother's anger. If she 
ever caught one of the little hellions that 
continually tortured her son, she would tear 
them limb from limb.  She had confronted the 
mothers of the bullies and met with denials.  
If they would not teach their children how to 
behave, she would.

A handsome, tall woman, Minako-gozen 
commanded her household with full authority.  
Her long brown hair fell to her waist and 
usually was tied into a ponytail with a 
bright silk, bow.  Her hands felt creamy 
soft, though they had seen much weathering in 
their time.  Her deep, brown eyes revealed a 
complicated woman filled with joy and sorrow 
alike, and with but a look, she could either 
praise or scold a child.  Her lips always 
seemed to be on the verge of a smile, and 
when she would speak, everyone would listen.  
Her light Chinese accent was only noticeable 
to those who listened for it.  Her joy of 
life was evident in her mannerisms, for she 
had a strong warrior for a husband and 
healthy children.  For her to be angry 
required a tremendous insult, her patience 
seemed to endure almost any slight.  However, 
if one of her children were harmed in any 
way, she was the first to seek vengeance.

Looking at her little boy, she carried him to 
the family room and sat down with him.  She 
rocked the little boy and sang his favorite 
"crying" song.  Slow and almost hypnotic in 
its simplicity, the melody repeated for each 
verse.  His mother sang a low contralto, 
almost whispering each line to him. 

"Come to me,
little one.
Safely be,
here my son.

In my arms, 
hugging tight;
mother's charms,
evil's blight."

She repeated it until he was calmed and ready 
to leave her arms.
  
Secretly, Shiro believed the song magical.  
Whenever he was hurt or crying, it always 
made him feel better.  Slowly, its magic 
worked again and his tears dried as he 
relaxed within his mother's embrace.  Sitting 
in his mother's lap, he hugged her and felt 
her silken kimono against his face.  
Breathing in, he knew this was her baking day 
as she smelled of fresh bread.  He looked up 
into her face and saw her smiling sadly.  He 
was the luckiest boy in the world.  His Mommy 
loved him and he knew it!  "Thanks, Mommy! 
I'm OK now!"       

"Shiro-san, please go play with your 
brothers.  Your sisters and I must see to 
dinner."  She smiled at him and patted him on 
the bottom, as he ran off.  

After leaving his mother's lap, Shiro ran to 
the dojo.  Inside, he found his father, 
Hikozabe Asai, training his brothers in the 
samurai arts.  His favorite and oldest 
brother Ichiro was fourteen years old.  The 
second oldest, eleven years old, was named 
Jiro.  Saburo, the third son, was six.  Their 
father had begun their training when each 
turned five.  Shiro's training had yet to be 
started.   

*********************

Hikozabe Asai was a mountain of a man.  He 
stood six feet three inches tall when the 
average Japanese man was barely five feet.  
With his size and profession, most people 
were scared of him.  And he liked it that 
way.  When people saw him coming, they leapt 
getting out of his way.  In addition to being 
large, he was also lithe and strong from his 
martial arts training.  He wore his black 
hair in a ponytail that reached to his 
shoulder blades.  His brown eyes and high 
cheekbones made him classically handsome, 
with only traces of harshness marring the 
perfection of his looks.  He prided himself 
on many things:  his wife, won during a 
campaign in China; his height; his family 
name; his profession; his three eldest sons 
and how they were growing up to be as 
formidable as he himself.  They were going to 
be a family to be feared once again.  The 
only regret in his life had been his 
inability at bringing his branch of the Asai 
family into prominence.  He knew that with 
his training, his sons would fulfill that 
dream.  

Hikozabe felt contempt for youngest son.  
Shiro seemed destined to be a dwarf.  It 
would be useless to teach a dwarf martial 
arts, for the only midgets Hikozabe had ever 
seen were freaks or clowns, objects to be 
scorned and laughed at, not people.  The 
Asai's would not be laughed at; theirs was a 
noble family with noble ambitions.  If Shiro 
couldn't be a samurai, then he would be 
neither his son nor an Asai. 

Ichiro, the oldest at fourteen, looked like a 
young, male version of his mother.  Already 
tall and broad-shouldered, he had skipped the 
normal clumsiness of a teenager's body.  
Excellent at the martial arts, he usually 
beat his father when sparring.  Whether he 
won or lost his fights, Ichiro would always 
laugh and take his opponent's hand.  Always 
happy and jovial, the other children of the 
village  flocked around him.  For some reason 
that Shiro didn't yet know, the girls of the 
village, especially, preferred to be near 
him.  Shiro loved Ichiro and wanted to be 
just like him.

Most people found Jiro's green eyes rather 
unusual, but for those who looked deeply, a 
startling intelligence could be seen. Being 
the smartest of the three brothers, he found 
training to fight in the arts rather dull, 
preferring to use brains instead of brawn.  
Holding back until he found an opponent's 
weaknesses, he would attack mercilessly until 
they were completely helpless.  When asked 
why he took out his partners as viciously as 
he did, Jiro, with a shrug, would say that he 
didn't like to fight and wanted to end it as 
quickly as he could.  

Even at first glance, one could not mistake 
Saburo for anyone other than the son of 
Hikozabe Asai. Being fourteen months older 
than Shiro, he was already a full head 
taller.  Competing with each other over 
everything, their closeness in age only 
heightened the natural rivalry between 
brothers.  Saburo never let an opportunity to 
remind his younger brother that his father 
was training him and not the other pass.

*********************

His father refused to train him, but had 
started the others' training when they were 
five.  He was five and a half now and all his 
father would do was look at him and say that 
he wasn't tall enough.  Since his father 
wouldn't help him, Shiro stood just outside 
the dojo and copied whatever his brothers 
did.  Unnoticed by his father, Shiro mastered 
each kata after seeing it once.  

Ichiro noticed, started helping his little 
brother and was impressed with how quickly 
and well he learned.  Ichiro couldn't 
understand why his little brother's reflexes 
were so fast.  They were even faster than 
his!  No five-year old should have been 
either as dexterous or as skilled.  After 
their last training session, Ichiro told 
Shiro that he wanted their father to see how 
good he was.  

Hearing his brother's praise, Shiro had 
ecstatically jumped up and down.  If Ichiro 
thought he was ready, surely his father would 
be proud of him.  More than anything else, 
Shiro wanted his father's approval.

When Ichiro saw Shiro standing in the 
entrance of the dojo, he said, "Father, I 
think you should see something.  Shiro has 
been training for several months and I think 
he's ready for your training.  Please, watch 
him!"  Ichiro then smiled encouragingly at 
Shiro and went to stand by him.  Whispering 
to Shiro, he said, "Shiro, I've done what I 
can for you.  Good luck, little brother!"

Shiro looked at his father.  "Please, Father,  
let me show you what I've learned." bowing as 
he asked.  His father looked at him and 
grunted his approval to enter the dojo.  
Shiro beamed with happiness.  He quickly 
bowed again to his father and entered the 
dojo. "Thank you, Father!"

Shiro walked to the center of the dojo, 
stopped and faced his father.  His brother, 
Ichiro, was to his left and his other two 
brothers sat against the wall on his right.  
The entrance to the dojo was behind him.  He 
nervously came to attention.

Slowly at first, he began going through all 
of the katas he had learned.  The more he 
did, the less nervous he felt.  As his 
confidence rose, his speed increased.  As he 
finished his last kata, he was moving faster 
than even Ichiro could through the positions.  
He stopped, a little out of breath.  He 
looked at Ichiro, who stood grinning in 
pride.  He glanced at his other brothers and 
saw shock and surprise on their faces.  
Finally, hesitatingly, he gazed at his 
father.  His father stood emotionlessly, 
neither smiling nor frowning.  Shiro came to 
attention and awaited his father's word.

"Shiro, you did ... fair.  You are still too 
short to be effective as a fighter.  The 
ability to run through a kata is good.  How 
would you do against an opponent who is 
bigger and stronger?"  His father thought for 
a moment, then said, "Saburo, spar with your 
brother."

"Hai!"  Saburo said.

Shiro faced Saburo and they both waited for 
the signal from their father.  At the signal, 
Saburo charged Ichiro expecting to easily 
beat the smaller boy.  Knowing how much 
stronger his brother was, Ichiro ducked under 
Saburo's punches and used a leg sweep to take 
his brother down.  He then jumped onto 
Saburo's stomach and held him on the ground.

"STOP!"  His father yelled.

Shiro stood away from his brother and bowed 
happily to his father.  Surely his father 
would teach him now!  He had shown that he 
knew the katas and was able to defeat his 
brother easily.  Pride at his achievement and 
excitement built within him as he anticipated 
his father's praise. 

He looked at his father, expecting him to be 
smiling and happy.  Instead, his father 
glowered at Shiro with fury on his face. 

"Shiro, go to the house.  You are not ready 
to train in my dojo.  You have learned some 
skills, but are still too small to be a 
fighter.  To be a mighty warrior, you must be 
tall and strong.  I don't think you ever will 
be."  His father said coldly, dismissing him.  
"In fact, I think it would be better for you 
to grow up and be a priest or clerk of some 
kind."

Shiro's happiness shattered into shocked 
despair.  Not only did his father not accept 
him, he sent him away!  As his heart broken 
in agony, Shiro tried not to cry.  Sniffling, 
he turned from his father and walked out of 
the dojo to the house.  As he left, he saw 
Ichiro crying for him and he heard his father 
berating Saburo for losing to someone as 
small and weak as he.
 
*********************

That evening after she had put the children 
to bed, Minako-gozen talked to Hikozabe.  
"Our baby has a problem, dear.  He is being 
picked on more and more by the other 
children.  Maybe it is time to start his 
training."  She said worriedly.

"I have heard about his problems.  Did you 
know that Ichiro had been training him the 
last few months?" he stopped as anger built 
up within him.  "I didn't.  He brought Shiro 
into the dojo today to show off what he had 
learned.  He did well.  He even beat Saburo." 

"That's wonderful, dear!" she said.  Smiling 
now, she proudly began, "So there's no 
problem at all.  You started training him 
today, didn't you?"  

The anger, shame and guilt evident on his 
face answered her better than words could 
have.  "What can I do, Minako?  He is too 
small to be a samurai.  What kind of respect 
would he be able to get from other warriors?  
As a samurai, our son will be a 
laughingstock, a dishonor to the family.  I 
think we should send him off to a monastery.  
He is smart and quick, he could be a good 
monk."  Righteous indignation over the 
imagined future slight to his family's honor 
overwhelming all other emotions, he finished, 
"In fact, I think that he is already causing 
a stain on our family name.  Imagine, the 
children of peasants beating and taunting an 
Asai!"

She couldn't believe what her husband had 
just spoken.  Angrily, she began, "You will 
never say that to me again!  He is OUR son 
and I will NOT let him be sent away.  Do you 
understand me?"  

"Very Well.  Just don't expect me to treat 
him as I do his brothers and sisters who are 
normal," he answered with venom.

"Ohhhhh, I do not believe I am hearing this 
from you!  Do you not love your own son?"  
Minako furiously asked.

"When your son is a curse sent to us by the 
Kami?  No," he said with finality.

"Very well, dear, I will take care of him," 
she said in a cold hiss.   

"Very well.  Good night," that said, he stood 
up and went to their bedroom.  

...

A little boy, who should not have been awake, 
was.

.

A little boy, who should have been in bed, 
wasn't.

.

A little boy, who should not have listened, 
had.

.


A little boy who loved his father more than 
anything else, learned   

...

his father didn't love him.  

...

His father was ashamed of him.  

...

A little boy, who should have been happy, 
cried.  

...

A little boy, who should not have been awake, 
... was.
 
...

*********************

The next morning, he and his mother began a 
new game.  She told him that he had to learn 
to fail, before he could learn to win.  He 
did not know what that meant.  He did know 
that his mother loved him and she was 
spending time with him.  What more did he 
need to know?  

All he had to do to win was to walk across a 
log.  That was easy.  His mother then 
suspended the log by ropes.  That was harder, 
but he did it.  Minako then let his sisters 
try to knock him off with sticks.  He learned 
what failing was.  It was being hit by your 
sister with a stick!  It hurt!  By the time 
he was six, he was able to run back and forth 
on the log while it and his sisters swung 
away.

As time went by, the games got harder and 
harder.  After he learned to fail, they 
played tag.  All he had to do was to tag his 
mother.  It was harder than he expected.  She 
kept dodging and moving in ways that he never 
anticipated.  She was a gentle and patient 
teacher.  After every game, she sat down and 
talked to him about how he could have tagged 
her and what he could do the next day.  He 
wanted to be the best for his Mommy.  As he 
became better at the game, fewer of the 
village children could get away with beating 
him up or taunting him.  However, he always 
felt set apart from the other children.  They 
always looked down on him because he was so 
much smaller than everyone else.  

His father never really said much to him.  
Occasionally, Hikozabe would ask him if he 
had grown any.  When told no, the man would 
frown and turn away, hurting the boy.  All 
Shiro wanted from his father was his father 
to be proud of him.  
 
*********************

When Shiro was seven years old, a plague 
struck the village.  Within the Asai 
household, Shiro, two of his sisters and his 
mother all came down with it.  Hikozabe 
called the village doctor in.  

After the doctor finished examining his wife, 
he concernedly asked, "What can be done for 
my family, doctor?" 

Looking at Hikozabe with pity, the doctor 
shook his head.  "The only thing that can be 
done for your family is to keep them warm and 
filled with liquids.  This is a disease that 
kills from dehydration.  If you make sure 
that they always have something to drink, 
they should live."

The patriarch of the Asai family stared at 
the doctor for a moment.  After a few 
moments, he nodded and said, "It shall be so 
doctor, I will make the arrangements."

He sat at the edge of the bed he and Minako 
shared and looked at her.  She was sleeping 
restlessly, turning often trying to escape 
the heat of her fever.  Gently laying his 
hand on her brow, he told her, "Wife, I 
promise that you and our daughters will 
survive this.  If you do not, the doctor 
shall die."

"Forgive me, wife.  The kami has sent us a 
chance to remove the shame that Shiro brings 
to us," pain and guilt throbbed in his voice.  
"I will mourn his passing."  Standing, he 
left the room and gave the orders to their 
servants.

She had not been asleep.  Hearing everything 
he had said and waiting until he had left the 
house, Minako ordered the servants to move 
her stricken children into the room with her.  
While her husband and the rest of their 
children stayed safely in the dojo, the 
servants took care of them and would obey 
her.  

She forced herself to fight the disease, so 
that she could care for Shiro.  Sacrificing 
her water for him, she her health quickly 
deteriorated.  Once she knew that all of her 
children would survive, she released her 
tenuous hold onto life and slipped away. 

At the funeral pyre, Hikozabe, in an agony of 
self-loathing and grief yelled at Shiro, "You 
are the cause of my wife's death.  You are 
not her son and never were my son.  You've 
always been a leech on this family.  From 
this day on, you are not to call yourself my 
son or an Asai!  You have no family.  Leave 
my presence now, Murderer!"  

Shiro did not know what to feel.  Disowned by 
his father, he had yet to comprehend that his 
mother was truly gone.  Numbed by the 
enormity of the calamities he faced, he was 
paralyzed with emotional shock.  He slept 
that night in the temple where his mother's 
funeral pyre had been, not knowing what else 
to do or where to go.  

The next morning he went to see the man who 
had been his father.  Wanting to have 
something of his mother's, he asked Hikozabe 
for a small treasure to remember her by.  

Hikozabe looked down at him and snarled, "Now 
you come to me as a beggar asking for 
treasures?  Wait here, I'll bring you a 
treasure."

Leaving Shiro on the front entrance, Hikozabe 
entered his home. A little later, he brought 
out some of Minako's underclothes and threw 
them at Shiro, saying, "You always hid behind 
your mother.  Here is the only treasure of 
hers you are worthy of.  Leave my presence!  
I never want to see you again!"

His beloved mother would never see another 
sunrise. When she passed from this world into 
the afterlife, she took a part of Shiro with 
her. Emptiness bloomed within him, consuming 
his will to live. Grief-stricken and scared 
to death, he fell to the ground next to the 
back gate of the building that was once his 
home, wrapped his arms around himself and 
cried.

Too young to cope with what had happened, he 
retreated into himself, neither moving nor 
reacting to those around him.  Each day, one 
of his sisters would sneak him food and 
water, forcing it down him before leaving 
him.  If they hadn't done this for him, he 
would have died.  At the end of week, he came 
back to himself and the world.  Too young to 
apprentice and too small for unskilled labor, 
he became a street beggar.
 
*********************

A few months after the death of his mother 
and his eighth birthday, his mother's eldest 
sister, Li Ming, whose name meant beautiful 
and bright, arrived from China for a visit.  
Upon finding Shiro starving in the streets, 
she rescued him and found out what had 
occurred.  With her youngest nephew in tow, 
she stormed the family home finding her 
nieces working as servants while her nephews 
played in the front.  She was not pleased.

"Brother-in-law!" she yelled, anger simmering 
within her breast.  Not finding him in the 
yard, she marched into the dojo, discovering 
him there.  "What is the meaning of forcing 
my nieces into servitude and throwing your 
own son into the streets?!"

In a voice accustomed to instant obedience, 
she coolly commanded, "Explain yourself, 
Asai!"

Unaccustomed to such insolence from a woman - 
in his own home no less - he crossed his arms 
over his chest, barely maintaining his calm 
demeanor.  "My daughters are learning to be 
proper Japanese wives, subservient to their 
husband in all things.  They are no concern 
of yours.  That which you called my son is 
nothing but a nameless beggar.  Take it if 
you wish." Smirking because he believed he 
put the disrespectful female in her place, he 
turned his back to her in dismissal.

"I will leave when it pleases me, male." she 
replied frostily, ready to kill him if the 
need should arise. "Know this: when I depart, 
your daughters and youngest son shall 
accompany me. I warn you now that if you try 
to stop me, you will not walk for many 
months." 

Gazing down at the frail looking female, 
Hikozabe barely restrained his laughter.  She 
was threatening him.  Figuring her for being 
crazy or a fool, he shook his head in dismay.  
Either way, no one, especially a woman, 
challenged him and walked away.  Smiling, he 
readied himself to teach her the lesson her 
sister had learned many years before.

Not a soul witnessed the events that took 
place in the dojo that day. All that was 
known was that a smiling Li Ming left the 
dojo unscathed.  On the other hand, Hikozabe 
had to be carried to his bedroom since both 
of his legs were broken.  Li Ming had kept 
her promise.

When Shiro later inquired as to what had 
happened, Li Ming smiled and said, "It 
matters not how tall one is when one cannot 
stand."

*********************

A week later, they were all aboard a ship 
bound for China.  In the tiny room they 
shared, Li Ming sat down with her nieces and 
nephew to describe their heritage and what to 
expect upon their arrival.

"Do any of you know that your mother's true 
name was Li Wei?" she asked, hesitating as 
they responded negatively.  "It means 
Beautiful Rose.   She was my youngest sister 
and was the prettiest of us all.  In 
addition, she was a mighty warrior, an 
Amazon."

"True Amazon warriors do not marry until they 
find a warrior who can defeat them.  Many men 
tried and failed to win my sister's heart," 
she wistfully remembered.  With a scornful 
sniff, she continued, "It was not until the 
Japanese giant came and challenged her that 
she lost her heart to anyone.  Your father 
was very handsome when he rode into the 
challenge arena that day.  In less than five 
minutes it was over, he surprised everyone 
with the ease and quickness with which he 
defeated her."

"Leaving with him for Japan, she changed her 
name to please him," their aunt said with 
disgust.  "He had suggested to her that she 
would be treated in a more befitting manner, 
if she had a Japanese name."    

Slowly and with great trepidation, she 
reached out for Shiro.  He came into her 
arms, stiffly, neither rejecting nor 
accepting her embrace.  

Lovingly holding him, she quietly spoke, 
"Shiro, I am sorry for what that ... worm ... 
did to you.  It was inexcusable.  I promise 
that you will never be  abandoned again.  
Why?  I love you and there are many other 
members of our family in the village that 
love you, sight unseen.  We will not allow 
anyone to hurt you like that again."  

Looking back at her with empty eyes, he was 
too afraid of being hurt to love anyone 
again.  He moved out of her arms and sat next 
to her, sighing, "I guess that will be nice."

Seeing Shiro's pain and listlessnes hurt Li 
Ming more than any injury she'd ever received 
in combat.  She had visited the family before 
and knew how happy and energetic he should 
be.  The sympathetic anguish one feels seeing 
children face a world they're not ready for 
gnawed at her.  She wanted to turn back the 
clock. If she had only left a few months 
earlier, they would have been spared.  

She looked at them and solemnly stated,  "I 
want to ask all of you a very important 
question.  Please think about it before you 
answer me."  She paused, making sure that she 
had their attention.  "When we get to our 
village, our home, I would like to formally 
adopt you.  You would become my children.  I 
can't replace my sister, your mother.  I 
don't want to.  I want to and promise to be 
the best mother I can be for you.  Will you 
let me?"

Looking at each other and then crying in 
happiness, Shiro's sisters embraced Li Ming.  
That was all the answer she needed from them.  
Beginning to cry herself, she smiled at Shiro 
expectantly.  As she looked at him, her smile 
faltered.  

Withdrawing into the farthest corner of the 
little room, Shiro looked at her in complete 
shock. In his mind, he was reliving every 
instance where the ones he loved had either 
wounded him or been hurt because of him.  He 
felt anew the agony of his father's rejection 
when he was five, the love for his mother as 
she gave her life for his, the overwhelming 
grief when his father blamed him for her 
death and the betrayal felt when his father 
disowned him.  Too young to either understand 
or control what he was feeling, he was swept 
away in the maelstrom.

Unnoticed tears made their salty way down his 
face as he stared at his Aunt. He wanted to 
accept her offer, but was afraid of the pain.  
In a tiny whisper, he said, "Thank you, Aunt 
Li Ming.  I c-cannot accept; I have a mother.  
She may be d-dead, but she is and always will 
be my mother.  I d-don't need anyone else."  

Li Ming cried bittersweet tears. She was 
happy to adopt her nieces, yet she grieved 
over the pain endured by her nephew.  She 
made a vow to be his mother in action, if not 
in name.  One day, she promised herself, she 
would break through his self-made walls and 
bring the happy little boy she knew hid there 
out into the light of day once again.

*********************

Early one morning, they crested a hill giving 
Shiro and his sisters their first view of 
their new home.  Beside him, he heard his 
Aunt sigh, happy to be near her village 
again.  

"Welcome to your new lives!"  She began 
walking faster.  "The village of Joketsuzoku 
will always welcome you.  Let us hurry, there 
is much to do today."

"I must prepare you for what will happen 
today.  When we enter the village, I will 
take you to my home and you must wait there 
while I report all that has happened to the 
village elders.  This evening, we'll have a 
naming ceremony for you.  You will lose your 
weak and barbaric Japanese names and gain 
strong Amazonian names."  

Speaking to his three sisters, she continued, 
"I will also formally adopt the three of you 
tonight."     

"Shiro," she calmly and carefully said. "I 
will care for you as my own.  If you ever 
want to call me mother, I would be pleased."

"Thank you, Aunt," Shiro spoke.  Retreating 
from the love being offered to him, his voice 
betrayed no emotion.

While meager in its furnishings, her home was 
very spacious.  In addition to having a 
separate kitchen and great room, there were 
three bedrooms.  The girls took one, Shiro 
another and Li Ming kept the master suite.  
She asked them to unpack and to reopen the 
home, while she visited the elders.  

Late that afternoon, she came back wearied 
from her meeting with the council.  She told 
her charges to get themselves ready for they 
would be formally accepted into the tribe 
that night.  They were given baths and new 
clothes in preparation.

When the sun had set and the moon had fully 
risen, he and his sisters were brought to the 
center of the village where the full Council 
of Elders waited.  Not until he saw the 
powerful women seated before him did he truly 
understand what strength the Amazons 
possessed.  For the first time, he understood 
that his father had been wrong in not 
training him.  If size and strength were the 
only measure of a warrior, none of the women 
before him would have been allowed to study 
the Arts.  

Stunned by the revelation, he missed the 
first question asked of him.  "I-I'm sorry, 
elder.  Could you repeat the question?" he 
humbly stammered.

"I asked, boy, what is your connection to the 
tribe?"  a pleasant-faced elderly woman 
wearing Chinese body armor repeated herself 
in an amused tone.

"My mother was sister to Li Ming.  She was 
the wife of Hikozabe Asai, the man who once 
was my father," he replied evenly.

Nodding her head in approval, the matriarch 
smiled as she said, "You come from a strong 
and respected family.  Tell me, why is it 
that you and your sisters are here and not 
with your father?"

Licking his lips nervously, he glanced at his 
sisters before replying, "I cannot speak for 
my sisters.  The one who was my father 
accused me of. accused me of." As the guilt 
and the grief of his mother's loss 
overwhelmed him, he fell crying to his knees.  

Li Ming ran forward, grabbed the little boy 
and hugged him to herself.  Facing the 
elders, she angrily spat at the one who had 
asked the question, "I told you earlier today 
what had happened.  Why did you feel it 
necessary to open his wounds again?"

"It is necessary to find out how strong his 
will is, my dear," the elder responded.  "If 
he is to be of service to the tribe, he must 
be able to face any challenge calmly and 
fearlessly."

"You asked of an eight-year old child what is 
required of an Amazon when she comes of age," 
Li Ming refused to back down. The warrior and 
woman in her both fought to protect her 
precious little nephew.  "Is it wise to shoot 
an arrow before fletching it?  Just so, 
asking of a boy what one would seek from a 
man."

 "Are you challenging me?" asked the armored 
elder in a carefully controlled voice.

Having listened to the entire exchange, Shiro 
wasn't sure what was about to happen, but 
felt that it would probably be bad for Li 
Ming.  He had to do something!  Summoning his 
courage, he pulled away from his aunt and 
through his tears told them his story. 

"Elders, my mother's husband claimed that I 
murdered her and he disowned me.  My mother, 
two of my sisters and I had been sick.  The 
servants gave my sisters and mother all the 
water they could drink.  My mother told me 
that my father had ordered them to give me 
none.  She died giving me her water," he 
spoke, trying to remain calm by focussing on 
saying the words, not thinking of their 
meanings.  As he finished, the meaning of 
what he had said fell onto him.  For the 
second time that night, he crashed to the 
ground in an agony of self-inflicted 
accusations and heartache.

Listening to his words, one would have 
thought that he had spoken calmly and 
dispassionately. The tears flowing down his 
face and his shivering frame proved that 
supposition false.  

As he mournfully wept upon his Aunt's 
shoulder, his thoughts crashed into each 
other in a mad cacophony of memories and 
emotions.  Reliving his father's refusal to 
train him, he tumbled forward thorugh his 
short life, re-experiencing every rejection 
and slight that Hikozabe had inflicted upon 
him.  Once again plunging into the abyss of 
grief he suffered at his mother's death, he 
remembered her hoarse voice whispering of his 
father's murderous plot.  Then, just as he 
was about to submit to the black hole of 
depression, a new light began to burn within 
his breast, the dark need for revenge.  His 
ravening desperation for it would drive him 
to gain the skills necessary to challenge and 
destroy all that the dog who had sired him 
held dear.  

Later trying to remember that night, he found 
that all of his memories ended at the point 
where he recited his history.  His and his 
sisters' acceptance into the tribe had been 
solemnized when they received new names.  His 
was Qi Li.  He and his sisters would live 
under his Aunt's care.  His sisters' adoption 
by Li Ming was also formalized that night.  
He retained none of it.
 
The first thing he did as he settled in was 
to make a shrine for his mother.  Since all 
he had of her were here undergarments, he 
made them the centerpiece of her shrine.  He 
prayed there at least twice a week.  He would 
have long conversations with her.  The only 
time he ever talked about himself was when he 
prayed at his mother's shrine.  

Not wanting to be hurt again, Qi Li stayed 
away from the other children.  He actively 
avoided the men of the tribe and was 
considered a shy, reserved child by the 
Amazons.  Forced to learn Chinese and attend 
both school and martial training with them, 
he knew who they were, but rejected any 
overtures of friendliness.  Children being 
children, they thought his snubs came from 
his being Japanese and considering himself 
their better.  

It was quickly discovered that he was a 
natural at all martial arts.  Slowly as his 
skills increased, the other children came to 
respect him.  It surprised him that no one 
ever told him his height was a problem.  If 
anything, they thought more of him because he 
wasn't as big and strong as most of the 
others.  Within his first year with the 
Amazons, he could defeat almost all of the 
girls and boys in his age group.  The one 
exception was a girl, named Cologne.  He 
would defeat her one week; she would train, 
come back and beat him the next.  Despite his 
reluctance, the two of them formed a 
friendship through their rivalry.

*********************

During his ninth year of life, Cologne took 
it upon herself to show her friend the 
wonders that the world around them held.  She 
told him of the Jusenkyo springs nearby and 
the legends of how the Musk tribe captured 
brides.  Going on training trips together, 
they explored the jungle around their 
village, where they saw everything from a 
tiger stalking a red deer to a tiny beetle 
escaping from a lizard.  Knowing of his 
interest in the fighting arts, she brought 
him to each seasonal tournament, held to 
determine who the best fighter in each age 
group was. Everything failed to impress the 
sardonic child, so she, breaking the rules of 
the village, stole him into the Amazon 
treasure vault.  Looking over the accumulated 
wealth and treasure of the tribe, she was 
overcome with awe.  When she glanced at Qi 
Li, she saw visible disappointment in the 
boy.  

"What is it?" she asked disbelievingly.  
"You're not impressed with all that our tribe 
has amassed in its three thousand year 
history?"

He picked up a bracelet with what looked like 
three different colored pearls on it.  "This 
is all junk!  I thought you said there were 
items of magic stored here.  All I see is 
some gold and jewelry."  

Angrily picking up a hand-mirror, she showed 
it to him.  "See this mirror?  This is the 
Nanban mirror and it is magical."

"It's just a mirror.  What's so special about 
it?"  Qi Li said in a bored tone.  He had 
been expecting a magic sword, spear or at 
least a shield.

"It's very special!  If you shed a tear on 
it, it can take you anywhere and anytime you 
ask."  She waved it at him as if that would 
prove it.

"You're just saying that," he said, not 
believing her. 

Cologne was both angry and scared.  If her 
anyone caught her with the mirror, she 
wouldn't be able to sit for a week or go out 
of the house for a month.  Still, this jerk 
had challenged her, "Okay, I will."  

She thought for a minute, trying to come up 
with the perfect place.  What would she want 
to see if she had the chance?  She looked at 
him and smiled. 

Forcing a tear from her eye and as it hit the 
mirror, she said,  "Take us to the day Qi 
Li's mother was defeated and married!" 

"NO! I DON'T WANT..." Qi Li began to scream 
as the Mirror performed its magic.

The mirror brought Cologne and Qi Li to the 
outskirts of the village.  

"TO GO THERE!", Qi Li finished.  Looking 
around and discovering that they weren't in 
Cologne's home anymore, he hastily said, 
"Please, let's go back.  I believe you!"

Cologne laughed, "You challenged me and we 
will finish this challenge.  Don't you want 
to see your father and mother again?  
Especially on their day of betrothal, It'll 
be so romantic!"  Teasing him just a little, 
she asked, "Why do you want to go back, are 
you scared?"

"I'm not scared of anything!  Let's go," he 
shouted at her as her jibe stung him.

They looked around.  The village looked the 
same.  However as they approached the gate, 
they noticed that the guard looked like a 
young version of an elder.  

"You there, who are you and what do you want 
here?"  The guard asked in a bored tone as 
she leaned on her spear.  

Cologne politely answered, "We are Amazons.  
I am Cologne and this is Qi Li.  We are here 
to visit Li Wei and Li Ming.  Could you 
direct us to their home?"

Awake now, the guard looked suspiciously at 
the children.  They spoke the proper 
Amazonian dialect, but she knew that she had 
never seen them before. Straightening herself 
up, she decided to quiz these children before 
allowing them entry, "If you truly are 
children of Amazons, answer these two 
questions.  What does it mean when an 
outsider woman defeats an Amazon?  If an 
Amazon warrior is defeated by an outsider 
male, what happens"

Rolling their eyes at each other, they turned 
and repeated the law as it pertained to 
outsiders verbatim.  Impressed, the guard 
allowed their entry into Joketsuzoku.

Approaching the home of Qi Li's mother, they 
heard a crashing sound as if a wardrobe had 
been overturned followed by a scream of 
frustration.  "Where is my sword?  I can't 
fight without my sword!  Mother, Li Ming hid 
it, I just know it!"  

"Is that your mother's voice?" Cologne asked 
in front of the door.

Qi Li hesitated before answering, "I think 
so, but I never heard her scream like that."

With his confirmation, Cologne gathered her 
courage and knocked on the door.  

When the door opened, Qi Li felt his heart 
quicken, for there before him was his 
beautiful mother.  A disheveled young woman 
of around eighteen stood before them.  Her 
long brown hair was the same as he 
remembered, but it had not been tamed yet.  
It was obvious that the warrior in front of 
them was as nervous as a bride on her wedding 
day.
 
Her green, piercing eyes focused on two young 
children, nervously fidgeting on her front 
stoop, a boy and a girl.  The girl looked 
scared but was bravely facing her fear, as an 
Amazon should.  The small little boy smiled 
in recognition, confusing her as she had 
never met these children before. 

Gruffly, she asked, "Yes, may I help you?"  

The woman standing in front of her startled 
Cologne.  Based on Qi Li's looks, she never 
expected his mother to be as tall or as 
beautiful as this.  She stammered, "L-Li 
Wei?" 

"Yes, I have a challenge I'm trying to get 
ready for.  What is it that I can help you 
with?"  She didn't have time to fool with 
children today.  She had to get ready and was 
sure that her sister had hid both her best 
outfit and sword!

"W-W-We heard about your fight and wanted to 
know . could we watch it?"  Qi Li stammered 
out to his mother.  With all of his heart and 
soul, he wanted to hug her, but knew the 
gesture would be futile as she didn't even 
know who he was.

"Yes.  It will be in the challenge arena at 
noon.  Feel free to watch."  Smiling at the 
stricken boy, Li Wei continued, "Watch this 
fight well boy.  You might want to catch this 
one someday."

Cologne and Qi Li both blushed as Li Wei was 
called back inside by her sister and mother.

Cologne and Qi Li went to the challenge 
arena, found a good place to watch and 
waited.  A little before noon, Li Wei, 
resplendent in her challenge clothes, entered 
the arena.  Wearing an emerald green silk 
blouse matching her eyes, it bore a red 
stylized dragon.  The dragon's tail started 
by her right waist, coiled up and around her 
three times with its head on her left 
shoulder and continued to her elbow.  
Completing her outfit, she wore matching 
green silk pants with red fringe and red 
leather slippers.  Her weapon of choice was a 
Chinese Great Sword.  She whirled it up and 
around herself as if it were made of straw.  

Qi Li watched mesmerized as she performed her 
hypnotic kata, stealing the crowds breath.  
The gentle, loving healer he had known stood 
before him, but the grace in which she used 
the weapon of destruction exposed a side of 
her he had never experienced.  Her 
proficiency with the sword made him wonder 
how his father ever had a chance.

Staring down at Qi Li's mother, Cologne was 
thoroughly impressed, despite herself. 
Between Li Wei's unrivalled beauty and 
incredible skill, she quietly wished that 
upon her challenge day, she would look just 
like this warrior. Stealing a glance at the 
boy beside her, she smiled, almost jealous of 
his parentage, as he sat frozen in place, 
unable to remove his eyes from his mother.

At high noon, the jingling sound of men on 
horseback approaching drew their attention.  
A small troop of twenty riders trotted 
through the center of the village towards Li 
Wei.  Reaching the arena, all but one stopped 
and formed a defensive arc allowing them a 
view of the oncoming battle.  The leader of 
the band stopped some 5 meters from Li Wei, 
towering over her, high upon his steed.  
There were audible sighs of lust coming from 
some of the unmarried warrior maidens 
watching and they shot envious glances at 
their Amazon friend.

Hikozabe dismounted smoothly and gallantly, 
his intricate samurai armor causing him to 
land heavily upon the dirt.  A sheathed sword 
lay on his waist, its hilt glinting in the 
light of the sun.  Removing his finely 
wrought helmet, he allowed locks of long 
black hair to spill over his broad shoulders.  
His handsome face seemed to be chiseled from 
ice, as he calmly strode to face his chosen 
wife.

"Do you accept my challenge, Amazon?"  He 
demanded in his proud, haughty voice.

"I accept,"  Li Wei said without emotion, 
though a bead of sweat visible to those in 
the front row betrayed her calm exterior.

"Shall we begin, milady?"  Hikozabe bowed, 
never taking his eyes off of her.

"Yes."

As the word passed her lips, he straightened 
and with his right hand a blur of motion, 
drew a gleaming silver pistol from the cloth 
sash at his waist.  The following gunshot 
echoed over the valley, stunning every 
witness but those who had arrived with the 
offender.

As the smoke began to drift off the field, he 
lazily stowed the pistol back in his sash.  
Smiling at the fallen Amazon, he drew his 
katana, placing the tip against her throat.  
"Do you yield?"

Clutching at her right leg, she tried to 
stand.  He leant forward, nicking her throat 
with his blade.  "Yield or die, it's your 
choice."  He gave her options in an 
incongruously happy tone of voice.

Sliding back down to the ground, she nodded 
her acceptance of defeat before passing out 
from shock.

Speechless, Qi Li's jaw dropped open.  The 
samurai had used a banned weapon.  Guns of 
all kinds had been outlawed centuries before 
in Japan.  His cowardly -father- had just 
used one to defeat his mother.

"You honorless dog!"  Qi Li yelled out in 
Japanese as he raced onto the field.  "You 
would use a coward's weapon to gain a wife?"

"Who are you, boy, to challenge me and my 
honor?"  Hikozabe's voice dripped with 
disdain.

"I know that samurai are not allowed to use 
that weapon!"  So upset that he was shaking, 
Qi Li continued, "I challenge you!"  

Cologne was mortified.  Knowing Amazon law 
and custom, she thought the trip was going to 
be a great celebration of warrior skill and 
triumph.  Instead, they both found out that 
his mother had been beaten by an honorless 
trick.  However, the law only spoke of 
defeat, not how the victory was achieved.  
Thus, Li Wei was now the wife of an honorless 
samurai in the eyes of the tribe.

"I accept, welp," Hikozabe said to Qi Li. "I 
am Hikozabe Asai, a noble samurai. Learn my 
name and fear it!"

"I am Qi Li and I am a warrior,"  Qi Li said 
through clenched teeth as he attacked.

Qi Li remembered that his father always tried 
to defeat attackers by using his height and 
reach.  He closed in so that he was inside of 
Hikozabe's defense, pummeling his father in 
the stomach.  If the man had not been in his 
armor, he would have been knocked down by the 
attack.  Instead, he sent the boy sprawling 
into unconsciousness with the pommel of his 
sword.  

Looking at Cologne as she rushed to Qi Li's 
side, Hikozabe snarled, "I should have killed 
him, but I have no wish to kill someone on my 
wedding day.  Get him out of my sight."

Cologne pulled Qi Li away from the arena.  
She then hugged him as she cried onto the 
mirror. "Take us home."

Qi Li and Cologne never talked about that day 
again. 
 
*********************

The years passed quietly for Qi Li.  He had 
no use for education; it wouldn't help him 
gain his vengeance.  Martial Arts, on the 
other hand, would and he spent all his waking 
hours perfecting his skills.  The Amazons 
taught him all of their basic techniques, but 
never gave him the advanced training that 
their warriors received.  He was a man and 
not allowed use of them.  The one piece of 
special knowledge that he was taught was the 
ability to store weapons on a different plane 
of existence.  They tried to tell him where 
and what it was, but he didn't care as long 
as it worked.

When Cologne turned fourteen, she found that 
she had acquired an enemy.  A village girl, 
named Xian, was determined to displace 
Cologne as the best warrior in their age 
group.  An eighteen year old, Xian was tall, 
beautiful and a dirty fighter.  She couldn't 
defeat Cologne in a fair fight and had 
decided to remove her any way she could.

When Qi Li had just turned seventeen, Xian 
managed to steal all of the items from his 
shrine.  Knowing what they truly were, she 
told everyone that the Cologne had stolen 
them.

When Qi Li discovered the theft, he felt a 
cold fury at the woman who had desecrated his 
mother's shrine.  For the first time in his 
life, he began generating a battle aura.  As 
he walked through the village searching for 
Xian, everyone moved out of his way at his 
approach, children and elders alike.  He 
found his target outside of Cologne's home, 
trying to frame his friend of the theft.

"As soon as I hide everything, I'll get Qi Li 
and tell him I saw his friend steal his 
mother's things," Xian said to herself.  
Laughing a little in anticipation, she said 
"I'll bet that Qi Li will be angry enough to 
hurt her.  I'll challenge her then."

"It's too late, bitch.  I've caught the real 
thief."  a cold voice from behind her 
snarled.

As Xian turned around, her face paled at the 
sight before her.  Within a swirling mass of 
chi, Qi Li stood, advancing towards her with 
slow, deliberate steps.  The young man's 
face, contorted into a mask of unearthly 
rage, spoke to Xian of pain and torment about 
to be given freely to her.  Losing all 
semblance of intelligence, she panicked and 
ran three steps before being caught from 
behind.

When his prey tried to run, Qi Li leapt and 
kicked her in the small of the back bringing 
her down onto her stomach.  For the second 
time in his life, he focused completely on 
one and only one objective, to make this 
person feel the agony he felt when he 
discovered his shrine violated.  With six 
blows, he shattered his opponent's hips, 
knees and ankles.  Xian would heal, but would 
be reminded of this crime for as long as she 
would take to heal.  

Without a word he rolled off his victim, 
gathered up his mother's things and walked 
back to his shrine.  Not hearing the pitiful 
whimpering emitted behind him, he took 
inventory as he returned, making sure that 
nothing was missing.

Cologne came for him that evening.  Pale and 
shaken, she knocked on the door to his shrine 
and awaited his recognition before entering. 

"Come in." 

"Qi?" she timidly queried.  "I've been sent 
to bring you to the Council.  What you did to 
Xian today has to be judged."  

"I've been waiting," his faced was tear-
streaked.  After returning to the shrine, 
sanity had returned to him, along with its 
attendant, remorse.  "I'm not sorry for 
hurting her, Cologne.  I'm sorry that I lost 
control."

Maintaining her dignity as an Amazon, she 
kept tight rein on her emotions and managed 
to answer him, "I know Qi Li.  What she did 
was absolutely unforgivable.  What you did to 
her, she deserved to get from me."

Unfortunately for him, the crime he was 
charged with was harming a warrior.  No man 
of the tribe was allowed to show such 
disrespect to an amazon.  The only thing that 
saved him from death that night was that Xian 
had stolen from him and he was retrieving his 
stolen articles.  The final judgement that 
night was for Qi Li to suffer one year as a 
pariah, no one except for Cologne was allowed 
to speak or notice him.  

Cologne received her special dispensation for 
two reasons.  The first because she had 
witnessed both Xian's crime and Qi Li's 
vengeance.  The second reason was the fact 
that in the eyes of the village, the two of 
them were fated to be married.  She, herself, 
expected to be his wife one day, of course, 
she would lose her challenge on the day of 
her choosing, not his.

Feeling that the wrong person was punished, 
Qi Li railed against the punishment meted out 
to him.  Knowing that nothing could change 
the mind of the Council once a decision had 
been announced, he decided that if he was to 
be judged a criminal, a criminal he would 
become.  

Seeing it as a challenge of skill and 
courage, he began stealing various pieces of 
clothing from all of the different warriors 
in the village.  Not getting caught, he got 
bolder and decided to see if he could sneak 
into the treasure vault and out again.  He 
did and took two mementos with him, a 
bracelet, thinking it would look good on 
Cologne, and the Nanban Mirror.  

He left the village forever on the day that 
Cologne discovered that he had the Nanban 
Mirror.  She began chasing him through the 
village and the rest of the Amazon women 
quickly joined in.  The sensation of narrowly 
escaping from a horde of angry warriors gave 
him a thrill he had never before felt.  It 
was a heady, intoxicating delight that he 
wanted, no, needed to feel again.  

>From that day forth, he was no longer Qi Li, 
a child of the Amazons.  He would become a 
wandering warrior, taking any challenge in 
order to become a better fighter.  When he 
felt his skills were sharp enough, he would 
return to Hikozabe Asai and take from him all 
that he treasured.  Li Ming had begun the 
process by taking his three daughters and 
adopting them.  He would finish by taking 
away his sons, his name and his honor.  In 
all, his father would lose the eight 
foundation stones he built his life upon.  
So, Qi Li renamed himself Happosai, or eight 
temple treasures, thus signifying the 
vengeance that he would wreak upon the man 
who had sired him.

*********************

Finishing the reminiscence, Happosai allowed 
quiet to settle peacefully between himself 
and his mother's shrine.  Pondering the same 
questions that had plagued him since he was 
young, he wondered how his life would have 
been different if his father had been 
honorable or had loved him, if he had 
accepted Li Ming's offer of adoption or had 
stayed with the Amazons and had become 
Cologne's husband.  

Wiping the remaining tears from his eyes, he 
closed the shrine carefully.  "Goodbye 
mother, I love you."

With a rueful shake of his head, he shook the 
melancholy from himself and said, "Bah, I've 
lived my life as I thought best, regrets will 
neither keep me warm at night or fed during 
the day."  

He sat back for a moment and listened to the 
sounds of activity within the Tendo home.  
Hearing the distinctive tenor of his favorite 
student, he grabbed a handy article of 
clothing and ran from his room.  It was time 
for the two of them to train!

***********************************************

I hope you liked the re-write of this Chapter.  Let
me know what you think of it!

I want to thank all of my pre-readers for their input on this 
revision.

Mike Allen
http://home1.gte.net/allenmk/