[Fiction] Protest

[z-Gu Saori]

She had never thought it would come to this, but Saori knew that she had no choice - not a choice that she could live with, at any rate. Her bags and few possessions were packed, as were Grandfather's things; they had never had much to begin with, and the fire last fall had reduced their material wealth even more. But so long as Grandfather went with her, Saori knew that she had all the wealth that she needed.

She was ready, and Grandfather was waiting in Toyko, in the temporary apartment she had found for them this morning. It was not much, but it would serve until she could figure out where they were going next. She had one more thing to do, the hardest thing yet - no, that would be the second hardest thing. The hardest would be saying goodbye to her niece and nephew, and to try to explain why she was leaving without besmirching Long's name further. She owed him that much, at least.

That much, and to let him hear the truth from her own lips. With a heavy heart, she went to find her brother.

[Long]

Long stood at the edge of the pond, looking down at the young koi and plants that it had been refurnished with. The sounds of Saori's packing hadn't eluded him, but he knew she had good reason. "She sees my relationship with Sakurako as dishonorable, but she doesn't really understand it. She doesn't know the history between Endeavor and I. Perhaps the truth of the matter will help her see it for what it is."

He heard her exit the house and he smiled as he called to her, with apearly white smile. "Saori, sister, It is good to see you this morning."

[z-Gu Saori]

"Ryu," Saori said in Japanese, bowing gracefully and with perfect courtesy. "I have come to take my leave of your gracious hospitality and warm house. I have found an apartment in the city in which to move myself and Grandfather into, and I will be taking my things there this afternoon."

She paused to see how he was taking it; not a flicker of surprise passed over his features or body language. Effortlessly, she stifled the irritation that she felt; could nothing be sacrosanct from her brother? What must it be like to live with so much power, all the time? Saori could not comprehend such power, and she shook off those thoughts. Now was not the time for them.

"I know that you know my reasons for leaving; indeed, they should be as obvious to you," Saori said, raising her chin in the only sign of defiance she would ever show her brother. "I am not angry at you, Brother; you have been put in a bad situation. I am disappointed and saddened to see you fall to this level of dishonor. And while I love you, I cannot stay here, not and retain my own honor, such as it may be." A female irezumi half-breed indeed had little honor, and she could lose much more than she could ever possess.

Her peace spoken, she folded her hands respectfully in front of her and schooled her body and face to stillness. This was not the time for emotion, but for resolve and determination. She would be, for once in her life, the mountain, and not the willow tree.

[Long]

"Dishonor will pass Saori, it always has in this family." He looked back at the pond and then to Saori. "I will not force you to stay, and of course you will always be welcome in this house, You and Chien."

The Tiger covers the distance between himself and his sister in several steps. His voice drops to a faint whisper. "If you wish to leave I will not stop you. Know that so long as you remain in Japan, you're still covered under the aegis of my protection. Beyond these borders, enemies of which you have no idea may seek you out. They will use your grandfather against you, they will not hesitate to do so."

There's a pause as he allows Saori to comprehend the truth in those words. Then he laid a hand on her shoulder and continues. "My door will always be open sister, and the children will always be happy to see you." He smiles slightly and nods.

"My advice should you move anywhere beyond Japan's borders, would be to Chicago, I'm sure Amped wouldhelp you, and there, at least you would be safe. You could start over there, away from the madness of our society."

"Have I ever denied you anything? Have I ever ridiculed you because of the circumstances of your birth? When we first met I told you that because you are a nova, my sister, born of my father's love for your mother, that I would never turn you away, that I would always be your brother and accept you for who you are. I will hold true to my word Sister, always."

Everytime he spoke the word "sister" he placed a heavy emphasis upon it, the same going for "family" and "brother." He hated that she felt she had to leave, but she was just to used to the traditional way of things. Still he needed her in a way, and if she was to leave, then he would let hr go, but he wouldn't let it be easy for her.

[z-Gu Saori]

I am the mountain... His words reached her, but they did not sway her. They became a howling wind that fostered her own doubts and thoughts, but she was the mountain, and the mountain could not bow before the wind. "I have never questioned your word regarding myself, Brother," Saori said, her voice soft and quiet. "only your word regarding your wife. And Timeslip is your wife, and Ms. Hino Sakurako is not.

"You speak of dishonor passing, Brother? No, it does not pass," she continued, somehow retaining her calm composure even as her words were filled with firm conviction. "It is ignored, by a people that cannot ignore you. I listen to what is said and not said by the Nippontai. I hear the whispers of the people of this nation that say, 'Appease Long, so that he does not become angry.' I hear them worry, 'What if he does decide to take offense at this?'"

Saori stopped, pain in her eyes as she murmured, "It hurts me deeply to say this, but they fear you, so you may do anything you wish. You may have your wife disappear, and before she is gone five weeks, you may move your mistress, a national treasure, into your house. You may keep her here, as a disgraced woman and yet no one will speak against you. Indeed, until this moment, I would not speak against you; my protest was to leave.

"But our honors are linked, and I have far too much to lose by remaining in your shadow," Saori said. "Yes, I am protected here, by your presence, but your dishonor falls on me as well. It falls on the children as well; have you thought of them, and the disruption this brings? Oh, but they are safe in your presence."

His tiny sister somehow stood taller for a moment as she said, "Being safe is not the only or even the best thing in the world. Let me have my honor, for I have been without it my whole life, and I will fight to retain it. Let me die with the scraps of my honor wrapped about me. Let at least my killers say, 'There goes a woman who lived with virtue and did what was right and correct.' And I will die happy."

[Long]

"You think I do not know of their fears, of their attitude of appeasement? I've known fo over a decade Saori, a decade. No matter what I do they will always fear me." His tail lashes about behind him, the only hint of his irritation.

"As For Timeslip, she already knows what's going on. I hide nothing from my wife, as she does with me. I spent five months alone on an unpopulated world so that she could further her own path. When she came back to me, the woman I'd loved was forever changed. Since that time only misfortune has followed us. You are the only light that shone through the darkness enveloping this family."

"I sacrificed to bring you home, I sacrificed alot to keep this family together. Deals were struck that would horrify you. Yet I'd do it again, such is my devotion to family. When Timeslipkilled Excavator I helped her get away. I stood by her and have been there when she has needed me. She asked forleeway, enough freedom to do as she wished. I granted it, despite my misgivings, my anger at seemingly being passed over."

His eyes are stormy dark blue pools, his anger continuing to rise. "You question Endeavor, and our choices in each other. Before Timeslip and I met I nearly died defending Endeavor. That forges a bond that cannot be broken, that speaks of a love that transcends. Yes, I am a married man, Yes she has moved in, yes there is dishonor in those things. But the greatest dishonor would have been to do nothing at all, to go on, to grow cold, inhuman. Then they would have something truly ro be feared."

His knuckles crack as his fists clench and then uncurl. "The children understand, Timeslip understands. It is you that do not, but you have known so little of life beyond our culture. You turned down the opportunity to experience more. That was your choice."

Suddenly Long calms down completely and gives Saori a smile with a view of all his teeth. "In the end what humanity thinks is moot. We are a new race Saori, superior in every way. It is up to us to forge our own path. I had hoped that this family would walk together, but it is not to be. Our generation is just too different."

He nods and tosses Saori a small transmitter. "You may see me as dishonored, but we are still family. If you have need of me, use that, and I will come."

He turns to the pond and sighs. "Tell Chien that it was nice to have him around, My grandfather thought highly of him. He said said he was an honorable man, and that if nothing else, our ancestors would look after him, if his own did not."

Go in peace my sister, I will not stop you."

[z-Gu Saori]

"Yes, we are family, and I have and will always love you as my brother," Saori said, her voice soft. "You call what you have done with Endeavor honorable, but you know that to be a lie. The honorable thing would be to put her in a house away from your own, or to have married her before you met Timeslip if you love her so much. Or even to accept that you will never have her, and endure the loss like a warrior and a man.

"This 'walk' that you'd hoped the family would take together is not the path of our people, Ryu." Her voice was firm and unyielding. "It is the path of a madman who tells us to deny our ancestors. Timeslip does not understand; as a gaijan, I would not expect her to understand. But you should. I thought you did. But I was wrong; you are buying those words and do not see that they are destroying your family. You are superior, so you leave the path, the bushido for this new way, and you do not see the damage that it does because it allows you to do exactly as you wish."

Her shoulders sagged and she suddenly looked abashed. "This is not my place to admonish you, and I did not come here to do so. I will take my leave, and see you at another time." She bowed and turned, leaving the garden with quick steps.

[Long]

His voice calls out to her even as she leaves. "I understand better than you ever can Saori. I have lived a warrior's life, I have seen what the old ways lead to. That vision you had when you first looked upon me is only a fraction of what I can call upon because of it. I was a warrior before you were in school, I know how fleeting life truly is. I have denied myself much. Now I am not constrained by the need to do so. My children will grow up better, they will not suffer as I have. We will always evolve Saori. Our family endures and survives, it is that simple. In time I hope you come to understand that lesson. If you do not, it will be your own folly."

[z-Gu Saori]

"Don't talk to me about enduring, Ryu," Saori said, and for the first time, there was fire in her voice. She paused at the door, and her dark eyes flash as she said, "I endured much with less power than you can imagine. And I do not speak of being a baseline, but of being female and utterly despised by everyone I knew.

"And even I know that being a warrior is not about how much death you cause or how much power you have or even how much you deny yourself," she continued, opening the door. "It is about doing what is right, no matter the personal cost. You have great power, but you are not a warrior; you are just a killer, Brother. There is a difference, and I hope you learn it someday." And she was gone, slipping through the door with her usual grace.

[Long]

Her words echoed in his ears. He couldn't believe she'd spoken that way to him. He'd been working with her to start speaking her mind, and now it had come back to haunt him. Still an insult like that could not go unanswered. Long vanished and reappeared right in front of Saori, A look of pure hate in his eyes. His claws were all unsheathed and blue flames roiled over his body. He radiated pure unadulterated Wrath. At that moment he wanted nothing more to put Saori down like the dog she was. After all he'd done for her, she repayed him like this.

Suddenly another voice camme into his mind. "My son, would you really strike down your own flesh? Have you truly become that which she has said, that which HE made you?" It stopped him dead in his tracks. It gave him enough time to shunt away the unbridled rage and take his near human form. His blue eyes ablaze with light, he nodded once and then stood aside. "Live in interesting times Saori. Live in Japan at your own peril, and Chien's."

There was no mistaking the menace in his words, the barely veiled threat. He waited till she left and only then did his hand lash out smashing a hole in the stone wall. "I am more than a killer, I am a warrior, and whatever dishonor I face shall be a drop in the ocean compared to what I will see to it that you face. There is nowhere you can escape my grasp, little sister, not on this world or any other." His words were only the faintest whisper, a promise to see this betrayal repaid in full.

[z-Gu Saori]

The horror of Long's suden appearance makes her draw back; his obvious rage terrified her. Inside, a very primal part of her started screaming, the ancestoral part that remembered huddling around a campfire to keep predators away, waiting for the terrors to come for her out of the darkness. But the Loong stirred in her heart, and power filled her. "At least this time, I am exiled for doing the right thing," Saori said calmly. "And that, I can bear."

As soon as she left the house, she pulled out her cell phone and called Amped, leaving a quick message. Another call warned Chein to be ready to leave tonight. With that done, Saori tried to bring forth the Loong willingly. To her surprise, it was fairly easy.

The great golden creature considered the crate in front of her before hovering into place over the crate. With a screech of protesting wood, Saori picked up the crate and flew toward Toyko. She didn't look back at her former home once. She had left so many of them now, that losing one more didn't seem so great a loss.