[ussbansheec] The Third Degree Times Two

From: Andy Maluhia <CaptainAndy@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: ussbansheec@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Date: Fri, 12 May 2006 14:26:26 -0400

_  __The Third Degree Times Two_
by Ryu, Toshi, & Aki Midorikawa and Hakan Swiftwind

It felt strange after so many years to be setting foot onto a place that was not Earth and so far away from anything they knew of as home. And yet they had been summoned by one whose requests were not easily ignored. Besides, their littlest girl was here and they missed her so much. The two identical middle-aged men strode out of the airlock, their movements totally synchronised. They would surprise her first, they decided. Then perhaps take her out for a meal, take her ice-skating. She so loved to play on the ice. A small, satisfied smile touched their lips as they headed in the right direction. Maybe she would show them her place of work, even introduce them to some of her friends.

A constant conversation sustained the pair all the way up to her door, and yet not a single word was spoken aloud. Two hands reached for the chime, two men took two steps backwards and waited with perfect patience.

Hakan had yet to go back to his father's cabin and he was in no particular rush. He wanted to sit with Aki and simply enjoy her presence. He made a face at the sound of the chime. There were no doorbells on their house in Oklahoma. They annoyed his father entirely too much. Nobody seemed to be home in the other rooms (or maybe the Romulans were asleep still). Pulling on his shirt, he asked, "You think I should get that, pretty flower?"

"Please?" she called from the shower, grinning as she poked her head round the door. "It'll probably be for someone else."

He was still barefoot but his shirt was tucked in when he left the bedroom. Sure enough, the cranky photographer didn't seem to be about and neither did the Romulans. Eh, how bad could it be, he wondered as he opened the door's manual release. He blinked just once when he saw the two men standing there.

"Can I help you, sirs?" he asked in his usual calm tones.

Both men looked at one another then back at the tall gentleman in the doorway. He smelled of Aki, they surmised. Our Aki has found someone! In perfect unison, they said, "We are looking for Aki Midorikawa. We are her fathers."

If it had been any other situation, Hakan would have laughed at the perfectly stereo reply. Instead, his face lit with what his grandmother called 'the typical Swiftwind charm' and he said, "I can tell. Come in and have a seat. She's just in the shower." Holding out his hand, he added, "I'm Hakan Swiftwind."

As one shook the proffered hand, the other clapped the young man across the shoulder. "I am Toshi and this is my brother..."

"Ryu," said the other, though they looked so close in appearance. "You are our daughter's husband?"

"Pleased to meet you both since Aki's told me so much about you both," Hakan said, grinning at the seamless replies. "As to the answer to that question, I guess you can say not yet but one day soon."

"Intention is as good as the deed," Toshi said with a beaming smile.

"Which makes you her husband in fact if not name," Ryu added, settling himself in a chair. Dressed in soft robes of green, he was the sitting image of his brother who always dressed in red.

~~We have guests, Vehpotse. I suggest you hurry up just a bit~~ Hakan glanced at the replicator for all of two seconds before shaking his head. He offered the twins an apologetic shrug as he waved a hand at the machine. "I'd offer you both some tea, sirs, but I don't like that thing. We don't have one at home and it's just...unnatural."

"We do not drink from machines," Ryu explained with a mirrored shrug.

"Not since our sister died," Toshi, the more quiet of the two, said softly. "We are here to invite our littlest one to breakfast. Will you join us?"

"I'd be honored. Thank you," he said easily as he sat on the floor, glancing for a moment toward the bedroom. "My dislike of the machinery's been life long, though. The word my siblings like to use is 'technophobe'."

"Then you will find our littlest most tiresome," Ryu laughed. "She adores her modern luxuries."

"Often uses the public holosuites in Tokyo," Toshi added in his soft tones.

"Can't get her out of them."

Aki grinned as she toweled her hair dry and padded through, still only in shorts and her camisole. "My ears are burning," she chuckled as she dropped into Ryu's lap and gave him a huge hug. "Hey Daddy, missed you."

"Missed you too, little one," he said as he held her tightly.

Hakan was torn between surprise that she'd walk about so almost undressed in front of the two men and feeling her absolute delight. He was pleased that she was so happy but the mention of the holosuites bothered him. Nothing like that on the res and, even if there was, he wouldn't go near them.

"Now that's not entirely fair," Toshi frowned. "He gets a hug and I do not?"

Bopping to her feet, she dashed over and threw her arms around her other father, who picked her up and span her around. "Better?"

"Much," he laughed softly. "You look well, little one. Your husband was just telling us a little about him."

"Husband?" she said, peering round at Hakan with a dappy grin. "Yeah, I guess he is."

"I promised I'd be waiting, didn't I, Vehpotse?" Hakan asked.

"You did," she replied softly, letting her father go and dropping down next to Hakan. ~~You're quiet, what's wrong?~~

He draped an arm around her shoulders, unashamed of open affection, then kissed her cheek. ~~Oklahoma and the res aren't anything like you'd be used to, Aki. You'd be missing a lot~~

~~Like what? You've got beds, haven't you? You're going to be there, aren't you?~~

~~I'd never be anywhere else, Aki. I don't want you to miss out the things you like to do because of me, though~~ He brushed her cheek gently.

~~Hakan~~ Letting out a soft sigh, she glared over at her fathers. "What have you been telling him?"

Both men shrugged as they smiled back at her. "Nothing more than the truth, little one," Ryu said jovially. "Just how you like your modern living."

"Oh..." ~~You think I won't be able to do without? You think I'd resent you for it~~ Aki let a little sadness enter her eyes as she shook her head. "I'm not that shallow, am I?"

"Hardly," Hakan said, "but there's not a holo anything within miles of the res borders. Would that be so bad?"

"Why would I want to spend my time in a fantasy world when I've got you to come home to?" she asked in all seriousness.

He flushed with genuine humility, pleased at so simple a statement. "And if you really have a yen for fantasy, I can whip of some fantastic stories. So can my grandparents." Hugging her tightly, he looked at her fathers and said, "Your daughter is wonderful, sirs. I love her."

"We know she's wonderful," they both said with soft smiles to see their little one so happy, "we love her too. She's our perfect little girl."

"I'm 18, not a girl, just little," she huffed before laughing.

"The perfect size," Hakan agreed, towering over her even sitting down. "Don't get so huffy there, Aki. My father does the same thing to my sisters after all and you met Kimi."

"That's different," she said haughtily, "he's your father. They are mine and therefore should stop treating me like a baby."

Ryu burst into bright laughter, his brother simply smirking. "Do we treat your siblings any differently? Does your mother? We love you all and intend babying you from now until we die."

"Darlin', I'm not takin' sides but Neske'eehe, my grandmother, is over a hundred and she still thinks my father and uncle're two sweet boys," Hakan said with a snort of amusement in his grandmother's honor.

"Your young man understands," Ryu grinned. "I would bet all the tea in China on his own mother still treating him like her little boy."

Hakan let out a fond but exasperated sigh. "You sure you haven't met her yet?"

"No but we know mothers in general," they both smirked. The boy's name, though, hadn't been lost on them. Another Swiftwind, perhaps even a relation. Another bond to tie them closer.

"In fact, I'm sure my father's looking for me if he's realized I'm not back at the cabin. He about had a fit yesterday when I went for a walk, thinking something'd happened to me." ~~Got myself a date with a pretty girl is all but he doesn't know that~~

~~Keeping me a secret?~~ With a teasing smile, Aki rose to her feet and gave her fathers a wave. "I'm going to get dressed. I'll be out in two ticks."

Once their daughter was gone, Ryu fixed his dark eyes on the young man. "Is it fair to assume that your father does not know of your relationship with our daughter?"

"He doesn't," Hakan said as he shook his head, "but that would be because of any number of things. The first being that I value my privacy, even from him and Mama, and the second is because I really only met Aki yesterday."

"Yesterday?" Toshi said, raising greying eyebrows at him. "You move fast, boy. Too fast."

"I think it was a mutual thing, sir," Hakan said, meeting his eyes steadily. "I did nothing that both of us didn't want."

"You're older, more level headed, less flighty," Toshi continued, his soft voice never raising but his tone clearly harder than before. "If you have taken advantage..."

"I swear that I've done nothing of the sort," Hakan said fiercely. "If you understood just what it is I do for a living, you would understand why a certain flower has always appeared in any of my visions. It wasn't til I met Aki that I understood why. I couldn't hurt anything that was a gift from the One."

"We will see," Toshi said. "When you return to Earth, you will come to our home and spend time with our family. When you are known to us, we will decide if your intentions were honourable in this."

Ryu observed his brother's ferocity, smiling then at the young man. "I think that could have been worded as an offer rather than an order. You're welcome in our home and Aki's mother would like to meet with you at the very least. My brother is just a little over-protective of the littlest of us."

It wasn't quite anxiety that Hakan felt tickling at the back of his head but the very thought of not going home to Oklahoma made him uncomfortable. He'd do it if it would mean making Aki happy but he had no idea if he could pull it off successfully. Right at that moment, he wished one of his sisters was there to whisper in his ear and tell him what to do. "Like you said, sir--a father's entitled to be overprotective," he finally said. "I, ah, can't say as I've ever been to too many places on Earth in the last fifteen years or so: just Parris Island and London."

"Then you'll want to visit our homes in China and Japan," Toshi said flatly.

"Again," Ryu added slowly, "as a request. We would love to have you. Come and see us. Not right away but as soon as you like."

"Or you all could come to Oklahoma," Hakan said carefully. "We've been there hundreds of years. That land is our heartbeat."

Toshi's eyes narrowed but Ryu beamed.  "We'd love to, wouldn't we brother?"

"Hmm," Toshi grumbled.

"Ready!" Aki bounced back out then stopped dead at the darker atmosphere over everyone. "Um... Or I can go away again so you can all beat each other with clubs or some such other testosterone warfare," she snapped, glaring openly at her fathers.

Hakan held his hand out to her, inviting her closer, then offered a shrug. "Not me. I'm a peaceful sorta guy most of the time."

Toshi followed his little girl with his eyes as she sat down next to Hakan once more, something verging on jealousy in his heart. It was foolish, he knew. But she was so young. Still just his little girl.

Cuddling close to Hakan, Aki stared up at her father, a sinking feeling growing. ~~He doesn't like you very much. I'm so sorry~~

~~I got that idea. It's not your fault, though, Aki. I just can't explain too very well about why I don't even like being way out here and why the thought of visiting places that I'm not familiar with throws me off~~ He wrapped his arm around her and gave a half hearted smirk. "And I don't have a club anyway. I do have a lot of hand made knives and arrows at home, though. And some strong spirit medicine."

Ryu almost flinched at the dangerous thoughts racing through his brother's mind so he flowed to his feet and offered the man a bright smile. "Perhaps breakfast, are you hungry?"

~~Don't wind him up, he's getting angry and that's not a pleasant place to be~~ Aki sighed mentally then kissed the side of Hakan's face. "Just so long as you don't use any of them on my fathers," she teased lightly, even if she felt deep trepidation in her stomach.

"Of course not!" Hakan exclaimed. "The weapons're for hunting and ceremonies. Using artificially made things for things like that is just wrong and it spoils the medicine." ~~I wasn't trying to wind him up. The only one I do that to on purpose is my oldest brother.~~

~~He's worried, isn't he?~~ Aki still sat on the floor, cuddling Hakan tightly and watching Toshi.

~~Certainly seems that way. What're they doing out here? Banshee?~~ He had his own worries about the place, too. That feeling of fear and death that he felt in the arboretum still hadn't gone away.

~~They were summoned~~ she told him.

"By one whose request is impossible to decline," Ryu completed the thought passing from his daughter to her lover.

Hakan bit back a thought about people poking where they weren't invited, if only because it wasn't meant to be intrusive. "People say that about me, too, but they usually use a different name in that case. Do I even want t'know?"

"You may wish to," Toshi began.

"But we cannot tell you," Ryu completed. "Now for breakfast. There was a lovely little place on the promenade. Will you join us?"

~~Has this got t'do with that story you told me~~"Ah, well, so long as I can keep out of my father's eyes still, no problem."

"Of course," Ryu smiled, offering Aki his hand.  "Come, little one."

~~Very much so, they're here to see a Romulan~~ "Thanks," she beamed, bouncing to her feet and taking his hand, while keeping Hakan's.

Hakan rose easily but then offered the two men a slight shrug. "Have t'get my boots," he said with a chuckle. "'scuse me one sec."

"But of course," Ryu said easily.

The moment the young man disappeared, Toshi took a hold of his daughter's arm and pulled her to one side. "What do you think you're doing, Aki Midorikawa?"

She blinked, trying to move from his hard grasp.  "N-nothing."

"He is almost twice your age, girl," he said sternly. "Have the pair of you been intimate?" At the flush of her cheeks, he hissed loudly. "You're eighteen, Aki. Is it because he's returning to Earth before you? Is that why you rush?"

"I love him," she gasped, pulling as hard as she could on her arm. "Please, Daddy. I do love him."

"And no one else?" Ryu asked from behind them.

"When have I looked at a boy?"

"He isn't a boy," the pair of them said.

"But I do love him," she protested.

Toshi stared hard then nodded, letting her go and opening his arms wide with a deep sigh. "Forgive me, little one. I fear for you."

Hakan was adept at lacing the boots up quickly but he took his time. He couldn't blame either man for being wary of him but he knew the one named Toshi didn't like him. It was obvious. Finally, he made as much noise as was plausible so that they heard him leaving the bed room. He paused, though, at the sight of something on the floor by their doorway. He knelt to pick up the stock clipboard and flipped it open, smiling when he saw what it contained.

"Aki, when did this get here?" he asked, holding the clipboard out to her, displaying the drawing it contained.

Smiling as she wandered over to see the beautiful drawing, she shrugged, absently rubbing the red mark on her wrist. "I don't know. It's very beautiful. Whoever drew it knows you very well."

"I'm not sure if I find that disturbing or not," he murmured, "especially since anybody who'd know what I wear when I dance wasn't here to put this by the door. Odd." His eyes were draw from the drawing to her hand, taking in the small mark that had potential to bruise. Scowling slightly, he looked at her. ~~What's this?~~

~~Nothing. My father held me too tightly, it's fine. Don't fret over it~~ "Didn't one of the Romulans have paint on his fingers? They're meant to be slightly psi-talented, maybe he made it."

"That could be but I'll take your word for the psi bit since those're the first ones I've ever seen," Hakan said with a chuckle. Carefully he laid the clipboard back down, intending to take it with him later. "All right, I'm set." ~~I don't like that sort of holding, Aki. My father never laid a hand on us~~

~~Neither do mine normally. He's scared, Hakan. He's losing his little girl. He thinks I'm too young, too silly to fall in love. He didn't mean to hurt me~~ Aki stared up into his eyes, willing him to believe her. Her fathers were not violent men, they never raised their hands to their children except to stop them from hurting themselves. This was the first time she could remember ever being hurt by either of them.

He bit back a sigh. ~~I can give the benefit of doubt for now I guess, 'specially since I'm getting weird vibes off this whole station~~

~~You guess? You don't believe me?~~ Slightly hurt and very worried, she turned to her fathers. "Food would be good about now," she said softly.

"A good meal cures all ills as your mother says," Ryu said sagely.

~~You I believe wholeheartedly, Vehpotse. Forgive me? The atmosphere's giving me a headache never mind not sleeping right~~ He smiled slightly. ~~Well, except for last night that is.~~ "Got to be a mother thing then because Neske'eehe says the same thing all the time."

~~Of course I forgive you. I'm sorry my fathers are ruining everything~~ Cuddling Hakan tightly, she leaned against him.

"I can remember our mother saying something similar," Ryu laughed. "Come, then. We will find ourselves something that has been at least prepared by living hands."

"One can only hope," Hakan agreed, wrapping an arm around Aki.

The two older men led the way out of the cabin, weaving back up to the promenade. A small cafe was nestled near the back of the long row of shops and that was where the group headed. Once seated, Ryu helped himself to a menu and started to peruse it.

As they were escorted to their table, Hakan felt the cold draft of fear and death again. Dark eyes looked about sharply and settled on a man in black, sitting at a corner table. He was slouched low in his seat and looked completely bleary eyed. Worse yet, the thing that sat at his elbow was the one thing sure to piss off his father: a bottle of alcohol. Hakan could smell it even across the room.

"Bit too early to be drinking that stuff," he muttered, his skin actually getting goose bumps from the vibes.

Aki followed Hakan's eyes and shuddered. "Doesn't look too cheery, does he?"

The man in black lifted his head and stared across the room, his eyes locking on Hakan. They shared what almost seemed a battle of wills before the man offered a silent salute with his bottle and took a swig of its contents. Hakan simply shook his head and looked back at the menu. "More spirits looming about," he said with a sigh. "Wonderful."

Biting her lip, Aki poked him with her elbow. ~~What're you talking about, my love?~~

He barely moved his chin to indicate the man in black. "From Earth but not Human. I've seen people like that before but he's no fairy or good spirit. That one is not to be trifled with I think."

"One of the ancients?" Ryu asked softly, glancing over at the man in question.

It was a foreign word for Hakan but another stealthy glance at the man, who was taking yet another pull of the bottle, brought it right to his lips. "Xian," he said.

Both Ryu and Toshi shuddered, turning deliberately away from the man. "Not to be messed with or even acknowledged. Leave him be."

"He and Ma'heono'soo will speak later," was all Hakan said before looking back at the menu. "I certainly hope the coffee is at least good and strong."

A short waiter of vaguely Bajoran descent padded over and grinned at the comment. "Freshly ground from Java, vac'ed and shipped out here. A pot for everyone?"

"Java from Java? Now that is very funny," Hakan said with a grin. "Please, at least for me in any case."

The little Bajoran nodded as he made a note on his PADD.  "And food?"

~~You order. Your one father's annoyed enough with me. Now's not the time for me to gross anyone out. I trust you~~

"Four cinnamon toasts," Aki said easily.  "Two with extra butter."

The waiter nodded and padded off.

"Now there's a lady who knows what I like to eat," Hakan said brightly, ignoring the man in black completely. "My father's been making faces because I won't eat the replicated stuff."

"Neither do we," Ryu laughed. "We like fresh and we're old enough to have our children and wife humour us."

"I think I'll leave it to Aki to explain to you how very backwards I am," Hakan said with a chuckle.

"Not backwards," she huffed.  "Different.  Traditional."

"Tradition is a good thing," Toshi agreed softly.

"In our own little nuclear family, we have degrees of tradition. On one end, you have me: so very traditional that I don't even have a driver's license. Then there's my father, older brother and middle sister who are all three only a bit more modern. Lastly there's Mama, my other sisters, and my second brother who are all fairly modern but there's one thing that binds us all, one tradition we all respect: we are family," Hakan stated, the pride evident in his eyes when he spoke about his family.

With a nod of approval, Toshi warmed a little but not much. It would take an awful lot for him to be easy with the man. "As are we, a very unusual one no question. In that regard, we are not to be trifled with nor taken lightly."

"With all due respect, sir, I've seen that already and I have no intention of doing either," Hakan replied. "I don't think we're as unalike as it seems."

"Really?" Toshi asked, folding his arms and sitting back. "Do enlighten us."

"You obviously know what Aki and I now share," Hakan said carefully, giving Aki a gentle smile. Her presence in his thoughts was there in the form of that purple poppy mallow and he thought again about tattooing one on his hand. "Very unusual trait for Humans I hear but Ma'heo'o's ways are a beautiful thing What would you say if I said that my main vocation in life is that I'm a shaman? I talk to trees and they talk back to me. The earth and the world, in this life and in the spirit world, and I are old friends. I smell people differently than others do, too."

"I would say," Toshi began slowly, "that your first assertion is potentially correct. What you and our daughter share... That is not to be spoken of. You must realise what a rarity such a talent is in Humans, how easily it would be abused by ruthless people. Your responsibility now is large. You hold this whole family in your hands."

"Actually, I didn't know about that rarity until she explained it to me," Hakan replied, "but I do now. Believe me, sir, I've walked where most living creatures have not. I understand the responsibilities you're talking about and I won't fail at them."

"If anyone comes knocking on our door asking about our gift then you'll be the one blamed," Toshi warned.

"Well that's hardly fair!" Aki frowned as she folded her arms. "There's more than just Hakan who know. How is it fair to blame him?"

"Mr. Midorikawa," Hakan said as calmly and cooly as he could, "I am Ma'heono'soo, the holy dancer, the one who keeps that part of the Southern Cheyenne Nation which lives on our res safe from the evil of this world and the others. You all may not be part of that nation but you're Aki's family and that's enough for me."

"Accepted," Toshi said after considering his statement.

Before he could say more, the little waiter shimmied up with the coffee and breakfast. "Enjoy, y'all look like you need it."

With a healthy amount of skepticism, Hakan lifted the coffee mug up and sniffed the contents, saying "I don't trust any coffee I haven't seen made," before finally tasting it. He smiled then and added, "It's good."

" 'Course it's good," the Bajoran snorted.  "Freshly ground and brewed."

Ryu took a deep draught and sighed happily.  "Perfect.  Thank you."

Rolling her eyes, Aki just chomped down on her toast. "Just so long as you stop arguing about stuff, okay?"

"Aki, the only person I ever argue with is my oldest brother and that's been going on for years," Hakan said with a smirk.

~~Yeah, coz you and my father are getting on like a house on fire, only with genuine flames~~ She snorted into her toast as she took another bite and used it as an excuse for not speaking.

~~That's not arguing, it's serious discussing~~ With an impish grin, he blew a bit of cinnamon at her. ~~Arguing involves what Kimi and I told you Papa can't stand.~~

Aki kicked him under the table, not very hard but it made her feel better. ~~Horrid man~~ "So do I get to keep him then?"

Toshi glanced over at his daughter and smiled softly.  "Do you want to?"

Watching Hakan out of the corner of her eye, she smirked. "Nah, I'll send him back and order another one. This one's too nice to be worn all the time."

Hakan almost snorted the coffee through his nose. Settling down the cup carefully, he skewered Aki with that same mischievous look. "Sorry, Vehpotse, but I'm the youngest of six. You want another then you'd best talk my parents into it then wait another thirty years."

[ussbansheec] The Third Degree Times Two

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