FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Chapter Twenty One -- Sakura, Sakura, Hanazakari

(Cherry Blossom, Cherry Blossom, In Full Bloom)

Aiko sat at the kitchen table with Benjiro on her lap while her mother made a pot of tea. In the two months since she'd been back, the toddler had been her constant shadow, as if fearing she'd disappear again if he let her out of his sight even once.

Aiko rubbed her cheek against the top of his fluffy little head, thinking that Benjiro was not the only one of her family to be keeping a close eye on her: Miyatsu was nearly as obsessive as Benjiro, hovering, sometimes literally, wherever she went. She knew he kept a constant watch on her psychic signature as well, whenever he couldn't physically be with her.

Whether it was the effect of the sedative on her system or whether she'd merely grown into her previously dormant psychic abilities, Aiko's mind was now sensitive enough to pick up the trace of each of the children as they also checked on her whereabouts psychically. She was getting expert enough at it to be able to recognize each one -- their minds all had individual flavours' and textures', subtle overtones that brushed gently across her mind like a warm scented breeze now and then throughout the day.

Miyatsu's mind was instantly recognizable from his children: his psychic touch was always far more intimate, enfolding her consciousness in a loving caress, like the touch of a soft velvet glove inside her mind.

So Aiko's family was still watchful and alert, despite the fact that the new security was working well: they now had a small staff of security officers permanently on the island, a ring of electronic detection buoys in the sea to alert them to the approach of unauthorized boats, plus every member of the family had a small identification tag inserted under the skin of their arms to broadcast their location at all times.

There was no doubt that the precautions served to make Aiko feel more secure, although before Sakaki abducted her she hadn't felt at risk...

A cup of tea and plate of cookies was set down on the table in front of Aiko, bringing her back from her musings.

"Would you like to eat something now?" Kagami asked her daughter. "You didn't touch your breakfast."

Aiko thought about it for a moment, then nodded and reached for a cookie. "I wish that sedative would clear out of my system," she complained to her mother as she bit into it. "I thought I'd metabolise it faster than this. I'm still queasy a lot of the time."

"Mummy sick?" Benjiro asked, also reaching across to the cookies on the plate.

"No, no. Just the medicine I had to take while I was away gives me an upset tummy," she answered the toddler.

Benjiro nodded and settled back against her, closing his eyes while he ate. Now and then he'd smile as if he'd thought of something funny.

"Well, you were forced to take rather a lot of it," her mother said soothingly. "Give it time."

"I thought I might go down to the lab today and take a blood sample," Aiko told her. "I can work out the levels of sedative still in my system and hopefully how long before I'm back to normal." She raised her eyebrows at her mother in a silent question and pointed with her chin to the toddler in her lap.

Kagami nodded, picking up with the ease of long grandmotherhood on her daughter's implied hint to distract the toddler. "I'll need Benji-kun's help today," she announced. "I'm going to make a cake for Grandad's birthday. I want a big strong assistant to help me mix it."

Benjiro opened his eyes alertly at this. "Can I lick the bowl afterwards? No shares with Hanako and Hideaki?"

"It's all yours," his grandmother agreed, not bothering to point out that the four eldest children were busy in the gym until lunchtime anyway.

"Yay!" Benjiro bounced up and down. "I'd share with my sister," he added, suddenly serious again. "Only she's not here yet."

Aiko met Kagami's eyes with a little smile. Benjiro had been disappointed that his mother had not brought his sister back with her from the spirit world; but he'd been telling anybody who'd listen that she was on her way. Aiko had even heard him talking to his imaginary sister when he thought nobody was around.

Maybe all children were alike in that respect, Aiko mused as she sipped her tea. Although she and Benji were unrelated genetically, she'd also had an imaginary friend when she was small. She used to talk to her toy Little Kitten all the time, holding the stuffed doll close, playing and confiding secrets with him.

And there had been times, just now and then but particularly when she was in her bed at night dozing and cuddling the toy, when she could have sworn he'd answered back, sounding far-off and faint inside her head like a whispering echo, barely heard, or like the light touch of a warm, scented breeze over her mind...

*

The lab was quiet when Aiko unlocked the door and entered. All of the staff had gone home for the weekend, and the only sound was an occasional hum from the computers or the muted gloop-gloop of the gestation unit in the middle of the room.

Aiko went to check on Raku and Raiden first. The embryos had been successfully transferred into the new unit. At eight months old, they resembled kittens, rather than the shiny pink jelly-beans of their earlier months. They were both now at least as large as a newborn human baby, had fully formed arms and legs, long tails, eyes that were firmly shut and a soft downy covering of fur, creamy orange on Raiden, dove-grey on Raku. Both babies had their tails twined together as if even at this young stage they were not only aware of each other, but had bonded.

Aiko gathered the equipment she needed and went to sit at her workstation, staring at the small vials she'd collected for the bloodtest with a suddenly dry mouth. Her heart was pounding, and she looked down to see that her hands had clenched into tight fists in her lap.

She drew a deep breath and opened her hands with an effort. The fact was that she was scared, and didn't want to do this. For she hadn't told her mother the whole truth this morning. Although she hoped with all her will that her recent queasiness was only the sedative still lingering in her body, she'd had another symptom, one that was ominous in the light of what Sakaki had done.

Aiko had last had her menstrual period two weeks before Sakaki abducted her. And since that time, nothing. Over and over during the past six weeks, at least, she'd examined all other options that could explain the absence: maybe the stress of abduction had temporarily upset her menstrual cycle, or the sedative was still in her system, interfering with her natural rhythm. Or perhaps it was just the fact that she was worried that her period hadn't shown, worry was a known cause of menstrual delay...

Yes, she thought desperately, it was one of those reasons.

It couldn't possibly be the other explanation, the one that had kept her awake at night, tossing and turning, her mouth too dry to swallow.

Because unless she and Miyatsu had somehow managed to circumvent every biological law she'd ever heard of, she very much feared that she was pregnant with Sakaki's baby.

*

The blood test was conclusive: there was no longer any trace of sedative left in Aiko's system.

She told herself not to panic; that still left stress as the most probable cause of her absent menses.

That doesn't explain the recent queasiness and vomiting, her mind objected. Aiko told her traitorous brain to shut up, but it ignored her, as it usually did whenever she was worried. There's been a weight gain too, it reminded her.

Well, she argued with herself, I should hope so. I lost way too much on that starvation diet the nurses fed me.

Her hands shook as she pipetted a drop of her blood for the last test. This was one she'd done many times before: mainly on female GMAs, but it worked on humans as well -- pregnancy hormones were pregnancy hormones and would show up for anything mammalian. Once, years ago, she'd performed it for Suzu, back when they'd still been friends. Suzu had been in too much of a panic about an unplanned and unguarded indiscretion to manage the test herself. In that particular case, Aiko remembered, Suzu's menstrual period had just been delayed. Aiko mentally crossed her fingers that this was also the case for her.

Anxiously she watched the drop of blood as it splashed into the vial, mixing with the chemical inside. It would just stay that shade of rosewater pink, she knew it would, of course it would; there was just no way it would turn the sky blue that indicated pregnancy...

Aiko couldn't bear to look. She turned her head instead to gaze out of the large window in front of her workstation. This allowed her an uninterrupted view of the gentle slope leading down to the shore, and on the rocks at one end of the beach she could just make out Miyatsu and her father peacefully fishing, having re-established their comfortable pre-abduction ritual of Saturday morning male bonding.

Aiko felt her hands clench once more into fists. What would she tell Miyatsu if the test was positive? But of course, it was not going to be positive. The liquid in the vial would remain pink and unchanged, and Aiko would know that she just had a virus or something similar to explain every anomalous detail of her symptoms...

She forced herself to turn her head back to the desk, slowly like a child not wanting to look in case the monster you thought you heard behind you turns out to be real.

The chemical within the glass had turned a bright and cheerful shade of blue.

*

Aiko met up with Yutaka and Miyatsu on the path just outside the boat shed. Miyatsu carried the tackle and net, fishing rods slung over one shoulder, while Yutaka held the bait bucket with exaggerated care.

"Get anything?" Aiko greeted them, trying hard for casual. Even in her own ears, her voice sounded odd: too high and forced. She peered into the bucket. It was half-full of water and contained a single small, brightly-colored fish. "Oh! How pretty!"

Yutaka rolled his eyes in a show of mock exasperation. "Your husband," he said, "won't let me eat this. Apparently I have to put it into the aquarium in the lounge room."

"Don't listen to him." Miyatsu gave Aiko a quick smile in greeting, his eyes bright with amusement. "He's the soft-hearted one. I wanted to throw it back." He glanced down at her and seemed to notice something amiss in her expression. His voice echoed telepathically in her head: What's wrong?

"I need a quick word with you in private," Aiko said. "You don't mind, do you, Dad?"

"You want to talk about the surprise birthday party I don't know I'm having," Yutaka said, nodding wisely. "There's been whispering going on all week in this family whenever people think I'm not listening."

"Something like that," Aiko answered, not meeting her father's eyes. "Oh, and Dad, don't go in through the kitchen, will you? Mum and Benji are making you a cake. Don't let on that I told you."

"I didn't hear it from you. Come on, fish."

As Yutaka headed on up the slope towards the house, Aiko followed Miyatsu into the boat shed. Motes of dust drifted and danced in the bright sunlight coming in through the window. "Boat shed" was a misnomer; it had never had a boat inside it, at least not to Aiko's knowledge. The building pre-dated the Miyatsu family's arrival on the island and was now used for storage, tools, tins of paint, and of course fishing gear.

Aiko seated herself on an old wooden crate and watched as Miyatsu casually levitated the fishing equipment up onto one of the shelves lining the wall. She still had no idea how to begin; for how do you tell your husband that you're pregnant to another man? Or to another male, at least.

She felt slightly nauseous and this time knew it owed nothing to morning sickness but had everything to do with the fear of loss. She stared at Miyatsu as he stowed the gear. She loved watching his graceful body, the way his lean muscles moved so smoothly under his soft, strokeable fur. She loved gazing at his face, such a chimeric blend of human and feline that it shouldn't work, he shouldn't be beautiful, yet he was, he was. She knew every curve and line of him in intimate detail, and the fear that she might lose him over this was almost more than she could bear.

Would Sakaki, even posthumously, have won after all? Would this baby she was carrying be the wedge that ultimately drove them apart? Maybe they couldn't physically separate, not with the risk of Pershan Syndrome recurring. Yet how could Miyatsu ever look at her after this news and not be reminded that Sakaki had claimed her body in the ultimate insult?

They'd been so happy together, here on the island, building a family, a species, together, and never minding that others might find their life choices bizarre or aberrant. But it could never be the same again, not after this.

She had the option of saying nothing, she thought desperately. She could go to the mainland and have an abortion. But even as she thought it, she knew it would never work. Quite apart from the fact that Miyatsu had hardly let her out of his sight these past months, she couldn't countenance lying to him by omission. They'd always been totally honest with each other. She knew that he'd sense something was wrong if she began now.

Aiko realized that she was shaking and gripped her hands together hard, staring at the ground. It did nothing to help the dryness in her throat or ease the ache in her heart.

Miyatsu sat down on his haunches beside her, his blue eyes wide with concern. He put his front paws on her hands, holding them tight between his in a steadying grip. It didn't stop them shaking, but it helped a little. He ducked his head to look up into her face. "Aiko? This isn't about Yutaka's party, is it?" It was a statement rather than a question.

Aiko met his eyes for a moment, then swift as a bubble popping, the tension became too much. She burst into tears, covering her face in her hands. She felt Miyatsu's warm arms go about her, felt him lift her off the crate and pull her against him, hugging her in wordless comfort against his chest.

Shh, the thought vibrated in her head. Don't cry, my heart, please don't cry. It's going to be alright...

Aiko leant into his embrace, her hands resting against the soft fur of his chest, trying to control the sobs. It wasn't alright. Not any more. Sakaki had seen to that.

Slowly the crying slackened, became little hiccuping gasps, then finally stopped. Aiko stayed where she was, curled against Miyatsu, drawing comfort from him even though she knew the worst was still to come.

Miyatsu gently brushed the tears from her cheeks with one paw, his eyes full of concern, and Aiko put her hand up, holding his palm against her face just for a second, drawing strength from the contact before turning her head slightly to kiss it. She took a shuddering breath.

"Miyatsu," she whispered finally, "I've got something I have to tell you. Oh," she cried, raising her eyes to his face. "I don't even know where to start telling you..."

"I know what this is about," Miyatsu said gently. He cradled her against him, his paw still stroking her cheek tenderly. "You're having a baby, aren't you, my Aiko? Sakaki's baby."

Aiko didn't know what she'd expected him to say, but certainly not this. She realized her mouth had dropped open in amazement, and managed to shut it with a click.

"What... but how... how did you know?" she managed to stammer at last.

"Humans have no sense of smell," Miyatsu said, but it was a comment Aiko had heard from him many times before, so she ignored it, still trying to get her mind around the revelation.

"I know your body's rhythms like I know the sound of the waves on the beach," he continued. "And since you've been home your cycle has altered. You haven't bled at all and you haven't ovulated. At first I thought it was the effect of the abduction. But your scent has changed. The hormones I can smell on you lately remind me of the Coatis when they were having babies -- subtler, but definite." He gazed down at her astounded face. "And you must know that I've been keeping watch on your signature telepathically whenever I can't be with you?"

Aiko nodded, still trying to assimilate this amazing news.

"You have a signature that is a clear blue-green, like the sunlit water over a coral reef," Miyatsu told her. "But now there's something... someone else there as well. A tiny spark, like yours, but separate. It's blue as well, but a different shade, not so much green in it. It's curled up just here, inside of you." And he laid one paw onto her stomach.

Aiko sat up, still letting him support her, but enough that she could look him squarely in the eyes. "How long have you known? And why didn't you tell me?" Her voice sounded breathless in her own ears.

Miyatsu looked down as if embarrassed. "I should have said something before this. But I've only really understood what I was sensing in the last week or so. At first I didn't put it all together. I kept telling myself that you still had the after-effects of the drug in your system. But that little spark inside you is very real, and it's growing. I can't deny its existence. I wasn't sure if you knew what was happening, so I decided to give you time to get used to the idea. I knew you'd tell me when you were ready." He sighed and it sounded regretful and very human. "I've learnt enough biology to realize that it can't be mine. That just leaves Sakaki."

Aiko put a hand on each side of his face and met his eyes squarely. "I wish it was yours," she said and felt her eyes begin to fill with hot tears again. "I'd give anything in the world for this to be your baby... "

Miyatsu hugged her again. "I know, my little mate, I know. But it's impossible."

"What should I do?" Aiko said, and she couldn't keep the quaver from her voice. "I've been so scared this last month. I don't want to lose you over this."

Miyatsu's eyes widened in genuine surprise. "Why should you lose me? Don't you know by now you're my world?"

"Yes, but... I'm having Sakaki's baby. How can you just accept that so calmly?" She got to her feet and began pacing the room, unable to sit still any longer. "This is a baby conceived by rape. That's not the sort of thing a child should grow up knowing. Perhaps -- perhaps it'd be better to book myself into a clinic on the mainland and -- just get rid of it before I'm too far along... "

"Is that what you want to do?" Miyatsu's voice was calm. He stayed seated cat-fashion on the floor, watching her intently.

Aiko shook her head. "No," she said, her voice low. "But what's the alternative?"

Miyatsu stood and took both her hands again in his own, stopping her restless pacing. "The alternative is that you have this baby. We raise it with our other children and love it just as much as we love them. But it's your body, Aiko, and you have to be the one to decide. I have no right to dictate to you what you should do."

"Yes, but you have a say in this as well," she reminded him. "How would you feel if we did decide to raise Sakaki's baby alongside our own children?"

"I would feel that Sakaki has given me a gift to remember him by," Miyatsu said quietly. "I share Sakaki's genes. So this is the closest I can ever get to naturally fathering a child with you, without using gestation tanks and clones. I would be the baby's -- what is the word for the brother of a father?"

Aiko stared up into his serious face. "Uncle," she murmured. "You're the baby's uncle... "

The idea that Miyatsu might want to keep the baby had never occurred to her, but she realized that he had a valid point. For this child would be related to him genetically, not so much as his cloned sons, but far more than his daughters, who were the same species.

Miyatsu nodded. "I am this baby's uncle," he agreed. "I have no problem raising her."

"Her?" Aiko quavered. "You can tell that, too?"

Miyatsu nodded. "She's like you: a latent telepath. I can feel her broadcasting at the moment." His eyes got a faraway look as he concentrated. "Her thoughts are basic, not really thoughts yet, just emotions." He smiled gently. "I'm getting... flashes, primitive feelings. She can hear your heart beating; it's the loudest and most constant sound in her world. She can feel the vibrations of your voice as you talk, as well, and is gently rocked with every pulse and movement of your body. She's feeling warm and safe."

Aiko sank back down on the crate, feeling as if her legs would no longer support her as the implications sank in. For how could she possibly abort the baby, her daughter, now that she knew it was capable of feelings, no matter how basic? Another thought occurred to her, and she looked back up at Miyatsu.

"Benji!" she exclaimed. "He knows! His baby sister is all he's talked about since I got back! And he gets that same look on his face that you did just then, when you were sensing... her."

Miyatsu considered this, then nodded. "You're right. He must be able to feel her presence too." He sat back down in front of her, flicking his tail neatly over his front paws. "You know my feelings now, my little mate. What will you do?"

"What will I do?" Aiko repeated bleakly. She hadn't a clue. But there was a growing sense of relief inside her, rising as unstoppably as a high tide. She wasn't going to lose Miyatsu. He was with her whatever she decided.

You haven't won, Sakaki, she thought, a feeling of growing jubilation beginning to fill her. We're together still; our love can't be conquered by anything you could do!

Aiko got off the crate and slid back into her husband's lap, cuddling close. Miyatsu laid his cheek against the top of her head, his arms circling her protectively.

"We'll need to get another cot for the nursery," Aiko said, feeling breathless all over again, though for a far different reason this time. "And how am I going to tell Mum and Dad they've got an unscheduled grandchild on the way?"

She felt the vibration of Miyatsu's chuckle, felt it change to a loving purr.

"And a totally human grandchild this time," he murmured. "Trust this family to be different!"

Epilogue

Sakura's father took her to the lab to see the newest pair of kittens growing in the gestation unit.

"Just remember," he told her as they walked up the path from the house, "these are still only tiny, they won't look much like your big brothers and sisters."

The rainy season had begun on Shima, and as they walked, the light sprinkling rain turned into a steady fall, pattering on the leaves and making tiny ripples in the puddles along the path. At the first heavy drops, Miyatsu took Sakura's hand in his and cast a water-tight shield around them both. The child laughed in delight, holding her other hand out to watch the rain splash and bead and run off without ever making contact with her skin.

Dr Fujimoto Yutaka looked up from his desk as they walked in. "Miyatsu, is this the new lab assistant you've been promising me?" he said with a grin.

Sakura smiled back at her grandfather. "Daddy says I can see Kiyoko and Keiji. As long as you say it's all right for me to be here."

Yutaka stood up and stretched. "Ooh now, I don't think you'll disturb them," he answered, walking to the gestation unit with Sakura.

She stood on tiptoes, trying to peer up into the tank. Miyatsu lifted the seven-year-old in his arms so that she was eye-level with the two pink kittens floating peacefully inside. She gave a gasp of delight and covered her mouth with her hands.

"They look like little pink jelly-beans!" she announced.

"That's because they're so new," Miyatsu told her.

"Did I look like that when I was new?"

"You did. Only we couldn't see you, because you grew inside Mummy instead of this tank. We should show you the ultrasounds. They're pictures we took inside Mummy when we found out you were there. We keep them in a little album with your baby photos."

"I've got to go back up to the house for some notes; I'll ask your Grandma to find the album, and we can look at them after dinner tonight," Yutaka offered.

"It's pouring down outside," Miyatsu said. "If you wait a few minutes, Sakura and I can come with you and I'll shield us all from the rain."

Yutaka shook his head. "No, no, take your time," he said. "I'm not sure where I put my notes, so I may be some time." He placed a waterproof hat on his head, shrugged into a plastic rain-cape, pulled on his gumboots and reached for the big black umbrella hanging from a hook by the door.

"Yutaka, you're only going up to the house," Miyatsu told him in an amused tone. "Not Antarctica!"

"You can't be too careful when you reach my age," Yutaka said with dignity. "I wouldn't want to catch a cold."

He opened the door and stepped out. The rain chose that moment to stop, and a weak beam of sunlight broke through the clouds, but Yutaka raised his umbrella anyway and splashed determinedly off through the puddles.

Miyatsu shook his head with a smile and turned his attention back to the tank. Sakura was still staring at the kitten embryos, a look of intense concentration on her face.

"Benji said I'd be able to hear them talking in my head," she said in a disappointed tone of voice. "But I can't, Daddy."

"That's because you're fully human, like Mummy," Miyatsu told her, walking slowly around the gestation unit with her still in his arms so that she could get a view from all sides. "Your psychic talent is growing, but you might not be able to use it completely until you're older."

"I can always hear Benji speak inside my head even though I can't hear the others," Sakura said. "That's why I really wanted to be able to listen to Kiyoko and Keiji."

Miyatsu looked at her disappointed little face. He knew she felt left out when the feliniforms in the family could communicate so easily telepathically. It seemed that although she had inherited her mother's latent psychic ability, she also had her biological father's tight natural shielding. It made it difficult for her to hear any of the other family members. The exception, of course, was Benjiro, who had managed to bond with her while she was still in utero. It seemed as if that contact had accustomed her to his psychic speech patterns, while the others remained impossible for her to hear.

"Kiyoko and Keiji are still so little they don't talk yet," he said consolingly. "They just have emotions, like feeling warm and comfortable. They're really a bit boring."

Sakura turned her brown eyes to her father's face. "Mummy said you grew up in one of these too," she stated curiously.

"Well, for a while I did," Miyatsu answered. "When I got out of mine, I was nearly as big as Benjiro is now. Then I spent the next few years on this island until your father came along and took me back to the mainland with him."

"Ooh, tell me the story, Daddy!" Sakura said, her eyes shining with anticipation.

"You've heard the story lots of times," Miyatsu teased gently.

"But I love it! Tell it again, please!"

"All right." He sat in Yutaka's vacated seat and settled Sakura on his lap. "Once upon a time, there was a very powerful king named Raikatuji Sakaki. He was rich and famous. He had a younger brother... "

"And he was a cat just like you, wasn't he, Daddy?" Sakura interrupted.

"Who's telling this story, you or me?" Miyatsu asked. "But you're right, the younger brother was a sort of cat. Now, in Raikatuji-sama's kingdom there lived a beautiful lady named Fujimoto Aiko." He glanced at Sakura, but this time she managed not to interrupt.

"Both the king and his brother were very much in love with the lady, but she chose, not the rich and powerful king, but his penniless younger brother. The lady and the king's brother knew they needed to leave Raikatuji-sama's kingdom. They wanted to go to Shima to make their own small kingdom, but to do that they needed money. The king's younger brother was an agile fighter, so he became a sort of knight, who could make money by fighting other knights in the arena... "

"And he was called the Attack Cat!" Sakura said, too caught up in the story to stop herself. "And he won every tournament, even the one where he got sick and couldn't use his psychic moves!"

Miyatsu nodded tolerantly, watching the little girl's rapt face. From the time she was a toddler, she'd loved stories about kings and queens; as she grew older, Miyatsu and Aiko had discovered that this fairy-tale element worked very well in explaining to her the adult dynamics that had culminated in her birth.

Sakura was aware that this story was an allegory for what had actually happened, she knew that the "kingdom" was in reality a business empire and that her biological father had been a successful businessman. But she loved to hear the story as told to her by members of her immediate family in the "once-upon-a-time" fashion that made it all seem magical.

"The knight and his lady made money that way," Miyatsu continued, "enough to leave and follow their dream of starting a new kingdom of their very own. When the king found out they were planning to leave him, he was very sad. He tried to make them change their minds and stay. But finally he realized that they were going to go no matter what, so he wished them good luck and said goodbye."

Miyatsu's tone had become wistful; the child sitting in his lap watching him so attentively reminded him in many ways of Sakaki. She was very like Aiko in looks; but now and then she would do something, move in a certain way or with a certain type of mannerism, or an expression would appear on her face, and Miyatsu would remember, with a pang of bittersweet nostalgia, where he had seen it before. On Sakaki. And just occasionally on his own face, reflected in the mirror...

"The years went by and the island kingdom grew. First Montaro and Mieko arrived, then Hanako and Hideaki, and then little Benji. "

Sakura gave a sudden choke of laughter, and Miyatsu looked down into her face with surprise at the reaction, his ears pricked forward curiously. "What's so funny?"

"Little Benji!" Sakura giggled. "You said little Benji'!"

Miyatsu smiled. Benjiro, at nine and a half, was now almost as tall as his father and older brothers, with the lanky arms and legs typical of the feliniform's early adolescence.

"Ah, well, he'll always be little Benji' to me," Miyatsu said. "No matter how tall he gets."

"It was around this time," he continued, taking up the thread of the story, "that the lady and the knight visited the mainland, and by accident they met the king again. They hadn't seen him in many years and were very happy to talk to him once more. But the king had never stopped loving the lady Aiko, and seeing her again made him envious of his younger brother. The king thought if only he could make her forget his brother, he could make the lady love him instead."

Sakura's face was very solemn now as she listened to this part of the story. "What did the king do?" she asked breathlessly, although she knew the whole story off by heart.

"The king waited for a day when his brother had to leave the island. Then he sent two of his men to lure the lady down to the beach. When she got there, they captured her and stole her away from the island kingdom."

"Benji knew about it," Sakura commented as Miyatsu paused. "He told me he was there when the bad men took her. But he was only little then, not grown-up like now, so he couldn't stop them."

"Benjiro-kun tried to fight them off," Miyatsu agreed. "The bad men drugged him and your mummy, but left him on the jetty for the family to find when they got back."

He resumed the story from the point of view of fairy-tale. "The lady Aiko was taken to Raikaituji-sama's kingdom. So her family couldn't find her, she was locked in a dungeon, deep underground. The knight tried to find her, he searched for her night and day, but she was too well-hidden. It seemed as if she had just... disappeared... "

Miyatsu stopped speaking. Even now, the memory of that terrible time had the power to make his pulse race and his mouth go dry with the remembered intolerable fear and loss. He stared unfocused at the far wall, recalling his desperate search for Aiko, the sure knowledge that she was dead and gone forever from him, and the seductive idea that he could finish it all by simply letting himself plunge to earth from on high, let the ground close over him and end his torment. His throat became tight as he recalled how close he had come to ending his life and that it was only the thought that he must see justice done that had sustained him long enough to get back to the island. And how Yutaka had managed to sway him from suicide by convincing Miyatsu that Aiko's death wasn't his fault. And by appealing to his sense of responsibility as a father...

He was brought back from his musings by the feel of a little warm hand that had slipped into his. He glanced down in surprise. Sakura had taken one of his paws in her hand and with the other was stroking it gently, smoothing the fur over his knuckles in the way Aiko so often did. The little girl's expression was very serious when she looked up into his eyes.

"When Benji tells me the story," she said slowly, "he always makes it sound like a big adventure, that it was because I needed to be born that Mummy left. And when Mieko, Montaro, Hanako and Hideaki tell it, they all talk about how brave they were when they rescued mummy from the dungeon. But whenever you or Mummy tell the story," and she hesitated, her brow wrinkling as she tried to find words for her emotions, "I can sort of... feel your sadness." She touched her throat with one forefinger. "It gets all tight in here and I sometimes feel like crying."

Miyatsu hugged her gently, laying his cheek on the top of her head. "That's a sad part of the story," he agreed gruffly. "And you're right, it depends who's telling it. Mummy and I remember the part where we missed each other so much and thought we'd never see each other again. That's why we feel like crying then." He looked at Sakura speculatively. "If you really can pick up our emotions like that, maybe your psychic talent is growing. You may be able to hear the others telepathically if you keep practicing."

Sakura looked pleased. "Benji's helping me," she confided. "He says I'm whispering with my mind now, and he's trying to teach me how to shout." She went quiet for a moment, then added, "If the story makes you sad, Daddy, you don't have to finish it."

Miyatsu shook his head. "But the happy-ever-after part is coming up soon, and that makes the sad part worthwhile."

Sakura settled back against him, looking up expectantly.

"The lady Aiko found that she could use her psychic ability to get a message to her knight. She told him where she was. Then he and their children traveled to Raikatuji-sama's kingdom and freed her from the dungeon. There was an evil dragon called Rin guarding her, but Montaro dealt with her. Then the family took the lady home once more to their kingdom.

"Now, while all this was happening, up at the castle the king was experimenting with a new weapon. It was very powerful, but like everything powerful it could also be very dangerous. Once the king found out that the lady Aiko had been rescued he was very angry. The knight had gone to talk to his brother, but the king didn't want to listen. He was so angry that he tried to use the new weapon on his brother. Montaro had followed his father and was able to save him, but this made the king even more angry and he got careless. He had an accident with the weapon."

Sakura nodded solemnly. "He got shot didn't he, Daddy? When the weapon was aimed at Montaro, he was trying to reach the king, so the weapon was pointed at them both. And the Attack Cat was able to use his psychic power to pull Montaro out of the way just in time."

"That's right. The laser hit the king instead of Montaro."

"And he died, never to see the lady Aiko or his brother again," Sakura added.

Miyatsu glanced at her face to see how she was taking this part, but as always she displayed fascinated attention but no grief. Of course, Miyatsu thought, the death of a fairy-tale king was easier to deal with than the death of a father she'd never known. That was the main reason he and Aiko had decided on this particular format to explain her birth: they didn't want her to feel guilt about her biological father's actions towards the mother she loved.

"Yes. The king's brother and the lady Aiko were sad that he died. They had truly loved him, you see. But he left them a gift, something they hadn't expected."

Sakura smiled expectantly at this, sitting up straighter. It was her favourite part of the whole story.

"He gave a little princess, his only child, to the lady Aiko. Both she and the knight loved her very much and named her Sakura.' The knight adopted her as his own, and he is her uncle, but she calls him Daddy. And when the little princess was born, her blood was tested on the mainland. That proved that she was indeed the king's only child. The lawyers argued about it, but they finally had to agree that she was the king's legal heir. The whole of the rich Raikatuji kingdom belongs to her, and the lady Aiko holds it in trust for her until she grows up."

Miyatsu stared out of the window for a moment, musing. Raikatuji Sakura was a very rich little girl, having inherited her father's massive business empire. It was being operated now by managers, and Miyatsu wondered if Sakura would one day take over personally like her father had. Certainly she was smart enough, Miyatsu thought. She had inherited quick wits and intelligence from both sides of her family. But from an early age she'd insisted that she wanted to be a GMA researcher like Mummy and Granddad'.

Although that had always been one of Sakaki's interests, as well, Miyatsu thought. Not the research side perhaps, but he'd always had a talent for making intuitive leaps of imagination, of taking ordinary ideas and turning them into something extraordinary. Too extraordinary at times. Miyatsu frowned: he still had occasional nightmares of a pixilated Aiko and a flat-lining monitor...

"Finish the story, Daddy," Sakura insisted, impatient to hear the rest.

Miyatsu pulled his mind away from remembered night terrors and returned to the task at hand. "And the family lived on the island... " he said, then paused expectantly, and Sakura finished the sentence with him: "happily ever after."

Sakura nodded, satisfied that the ritual had been properly completed. She was silent for a moment, a pensive look on her face. Finally she looked back up at Miyatsu.

"Daddy, was my father a... bad man?" she asked.

Miyatsu took his time answering, choosing his words carefully. Sakura had never before asked such a question. Also he noticed that she wasn't now referring to the fairy-tale king, but had asked about the real Sakaki. That she had done so he considered a sign of her maturing outlook. As such he wanted to give her a truthful answer.

"Sakaki was human," Miyatsu answered slowly, "with all the good and bad qualities every human has. His major problem was that he'd always been rich and was used to getting his own way. So he didn't know what to do when anybody told him no." Miyatsu smiled nostalgically. "When I first met him and went to live on the mainland, I wanted to be just like him. To me Sakaki was the best of the best, a handsome, successful human with everything I'd ever wanted but could never hope to have. I would have given up all of my psychic powers, all of my dreams of building my own species, if I could just have been as human as Sakaki was. I wanted to be his brother truly, not something constructed from a mixture of different creatures that just happened to have some of his cells."

"Do you still wish you were human?"

"Oh no, not any more. Once I realized that your mummy loved me for who I was, I was able to accept myself as well, for perhaps the first time." Miyatsu thought about it for a moment. "I think Sakaki envied me. Because despite all his power he was lonely. He could never be sure that the people he called his friends were really his friends, or if they just wanted to be with him because of his money and influence. But I loved him for the fact that he was the only family I had, and Aiko loved him because he didn't treat us like freaks for wanting to be together. For a time, he was our truest friend."

"But he stole Mummy away from the family, and that hurt you both," Sakura said, her brow furrowed in the effort to understand.

Miyatsu nodded. "Yes. But I think I know why he did it. Aiko and I were the only family he had, and he missed us once we left. For a long time, I believe, he really tried to forget that he loved your mother; but he was lonely, and when we met him again on the mainland it brought all the memories back, the good times the three of us had shared together. And we did have some good times. Some of my happiest memories are of Sakaki and me, talking, practicing, training. We used to laugh together a lot, that first summer at Kagoshima, and after Aiko, Sakaki was the human I liked most."

Miyatsu sighed. "I should have kept in contact with him after I came here to Shima. Maybe -- maybe if I had, Sakaki wouldn't have been so lonely. I still feel guilty that I didn't make the effort. But we were so busy here, me and Aiko and your grandparents. We were building a new species together, and the time went by so fast that I didn't realize how the years had slipped by. And I was so very happy, it never occurred to me that Sakaki was unhappy. I think when he met us again, that he -- gave in to temptation. He hungered for the sort of love that Aiko and I share. But love can only be given, it can never be taken by force. That was something he never understood."

"I would have liked to meet my father," Sakura said, considering. "I mean, I've seen the pictures Mummy has in her scrapbook of him and you when you were fighting on the circuit. And I've seen all the discs Grandma recorded from the television then, too. But it's not the same thing, is it?"

"No. No, it's not the same," Miyatsu agreed.

"But I think it would be confusing," Sakura continued. "You can't have two Daddies, can you? You're my Daddy. But you're not my father, you're my uncle!" She smiled as if amused by the idea, and once again Miyatsu could plainly see the resemblance to her biological father. That quick, mischievously charming smile was pure Sakaki. Then it faded and her face became serious again, and she looked far more like her mother. "Does that make Benji my cousin? He says it does."

"Mmm, I suppose you could call him your cousin," Miyatsu said, trying to keep up with the kaleidoscopic train of thought and endless questions of a typical seven-year-old. "Benjiro is my clone, which means he is sort of your father's younger brother, like me! Yes, let's just say he's your cousin. It makes it easier."

The child smiled. "I'm glad you saved Mummy and that you're my Daddy, even if you're really my uncle!"

She put her head to one side as if listening. "Benji's finished his schoolwork," she announced, sliding off Miyatsu's lap. "He says would I like to go down to the beach with him and the others before dinner."

Miyatsu was not surprised when the door opened at that moment to reveal Benjiro, along with seven-year-old twins Raku and Raiden, and Kuri and Kiyoshi, Montaro and Meiko's four-year-olds. He'd already spotted their psychic signatures as they walked down the slope from the main group of houses. Sakura ran to join the ranks of her chattering peer group with a smile, taking her accustomed spot beside Benjiro, who was the acknowledged leader of the gang.

"Don't be late back for dinner," Miyatsu said, raising his voice slightly to be heard as the six children exited. "Grandma's made umeboshi."

He watched for a moment longer as they walked off down the path. When they disappeared from view, Miyatsu stood and padded across to the storeroom. The door was slightly ajar, with Aiko standing just inside, sorting through some computer discs. She placed them on the table beside her as Miyatsu came in and put his arms fondly about her waist.

"Why didn't you come out and join us?"

Aiko shook her head with a slight smile. "I didn't want to interrupt while you told Sakura the story. That's the first time I've heard her ask about Sakaki. Not as part of the story, I mean, but about why he did what he did. You handled it well."

"Her questions made me nostalgic. I still wonder now and then if I could have managed things with Sakaki differently, better. Would he still be alive today if I hadn't gone back to the Raikatuji building after we rescued you? He must have been very afraid of me to have built Koneko's robotic body; my being there goaded him into using her... "

Aiko put two fingers against Miyatsu's mouth, stopping him. "Sakaki sowed the seeds of his own destruction when he abducted me," she said firmly. "I'm just glad we're still alive. I was so scared that night. If you hadn't come to rescue me, he would have killed me. Maybe not right away and probably without meaning to, but I'd certainly be dead now. Sakaki's addiction made him completely unstable. And I can never forgive that he planned your murder. If he'd managed to kill you... if I'd lost you because of him..."

She broke off, her expression suddenly bleak. She put both arms about Miyatsu and hugged him hard, burying her face in the soft fur of his chest.

Miyatsu rested his cheek against the top of her head for a moment in a brief kiss, hugging her back. "How fierce you sound, little mate! I'm glad it's not me you're angry with!"

Aiko knew he was making light of it to lift her mood, and looked up into his face, giving him a small smile of reassurance. "I think you were right when you told Sakura that her father always had to have his own way. He could act like a spoilt child at times--charming, but only for as long as he got what he wanted. We kept confusing him, because we didn't want the same things! He didn't know how to deal with us." She picked up her discs again. "Just let me put these away and we can go on up to the house."

"Have you finished here?" Miyatsu asked. "Yutaka may be back soon."

"Dad was yawning before you got here. Those notes of his were just an excuse: I'll bet he's fallen asleep on the couch again!"

The rain was falling once more as Miyatsu and Aiko exited the lab. Aiko slipped her hand about her mate's waist fondly. He smiled down at her and she felt a slight tingle as the waterproof shield activated about them both.

A peal of childish laughter sounded from the beach, and they turned to watch the children for a moment. They were playing by the shore, totally oblivious to the rain as they raced about. The slight shimmer in the air about each showed that they were all shielding against the wet weather, even the pair of four-year-olds. Benjiro was holding Sakura's hand in his own and protecting them both.

"Hey, that's not fair, Raku!" Sakura was protesting. "It's against the rules to levitate when me and Kuri and Kiyoshi can't... "

She broke off with a sudden squeal of surprise as she and her kitten cousins were hoisted a little above the sand. Laughing, Sakura turned to Benjiro, who was still holding her hand but grinning cheekily. She was now on eye-level with him. "Put me down!" she demanded.

"But we can beat Raku now!" he answered.

And the six children raced away down the beach, squealing and laughing, Benjiro levitating himself, Sakura and his pair of cousins with no apparent effort, while his younger brother and sister struggled to keep up.

Aiko smiled at the sight. Raku had turned out to have a competitive streak; she was constantly testing her older brother and human sister and would complain that Benjiro always took Sakura's side in everything. Raiden, on the other hand, was as easy-going as all the males of the Miyatsu clan and happy to let his sister take the lead. The six flying children disappeared around the curve of beach, and Aiko looked up at her mate, sensing a bittersweet nostalgia radiating from him.

"Benjiro and Sakura make me think of you and I when we were young," Miyatsu told her. "We could have been childhood friends too, if we'd been given the chance."

"If only Dad had let me stay at the lab that day we met. But we became friends anyway. We just had to wait a while to meet again."

Miyatsu was silent for a moment, but Aiko sensed his mood. She smoothed the fur over his knuckles with her thumb. "What's wrong?" she asked gently.

"Are we doing the right thing?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean Sakura and Benjiro are so close. Maybe that's not such a good idea."

"I don't understand. Benjiro adores her, you know that, and she loves him. Why is that not good?"

"Yes, she loves him as a brother. But I know Benjiro loves her as a future mate. He told me recently that they're going to live together like we do when they grow up." The familiar frown line had appeared between his eyes. "Remember what Sakaki said? That it was... what was the word, when people are related and shouldn't mate?"

"Incest? Well, Benjiro and Sakura are only related in the most tenuous of terms," Aiko answered. "Sakura told me the same thing, that she and Benji plan on becoming mates. But they're children still, so I wouldn't worry about it. They may both change their minds in future."

Miyatsu shook his head, his expression very serious. "Benjiro won't. But Sakura might. She has a lot of Sakaki in her temperament. And he got married four times."

Aiko smiled. "Is that what you're worried about? You could just as easily say she'll take after her mother, with one mate forever!"

Miyatsu smiled despite himself. "She is very like you, too," he admitted.

"I've noticed more than a passing resemblance to her uncle as well," Aiko teased gently. "And I know for a fact that he's monogamous! And don't forget, we've broken a few taboos ourselves."

She took Miyatsu's paw in both her hands and gazed up into his eyes. "I loved you from the moment we met. I've been lucky enough to find my soul-mate; I can only wish my daughter the same good luck, with whoever she chooses."

"But what if she decides on a human mate, and Benjiro comes down with Pershan Syndrome?"

"What if a tsunami arrives tomorrow morning and wipes us all off Shima?" Aiko countered. "Or a television satellite drops out of orbit on top of us? Whatever happens, we'll deal with it when it happens. We've managed harder issues before this."

Miyatsu nodded slowly, his eyes losing some of their worry. "You're right. I'm overreacting, aren't I?"

"Maybe just a little bit," Aiko answered with a slight smile. "Let them be children for now. They'll grow up soon enough."

She tugged at his hand. "You know, we haven't gone for a walk along the beach in the rain for some time."

Miyatsu allowed himself to be led back down the path. "Do you want to follow the children?"

"No, I want some you-and-me time. Alone. There's a little spot not far from here that I've always thought looks like the area where the Pershans in Wild Kingdom lived. "

Miyatsu pricked his ears forward and Aiko could sense his amusement. "Except they lived by a river, and we're next to the sea, they're in Africa, we're on Shima, they were... "

"Details," and Aiko waved those considerations aside. "The main thing is, it's quiet and nobody ever goes down there."

She brushed one hip against him playfully and could feel she had his complete and enthusiastic attention. "Come on. Walking along the beach in the rain: that always reminds me of our first time together."

"Mmm, have we got time before the television satellite falls on us?" Miyatsu asked.

"I plan on having too much fun to notice it." Aiko looked up at him. "Can you shield against rain while we're making love, though? I've never thought to ask you before."

Miyatsu grinned, showing his long cat teeth. "We'll soon find out, won't we?"

The End.