PART ONE
"JINGLE BELLS-- BATMAN SMELLS ROBIN LAYED AN EGG!!!" Sang the little
blonde.
>From Inside a husky female voice scoulded, "C-KO."
"Sorry, Mrs. Magami. I'm just so excited! Thank-you again
for letting Eiko have me over
again!"
She smiled indulgently at her daughter's best friend, still wondering
what all the hoopla was
about. Despite the fact she had lived in Man's World for several
decades, she never quite
understood the fascination with Christmas. Of course, she had
studied the rituals and stories
behind the Western holiday for years; she had discovered that it heralded
back to her own
culture's celebration of Mid-Winter or Winter Solstice.
The European Pagans had influenced the current celebration quite heavily.
Even the scholars of
all the major relegious institutions believe that this Jesus Christ
may well have been actually
born during the Summer months. The setting was altered to the
winter to accomodate the Pagan
converts to the new God. Yet, she knew the history wasn't what
excited the children most. It
was the receiving of gifts and candy that delighted them to no end.
To see relatives from far
away they only get to see on rare occassions like this.
The beauty of twinkling colored lights and stories of people changed
by the goodness of the
holiday. Her husband had taught her the true meaning of the holliday.
He had shown her it
was a time of gentleness and good will between all people on Earth.
The one time of the year
when most all differences that seperate the rest of the human race
are put aside for a short
while. In celebration of life, happiness, and the simple joy
of being alive on Earth. It went
beyond religion and dogma. . . it simply *was*.
In Japan, Eiko's mother loved how they celebrated Christmas, combining
it with the popular
Shinto and Taoist faiths. It had an elegance. . .and dare she
say a style all it's own.
"Why do I have to be a smelly old horse in the Christmas Pageant?!"
Eiko bellowed in the
kitchen where her father was altering her equesterine costume.
"Because not everyone can be angels, pun'kin," her father answered.
"I don't want to be an angel, either. I wanted to be a shepherd.
Krypto could have been my
sheep!"
Mrs. Magami sighed. She was in the dining room helping C-ko make
a pair of angel's wings
with an old feathered cloak she had aquired in Wales a few decades
ago from Morrigan the
Raven Goddess. It was a gorgeous pair of wings made from white
raven feathers. C-ko had
promised to not ruin the wings or a vile and hideous trip to the zoo's
seprentarium was
going to be in order. Eiko's mother really wouldn't dangle the
little ten-year-old blonde
over a pit of snakes, but she admited to herself the idea was appealing
at times.
Krypto took the opportunity sauntered between the kitchen and dining
rooms, looking for any
cookie crumbs that might have fallen from either of the tables.
The Kryptonian hound had
enjoyed his years with his master's pack, adopting the master's cub
as his own. Looking
after the cub and her friend was both a burden and a highlight of his
life with the Magamis.
As he soon discovered the girls were prone to have adventures nipping
on their heels. The
last adventure they had shared together - trick or treating in Brooklyn
without permission -
had grounded his mistress from seeing her best friend for two months.
(Krypto didn't mind
this too much. The whiny blonde cub had used a magic marker all
over his beautiful white coat,
calling it a "disguise".)
"I still don't want to be a horse!" complained Eiko.
Krypto sighed and decided to lay under the table. Maybe her temper
will be enough to knock
over a plate of Christmas cookies. Perhaps they'll taste like
his master's mother's cookies. . .
"Dear?" Eiko's father called. "Your daughter is becoming tempermental again!"
"*My* daughter?" Mrs. Magami smiled, entering the kitchen. "When
she's being naughty, she's
*my* daughter?"
"Right," her husband replied, slapping the costume to the front of her
apron. "When she's
sweet, she's my little princess."
"Oh, gag me!" Eiko called.
"Eiko!" C-ko cried. "Your parents are being sweet! I think it's cute!"
"Yeah, but I'm still a horse!"
"Let me take care of it, darling," Mrs. Magami whispered to him as she
placed the costume back
on the table. He nodded and went in to assist C-ko with her angel's
wings.
"I'm disappointed in you, my daughter."
Eiko looked up at her mother's tall, imposing frame above her.
Even standing on a chair, the
young red head's ten-year-old body was still too short for her to look
her mother in the eye.
"But--"
"No 'buts', young lady," she opened the door to the basement/training
room, and picked her
daughter up by the seat of her pants to toss her down onto the mats.
Eiko twisted into a
ball in mid-flight and landed on one buttock to absorb the blow, just
as she was taught by
her mother. Her years of training were paying off at last.
"What was that for?!" Eiko demanded, straightening herself out.
Her mother descended the stairs-- in truth, floated down the stairs
since they were alone-- and
closed the door behind herself.
"Just to see if your father's spoiling of you has ruined your abilities.
When I was your age,
I was working in my mother's stables, having to shovel horse manure
and care for the horses.
It was terrible, but it gave me respect for the animal."
Eiko looked down, brushing a strand of red hair back over her ear.
Her mother bit her lip,
briefly wondering if she was too harsh on the child.
"Mama?"
"Yes?"
"When do I get to fly like you and daddy?"
"You seem to take after your father with regard to most of your powers.
Most likely when
you're eighteen or so, since that was how old he was when he began
to fly."
"Oh. . . " the young redhead trailed off, her lower lip quivering, ready to cry.
"Come here, Eiko," her mother made her way over to her altar and shrine.
"There is a God I
want to introduce you to."
Eiko inhaled sharply. Her mother's altar had always been a place
of mystery to her. It
was where her mother went after a training session, where she prayed
and meditated. Eiko's
literature studies included learning mythologies, and she was able
to discern that her mother
worshipped the Goddesses and Gods of the Greek Pantheon.
She had learned a little bit about how her mother worshipped the past
few years. She knew
there was much more to it than what they taught her in school.
She watched her mother light
the incense brazier, the scent of sandlewood filled the corner.
Then her mother dipped her
fingers in the chalice of water, sprinkling it over them both.
She lit the candle next and
then stirred rock salt around in a shallow dish with the tip of a dagger.
"Eiko," her mother began. "In my religion, we have a God of horses.
He is also the God of the
seas and lakes and oceans and rivers and streams, including all the
animals that live in them. He is the God of the earthquake and of
the mountains. The horse is His sacred animal. The horse is
strong and sure-footed, swift and loyal. The horse has ploughed fields,
carried burdens, escorted woman and man, lead the way into battles.
In this pagent, you are the sacred horse that took the Wise Men to the
birth of a prophet. It is an honor to portray the sacred animal of
Posiedon, and you appease the God for your Oneness with that sacredness."
Eiko stared wide-eyed at her mother for several moments, letting the
story sink in. It was
here that she did believe in Goddesses, and was sure her mother was
one herself.
"I understand, mother," Eiko replied at last. "I will be proud to honor the Gods with my role."
Mrs. Magami smiled, then bowed before the altar. Eiko mimicked
her, feeling the small sign of
respect was necessary.
"Now, go on upstairs and let your father help you finish your costume."
"All right. . . thank-you, mom."
She let her daughter run upstairs and she turned back to the altar.
"Thank-you, Posiedon, for
your help in my daughter's understanding," she whispered.
She bowed again, then snuffed out the incense and blew out the candle
flame.
PART TWO
Mrs. Magami opened the basement door to find her husband on the phone,
whispering in concern.
She cocked her head, staring him eye to eye. He met her blue
eyes at last with his own, and
smiled in his special way that told her it was really all right.
"... Yes, I know. I'll let you talk with her now ... I think it's
a wonderful idea myself, but
you know the boss has the Final Say ... "
She smirked, sliding up next to him and slipping her hand into his trouser
pocket. She had him
trained properly now. His late wife had set the foundation of
the final Say for her many years
ago.
"Darling ... " he kissed her ear, whispering something delightfully
indecent, and she giggled,
taking the phone from him. "You old goat," she chuckled, then cleared
her throat. "Hello?"
"Sister, I miss you so much!" the woman's voice on the other end blurted.
Eiko's mother caught her breath.
"Donna?"
"Of course it's me!"
She smiled, taking the cordless phone into the den where there were
no children or husband.
"Blessings upon you, my fellow sister! Where are you?"
"Here in America. Artemis was giving me her usual bull and feathers
about you and Clark and I
didn't feel up to handling her."
"Damn. Her ... "
The redheaded snipe had been dangling the knife too close to her back
for several years, and
she went in for the kill after Diana found out she was pregnant with
Eiko. Then she attempted
to carry on *her* work, with her uniform and tools and weapons?
An Amazon in white hot rage
was nothing compared to Mrs. Magami's anger when she found this out.
It lead down a road were
she had to fight her own mother and sisters to escape the home were
she grew up. To be with
the man she had always loved, even when he belonged to another.
Donna sighed. "I had to get out of there. I'm beginning
to find Patriarch's World more and
more comforting for me." "Yet, it holds so many painful memories
as well."
The sister chuckled, murmuring, "Christmas is coming up ... it's a very
lonely time, you know.
Since my ... family ... "
The one time Amazon princess waited for her friend to gather her bearings
again. The holidays
also meant painful memories to those who lost family. Her best
friend was no exception.
"Donna? Would you like to spend Christmas with my family?
You shouldn't be alone, not like
this and most of all not this time of year."
The woman sniffed, and asked, "Are you sure? I asked Clark if
I could visit for a day ... He
sugested two weeks "
"And I invite you to stay as long as you wish, my friend and sister.
You can help me train
Eiko to fight two opponents at the same time."
She chuckled. "That child is blessed by many Gods, my sister.
She was Meant to Be; the Fates
work on a grander scale than you or I are able to conceive."
"A pain in my backend, at times, and her father does spoils her rotten."
"I doubt she's very spoiled, not with Won - " she paused and continued.
"Not with you as her
mother."
"I can only teach her so much. She just has to accept it."
"She does. And her temper and disposition will ensure it. When shall I arrive?"
* * *
Mrs. Magami re-entered the kitchen, kissing her husband's cheek as she passed.
"Well?" he asked, his swift fingers bluring as he fashioned a horsehead
out of chicken wire and
paper mache.
"A vistor," she smiled. "Eiko! Come in here!"
"Okay, mama!" the young redhead entered the room, her horse end already
strapped on, with C-ko
wearing feathered wings and riding on Eiko's back.
"Yeee-haa!" the little blonde giggled. "Just like the American cowboys!"
Both of A-ko's parents chuckled, and her mother plucked C-ko off of
her daughter. Her father
picked her up and sat her in his lap.
"What's going on?" Eiko asked.
C-ko snatched a cookie from the tray and slipped it under the table
for Krypto, who wolfed it
down eagerly, noting it tasted just like his master's mother's cookies
from yjr before time.
"Your aunt Donna is going to be staying with us for the holidays."
"Wheeeeee!!!" Screamed Eiko as she performed a backflip out of her father's
lap, landing
delicately on her feet on the counter.
"Off the counter, young lady," her mother told her. "It's not polite."
"Sorry, mama," Eiko slipped off the counter and C-ko giggled.
"So, when are we going to pick
her up?"
"Your father is going to take you to your pageant, and your aunt Donna
and I will be there in
time to see you."
"And she'll see me as the sacred horse of the Three Wise Men!"
Mr. Magami turned to his wife and she smiled enigmatically at him.
PART THREE
Eiko's mother was entirely too busy packing up the trunk with eIko's
costume and the special
rigs for C-ko and her fellow angels to fly around in, that she hardly
noticed the phone ringing
in the house. When she did, she looked around to make sure she
was alone. The little street
was silent and empty, save for the white blanket of powdery snow covering
the lawns and
sidewalks. She piroetted around and flew toward the house.
She opened the door carefully
and touched down inside the livingroom. Her quick hand landed
on the receiver.
"Hello?"
"Diana? It's Donna. Don't worry about picking me up.
I'll meet you at Eiko's school. You
don't mind if I bring a friend or two along?"
"Not at all. The more, merrier. Need directions to A-ko's school?"
"Yes, that would help. We're in transit right now."
* * *
Mr. Magami happliy whistled "Joy to the World" as he rigged up the angels'
harnesses over the
catwalk.
Who would have thought the Man of Steel would enjoy fatherhood and all
its little duties,
including contributing time to his daughter's pageant? Well,
maybe it wasn't so odd. He
glanced over the railing, watching his daughter prancing around in
her horse costume. He
watched as the three boys portraying the Wise Men attempted to all
sit on her back, and she
reared up, spilling them off her back. All of them were soon
laughing hysterically.
"Hey, weren't they supposed to be camels?" another fifth grader asked.
"They had horses in the desert," Eiko replied haughtily. "If you
don't like it, tell that to
Posiedon."
The boy scratched his head in puzzlement, then went back to struggling into his sheep's costume.
Eiko's mother was affixing the white raven's feathered wings to C-ko's
back. Well, as much as
she could; the little blonde was bubbling with excitement, hopping
around like a kangaroo mouse.
"Calm down, C-ko. . . " Mrs. Magami chided her.
"I'M JUST SO EXCITED!!!" she shrieked.
Eiko's parents met each other's eyes from the catwalk and the right
wing in one agreement.
This was going to be one *long* night.
* * *
The auditorium filled with parents, faculty, students, families of the
actors in the pageant.
Mr. and Mrs. Magami insured the cable harnesses and costumes were set,
and they let C-ko's
adopted mother do her stage managing.
"When is Donna supposed to show up?"
Eiko's mother lay her head on her husband's massive shoulder.
"She said right on time for the
pageant to begin. Oh, she's also bringing a few friends along."
He creased his brow in worry, turning to look in her eyes.
"Are they from your home?"
"I trust Donna. She was always there. Remember? She
was the one who tried to convince my. . .
mother from exiling me, and she had made sure that none of the other
Amazons-- most especially
of Artemis' pack-- never found us or our daughter. I trust her
to have friends that would
never reveal where we are or that know nothing of our situation."
"I would like to know who they are," he murmured, brushing his fingers
across her pale cheek.
She turned, kissing his face gently, running her hands behind his neck
to pull him closer.
"Ick," they heard a woman's voice above them. "Can't you two ever behave yourselves in public?"
They turned, both recognizing the voice. Beside them stood Diana's
best friend Donna Troy.
She stood in as tall as Mrs. Magami herself, with mid-length wavy black
hair and piercing
blue eyes. Yet, her hair had greys among the black, the years
of grieving her dead family
taking their toll on the former Goddess. But her smile was still
radiant, still joyous in
the love of life. Her smile matched the starburst red sweather
she wore over the red leather
trousers and high heeled boots.
"Donna!" Mrs. Magami stood up and embraced her, crushing her in a bear hug.
"Not so hard, sister!"
"Shhhh!" several of the other parents whispered as the lights dimmed.
Both women sat down and Donna leaned over to kiss Clark's cheek. "How's the Boy Scout?"
He smiled. "Never better. So where are your other friends?"
Donna narrowed her eyes at him and replied, "Don't tell me fatherhood
has ruined your fine
senses, honey."
Mrs. Magami elbowed her husband, causing him to make an audible "oof!"
He smiled up at her
grinning at him.
"Darling? Have you been ignoring everything around you?"
"No, I haven't," he whispered, kissing his wife's hand. "I have
been listening, and I do seem
torecognize a familiar heartbeat." He gazed through one of the
ornate pillars lining the walls
of the auditorium. "And I see that my child's godfather is here
along with another little
redhead that resembles my daughter."
Eiko's mother arched a fine eyebrow. "Bruce didn't tell us he had a daughter."
Donna chuckled. "Not his daughter, fellow sister. I brought
one of our Amazon children with
me so she can experience Christmas for the first time."
"From the island?" Mrs. Magami furrowed her brows.
"Yes."
"Tell me, whose daughter is she?"
Donna looked down to her hands in her lap. She listened to the
angel Gabriel deliver the
message of the birth of the child of God.
"Donna. . . "
"She is the daughter of Artemis, my princess."
Eiko's mother pressed her hand over her best friend's mouth. "I
am not the princess of
Paradise Island, I am simply Diana," she released her hand and looked
with worry upon Donna.
"Does her daughter know who I am?" she asked.
"Only that you are an Amazon from the island who left us long ago.
Her name is Zoey, and she
is nearly Eiko's age."
"Is she anything like Artemis?" Mr. Magami asked.
"From what I've seen, no," Donna smiled. "She has the compassion
and true honor her mother
lacks. Fortunately, she has been under the tutorial of Phillippus
and sometimes myself, and
I see no mark of Artemis' temper upon her."
"A spy, perhaps?" Diana asked, clutching her nails into her fist.
"No! I chose her to come with me, sister! She has a gift,
but I feel she needs some time
away from her mother and with true Amazons. . . Besides, the resemblence
between Eiko and
Zoey is uncanny. Perhaps the Gods are trying to tell us something."
Eiko's mother leaned back in her seat, watching the pageant. "All
right, Donna, I trust you.
If anything happens to threaten the safety of my husband and daughter,
I will be obliged to
use the lasso on her and erase her memory."
"Agreed," the one time Titan nodded. "You have my word. . . And
I had made Zoey promise to not
reveal where we went on this trip. She keeps her word like iron,
sister, This I have witnessed
for myself."
"As long as we remain in peace."
Both women clutched the other's forearm in honored agreement and became silent.
Mr. Magami watched the pageant with pride. His little Eiko was
making her way across the
stage, the Three Wise Men upon her back. She bobbed the horsehead
as she walked, moving her
limbs in time with the others, letting the three boys on her strong
back sway and joggle as
people do on real horses. Ever since the afternoon her mother
threw her down in the basement,
Eiko had been researching the form and habits of horses.
His wife noticed his smile and misty eyes, and she squeezed his hand
in hers. "Why are you all
teary, my love?" she whispered.
"I don't know what you said to our daughter in the basement, but I wish
you could see her face
under the costume. She has the most beautiful smile on her face."
"It's all right," she kissed his cheek. "I can imagine what she
looks like from your own
expression. I can almost see through your eyes."
They squeezed each other's hands, both getting teary from pride in their daughter's performance.
PART FOUR
The students gathered for their bows, all in a haphazard line at the
foot of the stage. Eiko
and C-ko held the other's hand tightly, huge grins on their faces.
Eiko's father already had
the camera out, snapping pictures like crazy, just as any proud father
would do. But still
wishing his pal Jimmy was still alive to help him share in the moment
The students raised their arms on the cue Mrs. Kotobuki gave them, then
all bowed at once to
the applause and cheers of friends and family.
"Ya-HO!" C-ko squealed. "Ya-HO!"
The line broke and the children descended the staircase leading to the
audience to be with
their families.
"Most impressive," Eiko and C-ko's teacher said as she approached Mr.
and Mrs. Magami. "Eiko
is such a talented actress."
"Thank-you-- " Mrs. Magami began.
"AUNT DONNA!!!" Eiko shrieked, throwing herself at her mother's best
friend with more force
than most adults could muster. But Donna wasn't most adults,
and she accepted the wreaking
ball attack of her "niece" with barely a flinch.
"Little drop bear!" she laughed, using her pet name for the child.
"Not so little anymore, are
you?"
"Nope," A-ko took the horsehead off, grinning. "Did you see me play the Wise Men's horse?"
"Of course, honey," Donna let the child's teacher talk with her parents.
"Guess who I brought
along with me?"
"I don't know. . . " Eiko smiled, pulling C-ko closer to her to keep
her from getting lost.
"But have you met my best friend?"
"HI!!!" C-ko smiled sunnily. "My name's C-ko Kotobuki! Pleased ta' meet'cha'!"
Donna smiled indulgently. Such an endearing child. . .
"I'm Eiko's aunt Donna. Pleased to meet you, too."
"We're *all* going out for hot chocolate together, right?" the little blonde asked.
"Right!" A-ko replied. "Who did you bring with you, aunt Donna?"
A tall man appeared next to the Amazon. He was very old, with
shock white hair and a stonehard
wrinkled face. His faded brown eyes were gentle, and the faintest
smile stretched his thin l
ips. He was dressed in an exo-suit, one of the more advanced
models, unlike the more common
bulky ones that permitted the user little movement. The much
smaller model allowed him to have
better flexibilty and strength than men half his age without it.
"Uncle Bruce!" Eiko squealed, and lept up to hug him. He held the ten-year-old in his arms.
"That performance was superb," he told her, kissing her cheek.
C-ko hung back shyly. Her best friend's godfather had always frightened
her a little. He was
dark and aloof, but at least he treated Eiko like she really was his
niece.
She then noticed someone standing shyly behind the man.
"Hi," C-ko chriped in her usually friendly manner. "What's your name?"
Eiko looked down to see another ten-year-old girl that looked uncannily
like her. The same
red hair, except her bangs were chin-length and parted in the middle.
Her large violet eyes
studied the other two girls. She was simply dressed in brown
leather trousers and a green
tunic and boots.
"My name is Zoey. Who are you?"
"C-ko!" the blonde girl replied, giggling.
"And I'm Eiko. We kinda like alike, don't we?"
Bruce smiled in relief. He was worried about how Eiko and Zoey
would get along. Their mothers
who had never really gotten along, had parted on even worst terms,
and the fight and flight of
EIko's mother from her home land especially worst. Both
he and Donna had worried ever since
they decided to bring Zoey with them..
Mrs. Magami finally shook the teacher away from her and approached the small group.
"Hello, Bruce," she smiled. "I'm glad the new suit is working better for you."
"Thank-you, I had to tinker with it even more after the prototype was
completed, but I don't
feel as old as I look right now," he grinned. "And you two as
always, look as young as ever."
Mrs. Magami blushed. "I had no choice in the matter."
He set Eiko down and replied, "And I don't envy you at all, my friend.
On to other matters:
may I present to you. . . " he paused, uncertain "Miss Zoey. . . Valcuria.
. . of Thermescyra."
"Valcuria?" the Amazon redhead broke into a smile. "I like it. Can I keep it?"
"Of course," he replied, automatically calculating the amount
it would take to register the
girl as an American citizen with a birth certificate and-- then concluded
it'd be pocket change
he could find in his sofa.
No problem, as long as he got her away form that crazy mother of hers.
Despite a mutual
respect, he and Artemis did not see eye-to-eye often.
Mrs. Magami knelt down to study the girl's soul through her eyes.
True, she did not carry her
mother's temper or her anger, but was quite sure the child carried
Amazon law higher than most
others. Oh, heck, if all else fails, use the lasso on her and
some selective amnesia.
"Good evening, Zoey. I am Eiko's mother. . . Diana Magami.
I'm glad you visited us from the
island."
Zoey smiled, a very cute smile like Eiko uses all to often on her father.
"I'm pleased to be
here, thank-you.
Donna made me learn Japanese before we came here."
"Sound wisdom, since this is Japan, and it is the national language,"
Mr. Magami interrupted,
holding Eiko in his large arms.
"You did well, sister," Diana told the girl's mentor.
Donna nodded. "Anyway, as you know, we don't have Christmas, and
I was hoping Eiko could show
Zoey just what Christmas is all about."
Eiko lit up like a Christmas tree. "REALLY?!?! Zoey, I can
teach you everything! About Santa
Claus and trees and lights and candy and presents and--"
"And POPCORN BALLS and CANDY CANES and COOKIES and PUNCH and. . . " C-ko continued.
Eiko and C-ko took Zoey by both hands and chattered on either side of
her as she tried to
process all that they told her. But Eiko's mother noticed the
child looking back at her,
narrowing her eyes to study her face.
Bruce patted her shoulder, "I think it's wonderful the girls are getting along so well."
"I don't think there'll be a problem," Mr. Magami said. "She's nothing like her mother."
Diana and Donna met the other's eyes. Both knew, on a gut level,
that something was going to
happen. Something, but they weren't sure what.
"Come on, all you riff-raff," Mr. Magami grinned. "Let's go to
the tea house and get some hot
chocolate for the girls."
"YAY!!!" C-ko sang out.
PART FIVE
C-ko joined the Magamis in their car as Bruce, Donna, and Zoey hailed
a taxi. They decided to
meet at Akari's Tea House to warm themselves up from the freezing Japanese
snow. Mr. and Mrs.
Magami spoke in low tones in the front seat as Eiko and C-ko giggled
and raved about the
pageant.
"She was looking at me odd," said Diana
"Was she? I failed to notice," answered her husband.
"She was. She knows who I once was. She has that same mad gleam in her eye like her mother."
"What of it? What can she do?"
"Darling, the Amazons of Artemis' tribe start their military training at age three."
"Point taken, but you still have that gold rope of yours."
"This is going to be a disaster, I just know it."
"How can you tell?" he asked
"Women's intuition."she answered in turn.
Moments later, the only two men of the party escorted all five women
into the tea house,
settling around a large table. With a bit of careful manuevering
of the exo-suit, Bruce
managed to sit cross-legged at the low table.
"How were you able to ever get used to this?" he asked. "And having
to take my boots at the
door. Let an old man have some comfort."
Diana laughed. "You should have seen Clark when we first moved here."
"Oh, really?" Donna chuckled, her arm around Bruce in a sympathetic hug.
"Really, dear, you don't have to relate that story. . . "
"But I must," his wife insisted. "Eiko, want to hear a funny story
about your papa when we
first were deciding about moving here while I was pregnant with you?"
"Yeah. Daddy's always been pretty funny," Eiko replied, leaping up to hug him around his neck. Zoey's eyes widened in surprise then narrowed as she stared at Eiko and her father.
Mr. Magami smiled, slightly blushing. "It's silly."
"Yes, it is. Your father and I went to look for a house and found
a really good real estate
agent. We flew right in from America and met her at one of these
tea houses. "We followed
custom and took our shoes off, but your darling father had not planned
on this - "
"Slip of the memory, dear."
" - and he took off his shoes, showing off these Mickey Mouse socks."
"BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!" Donna brayed, laughing hysterically.
Bruce chuckled and added, "Soft as a sneakerful, too."
"Do I sense a flying rodent in the air?" Clark replied.
"Shut up, Magami."
"Stop it, you two. Anyway, we go into the room and meet with our
agent. She kept staring down
at his socks, giggling to herself, then we sat down after we were introduced
to her husband.
After a moment of giggling, she pointed and said, 'Mickey Mouse - tee
hee hee!' Which brought
*all* of us down into laughter. That was so cute the way she
said it."
"So," her husband added. "I became known as Mouse Man from that."
Donna, Eiko, and C-ko broke into uncontrollable laughter. Bruce
only chuckled, as Zoey drew a
blank look across her face.
"What's a Mickey Mouse?" she asked as the ruckus died down.
"I have to educate you, girl," Eiko commented. "You've never heard of Mickey Mouse?"
Diana paused, seeing the flare of temper awaken in the girl, the same way Artemis' always did.
"Should I have?" the young Amazon asked coldly.
She did have to hand it to Donna, at least the girl had more control
over it. Yet, with a
redhead, that always paved the way to more dangerous results.
Eiko decided to remain oblivious
to her nasty vibes, convincing herself that Zoey was probably tired.
"Don't worry about it, I'll teach you everything there is to know."
"Ah, waiter!" Mr. Magami flagged down one of the servers. "We'd like to order."
"Yes, sir. What will you gentlemen and ladies have?"
"Three cups of hot chocolate for the young ladies."
Zoey ground her teeth. "You let *him* pick what we consume?"
"C-ko and I *like* hot chocolate. You will, too, if you've never
had chocolate before like
mama didn't."
"Greater than anything else in the world," Mrs. Magami added.
"Ohhhhhhhh, yeeeeeaaaaaahhhh. . . " Donna chimed in.
"Hey," the former's husband remarked. "Better than anything else?"
"We're in mixed company, dear, behave yourself."
Bruce laughed at the Man of Steel's expense.
"Shut up, you," Clark chortled. "Dirty old man."
"You're older than me, Magami."
Eiko giggled, getting up again to kiss her father's cheek. She
turned and met Zoey's eyes as
her father continued the order.
"What are you lookin' at?" she asked, sitting back down next to her.
"Nothing, just wondering why you're hanging all over that *man*."
Eiko paused, shocked to hear the common word being used almost like
a cuss word. Someone
actually didn't like her compassionate and strong papa?
"Zoey, I love my dad. So does my mom."
The girl snorted. "The one time-princess of Thermascyria left us for *this*?"
Eiko clutched her fists at her side, feeling her own temper flare.
Diana and Donna's eyes
met, and both realized the seriousness of the situation. Donna
moved, but Diana shook her
head. It was between the girls.
C-ko broke in with her sunny smile and asked, "Hey, Zoey, you wanna
try some of my homecooked
lunches tomorrow when we go Christmas shopping?"
Eiko brightened, seeing a way to teach that snot-nosed, redheaded Amazon
a lesson she would
never forget. "Oh, yes, you must try C-ko's Cordon Bleu lunches;
they're. . . to die for."
Zoey nodded, a smirk playing at her lips. "Of course I will, C-ko."
<Icky stupidhead.>
<Wimpy traitor.>
Both older women sighed in unison. The holidays were always supposed
to be stressful, they
say.
PART SIX
The next morning dawned bright and cold. The pale blue sky over
southern Japan was offset in
etheral beauty by the thick, clean white snow that covered the lawns
and streets of the little
neighborhood the Magamis lived in. It was the first night that
C-ko had slept over in two
months, and A-ko enjoyed every minute of secretly playing dolls that
she told everyone she
had grown out of.
Yet, she was reminded of the strange girl from last night when she trotted
downstairs and found
the brat and her beloved aunt Donna sleeping in the livingroom on the
convertible sofa. She
studied them sleeping. Donna had her arm protectively around
the girl, holding her like she
was her child. Eiko remembered her own mother let her sleep with
her and daddy for the first
few nights after they moved house in the middle of the night.
Eiko could accept Zoey sleeping like with aunt Donna like that.
After all she had the same
type of love and affection her mother had. What did surprise
Eiko was finding Zoey had her
thumb in her mouth. Ten-years old, and she *still* sucked her
thumb? EIko filed it away for
future reference and turned away to head into the kitchen.
She found her father already in there, having coffee with her God father..
"Hi, papa!" she greeted her father, kissing him on the cheek.
"Morning, pun'kin," he replied, hugging her back. "You're the
first of the women-folk to
awake. That's unusual of you."Eiko shrugged, rounding the table
to hug her Godfather. "I
smelled *that*."
Bruce hugged his Goddaughter back and added, "I must admit, Clark, I
always did miss your
blueberry pancakes myself."
Mr. Magami chuckled, getting up to flip the pan, letting the flapjacks
fly at their own accord
through the air and land back in the skillet to cook. Eiko still
hadn't mastered this trick of
her father's. The last time she had tried, the pancakes went
straight through the ceiling and
into the bathroom while her mother was taking a bath. She came
down a moment later soaking wet
and holding three very soggy half-cooked pancakes. Eiko was glad
her mother could laugh about
it now.
"Daddy?"
"Yes, sugar plum?"
"C-ko and I talked about it last night, and we came to a decision on
what we want to do tonight
after we go Christmas shopping. But we need your help."
Her father smiled. "What? I actually get a vote in this?"
His best friend broke out in snickers.
Eiko gave her Godfather a dirty look, then slipped into her "sweet little
daughter" persona for
her father."C-ko and I were wondering if you can take us to see Santa
Claus."
"Of course," he replied. "We can go to Macy's in New York - "
Eiko shook her head. "No, not the fake department store Santa,
the *real* Santa. The one at
the North Pole."
Her father didn't turn from the stove. He bit his lip and sighed,
and prayed to Lois to help
him figure out what to tell his only child regarding the semi-myth,
semi-real, almost-Saint of
Christmas and his workshop of elves.
Bruce, meanwhile, had remained silent. He knew when to keep his old bat ears deaf about things. Although Mrs. Magami once called him a "fruit" bat ...
"Sweetie, tell C-ko to dress in her warmest clothes this evening.
We're going to visit Santa
Claus."
"YAAAAAYYYY!!!"
"And we'll also take Zoey with us to see him."
Eiko dropped her victory dance and made a distasteful face. "But,
papa! She says the word
'man' like a cuss word! And she makes these horrible faces at
mama!"
Clark sighed. "Sugar plum, she was raised on an island of Amazons.
You have to understand
that their view of men has been tainted by the evil some men did to
them long ago. Is it any
wonder that their beliefs about men is not one of equality? Is
it any wonder that Zoey thinks
the same way? Especially since she is the daughter of one of
your mother's rivals, she is not
going to be easy to get along with. But just *try*. Your
aunt Donna has faith both of you
will be friends before their visit is through."
"I don't know, daddy. If she says one bad word about you, I'm
going to flying crescent kick
her face off."
"Now, Eiko," her Godfather interrupted. "That is no way to deal
with a person. You first have
to try reason, and if that doesn't work, you go ahead and let them
throw the first punch."
"Bruce!" Mr. Magami scolded him sharply.
He ignored the girl's father and continued, "But you have to be the
one to end it, and you do
that by hitting hard and fast. No dallying around
and no hesertation. It can get you
killed."
Clark felt like banging his head against the wall, but refrained - he
would most likely have a
large hole to fix afterward.
"All fine, uncle Bruce," E-ko responded. "But I'm going to be
an Amazon like mama and deal
with this the Amazon way."
He raised an eyebrow, then smiled. Yes, just like her mama ... complete with temper ...
* * *
"YOU SPOIL HER ROTTEN, YOU KNOW THAT?!" the ex-Amazon Princess stated
flatly to her husband.
Actually, it was incredible he understood her at all, considering she
had a mouthful of
Pepsodent and toothbrush. After nearly ten and a half years of
marriage, he understood her
prefectly.
"Play along, my love," he replied, wrapping his tie. "The girls
had conversed and planned and
came to the decision to see Santa Claus long before they consulted
anyone else."
"That's the bugger," Mrs. Magami spat into the sink. "They *didn't*
consult us! Where are we
going to find this old fat guy in the North Pole?"
"I'd ask Perry, but, God rest his soul, he's not around. He'd
enjoy playing Santa for the
kids."
"Again, I ask - "
"I already have a plan," he turned and held her closely.
She looked up at him, skeptical at his announcement. "Oh, really?"
"Three words, six syllables."
Mrs. Magami smirked. "Is it what I think it is?"
"Fortress of Solitude."
Her face brightened. "Holograph projectors." "The robots."
"Of course," she giggled, teasing her lips across his cheek and down
to the corner of his
mouth.
She had to admit, he *did* have wonderful ideas ... and she had been
wanting to see her old
robot friend Ke-Lex for the longest time ...
PART SEVEN
Eiko and Zoey were staring each other eye to eye, the faintest of growls
boiling in their
throats. The day had started out innocently enough, in which
the four adults took the
three girls out Christmas shopping in Tokyo, since the little town
they lived in didn't
have as large a selection of goods for the unusual group to choose
from.
Eiko has been searching for the perfect gift for her father. Unknowingly
to her father, she
had gone through his closet most carefully, trying to come up with
an idea of what he didn't
have. Now, armed with Christmas spending loot from her Godfather,
she dragged C-ko behind
her as she sped through all the store of at least three malls.
Having uncle Bruce with her was a treat. She rarely had to ask
for anything, and he even
surprised her by providing things she never thought of. It was
a secret between them - gruff,
old uncle Bruce was really a generous man who spoiled his Goddaughter
more than her father did. It was a treat to have lunch with him and
C-ko at a fancy restaurant where people spoke English and they sat in chairs
and used cloth napkins.
Eiko was proud to be her uncle's well-bahaved niece. There was
just something about him that
made her want to be a lady, probably because he was such a gentleman.
Even if he wasn't as
strong as her father, he was just as clever, and could see right through
her lies and tricks.
She respected him, that was what really mattered.
That afternoon, hauling about three shopping bags on each arm - C-ko
with about eight herself -
they met up with Donna and Zoey in front of a chocolate shop.
Both Amazons had a five-pound
box of chocolate sitting between them on the bench, making short work
of it.
"What are you laughing at?" Donna asked, finishing a chocolate-raspberry truffle.
The old billionaire continued chuckling. "Donna, my friend, you
have any idea how much
chocolate you have on your face?" The former teen Titain, the
woman once known as Toria,
wiped the accumulated chocolate streaks from her mouth and face, grinning.
"I can never
get enough of this stuff, Bruce.
Better than - " she glanced, looking around at the three girls plunging
into the chocolates." -
better than happy violence."
Eiko's Godfather broke his Old Stoneface act and broke into guffaws.
"Eiko!" C-ko whined. "You're spoiling your dinner! And I
brought along my lunchbox so you,
me, and Zoey can share!"
Eiko paused from her chocolate raid and felt her sweather fall off her
shoulder, exposing her
Under-Roo shirt of a certain superheroine's gold eagle-creasted top.
She looked for assistance
from her aunt or Godfather, but both were talking grown-up talk that
didn't sound too
interesting. She had to take care of this herself.
"But, C-ko, I'm still full from lunch."
"But - but - " C-ko's large green eyes filled with tears, threatening to burst at any moment.
<Oh, great Athena, help!> "Hey, C-ko, why don't you let Zoey
try your lunch? She's never had
it before."
"Oh, yeah!" C-ko replied brightly, whipping out a bento box from nowhere
and shoving it in
Zoey's face. "Here ya' go!"
Zoey raised her eyebrow, looking over the collection of eclectic Japanese
treats, all done up
in green and red and white. The rice in the tray held a large
green heart with A-ko's name
drawn in red.
"What is it?" she asked.
"My lunch! I cook it myself, so it should be the best thing you've
ever tasted. A special
blend of local delicacies in celebration of Christmas!"
Eiko stuck her tongue out in distaste at the odd-colored squid and bizarrely shaped vegetables. Green prawns, too. Zoey took the chopsticks offered by C-ko and held the bento before her, deciding what to pick.
"I'll try anything once," she stated.
She selected what appeared to be a vegetable, though she wasn't sure.
Neither was Eiko, and
for that matter, C-ko may not know, either. Zoey placed the object
in her mouth, feeling it
with her tongue.Nothing happened. So she chewed.
A blast of bitterness filled her mouth, then exploded into an acidic
heat. She dropped the
bento and chopsticks to the floor of the mall, and held her throat
as her face tuirned from
puce to slate, then a cherry red. Tears ran down her cheeks,
and her mouth felt as if she
swalowed an oral fireball, Donna and Bruce turned around to see
the girl on all-fours, dry
retching.
"What happened?!"
"C-ko, did you cook something again?!"
"SHE DOESN'T LIKE MY COOKING, WAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!"
"Serves you right, you stuck-up Amazon!"
That's when Zoey lept up, her violet eyes locked to A-ko's amber eyes,
both growling at the
other. Bruce recognized it immediately.
Back when he was a kid, he knew some school yard toughs that had run
of the playground. They
kept to their own ends, always circling each other to size the other
up. They were the
toughest kids at school, and they automatically had to challange each
other for dominance.
His Goddaughter and his friend's protegee were battling for Alpha Female.
Donna also had similar thoughts. She knew that it was a calculated
risk bringing Artemis'
daughter to meet with Diana's, but it had to be done. It was
the only way to start healing
a rift in two other people's lives. The children were the catalysts.
"Daddy lover."
"Honor idiot."
"Mistake."
"Accident."
"False Amazon."
"Little girl."
"WAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!! STOP YOUR FIGHTING!!!"
Both Eiko and Zoey stopped growling and looked at C-ko in full crying fit.
"Look what you did, you jerk," Eiko picked up C-ko and held her close
to quiet her down. "You
made C-ko cry by not liking her food."
"You tricked me into eating it, you cretin," Zoey replied, picking up
her quiver of arrows she
had been hauling around. "You *knew* it was poisoned."
"Actually," Bruce interrupted, placing a hand on her weapons.
"It's not poison, that's how
C-ko really cooks."
"Children," Zoey snorted. "Let go of my weapons, Man, or I'll have to bite your knees."
Eiko stuck her tongue out at Zoey. "You're a meanie, you freak."
"And you're a shame to the Amazon nation, you traitor."
"I hate you!"
"The feeling's mutual, Man Spawn."
"Stop it, girls!" Donna interrupted. "I will not have Amazon sisters
fighting! Behave
yourselves!"
Both girls nodded, still booring holes through the other with cold eyes.
<Patriarch whelp.>
<Stupid cow.>
Bruce and Donna sighed, herding the girls toward the lower level to
meet with Eiko's parents.
Hopefully they'll calm down before they visit "The North Pole".
PART EIGHT
Mrs. Magami folded the flying ship back up into the size of a compact
and slipped it into her
purse. The Magami family and C-ko Kotobuki stared at the tiny
village in the snow, lit up
merrily with fires in every window.
She was impressed by the holograph projectors' ability to turn the ice
fortress into Santa's
village and workshop. She was even more impressed by the robot
assistants that had turned
into elves, clad in beards and stocking caps and the whole works, right
out of a children's
fairy tale. Even the fact that they were in the middle of Antartica
and no way near the
north pole, did not take away from the illusion.
Mr. Magami smiled, feeling like a kid himself, once again remembering
what it was like being
Martha and Jonathan Kent's little boy.. He felt his own child
shiver in excitment in his
arms, seeing her bright smile spread wide across her pretty face.
"Wowee ... !" she breathed.
"Ya-HO!" C-ko cried, scooping up snow in her hands. "We're at the North Pole!"
A blast of cold air erupted behind them as their friend's orbital craft
touched down in the
crunching snow. Soon, Donna and Zoey joined them, followed by
Bruce. Zoey studied the village
through scholar's eyes, seeing that this so-called Santa Claus' little
place matched what she
saw in the picture books Eiko threw at her earlier in the day.
<It would have been more impressive to meet Athena herself,> the
Amazon child thought. <Still,
a lot of trouble went into this trip ... >
She smiled up at Donna and asked, "This is where this Santa Claus lives?"
"Yes. Come on, it's freezing out here."
"Let me down, popa," Eiko asked, climbing out of her father's arms and
holding his hand. She
grabbed hold of C-ko's hand and Mr. Magami lead the group toward the
main house.
"Should we knock?" Eiko's mother grinned, nudging her husband.
"Leave it to me," he replied. "Santa taught me this one a long time ago."
What appeared to be her father knocking in an odd pattern was caught
by her mother as punching
in key codes. The door promptly opened, revealing a comfortably
plump older woman with a jolly
smile and a mass of beautiful white hair pulled up in a bun.
She was dressed in a Dutch folk
dress and apron, her hands holding a towel.
"Oh, Clark, it is so good to see you again! I see you brought
the family this time!" she
smiled warmly, leaning down to look at the girls. "You must be
Eiko and C-ko."
"Hiya, Mrs. Claus!" Eiko jumped up and hugged the woman.
C-ko continued staring in awe, gazing in blank euphoria at the woman she read about.
"Come in, come in. You all must be freezing to death! Good
to welcome all of you here.
Nicholas is in the toy shop with the elves. Would you girls like
some hot cocoa?"
"Yes, please!" the three girls sang out, settling at a table.
The adults settled in chairs
around the fire, warming themselves.
Bruce leaned over to Clark and whispered, "This is incredible.
I really have to commend you
on this creation."
"You must thank Ke-lex for that one," he stated. "I merely supplied
him with the information
and he whipped this up."
"Where is he, anyway?" his wife asked.
"He decided to stay in his form, parading around as a robotic elf."
She chuckled, kissing his cheek. "I still say you spoil the girls."
"It's Christmas, it's permissible."
The young girls accepted their cocoa from the old woman, drinking it
silently as they took in
the brightly decorated room of Santa's house.
"He's in the workshop!" Eiko squealed to C-ko.
"With the TOYS!" C-ko squealed back.
"And elves?" Zoey asked.
"Elves!" C-ko confirmed. "Cute little people no bigger than us
with pointed ears and cute
clothes and they make the TOYS!"
"Why not?" Zoey raised her mug to Eiko. "There are weirder things in this world."
"Like what?" C-ko asked.
Zoey was about to open her mouth when Mrs. Claus announced. "Why
don't you children take your
parents on a tour of the toy shop? Nicholas says he's ready for
you."
"YAY!" C-ko jumped up, grabbing as many adults' hands as she could and
pulling them up. Eiko
took C-ko's hand and
raced ahead through the doorway to the corridor connecting the
Claus house to the workshop.
Donna laughed, talking Zoey's hand and following the two other girls
with the others bringing
up the rear.
"Mentor?"
"Yes, Zoey?"
"What's wrong with that girl?"
Donna looked down at the redhead. "What do you mean?"
"She hangs all over that Man. If she were a real Amazon ... "
Donna shook her head. "Things are different in Patriarch's World,
honey. Things have changed
since the Amazon nation was formed. Women and men are far more
equal in man's world with many
womaen holding postions of power.. It's okay to treat men with
love and affection, and treat
them like equals."
"Mm. Doesn't sit right."
"Of course not. Your mother's tribe is still pretty hateful towards men."
"What?"
"Honey, you have any idea that I was once married to a man?"
"No," Zoey looked down.
"I was, and I had a son. I loved them both very much, but that
doesn't make me any less of a
woman because I love two men, one of my own flesh."
"Is mother wrong?"
Donna opened her mouth, then sighed and smiled. "Just obsolete,
honey. I know, deep in you,
that you don't share her martial nature or hatred."
"I don't hate! Hate is a strong emotion ... it's scary ... "
"I know. That is why you can never completely hate. Even
the men of Patriarch's World aren't
worth that much blackness in your soul."
Zoey remained silent, squeezing her mentor's hand tighter.
* * *
Up ahead, A-ko stared in transfixed awe out one of the windows of the
corridor. She saw two
statues, of a man and a woman, both dressed in odd garb. The
male one looked a little like her
father, while the female one ... looked familiar as well.
"What is it, Eiko?" C-ko whined, pulling on her best friend's sweather.
"I wanna see the
TOYS."
"Nothing, C-ko," she said.
"Well," Eiko's mother called. "I thought you two would already
be terrorizing the elves by
now.""Just waiting for you guys," Eiko replied. She let the adults
catch up and the group
opened the double doors leading to Santa's Workshop.
She pushed them open ...
Oh, what sights the girls beheld! What incredible things their
eyes drank up! One section
held a group sewing dolls together. Another had an assembly line
of rocking horses being
built and painted. Another was of teddy bears being stuffed.
Still another group were
stuffing stockings full of treats and small goodies.
"Wow ... weeee ... " Eiko whispered in complete awe.
"Ya-ho-o-o-o-o-o-o ... " C-ko concluded.
"Oh, ho-ho-ho!" a voice boomed, the two girls recognizing it instantly.
"SANTA!!!" Eiko and C-ko cried out, rushing toward the bearded, elven,
smiling fat man,
currently dressed like his elves. He accepted the two girls in
his massive arms, A-ko
knocking him down to the floor in a bear hug and C-ko made use of his
big belly like a
trampoline in her excitement. He laughed joyously, sitting up
with the girls on his lap,
answering the questions they fired at him.
Mr. and Mrs. Magami held each other, smiling, feeling joy in making
their daughter happy with
their present to her. Zoey cautiously approached the old man
and he smiled warmly at her.
"Now, Zoey, is that anyway to treat Old Father Christmas?"
She gulped, and Eiko turned to smirk at her. At last, she replied,
"An honor to meet you,
Mr. Claus."
Donna and Bruce looked around in wonder, delighted in the storybook
come alive in front of
their eyes. "I remember reading 'Night Before Christmas' when
I was a kid. I used to read
it every year until I began ... working nights on a regular basis,"
Bruce stated quietly.
"And I always thought that anyone like Santa ... would be a decent
enough person to ..."
Donna wrapped her arm around the old man's waist, hugging him gently.
"Ghosts never go away,
Bruce, especially for people like us."
"I know. The holiday just makes their voices louder is all."
She wiped the tear from his wrinkled cheek. "I know exactly what you mean, dear."
Mr. and Mrs. Magami had gone on a tour of the workshop with the girls,
Santa leading them
around, laughing and picking up one girl or the other or another.
While everyone was concentrating on the makings of a Jack-in-the-Box,
Eiko silently slipped
away and went back to the corridor. She stood on tiptoe and gazed
at the statues again. She
felt drawn to them, and didn't know why. The woman seemed so
familiar to her.
"Do you want a better look?" her father asked behind her.
She turned, seeing her father knock on the wall of the corridor. It opened onto an icy room.
"I can see them okay."
"A 'better look'," he repeated.
"Well ... yeah."
He grinned. "Ke-lex, come in here."
One of the elves appeared. A robot wearing a Santa-type hat and
an elf jacket. "You called,
Kal-El?"
"Prepare a hologram of my parents for Eiko to see."
"Done."
The robot activated a crystal and a holographic image appeared in front
of the statues, more
real-size and in color.
Eiko could now see her father's father looked most like him, even had
the same brightness of
life in his eyes, the same peacefulness and love.
"Your daddy looks just like you, popa," she remarked.
"His name was Jor-El, a brilliant scientist," her father nodded.
She turned to look at her father's mother, studying the woman closer.
"She has red hair and
amber eyes like me!"
"Yes, sugar plum. Your mother and I both have dark hair and blue
eyes, as does your mother's
mother and your grandfather here. Your grandmother Lara is who
you got the red hair from, as
well as the amber eyes."
Eiko studied the woman closer, squeezing her father's hand uncomfortably.
"What is it, Baby?" he asked
She bit her lip. "Popa, there's something wrong with her.
It's in your daddy's face, but not
your mommy's face. She's pretty, but something's missing," she
looked at her grandfather
Jor-El again. "It's there in his, but not hers."
He picked her up, holding her tightly. "Do you know what's missing?"
She was silent a little longer, gazing at her paternal grandparents.
"Whatever it is, grandpa
has it, but grandma doesn't. Grandpa's face is warm and loving
like yours, but her face is
cold."
"What you don't see in her face is her humanity," her father replied.
"My parents lived in a
cold and unemotional world."
"Was Krypton really like that?"
He nodded. "Science and logic were prized higher than emotions
and morality. There was little
of what could be called love and joy. That is why I was sent
to Earth when Krypton died, my
father thought that his son at least could reclaim the humanity that
my people have lost. A
new hope."
He squeezed her tighter, kissing her forehead. "No matter
what happens in the future, or what
you can do or how powerful you become, always remember you are human
and part of humanity.
That to find happiness, you must walk among humankind and not above
them."
PART NINE
"EiKO!!! Come on! Let's play outside! Look at that
snow!"
Eiko hurrily threw her blue coat on, stuffing her feet into her snow
boots. She opened
the door and discovered her feet hadn't touched the ground. "Huh??"
"You're forgetting something, young lady," her mother stated.
As she held her daughter
shoulder high and with her arm out streached.
"What?"
Her mother told her, "Your hat. I won't have you catching a cold."
"Okay," Ma!
Eiko accepted the hat, slamming the wool cap over her just brushed red
locks. She ran across
the yard, barely making a track in the fresh, somewhat slushy snow,
to where C-ko was sitting
in her sled. C-ko was wrapped up in a pink and purple cold weather
bunny suit. Thick mittens
covered her hands like boxing gloves and the hood of her suit covered
her blonde curls.
"Come on, Eiko!"
"Hold a sec. KRYPTO!"
The faithful alien hound bounded over the house from the backyard, wagging
his tail in
hysterics and barking playfully as he ran around the girls.
"Are we ready yet?" C-ko asked, holding onto the sled.
"We are now. Krypto, want to be a sled dog?"
He barked in reply, grinning, or what passed for a dog grin, as he allowed
Eiko to place the
sled cord in his strong jaws. She climbed behind C-ko and held
tight to her best friend.
"Okay, Krypto, mush!" Eiko ordered.
With a jolt, the dog shot off down the street, plowing up snow in his
path as his mistress and
her friend laughed joyously. The cold wind whipped across their
faces, reddening their cheeks
and noses. They caught snatches of Christmas music playing from
a few houses.
"Christmas is coming!" sang C-ko. "Christmas is coming!
Christmas will be here soon!
Ya-HO-HO-HO!!!"
They reached the park where surprisingly few children were playing.
Perfect, they can have the
best time then!
Krypto suddenly halted, sending the girls flying off the sled and headfirst
into a snow bank.
They dug themselves out, giggling, as the dog barked at them.
Eiko threw a handful of snow at
him which he ducked, causing C-ko to laugh all the harder. Both
girls played in the snow,
making snow angels (somehow, C-ko angel looked more like the Father,
the Son, and the Holy
Ghost).
"Playing in the snow like little children I see," a girl's voice remarked.
Eiko sat up, growling at Zoey in front of her. The Amazon child
was clad in leather trousers
and a green parka, showing off the red bangs framing the sides of her
face. She carried a bow,
her quiver of arrows on her back.
"What are *you* doing here?" Eiko asked.
"I've been here since six o'clock this morning in practice," Zoey replied,
tapping her bow.
"But, being an Amazon outcast, you wouldn't know about such things,
would you?"
C-ko had already crawled up on Krypto's back, both going off to build
a snowman having decided
to let the "cousins" play together.
"I know plenty," Eiko replied. "Mama has been teaching me since I was seven."
"And I've been training since I was three."
Eiko looked at her in awe, then shook her head. "But my mother was once Wonder Woman."
"*Once*," Zoey emphasized. "Her mother the Queen does not acknowledge
her any more. Since I
was born, there is *no* Princess of Thermascyria, since she had given
up her title to be with
a Man."
"Your mother is a mean old, hate-filled, jealous stupidhead, just like you!" growled Eiko.
"Weren't *you* the reason she gave up her crown, because she got pregnant with you?"
"Take that back!" said Eiko.
"Never!" Zoey yelled, turning and speeding across the snow-covered park
lawn, bow lifted in
triumph.Eiko gave chase, catching up to her. The Amazon child
did have a good clip, being
as powerful as Amazons are, but Eiko had some of her father's speed.
She grabbed the hood
of Zoey's parka, pulling her back.
"CHEATER!" the girl announced, turning and slamming her bow on Eiko's arm.
"COWARD!" Eiko replied. "RUNNING LIKE A COWARD!"
"Perhaps you would like a Kiss of Blood instead, Patriarch whelp?"
Eiko paused, recognizing the warning of the Amazon challenge.
She stood silently in the snow
as she watched the retreating girl swallowed up by the park woods.
"The Kiss of Blood," she whispered outloud. She slowly turned and made her way back to C-ko.
* * *
Mrs. Magami had accepted her daughter's request for more training that
very afternoon. She was
pleased, seeing her daughter was becoming more serious about
her Amazon skills of fighting at
last.
Yet, she was concerned. Perhaps the arrival of Artemis' daughter
had spurned her into catching
up. Or it was something deeper and more immediate.
Swords clashed in the basement training room. Eiko's face held
determination mixed with rage,
both pouring out through her arms and into the weapon in her hands.
She slashed and stabbed,
keeping her mother on the defensive. She lept up, bringing her
sword down on her mother's.
Mrs. Magami reached up and grabbed her daughter by the front of her
shirt, slamming her down
on the mat on her back, pressing the sword out of her hand with her
foot.
"What's the matter with you?" her mother demanded. "That left
you so open, I could have gutted
you from your breast to your knees three times over."
Eiko panted, looking up at her mother.
"I'm going to knock that stupid Amazon snothead past her next lifetime!"
"What?" Diana asked, picking her up. "What's going on?"
"Mama, Zoey insulted you and papa! She's been calling you a traitor
for marrying papa and
having me. And - and - "
The sobs came up, spilling over her eyes in tears and her lips in wails.
Her mother hugged
her tightly, stroking her red hair.
"Tell me, darling."
"And she said I was the reason you're no longer an Amazon!"
Diana grinded her teeth. <Oh, yes, Artemis, you *have* been
teaching your daughter *well*
enough, haven't you?>
"Eiko, you know none of it is true."
"Is it?" she sniffed.
"Of course not. You had nothing to do with my mother exiling me
from Paradise Island. It was
nobody's fault, it just happened."
"Mama, why are the Amazons so mean to you?"
Her mother sighed, patting her back. "I don't know, my daughter.
Because I changed thousands
of years of xenophobia, I suppose."
"What's that?"
"Fear of anything different. The world is a far different place
than when I was a child, my
darling. The Amazons have lived alone for thousands of years
and now know no other life than
what they've had. Men are no longer as repressive as they once
were, women have more power.
But, my people see no other way. In fact I never saw a man untill
I was almost twenty years
old"
"Will they ever change? I don't want anyone to hate you."
The former Wonder Woman chuckled. "Oh, there are plenty of people
who hate me, because of who
I once was. Not just because I fell in love with your father."
"Sisters shouldn't hate each other, then," Eiko corrected herself.
Mrs. Magami hugged her daughter tighter, whispering, "No, they shouldn't."
PART TEN
Eiko and Zoey ignored each other as the bizarrely extended family ate
dinner around the dining
room table. If it wasn't bad enough they were breaking bread
at the same table, they were
seated next to each other, perfectly tressed and dressed. The
men admired how they looked so
much like twins, and the girls only smiled wanely. Minus the
occassional kick under the table,
they were surprisenly quite well-behaved.
"I have a surprise I'd like to take all of you to," the ancient millionaire announced.
"What is it, Bruce?" Donna asked.
"If I told you, it wouldn't be a surprise," he chuckled.
Donna responded by punching his arm - gently.
"Tease," she laughed. Mr. and Mrs. Magami tittered behind their glasses of water.
"Actually, it's a joint surprise for you and Zoey," Eiko's father added.
"We'll be going to
New York City to see the Christmas tree in Rockerfeller Plaza and go
ice skating."
"Why?" Donna asked. "We can go ice skating here."
"A family tradition, sister," Eiko's mother chimed in. "We've
always taken Eiko since she was
three. She can ice skate better than most Olympian skaters."
Donna made a face. "Some Olympians. I'm afraid, with being
on a semi-tropical island, I
cannot ice skate, and neither does Zoey."
"It's simple to learn," Eko's father offered. "Diana and I can help you. Eiko can help Zoey."
Eiko looked up at her father, wishing he wasn't so idiotically chivalrous
regarding others. It
didn't mean *she* had to be.
"You wanna ice skate?" Eiko asked.
"Why not?" Zoey replied. "If you can do it, it shouldn't be that
hard to learn. After all any
thing you can do I'm sure to do better!"
* * *
New York was a big and complex place. The main cluster of buildings
were seperated by a few
boroughs, making the skyscrapers appear as two islands below the orbital
craft that hovered
over the city. Millions of people - living, working, loving,
dying. All breathing humans
(or otherwise) with souls. It reminded Mr. Magami of Metropolis,
a few miles south and a
life time away in his memories.
It reminded the old man of Gotham, not far from either and with the
same problems but with out
some one like him behind the scens in charge. The shuttle landed
on top of an unidentified
skyscraper, one that suspiciously had attendants quietly referring
to Bruce as "Mr. Wayne" as
they shuffled the passengers to a rooftop elevator and down the height
of the building.
Eiko sighed, scratching her head under the pretty wool cap her father
had gotten her for their
trips to New York. Much as she appreciated how pretty it was,
it was the itchiest thing she
knew of. She usually had it off by the time she went ice skating.
Her new "skating dress"
was just as pretty, a confection of burgandy velvet. Zoey was
confused over her own similar
attire, done up in dark blue velvet.
"Great Athena, no wonder the men were able to enslave the women in Patriarch's
World," the
Amazon child complained. "These rags are bothersome, cumbersome,
and some other four-letter
words she had just recently learned."
"No duh," Eiko added, smiling. "I can't stand these things, either.
I've had to wear them
since I was three."
"Wouldn't wish it on an enemy, not even you, whelp."
"We're stuck on the same boat, snot."
They grinned painfully at each other, following the adults out to the
lobby of the building,
then out onto the slushy streets of New York. Busy with people
walking quickly past them. A
whole crowd burst forth from the underground subway terminal, scattering
off in different
directions.
Zoey looked up, taking in the skyscrapers above her. Mr. Magami
laughed, "I must have looked
like that when I first arrived in Metropolis."
"Gee," his wife added. "When I first arrived in Man's World, I must have had that look, too."
Bruce, an old vetern of cityscapes, chuckled, and offered his arm to
Donna. "Come along kids,
old men like me can't stay out all hours of the night like I used to."
"Oh, Bruce," Donna sighed, linking her arm in his. "As I recall,
you could last on only a cat
nap."
The old man cleared his throat. "No mention of cats, okay?"
Eiko and Zoey remained a respectful distance from each other as they
took in the sights of
New York. Both stomped on tiny snow drifts, kicking slush at
each other, giggling as the
other wiped snow off her velvet dress.Suddenly large hands placed themselves
over the girls'
eyes.
"Papa!" Eiko protested. "I'm too old to have this done again!"
"What in Hades?!" Zoey demanded, feeling her mentor's hands over her face.
"You're seeing this for the first time. Just let me guide you," Donna replied.
Both girls allowed the adults to lead them through several blocks in
darkness. At last, they
stopped. Eiko inhaled, smelling the pine mingled with smog and
New York scents. Her father
dropped his hands from her eyes, and she gazed up at the Rockerfeller
Christmas Tree, glowing
with etheral beauty with thousands of lights.
Zoey gasped, taking in the five story tall tree above her. The
soft breezes were rustling
through the pine branches, making the lights gently dance like will-o'-the-wisps
through the
needles. Both girls stood in awe. Eventually, Zoey heard
Eiko speaking in an absent monologue.
"My daddy and I would visit here on Thanksgiving Day after the parade.
We always had a pine
cone with us, and I would plant it right where that tree stands.
Daddy would say the next time
we came to New York, we'd see how big my tree had grown.
We did it since I was three. When I
was eight, I finally figured out that my little pine cone would not
grow that big in less than
a month." She paused, thoughtful. "But we'd do it anyway.
Plant the pine cone. It's a
tradition we share, just me and popa."
Zoey let a moment of silence slip by them, then remarked, "Sounds pretty stupid to me."
"Shut up, you ice-hearted witch."
Moments later, the group made their way over to the ice rink.
Eiko discarded her hat in her
drawstring purse attached to her wrist when she tied her old-fashioned
white skates on her feet. She had been practicing with her father
during a few of their "Daddy-Daughter Days", keeping her talent sharpened.
She was ready to whip around the ice like an Olympic figure skater, wowing
the crowd with her tricks.
"Eiko, will you help Zoey learn how to skate?"
"Yes, papa ... " Eiko made a face, turning to look at the girl. "Your
skates aren't tight
enough." Eiko knelt down and pulled hard on the laces, limiting
Zoey's circulation to a
trickle. "Now follow my lead."
The young Amazon resorted to name-calling under her breath in ancient
Greek as well as ancient
Turkish to appease the Trojan prophet Kassandra. She balanced
herself well on the thin blades
on the rubberized mats placed around the rink to protect skates, but
the large ice rink ...
<THUNK>
Her first step out caused her first contact with ice to be her velvet
skirted bottom. Eiko
whizzed out ahead of her, twirled a few times, then faced her.
"Wazzamatta, Zoey? Can't get the hang of it?"
"Patronizing is worthy of a Man's whelp," she snapped, raising her arms
to grab the rails and
using the wall as a brace to pull herself up.
Eiko told her, "If you weren't so mean, you'd might have some friends to help."
"Useless if they're like you," she answered back.
"Fine, struggle with the ice. See if I care" Eiko skated
off around the rink, weaving between
people and pirouetting in mid-air. She approched her parents,
grabbing her hands as she slid
between them.
"Hi, papa! Hi, mama!"
"You look like you're having fun," her mother replied.
"But weren't you going to help Zoey?" her father asked.
"Oh, yeah," she sighed. She released them and skated around her
mother, racing around the rink
again to where Zoey was hanging onto the rails for dear life.
"What do you want, false woman?"
"I was told to help you skate, creep."
"Forget it, you patriarch cow."
In responce to the insult Eiko pulled the girl by her skirt and whisked
her out onto the ice.
Eiko giggled, as she watched the panicked young warrior flail her limbs
in an effort to
balance, then losing the battle to the law of gravity she hit the ice....hard!
Eiko circled her in figure eights, giggling to herself.
"You are such a childish whelp," Zoey remarked, pressing herself up
from the ice, then falling
again.
"And you're very clumsy or are you just accident prone?" Eiko replied with a big grin.
"Speaking of Accidents, aren't you an accident that should never have been born," snarled Zoey.
"Yeah, and you're a good reason for human sacrifice."
"Your so-called daddy is a coward. Everyone on Paridise Island
knows that when he and your
mother got sent to Vahalla for a thousand years, he was such a coward
that never killed a
demon. Not only is he a disgrace to Patriarch's world,
and you're mother a disgrace to the
Amazon nation. But your the worst one of all, because your a
disgrace to both worlds"
"At least my mother is more honorable than yours. She isn't known as a backstaber," said Eiko.
"Take that back!" Zoey's leg swung out, tripping Eiko to the ice.
The girl fell face first,
then sat up and found the other girl's fist made contact with her hip.
"OW!" Eiko sprang up and started wrestling her, both girls fighting
on the ice, causing small
craters to appear as their fists just missed each other and landed
on the ice instead.
Mr. Magami heard the battle cries, as he turned and saw his beloved
daughter and the Amazon
child in a brawl. "Oh, my God!" he yelled, skating over toward
them both.
Mrs. Magami was grateful for one thing - New Yorkers being who they
are, simply ignored the
young girls battling on the ice like a couple of polar bears.
"You know what's going to happen, next don't you?" Donna asked her childhood friend.
"I'm afraid so," Diana replied, both skating madly after the former's
husband. "You *knew*
this was coming?" she asked.
"Yes," Donna answered simply.
The former Amazon princess looked hard at her best friend, then turned
her attention toward her
husband, who was seperating the girls. He had his daughter by
the back of her coat, Zoey by
her skirt. Zoey was screaming at Eiko's father about his so-called
manhood, while Eiko yelled
at her to shut up about her father.
"I demand a Kiss of Blood!" Zoey shrieked.
"You're getting it, sister!" Eiko replied.
"Drop them, Kal!" his wife demanded. The shock of her using his
long dead Kryptonian name
caused him to release the wriggling ten-year-olds. "But - but
- but - "
Zoey sat up and leaned forward, quickly kissing Eiko's cheek.
What's going on?!" her father asked.
Eiko responded by kissing Zoey's forehead.
"Will some one tell me what's going on!"
"Stay out of Amazon business, my love," his wife replied.
Donna looked down at the girls, searching their faces. "By issuing
and accepting this Kiss of
Blood, you both will not be allowed to back out."
"Understood," Zoey said.
"Right," agreed Eiko.
"Being the only unbiased Amazon here, I declare where and when the duel
is to take place. In
the meantime, I must contact Zoey's mother Artemis."
"Duel??" The one time Clark Kent all but shrieked. His wife attempted
to keep him from
hyperventilating as the girls did their best to stare each other down.
PART ELEVEN
A-ko buried her face in her pillow, in a forlorn attempt to drown
out the yelling from across
the hall from her bedroom. Her parents had argued the entire
trip home, then while she was
getting ready for bed, and on and on into the wee hours of the morning.
The words were
muffled, but any child knows when the words are backed with anger ...
and she did worry.
Even at her young age Eiko knew her parents were the two most powerful
beings on Earth -
possibly the galaxy - and to a ten year old girl, their arguing sounded
so violent.
She felt her bed shaking as the argument continued. She reached
her hand over the side and
felt a cold nose brush against her palm. "It's okay, Krypto,"
she whispered. "Mama and daddy
are just disagreeing."
The alien dog didn't want an explanation, he wanted results, He sensed
the insincerity in her
words, then crawled up on her bed. He lay protectively against
her side, laying his head
across her neck. She petted him, feeling secure with the big
dog next to her.
* * *
"I will not allow my daughter to take part in some Amazon blood match!" Eiko's father stated.
"There is no blood drawn and no weapons used!" his wife tried to explain.
"It's merely a match
between two women to settle their differences, before something worst
might happen."
"Then why in God's name is it called 'Kiss of Blood'?" he asked.
"Clark, you have to understand. Even if the Amazon way is peace
and love we are still a race
of militaristic warriors. It was the only way we could survive
in a hostile world. Just as
the kiss of blood is the one sure way to clear bad blood between sisters
is by a non lethal
duel. We call it 'controlled combat.'."
"I call it 'barbaric'," he muttered, turning over in their bed and slamming
his head against
the pillow.
"What??" she asked, leaning over him. "Barbaric??? You dare call my people barbaric?"
Soon as he said it Clark knew he had made a mistake, even after her
exile, the battle with her
own mother and sisters and twelve years of being hunted like a criminal.
His wife still loved
and respected not only her mother, but her sisters as well. He
knew that made her seperation
from the people she loved even more painful to her.
The result was his wife leaning over him and continuing with her tirade,
"The great library
houses works written by Ovid, Aristotle, Sappho, and all the greatest
thinkers of Greece, not
to mention the fact that I know women who have heard these thoughts
from these great thinkers'
very own lips. Meanwhile, your ancestors were painting themselves
blue and hugging trees!"
He paused, turning over to look at her. "There weren't any trees on Krypton."
"I'm talking about the side where you got your Welsh name from, dummy!"
she shrieked, smashing
a pillow against his head.
"Still no difference - "
"My math tutor was an instructor to Ben Franklin!" she continued on
her roll. "We built in
marble and gold, while your ancestors crouched in mud huts!"
He buried his face in his pillow. "Krypton built towers of adamantin
steel that scraped the
sky."
"And their hearts had turned to steel just like their towers and their
souls were as cold as
the hardest ice," she replied through clenched teeth.
"We were discussing our daughter going through a barabaric ritual!" he responded, getting up.
She crawled across the bed, standing up on it to meet him eye to eye.
"You're the barabarian
here and you prove it by being too soft on her! I'm trying to
make a woman out of her, and
your Patriarch twisted morals are ruining her!"
"*MY* TWISTED MORALS???" he yelled in disbelief. "Who's advocating she gets her face smashed?!"
"Ugh!" Diana cried in exsaperation. "You stupid coward!"
She kicked at his knee in front of
her foot.
She leaned down and held the end of her foot in her hand, trying to
ignore the pulsing pain by
growing even more angry.
"GET OUT!" she shrieked at him. "GET THE HADES OUT OF HERE!!!
GO SLEEP ON THE COUCH, YOU
GOOD-FOR-NOTHING COWARD!"
He didn't move, he only stared at her. She jumped off the bed
and pushed him, using all of her
own legendary strength to try to move her husband toward the door.
To no avail, of course.
"You don't want me in here?" he asked plainly.
"I'm not going to sleep next to a coward and a Patriarch slaver!"
"Fine! I know when I'm not wanted!"
The once and future Clark Kent stalked out of the bedroom, then turned
toward the door. Only
to have the door slammed shut in his face.
"That's getting you cold cereal for breakfast, missy!" he yelled thru the door.
He turned down the hall, grumbling to himself. He heard her footsteps
approach the door, and
he turned, hopeful for his wife to want him back. "Diana, please,
can't we just try and - "
The door opened and a blanket was hurled out at him, then the door slammed shut yet again.
He picked it up and shouted, "FINE! HAVE IT YOUR WAY, YOUR *MAJESTY*!!!"
He continued down the hall and was halfway down the stairs when he felt
a pillow hit the back
of his head. Eiko's father continued on down the stairs, going
into the dark livingroom to
make up his bed on the sofa.
"Bad tempered, pushy, nasty, pain in the ass, Amazon EX-princess, Blunder
Woman," he muttered
under his breath. He lay down on the sofa and gazed up through
the ceiling and floorboards
into his bedroom, seeing his wife rubbing her eyes. He smiled
gently up at her.
She suddenly turned over, sensing that he was looking through the floor
at her, and stuck her
tongue out while thumbing her nose at him.
"Humph," he sighed, turning over and closing his eyes.
All became silent in the Magami household once again.
* * *
The next morning, Eiko awoke to find her parents banging pots and coffee
cups in the kitchen,
both with sleepless faces and sour expressions at each other.
She had made out what they had
argued about. She understood her parents differed concerning
her acceptance of the Kiss of
Blood ritual. It made her stomach feel queasy.
When her father slammed the box of cereal down in front of her mother,
Eiko burst into tears.
"Stop being mad! I'm sorry! This is all my fault!
It's all my fault you had to camp out on
the couch, daddy!"
Her father immediately picked her up, smoothing her head of red hair.
"We're not fighting
because of you, pun'kin. Mommies and daddies sometimes fight,
you know that."
His wife touched their daughter's cheek, adding, "We've had fights before, my child."
"But not like the one you had last night," Eiko sniffed.
Her parents looked over her head, their eyes meeting in mutual guilt.
Both knew she was
nervous about the challenge, and they were being selfish by fighting
rather than preparing
her for the challenge.
The doorbell rang, and she wriggled out of her father's arms, saying,
"It's C-ko." She ran
off to answer the door.
Clark and Diana gazed at each other, deciding who should speak first.
As usual it was the Man
of Steel who spoke first. "I'm sorry I called your sisters 'savages',"
he apologized.
"I know you didn't mean it. I'm sorry for throwing you out," she replied
He sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. "Can you at least tell
me why our daughter must do
this?"
She wrapped her arms around him, meeting his eyes closely. "Do
you know you're very special?
I don't mean what you can do. You have almost no dark side, my
love. I do, as does your
daughter and everyone else." She paused, inhaling deeply before
continuing. "How do you
think a nation of physically superior, agressive female warriors who
live in a tight
militaristic society can live together on an island without killing
one another? The ritual
combat is set in a way to prevent bloodshed and death. Zoey needs
this and , more importantly,
Eiko needs this to prove her Amazon blood to herself. If I am
any judge, our daughter will be
stronger for it, and may even have a new friend when it's over."
He sighed, accepting her explanation, as she kissed his cheek.
"I don't understand, but I will
agree to it. If you think it's for the best?"
She smiled, nodding. "How did you sleep?"
"Awful," he admited. "Not one wink. You?"
"Not one minute. How about we go upstairs and go back to bed?"
"To catch up on sleep?" he grinned, yawning.
"Eventually ... " she chuckled. She turned and started up the stairs. "Don't be long, lover."
He laughed, going into the den to see what his child was up to.
"What plans do you young ladies have for today?"
Eiko shrugged, swinging her legs over the edge of her father's desk
chair. "Just hang around
and watch movies, I guess."
"How about going out to see a movie? My treat."
"They only have silly holiday movies or gory samurai movies."
"What about the new anime movie, Eiko?" C-ko asked.
The one time Mr. Kent, grinned and pulled out his wallet, digging out
bills. "Plus enough for
popcorn, candy, and soft drinks for the both of you."
>From upstairs, his wife called out, "Ohh, Claaaaarrkk ... Don't be too much longer!"
He grinned and yelled back up to the second floor, "We're negotiating!"
Two more bills landed
into the redheaded girl's hands. "And you can get some KFC before
the movie."
Eiko paused, holding the bills in her tight fist. Her father looked
up behind the girls' heads
to see his wife's special black negligee float down onto the first
floor carpet from the second
floor landing.
He quickly pulled out a larger bill and added, "Also double ice cream
sodas and enough after
the movie for a visit to the arcade."
"Deal," Eiko replied, pocketing the money. She took C-ko into
the front hall to dress in their
coats and run out the door.
Outside, C-ko turned to Eiko and asked, "What was that all about?"
"My folks got into a fight last night."
"So what?"
Well, for some reason, whenever my folks have a argument, I always end
up at the movies the
next day."
"Gee, you're lucky. When my folks fight, all they do is make faces
at each other. Did you
ever ask why they send you to the movies?"
"Mama says I'll understand someday."
Mr. Magami watched from his bedroom window as his daughter and her friend
walk to the bus stop
and he called out, "Have fun and be safe, girls!"
He never saw them wave back to him. Because a very strong but
still very feminine pair of
hands took hold of him by his shoulders and pulled him back from the
window.
PART TWELVE
Eiko's mother rolled over and, even in her sleep-induced haze, knew
something was wrong,
someone was missing. She reached over and realized that the empty
space next to her in
bed only confirmed it. Her eyes had trouble focusing as she looked
out the window, but
only the inky black of night stared back at her.
She turned over onto her other side and saw by the luminous dial on
the old fashion alarm clock
that it was three in the morning. She sat up on the edge of the
bed and slipped on a terry
cloth bathrobe before she went in search of her husband. She
didn't have to go far to find
him, since he was right were she thought he would be. Standing
quietly in the doorway of their
daughter's bedroom.
She saw he was content to simply stand there and watch the child he
loved, toss and turn and
dream her dreams of angels and fairies. The one-time Amazon Princess
walked up and circled
her own strong arms around his chest as she rested her chin on his
shoulder. She also peered
into the room and looked at the little girl , the visual and emotional
proof of their love for
one another, sound asleep in her bed.
As she continued to hug the man she loved, she whispered, "You're still
not worried about
tomorrow are you?"
"And you're not?" he retorted.
She paused for a moment as if she were in silent debate with herself,
before she said softly,
"All right, I admit it. I am afraid about tomorrow."
He turned around and took her into his arms, holding her close to his
chest. She reached up
and kissed him, asking, "That is not the only reason you're troubled
tonight, is it?"
"More wisdom of Athena at work, I see. You're right as usual; it's not just about tomorrow."
"Then what is it?" she asked.
"Guilt! I feel guilty because I can't - we can't - be there for her
as much as we both want to
be!"
His wife said softly, "We went all over that when I found out I was pregnant ... we agreed ... "
"That's just the point: you and I agreed. No one asked our daughter's
opinion. No one asked
her ideas, or what she wanted. No one ever told her that her
parents couldn't be with her, at
least not nearly as much as they wanted to be. Because they had
to be off somewhere saving the
world," he lamented to his wife.
"What else could we do?" she asked him.
"I know," he said. "But it's still not fair to our daughter.
When I was her age, mom and pop
were always there for me; to hear my problems, answer my questions,
and dry my tears."
"As I was growing up, my mother couldn't be with me as much as she would
have liked, either,"
his wife admitted. "But she always made sure to put some time
aside each day just for the two
of us. But not nearly as much as I wanted or she wanted to give
because she had a kingdom to
run and a nation to rule and thousands of subjects she had to look
after ... like a mother."
"But you had Phillipus and Casandra and ... "
"And a hundred other mothers, besides," Diana interrupted her husband.
"And when I grew into
womanhood, I had thousand of sisters, also. I do have a very
large, extended family." She
paused as a single tear ran down her cheek as she finished, "What I
should have said was I
*used* to have a very large, extended family."
He kissed her lips and said, "I'm sorry."
"For what? I knew the risk, and what it could cost me and as long
as I have you and my
daughter, I am both content and happy."
He wiped her tears with his thumb, murmuring, "My brave wife."
She took him by the arm and led him down the hall back to their bedroom
as she said, "I'm cold,
and I want you to warm me up."
He smiled at his wife and stated, "That is the very same thing you said
on top of Mount Everest
almost eleven years ago, and you know what that got us?"
"Yes," she answered. "A beautiful daughter and a husband to love."
They closed the door behind themselves, and fell into bed in the other's arms.
* * *
Eiko and her parents had been waiting for a half hour past the scheduled
start of the duel
between the two young girls in the Australian Outback. Eiko's
father was nervous enough
already; the waiting was only making it worst for him.
"Great Athena," Eiko's mother complained. "To have to fight in
a million arce catbox is not my
idea of a proper Kiss of Blood."
As for Eiko, she was briskly pacing back and forth, almost as nervous
as her father. Donna
stood to one side with Eiko's mother, quietly talking together about
Eiko's name.
Eiko stopped her nervous pacing and asked her mother, "Do you think
the little snot chickened
out, mama?"
"No, my daughter," Diana said. "Knowing Zoey's mother as I do,
she is trying her best to gain
an advantage by playing a simple mind game on you, honey. Making
you wait by arriving late is
an old one."
Eiko began to shake with anger at the trick, then suddenly realized
that was just what her
mother's old rival wanted. She calmed down, smiled, and said,
"I guess she is doing a pretty
good job of it, then, mama."
Her mother smiled in return and remarked, "Not if you take it as well
as you have been, my
daughter."
"Eiko," her father called softly.
Eiko smiled and quickly moved to his side and stood in front of him.
He got down on one knee
and, as he held her in his arms, whispered into her ear, "It's not
too late, pun'kin, you don't
have to go through with this. No one will think any less of you
if you decide to call this
whole thing off."
Eiko hugged her father back and said, "I have to, papa. It's like
there's a little voice
inside of me, telling me that I have to do it. Not for me, or
even mama, but strange as it
sounds, most of all for you."
"Why me?" he asked.
"I'm going to teach that little brat just how important you are to me.
I can put up with her
snide remarks about me having no honor, but nobody talks about my mama
and papa like she did.
Least of all some arrogant Amazon whelp, especially after what that
little witch dared to talk
about you the way she did!"
He stroked her red hair and said to her, "That still isn't reason enough
to get into a fight,
baby."
"It is if the reason Zoey believes I have no honor is because I have
you for my father," she
explained.
He gave his daughter a sad smile and told her, "Every day, you're getting
to be more and more
like your mother."
Eiko had a big grin on her face as she told her father, "That's strange;
when mama and I were
practicing and working out all this week, she said I was getting more
and more like you."
Eiko's father simply smiled and asked, "Are you frightened?"
Eiko turned around to make sure that no one was to close to hear then
whispered, "Yes, papa, I
am. I couldn't say that to mom or aunt Donna or even C-ko, but
I can admit the truth to you."
He took her in his arms for a final hug and said quietly into his little
girl's ear, "I'm
frightened, too; guess you and I just can't be as brave as your mom."
"Who can be?" she answered him with a smile.
Eiko looked up at her father and noticed the strange look on his face
a moment before he
replied quietly, "Your guests are here."
A few moments later, Eiko and her mother saw a speck in the distance
that soon turned into a
tall, harsh looking but handsome redheaded Amazon carrying a smaller
but prettier version of
herself in her arms. When she landed, Donna tapped Diana on her
shoulder and said softly,
"Look at her feet."
Eiko's mom already had noticed the winged Sandals of Mercury on her
feet. Diana had wondered
how Zoey and her mother were going to arrive in Australia for the Affair
of Honor. She knew
now, and wasn't pleased. But that wasn't all Artemis was wearing.
A-ko's mother saw them
immediately and whispered to Donna, "Look what she is wearing over
her bracelets!"
"The Gauntlets of Atlas!" exclaimed Donna as she let out a breath.
"The way she's prepared,
one would think *she* has come here to fight instead of her daughter."
It was the one-time Amazon Princess who told her sister, "It's early
yet; perhaps she plans on
making today's business a family affair?"
"Or a tag team?" Donna replied with a silly grin.
Eiko's mother laughed at her remarked, only to have the laughter driven
from her heart when
Artemis yelled across the sands to her, "Laugh now, traitor!
I expect a far different sound
will be coming from you after a *true* Amazon child defeats that abomination
you mistakenly
gave birth to!"
Eiko was about to tell her what she could do with her opinions when,
to her surprise, she was
cut off by her father who told Artemis, "If I were you, I would take
a long, hard look at
myself in the mirror before I began going around and insulting people,
Artemis."
Artemis's answer was to turn to Donna the referee and ask, "What is
that Man doing here?" Eiko
noted she had the same exact tone Zoey had when saying the same word
as the poni-tailed redhead
continued, "He has no business being here and mixing in Amazon affairs."
Donna stated, "By ancient Amazon Law, laid down long befor the race
of immortal Amazons were
created by the Gods, a duelist has a right to have her family present;
as her sire and father,
'Martha' is allowed to have him attend the contest."
Zoey remained quiet concerning Eiko's new name. She *had* agreed
to keep her rival's identity
as vague as possible. So she said nothing when Donna used Eiko's
real American name, the one
that apeared on her American birth records.
"Amazon Law does not recognize such a thing as a father," explained
Artemis. "Least of all a
male who would dare defile an Amazon, let alone one with royal blood!"
Eiko watched in horror as her mother exploded in rage at the insult
to her husband and, more
importantly, the man she loved. If it wasn't for Donna's tight
grip around her waist, the
daughters of these two formidable and proud Amazon mothers may never
have had a chance to
settle their differences that day. It was equaly true that if
it wasn't for the grip of her
father's arm around her own waist, Eiko would have gone after Artemis
herself because of the
insults to both of her parents.
When Donna finally got Eiko's mother calmed down, she announced to all
present, "I believe we
best get this Affair of Honor started before something much worse and
far less honorable takes
it's place."
Donna called the two young girls to her, with their mothers standing
behind their respective
daughters with their hands on their children's shoulders. The
girls were dressed in the casual
Amazon workout tunics, short skirts, and sandals laced high on the
shins.
Donna turned to Zoey and asked her, "Daughter of Artemis, do wish to
withdraw your claim that
Martha has no honor and thus has no right to call herself your sister?"
Zoey answered in turn, "I withdraw nothing I said. I find her
without honor and a disgrace to
the name of Amazon. She is the product of a disgraceful union
between a traitor and a cursed
male, an abomination that has no right to call herself an Amazon."
Diana held her tongue, knowing it was the exact same words that Artemis
had used years before.
Who said mothers couldn't put trash in their children's mouths?
Turning to Eiko, Donna asked her, "How do you wish to answer such accusations,
daughter of
Diana?"
"With my balled-up fist alongside her lying head!" Eiko replied, as
she let her anger override
the formal answer.
The stern voice of her mother scolding her legal American name sharply
reminded her to repeat
the more proper formal response her mother had gone over with her during
the week.
Controlling her temper, Eiko gave the correct response by saying, "I
will prove my honor and my
right to be called an Amazon with my courage, my skill, and - if need
be - with my blood!"
"Blood?!" shouted Eiko's father. "No one said anything about blood!"
"Papa, please!" Eiko sighed as she turned to face him.
Artemis snickered behind her ill-gotten gauntlet, Diana was embarrassed,
and as for Zoey, she
thought to herself, <Father's Love is an odd thing, but seems ...
nice.>
Donna turned to the Man of Steel and politely replied, "Shut up, Clark."
Then went back to the girls'
mothers. "I must ask Diana and Artemis to leave their daughters
so as they can begin their
duel of honor."
Both turned and walked to opposite sides of the clearing, Artemis alone
and Diana at her
husband's side. When they were settled, Donna took up each of
the two young girls' right
forearms and held their bracelets together, making them clink sharply.
She stepped back
and told Zoey, "As the one who issued the challenge, it is up to you
to strike the first blow."
Zoey nodded and turned to EiKo, asking, "Are you ready, coward?"
The only thing Eiko had to say was, "Less talk, more fight; or do you
plan on boring me into
submission?"
Zoey let her fist answer for her as she brought her fist up into Eiko's
small stomach. With a
gasp of pain and a audible "OOF!" from Eiko, the fight was on.
PART THIRTEEN
As Eiko doubled over in pain, Zoey tried her best to bring her knee
up into her opponent's face
just as she had been taught by her mother.
Much to Zoey's surprise, Eiko was able to block her knee before it even
reached her face by
crossing her arms and using her bracelets to stop the blow. Zoey
was even more surprised when
Eiko scooped her up in one smoth motion and bodyslammed her to the
sandy ground. Even with the
breath knocked out of her, Zoey instinctively covered up her head and
stomach to protect
herself from the stomps and kicks, which shockenly never came.
Instead, Eiko stood over her her rival, waiting for Zoey to get to her
feet. Warily, Zoey
slowly stood back up. As she did so, she kept a close eye on
Eiko for any signs of trickery.
As the two girls began circling each other, Zoey was confused.
She couldn't understand why
the man spawn would allow her get to her feet instead of attacking
her when she was most
vulnerable.
>From her earliest memories of being trained by her mother Artemis,
she was taught 'Once you
have an opponent down, finish her off any way you can!'
Zoey thought the abomination must be
even more of a degenerate weakling if she didn't know this - the first
and most basic rule her
mother (painfully) taught her about hand-to-hand combat.
Yet, Zoey's confusion might have been the result of another thought
that was hidden in one of
those still innocent places not corrupted by her mother's prejudices.
The thought was not yet
strong enough to fight its way past all the "truths" Zoey had been
indoctrinated about the
Queen's lost daughter and her family. However, it still was there.
The idea that this girl
she had been taught to hate and despise was too noble, too honorable,
or perhaps, just too
decent to kick someone when they were down.
This simple idea was not yet strong enough for Zoey to acknowledge it
consciously, still, it
might have been strong enough to confuse the Amazon youngster.
But this momentary confusion
didn't stop Zoey from launching a sudden attack of her own. She
lept forward, placed her foot
into Eiko's stomach, and took hold of Eiko's tunic. She fell
to her back and, using the
momentum she generated, flipped Eiko through the air.
Zoey turned quickly, expecting to see her rival land in a heap in the
dust. Again much to her
surprise, she watched as Eiko tightened herself into a little ball,
spun in mid-air, and land
gracefully on her feet, just as her mother had taught her to do.
Zoey noticed that her mentor and the traitor were clapping and telling
Eiko she did well. She
had expected them to be cheering on the abomination. What she
didn't expect to hear was the
whelp's mother saying, "Well done, Zoey; excellent monkey flip."
Or to see the smile on Eiko's
face, which shocked her even more.
Zoey didn't know if she should feel honored or outraged at this behavior.
So, instead, she
closed with her rival and began to trade punches with her. Both
of the young warriors soon
discovered they each had great difficulty getting past each other's
defences. Eiko's mother
could see almost at once that Zoey was the more skilled of the two
in both boxing and wrestling. This simple fact gave Eiko's mother
reason enough to curse herself for neglecting her daughter's training and
permitting her father to spoil her so much.
However, Donna, Diana, and even Artemis also knew by now that Eiko was
far the stronger and
faster of the two girls. That advantage in strength and speed
didn't help Eiko when Zoey
landed a hard left on the tip of her nose, causing a torrent of blood
to gush out from the
damagedorifice. Eiko's father winced at the sight of his little
girl's blood flowing so
freely and the tears that began to well up in his little girl's eyes.
He had a sudden flashback of himself at the age of nine before he discovered
who he was and
before he began to change. He remembered his first childhood
love Lana Lang and his best
friend Pete Ross in Smallville, his hometown. He recalled how
the three of them were being
bullied everyday by a thirteen-year-old boy on the playground.
He remembered how he could no
longer see his friends hurt any longer; so he went to his father: a
kind and gentle man, and
asked him to teach him how to fight. His father reluctantly taught
him how to make a fist and
hold it as hard and as tight as he could to protect his hand.
He then told him to always go
for the nose with the first punch you thow, so the fight would be over
as quickly as possible.
He did as he was told, and punched the bully square in the nose and
the fight was over there
and then. The three friends were never bothered by the bully again.
Clark now saw his little
angel, his baby, staggering backward. He expected her to quit,
No, *he* wanted her to quit.
Eiko, too, wanted to quit, but she didn't or maybe couldn't.
Instead much to his, the gathered Amazons', Zoey's, and (most of all)
EiKo's surprise, she
wiped the blood off with the back of her hand, then came roaring back
in a rage; swinging
lefts and rights at her rival until she landed a solid left hook on
the side of Zoey's face,
knocking her down.
Zoey found herself sitting on her rump in the middle of a sandpile,
stunned. She shook her
head to clear away the cobwebs that were at the moment infesting her
brain, even as her own
mother was screaming at the top of her voice to get back up.
Once again, Zoey prepared herself for the attack that never came.
Bewildered that it never
came, she looked up at her rival and asked, "Well? What are you
waiting for?"
"I'm waiting for you to get off your fat butt so I can have the pleasure
of knocking you down
again," she answered.
Staring into the strange amber eyes, Zoey asked, "What is wrong with
you?! Don't you know
enough to finish an enemy off when they are on the ground?!"
Eiko answered her by saying, "My mom and pop taught me to never fight
like that unless my life
was on the line, and never fight at all if I could avoid it."
"Beside being a freak of nature, your so-called parents turned you into
both a coward and
weakling," accused Zoey.
"Then stand up and prove it to me!" Eiko replied.
Zoey took her up on her offer by leaping to her feet and delivering
a perfectly executed side
snap kick, which landed square against Eiko's chest and knocking her
down.
Zoey rushed forward to deliver a kick to Eiko's face as she had been
taught so many times to
end the contest, but something she couldn't explain held her back.
It was the sound of her own
mother's scream of, "What are you waiting for?! Finish her off!"
that forced her to launch a
snap kick square into Eiko's face.
Her moment of hesitation was her own undoing as Eiko caught her foot
and lifted her, tossing
Zoey backward into the air. Zoey proved to all of those gathered
that she also had been as
well-trained, as she performed a perfect backflip in mid-air that ended
in a demonstration of
her own agility, by landing on her feet in a perfect two point landing.
Both girls stared at one another for a moment. Then, as if there
were some form of mutual
silent agreement, rushed at one another. At close quarters, Zoey
soon found herself being
overwhelmed by her stronger opponent. To save herself from being
forced to her knees, Zoey
kneed Eiko in the breadbasket.
Eiko doubled up and soon found herself with her arm twisted in a wrist
lock. Zoey kept adding
on the pressure until she forced Eiko down onto one knee. Eiko
had her eyes closed as sweat
poured down from her face, not from the hot Australian sun, but from
the pain coming from her
elbow and wrist.
"Admit you are a coward and a false Amazon with no honor and I'll let you go," promised Zoey.
Eiko's only response was to shake her head and remain silent.
Eiko's father turned to his wife and said, "This is starting to become
way too intense, Diana,
I want it stopped."
Eiko's mom took time from cheering on her daughter and turned to her
husband and told him,
"Mind your own business; this is an Amazon affair."
Suddenly, Diana felt her husband's grip on her shoulder and as she and
Donna looked into the
face of a suddenly very angry Man of Steel. They heard him spit
in a harsh and low voice, "I
want this ended *NOW*!"
Eiko's mother had shared her life long enough with this man she had
always loved since the very
first day they met, even when his heart belonged to another.
After all these decades, she knew
what that look meant. On those very rare occasions she saw him
this way, she knew better than
to argue. Instead she simply replied, "Please, Clark , don't
embarrass our daughter."
She watched him shake as he struggled within himself before he silently nodded his head.
It was just then that Artemis shouted to her daughter, "If she won't
surrender, break the l
ittle bitch's arm!"
Eiko's mother growled in response and started to go after her, only
to be stopped by her
husband, who had a strange smile on his face. Suddenly, Artemis
gave a yelp and grabbed
her rear in pain. When she turned around Donna and Diana could
see two twin scorch marks
on her backside. Immediately, Both Diana and Donna knew that
her man had given the figurative
pain-in-the-ass a real pain in the ass via a hot foot that had traveled
north of its normal
target.
Zoey increased the pressure on her wrist lock before she said, "You
heard my mother: admit the
truth or - by Hera - I swear, I'll break your arm."
Even as her tears rolled down her face, Eiko told her, "Eat dirt and
die, you little pig-eyed
monster."
EiKo then remembered her lessons and performed a forward roll taking
the pressure off her wrist
and elbow. Even as she lay on her back, she grabbed Zoey's wrist
and pulled her across her own
body and onto the ground beside her. As she continued to hold
on to Zoey's wrist, Eiko spun
around on the ground and put one foot on Zoey's neck and another under
her arm pit and reared
back, stretching the young girls arm.
As she performed the arm bar, EiKo asked, "Now lets see how *you* like it."
Zoey did her best to free herself but failed. She dug her
sandals into the dirt to try to get
some leverage so she could bridge herself free, but failed. She
picked up a handful of sandy
red dirt and threw it into Eiko's face as a distraction, but Eiko just
shook the dirt off her
face and leaned back even more.
As Eiko leaned back and added more pressure, she said, "Now admit you
lied about my mother and
father!"
Zoey shook her head violently. Eiko increased the pressure, but Zoey refused to relent.
Zoey heard her mother begin to scream at her, "*GET UP*, Zoey!
Don't let that creature do that
to you! If you don't get up, you will always be remembered as
one more disgrace to both me and
our Sisterhood!!"
Zoey wasn't sure which hurt more: her arm or what her mother just said.
Zoey also heard
something else, it came from the Man. Even as she suffered, she
heard him say, "Diana,
I want to end this. I don't want to see that little girl hurt,
especially - God forbid -
by our daughter."
EiKo's blood was up as she leaned back and began to pull even harder
as she asked, "Well, have
you had enough? Do you want to surrender?"
Zoey let out a scream of pain then shook her head weakly. Just
as the proud young Amazon began
to whimper, the pain was suddenly gone. At first, Zoey couldn't
understand why, until she saw
that her opponant had released her and was now standing up over her.
Zoey expected some new attack by her rival, something no doubt even
more painful. But instead
of that, Zoey watched as she walked over to her parents and stood between
them and waited.
Donna Troy stepped forward, and announced, "I am calling a five minute truce for rest."
Zoey lay on the ground, rubbing her sore shoulder as she watched and
listened to Eiko apologize
to her mother. Eiko did this by telling her mother, "I'm sorry,
mama, but I couldn't hurt her
anymore, even if she is a snothead."
Her mother smiled and asked her, "Why did you let her go?"
Eiko answered her with, "She's a pain in the rear, but she *is* brave.
So brave, in fact, I
think I could have pulled her arm out of her socket and she *still*
wouldn't have given in. I
just couldn't bring myself to keep hurting her anymore, I'm sorry."
Diana smiled and took her daughter in her arms, telling her, "You have
no reason to feel sorry
and have done nothing to apologize for. Mercy is one of the finest
of human emotions, and a
trait that a true Amazon always admires."
Zoey was getting to her feet as Eiko's mother continued, "There is nothing
for you to be sorry
for, you are your father's daughter. You have his gentle nature
and his generous heart; always
hold onto that and always be proud of it."
Zoey was being dragged away by her own mother when she looked back and
saw the hugs Eiko was
getting from the Man she dared to call her father. She noticed
how gentle and caring he was
as he examined her still bleeding nose.
Artemis shook her daughter to get her attention as she said, "What is
*wrong* with you? Do you
know you're embarrassing me? Why aren't you fighting the way
I taught you?"
Zoey looked up at her mother and stated, "You said she was a coward,
born of cowards. But,
mother, she is brave and strong. In fact, I believe she is already
as strong as a full-grown
Amazon. She fights fair, she doesn't use any sneaky tricks, she
fights with honor and courage
and never uses dirty tactics."
"That's why *you're* going to win," Artemis told her daughter.
"Because you will, or do you
think it is fair that she is stronger and faster than you? Eleven
years ago, I seduced that
idiot Billy Batson because I knew he was Captain Marvel. I put
up with his immature, boyish
fumbling because I knew if I wanted a daughter to match the one that
Bitch gave birth to, I
would have to find someone as close to the alien as possible and that
was Batson. I did my
part by sleeping with him and training you. Now you go out there
and do your part and do
whatever you have to to win."
Zoey let it sink in, chewing over it carefully for a moment. <I'm
nothing but a horse to her,
being bred for competition. Mother how could ... >
She shook her head, stuffing the emotions
down into her gut. She could always analyze it later.
Donna called the two girls to come together. While both Eiko and
Zoey were trying to stare
down one another, Donna asked them both, "Are you two young warriors
ready to end this feud?"
For an answer, Eiko asked, "Is she ready to take back the lies she said about my family?"
"Make me," Zoey replied simply.
"It will be a pleasure," said Eiko as she rushed forward and tackled
Zoey. The result had
both girls hit the ground and began rolling down the sand dune toward
Sidney Harbor. Both
were wrapped in the other's limbs. Their pale complexions and
identical clothing made it
near impossible to tell what belonged to whom.
"I'd bite your leg right now," Eiko told her. "But I don't know
who's leg is in front of
face."
"If it's covered with baby fat, it's yours," Zoey replied, giggling at her own joke.
Eiko chuckled along with her, before shoving the Amazon girl down the
sand dune and to the
water. By the time the girls' parents arrived, the two girls
were back on their feet and
once again were circling each other with their fists raised.
As they stared at each other,
they would each take turns throwing the occasional punch.
This little dance continued for a good ten minutes when Zoey said to
Eiko, "You know, you're
not a bad fighter - for a freak of nature."
"You're not bad yourself - being a snothead and all," replied Eiko with a smile.
Zoey tried a left and a right combination. The left missed, but
she landed a clean shot with
the right. In response, Eiko hit her with a upper cut to the
stomach, which bent the young
Amazon double.
When Zoey was recovered enough to speak, she told EiKo, "I would have
come a long way to see a
fight like this."
"That's nice; I hope you're still around for the finish," Eiko remarked.
"Oh I'll be around, alright," said Zoey. "But you won't be."
"Whatever gave you that idea?" Eiko asked.
Zoey told her, "Because even if you're faster and stronger than me,
I have been in training
since I was three-years-old and you haven't. I know every single
Amazon fighting technique
and fighting style, and you don't."
Suddenly, in responce a big smile appeared on Eiko's face. Zoey
thought she had lost her mind
and asked, "What are you grinning at?"
Eiko explained to her, "You were just nice enough to tell me how to
beat you and - best of
all - I don't have to hurt you to do it."
Zoey said, "I like to see you try it."
"Just remember, you asked for it," Eiko said as she rushed the child
Amazon. Eiko slammed
into Zoey as the two girls began to struggle once again, until Eiko,
with a sudden burst of
her fabulous speed - suddenly appeared behind Zoey and wrapped her
arms around her. Eiko had
her held tight in a reverse bear hug.
"What are you doing?" asked a wildly concerned Zoey, as she fought to break free.
With a big smile, Eiko whispered in her ear, "You know every Amazon
fighting trick and every
counterattack, but this is something you have no counter for, because
you have never seen this
before. And best of all it is something my daddy taught me.
He taught me this; it's a way to
subdue someone without hurting them."
It was both effective and simple. EiKo simply performed the Heimlich
Maneuver on Zoey, forcing
the air out of her lungs. Only when she finished, instead of
releasing Zoey, she continued to
squeeze the red-haired ten-year-old. Zoey began to panic.
This maneuver invented to save
people from choking on food forced the air out of her lungs, and Eiko's
ever-tightening grip
around her ribcage prevented Zoey from taking in a breath to replace
the air she lost.
Frantically, Zoey began trying pry Eiko's fingers apart but failed.
Next, she punched at her
arms and hands that held her tight, but that, too, failed as Eiko continued
to hold tighter.
Artemis began to shout to her daughter, "Gouge out her eyes, stupid!
Bite her! Kick her were
it counts! Do whatever it takes to escape!"
But Zoey shook her head, refusing her own mother's orders to do anything
so foul and
dishonorable. Soon, the brave girl's struggles began to slow
and finally, as her head
slumped forward on her chest, Eiko let her go.
Zoey collapsed in a heap. She leaned on her hands and knees, coughing
and gasging, trying her
best to catch her breath.
EiKo looked down at her and asked, "Are we done yet?"
Zoey was as brave as ever and she proved it by shaking her head and
trying to stand. She did
her best to stand on her shaky legs, but failed as she collapsed back
down into the damp sand. As she lay there, the only sound Zoey could
hear beside her mother's frantic orders to stand were the lapping of the
waves on the beach and her own heartbeat in her ears.
She tried one last valiant effort to stand, then collapsed back down
on her stomach. Eiko
hauled her to her feet and, as she pulled her fist back, Eiko said
to her, "I'm sorry, sister."
She landed a punch into Zoey's jaw, knocking her back into the water in a daze.
Eiko's father started forward to rescue Zoey from the surf, when his
wife grabbed hold of him
and whispered in his ear, "Show some faith and trust in our child."
He paused in his rescue as Eiko rushed to Zoey's side and pulled her
out of the water before
the semi-conscious child started to drown.
Zoey lay on her back on the beach coughing up seawater when she saw
that Eiko was offering her
a hand up. She hesitated for a moment before taking it into her
own hand. She smiled as Eiko
helped her to her feet. Eiko, for her part, held the still dazed
Zoey close in her arms as the
two youngsters stood there together on the beach.
Donna asked Zoey if she was finished. Even as her mother was screaming
at her to not stop,
Zoey said, "Yes I'm done. I admit freely to all who are present
that I was wrong. Martha,
daughter of Diana, is an honorable women, a true Amazon, and I am proud
to call her my sister."
Zoey weakly held up her right arm as Eiko held up her own, both clinking
the Amazonian metal
bracelets together and linking their fingers together in Sisters' Pact.
Eiko's mother stood
at the side of her childhood companion Donna, and looked down at the
two bruised and bloody
girls, saying, "Both of you should be proud of yourselves this day.
Not only have you both
fought well and proved your courage, but you both have done so honorably
and without hate."
Donna finished with, "Already, I can see that whatever bad blood there
was between you has been
burnt away by the ritual combat, just as it was meant to do."
"Martha."
Eiko turned at the sound of her grandmother's name given to her and
saw her father standing
alone. She rushed to his side and jumped into his arms.
As they hugged one another, Zoey
saw a strange thing pass between her new Amazon Sister and the Man
Eiko called 'father' - they
were tears. The father and daughter were crying in each other's
arms.
Zoey couldn't understand what she was seeing until Eiko's mother knelt
down at her side and
whispered to her," Eiko and her father love each other very much and
they are very, very close." Deep down inside of my daughter, you
will find she is more like her father than me. Even with more honor
and decency."
Zoey turned and was about to ask a question of the one-time Amazon Princess,
but was cut off
when Eiko's mother told her the answer by saying, "I wouldn't have
it any other way."
Eiko's father put her down and was kneeling in front of her, examining
her bloody and bruised
face. As he went about this grim task, he told his daughter,
"I'm afraid your a real mess,
baby."
"You should see the other guy," Eiko replied, cracking a grin.
This only caused Eiko's father to begin kissing her all over again,
until his daughter told
him, "Daddy, please! Not in front of the Amazons!"
Embarrassed by her father's fussing over her, Eiko left to rejoin her
mother and aunt, only to
be replaced by another red-headed ten-year-old girl. Zoey looked
up at the huge figure that
towered over her. She struggled to find the words she wanted
to tell him, but finally summoned
up her courage and said, "I want to apologize for saying the things
I said about you."
Zoey cringed as his huge had descended and patted her on the cheek.
She had heard the stories
on Paradise Island of what those hands could do. But what she
couldn't know or even suspect
was how gentle those same hands could be. But strangest of all,
and what Zoey couldn't
understand or even believe, was how nice his touch felt on her cheek.
Most important of all
how safe his mere presence made her feel. It was then she briefly
wondered of her own father.
He knelt down in front of her and said, "I'm afraid, Zoey, you're going
to have one hell of a
black eye."
Taking great pride in her own red badge of courage, Zoey said, "I wish I could see it!"
Eiko's father smiled and thought for a moment. He knew his wife
never carried a mirror, so he
decided to make one. He scooped up a handful of sand and melted
the sand into a small pool of
molten glass in the cup of his hand with a blast of his heat vision.
Zoey stared wide-eyed
with her one good eye as he cooled the brittle gift with his breath
and presented the small
glass to her. It wasn't a very good mirror or even a decent piece
of glass, but Zoey could see
her black eye and take great pride in it.
"What are you doing standing so close to that defiler of Amazons?" asked a harsh voice.
Zoey turned and saw her mother standing behind her. Zoey turned
around to her and, lifting up
the crude mirror, said, "Look what Martha's father made for me."
In response, Artemis slapped the small gift from her daughter's hand,
where it shattered as it
hit the ground. Even before it broke, Artemis told her daughter,
"We take nothing from the
likes of him! Now prepare yourself to do battle once more.
Only this time, I want you to
fight the way I taught you and, if you know what is good for you, you
better win!"
"Artemis, will you ever learn?" asked Diana as she stood before older
redhead. "The question
of Winning or losing in itself means nothing. The only thing
that should matter is the way one
gives battle. The Kiss of Blood was created so Amazons could show their
courage and prove their
honor and not to see who is the best fighter. It is not a test
of skill or of strength, but of
one's heart. It is the opportunity to prove an Amazon's
honor and courage first of all to
herself, and then only to others."
"That is all and good for you, false Amazon. *Your* daughter was
victorious, while mine lay in
the mud," answered Artemis.
"You're a fool, Artemis. You should be proud of your daughter.
Not only has she proven her
courage and honor, but her fighting skill as well. She brings
honor to the name Amazon, and
to you as her mother. But you care nothing for the things that make
an Amazon, only winning
and losing matters to you."
"I need no advice from a traitor who betrayed the Sisterhood for the
arms of an off-world freak
of nature," retorted Artemis as she turned to her daughter and added,
"Now, challenge that vile
creature again, my daughter!"
Zoey defiantly announced to her mother, "I won't! Martha is no
longer my enemy, in fact, I now
know she never was. She is now my Sister and, someday, I hope
I will call her my friend."
Artemis screamed at her daughter, "I gave you an order!"
Zoey yelled back, "I lost a fight today mother, *not* my honor!
If I was to offer the
challenge again, then I would lose my honor and that I refuse to do,
even for you!"
Eiko's mother told Zoey, "Well said, young Amazon."
"Aye, my sister, she has the heart of a true Amazon," added Donna.
"Looking good!" stated Eiko as she agreed with her aunt and mother.
With a shriek of rage, Artemis lashed out and slapped her daughter,
knocking her down to the
sand. Eiko's mother grabbed the hand that struck the blow and
screamed, "Are you insane?!"
Artemis gave a sinister smile and said, "I waited a long time to do
this, bitch." Then
launched a crescent kick at Diana's head, who ducked and leapt back
out of range.
Even as Eiko was helping Zoey back to her feet, the two mothers stared
at one another, it was
Eiko's mother who said, "All right, Artemis, we will play it your way;
just remember, your the
one who called the tune."
PART FOURTEEN
Artemis smiled and said, "You mean all I had to do to finally have
it out with you was to ask?"
Eiko could see her mother had a strange smile on her face as she told
Artemis, "We have and old
saying here in man's world, 'Be careful what you ask for, you just
might get it'."
"How long have you known?" asked Artemis.
"The moment you showed up here wearing the Gauntlets of Atlas, I knew
what you were realy up
to," replied Diana.
Eiko was becoming upset and looked up at her aunt, asking, "What are the Gauntlets of Atlas?"
Donna told her, "A gift from Zeus to your mother's one-time prodigy
Cassie. At one time,
Artemis was the young girl's mentor as well. They increase strength
ten-fold of whoever
wears them."
Eiko's father said to Donna, "One fight a day is more than I can take.
Watch the kids, Donna,
I'm going to put a stop to this before it gets out of hand."
Donna managed to put her arm around his shoulder before he rushed forward.
As he turned to
her, Donna said, "What worked so well for the daughters might
also work for their mothers."
Eiko's father sighed, "I wouldn't be so sure, Donna. Your sister
has that look in her eye
again. As for Artemis, I wouldn't believe her if she told me
water was wet!"
Suddenly, they heard a scream of rage. They both turned in time
to see Artemis launch herself
at Eiko's mother, driving her shoulder into the middle of the one-time
Amazon Princess. The
vicious impact launched them both into the cloudless sky and out over
the harbor. They traded
punches and kicks hundreds of feet above the water as if they were
two eagles fighting in
mid-air.
Down they plunged, straight into the famous Sidney Harbor Bridge.
The impact of their strong
bodies took out two support columns and damaged a third. Slowly,
as Diana and Artemis both got
back on their feet, the third steel girder began to give way.
The bridge itself was covered with rush hour traffic. It was a bumper
to bumper nightmare of a
traffic jam. Today, for the occupants of those hundreds of cars
on the bridge, eager to return
home, their ride home from work was on the brink of turning into a
bumper to bumper death trap!
Forgetting all about the battle, Diana rushed to the damaged girder
and using all of her own
strength tried to hold it together by bracing it with her own body.
Even with her incredible
strength, she had no hope of supporting all of those Thousands of tons.
Artemis walked up to where Eiko's mother was having her desperate struggle
and stood in front
of her long-time rival. She could see the look of desperation
on the face of the former Amazon
Princess and the sound of fear in Diana's voice as she begged, "Artemis,
please, I can't hold
it any longer, you have to help me. Think of all the people...
"
In response, Artemis turned and, without a word, picked up one of the
damaged steel girders and
brought it over to where Diana was struggling with her horrific burden.
Diana smiled as soon
as she seen the twisted girder and told Artemis, "Good idea, use that
girder to help wedge up
this bridge section."
The only thing Artemis used the damaged steel beam for was as a club
to use on Diana, as she
sent her sailing from the bridge and through the roof of the nearby
Sidney Opera House. Zoey
and Eiko both had far better eyesight then a normal human but even
their enhanced visual acuity
was next to useless at this distance; but there was one person present
who could see everything
very clearly.
He was blessed with sight that could see the molecules of a cell and
could even watch as that
very same cell divided. He could watch as Halley's Comet flew
past the orbit of Pluto and
listen to the beat of a housefly's wings hundreds of miles away.
As if by magic, Zoey watched the flannel shirt and gray slacks Eiko's
father wore suddenly
disappear to be replaced by a legendary blue and red costume.
Even before Zoey could draw
a breath, she and Eiko were lifted up and flew in the arms of Eiko's
father faster than the
God Mercury himself could move.
Half a heartbeat later, she and E-ko were standing safely on the shore
at one end of the
bridge. With the words "Wait here for Donna." ringing in their
ears, Eiko and Zoey both
watched as the legendary Man of Steel caught the collapsing bridge
span on his broad shoulder
and held it up. Like the mythological Atlas holding up the world.
With the weight of the bridge itself as well as the combined weight
of all of those cars,
Eiko's father was supporting over half a million of tons on his back.
Not just supporting,
but actually *lifting* the unbelievable mass. Zoey stood next
to Eiko with her eyes bulging
and her mouth hanging open. Eiko could see that her father had
managed to stop the bridge
from collapsing but many of the cars on the failed bridge section were
hanging over the edge,
teetering in the howling winds.
"Zoey, look!" Eiko cried.
The Amazon child turned to face her and said in a voice filled with
wonder and astonishment, "I
can't believe it, Eiko. No one is that strong - no Amazon, no
demon, not even the Gods
themselves are that strong!"
Eiko chest swelled with pride as she said, "That's my POP!" Then
quickly added, "Some of those
cars are leaning over the edge of the bridge. If we don't get
up there and pull them back from
the edge, they're going over!"
"I'm game, let's go for it!"
With a wink and a smile, Eiko grabbed Zoey's hand and both made a quick
high-speed dash up the
side of the bridge and onto the damaged road bed.
Eiko's father peering through the broken road and shouted, "Eiko, Zoey!
Get off the bridge!
It's too dangerous!"
Even as Eiko was saying "Sorry, papa", she and Zoey were pulling the
cars from the edge of the
damaged bridge. Soon as they accomplished that, they both began
to lead the people out of
their cars and walk them to the end of the bridge to safety.
The citizens too frightened to get out of their vehicles forced the
two young girls to a crude
but effective solution: they simply ripped the doors off the cars,
dragged out the occupants,
and carried them to safety. Donna finally arrived at the side
of the Man of Steel and said,
"I'll get the girls to safety!"
Superman shook his head and said, "Don't bother, they're both doing
their part. I need you to
bring me two steel girders to repair this mess."
"Where can I get them?" she asked.
He stared straight ahead and said, "Follow the end of my nose.
About two miles off there is a
highrise going up, that's where you will find what you need."
* * *
Eiko's mother crashed through the roof and down into the stage of the
Sidney Opera House.
Picking herself up from the crater she had just made in the stage,
she barley managed to
get to her feet in time to meet Artemis head on, as she flew down from
the hole in the roof.
Two punches later, Artemis was knocked backward from a left hook.
Her momentum took out the
orchestra pit and ten rows of seats. A moment later, Diana was
on top of her, and both Amazons
began trading punches as they continued to battle, taking out row after
row of seats and a
couple of walls as well.
It was when Artemis threw her through the lobby, Eiko's mother finally
realize how much damage
she was dong to the structure and possibly even the city. Her
guilt overcame the call of her
warrior's song and with a taunting, "If you want me, you have to catch
me!" she took off,
leading Artemis out of the city by air.
With the cry of "Coward!" ringing in her ears, Diana headed out of the
city and into the less
populated countryside.
* * *
With the bridge finally cleared of people, the two girls climbed down
to where Eiko's father
was supporting the whole structure on his broad shoulders. The
two very frightened ten-year
old girls stood before Eiko's father as he continued to hold up the
bridge.
Eiko said remorsefully, "I'm sorry for disobeying you, papa, but we
just *had* to help those
people."
"When your mother and I give you an order, Eko, it's for a good reason,
and the most important
reason of all is for your own safety - and that goes for the *both*
of you."
Both of the girls hung they heads in shame until he added, "But, it
is also true - you both
did a wonderful thing helping those people off the bridge and I'm proud
of you both. Not just
because you were brave, but for thinking of others before yourself."
It was two very proud children who looked at one another and started
to giggle until Zoey's
mentor and Eiko's aunt arrived on the scene, carrying a steel girder.
Placing it on end,
Donna held the steel beam in place as Eiko's father welded it in place
with his heat vision.
When he was done, Donna asked, "How many more do we need?"
He answered, "At least one; perhaps two to play it safe."
"Can we help?" Zoey asked.
Clark thought for a moment then asked, "If Donna carries one beam back
by herself, can you two
girls manage one beam together?"
"We can try," Eiko assured him.
Her father smiled with pride and said, "Go ahead, both of you, and try to do your best."
Seconds later, Donna and her two charges were off and running back to the construction site.
* * *
Out in the country near Canberra, a brand new Lexus was pulling into
the driveway of a
well-cared for one-family home. Edd had worked long and hard
for this car. He scrimped
and saved and even took a second job just so he could walk into the
dealer's showroom,
throw a wad of bills on a salesmen's desk, point to the car he wanted,
and say, "Wrap it
up, mate!"
Then have the pleasure of seeing the look on the salesman's face as
he drove it off the
lot. He got out of his copper-colored Lexus, and reached back
in to blow the horn. Taking
a handkerchief from his pocket, he carefully polished away the finger
prints he left on the
chrome around the door.
He stood proudly at attention as his good friend Tim came outside and
stood on the front steps
of his house. "So, you finally saved up enough to go out and buy it."
He walked down the steps
and walked around the car, saying, "It's beautiful; a regular work
of art."
For the next half hour, Edd demonstrated all the new features to his
friend Tim. When they
finished, the two friends sat on the front steps, drinking a cold Hahn
Ice together.
Tim then asked Edd, "How many kilometers you have on it?"
Edd answered back, "Only sixty-five!"
They touched beer bottles and Tim made a toast to his friend's car:
"May the road you travel on
be freshly paved, and all the traffic police be asleep. Best
of luck with your new wheels."
Suddenly, there came a whistling sound from the sky, like in those old
World War II movies.
Tim and Edd looked up just in time to see two tall, well-built women
come tumbling end over
end out of the sky and crashing on the new Lexus, smashing through
the roof and windshield.
Quietly, with no emotion on his face, Tim asked his friend Edd, "You
*do* have insurance, don't
you?"
"NOT FOR THAT!" Edd screamed back at him.
Artemis used her legs and the Gauntlets of Atlas to kick Eiko's mother
off of her and into the
side of the house, caving in the wall of the building. Suddenly,
just as Diana dashed out of
the house, Artemis picked up the car and threw it right at the former
Amazon Princess.
Eiko's mother ducked out of the way, only to have what was left of the
brand new automobile
crash through the wall of the house right above where Tim and Edd were
enjoying their beers.
They managed to scramble out of the way when a moment later the gas
tank on the vehicle
exploded, knocking Edd and Tim off their feet and engulfing the house
in flames.
Diana, the one-time Royal Princess of Paradise Island, waited in the
empty outback of the
Australian wilderness. Artemis landed in front of her and said,
"Well. coward. I see you're
done running from me."
"You were always full of yourself, Artemis. I wasn't running from
you. I was leading you
here, where the only person that is going to be hurt will be you."
"Prove it," the redheaded Amazon stated.
Diana smiled sweetly and said, "I was hoping you would say that."
Her eyes narrowed and her mouth turned into a snarl, letting the warrior's
bloodlust pour
through her veins at last, as she rushed at her rival. Artemis
launched a kick aimed at her
groin, but it never landed, as Diana grabbed her foot and twisted her
leg almost to the
breaking point. Diana released her only so she could haul her
back up to her feet and begin
to pound her face and body with vicious and well-placed punches.
* * *
At the bridge, the last steel girder was in place and the police were
just arriving on the
scene as well as the local media. Donna announced, "I'll take
care of the rest here, Kal.
Get the girls and yourself out of here before someone gets a picture
of Eiko."
With a quick thanks, he picked up picked both girls and went in
search of the girls' mothers.
His sharp ears quickly picked up the sound of their battle, and he
and the girls were soon
landing at the site of the conflict.
It wasn't a pretty sight. Eiko's mother had totally lost it.
After almost eleven years
of being exiled and hunted, she was now completely lost in her own
bloodlust and warrior's
madness. Both women were bruised and bleeding, but it was now
Diana who had the upper hand
as she continued to drive her fists into the face and body of her tormentor.
He placed the girls in the ground, Eiko holding Zoey back as the Amazon
child with tears in her
eyes cried "Stop it! Please!" while sturggling against Eiko to
run and seperate her dishonored
mother and the woman she only begun to respect.
Clark recognized his wife was going to go all the way. He was
instantly at her side, yelling,
"Stop it! You're killing her!"
She didn't stop, only drove her fists in that much harder harder.
He took hold of her arm and
frantically shouted out her name in an attempt to call her back from
the warrior's craze. She
continued her pounding with her other hand, and he took hold of that
hand plowing into her
rival, and he refused to let go.
Instantly, her wrath was directed at him. She turned to face him
and wrangled her hand free
to raise toward him as she stated, "How *dare* you try to stop me!"
As she raised her hand to
strike, he did nothing to defend himself.
Eiko's body clenched in fear, and she did the only thing she could think
of. She screamed out
across the sands, "Mommy! Don't hit daddy!"
Diana looked at her little girl, and then at her own fist, before she
broke into tears and
buried her face into her husband's chest.
"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry," she said over and over as her husband held
her close. Their
daughter soon joined them and the three Magamis held each other close
for comfort and support.
When Eiko's mother regained her composer, her husband asked her as he
winked, "Are you in good
enough shape to take our daughter and yourself back home to Metropolis?"
"Yes, I'm all right now. What are you going to do?"
"I will be taking Zoey and her mother back home to Paradise Island," he told his wife.
"Be careful, You're even less welcomed there than I am," she warned.
"Don't worry. I'll be in and out before your mother or any of
your one-time sisters even know
I was ever there." He then added, "On the way back I'll stop
off here and settle up here."
Remembering the damage she caused Diana asked,"How are we ever going
to pay for all the
damage?"
The royalty checks from my last book and our daughter's college fund
should cover it,"he
replied
She buried her face in the S shield of her husbands chest and murmerd, "Damn this temper!"
He lifted her head up by her chin and told her,"We'll manage."
Eiko's mother responded by kissing her husband on the lips. Hard
as it was he turned his
attention from the wife he loved and moved to were Artemis was just
coming to.
Even as he picked Artemis up for the trip home, she showed her gratitude
by screaming a series
of vindictive curses at the Man of Steel in her semi-consciousness.
He picked up Zoey with his
other arm, and with a big smile, he told her, "Next stop: Paradise
Island and the Temple of
Healing for your mother and a nice, hot bath for you."
Much to her mother's disgust, Zoey returned the infectious smile and
hugged Eiko's father tight
around his neck as the three of them took to the sky. Destination:
Thermascyria, Island of the
Amazons, in the Aegean Sea.
PART FIFTEEN
Christmas morning dawned cold and snowy in the little neighborhood
the Magami family resided
in. Eiko pulled her blinds up to watch the snow fall past her
window. She smiled, watching
her breath fog up the glass as she patted Krypto with her other hand.
He panted, letting his
own breath fog up the glass as well, grinning as he stared out the
window.
"Well, Krypto," A-ko announced. "Think Santa left us anything?"
Krypto barked in reply, rushing toward her door and wagging his tail excitedly.
Eiko pulled the door open and rushed to her parents' room, bursting
in and jumping across the
room. She landed on the foot of their bed, laughing.
"Merry Christmas, mama and papa!" she sang.
Her mother slammed a pillow over her still sleeping head in am attempt
to ignore the sudden
intrusion. Her father grabbed up the ten-year-old instead, hugging
her and kissing her
cheeks, saying, "Merry Christmas, sugar plum!"
"Did you see Santa last night, daddy?"
He picked her up in his massive arms, carrying her out of the room to
let her mother wake up
at her leisure."Just as I was going upstairs, baby. Santa came
crashing down the chiminy and
danced through the tree and stockings and left in a wink of an eye."
She hugged his neck, giggling, "You're the fastest man in the universe, daddy."
"Nope, I believe Santa is the fastest," he corrected, flicking on the lightswitch to the tree.
Eiko turned to look at the tree in the still dark living room, gazing
at the colored lights
make the glass balls and shiny papers and glistening garlands twinkle
and sparkle. Krypto
stood solemnly behind them, sniffing the air of the strange scent left
by a certain jolly elf
that most believed didn't exsist.
"Wowee!" Eiko breathed. "Look at the loot!"
Her father looked at her and she grinned.
"Just kidding, daddy. The tree looks beautiful."
"Let's open the blinds and see how the tree looks against the snow."
He set her down and went to open the blinds to let the light in, showing
the snow floating down
to their yard.
Eiko's mother appeared in the doorway, dressed in a red silk robe and brushing her hair out.
"All right," she stated. "You have a few options of what to do first. One: chores."
"Yuck," Eiko replied.
"Two: morning practice."
"Later."
"Three: breakfast."
"Later!"
"Four: open presents."
"PRESENTS!" Eiko cried.
Krypto barked in agreement as the family settled around the tree.
* * *
Eiko settled at the table, dressed in her new jeans and "usagi" bunny
over-sized sweatshirt.
She was giggling, looking under the table.
"Haven't you embarrassed that dog enough?" her mother asked.
Krpyto was hiding his face under his paws as he lay under the table,
a doggie sweather dressed
around his white body. It was green with the words "Merry X-mas!"
in red and decorated with red bones.
"He's so cute!" Eiko laughed.
"I thought she was laughing at the bunny slippers she gave me," her
father chuckled, padding
in the said slippers around the kitchen to serve up more waffles.
"They look cute on you," his wife giggled. She flexed her bicep,
admiring the gold and lapis
lazuli armband her daughter gave her. The gift from her husband,
a special katana made by one
of the foremost swordsmiths of Japan, was in her training room and
set up above her shrine.
It was a fitting symbolism of her heritage melding with her new life
in the Land of the Rising
Sun.
She gave him the new three-demensional version of his favorite movie
"To Kill a Mocking Bird".
He had told her that it had greatly influenced his beliefs regarding
justice, and he had
always loved the movie with Gregory Peck. He had thought that
the movie being as old as
it was, no one would bother to make the 3-D of it, but his wife had
found it. He was
delighted.
"I can't believe aunt Donna gave me a pair of ancient Greek daggers!"
Eiko said. "They're so
beautiful. Can I put them up with your altar, mama?"
"Of course, with your own place."
"And Zoey gave me her bow. I know how much she loved it."
"Amazons and their weapons," her father sighed. "Not right."
"Oh, daddy, I love the doll you gave me. I can't believe you found
a porcelain dolls with red
hair and amber eyes like me."
"You're growing up too fast, my baby. One last doll before you don't want anymore."
She smiled and rounded the table to hug him tightly. "I love you,
daddy. I won't trade you
for anything in the world."
"I love you, too, best of daughters."
Eiko's mother smiled, thinking that there was nothing else she wanted
in her life. With her
loving husband and her brave daughter, she was content.
Eiko mused aloud, "You think Zoey will become my friend now that we have reached peace?"
"I believe so," her father replied. "You and she are very similar."
"And we gave her a gift, too," Eiko stated.
"What gift?" her mother asked.
"True Amazon honor."
"Gift of the Magami," her father chuckled.
"Gift of the Magi, daddy."
"Same difference."
Eiko laughed, and hugged him again as the snow enveloped the house on that Christmas morn.
-end-