Cache-clearing...
"Computer, initiate order 696, captain’s authorization code Barrat alpha-niner-niner-seven-four-three-niner-two-delta."
"Depressurization of the ship commencing."
Scenes/Concepts:
Last week on Monday Night Raw…
A return that was never expected…
“Oh, my God…!”
“I can’t possibly be hearing that music!”
“The Fantasy is back, baby!”
And a revelation that no one could have anticipated…
“Would anyone care to take a gander as to what Helen Monica’s last name is?”
“…Hardy! Hardy! Hardy! Hardy…!”
“I know she doesn’t look it, but ladies and gents, please allow me the privilege of introducing the oldest of the Cameron siblings, Helen Monica Hardy!”
"Okaeri Nasai," their father said, tilting his head farther up the path. Ito looked up, and tried not to gape.
"What is it with this place and walls?" Ryûya inquired, exasperated. Indeed, their father's strange world did seem to have a fetish with them. This particular wall wasn't as large as the one around the last village - Suna, was it? - but it still towered over them. There were guard towers at regular distances, as well, instead of the terraced guard walks Suna seemed to favor. Directly before them was the main gate, the word 'An' adorning the double doors.
"State your name and business!" shouted a guard atop the gate as they approached. They paused, and Naruto glanced at his children briefly, an unreadable look in his eyes. Ito felt tense, like she was participating in a key scene in a play she knew nothing about. He finally turned back to answer the guard, and she felt her belly flip-flop at his reply.
"Uzumaki Naruto, shinobi no Konohagakure no Sato!" he bellowed, turning his back on the name Miura - and all it stood for - for the last time, just as he had warned. She understood in her gut then that, even if given the opportunity, he would never go back to Japan. This was where he was from, and this was where he would stay.
The guard was silent for several moments, during which the siblings exchanged uncomfortable glances and Naruto simply waited, a patient, contented smile on his lips. The whisker marks he had stopped covering up seemed to soften and become less noticeable.
Finally the doors swung open, and they found waiting for them on the other side a pale-skinned woman with emerald green eyes and bubblegum pink hair done up in chopsticks. Her red, pink, and black garment patterned in sakura petals and checkers was wrapped around her kimono-style, a ruby gem hung on a gold chain at the base of her throat, and white boots encased her feet. Over it all she wore a long sleeveless white robe with a red flame pattern on the bottom. Ito blushed - she was very beautiful.
Apparently, neither Naruto nor the guards had been expecting to see her, because their father was gaping and a guard leapt to the ground behind her to do the same, though he managed to stutter, "Rokudaime-sama…!"
The woman gave the travelers a gentle smirk, clasped her hands before her, and bowed low. "Okaeri nasai, Naruto-kun," she intoned, straightening from her bow.
"Tadaima…" he breathed, gazing in her in wonder. Ito's eyes darted between the two, confused. Was this Hinata-san, the woman their father said was his first wife?
The woman's smirk eased into a pleased grin, but Ito caught a flare of sorrow behind her eyes. "I cannot stay. I only wished to welcome you home at long last, and to meet your children before I leave this last time." At that last, her gaze shifted to Yûto and Tatsuyoshi, then over to Ryûya and Ito on Naruto's other side, then finally returned to their father, the sadness in them clearer.
Naruto gave her his cockiest grin, obviously overjoyed at the chance to brag. "Sakura-chan, this is Miura Yûto, Miura Ryûya, Miura Ito, and Miura Tatsuyoshi. Minna-san, this is Uchiha Haruno Sakura, Rokudaime Hokage no Konohagakure no Sato, and my closest friend."
Ito felt her eyes widen, remembering what her father had said around the fire in the evenings of their journey here. A Kage was the equivalent of a commande-in-chief, but in this world, one was treated like a prime minister! Her father, overly-dramatic Naruto, was close friends with what Gaara-sama had said was one of the most powerful people in the world? The heck?
The gaze he turned on the pink-haired woman was the gentlest she'd ever seen it, a look he reserved for his children - usually when the recipient of his gaze wasn't looking - that showed the unending depths of his great love for them. Ito ached to see it turned on a woman that wasn't the much-lauded Hinata. She could understand his wife earning that look, but Sakura-sama?
"How do you distill 32 years into a handful of minutes?" he asked her rhetorically. "She was one of my precious people - and for a shinobi," he added, "there was no dearer thing. She was my only precious person for some years, before that baka of a husband of yours decided to come back." The woman grinned. "She was a teammate, my first love, and one of the few people I came to call family before I married Hinata-chan. She was like a sister to me. She beat me daily, and I loved her all the more. She was my patience, she was often my brains-"
"'Often?'' Sakura repeated, scoffing. "Try always."
He grinned cheekily, not disputing her claim. "She had a temper like no one's business and was a proven schizophrenic. She could punch a hole through a mountain with her bare hands, and did on two occasions. She was brilliant but naïve, and it took the love of her life betraying our village to knock her out of her dreamland and see that she was pathetically weak for someone of her potential. But she's also one of the most stubborn people I've ever met, and in less than three years she became someone I wouldn't want to face on the battlefield. She's the greatest healer this world has ever known, and has learned how to give life back to the dead.
"When they thought I was dead, she took my dream and made it hers, safeguarding it for my return. When I came back, she still kept it, but showed me how I could earn it. She taught me judgment and discernment, and the ability to feel out when to press on or pull back. She taught me to learn the strength of my people, to know their character and morale, and how to keep them hopeful even in the darkest hours, while still demanding they give their everything. And when I was ready, she gave it back, with all the dings and scuffs worked out and polished, ready to make a reality. I followed her to the ends of the earth, and would have given my life for her, like she gave hers for me."
“You won’t shoot me. You’re too much of a ‘good person.’ And you’ve spent too much time putting yourself back in the brass’s good graces. Just give me the-“
“This is your last warning. If you attempt to forcibly remove Torren Emmagen from the Pegasus galaxy, you will die, right here, right now, and your superiors will never find this city again.”
“You had an excuse the last time you shot a superior officer. But if you shoot me point blank right now, it will be murder, not mercy.”
“Someone told me once that the mark of a good person isn’t that they’ll take a bullet for you, but that they’ll put a bullet in someone else on your behalf. Your only two acceptable answers are ‘yes’ or ‘no.’ Are you going to take Torren out of this galaxy, with or without his mother’s - much less my - permission?”
“I have my orders.”
“That’s not an acceptable answer, Colonel Ellis.”
“Yes.”
Gun goes off
“You never said you had kids.”
“Did I not? I’m surprised; some of my most precious memories involve them, and obviously you know that Evan and I became involved.”
“No, you didn’t. You’ve shown me lots of stuff with Lorne, but never with them.”
“I hadn’t realized.”
“So why didn’t they come with you? Did they stay behind to keep trying to contact Earth?”
“… to my knowledge I am the last survivor of the Earth expedition to the lost city of Atlantis. It has been ten years since the expedition was slaughtered at the hands of Michael and his hybrid minions…”
“No, Colonel - I gave up hope of Earth rescuing us thirteen years ago. And despite both Evan and I being gene-carriers, neither Eiko nor Andrew were born with a gene powerful enough to interact with the chair, so there was no hope of flying the city back to the Milky Way.”
Words/Phrases:
-haraiyabet
-nyisheti iiteri voyoong
Miscellaneous:
x-posted to
weishwei_nanen
"Depressurization of the ship commencing."
Scenes/Concepts:
Last week on Monday Night Raw…
A return that was never expected…
“Oh, my God…!”
“I can’t possibly be hearing that music!”
“The Fantasy is back, baby!”
And a revelation that no one could have anticipated…
“Would anyone care to take a gander as to what Helen Monica’s last name is?”
“…Hardy! Hardy! Hardy! Hardy…!”
“I know she doesn’t look it, but ladies and gents, please allow me the privilege of introducing the oldest of the Cameron siblings, Helen Monica Hardy!”
"Okaeri Nasai," their father said, tilting his head farther up the path. Ito looked up, and tried not to gape.
"What is it with this place and walls?" Ryûya inquired, exasperated. Indeed, their father's strange world did seem to have a fetish with them. This particular wall wasn't as large as the one around the last village - Suna, was it? - but it still towered over them. There were guard towers at regular distances, as well, instead of the terraced guard walks Suna seemed to favor. Directly before them was the main gate, the word 'An' adorning the double doors.
"State your name and business!" shouted a guard atop the gate as they approached. They paused, and Naruto glanced at his children briefly, an unreadable look in his eyes. Ito felt tense, like she was participating in a key scene in a play she knew nothing about. He finally turned back to answer the guard, and she felt her belly flip-flop at his reply.
"Uzumaki Naruto, shinobi no Konohagakure no Sato!" he bellowed, turning his back on the name Miura - and all it stood for - for the last time, just as he had warned. She understood in her gut then that, even if given the opportunity, he would never go back to Japan. This was where he was from, and this was where he would stay.
The guard was silent for several moments, during which the siblings exchanged uncomfortable glances and Naruto simply waited, a patient, contented smile on his lips. The whisker marks he had stopped covering up seemed to soften and become less noticeable.
Finally the doors swung open, and they found waiting for them on the other side a pale-skinned woman with emerald green eyes and bubblegum pink hair done up in chopsticks. Her red, pink, and black garment patterned in sakura petals and checkers was wrapped around her kimono-style, a ruby gem hung on a gold chain at the base of her throat, and white boots encased her feet. Over it all she wore a long sleeveless white robe with a red flame pattern on the bottom. Ito blushed - she was very beautiful.
Apparently, neither Naruto nor the guards had been expecting to see her, because their father was gaping and a guard leapt to the ground behind her to do the same, though he managed to stutter, "Rokudaime-sama…!"
The woman gave the travelers a gentle smirk, clasped her hands before her, and bowed low. "Okaeri nasai, Naruto-kun," she intoned, straightening from her bow.
"Tadaima…" he breathed, gazing in her in wonder. Ito's eyes darted between the two, confused. Was this Hinata-san, the woman their father said was his first wife?
The woman's smirk eased into a pleased grin, but Ito caught a flare of sorrow behind her eyes. "I cannot stay. I only wished to welcome you home at long last, and to meet your children before I leave this last time." At that last, her gaze shifted to Yûto and Tatsuyoshi, then over to Ryûya and Ito on Naruto's other side, then finally returned to their father, the sadness in them clearer.
Naruto gave her his cockiest grin, obviously overjoyed at the chance to brag. "Sakura-chan, this is Miura Yûto, Miura Ryûya, Miura Ito, and Miura Tatsuyoshi. Minna-san, this is Uchiha Haruno Sakura, Rokudaime Hokage no Konohagakure no Sato, and my closest friend."
Ito felt her eyes widen, remembering what her father had said around the fire in the evenings of their journey here. A Kage was the equivalent of a commande-in-chief, but in this world, one was treated like a prime minister! Her father, overly-dramatic Naruto, was close friends with what Gaara-sama had said was one of the most powerful people in the world? The heck?
The gaze he turned on the pink-haired woman was the gentlest she'd ever seen it, a look he reserved for his children - usually when the recipient of his gaze wasn't looking - that showed the unending depths of his great love for them. Ito ached to see it turned on a woman that wasn't the much-lauded Hinata. She could understand his wife earning that look, but Sakura-sama?
"How do you distill 32 years into a handful of minutes?" he asked her rhetorically. "She was one of my precious people - and for a shinobi," he added, "there was no dearer thing. She was my only precious person for some years, before that baka of a husband of yours decided to come back." The woman grinned. "She was a teammate, my first love, and one of the few people I came to call family before I married Hinata-chan. She was like a sister to me. She beat me daily, and I loved her all the more. She was my patience, she was often my brains-"
"'Often?'' Sakura repeated, scoffing. "Try always."
He grinned cheekily, not disputing her claim. "She had a temper like no one's business and was a proven schizophrenic. She could punch a hole through a mountain with her bare hands, and did on two occasions. She was brilliant but naïve, and it took the love of her life betraying our village to knock her out of her dreamland and see that she was pathetically weak for someone of her potential. But she's also one of the most stubborn people I've ever met, and in less than three years she became someone I wouldn't want to face on the battlefield. She's the greatest healer this world has ever known, and has learned how to give life back to the dead.
"When they thought I was dead, she took my dream and made it hers, safeguarding it for my return. When I came back, she still kept it, but showed me how I could earn it. She taught me judgment and discernment, and the ability to feel out when to press on or pull back. She taught me to learn the strength of my people, to know their character and morale, and how to keep them hopeful even in the darkest hours, while still demanding they give their everything. And when I was ready, she gave it back, with all the dings and scuffs worked out and polished, ready to make a reality. I followed her to the ends of the earth, and would have given my life for her, like she gave hers for me."
“You won’t shoot me. You’re too much of a ‘good person.’ And you’ve spent too much time putting yourself back in the brass’s good graces. Just give me the-“
“This is your last warning. If you attempt to forcibly remove Torren Emmagen from the Pegasus galaxy, you will die, right here, right now, and your superiors will never find this city again.”
“You had an excuse the last time you shot a superior officer. But if you shoot me point blank right now, it will be murder, not mercy.”
“Someone told me once that the mark of a good person isn’t that they’ll take a bullet for you, but that they’ll put a bullet in someone else on your behalf. Your only two acceptable answers are ‘yes’ or ‘no.’ Are you going to take Torren out of this galaxy, with or without his mother’s - much less my - permission?”
“I have my orders.”
“That’s not an acceptable answer, Colonel Ellis.”
“Yes.”
Gun goes off
“You never said you had kids.”
“Did I not? I’m surprised; some of my most precious memories involve them, and obviously you know that Evan and I became involved.”
“No, you didn’t. You’ve shown me lots of stuff with Lorne, but never with them.”
“I hadn’t realized.”
“So why didn’t they come with you? Did they stay behind to keep trying to contact Earth?”
“… to my knowledge I am the last survivor of the Earth expedition to the lost city of Atlantis. It has been ten years since the expedition was slaughtered at the hands of Michael and his hybrid minions…”
“No, Colonel - I gave up hope of Earth rescuing us thirteen years ago. And despite both Evan and I being gene-carriers, neither Eiko nor Andrew were born with a gene powerful enough to interact with the chair, so there was no hope of flying the city back to the Milky Way.”
Words/Phrases:
-haraiyabet
-nyisheti iiteri voyoong
Miscellaneous:
x-posted to
weishwei_nanen