[Moved] Reborn *By Invitation Only*

[Penelope Maria]

She isn't angry with me! She loves me! I could feint or cry with joy! I settle for holding her and kissing her as she kisses me.

Her talk of her dad driving me home makes my blood freeze.

"Oh no! I am so dead..." I mutter, scrabbling for my phone. I pull it out and switch it on: immediately, about a dozen texts arrive from Mum, demanding to know where I am. I look up as Akane hails a cab and I scramble in behind her.

"...Tsuki Koari..."

I shiver runs down my spine, a wonderful tremble that brings with it visions of moonlight and perfume, of love in the night and laughter in the sunshine.

"Oh," I whisper, "I would so like that...Midori," I look at her, lost for a moment. Then my phone rings.

"Hello? Mum? Yes I am OK! I only just remembered to switch it back on!....." I wince as Mum launches a tirade of my irresponsible behaviour. "No! I am at a friend's house! I met that girl you mentioned and we really hit it off, so we went back to hers," I cross my fingers, "and we, um, just lost track of time. I'd forgotten my phone was off, really, and school was great! Really great!" Mum mellows, it's not like she doesn't know I can take care of myself, or that I'm normally irresponsible. "Yes Mum, we will talk. We really need to talk Mum. If I wasn't as weird as me I'd be really freaked out right now....no it was nothing bad, just bloody typical of me....I'm not sure when I'll be back, Mum. But you know who I'm with....all right, as soon as I can. Bye Mum." I hang up.

The cab pulls up, and I dig deep in my own pocket as Akane struggles to find the money to pay him. Between us we have enough.

"It's not like I will have any use for money for about the next six months, I think I am sooo grounded after tonight," I sigh. Which really hurts, because I want to spend as much time with Akane as I can.

We stand at the end of a driveway facing a large traditional house.

"The priest, he didn't tell me much, Akane. He just showed me this picture, of two girls getting married - to each other," I watch to gauge her reaction. "They looked just like us, and their names were Penny and Akane." I let that sink in as we walk up to the house. "Midori, I don't think they just looked like us...the way we met, the way we're related to those girls...I think they were us. In our last life. Something...something went very wrong for them, and they died, and we were born. Then we met."

We reach the door, and Akane rings the bell.

After a moment a woman opens the door: she's in traditional Japanese dress, and she's old but still upright, and still in a dignified way beautiful. Beauty is more than skin-deep, it shines from the soul. She looks at us as the light shines on us. First at Akane, with an expression of resigned exasperation, but then at me...in recognition, and shock that seems to shake her to the core. For a moment she is speechless, and I suddenly realise we are holding hands, Akane and I, with skinned knees and dishevelled sefuko. Then I see her smile, a smile of joyful relief, as if she has suddenly seen things come right at last.

"Kon'nichiwa, Penny-san," she greets me by name with a slight bow. I shiver with recognition. Today just got weirder and weirder.

"Kon'nichiwa, Aoi-sama," I respond bowing also. Oh no. I just did it again...

[Elizabeth Akane]

"Oh," I whisper, "I would so like that...Midori,"

There is something deep inside that is touched when we speak these names. Something I can't really define, and yet, they sound perfect. I have always liked green colour, even more since she, the sole owner of my ex-lonely heart, looked at me. Yes, she turned those green eyes at me and I was hers. Why lie? It is my truth: I love her.

"Then it will be so...Tsuki Kaori..." I smile at her, our hands together as the forest devours the taxi. 

Of course we almost have to leave some panties as payment, which Inhave heard are marketable goods here in Japan! But lucky us, we gather the number of Yens asked by the driver. Witnessing the romance was his tip I guess!

"It's not like I will have any use for money for about the next six months, I think I am sooo grounded after tonight,"[/i]

"Not a problem love! I can go visit you at your home and stay on the weekends and..." I stop and blush. "Sorry...I don't mean to be a bug, or a high maintainance girlfriend."

"well...perhaps I don't care. No...I will be a bug...and most certanly am the sort of bug that bites!" And kisses and hugs, and licks and rubs and....oh the things I would do with her!!!

Then the talk goes to what the monk told her. Many things she could have said. But I could never be ready for what she said...

"The priest, he didn't tell me much, Akane. He just showed me this picture, of two girls getting married - to each other," I watch to gauge her reaction. "They looked just like us, and their names were Penny and Akane." I let that sink in as we walk up to the house. "Midori, I don't think they just looked like us...the way we met, the way we're related to those girls...I think they were us. In our last life. Something...something went very wrong for them, and they died, and we were born. Then we met."

She finishes and renders me speechless. We? Married? It sounds...so perfectly true...so real. She seems so familiar to me, each part of her body, of course, but...most of all, her heart. Her heart is like a home to me. MY home.

I blink..time seems to have stopped.

"we...we already met, and loved, and..." 
And died. Why? How? I can imagine the pain of separation...the promise to be rejoined and...

"and here we are, together again...my Penny" 
"my eternal okusan..."

The door of the house opens after I rang, and a woman in kimono opens, her age tells me she must be...

"Kon'nichiwa, Penny-san,"

"Kon'nichiwa, Aoi-sama,"

Ah! But... Wait! I was not only 'Akane' in my past life?! I was... 

Suddenly all pieces of this puzzle I call my life fall into place. 

"by Buddha! I was myself!!" I exclaim loud!! 

The way my grandmother -Penny called her Aoi, and this is the right address!- looks at me tells me she expected her grandaughter to be brighter.

"grannie?" I venture.

What now? Should I introduce them? This is odd! 
"I am Akane, your grandaughter?" big smile Betty!

"Hello Akane! You...haven't changed a bit! You are...so exactly the same!

Welcome my daughters! Welcome to your home..."

 
She bows deeply and ushers us inside the house.

I am so happy to see her! And...with the latest revelations, my head is spinning!

"I am so nervous Penny" I whisper. Then Aoi hugs us in turns. For a moment, for a second, her Japanese formality seems to fade, and I feel the embrace of a mother who has missed her daughters...to the core of her heart.

"There is so much this old woman can tell you...about yourselves...

Penny...
Akane...


Have some tea...come"

 
Her voice admitted no questioning.

"yes no worry dear! Takumi and Me will take her home tomorrow morning...told you they would be great friends! No no no...I insist. 

All afternoon here? Suuuure! They were here all day after school! ... Okay! So, we take her to school in the morning and we leave Betty with you for tomorrow's night.
...
Yeah, a pleasure, we are honoured and all the stuff, see ya!"

My mother comes to us..

"Hi Pen! I see you met Betty, I am her mother, by the way! And...I just saved your skin with your mom, you know? 
Girls...Sapporo is very safe place, but lets not push it, oki?"

[/quote]

[Penelope Maria]

Of course, Akane is kind of speechless at first, but she gets with the program very quickly. Much faster than I thought she would, anyway.

Me, after I say hello to the elderly lady she hugs us.

"we...we already met, and loved, and..." 
"and here we are, together again...my Penny" 
"my eternal okusan..."

I have to blink back tears again. I can't answer save with a squeeze of my hand before the elderly lady answers the door, and I greet her not really knowing what I just said.

"by Buddha! I was myself!!"

"grannie?"

"I am Akane, your grandaughter?"

Oh! Akane hasn't met this lady before! But what does she mean, she is herself?

"Hello Akane! You...haven't changed a bit! You are...so exactly the same!

Welcome my daughters! Welcome to your home..."

 

I follow her into the house, feeling a little shaken at her calling us both her 'daughters'. It seems right, though, familiar, although at the same time I know it shouldn't be. But what does she mean that Akane hasn't changed a bit? I feel tremendous respect for this lady, and familiarity, and safety here. It's as if I have been here before. If so that would mean that I have been here before. So if this is Akane's grandmother, maybe she was somebody close to previous-Akane? That would explain things. Was Akane her daughter before? It is so confusing, and I wonder if I am going to lose the plot completely.

"I am so nervous Penny"

"Me to," I whisper back. "What do you mean, you are yourself?"

"There is so much this old woman can tell you...about yourselves...

Penny...
Akane...


Have some tea...come"

"Thank you, Ma'am," I reply politely. "Forgive me if I look a little shaken, it's been an eventful day and I've had a lot of revelations in the last few hours. I have no idea what I said to you or why, it just felt the right thing to do and say. That's been happening a lot lately. I'd probably feel a lot more comfortable with it if I was just making a complete fool of myself, but I'm not, and in some ways that is a lot more scary."

I'm actually trembling as I talk. My mind is almost at overload with all the odd things that have happened since I met Akane.

"yes no worry dear! Takumi and Me will take her home tomorrow morning...told you they would be great friends! No no no...I insist. 

All afternoon here? Suuuure! They were here all day after school! ... Okay! So, we take her to school in the morning and we leave Betty with you for tomorrow's night.
...
Yeah, a pleasure, we are honoured and all the stuff, see ya!"

The voice talking to the phone is comfortingly normal, as is the woman who breezes in after the receiver is lowered.

"Hi Pen! I see you met Betty, I am her mother, by the way! And...I just saved your skin with your mom, you know? 
Girls...Sapporo is very safe place, but lets not push it, oki?"

"You must be Mrs McMahon, then," I smile with a relief at something, someone normal. "Thank you for, ah, explaining things to my mum. She knows I'm pretty level-headed most of the time, but I guess I really scared her today. Actually, I really scared me today, but not because anything really bad happened. I mean it might have, we could have happened to somebody out there." Shut up Penny, you are babbling!

Akane's grandmother just smiles and motions for us to sit at a traditional table, and I fold my legs under me gratefully. I hadn't realised until now how hungry I am, and I am definitely looking forward to tea, however it is served.

[Elizabeth Akane]

"Me to," I whisper back. "What do you mean, you are yourself?"

My shoes leave my feet like a reflex. I mean, I am aware you are not supposed to use your shoes in a Japanese home, but this was more than conscious awareness. This was really a reflex! I blink in surprise of myself. Her hand in mine feels so natural, her soft skin, like silk. Yes, we have sweaty hands by now, but, even if I would have thought of that being mostly disgusting and yuky just yesterday, today...tonight, it feels...

Perfect. Yes, it feels PERFECT.

I squeeze her hand a bit, feeling both attracted to and afraid of these revelations.
"I mean...I was not only the girl in that picture but..."

But I am cut short by Aoi, who seems to have a hard time at not staring at us. Funny she... so polite, so educated, but I am sure she is holding back, she is containing. That's Japan for you... or at least Japanese women.

"There is so much this old woman can tell you...about yourselves...

The little Asian-looking girl had her jaw dropped. More to know? She was ecstatic, intrigued. She was told her grannie was in bad health, but it was evident that beside the age, she was very healthy! Her blue kimono, the way she walked and spoke. None of those traits were of a sick-nearly dying person.

It followed that her mother lied to her. She was brought here with a purpose.
...and the purpose was right there, holding her hand! But who made all of these things possible?

"Hi Pen! I see you met Betty, I am her mother, by the way! And...I just saved your skin with your mom, you know?
Girls...Sapporo is very safe place, but lets not push it, oki?"

Mom...please mom...act normal! For once don't start speaking about your silly romantic fantasies about people finding their perfect match and......

I look at Penny and me.

...people finding their perfect match in the most improbable of circumstances.


Oh. I blush, realizing that all that I frowned upon my mom, was indeed, right from her. People do find love. People do find a reason for living.

She was right all along, and she had the patience to wait for me to realize it.

"You must be Mrs McMahon, then,"

"Hannah"

She hugged her as if I was not even there, she hugged her with a satiated need for having her in her arms, she hugged her...with thirst.

"but YOU...used to call me Iris,"

She whispered to her ear as she hugged her, and her teary eyes said so much to her old High Priestess, now in the form of a schoolgirl.
Yes, she knew her, and she never told anyone, not even Takumi. Officially to the Naome family, she met Penny only once, in that beautiful home of hers beside Loch Lommond, but in truth she was her disciple, and part of the Coven she founded there. And SO much more. She closed her eyes for a second, and when she opened them the blue contacts revealed the green colour behind them. She wasn't a natural blonde either, but nobody knew that, except for Aoi, naturally.

Now, I did hear that! Who is Iris?

And she added...

"Blessed be"

When she released her, a Triple Moon pendant on her neck reflected the lights of the house. She did not tell Penny, but on the backside of that pendant there is a legend engraved that reads: "For Iris. Until next time. Penny Naome."

"Thank you for, ah, explaining things to my mum. She knows I'm pretty level-headed most of the time, but I guess I really scared her today. Actually, I really scared me today, but not because anything really bad happened. I mean it might have, we could have happened to somebody out there."

She giggled loudly!

"You are not saying that because of Akane... she faints when she sees tomato sauce..."

We go to the tea thing, but....
"Er...where are the chairs?"

My mom smiles and Aoi just facepalms. A gesture I do quite often!

"There are no chairs in here, but we managed to keep some cushions, now...would you get the sugar and milk? Penny likes it that way"

"sure!" I said, and scampered to the kitchen, not even wondering how on Earth could Aoi know that.



The milk is easy, here in Japan as in the rest of the world, it is kept in the fridge! Now, the sugar... I open a door and the space has dishes. It is not right.


"Wheere is the sugaaaar?! It is no longer in the bottom left doooooor!"
Grannie smiled...she just...smiled.

"We moved it to the upper part, dear...
We had to because your..."

Her speach wast cut short by my yelling...
"Ah! what is this??!! MMMhhMHHGHH!!! Get off meeeee!!!" I shout when I open the upper door and a black cat, covered in sugar, jumps to my face. Is it hugging me?

Aoi's face reflected her thoughts. The cat found a way to the sugar...again.

With the black cat still on my face, rubbing its head to me and purring, I must look as if I had an alien on me. But, with a straight face and as if nothing happened, I find my way to the little table and the cushions with ease.

'With ease' meaning that I only colided with two walls before getting there...

"Your mhg sugar and milk...Tsuki-san" I say. Perhaps they won't notice the cat if I act natural.

Aoi opened her eyes noticeably when she heard me saying that name. A name she had not heard in so many years.

"Nice fur..."

...she muffled a laugh behind a hand.

"Let me tell you a story, girls. A story in which there is a witch, but not the bad type, no, that is for scaring babies. I mean, a true witch. And a warrior...
Once upon a time, there was a girl...a very special one, who held all the secrets, who had all the powers....but had no love. No, even more sad than that. She didn't even had a hint of what real love was.
Far away, there was another girl, fighting for her life but murdering her own heart while at it. As if a life like that was even worth living."

She paused, and sighed. It was a long time ago, and it still hurt.

"Eventually, both met...and then...nothing was the same for either of them. ...they fell in love.
One of them found the spirit behind her magic, the power inside the power, the reason of the smile of her Goddess. The communion with Her.

The other, found redemption for her sins, and the attainment of Enlightenment. She found...that the witch was her reason to keep breathing through the hardships and horrors.

Eventually, they got married, and lived in a castle for some years."

She bit her lip and sighed.

"Then they..."

"...died"

My mom completed the phrase, noticing Aoi was unable to.

"Nobody knows why... first, the...the warrior, then the witch...



But...for people who find true love... Distance, time, and death are nothing but silly jokes...

...look, here is such castle...."

She pulled out a picture from her purse and gave it to Penny...

[Penelope Maria]

"Hannah"

"but YOU...used to call me Iris,"

A thrill of recognition hits me.

I know this woman. I have no idea how, but I know her.

"Blessed be"

The pendant twinkles before me: the horned moon either side of the pentagram. I have seen that before...I know I have!

My remaining comments come automatically, I am in a daze. I just hold Akane's hand tight.

"You are not saying that because of Akane... she faints when she sees tomato sauce..."

"Er...where are the chairs?"

"There are no chairs in here, but we managed to keep some cushions, now...would you get the sugar and milk? Penny likes it that way"

I am already in so much confusion and shock I don;t even stop to think how Akane's grandmother knows this.

"sure!"

"Wheere is the sugaaaar?! It is no longer in the bottom left doooooor!"

"We moved it to the upper part, dear...
We had to because your..."

"Ah! what is this??!! MMMhhMHHGHH!!! Get off meeeee!!!"

Akane staggers back in, a cat apparently attached to her face.

"Your mhg sugar and milk...Tsuki-san"

"Nice fur..."

"Honestly Midori, I turn my back for ten seconds and you have your face in my pussy," the words leap out of my mouth before I know it, and I am giggling at the humour. Even as I do, the cat arcs off her and lands in my lap, curls up and starts cleaning itself. My lap is a cat-magnet, but this one seems much more familiar. "Hello you," I scratch the elderly cat behind the ears. The cat looks up at me. "OK, now I am so far past freaked I can't get more freaked, I know you too, don't I?"

"Let me tell you a story, girls. A story in which there is a witch, but not the bad type, no, that is for scaring babies. I mean, a true witch. And a warrior...
Once upon a time, there was a girl...a very special one, who held all the secrets, who had all the powers....but had no love. No, even more sad than that. She didn't even had a hint of what real love was.
Far away, there was another girl, fighting for her life but murdering her own heart while at it. As if a life like that was even worth living."

I listen, my head whirling, I seem to know this story.

"Eventually, both met...and then...nothing was the same for either of them. ...they fell in love.
One of them found the spirit behind her magic, the power inside the power, the reason of the smile of her Goddess. The communion with Her.

The other, found redemption for her sins, and the attainment of Enlightenment. She found...that the witch was her reason to keep breathing through the hardships and horrors.

Eventually, they got married, and lived in a castle for some years."

"Then they..."

"...died"

Aoi is overwhelmed, Mrs McMahon finishes the sentence.

"Nobody knows why... first, the...the warrior, then the witch...

But...for people who find true love... Distance, time, and death are nothing but silly jokes...

...look, here is such castle...."

I stare at the castle, and the tears come tumbling down. I am not myself, I am somebody else, looking at a house that was once filled with light and love, then the most agonizing grief in the world.

"Akane...had a fault in her heart," I whisper. "I came home and she had...died. She was just cold and dead, and there was nothing I could do, save one thing...join her." I look at Mrs McMahon. "The White Rite of Immortality, a spell that would make me die, and be reborn with her."

I look across at Akane. Suddenly my vision clears, and I am Penny McCarthy again, not Penny Naome.

"We," I am suddenly very aware of my uniform; for a brief moment I recall another uniform, with a skirt so short my panties flashed at each step, and a school unlike any other school in the world. "We, we're two high-school girls. We have vestiges of memories, and a love so strong it conquered time and death, but...we aren't those people. They lived their lives and they passed on because...it was time." My arms slide around Akane. I suddenly feel very small, with the other Penny towering above me like a goddess incarnate. And Akane...her past self is like a shadow, beautiful, but chilling as well.

"I want to be with you, my love. Now and always. But I want to be THIS Penny, not a memory of a woman who died. I'm a child, I can't fill those shoes she had." I look pleadingly at Akane's mother and grandmother. "Please don't ask us too. Dear Goddess, I have ASD, and I can barely function normally as it is, I've got enough problems. We can be ourselves and be together and be happy. The things we don't recall, we don't need to recall." I say it with conviction, and I believe it.

[Elizabeth Akane]

"Honestly Midori, I turn my back for ten seconds and you have your face in my pussy,"

A burst of laughter escapes me and I must cover my mouth no to be so noisy! I look at mom, she laughs, and so does Aoi. Who would thought she has a sense of humour hidden in her kimono?

"well your pussy... Desperatedly needs a shave!" I pull the twentieth cat hair from my face.
"or better yet..a pemanent depilation!"

The  grannie begins telling us a story. And her story seems so real. I can feel it in the bones. Something there I can't really find in mind. My head hurts, but my heart tells me it rings true. At first, it sounds a bit like a fairy tale, but soon enough it lands on real life, making it so painfully realistic. Even more when I look beside me and Penny speaks with another voice, one with heavier accent.

"Akane...had a fault in her heart," I whisper. "I came home and she had...died. She was just cold and dead, and there was nothing I could do, save one thing...join her." I look at Mrs McMahon. "The White Rite of Immortality, a spell that would make me die, and be reborn with her."

Mom looks at her as if she actually understood what Penny is talking about. Wait..more, Penny speaks to her as if she expected her to understand? That is so weird! My mom understands nothing but pink romantic novels she writes! Like: •love me twice•, •so near and so far•, and •Sex is fun, love is better•, and all her other nonsense! 

But she nods?!?!?

My mom... The silly girl, she must be being polite I am sure!

Then, like a flash in the mind, like a perfume already felt...an image. A view from a kitchen. A lake. Pink nails washing dishes from breakfast and the sounds of a woman singing happy tunes in Japanese. A realization. A second. A call from the heart. And just about time to align the mind towards the goal. 

I shake like a leaf, suddenly taken by sadness. An immense sadness. 

Paradise lost...

"We," 
 "We, we're two high-school girls. We have vestiges of memories, and a love so strong it conquered time and death, but...we aren't those people. They lived their lives and they passed on because...it was time." 
"I want to be with you, my love. Now and always. But I want to be THIS Penny, not a memory of a woman who died. I'm a child, I can't fill those shoes she had." I look pleadingly at Akane's mother and grandmother. "Please don't ask us too. Dear Goddess, I have ASD, and I can barely function normally as it is, I've got enough problems. We can be ourselves and be together and be happy. The things we don't recall, we don't need to recall."

...and found.

We..we are a we. This is true. And I knew it since the first moment! 

"I love you.." 
"why did that happen to us? What went wrong?" I ask, I need answers!

"I can see your old wisdom in you, Penny. Hai. Still, you are young, and you will find that minding the past is vital for avoiding mistakes we are all prone to.
...and speaking of the past..."

She nods at Mom and she understands. In time they have become the best of friends.

"Now..this is a true honour..."

she said as she returned, carryng a large carved wooden box, and leaves it beside Penny, taking two steps back.

"welcome back, precious teacher. The most cherished among the Goddess' daughters"

she could have said •welcome back, mother• but that will be as things develop, of course.


"er..do I get a past life souvenir too?" I smile hopefully!

"well...you broke a couple of dishes while dying, and nobody got to spank your dumb ass for it...."

What?! 

Then the door opens and the cold air enters the house.

"the lotus has opened again, and returns our teacher to us...oh merciful Buddha..."

the voice was in a very hard to understand English. A woman in white kimono, pulling a katana inside a white scabbard out of her obi. She was smiling and crying as she went to her knees, offering the sword.

"what the hell is she talking about?" I elbow my Penny on her ribs and whisper, asking.

[Penelope Maria]

"I love you.." 
"why did that happen to us? What went wrong?"

"Sometimes, bad things happen, Midori-sama," I say softly. "For a lot of reasons we had to part for a while, is all. We are together again, isn't that what matters?"

"I can see your old wisdom in you, Penny. Hai. Still, you are young, and you will find that minding the past is vital for avoiding mistakes we are all prone to.
...and speaking of the past..."

"Minding it I can live with, Ma'am," I say respectfully. "I merely suggest that if we let it rule us, we will lose the present and the future." I have a sinking feeling that I will not escape our pasts, though. They have been tied to us explicitly.

"Now..this is a true honour..."

Iris brings a box to me, the size of a small chest, a box I recognise...my mother has one similar to this, and trained me on it's contents.

"welcome back, precious teacher. The most cherished among the Goddess' daughters"

"Thank you," I say, reaching out to touch the carved wood, and all in all feeling very embarrassed. "My mother has one similar, no wonder I was so easy to teach in the craft," I smile ruefully. "Of course you have met her, you will know. And I must be initiated again, as soon as I am old enough. Iris, I would be honoured if you would join my mother in completing my training and initiating me to the Goddess once more." I make the request firmly and formally, as it should be made.

"er..do I get a past life souvenir too?"

I smile at Akane, I love her so.

"well...you broke a couple of dishes while dying, and nobody got to spank your dumb ass for it...."

I have sudden memory of spankings, but Akane was giving them, not receiving and I find myself blushing as in my mind's eye it's me she's giving them too, bent over her lap and taking her hand on my bare bottom and...rather enjoying it...

At that moment the door burst open and distracts everyone from my face which must be red as a beetroot. A woman enters, subtly different from the others in white robes. My eyes blink, and as I close them the robes remain, under a black sky and stained with blood, then when I open them again she is before us, uninjured.

"the lotus has opened again, and returns our teacher to us...oh merciful Buddha..."

She crashes to her knees offering the katana with her head bowed, her words are thickly accented: not Japanese, Chinese!

"what the hell is she talking about?"

"Blood," I whisper. "Blood and death, a terrible battle," my heart is chilled with fear - not for myself, but for Midori. I struggle to control my thoughts. "There was a...a fight, near here, you and I...against women dressed like her." I bury my face in my hands. "I did something...terrible. We...I never wanted to shed blood..." I master myself, and lower my hands.

"This is yours, and for you to know," I tell Midori. "It...there is a darkness there, and...I don't know, there's so much I don't know yet!" It's like knowing things, but not, like being in an exam when you know that you know the answers but you freeze up and cannot think of them. "Midori, you can take that sword. It's yours. But if you do, you take on everything that comes with it, and it's not a light burden. There's a task there undone that only you can do." It's as much as my instinct knows, but I can infer more: I look at the woman, studying her intensely as I have been taught to do in order to deal with my ASD.

Study their faces, their body language, judge objectively, it will speak to you like it does for everyone, you just have to think about it. When you do, you could well be better at it than other people. Unless you do, well, you won't have a clue what's going on. Autistic Spectrum Disorder is rarer in girls than in boys, but it happens. In my case, I am high-functioning, but I really miss obvious things some times and being around people is a real trial for me as I am always 'on the outside looking in' as they say.

The woman looks as if she is kneeling before her messiah, or before judgement. She has everything invested in this, and she is not alone I am sure.

"That's right, isn't it? Only she can do this. You and yours will be lost without her. But she could get lost with you if she takes it, that's right too, isn't it? She could be your redemption, or you could be her nemesis. Please, tell us everything," I implore her. I know her, but unlike Aoi, or Hannah, or Akane herself, I am not at all sure that she is a friend.

[Elizabeth Akane]

"Sometimes, bad things happen, Midori-sama," I say softly. "For a lot of reasons we had to part for a while, is all. We are together again, isn't that what matters?"

"Of course, my love" I am still holding her hand, and I can't really put in words what I feel just by doing so. The weight of her hand is like a blessing; her warmth, another; but to know that she chooses to leave her hand in mine. THAT is the thing! To know that she wants me near makes me tingle all over!
"It is all that matters, Tsuki-sama, that we managed to keep close." The thought of not finding her in the life makes me feel cold, and I squeeze her hand softly again. Please no...never without her again. Never!

Grannie speaks to her, but my girl is so smart! she returns the words both with gentle choosing and depth. Ah! I am in love!!

"Minding it I can live with, Ma'am," I say respectfully. "I merely suggest that if we let it rule us, we will lose the present and the future."

"Now..this is a true honour..."

"Thank you," I say, reaching out to touch the carved wood, and all in all feeling very embarrassed. "My mother has one similar, no wonder I was so easy to teach in the craft," I smile ruefully. "Of course you have met her, you will know. And I must be initiated again, as soon as I am old enough. Iris, I would be honoured if you would join my mother in completing my training and initiating me to the Goddess once more."

Now...what Iris didn't tell her, but Penny will find out in time, is that the box contains all her Wiccan instruments...from her past life.

Mom nods, blushing noticeably. Her heart pumping wildly. She tries to speak, but tears well up in her eyes, happy tears! She nods once more, accepting the honour.

Then...that woman in white.

"what the hell is she talking about?"

"Blood," I whisper. "Blood and death, a terrible battle," my heart is chilled with fear - not for myself, but for Midori. I struggle to control my thoughts. "There was a...a fight, near here, you and I...against women dressed like her." I bury my face in my hands. "I did something...terrible. We...I never wanted to shed blood..." I master myself, and lower my hands.

She is suffering, and my heart sinks. It hurts actually. Physical pain, and I gasp for air.
"P-please my love...I am sure that whatever you did...you did to protect me..." Don't know how, but I am SO sure of my words. Yes, she could only done harm to others as means to ensure my safety.
"Please..." I am begging her to feel better. Yes, begging, and I don't care if the whole world sees me doing so. It is my honour.

"This is yours, and for you to know," I tell Midori. "It...there is a darkness there, and...I don't know, there's so much I don't know yet! Midori, you can take that sword. It's yours. But if you do, you take on everything that comes with it, and it's not a light burden. There's a task there undone that only you can do."

She holds the sword, doesn't move an inch. It is...so beautiful katana...



"it it ...it is beautiful" I dwell on the weapon. Is it really mine?

"That's right, isn't it? Only she can do this. You and yours will be lost without her. But she could get lost with you if she takes it, that's right too, isn't it? She could be your redemption, or you could be her nemesis. Please, tell us everything,"

"Only Her..."

The woman rose her eyes, and recognized Penny, the person who destroyed half the clan. Half fearing her, half haring her...but still, admiring her.

"Many years ago, right in the garden on the front of this house, the clan's best came to challenge a person it had abducted in revege. She should not have lived her time in he temple. She was meant to die.

Only that she didn't. Instead, she became a warrior, then a teacher, and then she decided to leave, but she was already the holder and keeper of the clan's secrets.

Unable to resist her impulses for domination, she directed a facilty where people were made prisoners, tortured, and exploited. But then, one in the clan decided her death. So we used a chance here in Sapporo. But... But...

She, and her British partner vanquished the clan, humilliated it...and she was set to be the last high teacher, but she...preferred to be a...

...stupid housewife.

This is the second time you see me offering the same katana to her. Last time...in hospital.

She took it, but never actually did anything for the clan, save talking to the few of us who remained about peace, about protecting others....

Useless crap. I was happy when she died and expected the spirit of the warrior to pass to one of us, which didnt happen. We then knew she was to be reborn. So I am here, to take you back to your cell, in the temple, so the warrior can rise again..."

She unshields the blade and its metallic sound keeps on the room. The lights shine on it. Seems alive to me.

"The katana, is not bad on its own, evil resides on the samurai, or not"
"She did not finish her destiny, as you said"

"The clan exists, as you see...Akane...
...And...I am not asking. I am taking you with me..."

And I see the shiny point of the metal pointed at me.

I froze. I had lived this before I am sure, and Aoi's gasp confirmed this to me. No...never again.


"No...not again...
Never again..." I refuse. And refuse to fight her too.

"I won't shake you off, I know... but I won't touch it...no" I look at the sword. Looks like poison to me.

[Penelope Maria]

I stare at the blade and look up at the woman behind it.

Akane and I...had wiped out half her clan? I shiver. The darkness, the power in that act...I really wasn't kidding when I told Hannah that the worst thing that could have happened out there was us. I refocus on the woman: Her face is taught, and...desperate. Her past, her future, all are tied up in what Akane does. She is trapped in a cycle of her own making.

"Useless crap?" I ask her softly. "You just described how," I grope for the right words, "those who were before us massacred your best. You said that she gave you nothing but useless words afterwards. She told you everything you needed to know, but you just weren't listening. How how will you take her away? Will you kill her if she doesn't come with you? What will that achieve save to put the one teacher you have left - a teacher who doesn't even consciously recall that which you wish to learn - beyond your reach?"

In the blink of an eye, or less, the blade is suddenly against my throat. My hand on Akane's tightens and I hold her in place, knowing without knowing that her first urge is to rip the lungs out of the woman threatening me now.

"No. I will kill you if she does not come. I have seen her, and you, and she will not risk harm to you."

I look into the girl's eyes and now I see hatred, pride...and fear. My mind races: I have always been a fast thinker. Deep inside I don't fear this woman, I pity her.

"You aren't just not listening," I tell her sadly. "You aren't thinking either. You can't keep a blade at my throat all the way to China. You can't stop the local police from chasing after you, even if you kill or kidnap everybody present here and that would be a really stupid idea because then you'd just be seriously annoying us both for the day when you don't have that leverage. Besides," I shrug, "we've already been dead once. We'll just come back later after you and your clan have become...extinct. Our souls are joined, and we will never be parted."

I release Akane's hand as the Chinese woman's face contorts with fury. I am very aware of the sharpness of the blade right next to my jugular.

"I can kill every person in this room. Slowly and before her eyes, and starting with you! I know your kind, witch! you set the black birds of madness loose in the souls of the clan's finest! But you will not break my will, I do not fear you!"

She's lying. I frighten her badly. She has no idea what I can do or not, I'm an unknown quantity.

"And I pity you," I reply quietly, and the Bard's Tongue speaks through me again. "The madness was in them already. The blackness was the stain of their own deeds. You survived because you are not incapable of redemption." I look her in the eye as I say it. Deep inside her is a small, frightened child grasping for meaning in a world of pain and darkness. I feel myself reaching out to that child, locked in behind walls raised to protect herself, walls that blot out the sun in the world around her.

The moment of insight passes for me. Now it's just me and my wits again, still with a sword at my throat.

"Didn't you ever study Sun Tzu?" I switch subjects sharply. "You have to have your strategic goals in mind. If Akane is your honoured teacher, the only one you have and you die out without her, is this how to gain her aid? Threatening the people she loves? Asking her for charity while showing only scorn and hatred? You can't get her to come with you if she doesn't want to, so rather than banging your head against a brick wall why don't you adapt your strategy to something more becoming of a student appealing to a master?"

She stares at me, and then at Akane. The blade leaves my throat, and I never felt so relieved in my life as she sheaths the blade. She bows low to Akane, and when she speaks it is as if she is choking on her words, racked with despair. She's down to her last throw of the dice and she knows it.

"Honoured teacher, please accept my apology for my behaviour. We, the clan, are lost without you. We did not understand your words, and we...I...humbly beg that you consent to teach us further. If it is not your desire to go to the Temple, I humbly beg you to accept me as your student here. Whether you accept this token or not," she offers up the katana again. "I swear to follow your commands as head of the White Lotus Clan, and be your humble servant."

[Elizabeth Akane]

"Love...she's got a sword..." I whisper as she begins to berate her.
The image is so strange! I mean, it is like looking at a thief in the bank being scolded by the cashier!
I will confess...I am scared. So scared I am one inch away of get wet, and not in the kinky way.

Penny talks to her seemingly fearlessly. I admire her more and more! How can she keep calm when I am having trouble even swallowing? Well, I would swallow if any saliva was left in my mouth, that is.

Then our attacker goes bananas and points the katana to Penny. No, she actually touches her with its edge. The thing looks so sharp it could cut the air and make it bleed.

But then, something happens, and I focus. My girl could be hurt, and I am not letting that happen. So close to leap to that person's neck I am. I can. I can! I feel all that I could need right here with me, as if I already knew the sequence in which to move in order to take the weapon from her. And I would! ...but Penny is keeping me with one hand. Just one hand and I find myself nailed to the cushion.

...and she talks her out of her madness. And mine. I shake like a leaf. I could have done something horrible to that girl! The images of what could have happened pile up in my mind.




I sigh, taking my refuge in her.
"Love..." I look at her, so beautiful, so calmed, so in control in this moment.

"I honestly can't remember a thing she wants me to teach her..." And still, I take the shielded katana. A cold shiver runs down on my spine, and the sensation of having it in my hands before, long time ago, hits me like a rock.


"I have no need of a servant, but...if you want, you can stay close, see, and make your own conclusions. Now, as for today, go...
...and the least we see of you, the best." She departs immediately with a strange bow. She leaves, and I crumble like a sand castle.


"..what the hell was that?" I ask.

[Penelope Maria]

"I honestly can't remember a thing she wants me to teach her..."

"You will," I murmur back.

"I have no need of a servant, but...if you want, you can stay close, see, and make your own conclusions. Now, as for today, go...
...and the least we see of you, the best."

The woman bows and leaves, gone in an instant. I let my breath out in a long moment, and suddenly my hands are trembling and I am sweating.

"..what the hell was that?" I ask.

"I don't know," I shiver. "I thought for a moment, everything...everything that came right would all go wrong. It might still. Midori, you need to talk to her at some point. Find out everything you can, because I don't know for the life of me. Goddess I was so scared I thought she was going to kill me for a moment, I think if it had gone nasty she might have at that!"

I hug Akane suddenly.

"No, no I don't think she would have killed me, I know you would have stopped her, somehow. I wasn't protecting you from her, I was protecting her from you..." I pick up my tea and drink it down. It rattles as I replace it, I am still shaking!

[Elizabeth Akane]

"I don't know," I shiver. "I thought for a moment, everything...everything that came right would all go wrong. It might still. Midori, you need to talk to her at some point. Find out everything you can, because I don't know for the life of me. Goddess I was so scared I thought she was going to kill me for a moment, I think if it had gone nasty she might have at that!"

I hug Akane suddenly.

"No, no I don't think she would have killed me, I know you would have stopped her, somehow. I wasn't protecting you from her, I was protecting her from you..." !

She is trembling, shaking even, and I keep her safe in my arms, surrounding her. Yes, the sensation of keeping her protected and warm feels like heaven in my heart. Who the hell was I? How come this woman who entered the house, clearly skilled in martial arts, say I have something to teach her? By Budha, my martial arts skills go as fas far as knowing the recipe for a cheese pie! Really! Mom is right, I have fainted watching tomato sauce.

And still, my love is right, should the girl had pushed the sword just a little bit furher, somehow I would have done something. Something that I feel would have been terminal to the woman. I can feel it in the air... The ways, the means.





On the outside of the house, in this cold night filled with stars and a full moon, the woman in the white robe kneels and prays, placing the white katana by her side. Then the figure of a very tall and big man goes to her and covers her gently with a warmed blanket.

"Don't worry, it will all come back to her. but you must practice patience. Yes, I saw it all. She will never be your lost teacher, but still, I am sure you will learn a lot from her. For now...rest."

When the man enteres the house, Aoi smiled and her face had a glow of happiness. She immediately rose and guided his husband, clad in jeans and a UCLA shirt, to the table.

"hello Penny...hello Pumpkin"
I am Charles, Akane's grandfather, and I am so glad to see you both. I knew about Akane making it to this life, I was certain, as Bodhisattvas choose their rebirth conditions, but I was afraid you wouldn't make it, Penny. But now all is okay, and things are as should."
"the girl from the clan is in her place, I gave her the blanket, Aoi"

His voice was calmed, relaxed, ...relaxing!


He would run and hug them both, but he felt like doing that later. In private. He was a happy man, then her daughter died. At least she was able to make it back.

"Girls, I am sure you are tired, maybe I can show you to your room?"

[Penelope Maria]

Akane's arms surround me, hold me close. Gradually my shuddering subsides.

I glance up as big bear of a man with greying hair enters. I feel a tingle of recognition again, I know him too.

"hello Penny...hello Pumpkin"
I am Charles, Akane's grandfather, and I am so glad to see you both. I knew about Akane making it to this life, I was certain, as Bodhisattvas choose their rebirth conditions, but I was afraid you wouldn't make it, Penny. But now all is okay, and things are as should."
"the girl from the clan is in her place, I gave her the blanket, Aoi"

"Bodhisattvas, us?" I am startled. "I'd hardly say that. I think...I think the former me used a powerful rite to make sure that she returned to wherever Akane was." I squeeze my girl - yes, MY girl - a little harder. "I don't think we're particularly enlightened, or anything like that. Maybe we're just lucky." Lucky to have found the other half of ourselves, maybe.

"Girls, I am sure you are tired, maybe I can show you to your room?"

At that moment my stomach makes a loud noise.

"Um, would it be too much to ask if there's any chance of something to eat first?" I ask diffidently. Like most teens I am perpetually hungry...

[Elizabeth Akane]

Charles smiled at the red haired girl. He wasn't expecting anything but the answer he got, after all, he considered himself very blessed to have met Penny in her previous life. Then they used to speak a lot on the phone, and make little innocent jokes about "the Naomes", even if they were so proud of being part of the family actually! ...then he would get pulled by the ear by Aoi. Oh gosh..those were happy times!

Happy times that are returning in the form of these two girls in his house. Their home.

"Oh Penny...you still have that big appetite don't you? we used to eat miles of sushi and drank gallons whiskey! You are still that adorable girl! Of course you can have something to eat! In fact, as we all knew you two were meeting today, I made something special for you!"

After two minutes he returned with a steaming dish. He smiled wide.

"Now... how does this look to you? Freckles?"

He asked, even if he didn't need to.




I looked at the ..."what is that? Looks so strange!"

[Penelope Maria]

"Gallons of whiskey? I hardly think I..." I begin, but he has already gone. I suspect he is exaggerating, unless the previous me really died of cirrhosis of the liver. In a moment he is back...

I stare at the dish, my mouth watering.

"That's...that's toad-in-the-hole," I exclaim, one of my favourite dishes, even if it does pile on the calories. "Akane, you HAVE to try this! It's delicious! Thank you, Dr Deane, thank you soooo much!"

In moments we are served up helpings of the sausages-in-batter and I am digging in. Crunchy Yorkshire-pudding batter baked around traditional Lincolnshire sausages...I am in heaven. Food, tea...and my new girlfriend - indeed my entire new family!

As soon as we finish, though, the long events of the day catch up with me; I am exhausted, and Akane is no better. Aoi smiles and Hannah escorts us to a bedroom, a bedroom with only one bed in it, although it's all traditional Japanese.

"Um, Akane, do you have something I can wear?" I ask her shyly.