Power & Responsibility: Morning Meditations

Characters: Nancy, Nagi, Omi. (still!)
No warnings.

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Rubbing a hand through his hair, Nagi padded through the silent house. From the sounds of things, he was the first one up, and he made his way down the stairs on quiet feet, heading for the back yard.

He shivered slightly as he left the warmth of the house. The thin t-shirt and loose workout pants he was wearing did nothing to insulate, and Nagi was still unused to the cooler climate. Where he lived, this would be the only time of day that wasn't unbearably hot--but here, it was still chilly, with a low mist clinging to the trees and grass. Yet another thing to get used to, and once he got moving, he'd warm up fast enough.

Nagi paced the back yard, bare toes curling into the dew-wet grass. The neighbors were also quiet, with only the asthmatic rumble of a delivery truck breaking the morning hush as it passed by on the street. He extended his senses, pushing them outward, past the house. No signs of any watchers, no movement out of the ordinary. Good. Moving to a patch of sunlight in the yard, he settled into a meditative stance: weight even, hands loosely curled at his sides. Falling into his center, he closed his eyes and began.

Nancy woke suddenly, well before her alarm, and stared blankly at the ceiling for a minute. Then all the reasons she was furious with life and stupid Talent and Omi-poppa especially came crashing down on her, and she scowled fiercely. Getting up and yanking on some clothes, she almost slammed her doors behind her and stamped down the stairs, half-hoping her father would come out to scold so she could yell some more.

It wasn't until the little girl was halfway down that she realized her noise would also disturb Naoe-sensei, which she specifically wasn't supposed to do. Trying to figure out whether she wanted to disturb him or not made her headache worse; in an even fouler mood she stomped down the remaining stairs even more loudly. When she yanked open the back door, Nancy realized that she didn't have to worry. Naoe-sensei was already up.

 Stalking past the boundaries of the space her instructor had claimed, the child headed for the labyrinth. Stopping before it, Nancy forced herself to take deep breaths until she was at least a little calm, then bowed deeply before stepping onto the path. Moving deliberately and slowly along her way, hands laid over the small of her back so that her elbows were thrust out to her sides, the little girl in an odd way resembled a heron stalking the shallows of a pond.

Feeling Nancy storm into the backyard like a minature whirlwind, all roiling bad temper and impatience, Nagi continued his kata, giving no sign he registered her presence. Hopefully the labyrinth would calm her down enough to be sensible; he had inititally been planning to introduce her to some basic chi exercises today, but that was a lost cause as long as she was so focused on her own anger. Sweeping his hands around to the side, he let his fingers comb through the disturbed air currents, flicking his power out to meet and mingle with them.

Nancy had succeeded in waking her father up, something which would have pleased her if only he'd the slightest inclination to tell her so. Somewhat warily, Omi waited to find out if Nagi would have something to say about this morning's wake up call. When no explosions followed on Nance's heels, he rose and went to the window, absently finger-combing his hair back while peering out. Ah, Nagi was up. And doing. . tai chi? The other man had mentioned the style, and it did look familiar. Some style of martial art, anyway, out in the yard a scant hour past dawn, in thin clothing and. . Omi squinted. Bare feet. Didn't the man get cold?

Distracted by his daughter's dramatic emergence onto the scene, Omi leaned against the window and watched her sadly.  I'm sorry, Nance. But this is honestly the best thing I can do for you. I hope you can go on not understanding, and being mad at me, for a good long time. Forever would be nice. . but I've never met anyone that lucky.

Turning away from the window, he padded to the armoire to dress. With one exercising and one pissed-off telekinetic descending on the breakfast table shortly, he'd best get down and make extra.

His daughter, firmly convinced she was being persecuted, continued stalking through the labyrinth at a slow pace, scowling, although some of Nancy's active anger was draining away as she beat her head against Omi-poppa's stubbornness.  He's usually so nice! And cooler than all my friends' fathers. But he never changes his mind when he sounds like that. It's not FAIR! Shoulders starting to droop as she drew nearer the center, her expression was turning distinctly sulky.

Apparently Nancy had chosen to sulk in silence, Nagi mused...which would have been a relief if he couldn't feel her tension all the way across the yard, pushing at the edges of his meditative calm. He was too experienced to let it throw him off balance, thankfully, but he wondered briefly if they'd have to work on anger management as well as chi control.  Not only a babysitter, but a psychiatrist as well, came the ironic thought, before he pushed it away, sweeping it symbolically outward with his hands to join the other thoughts he didn't care to entertain.

His muscles had warmed up now, thrumming under the slow tension of the kata, and he no longer felt the cold except for the dewy prickle of grass under his feet. The sun had also risen further into the sky, and he could hear the neighborhood waking up with it--more traffic along the road, more people out doing their daily routines. Nancy would need to go to school in another hour or so. Hopefully it would give her time to cool down--and if that didn't, aikido probably would.

Nagi slowed further, closing his hands inward as he finished the kata and came back to his center, head bowed and hands at his sides. A deep breath, two, and it was done--and he opened his eyes to see how Nancy was faring.

Once she'd reached the center, Nancy had just stood there, arms hanging loose at her side, shoulders slumped over and head drooping. She was still trying to sort out her anger; so much had happened lately that she wasn't happy about, she didn't even know what all she was mad at Omi-poppa about. It wasn't really any sort of resolution that got her moving outward again, but rather her stomach becoming more demanding.  At least he still has to feed me, the child thought huffily. Her progress out of the labyrinth was accompanied by much stomping, and the bow she turned to give was rather perfunctory.

 Nancy stared at her new sensei rather blankly. Omi-poppa said that he'd asked Naoe-sensei to come; that he'd never thought of teaching anyone before. It was kinda cool that he was teaching her, then. . and the stuff he'd shown her so far was really neat. The memory of tea whirling through the air was a sharp reminder of why she really did want to learn more. And it was a big relief, knowing that if she accidentally did something bad again, that he could stop her. But no more gymnastics. . and more secrets from Rabbit and Jemmy and Wills. Omi-poppa said that was his fault too, but. . .

"You look like you have questions," Nagi said mildly, matching her stare for stare. "Or am I disturbing you?"

Wordlessly, the child shook her head, and then stared intently at the toe of her shoe while she kicked at a clump of grass. "Nosir, you're not disturbing me. 'm sorry I was rude and stared." Looking up, she still wasn't smiling, which meant this was definately the longest he'd seen her go without looking happy about something since they'd met.

"And I don't know what my questions are." Nancy looked intensely frustrated, and then huffed out a long sigh. "Breakfast is probably ready, if you're hungry, Naoe-sensei."

"Of course." Nagi inclined his head, and lead the way inside. Stepping inside the door, he stopped and grimaced. "Excuse me," he murmured, moving to one side to let Nancy through. He reached  upstairs, feeling for the damp washcloth he'd left draped in the sink. Floating it downstairs, he quickly wiped off his feet of grass- and dirt-smudges. Some guest he would be, tracking footprints all over the place.

Nancy had been toeing off her outside shoes, but looked up when she caught something moving at a weird height out of the corner of her eye. Eyes going completely round, her gaze flicked rapidly between Nagi and the floating cloth, until finally she squeaked, sounding exactly like the baby mice had while she was rummaging through them.

That's FAR! she babbled to herself, an' it's around corners an' he couldn't SEE IT, an' I c'n move stuff I can't see now too, an' I've never tried that FAR 'cause I couldn't risk people seeing but this could be inside an'... Turning towards the kitchen with a wild bounce, she was about to yell for Omi-poppa, to get permission to practice if she moved the breakable stuff in between with her hands first. . and settled with a thump. She was still mad! She wanted gymnastics AND Talent, and she didn't want to always be ordered around by everyone. But was doing something new and cool worth not acting mad?

Frustrated at not being able to decide what she wanted, the little girl stamped her foot and said very loudly, "Vantz!"

Vantz?? Startled, Nagi straightened, washcloth dangling from one hand as he tried to figure out what Nancy was upset about now.

Omi stepped just through the entryway and eyed his daughter, arms folded across his chest, expression stern. "Was that something I'd let you say if I knew what it meant, Nancy?"

Looking at the floor, the little girl muttered, "Yessir."

"Then go start on breakfast; you're a bit late, and Sara will be here soon with Rabbit." Stepping aside to let Nancy pass, Omi turned his attention to Nagi, deliberately relaxing his posture before nodding to the other man. "Good morning, Naoe-san. If you're interested in eating now, I have waffle batter ready." Yes, he would admit it if asked. He was trying to bribe the nine-year-old with food. No reason the other person having to put up with the chibi shouldn't reap the benefits as well.

Nagi sighed. "Food sounds...incredibly good right now, Tsukiyono-san. I believe I'll take you up on that offer." He had to wonder if all little girls were this unnerving, or just the telekinetic ones. Idly whisking the washcloth back upstairs to a laundry basket, he stepped up onto the rug, following Tsukiyono into the kitchen. "Could I bother you for some tea as well?"

"Tea at any time, Naoe-san," Omi said sincerely. "The Dragonwell again, or do you prefer something else in the mornings?" A quick glance at Nancy's place at the table revealed that she was at least eating well, her first set of waffles almost gone. "The waffles can be plain, or I can mix in additional ingredients. . blueberries, apples, raisins, walnuts, and chocolate are prepared?"

A smear of gooey brown on the tip of Nancy's nose revealed what her choice was.

"I think I would prefer a good cup of black tea, and plain is fine. I'm honestly not used to eating too many sweets first thing in the morning." His skin prickled as they entered the pleasantly-warm kitchen, and the smells of waffle batter and cooking oil made his mouth water.

"As you say," Omi replied easily, smoothly juggling multiple tasks to end up with a table laden with three fresh batches of waffles and two tea sets in short order. "Nancy, do you need a refill for your milk?"

For a moment, it looked like the little girl was going to completely ignore him, which prompted a frown. When the last dish was set down with a distinct 'clack' against the table, however, she sullenly said "Yessir," followed by a muttered "Thank you," when the filled glass was returned. Those were the last words she said, and as Nagi was also inclined to silence, Omi rapidly gave up on any pretense of conversation.

 Watching with carefully hidden amusement as Nagi started on his third plate of waffles and Nancy on her fourth, he wryly reflected that it was damn good thing he found feeding people satisfying, or he'd be cranky in short order if this kept up.

Glancing out the window, Omi looked over at Nancy. "Sara just turned the corner. All of your finished homework is in your bag?"

"Yessir," Nancy said crisply, rising to rapidly take her dishes to the table. Snatching up three large bento containers, she mumbled "Thanks for lunch."

Sighing very faintly, Omi quietly said, "You're welcome. I'll see you this afternoon for Aikido, please try not to get held after?"

A last mumbled "Yessir" and a hasty, last-minute "Good-bye, Naoe-sensei," and the little girl was gone, front door banging behind her.

Leaning back in his chair, Omi watched his daughter climb into the car without turning to wave at him, and shook his head slowly. "I apologize for the inconvenience, Naoe-san. I hope she'll have calmed down by tomorrow afternoon; I know you plan a more formal lesson. Regardless, I think I shall absent myself unless you truly need me present."

"All right." Nagi stacked his dirty dishes neatly and pushed them to one side. "I'll trust you to know how to handle your daughter. I don't have any particular plans for today--most likely I will do some miscellaneous paperwork, and perhaps explore the city a little more. So you needn't worry about me while you and Nancy-kun go to your lessons."

"Ah, that reminds me. Thank you, Naoe-san." Gathering both their stacks of dishes, Omi left them by the sink and fished a small keyring out of a drawer. Returning to the table, he fanned the keys out briefly. "Front door, back door, car door and ignition in case they're ever necessary, and please keep this tab on you at all times, or the security system will alert me to all your comings and goings. With great vehemence," he finished dryly.

"Of course." Nagi took the keys and security tab, scrutinizing the latter before setting it aside. *Not* your basic security system...of course. "Well, I suppose I should go get changed. I hope my early rising didn't disturb anyone." He got up, gathering up the keys again and giving Omi a sardonic look.

"No, we're all early risers, it seems. I was actually relieved to find you already up when Nancy started her day. . . she was making enough noise to disturb the dead." Remembering the elephant that had charged through the house expressing her general irritation with the world, Omi smiled briefly.