A/N:

Terms:

Wahine = Hawaiian for "woman" or "female"

This is ALL my sister Girlquinndreamer's fault! She just HAD to show me that anime music video featuring that DAMN Karate Kid song – which happens to also be one of my favorite songs…Curse you, Quinn!!!! Ahem. On with the fic.

Prologue: Megumi

"Raise your hand like this. Look up. Then you raise…" The middle-aged woman who looked a decade younger than her actual age released a breath, massaging her left temple. After pushing back a wayward strand of curled black hair, she delicately cleared her throat. "You lift up on your right…Megumi, wake up."

Megumi Takani fought back a yawn.

"Darling, I know you've had a long day at work, but please…" Yuki Asawa shook her head at her only niece.

Several other females in the class glanced in her direction, causing Megumi to smile.

"Sorry, Auntie." Megumi waited and watched as several of the newer students followed her aunt's instructions on how to perform a short series of dance steps in a hula chant.

Since she had been taking hula since she was a child, she knew quite a bit. And she always helped out her aunt's wahine class on Fridays. When she wasn't working as a resident at the US Navy Pearl Harbor Medical Center. Which had been happening a lot lately. She had gotten home around noon that day and had wanted to sleep the next twelve hours away, but that wasn't possible. Not when Auntie Yuki had new dancers to teach.

She caught her reflection in the full-length mirror that lined one wall of the school. Goodness. Was she that exhausted? She even looked tired in the mirror. Faint shadows appeared beneath her eyes. Megumi tried not to yawn again as she watched her aunt demonstrate a step in front of the fifteen students. A step Megumi knew very well. So she focused elsewhere, her mind replaying her schedule for the rest of the week.

It was going to be hectic. She was working graveyard shift Sunday night in the emergency room. And she had a presentation to do Tuesday night. And an evaluation Wednesday afternoon. By the time she had gotten to Thursday morning, Keolo, began playing the gourd and chanting so the class could dance what they had learned so far. At her aunt's look, Megumi moved with the other students.

It was going to be a hectic week.

So when she collapsed into bed that night, she tried to avoid looking at the stacks of books placed on her nightstand. Research for her presentation on Tuesday.

As part of Pearl Harbor's resident program, aspiring physicians were required to conduct a presentation once a week on medical topics they had learned. Bone fractures, surgical procedures, diseases prevalent in a specific age/gender/ethnic group…all in front of a small panel of senior physicians.

Megumi usually did her presentation with a computer program which would allow her to display a slide show. Along with hard copies of the show for senior staff members to follow along with. She usually did her presentation early…and was finished with its preparation days before her due date.

She had been credited as one of the brightest students in her class – she had spent a lot of time dedicated to studying medicine. Medical school hadn't really given her much time with friends or family. In fact, she had so few friends. Three at the most. And she hardly saw them. And she certainly had no boyfriend. Medical school hadn't really given her time for that, either.

Before she drifted off to sleep, her phone rang.

"Hello?" she mumbled into the receiver after snatching it up.

"Megumi, it's me. Since we're having brunch tomorrow, I thought I'd bring over some weekly medical journals that might help in your next topic," her father's authoritative voice immediately carried over the line.

"Okay. That sounds great," Megumi responded.

"I'll see you at ten a.m., then."

"All right." Megumi hung up. "I need to install this phone in the living room…" Maybe she should keep her pager in the bedroom from that point on, instead of having her phone in her bedroom. That way she wouldn't have relatives disturbing her sleep.

Her father was the commanding officer of Pearl Harbor's medical facilities. And a dedicated member to the Honolulu community. He also served as a part time instructor at the university. She was able to establish a residency at Pearl Harbor because of him. While some would think it was a conflict, she never worked with her father – she only reported to her direct supervisors. Who changed as often as the weather thanks to the different specializations she had been exploring.

Her mother, a Navy nurse, had died when she was very little. Her two brothers, whom she never saw, were all Naval officers on the mainland bases.

She had many footsteps to follow.

A/N: Hope you like so far…More to come!