Lady M, Masters and goodbyes
by
Meanbow
this is another one in the Lady M,Curvy Crime-fighter series(season 2). I hope you are all enjoying my works of fiction, and seeing Meg in a whole new light. This is a very short...and sad one. Just to recap, I own NONE of the characters but my own original creations...the rest are owned by Seth McFarlane and Fox
Meeting Master Reiko (for the first and last time)
"Not far to go now, Meg" Chase went over their bikes intercom system
"Thank goodness for that...my Butt is falling asleep" Meg replied
The two friends were riding their motorcycles long distance, to go visit someone special...someone Meg had heard lots about from Chase, but never got the privilege of meeting, until today. They had been riding for many hours, out of state, to the Women's Correctional Facility over 1000 miles away from Quahog, where she had been transferred to a while back. Up ahead in the distance, that large, ominous outline of the prison came into view
"That's one sight I DON'T miss..." Meg went
"Me either, hun...me either" Chase added, then went "you going to be OK with this?"
"I will be...I cant wait to meet her" Meg replied, as the two bikes swung off the road and entered the car park of the prison. The two bikes, a BMW K1 and a Honda Pan European ST1300, stopped and their riders put the stands down and rested the bikes on them and got off. Both riders pulled their helmets off and shook their hair into shape, before placing their helmets on the fuel tanks of their respective steeds.
"Here we are...thought I'd never see these places again" Chase went, looking at the large gates, and the surrounding walls and barbed wire fence "haven't visited her in a while..."
"Still gives me the creeps..." Meg replied "I'd rather stay this side of that gate"
"I know...we both spent enough time here before" Chase answered "we'd best go check-in with security...they're expecting us"
"That's what worries me..." Meg went nervously, thinking back to her times 'inside'
"All items are to be checked in here, and retrieved upon leaving" went the Guard in the security office "Your jackets too, they'll set off the metal detector as you go through the door"
Meg and Chase put their items in two trays, and passed the guard their bike jackets. Satisfied that they were not hiding anything, as another guard swept them over with a hand-held metal detector and there was no reading, he buzzed the security door open for them. They walked through the door and there was another guard waiting for them.
"This way, please...She's expecting you" he went, as they followed him through the prison to the infirmary. The guard unlocked the infirmary door and let them in. the Nurse inside looked up from her paperwork and said "Are you here to see Reiko Tanaka?"
Chase nodded, Meg went the same.
"She's here, but she hasn't got long, I'm afraid...it was a very serious Heart Attack...she is seriously weakened" the Nurse went "I'm afraid she's not going to last through the night" she went, as she led them over to her bed. The Nurse gently shook Reiko's arm and went "Miss Tanaka...you have visitors"
"Konnichiwa, My Master"# chase went, and bowed with her hands, left fist flat against her right palm and giving eye contact. Reiko Tanaka smiled back, acknowledging the bow
"Konnichiwa...my young student...you are looking well...keeping out of trouble I hope?" she went weakly
"Yes Master...I'm a Teacher now, of many subjects" she replied, then went "Master...May I introduce you to my young student, Meg Griffin"
"It is a pleasure to finally meet you, Ms Griffin" Reiko went in her best English, and smiled smally at her "I have been kept appraised of your activities...no wonder that Chase is so proud of you"
"Thank you...Master Reiko" Meg went, and also bowed to her as Chase had done
"I'm just sorry that you came here to see me like this...I am dying, and I know it...soon I will be with my ancestors and my Master Li"
"Master...why did you choose not to leave prison and come to live with me as I offered...your sentence was up over 10 years ago..." Chase asked her master
"Because..." she started "the world as I know it was gone, and this was the only world of certainty I knew...I am a trustee here, free to come and go as I wish, but my wish was to be here, with people I know"
"The Guards?"
"No...my friends" she replied "I hold no malice towards them"
Meg looked at this old woman lying in the bed in front of her...even though she was dying; she radiated an aura of calm and certainty. She understood why Chase held her in such high regard
"Meg..." she said, looking at her
"Yes, Master Reiko?" she replied
"I have something for you" she went, then lifted her left hand up and took hold of Meg's right hand
"This..." she went weakly "is the secret to inner strength and calm" as she put something in her hand and closed her fist around it "do not open it until I have left you"
She then turned her attention to Chase
"To you, my most cherished student...I leave you my books and scrolls, and my Masters belt. It was left to me with instructions to pass it on to someone who has done good from bad; as you have done...it is my honour and privilege to call you...A Master"
"Master Reiko...I don't deserve such an honour..." she started, but Reiko raised her right hand and Chase went silent
"You...deserve...it..." she went trailing off towards the end. The monitors on the ECG machine she was hooked up to started to slow down, and her pulse started dropping.
"I am ready to join you...my Master..." she went, then turned and smiled at Chase and Meg
"Do not grieve for me...for I am at peace...Watashi wa yorokonde "* Reiko went, then she closed her eyes and her head dropped to the right, and the ECG Flat-lined and it's alarm went off. The Nurse came over to the bed, checked Reiko for a pulse, shook her head, turned the ECG off and then turned to the two women visitors.
"I'm sorry...She's gone" she went, and then gently pulled the bed sheet up over her face
"Oyasuminasai, Master Reiko"^ Chase went, then stood up and bowed...
# Konnichiwa- a Japanese greeting, means hello
* Watashi wa yorokonde - another Japanese phrase, meaning I'm ready
^ Oyasuminasai- a farewell, or expression said to someone before going to sleep/bed (good night)
Reiko's Gift
The two women were taken back towards the security office, where there was a box of personal effects belonging to Master Reiko waiting for them
"Reiko...wanted you to have these" the guard went sadly to Chase, then added "She will be missed by a lot of us"
"Thank you..." she went, as she picked the box of items up and walked out the security door, which was being held open by another guard for her. Meg followed her out, and picked up all their personal belongings from the guard. They headed out to their motorbikes in the car park, and Chase put the box down on her bike's seat and looked at what was in the box. Master Reiko's Red Gi with her name embroidered on the lapels in her native Japanese, her 5th Dan (Godan)black belt, her books on Martial Arts, Philosophy, Meditation, and her own personal note book containing her own thoughts and feelings on various things, including Martial Arts moves she had created and practised. There were a few old scrolls in the box as well, which Chase knew were some of her Masters' teachings. She loaded the items into her Pan European's top box.
Meg stood there watching her; she could tell that she was hurting
"Will you be OK?" Meg asked
"Genkidesu" Chase replied, forgetting that Meg didn't speak Japanese, then went "I'm fine..."as she pulled on her helmet
"OK..." Meg went, as she put hers on as well. Chase started her bike up and slammed it into gear, wheel-spinning off out of the car park, and pressing her bike's transformation button. The Pan European shimmered, and it's all silver paintwork was replaced by a multitude of colours and the plate flipped to show a picture of a silhouette of a head wearing a jester's hat, and then the turbo thrusters came out and engaged, sending the bike off at a ridiculous speed. Meg started her bike up and followed out onto the road, pressing her bike's button as well. The panels slid around, revealing purple streaks and changing the plate to the stylised M, and bringing her thrusters out and engaging them also
The two girls made it back to Quahog in record time, thanks to the thrusters. They changed their bikes back to 'street mode' before entering the town, and headed for the waterfront, and Meg and Chases' apartment.
The two bikes pulled up inside the Lair of the converted warehouse. Their riders' kicking the stands down and dismounting...Chase went around to the back bike box and opened it up, removing her gifts from her Sensei and walking over to the steps leading to her apartment. Meg could see that what had happened had affected her friend, mentor and master more than she was willing to let on.
Chase just methodically put the items down on her table, and sat down on her sofa.
"I think it's my turn to ask if you want to talk, hun..." Meg went "Just like you convinced me to talk about my problems"
Chase smiled at Meg "Thanks..." she went, and then started
"Master Reiko was more than my teacher, Meg...she was my friend, my guardian, and my inspiration. She told me how she ended up in prison many years ago, during one of my visits...she had been defending herself against an attacker who broke into her Dojo...he had a knife, she was unarmed, she disarmed him and threw him to the ground, but he landed on the blade of his own knife. The intruder died, and she was charged with murder 3, yet she did nothing to defend herself in court. She was sentenced to 25 years...she was in her 40's at the time ,when I arrived in the prison over 20 years ago she had already become acclimatised to it...it was all she knew, while I knew nothing. She saved me on my first day from a girl gang who wanted to make me a part of their 'gang'...and I stuck by her the whole time I was in there. She taught me many things, Meg...but the biggest thing she taught me was respect...for yourself and for others"
Meg looked at chase, who was looking at the items on the table, and went "She may be gone...but she will never be forgotten, as long as you hold on to her memory"
"You're absolutely right, Meg...speaking of which...what did she give you?" Chase asked
Meg went into her pocket and pulled out a little piece of folded cloth, she carefully unfolded it, and inside it was a medallion, shaped like a rooster, with the symbol for water beneath it. Under it was a piece of paper with a note written in Japanese. She passed the note to Chase who read 'this medallion will guide and protect you in your endeavours. Use its strength and wisdom'
Meg smiled...it was nice, but she didn't think it could do much for her. Chase looked at the medallion with a knowing smile and went "Master Reiko believed that the zodiac medallions had powers...and all you had to do was believe in it...she must have thought you could use its protection"
"I'll keep it around, but I don't think it suits me..." Meg went, trying it on. She then looked at her M-orpher and went "I'd best be heading for home...it's getting late"
"Very well...goodnight Meg" Chase went, and went over and hugged her "and thank you for coming with me today..."
"You're welcome, Chase" Meg went, returning the hug. The two girls broke apart, and Meg headed down the hall and over to her apartment door.
Meg went into her apartment, closed the door quietly and rested against the door. She had never seen Chase so...drained. No fight she had ever seen her in had hit her quite as hard as the death of her Master. Meg pushed herself away from the door and walked over to the kitchen area of her place, and switched the kettle on to make a cup of tea...all the while thinking about the medallion she had been given by Master Reiko
'What did she mean by it has powers...magic doesn't exist' she thought to herself, just as the kettle clicked off. She grabbed herself a mug, plopped a teabag into the cup and added the hot water. She stirred the mug of tea with a small spoon, when the M pager went off, indicating that there was trouble somewhere, and only Lady M could deal with it.
"Always when I make a cuppa..." Meg went, placing the mug with the teabag and hot water down on the counter, and then heading over towards the fireplace...