Ken found himself drawn back to the present for a moment as he looked at the second question that followed the first one about his mother,
"What was the one thing that stood out the most to you about her?" He read it out loud, and then he thought about this question as he looked away from the screen with his hand to his chin and he sat back in his chair. This journalist was asking for more personal things in his life, at least he had some warning before the interview. He thought to himself
There were a lot of things that he loved about her, she had compassion.
He remembered her appreciation for small things done out of love…
He looked at the flowers his wife had put in a vase earlier that day in the room, the strong scent of the roses was a comfort to him, they reminded him of the two women he loved the most in his life, and they both had the most influence over him in their own way…
His thought went back to that day he made his mother breakfast;
Ken balanced the tray well up the long flight of stairs and then turned and headed down the corridor to his Mother's room. He stopped outside the closed door and assessed that there was no way he was going to open it and hold the tray all at the same time!
So he set the tray down at the corner of the door, and then carefully opened it and peered inside.
She looked like she was still sleeping, so he quietly picked up the tray and was about to go back downstairs, when he heard her soft voice from the room." Is that you, Ken?"
He smiled a little to himself and replied," Yes Mama it's me." He couldn't keep the excitement out of his voice, this was a special breakfast and he was happy that she was awake.
The door was still slightly ajar, so he pushed it open with his shoulder as he entered the room.
"Can you open the curtains, please darling, it is so dark in here." He nodded to her request, carefully putting the tray down on the side table next to the bed and going over to the window to let in the bright morning sunlight. He looked back over to her, lying in the bed.
She was looking frail in the sunlight and was squinting a little at the sudden light in the room, but she was softly smiling at him and looking at the tray. He brightened at the smile that she had on her face and went over to help her sit up with pillows behind her and then placed the stable tray gently in her lap.
He smiled almost shyly, but with pride at his accomplished mission, as she eyed the food in front of her." I cooked it for you, Mama. I hope you like Eggs Benedict and freshly squeezed Orange Juice." She picked up the knife and fork and then a rare look of total joy swept across her whole face and her clear blue eyes glazed over a little as she looked back at him.
"You did this all by yourself?" He then nodded, feeling a sense of pride at how her eyes lit up at his attempt at cooking, and she continued;
"Oh, I'm so proud of you Ken." She started to slowly cut into the eggs, which he noticed were overcooked and the toast looked to be a bit chewy and slightly burnt, but she didn't say a thing about it as she ate most of the egg dish, that took him four goes to get it almost right, Ken wasn't a quitter, when he set out to do something, he did it right well as close to right in this case as his skills allowed him to be.
Walking over to the window, and looking out at the view, he waited for her to finish. She asked him the question that he hoped she would not bring up.
"Dr. Nambu, had a talk with you last night about me, didn't he?" Ken turned to face her- he noticed she was looking at him over the brim of the glass, finishing the last of the Orange Juice.
He bowed his head a bit, still trying to avoid the topic and walked over to the side of her bed." Have you finished your breakfast Mama?" He asked in a quiet voice. Looking at the tray.
"Yes" she replied quietly, as he picked it up leaving the burgundy velvet rose on the side table, and put the tray on the Dressing table across the room.
"Ken, we have to talk about this, I know it is upsetting for you but..."she faltered.
"You're not going to die Mama. I'll take care of you and you'll get better again." Desperation swelled up in him and he knew it was in his voice as he looked at her face in the mirror of the dressing table. Her blue eyes glazed over and a tear fell onto her cheek.
Everything was going so good this morning, she had looked happy for a short period of time.
He didn't want her to be sad again. she'd been sad since the wreckage of his fathers plane was found years ago.
"Don't cry Mama… please, I wanted you to be happy today." He then turned around and walked back to the bed as she stretched out her arms to him and he climbed onto the bed as she embraced him and planted a kiss into his hair.
"Sometimes we don't always get what we want son," she whispered into his hair." But I'm going to need you to be strong when it comes to this. Death is just another part of life. I'll always be with you, just like your Father is."
Ken felt hot tears come to his eyes at the way she was talking. He didn't want to face this pain again so soon. He had cried himself to sleep the night before and woke up that morning determined that she was going to live.
He moved a little to look at her and she wiped away his tears." You know Ken, Dr. Nambu wants you to become a part of a special team he is putting together. It's going to involve a lot of hard work for you. But I have a lot of faith in you and I know you will do the best job you can. He wants you to become a leader. He see's it in you and so do I. Leadership can be a burden, but don't try to do it alone."
She ran her fingers through his hair and the corners of her Light Pink Lips turned up." Promise me you'll keep a soft heart, but a tough skin. Have compassion for people." She seemed to brighten up a bit as she talked to him.
He nodded, not fully understanding everything she was asking of him." One day Ken, if you keep doing things like you did today, you're going to make a girl very happy." he then sat back from her and gave his Mother a serious look."Dr. Nambu said girls were not my focus, not that I like them much, they are so boring, they just want dolls and dresses. You can't spar with them or they start to cry."
He screwed up his nose as he pointed out all the bad things about girls, and his Mother laughed at what he was saying. "There will come a time in your life where a girl will catch your eye, and you will not be saying things like that my son. doesn't know everything about happiness in life. Sure he's a good Sensei and was your Father's closest friend and you should listen to him with those teaching, but always have something to fight for Ken. Love is worth fighting for and it is a risk worth taking." He gave her words some serious thought." Well, O.K if one day I do meet a girl that's not boring to be around, then I hopes she's like you. She'd have to be pretty, and be able to spar with me…" He thought for a moment about the kitchen downstairs." And cook I hope… But since I'm going to be busy training, I don't think I'll have time for girls." he informed her.
She was looking tired again, he could tell by the expression in her eyes and the strength going from her embrace, he was happy she ate as much as she did; normally she had no appetite at all.
She looked at the rose beside her bed and picked it up." My favourite rose, Ken, how thoughtful of you." He watched as she put it to her lips and drew a breath in at the scent. Then she lightly kissed it and tilted it towards him and put it onto his lips. He smiled as she did this." A Kiss from a Rose," was all she said, it was a special Mother and son moment, and under any other circumstances he probably would have gawked at how corny it was, or he was too old for things like that.
But instead, he just enjoyed the moment with her because she was smiling again, he returned her affection. Then he helped her lay down again to rest, fluffing the pillow, adjusting the blankets.
" Ken, will you read to me for a while." Her voice was now weaker again and her eyes were half shut.
" Sure Ma." He picked up the Black Covered Bible she indicated to and sat on the edge of the bed and turned to the marked page Proverbs 27:17"As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another..." and began to read to her until he could hear her slow steady breathing that indicated that she was asleep.
He quietly tip-toed over to the dressing table, and picked up the tray and left the roomed. Dr Nambu had left on business for a few days, but Cassie the housekeeper. The nurse, and the Doctor he had employed, would be in later and it was not a good idea to get on Cassie's bad side. He figured he had better try to clean up the mess in the Kitchen before she arrived to start her day. Cassie was scary when the place was in a mess, especially the kitchen.
Six months later...
Not long after his Eleventh Birthday the love of his life died, he stood at the grave with Dr. Nambu standing next to him, as the coffin was lowered into the dark hole in the ground.
He wondered if she was lonely there, but she told him she was going to heaven and not to worry, her soul was safe and it was only her body that was being buried. Holding in his torn emotions, and tried to be brave like she asked him to. Hie mimicked DR Nambu's stoic face.
Then he stepped forward, and put the rose that he had picked especially for her that morning from her favourite bush. He had picked the one with the longest stem and was in full bloom, the light burgundy velvet petals looked stunning, he left the thorns on it, a beautiful flower that brought pain from it's thorns. Trembling, the petals brushed his lips as a tear escaped and then threw it into the grave. The trail of its strong scent floated past him, as it left his fingers.
He turned and walked towards the waiting black car with his mentor, and then headed back to the mansion.
Some time later that day Ken stood at the rose bush again, looking at the remaining flowers, some had not bloomed and others were still tight without a sign of colour, waiting for the right moment to show their beauty.
He let his tears fall- because there was no one to see him there and then he tilted one of the flowers towards his lips. He was still wearing the Black Suit from the funeral and couldn't be bothered to change out of it. They were the only thing he had left of her, a bush full of her favourite flowers.
"What kind of wimp kisses flowers?" Came the sarcastic voice of another person, who he didn't know was in the garden.
He looked angrily over his shoulder, hard knots forming in his stomach. The kid was an intruder in his need for space. He observed the boy who must have been a little older than himself, looking back at him with Steel Grey eyes and had nasty expression on his face.
Leaning against the wall, across the garden with his arms crossed. He looked like he didn't know how to smile or if he did it would be a rare occasion. Dr Nambu had mentioned another boy was coming to live with them soon, he didn't expect him to be there today of all days.
Ken had wanted to be alone.
Go away," He snarled. this was his private moment with his mother.
Shoving down the swelling of intense emotions, he slowly turned towards the kid.
"The kind that thinks you're an asshole," was his response to the taunt and Ken found himself automatically taking on a fighter's stance.
"You want to fight me wimp, is that it." The kid confidently moved away from the wall and towards him, butting his fist in his hand.
Ken's anger grew and he sneered back at him" If you keep that big mouth of yours going like it is, I may have to shut it up."
The next thing he knew, they were in a fight and Ken was winning, being the more experienced fighter of the two of them.
Taking the nameless kid by surprise. Ken who was a shorter than him could fight so well, and he almost took on an expression of respect during the fight.
"I see you have met Joseph Asakura." Dr. Nambu addressed him.
" Joe," The kid responded quickly," I like to be called Joe," he was wiping his face with his hand, wincing from the bruises that were developing from Ken's well aimed punches.
"Hey, ah, you're pretty good to have around in a fight," Joe said, offering Ken his hand. Ken looked at him with disdain, and muttered. "Whatever," and then walked off to his room while trying to straighten his clothes that were rumpled during the fight.
He heard Dr. Nambu saying something to Joe as he left, but he didn't quite hear the words.
A few hours later, he was sitting in his room staring out the window, avoiding people, when a knock at the door distracted him.
"Come in," he said, thinking it was Dr. Nambu.
He looked over to see it was Joe, who had walking quietly into the room as ken looked back out the window again, ignoring him at first." What do you want?" he asked him quietly after a few moments of silence.
Joe didn't respond straight away and from the corner of Ken's eye it looked like he was struggling with something.
"I'm sorry about your Mom, I didn't know. I'm sorry for calling you a wimp." He started to say." Look, I ahh, I...well it looks like we are going to be training together and you have a good punch. Could you show me some of the stuff like you did out there today sometime?" In later years, Ken would realize that that was one of the few times that Joe showed true humility, and it was the side of Joe, his best friend and brother that he kept hidden, because Joe regarded it as a weakness.
"Well, we have the latest gaming console in the rumpus room, if you like we can play some games." Ken offered, suddenly wanting company, the months of his mothers illness had left him emotionally drained and another boy his age in the house, was suddenly a good thing.
Joe cocky grin formed." I bet I can kick your butt in a racing game." Ken heard the challenge and stood up and walked out of the room. "You're on, but I bet I can kick yours harder in Fighter Pilot." He shouted behind him as they both ran out to see who would get there first…
He would later learn about Joe's parents, and the horrific explosion taking their lives and it almost claimed his too. He had not long recovered when Dr. Nambu, who had been looking out for him, brought him back to the mansion.