Two Slayers— One Heart (Version 3.0): Part 11

Rose:

Mom was in the kitchen, making a bowl of popcorn the old-fashioned way— big honking skillet, cooking oil and butter. She looked at me, smiled a little ruefully, and said, "Honey, you really better never play poker."

"Huh?" I said, wondering where that had come from.

"Rose, your face broadcasts your every emotion," Mom said. "And… while I'm not going to demand an answer of any kind, confirmation or denial, I'd bet my Mercedes right now that you and Elaine are intimate, now."

"Yes, ma'am," I said, looking at the floor— but smiling so wide it hurt. "I… you aren't mad?"

"No, dear," she said. She hesitated, then looked resolute. "Rose… deep, dark secret time, okay?"

"Yes, Mom," I said, and offered a hooked little finger. "Pinky swear!"

Mom hooked her little finger with mine and said solemnly, "Pinky swear.

"Rose, I'm not mad, I'd have no right to be mad— because I made love with your father on our second date. Furthermore, I started it."

"Oh," I said, my eyes widening. For the first time in my life, my Mom had slapped me with the dreaded 'Too Much Information.' Weird feeling. "Um, okay. Well, thanks, Mom. For understanding."

"It's all right, Rose," Mom said. "I think… well, I guess it's funny, but the last couple of days, you've been… different. More centered, maybe? Anyway, it's made me feel like I needed to get us centered, you and me, like we used to be. And… honesty is the best way to do that, isn't it?"

"Yes, it is," I said, and hugged her so that she couldn't see my apparently traitorous face. I wasn't being as honest with her as I could, and that… hurt. I wanted to fix it, and I needed to think of how to fix it. Maybe…. "Mom? That drive Sunday, is that still on?"

"Very much on, Rose," Mom said. "But… there's another thing. Your test, Friday? I'll still be able to come, but I won't be able to take you out after as congratulations, honey— I forgot that Jerry has a party at his boss's place, and we'd agreed to go. He's okay with me being late— we talked about it just a few minutes before you came in— but I am going to go. So I'll watch through you being awarded your belt, stay long enough to hug you after you get it— and then I'll have to go. But I'll make Grandma Riley's fried chicken on Sunday for a congratulations dinner, how's that?"

"That just rocks," I said, grinning. "I'd rather have fried chicken you made from that recipe than any restaurant food in the world, Mom.

"But about that drive… could we go somewhere really— really isolated, I guess? I have something I need to tell you. I can't… Mom, I need us to be as alone as we can get when I tell you this, not because it's bad, but because it's something that's supposed to be a secret."

Mom looked at me oddly for a moment, then turned and shook popcorn into the pan, the three "starter kernels" she'd put in having popped. She looked back and said, "All right, Rose— how about we go to Comlara Park? We can find someplace around Lake Evergreen where no one's around."

"Perfect," I said. "Mom… thanks. What's different about me… I want to tell you about it. I think I need to, even. And I'm so… Mom? I'm more glad than I know how to say that me getting this way— it feels like maybe me changing like this, it changed us. You and me, and the way we couldn't get along." I stopped, sniffled, almost-crying-hiccupped, and said, "I missed you. I missed you, and I'm really sure that was more my fault than yours, and oh, god, I'm so glad it's better!"

Mom shook the popcorn, turned around, grabbed me and crushed me in a hug— and I was never so glad to be crushed in my whole life. I hugged back, hard, but not Slayer-hard, and we stood there for a few seconds, before she let me go, shook the popcorn again— then hugged me that hard again.

"No fair," I sniffled. "You're making me all weepy, lady."

"Oh, and you're not doing the same to me?" Mom said, just as sniffle-sounding as me. "I have to go sit with someone else, you can go straight to bed, and not be embarrassed by red eyes and a runny nose.

"But I don't care, Rose. All I care about is having you back, and I do. I do have you back, and you've got me back, and that's all I care about."

We stood there hugging until she had to turn to shake the popcorn (and I wasn't even a little upset by that— burned popcorn smells worse than anything in the world but burned hair and burned person), and then she turned back and hugged me more.

I swear, between Elaine and I making love and my Mom hugging me, cuddling me like that, I was as happy as I'd been since Daddy died.

Finally, she had to pay attention to the popcorn completely, and we broke the hug, and blew our noses. Then she put popcorn in a big bowl for her and Jerry, and a couple of smaller ones, one each for me and Laurie.

Jerry came in while she was doing that, and he shocked the living hell out of me— he was civil to me.

"Hello, Rose," he said. I replied cautiously, and he said, "Kelly, do we have any Sprite? I looked earlier, but I didn't see any."

"I put some in the freezer for you about an hour ago," she said. "You forgot to put in a new bottle after you emptied the last one."

"Ooops— right, that's when the office called." He shook his head, and said, "You know, you'd think that when the courts shut down, the lawyers would shut up."

I laughed aloud, and Mom and Jerry both looked at me in surprise. "Sorry, Jerry," I said. "But… well, it was funny."

"Yes, well, it's also true, sadly enough," he said, grinning ruefully. He poured himself a glass of soda, then said, "News is about to start, I'm going to see what's up in the world before Jay Leno starts making fun of it."

"I'll be there in a second," Mom said. She watched him go, then said, "Well, dear— you should go to bed. Do you think you'll want breakfast again in the morning?"

"Probably," I said. "Sifu showed me some new forms, I'm going to work on those, and the stuff for my test, so I'll probably be hungry again."

"All right, I'll plan on that," Mom said. She hugged me hard one more time, kissed my cheek, let me kiss hers, grabbed her popcorn and went to the living room. I grabbed my popcorn and Laurie's, and followed her. As I started up the stairs, I called, "Good night, Mom." Then, figuring it couldn't actually hurt, I added, "Good night, Jerry."

"Good night, honey," Mom said.

"Good night, Rose," Jerry said, his tone level and perfectly civilized, if not especially warm.

I went upstairs thinking that if the Slayer powers I'd gotten had somehow made Jerry into less of an ass-hat, they packed some serious power, all right.

I gave Laurie her popcorn, told her good night, and let her get lost in her book again before going to my own room.

I did remember to talk to Brian online, like I'd promised, but I didn't stay long, it was late. He was cool about it, though, accepted my thanks for finding the Slayer site for us, and thought it was good that I'd already emailed someone there. When I told him that Jerry had been civilized, he seemed to think it might have something to do with the video we'd captured of me showing him up, and I agreed. That made sense, and made me feel better. The idea of Jerry not being a contemptible jackass was a world-shaker. Like suddenly waking up one day and finding out that your parents are aliens from another planet, and that in your natural form you look like a bright purple baboon with lobster claws for hands and great big antennae where your eyes ought to be— totally alien and impossible to believe.

I logged off pretty quickly, as he had to get to bed, too, and read for fifteen minutes before shutting off my light and going almost straight to sleep.

I got up at five, this time, went out into the yard the same way as last time, and did my forms, working hard on the new ones Sifu Archer had showed me, wanting them reflexive, not thought out. I did okay, I'm pretty sure.

Mom made me my absolute favorite breakfast, a bacon, green pepper and Monterey Jack omelet, with more bacon on the side, and a couple of English muffins with apple jelly. This time, she put so much food in front of me that I didn't need to add Pop-Tarts after, though I did grab a second glass of milk.

When I left for school, Jerry actually said, "Good luck on the finals."

Weird. Dealable, sure, but weird.

Finals that day were pretty much a breeze. I walked away from school happy with my performance, comfortable that I'd keep my A grades in all those classes— English, American History and Typing II (where I knew I had an A— I typed faster than the teacher).

Elaine came over for an hour after school, sat on my balcony with me and Brian, and we three just… talked. Or at least we just talked until Brian snapped his fingers and said, "Hey, did you get an answer to that email you sent the slayer-people, yet?"

"Crap, I never checked!" I said. "Come on, we'll look now."

I had mail from Sunrise_girl, and I didn't hesitate to open it in front of either of my friends. It read:

Rose —

Okay, you're right— two of you in one town is kind of weird. Buffy and Giles both agreed about that, right away. (Buffy is the boss, the "Prime Slayer" they call her, and also my big sister— but I forgive her for that. Most times. Giles is the only full-fledged Watcher left— A Watcher is sort of a Slayer coach, and in charge of figuring out what monster a Slayer's dealing with, this time around. Also, he's sort of me and Buffy's dad-figure, except that would embarrass him a lot, so don't mention it to him.)

So someone— maybe all of us— will be coming to Bloomington as soon as we can, to see if we can't get a handle on what's going on, and sort of check you guys out. Buffy says if there are two of you, there's probably a reason for that, and she wants to kick-start your training a little, if we can manage it, and scope out the sitch.

Anyway— I hope you're not too freaked out, and that we can meet in what some people say is the "real world" sometime soon. You be careful in the meantime, and that's not just me talking— that's all of us, Slayers, Watchers (and I include myself in that category, even I am still only a junior apprentice), witches and— well, all of us.

Buffy says that you and Elaine should both carry a stake at all times, not just after dark (never know when you might get stuck out after dark, right?) and Giles agrees. (So do I, and I'm not a lot older than you, so maybe that carries some weight?)

I'm cc-ing this to Elaine, too, just to be sure all bases are covered.

Be careful, Rose, Elaine. Don't get hurt before I can meet you!

Dawn Summers

P.S.— you guys are the very first to contact us, way ahead of when we thought anyone would— Willow, who's as good with a computer as she is with magic, says to tell your friend Brian that he's damned smart, finding the site like he did!

"Wow," I said. "Okay, that's cool. And… Elaine? Can you make a stake out of something when you get home?"

"I can," Elaine said. "Dad's got a bunch of tools and stuff in the basement— he makes toys and stuff for a hobby. I can make a stake, and I will, soon as I'm home."

"What about you, Rose?" Brian asked, still grinning over the compliment in the P.S.

"I'm covered," I said. "I've got a knife of Daddy's that mom gave me after he died, I'm gonna whittle down a tree branch while you quiz me, after while."

We talked a little more, I kissed Elaine goodbye, she took off, and Brian and I fell to the evil task of trying to wrap my brain all the way around Algebra II. After a while, when we took a break, I went out and found a couple of likely-looking tree branches, and sat and whittled them down with daddy's big old buck knife while he quizzed me over various formulas. They came out right, sturdy, but sharp.

Elaine:

Wow. The Prime Slayer, the boss-girl was… Buffy?

I just hoped she wasn't the airheaded, bubble-bodied, swimsuit-model-type that that particular name made pop up in my head.

I went home early, to let Rose study. Kelly was downstairs, and we talked for fifteen minutes or so before I left, just talking about the differences between public and private schools and about dancing— it was neat. I really liked her, and she seemed to like me, which was a relief so big it could've sunk the Titanic.

I went home and promptly went to Dad's basement workshop. I'd watched him working a bajillion times, and even helped some— making toys is just fun, and he always gives them to the Salvation Army or Toys for Tots at Christmas time, it's neat— so I knew how to use the tools safely, had used most of them. I found a piece of heavy oak dowel in his scrap bin, and cut it down to about sixteen inches, then mounted it on the lathe and used the roughing gouge to take out a double-angled chunk near the center. I then took the dowel out, broke it at the narrowest point, and used a grinder to sharpen the two slightly blunted ends of the two almost-stakes, making them actual stakes. Two eight-inch stakes, half an hour's work.

I cleaned up Dad's shop, leaving it just as I'd found it, put the stakes in my purse, and then changed into my leotard and went to the little dance studio Dad had built for me in the basement. I took several CDs with me, all homemade compilations of "acceptable" music for my final dance-slash-exam in my dance class. Three rules; no vocals, no single-instrument pieces— just piano, just guitar, just sax, like that— and it had to be longer than five minutes, to show that you could dance that long, and think of that much in the way of dancing.

I didn't mind. I had a lot of electronic new age music that would work great.

I took most of an hour to settle on a piece, and it's one I would never have tried before getting Slayer-ized— it was hard, driving, and had several tempo changes. The piece was actually two, but they had no perceptible gap between them; Generation Prelude and Generation, both by an American Indian new age artist named Peter Buffet. I set those two songs on replay, then sat and listened for a three replays, letting my head put what I wanted to do with my body to the music— then I got up and tried to match my vision to actual movement.

After an hour, it didn't suck completely. An hour after that, I might have been willing to dance the better parts for Rose— but never for Rose's mom, or Miss Sorenson.

I needed work yet— but I needed food more. I went upstairs, ate two cans of my secret-vice-food (Chef Boyardee Beefaroni) and a half a loaf of garlic bread, then sat and watched TV for an hour to let my food settle, and talked to my folks when they called —before I went back to dancing.

By the time I went to bed, I'd have let Rose watch all of it, and her mom and Miss Sorenson parts of it. That kind of progress made me feel great. I could never have done it before the Slayer powers came along, and I knew it— but the skill had been there all along, just not the strength to use it properly.

I showered about ten, checked my email, re-read that message from Dawn Summers, answered a mail from Kimber asking if there was anything new in the "weird world" by summarizing that note, then went to bed and almost straight to sleep.

I love dancing, but it sure wears a girl out.

Morning came, and I again woke up obscenely early, decided that I'd better get used to it, and went outside to dance. Our yard was nice and level— daddy hired a landscaping service to take care of it, and they were meticulous about it— so not-serious dancing I could do out here, and this was just for the sheer, unbridled fun of it. Silly as it sounds, I danced to the music in my head, and I loved every second of it.

School was great that day. Kimber was excited about the Slayer group maybe coming here, and her maybe getting to meet "a real, serious witch," like it sounded like this Willow person had to be.

And in dance, I wowed Miss Sorenson. She had us working on individual dances for exams, and walked around asking about any trouble spots. I asked her about a spot that was fighting me, a place where I did several ballet movements together, then tried to move into modern dance naturally and smoothly. The transition just hadn't been working. After watching me try it the first time, Miss Sorenson stared at me for a long moment, then shook herself— and gave me a smile that, had I not had Rose, would probably have sent me head-over-heels in love with her.

"Elaine… my god, girl, the improvements you've made!" She shook her head in amazement, then said, "Okay, I don't know what you're dancing to, Elaine, but I think I can help, if this will work with it; instead of trying to go to the modern from that last grand jeté en tournant, try adding a pirouette— two if they'll fit the music— and going from there. Try it dry, see if you agree that the idea might work."

I did try it, and it did work— with just one pirouette, even, since I made it a pirouette "with attitude," as much modern as ballet. Miss Sorenson agreed with me that it looked good, and I knew I could make it fit the music.

I almost floated home, high as a kite on her praise, and eager to get changed and go to Rose's house— I was riding with her and Kelly to Rose's red sash test.

I changed to jeans and a polo, brushed my hair again, grabbed my purse, and strolled to Rose's house, cutting through the yard of the nice-guy dentist (whom I still hadn't actually seen) and straight to Rose's back yard— where I found Rose moving through a form like I'd never seen while Kelly and Laurie sat on the back steps and watched with wide-eyed amazement. I went wide around Rose, sat down on the back steps next to Kelly, and stared myself.

It wasn't just Rose, and how damned beautiful she looked, how gracefully she moved.

No, it was also the sword.

Tiny little Rose, almost two inches under five feet tall, had a three-foot-long Chinese long sword in her hands, almost a foot of bright red tassel dangling from the hilt of the sword, enhancing the look of every move she did. Rose was doing a form that involved the sword, punches, kicks, blocks and dodges, as well as every combination of any and all of the above that you can imagine— and maybe some you can't, if you aren't a big fan of chop-socky movies.

The sword spun around her body like a cut-loose-and-pissed-off propeller, then it stopped, and she fired a series of kicks, spun under the attacks of an imaginary opponent, leaped into the air, spinning, sword spinning around her, kicked out, hit the ground rolling, bounced up— and attacked again.

I'd seen her fight, and that had been gorgeous. The forms she'd done in her class Wednesday night had shone as things of beauty. The sparring that she'd done that night had been a symphony of explosive movement, a ballet of purest controlled violence— and all of it paled beside this. This… this was dancing! Dancing with a sword as partner, dancing with moves I'd never have thought of as dance moves— but dancing, and never mind anything else.

I melted. I fell in lust with her more powerfully than ever, fell in love with her all over again.

Finally, the form built to a crescendo— even we three non-martial-artists could see the end coming, as Rose increased the speed of the sword-swings, bringing the blade in close to her body, dangerously close, I thought, spinning arms and sword and body, lashing out with feet as the blade blocked the blows of an imaginary opponent by simply being everywhere around my Rose at once— and then she was in the air, spinning, both legs out, the left providing stabilization for a powerful, swiping kick from the sweeping-around right, the sword following her right foot around and— down.

Rose hit the ground like a cat, if the cat knew how to look like a kung fu master. She landed in a menacing sort of crouch, left foot straight out to her side, right cocked at the knee, torso bent forward inside her cocked leg so that her (very small) breasts were almost touching the ground, left arm up and out, slightly back, like an extended wing, right arm out in front of her, arm, hand and blade pressed against the ground.

I swear to you, when she landed, I heard— just in my mind, of course— the sound of a giant stone hammer hitting a stone floor in a giant, vault-ceilinged room. It echoed.

"My god, Rose!" Kelly said after a moment. "That was— I never imagined! Rose, that was beautiful!"

"And how!" Laurie said, as Rose got slowly to her feet, grinning like a happy maniac, looking like she'd just finished a casual stroll around the house, not a form that would probably impress Jet Li.

I just walked over to her, took her in my arms, and kissed her. No words could possibly have said what I felt right then, and the kiss at least came close.

When we broke, both gasping, Laurie was giggling, and Kelly was saying something— but I didn't really pay attention. I just looked at my wild Rose and said, "I really hope the red of your sash doesn't clash with your hair!"

"Sure, an' ye said a mouthful, lassie!" Kelly said— and Rose burst out laughing.

"Okay, Rose— I know you don't want to eat too close to your test, but would a light meal work now?" Kelly asked.

"Really light," Rose said. "More like a big snack, maybe."

"How about some fruit salad?" Kelly asked. "I've got several kinds of fruit— and Elaine, if you're hungry, I've got plenty."

"That would be great, Mom," Rose said. "Elaine?"

"Maybe a small dish?" I said. "That does sound good, and I did have dance class after I had lunch."

"Come on, then," Kelly said, and led us inside.

She cut and chopped with speed worthy of a professional chef, and soon set bowls of diced cantaloupe, watermelon, apple, pear and peach, liberally sprinkled with strawberries that had been cut in half, in front of all three of us, then sat down with a bowl of her own.

"So how long will the testing take, Rose?" Kelly asked. "So I can give Jerry an idea of when I'll get to the party tonight."

"I should be done by eight, maybe a little after," Rose said. "They're only testing for the red sash tonight, and only four of us are testing. Not too much after eight, maybe even a little before. You shouldn't be too late."

"All right," Kelly said. "I'm sorry about the conflict, Rose— I'd like to take you out for dinner after, really."

"No, it's all good," Rose said. "I'd rather wait until Sunday and have Grandma Riley's chicken. Favorite food ever, Mom."

"Elaine, can you join us Sunday night?" Kelly asked. "About six?"

"I can, and I'd like that," I said. "I'll just study during the day, instead of at night. My finals start Monday, are over Tuesday, except that I have to do my Dance exam Wednesday. Normal PE classes don't have an exam, but some of the special versions do, including dance."

"Oh, I hope we can convince you to show to us, after," Kelly said. "Or me, at least— I'm greedy!"

"After the exam, sure," I said, laughing. "Not before— I'm nervous enough about my teacher seeing it, I should get that out of the way before doing it for an audience."

"You'll be fine," Rose said casually. "You're so graceful it's scary, Elaine— all you have to do is make that work for you and you've got it locked."

"Thank you," I said, and squeezed her hand.

We finished our snack, and Rose's stepdad came in as Rose was rinsing our dishes.

"Hi, Jerry," Kelly said, and kissed him quickly. "How was your day?"

"A bit maddening, but only a bit," he said. "I spent it in client meetings. You know, the practice of law would be a lot easier if the clients would accept that the damned TV shows they watch are not actually real, and do not actually represent how the law works.

"Rose, who's your friend?"

"Oops, sorry," Rose said. She looked at me— no one else could see her face, as Laurie had gone to hug her dad— and made a horrible face, then said, "Elaine Marshall, this is my stepfather, Jerry Wentworth, who, as you heard, is a lawyer. Jerry, this is my friend Elaine— she goes to Winston, and she's a dancer."

"Nice to meet you, Elaine," Jerry said, giving me a handshake that felt… polite, at least. Not exactly welcoming or friendly, but polite.

"Nice to meet you, too, sir," I said. "And I do feel sorry for you— how many people watch Law and Order and think that's the real deal? I bet that sucks."

"Better Law and Order than old Perry Mason episodes," Jerry said lightly. Then he shuddered theatrically and said, "Or— heavens forbid!— Matlock!"

"Ugh," Kelly said. "I never understood the appeal of Matlock. And the idea that people think it's real… how stupid can you get?"

"Mom, people watch Survivor." Rose snorted and shook her head. " 'Reality TV' my butt!"

"Point," Kelly said. "Oh, well. Girls, you go talk or something— I'm going to go get ready— Rose, I hope no one will think you have a weirdo mom who puts on a nice dress and jewelry to go to her daughter's sash test."

"If they give me any grief, I'll kick their butts," Rose said lightly. "Come on, Elaine, I'll show you some of the videos I've made on my computer. Later, Jerry."

Laurie followed us upstairs, but went to her own room and started gathering her things for a slumber party she was going to that night to celebrate the end of school.

Rose showed me some videos she'd made, splicing together clips from movies she liked and setting them to songs she liked— she really was pretty good at it. We watched seven or eight of those, and I saw her starting to get twitchy.

"You, young lady," I said, standing and taking her hand to pull her towards her balcony, "need to relax. Come on."

We sat on the balcony for a while, on the patio-safe loveseat she had out there, snuggled and kissed some, but nothing more. Still, it helped her calm down. At five-twenty, she went in and started changing, moving quickly and efficiently, not even seeming aware of my gaze while she stripped to skin, then dressed. I sat her down between my legs and wrapped her hair, being very, very meticulous, after having seen the careful, almost ceremonial way she moved while dressing.

We went downstairs, and she collected the soft leather case she'd put her sword in, a staff a foot longer than she was tall, and led me into the living room.

Kelly was there with Laurie and Jerry, dressed in this midnight-blue dress that looked absolutely gorgeous on her, and she stood up when Rose and I came in.

Laurie came over and hugged Rose hard, said, "Good luck— not like you'll need it, after what you showed us this afternoon."

"Thanks, Laurie," Rose said. "Mom, you look like ten million bucks. If anybody says anything to me about how you're dressed, I'm just gonna write it off as jealousy— their moms won't look this good."

"Thank you, dear," Kelly said. She gave Jerry another quick kiss, said, "You know where the Brandts live, right?"

"Over on Jersey, yes," Jerry said. "Don't worry, I'll get Laurie there. And I'll see you when you get to the party— don't hurry, this is a big night for Rose."

I felt Rose twitch at that, and smiled a little. She really wasn't sure what to make of her stepfather being decent to her— I just felt glad that I'd missed the days when they only snarled at each other.

"Well, I'm sure she can get a ride home— Sifu Archer will bring her if needed, I called yesterday and asked about it." Kelly hugged Laurie, pecked Jerry again and said, "Let's go, girls."

"Good luck, Rose," Jerry said.

"Thanks, Jerry," Rose said. "See you tomorrow, Laurie."

We went to the car, then to Rose's high school and the gym. There were probably a hundred people there, mostly other students, since only a few were actually testing. At the base of the opened bleachers, Rose hugged her mother very, very tightly, and held it for a minute, then hugged me just as hard, kissed me briefly, said, "Here goes nothing," and walked over to where Sifu Archer stood near the edge of the mats that had been set up.

Kelly and I went and found good seats down near the front, which were being held for "Candidates' families" by a young man I recognized from Wednesday night's class, the one who'd complimented Rose's control after that first round of… what had Sifu Archer called it? That first round of "multi-person defense," that's what it was.

"Mrs. Wentworth, Miss Marshall," he said formally. "I'm Sam Hollister, I train with Rose.

"Mrs. Wentworth, I know you came to Rose's last test, and I know you had to be disappointed when she didn't pass— but you don't need to worry, not this time. Rose's reflexes and reactions have finally caught up with her knowledge— and she's going to ace this.

"And… well, she won't be able to talk to you before the test is over, so I'll tell you a secret— Rose is testing not just for her red sash. Sifu says she's ready for her red-and-blue sash."

"Oh, my god," Kelly said. "I've heard Rose talk about that— isn't that as big a step as the red sash?"

"Maybe bigger," Sam said. "But she'll get it— Sifu Archer's sure."

I must have looked confused, because Sam looked at me and said, "Miss Marshall, the red sash, in Sifu Archer's school, is the equivalent of a black belt. It's like getting a bachelor's degree in college. You're qualified as a warrior.

"But the red-and-blue sash says that you aren't just a warrior— you're a teacher of warriors. Like getting a master's degree lets you teach college level classes."

"Oh, wow," I said. "That's… is that why he took her aside and showed her that extra stuff Wednesday night?"

"That's it exactly," Sam said. "He said she absorbed everything he showed her, like a dry sponge soaking up a small spill. Impressive as hell, that. I'm looking forward to her test— and damned glad I don't have to face her in multi-person defense again."

After that, Kelly sat and grinned, virtually shone, until the testing started.

And I couldn't blame her.

The first part of the test was done verbally, the candidates reciting portions of the history of their school to Sifu Archer and the three other men and one woman who joined him as judges, three of them Asian, probably Chinese. That took maybe fifteen minutes, then they started the interesting stuff.

But just before they did, five people came in and sat down a ways to my right, three young women and two men, one young, one middle aged. All three girls were pretty, and the older man was… appealing, in a sexy way. The younger guy might have been, but he needed to lose some weight, and the eyepatch he wore was sort of… distracting.

I only noticed them because one of the girls, the smallest of the three, a slender little blond, said as they passed us, "All I'm saying is that I think I might like living in someplace called Normal for a while— just so I can say that I've lived a Normal life at some point in my existence."

(Well, okay, I also noticed because all the girls were all hot. And one girl— the one with a hat on, a fedora that looked cute on her, and she'd tucked her hair up under it— looked… a little familiar.)

Then the actual technique testing started, and I forgot about those people for a while, just watched Rose as she did everything asked of her with style, grace and apparent ease.