CHAPTER 12

SENSEI WU`S BACKGROUND

ZEAH`S POV:

We placed Monica into bed after she was cleaned up. She slept in a wink. It makes me think that she has never slept in a bed. At least, for a while. After placing her into bed, I went downstairs to join everyone else. Misako said there was a confession that she had to make. What confession? Surely Misako has never hidden anything from us before. At least for the time that I first arrived.

I sat down next to Zane on the sofa. Misako was in the recliner, looking through an old photo album. When she found the page, she placed the album on the coffee table for all of us to have a look at. I did not recognize the family in the photo. Perhaps the wife was an old friend of Misako`s and she gave her that family photo. My conclusion states that if I did not know what it was, I had to ask.

"Misako, who are these people?" I asked.

"I suppose you would be the first one to ask since you are still learning about everyone here," Misako explained, "It seems you all don't know who these people are. Allow me to explain. These two children are my niece and nephew. This young lady here is an old friend of mine. We met a couple of months after Garmedon and I got married thirty years ago. This man here is known to be...," She paused and sighed, ... Sensei Wu."

"Are you joking?" Jay asked.

"No," Misako said.

"So these two kids are Sensei`s children?" Kai asked.

"Yes," Misako said.

"And this young woman here is Sensei Wu`s wife?" Zane asked.

"Yes," Misako said.

"What are you guys talking about?" Cole asked, walking down the stairs in his bathrobe.

Kai folded his arms and gave Cole a stern look. Cole ignored him and sat down in the recliner across from Misako.

"We were just talking about Sensei Wu," I said.

Cole took a look at the photo. "Who are these people?"

"It is Sensei Wu`s family," Misako told him.

"Sensei had a family?" Cole asked in confusion.

"Listen, Sensei never told us anything about this," Jay said, "He never told us that he got married. He never told us that he had kids. Why has he never told us anything about this?"

"Allow me to explain," Misako said, "He told me the whole story. There was a reason why he never told you anything about it."

"I wonder why," Cole said.

Kai gave him a look. He turned his head toward Misako. "Go ahead, Misako. Tell us."

"It was thirty years ago, a couple of months after Garmedon and I were married," Misako explained, "Wu was happy for his brother and I, but he knew there was something missing from his life. He was taking a stroll around the village when he saw robbers raiding through stores. They were mostly chasing a young woman. Before the raiders could catch up, Wu came along and saved her. It wasn't long before Sensei fell in love himself, and it was the same girl he saved in the village. Her name was Lora. She was very beautiful and caring towards others. When I first met her, she felt like a sister to me. Garmedon on the other hand, thought she would extract danger, and said that it was for the best to get some training into her, and if she was to become a mistress of spinjitzu, so be it. Wu decided that it was for the best and went out to train her himself. Not only was Lora the love of Wu`s life, but she was also his first student."

"So I guess none of us were his first students," Cole said.

"Please, no interruptions," Misako said, "Anyway, Lora completed her training in less than a month. She was finally able to go out and battle. Two years passed, and Wu finally decided to ask Lora to be his wife. She said yes, and two weeks later, they were finally married. Ten years had passed and they finally decided to have their first child. They had a boy. I can't remember his name, but what I do remember is that he was the sweetest little nephew any aunt could ever ask for. Garmedon and I didn't have Lloyd until after our twentieth anniversary. When Lloyd was three months old, Wu and Lora had another child. This time, it was a girl. The same girl that they had is the same girl that is sleeping upstairs right now."

"How did the skeletons kidnap her?" I asked, "What happened to his wife and son?"

"The skeletons didn't kidnap her," Misako said, "Garmedon did. The day before Monica was born was the day Wu and Garmedon fought each other. Afterwards, Garmedon was planning revenge. Three months later, Wu decided to take the family out to the park. He told me that it was the biggest mistake that he ever made. Their son was out playing while Wu held both his daughter and wife. When they saw that their son disappeared for a few moments, Wu went out to find him. He saw his son in the grasp of Samuki. He fought the skeletons with as much force as he had. Remembering that he left his wife and daughter alone, he knocked Samuki to the ground and left back for them. His son had ran back to Lora, but didn't know that the skeletons were chasing after him. Wu`s whole family was surrounded, and he fought his way to them with the amount of strength that he had. Before he could even reach the hand of his wife, the army knocked him out. When he woke up, Wu saw that he was still in the park. Remembering everything that happened, Wu left the village and went to search for his family. Days passed and he saw no signs of them. After two weeks, he saw his wife in a boat with skeleton guards around her, his son in her arms. She didn't see him, but he saw her. Knowing that he would never see Lora and his son again, he went to search for his daughter. Wu ran into Samuki and demanded him to tell him where his daughter was. Samuki told Wu that Monica was gone. They left her in the middle of the forest, never to be seen again. Figuring out the fact that his family was gone, he walked home empty handed. Sensei Wu never told anyone but me. He has not thought about it since."

"Whoa," Cole said, "I don't understand why Sensei never told us this."

"Hello, his family was kidnapped by the skeletons, never to be seen again," Jay said, "What do you think?"

"Where is Sensei, anyway?" Kai asked.

"Wu and Garmedon left after they got a call from Cyrus Borg," Misako said, "He wanted to talked to them about something important. They should be back later."

"I hope they get back in time," I said, "They are going to be late for dinner."

"Isn't it your turn to cook tonight, Zane?" Jay asked.

"Yes, it is," Zane said, "Zeah, would you like to assist me?"

"I would love to," I said, "Let me go check on my father first."

I went down to the basement to check on my father. I could not stop thinking about Monica. Her father thought that she was gone. As tricky as the skeletons may be, I did not think they would do this to humans. Why would they want to form an alliance with us? It was odd and strange at the same time.

NYA`S POV:

My wish had finally come true. Earlier today, I got a call from Caleb. He asked me if I would go out on a date with him Saturday night, and I said yes. Oh, I can't wait. What do I do? Should I tell someone about it? Maybe I should. Maybe I shouldn't. I don't know what to do. I can't make up my mind. Should I tell someone or shouldn't I? If I tell someone, I can finally get it out of my head.

Who should I tell, though? Should I tell Kai? I don't think so. As an older brother, he can be pretty overprotective. If he finds out that I have a date with some guy he doesn't know, I will never hear the end of it. Now that I think about it, he'll just figure it out when Caleb comes to the door. It's best not to tell Kai. I'm most certainly not gonna tell Jay or Cole. We all know what'll happen if I did. Zane doesn't like keeping secrets and Zeah still needs a little work on keeping secrets in her head. Misako`s the only one left. I guess I better tell her so I can get my mind off of it.

I walked inside the dining room to see Misako fixing the table for dinner. "Hey, Misako."

"Hello, Nya," Misako said, "Would you like to help me?"

"Sure, but can I tell you something while I help?"

"Of course. What is it?"

I took a deep breath and said, "OkaysoItalktothisguyonthephoneandheaskedmeoutandisaid-"

"Nya, calm down. Slow down. I can't understand a word your saying. Now tell me again."

I sighed. "Okay, so I talk to this guy on the phone and he asked me out. He was someone that I met yesterday. He called me back and asked me out and I said yes. The only reason I'm telling you is because I just needed to let it out. I hope you don't mind. Hey, you don't mind keeping this a secret, right?"

"Your secret is safe with me. As long as you told Kai. Remember this, siblings have to be honest with each other. That's what makes a family stronger."

"I'll try not to forget that. Thanks."

"Anytime."

I went back to helping out with the table. Maybe I should tell Kai. I don't know. Should I be honest with him? I'm not sure. I think it's best if I just let it slide this once. As long as I'm with Caleb, I'll be okay.

OMG, SENSEI WU HAD A FAMILY. AWESOME.

BUT THE SKELETONS TOOK THEM AWAY FROM HIM. SO NOT AWESOME.

MONICA IS SENSEI WU`S DAUGHTER. I WONDER WHO HIS SON COULD BE AND WHAT HIS NAME IS. IS HE STILL ALIVE? IS LORA STILL ALIVE? ARE THEY BOTH STILL TOGETHER SOMEWHERE?

THE SUSPENSE IS KILLING ME!

HOORAY! CALEB FINALLY ASKED NYA OUT. SHE TOLD MISAKO, BUT WHAT ABOUT KAI? WILL SHE TELL HIM?

I HOPE YOU GUYS LOVE THIS STORY. I LOVE WRITING IT.

PLEASE REVIEW.