Developed from the characters and situations in the "Usagi Yojimbo" comics by Stan Sakai and episodes of the 2003 "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" series.

"Usagi … did you know I visited with your Lord Mifune?"

The Samurai's eyes widened at his host. "No …"

He smiled. "I did … when I learned from your sensei you had accepted the offer of a Daimyo to be his retainer, I thought I had better ask him if inviting you to participate in the next Battle Nexus Champion would be agreeable to him. After all, you would have to temporarily leave his service to compete in it."

Usagi stared at his host and again, words burst from his mouth though with less power. His breathing had quickened. "What did he say?"

The Daimyo smiled. "He said he would be pleased for other rulers, from lands he had never seen nor heard of, to see what a fine retainer he had, and perhaps come to fear attacking his land that had such a protector."

Usagi bowed his head and closed his eyes. His voice came out lower, but deeper as well. "'That' did not happen."

The Daimyo's smile became twisted and sadder. "Lord Hikiji never attended a Battle Nexus Tournament."

"No …"

The Daimyo looked at his guest for another moment before asking "Would you like to know what else he told me?"

Usagi opened his eyes and lifted his gaze a little. After a moment of meeting his host's gaze, he replied, "Yes ... if that would be agreeable to you …"

The Daimyo nodded. "I joked to him not to let himself die or I would not have a competitor in my tournament trained in the great Katsuichi's unique fighting style."

Usagi raised his head meet his host's gaze. For the first time, a spark of anger lit his eyes as he looked upon the ruler of the Battle Nexus. The Daimyo's own expression grew sadder as he continued. "And your Daimyo bowed his head, sighed, and said he wished the end of a lord's life did not also mean the end of those of his most loyal warriors …"

Usagi's mouth fell open as he watched the Daimyo with even wider eyes. The ruler bowed his head further as he continued. "He said he hoped you would prevent that for him and the rest of his warriors. He speculated perhaps part of the reason for the tradition was ensuring a lord of such fine warriors would give even more thought to protecting his own life as doing so also protect theirs. But he also surmised, surely, if he did die, it would have nothing to do with your skill or loyalty. If he died, surely, the land, its people, and his own family and other loyal warriors would be less protected with your blood staining the ground with his own …"

The Daimyo looked back up at Usagi. Streams of tears darkened the white fur around his muzzle. The Daimyo continued, "Mifune knew not how true he spoke that day, young one. Surely the whole multiverse was partly saved through your actions today, yours and others. Your lord would have been proud of you today and proud of how you have continued to protect others throughout your home world with the same skill and courage you protected him with and continue to protect his memory with to this day …"

In that moment, Usagi forgot he had become a warrior of cunning, skill, and hard determination who had carried his lord's head undaunted, through a forest of weapons, an ocean of soldiers, and a waterfall of blood flowing over one of his eyes from his own brow, alone. At that moment, he was a youth who'd lost one who'd given him more praise and had more trust in him than his own father had had. And he'd just learned that person's pride in him would have remained unstained to this day if he was with him now.

Usagi leapt off the cushioned bench. He ran full force into the torso of the Daimyo of the Battle Nexus. There, he buried his face in his host's red robe and sobbed.

The Daimyo froze. His body knew this sensation. A flashback whisked his mind off to the last time he'd felt it.

His son had been defeated in a battle he'd tried very hard to win. He had returned to him head hanging and steps dragging. He had praised his son's undaunted spirit to the end of the bout. He had been begun to cry against him this way within sight of the victor.

After that, his son's opponent had been relentless in reminding his son of his loss "and" loss of control. He'd brought it up every time his son passed him in the city let alone the times the Daimyo's son was forced by diplomacy to interact with him. Alone, before crowds, the context had not mattered to the other warrior's boasting of his victory over him and his son's cry before others.

He saw now that those days had been when his son had started drawing away from him. In those days, he'd thought it merely an affect of his son's training stretching throughout most of the day and the night in determination to get better. He'd been so proud of his son's new discipline and greatly honed skills until he'd learned his during a brief disappearance from their nexus, his son had used those increased skills to track his old opponent back to that warrior's home-world and kill him centuries before.

Perhaps that had been when he'd actually lost his son, when his opinion of him had stopped mattering more than a boastful opponent's. He knew the fuller extent of that loss, when his forgiveness of his son's lack of diplomacy and mercy had been met with an arrogant sneer. He had known it further still, when his punishment of confining said son to their palace had been circumvented again and again. Those escapes had had the purpose of pursuing other duels with more warriors across the multiverse. His son had been doing thus for centuries.

Yes, he had lost him before today. He had not felt his son weeping against his stomach and chest like this in a long, long time. He never would again. But, for now, he had another wounded-in-spirit warrior weeping into his robe. He wrapped his arms around the rabbit and remembered what that felt like.

What do you think?

God Bless

ScribeofHeroes