Waiting For A Star To Fall- Part 8
Disclaimer: I don't own either Samurai Jack or Foster's Home For Imaginary Friends. I got this idea after watching an old Sesame Street special 'Don;t Eat The Pictures'. Unlike Genndy I believe in giving credit where credit is due.
Also the things Bloo and Frankie say to Ra in this are what I'd personally like to say to Genndy himself!
Jackie, Goo, and Mr. Herriman entered a large imposing room full of the most beautiful statues any of them had ever seen. Jackie sat on one of the many ivory colored benches and gave a big yawn. "We've looked enough for those troublemakers tonight. It's way after midnight, and I'm tired."
"You're probably right," Mr. Herriman agreed, sitting down upon another bunch with Goo next to him. "We can take up the search in the morning. They'll be much easier to find in the daytime."
"I wouldn't mind finding about ¾ of them," Jackie mumbled. "The tall stick I'd say we leave behind. He;s the one who got us into this mess!"
"Jackie! Be nice!" Goo said.
"I AM being nice!" Jackie protested. "We'd be home right now, snuggled into our nice warm beds if it wasn't for that walking troublemaker. Ya told him be at the meeting place at 8, and does he show up? Noooooooooo"
"All right, all right, let;s all calm down," Mr. Herriman said. He sighed and looked up at the statues. "Ya know...I personally love to be in rooms like this. Those statues up there...so impressive looking. To think, they started out as just huge stones."
"Oh, look at that one! The mother and baby!" Goo cried out, pointing.
"Yes," Mr. Herriman agreed. "Ya know, as long as there have been people, there have been mother and children, and there have been paintings, statues, tapestries, and photographs of them all over the world, so we can see them and remember. We do owe a lot to them."
"We do?' Jackie said sleepily.
"Yes," Mr. Herriman said. "For if it wasn't for mothers having children, the children wouldn;t be able to think of us, and we would not exist. We do owe a lot to children and their mothers."
"Hmm," Jackie said. He yawned again. Goo followed.
"Stop that!" she scolded. "Don't you know yawning is contagious?!"
"So go to sleep," Jackie said, stretching out on the bench. "That's what I'm doing."
"I think that's what we all need to do," Mr. Heriman said, taking off his hat and stretching out on his bench. "Let's try to get some sleep." Goo took off her shoes and laid down on her bench too.
Meanwhile, the whole room that Ashi, Mac, Wilt, Coco, and Frankie began to shake. Quickly Mac grabbed Frankie with one hand and Bloo with the other. Wilt grabbed Frankie and Coco. The room filled with smoke that was so deep and thick that for a while no one could see. When it finally cleared up the friends found that they were no longer in the Viking Display, but rather in a large room with a wide, long staircase that had smoke trailing down it. On top of the staircase sat Ra. He had pure golden skin and was dressed in a blindingly white tunic with a breastplate and helmet of pure gold. The helmet framed both sides of his face and had a gold snake on the top. His eyes were pitch black. In one hand he held a sword and in the other a gold hook. Behind him was a huge sparkling blue portal. Next to him was a large balance scale that held a small box on one end.
"Ashi," Ra began, "Only surviving daughter of Aku, step forward." She did so. "You have passed the first two tests, prepare yourself for the final one, the Test of Virtue," he gestured to the scale on his side. "On one side of the scale, is your human heart." They then saw the wooden box had a picture of a heart, indicating Ashi's human heart was inside of it. "On the other side, I shall place a feather. If your heart is light and completely free of your father's essence it will rise up and your will be worthy of traveling through this portal and returning to Feudal Japan. If however it is too heavy then your heart will sink down and you will remain here forever. Do you understand?"
"Yes," Ashi answered.
"You only get one chance?!" Frankie whispered to Ashi. Ashi nodded quickly. Frankie reached over and took her hand. "Well, don't worry."
"Let the feather appear," Ra said. They waited for a small while, but nothing happened. The side of the scale it was to appear on remained empty.
"Is something supposed to happen?" Mac whispered. Frankie shrugged her shoulders.
Finally Ra stood up. "With no feather, there can be no test," he turned to leave.
"He waits all these years and he forgets the feather," Wilt muttered. "I don;t know...I just don;t know. He's supposed to be a god and he don't have a feather..."
"Wilt, shhh!" Frankie scolded.
Bloo looked at Coco, "Wait, Ra!" He called out.
Ra stopped and turned. "Yes, blue one?"
Bloo then plucked a palm off of Coco's back, causing Coco to leap. Bloo then held up the piece of palm. "Will this do?" he asked.
"Coco!" she squalked.
"Sorry," Bloo whispered quickly. "But Ashi needs this!"
Coco then looked at Ashi, and hopped to her. "Coco," she said understandingly, nuzzling up to Ashi.
Ra looked at the palm, then sat down next to the scale again. "So be it. Let the feather appear," the palm branch then disappeared from Bloo's hand and appeared on the other side of the scale.
"Wow," Bloo whispered.
Ra folded his arms in front of him. "Let the test...begin."
"Good luck," Frankie whispered, tightening her grip on Ashi's hand. Wilt put his hand on her shoulder and squeesed it. Mac crossed his fingers on both hands while Bloo clasped his hands together. The scale began to tip...first one way...then the other. Then one way...then the other. All eyes were on it as it swayed back and forth, back and forth.
Back and forth...
Back and forth...
Finally it stopped...just stopped...in the middle. The heart didn't go up or down...the scale was perfectly balanced.
"Oh no!" Frankie cried out.
"Oh dear," Wilt said.
Ra looked down sadly. "I am sorry, Ashi, Your heart is not lighter than the feather. You must stay here forever."
Frankie glanced at Ashi. Her head was lowered, her face partly covered by her hair. She could feel Ashi;s hand squeezing hers tightly, and she knew Ashi was struggling not to cry. "Oh, Ashi," Frankie said, giving her a hug. "It's OK, let it out...let it out." She could feel Ashi's body tremble and sobs quietly escape.
Bloo looked down at the ground before slowly raising his head up. "It's not fair!" he realized.
"Uh...Bloo..." Mac mumbled, trying to take his hand to tell him to calm down, but Bloo angrily snatched it away,.
"Oh, hell," he looked up angrily at Ra. "It's not fair!" He cried out at him.
Ra then stood up angrily. "NOT FAIR?!" He thundered, causing almost everyone to fall back, except Bloo.
"It's NOT fair!" He said again. "YOU'RE not fair, THIS WHOLE THING'S NOT FAIR!" He gestured to Ashi. "DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT HER LIFE WAS EVEN LIKE?! Look at her, look at what she's had to go through! She's grown up sheltered in a cave her whole life as part of a stupid cult she was born into! She had a mediocre excuse for a mother who never even saw her as a person, just a damn human weapon! If she ever got curious or questioned anything she got beaten up! She was treated like crap! She never knew love, never had a real family, never even had a real LIFE!"
Frankie then stepped forward, "She grew up believing in the wrong things her whole life because that was the only life she knew, it wasn't HER fault! And when she finally learned the truth, learned what a horrid lieing bitch her mother was and broke free of her, THAT'S when she finally found someone who loved her for her! She found someone who finally cared for her, who treated her like a person, who saw her as more than a weapon! He gave her compassion, friendship, love! She finally found love and a new life...and it was taken away from her on what was supposed to be the happiest day of her life just because of who her father was! And she was stuck here for months all alone with no friends trying to pass these tests, so of COURSE her heart is heavy!" She then turned to Ashi and put her arm around her. "Don;t worry, Ashi. We're your friends, and WE love you!"
"That's right," Wilt said, putting his hand on her shoulder again.
"For sure," Mac agreed.
"And forever too," Frankie added. "And we mean what we said. We WILL come here every night. We'll visit you, you can talk to us and we can talk to you. You'll never have to be alone again."
"Yeah, you can count on that!" Bloo promised.
Ashi looked up and smiled. She reached over and hugged Wilt, Mac, Coco, and Frankie tightly. Wilt then looked up and gasped out loud.
"LOOK! LOOK!" he called out. Everyone turned to where he was pointing and gasped. For the part of the scale containing Ashi's heart was now rising!
It was going up!
Everyone gasped as the heart now rose way above the feather. Ra looked on, surprised, then turned toward Ashi. "Washi, your heart IS lighter then the feather. Prepare for your journey to the past."
Mac, Wilt, and Bloo all jumped up and down. "Yeah! Yippee!" Frankie then gasped and moved a bit away from Ashi, for a light blue glow began to surround her. When it cleared she was now wearing a bright white kimono with wooden sandals and her hair was done up in a small bun with a flower in it. But what was different was Ashi's face. It was beaming with a happy, excited glow.
"Star your journey now," Ra said, stating to fade away. "There are many stairs to climb. And you must arrive before the sun rises."
"Wait, Ra!" Bloo cried out. "Does he know she's coming?"
"We have sent our spirits ahead," Ra explained. "He will be waiting for you on the other side of the portal." Before any of them could blink, Ra disappeared and the portal glowed at the top of the stairs brighter than ever.
"You hear that?" Bloo said. "You better get started. It;'s not good to keep a Prince waiting!"
Ashi then turned to Frankie. "Goodbye, Frankie," she said, giving her a hug.
"Goodbye, Ashi."
"Goodbye, Wilt," she hugged him.
"Have a safe journey," Wilt said.
"Goodbye, Mac," she hugged him.
"You're gonna be a wonderful Princess!" Mac said.
Coco bounded up to her, "Coco," she said, snuggling up to Ashi. Ashi smiled and hugged her.
Bloo then cleared his throat. "Uh...look...uh...I don;t really like long goodbyes...so...: he stuck his hand out for her to shake. "Take care of yourself down there. Say hi to ol' Jack for us."
"I will," Ashi said. She happily waved goodbye and turned to the staircase. Coco then bounded up to her.
"Coco!" she said. Ashi turned toward her.
"Yes, Coco?" Coco then reached over, plucked another branch, and put it into her hand.
"Coco."
"She wants you to keep that," Frankie said. "Guess it;s kinda a goodbye present."
Ashi smiled. "Thank you, Coco," she hugged her one more time, then turned and began to climb the stairs. Frankie, Wilt, Mac, Coco, and Bloo all waved as Ashi made her way up the long staircase.
"Wonder what she means by that?" Frankie whispered.
"Who knows, who cares?" Bloo said. "She's going back home, great. Now the question is how will WE get home. She's gonna go live in the lap of luxery, probably forget all about us." But when he turned he saw Ashi near the top of the stairs. Turning around, she raised her hand and waved one more big goodbye.
Bloo stared and sighed. "I'm gonna miss her too." he admitted
"Wait!" Wilt cried once Ashi had reached the top. "Will we ever see you again?"
Ashi then turned around. "Tonight, at the place were we all met. Look to the painting. I will be able to see you." She turned then walked through the bright blue portal. There was a blinding flash of blue...and she was gone.
Later Frankie, Wilt, Bloo, Mac, and Coco went back into the Japanese Room. "Wonder what she meant, come back in here?" Frankie wondered.
Wilt gasped. "Guys! Look!" They all turned toward the painting, and gasped. For in the painting was Jack...but Ashi was there in his arms! They both looked happy...truly happy.
Frankie gasped. "She made it! Oh, she made it!"
"And look what it says here," Wilt said, reading from the plaque. "This painting depicts Emperior Mako of seventeenth century Japan and his wife, Empress Ashi, two of the bravest warriors in all of Japan who single handedly saved the world from the Demon Aku and who because two of the most loved rulers in Feudal Japan!" The plaque went on to describe how Aku flung Jack to the future and how he and Ashi returned to the past to destroy him.
"Wow!" Frankie said. "Hey, guys! We have a friend in Feudal Japan!"
"We sure do," Wilt said. "Someone back there likes us!"
That morning the off key sound of Cheese's trumpet echoed through the museum as he played revelie. "OK, everybody. Rise, but DON'T shine!" he said laughing his familiar wicked laugh.
"WILT! FRANKIE! MAC!" the voices sounded near the door to the exhibit loud and clear. Soon Mrs. Foster and Mr. Herriman stuck their heads through the door to find them all asleep.
"Whew," Mrs. Foster said with relief. "There they are!"
"Yes," Mr. Herriman said. He cleared his throat. "AHEM! Hey! GOOD MORNING!" he called out. The guys groaned a bit, rubbed their eyes, and sat up.
"Oh, Grandma! Mr. Herriman!" Frankie said. "There you are."
"There WE are? Here YOU are!" Mr. Herriman said. "Where on Earth were all of you? We've been looking high and low in the museum for you!"
"Oh we were so many places, Mr. Herriman!" mac began. "See, we first came in here and we met the essence of a Japanese warrior woman from long ago, who..." Frankie then clapped her hand over Mac's mouth. "Whooph, whooph,. Whooph," Mac finished up.
"Heh, he,...a dream," Frankie explained. "See, we finally found Wilt, but it was so late we knew the museum was locked. So we thought we;'d stay here tonight until you guys found us, but I guess we fell asleep. Mac was telling us about a dream he had."
"Uh huh," Mr. Herriman said, clearly not impressed. "Then I suggest you can tell it to us when we are finally all safely outside," but as he herded them all out he stopped and gazed upon the painting. "That's funny," he said. "When I was here last night, I could have sworn there was only ONE person in the painting!" Shrugging his shoulders, he left the room.