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 Shogun 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 Katsuchi'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 the tiger Shogun bowed his head, sighed, and said he wished the end of a Shogun's life did not also mean the end of those of his fine 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 did die, surely, the land and its people and his own family and other loyal warriors would be less protected with your blood staining the ground along 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 …"

Usagi forgot he had been a warrior of cunning, skill, and hard determination carrying his lord's head undaunted through a forest of weapons aimed at him, a sea of soldiers surrounding him, and a waterfall of blood from his own brow blinding one of his eyes. At that moment, he became the youth who'd lost one who'd given him more praise and had more pride and trust in him than his own father had. And he'd just learned that pride in him would have remained unstained to this day if his lord was before 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 red robe and sobbed.

The Daimyo froze. His body knew this sensation. He had a flashback to the last time he'd felt it.

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

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

His son had drawn away from him then. He saw that now. In those days, he'd thought it merely an affect of his son's training stretching throughout most of the day and the night. Still, he'd been so proud of his son's new discipline and greatly honed, increased skills then. He had been, until he'd learned his son, during a brief disappearance from their nexus, had used those increased skills to track his old opponent back to that warrior's homeworld and kill him there.

Perhaps that had been when he'd actually lost his son, when his opinion of him had stopped mattering more than a powerful and 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 from its object. He had known it further still, when his punishment of confining said son to their palace had been circumvented by attempts to undermine his powers running their nexus. 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 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