Author's notes:  From this point on, side conversations between the father and son that are not directly involved with the "goodnight story" will be in italics. 

Bedtime Story: The First Chapter

"Once upon a time, there was a prince named Sentaro.  When he was just a baby, the prince's father decided that his son would become the greatest martial artist in the entire world.  His father felt that the only way his son could become great was by starting his training when he was just a baby.  The prince's mother didn't want her son to be taken away, but she wanted her son to be the manliest of men, so she agreed on one condition.  If, the next time she saw the prince, she decided that he wasn't manly enough for her, something very bad would happen.

And so, Sentaro and his father went on a long journey.  During their journey, Sentaro's father trained his son in all kinds of secret special martial arts techniques.  Unfortunately, Sentaro's father was not always the best teacher," here the man frowned, "and the prince ended up with a couple of curses.

"The first curse was a terrible fear of cats.  To make matters worse, anytime Sentaro's fear of cats became overwhelming (that means it became really strong), he would turn into a cat himself! 

The second curse was much worse.  While training at some special springs, Sentaro fell in.  From that moment on, every time he got splashed with cold water, he turned into a girl.  Although he could change back into a boy with hot water, Sentaro hated this curse the most.  You see, his father had done a good job of teaching Sentaro that being manly was the only way to be.  Whenever Sentaro turned into a girl, he felt a lot less manly, which made him very sad.  The only thing that made him feel better about his water changing curse was that his father changed into a panda, which he thought was actually pretty funny."

The man paused and looked down at his audience.  If the boy was asleep he could…"I'm not sleeping yet.  Keep telling the story."
"I was just resting my voice," came the sheepish reply. 

"So anyway, Sentaro and his father got into lots of trouble during their training journey.  Despite everything that happened to him, Sentaro was happy.  He would have been perfectly happy traveling all over the country, learning technique after technique.  His father however had other plans.  One day he told Sentaro that they were traveling to the kingdom of Nerima to meet his future wife.

'Wife!' Sentaro exclaimed.  'Who needs a wife?  I don't wanna get married!'

Sentaro's father told his son that, years ago, when the prince was a baby, he made a pact with his dear friend that their kingdoms would be joined.  The only way this could be achieved was through the marriage of Sentaro and one of the king's daughters.  No matter how much Sentaro argued and fought, his father refused to let Sentaro continue on the training journey.  They made their way to Nerima.  Sentaro complained the whole way to the castle.  He argued so much, that his father had to pick him up and carry him the rest of the way there.  Since it was raining the day they arrived in the kingdom, the prince was actually a princess the first time he met his future bride. 

The man looked down at the hand tugging on his arm.  "May I please have a glass of water?"
"Water?  I don't think there was any water in this deal."
"Please?  All this listening makes me very thirsty."

Author's note: You may recognize some of the character names from Kosuke Fujishima's "Oh my goddess!"  I just thought it fit!  Expect more of the same, but not necessarily with the same results.  Does that make sense?   =)