AN: If anyone who shared a bunk with me is reading this, I better not see any comments regarding The Pillow. If you do, it's dishonor on you AND your cow! Anyway… on with the story.
Part 2: Summer Siblings
"OK, here's one! What do you call Shang when he tries to flirt outdoors?" Ling had stopped by the Li-Fa family household to entertain the four kids.
"No idea, Uncle Ling." Ruhuo answered.
"A natural disaster!"
Ling had no need to laugh at his own joke. The four kids were cracking up. Giggling came from the other end of the house where Mulan was (supposedly) playing chess with Kara. Shang overheard it from outside and shook his head at the joke. He walked in to see all of his children laughing at his expense. Then again, Ling wasn't exactly wrong. "All right, Ling, that's quite enough."
"Aw, come on!" Ling groaned dramatically and pouted. The kids laughed again. Their "uncle" was a great actor!
"Do you have any stories about Niang?" asked Heliu, who was Ruhuo's twin.
"You mean Kara?"
The kids nodded in unison.
"Unfortunately, I don't know her that well…"
"But I do." said a moderately deep voice. Everyone turned around to see a young person about Kara's age. They were a bit shorter and stockier, slightly paler in complexion. Long dark waves partially concealed eyes the color of molten silver-gold.
"Who are you?" asked Mai. She had never seen this person before.
"My name's Len. I use they/them pronouns."
Rong and Mai looked at each other. The two started whispering. Len got a little uncomfortable. Well, more than a little, if they were being honest with themself. But they did catch one phrase: "Len's like Mama!' At that moment, Kara walked out. Her hair resembled molten gold rapids rather than polished bronze, and her cheeks were the same color as a lucky envelope.
Mulan came out next, also disheveled and red-faced. She looked embarrassed at seeing her husband and kids staring at her. Ling was smart enough to look away.
"Is chess really that hard?" asked Rong, out of the blue. Kara didn't know how to handle that question.
"Well, Kara made a move against the rules, so we started sparring." Mulan hoped that would do the trick.
"Then why are there red marks on her neck?" asked Ruhuo and Heliu at the same time. Len sensed a disaster if the kids pried any further.
"You wanted stories about Kara?" Len changed the subject.
"Yes! Are you in them too?" asked Mai. "I can't wait to… OW!" Rong had grabbed a hold of Mai's braid.
"Most of them." Len sat down. "Ling, I'll take over the stories from here."
"All right!" Ling made an exaggerated bow and stepped down. He sat between Rong and Mai to separate them. Mai, meanwhile, started thinking about getting her knife… later, because these stories were bound to be good.
-FLASHBACK-
Fifteen-year-old Helene Tsakonas groaned as she walked up the hill to the little white-sided cabin. Her mother had followed her the whole way, talking about unimportant matters. Helene just wanted to get in the bunk and get it over with. And leave her overbearing mother behind. This dream soon shattered when her mother followed her into the bunk. Which was pointless, since Helene was carrying the luggage.
Thankfully, Helene had an ally in this seemingly losing battle. At first, she didn't recognize the tall sixteen year old with past-her-shoulders bronze waves and hazel eyes. This lack of recognition seemed to go both ways. That is, until Helene's mother started being overall embarrassing. Helene groaned - from both pain and humiliation - as her mother crushed her in a hug and teased her about being "matchy matchy." That was when the sixteen year old put down her sketchbook and stood up from the bottom bunk bed. A height of five-feet-nine-inches, plus a generous amount of muscle, made her intimidating. That was before she even bothered opening her mouth. Her strong soprano carried through the small space: "This is camp! Parents need to butt out!"
Surprisingly, Helene's mother did just that. One last goodbye, and Helene was free. "What's your name?" asked Helene.
"Kara." said the sixteen year old. "Yours?"
"Helene. But please call me Lennie."
"OK, Lennie." Kara smiled. She thought she recognized Lennie from last summer… but wasn't sure. It didn't matter. This summer was going to be even better. Now they were sharing a bunk, rather than just crossing paths in an activity.
Mulan turned to Kara. "So that's how you met Len!"
"Yes, and it only got better." Kara tried to run her fingers through her hair and make it look decent. Her fingernail scratched some now-sore marks on her neck. She resolved to get back at Mulan for biting her. That reminded her of something embarrassing, her cheeks turning red again.
Don't tap into the bond, don't tap into the bond, don't you dare tap into the bond…
Too late, Kara.
Dammit, Len...
"What's wrong?" asked Shang.
"The next part of the story is potential blackmail." Len's grin turned almost wicked. They turned to the kids again. "I wouldn't advise embarrassing your Niang, but if she ever does something you don't like…"
Shang had since sat down on Kara's left, while Mulan was on her right. Kara pushed her face into Shang's shoulder. "Spare me, I beg you…" she mumbled.
"Hmm, I'm sure it can't be that bad." Shang smirked.
Kara sat up and glared at Shang. "Whose side are you on, Pretty Boy?" Usually, the unwanted nickname would annoy Shang and put his attention elsewhere. But it didn't work this time. Shang started chuckling. Again, Kara tried to avoid bringing up the embarrassing story: "Wipe that smirk off your face, it's not funny!"
"Oh, but it is." Len sang. Their voice was pleasing to the ears. Still, Kara couldn't stand the thought of her darkest camp secret being brought to light.
"Fine, you can embarrass me, just this once." She stuck her tongue out at Len, who responded with a similar expression. Then she turned to the four children, her face severe. "But let me make something very clear… if any of you use this for blackmail, you're mucking out the stables for a month. Understood?"
None of the kids liked mucking out the stables. They took Kara's words as a valid threat, and listened to the next part of Len's story…
-FLASHBACK-
Lennie couldn't sleep. It wasn't the usual problems, like nightmares and her brain staying active. Kara, who had taken the lower bunk, was being rather noisy. Mumbling something indistinguishable and rolling a bit. Then… a kissing sound? Lennie's curiosity got the better of her, and she leaned over the railing to listen in on whatever her bunkmate was doing.
Needless to say, Lennie had to bite the tip of her pointer finger to keep from bursting into laughter. Kara was rolling on the bed and mumbling things that would probably put her on a certain hero's bad side. It got even worse - she kissed her pillow. "Mmm, Shang..." she murmured, "you kiss as well as you fight."
Lennie bit up to the knuckle. This was too funny! It got even funnier when Kara's voice dropped in pitch. "Why, thank you."
Now, Lennie was shaking with held-back laughs. She was trying not to rattle the bunk bed. Not that pillow-romancing Kara would ever notice. It might wake the rest of the campers up, though. Never mind. Lennie had excellent night vision and could see the reactions of a few others. Somebody on the next bottom bunk was already awake, pushing a stuffed animal over her head to hopefully block the noise. Another girl's face contorted into a disgusted expression.
The pitch went up to an angry whisper: "Sanderson Kara! What are you doing with my fiancé?!"
Silence at last. At that point, Lennie couldn't hold it back. She pushed her face against her own pillow to muffle the laughs. And she was laughing so hard that she started crying.
Shang's tan face was about the same deep pink hue as a magnolia. Mulan couldn't stop laughing. Kara had her face buried in her hands.
"Wow, Kara, you had it bad!" Mulan was hooting with laughter.
"And how long did you let her get away with it?" asked Shang. "I mean, did you tell her in the morning?"
Len smirked again. "Oh no. I let her think nobody heard it. Then I revealed her pillow-romancing habits when we were talking with a group of friends."
"It only took you eight years!" Kara butted in with mock indignation. At that, the two friends were laughing again.
Mai made a gagging noise. "Are there any stories that don't involve Niang being a mushball?"
"Oh, plenty." said Len lightly. They looked to Kara. "Any other memories you want these kiddos to hear about?"
"I suppose we could start with throwing down arrows…" Kara grinned.
-FLASHBACK-
Lennie took a deep breath and tugged the colorful rope. One end was intricately knotted around a carabiner on a climbing harness and the other end was in a counselor's hands. She went towards the climbing tower - specifically the Giant's Ladder, which required two people. Her partner for the climb was Kara.
"On belay!" called Lennie and Kara at the same time.
"Belay on!" the specialist called back.
"Climbing!" shouted the two.
"Climb away!"
Lennie and Kara gave each other a determined look. They tapped into a mental link they had developed over the past few days. In three words, their voices echoed in each other's minds: We got this. And with that, they began to climb. Kara took the first step and grabbed Lennie's hand. Pulling her friend to the same level, Kara bent her right knee like she was going to take the next step. Her strong leg provided a platform for Lennie to stand on, and ascend the second step. Then, Lennie pulled Kara up, bending her right knee so that Kara could continue the climb. They repeated this process three more times, until both were at the top platform.
A mini-celebration occurred at the platform. A glint appeared in Lennie's eyes as she got an idea. "Kara, will you do the honor of throwing down the arrow?" Kara reached over to the platform railing and grabbed an (imaginary) arrow. She held it up and made a downward throwing motion. A few of the other campers who were waiting their turn rolled their eyes. Then again, the Mulan-themed inside jokes were just part of this summer. The two descended the course. Kara, ever the daring camper, chose to jump and hit a suspended bell. Lennie rappelled down. Once on the ground, they began to sing:
"Be a man!" began Lennie.
"We must be swift as the coursing river!" sang Kara.
"Be a man!"
"With all the force of a great typhoon!"
"Be a man!"
Then they sang together: "With all the strength of a raging fire, mysterious as the dark side of the moon! HYAH!"
This was met with annoyance from their bunkmates. Reactions ranged from side-eyes to glares to "Thanks a bunch, now that's stuck in my head!" to "Stop singing!" But as other campers soon found out, "stop singing" was the least effective deterrent. If someone told the two friends to stop singing, they'd just sing louder.
Kara and Len laughed at the memory. Heliu and Ruhou, on the other hand, looked confused.
"Len, I thought you used they/them pronouns?" said Heliu.
"And isn't Helene a girl's name?" Ruhuo added.
Initially, Len felt distressed at these questions. But they took it as an opportunity to educate.
"Well…" They took a deep breath. "That's a story that started after the summers…"
-FLASHBACK-
Len took a deep breath as they picked up their cell phone. They had been meaning to tell something to Kara for a few years, but was afraid it would hurt the friendship. Or even destroy it. Their fingers became clumsy as they tried to dial Kara's number…
Then the phone went off with a special ringtone: "Lesson Number One" from Mulan II. Kara's contact picture and name came up on the screen. Now or never. Len took another deep breath and hit the green circle to accept the call.
"Hiya!" Kara greeted. Her cheerful inside-joke greeting from the summers soon gave way to concern. Len looked unsettled. "Lennie, what's wrong?"
"It's a long story, Kara."
"Hey, we're bunk-sisters, I always have time to listen."
Len decided to use the old term of affection as an entry point. "Actually… I was thinking, could we be summer siblings instead?"
"Same difference." said Kara. "But why did you bring that up?"
"Kara, there's something I should have told you a few years ago. I'm not "Lennie," and I'm not a girl."
Kara looked confused, but said nothing. Then she blurted out, "Then what should I call you?"
"Len." said Len. "And now I'm using they/them as my pronouns."
A different look crossed Kara's face. Len tried to place it. Despite having known Kara for almost a decade now, it was hard to read her sometimes. She wasn't confused, she wasn't critical… she was processing. This seemingly small piece of information was heavier than anyone would think. Finally, Kara spoke: "Lennie - I mean, Len - you could have told me this years ago, and it wouldn't have changed anything about our friendship."
"You mean… you're not weirded out or anything?" Len couldn't believe it. They had lost a lot of friends when they first came out.
"Weirded out?" Kara echoed the question. "Why would I be weirded out? You're still the same friend I met at summer camp. All you're doing is changing your outside to reflect who you are inside - right?"
A smile crossed Len's face. "Yes." Then the smile expanded to a grin: "Reference 1!" The two had a laugh at one of their newer inside jokes.
"Summer siblings?" asked Kara.
"Summer siblings." affirmed Len.
As the sun began to set, Ling said goodbye to the Li-Fa family and left. He promised to return with more stories and jokes, which the kids all looked forward to. Kara pulled a Silver Arrow from the folds of her tunic. "You'll need this to get home." said Kara, holding the Silver Arrow out so Len could take it.
"No, Mushu gave me one." Len declined. "That's how I got here. Besides, it's not like I'm expecting company any time soon. I can stick around for a few days."
"Great!" exclaimed all four kids. Ruhuo and Heliu were especially excited about Len staying. "So if you're Niang's summer sibling, that makes you our…"
"Godparent." Len and Kara said this at the same time. Len grinned and walked into the house, with Rong, Heliu, and Ruhuo as escorts. Mai stayed behind.
Then another voice popped into the conversation: "Kara, you'll never have to kiss another pillow as long as you live."
"MUSHU!" Kara pressed her hand into her face. "How long have you been listening to this?"
"The whole time!" Mushu jumped and landed on Shang's shoulder. Shang swatted him off. From what Mulan had told him, the young Captain was fully expecting the travel-size dragon to yell something about dishonoring him and his cow. But instead, Mushu brushed himself off and started singing...
"Sha la la la la la
Don't stop now
Don't try to hide it
How you wanna kiss the girl…"
Mai immediately objected to this outburst of song. "I don't want to see Niang and Baba getting all lovey-dovey!"
"Sha la la la la la
Float along
And listen to the song
The song say, kiss the girl…"
"Mushu, stop singing!" At this point, Mai noticed Kara and Shang were giving each other that look. "They're going to..." But Mushu just sang louder.
"Sha la la la la la
Music play
Do what the music say
You got to kiss the girl
You got to kiss the girl
You wanna kiss the girl
You've gotta kiss the girl
Go on and kiss the girl!"
Kara leaned in and closed her eyes, pulling Shang into a sweet kiss. They didn't hear Mai gagging - or maybe they were just ignoring her. This was par for the course with an eight-year old…