The sounds of Pidove cooing on the windowsill awoke me from my slumber. Groggily, I pushed myself out of bed, shooing the nuisances away. They quickly scattered, startled by my sudden appearance. I glanced down at the letter still sitting on the dresser beside me, a silent reminder of the short amount of time I had to convince my parents to let me attend this school all the way in Japan. Yesterday, after I had feverishly written my first and possibly only entry in my journal, I had simply listened to my parents' reasoning as to why I should not go. There was, of course, the problem of it being so far away. Money, luckily, wasn't an issue. That would have been a hard one to refute. The other matters I would have to overcome were all military related that could be easily covered by the first issue except for one: what reason was there to attend. That was all my mother wanted to know, yet her one request was the one that kept me awake through most of the night. At first, I had no idea why I wanted to go to Naoki instead of, say, a school just as prestigious that was closer to home. It was only when that final obstacle had been breached that I allowed myself to rest.

Now, having had the time to mull over my rebuttal, I was confident that I could find a way to make this work. If I could not persuade them to let me attend through my reasoning, then I had a few ultimatums up my sleeve that might convince them. The plans were in place; now was the time to execute them.

I quickly changed into a simple black top and pants before I trudged down the stairs into the living area. A man sat in one of the chairs drinking his morning tea. Even sitting, it was obvious he was a tall man. His hair, cut extremely short, was black, although some silver hairs were mixed in. He glanced up as I entered the room, his brown eyes as stern as always. It was as if one could physically see the aura of authority and respect he exuded, one that I hoped one day to command myself. "Good morning, Father," I said, though I didn't sit down.

"Good morning," he replied. While I had tried to hide my sudden nervousness, he must have picked up on it. "Is there something you want to ask?" he added, his tone soft to ease the unwanted anxiety.

I pushed the obnoxious feeling down, as now was not the time to appear weak like a child. "Have you changed your mind over letting me attend Naoki?" I dared to ask, a small part of me clinging to the hope that a man as stubborn as my father would have had a sudden change of heart overnight.

"No, I have not," he responded, crushing what little hope remained. I no longer had the luxury of an easy way through this. I had predicted as such, though. "I suppose you want to provide your side of the argument. I'm listening," He put the half-finished cup of tea down as he leaned back, gesturing for me to begin.

Taking a deep breath, I nodded. My arms instinctively folded behind my back as I started speaking. "First off, there's the matter of distance. While I understand your concern for my being far away from home in an unfamiliar country, it is a situation that is bound to occur in the military as well. Even Callum is being deployed next month. By going to Naoki, I'd be able to experience a similar situation without being in immediate danger."

I paused for a moment to allow Father to give his input. He did not disappoint. "You bring up a valid point. Nowhere is ever truly safe, though. I wouldn't be able to protect you in Japan."

"I am aware of that. It may not be guaranteed, but the chances of this school being more dangerous than out in the field are slim." An idea came to me, seemingly out of nowhere. I started slowly, giving myself some time to truly think my new words over. "Think of this as…a learning experience." I knew I had his attention simply by the subtle tilt of his head. Anyone else would have never noticed this little nuance, but I had the privilege of having him as a father for these seventeen years of my life. "I still need to learn to interact with different people, each with their own cultural backgrounds. Naoki, as its full name states, is an international school with students from all over the world. The diversity in the student body will provide me a safer learning environment for such interactions."

"You still haven't told me why you want to go," the lilting voice of my mother interjected, the woman in question coming in from the kitchen. Her crimson hair flowed freely down her back, a few strands hanging in front of her pale green eyes. "Why this Naoki place and not somewhere…well, closer to home? There are plenty of schools in Europe where you can have such an experience."

Here it was: the problem that had devoured many hours of my sleep. "I want to attend Naoki because…because I want to be able to see all that this world offers. I want to see the world when it's at peace, not just during the chaos of war. Also, I feel as if something profound will occur at Naoki and I do not intend to miss it." I then turned back to Father, the one I truly needed to convince. I decided it would be best for me to just play my trump card now instead of later. "If my reasoning alone isn't enough to deter you, then would me promising to enlist as soon as my schooling is finished sway you?"

"What?" a voice called from upstairs. Callum's head, with his short, tousled black hair, poked out from around the corner. "Are you serious?"

"Of course," I responded, offended.

"Wow," he blurted, fully coming into view now. He was only an inch or two taller than me, but he had been growing like a weed for the past year. I wouldn't be surprised if he reaches our father's height by the time he finishes growing. His mouth was set in that persistent smirk just before the teasing began, and his pale blue eyes sparkled with a mischievous light. "That's such a shocker."

"What, may I ask, are you implying by that?" I asked, deciding to play along for a little bit with whatever he was insinuating.

"I would have thought you would break that tradition! You know, make a different name for yourself! Maybe even something more-"

"As an Ainsley, it is my duty, is it not?" I interrupted harshly, no longer wishing to know just what was winding its way through my brother's mind.

"Well, yeah, sure, but…" Callum stammered, not sure how to react to my statement.

"Enough already." I was stopping those thoughts where they stood. There were more pressing issues to deal with. "So, Father? Am I allowed to attend Naoki?"

He pondered it for a minute before finally replying, "I'll allow you to attend, but as soon as you return you will enlist. Are we in agreement?"

"We are," I responded, nodding. "Thank you, Father."

"Go and get some of your belongings packed now so that you have less to worry about later," Mother said, clearly excited for me. I guess all it really had taken to convince her was to have a reason. That much made sense. I bounded up the steps to do just as she suggested.

Multiple chapters in one day? I'm about as shocked as anybody else would be. But as my friends know, I can either write things in 20 minutes or 20 days. There is no in between. I hope this will end up proving that wrong though. I would have had these chapters all up three days ago but proper proofreading on FanFiction through the mobile app is horrid for me.

And…I only have one thing of trivia for this one, so I'm not making a list. I guess that makes sense, though, since these are coming out on the same day. Anyway, her parents' names are…Alexander…and Emily. And I just came up with them right now through random name generator stuff. Callum, on the other hand, was set when I made Morag herself.