Disclaimer: The SWAT Kats are owned by Hanna Barbera and the Tremblay Brothers. I own the OCs.
Dear readers, I'm putting this story on Hiatus so I can develop David's demise. I promise it will be good!
MisaRae, you have helped me in so many ways I can never repay you for. If it wasn't for One Plus One, we would have never met and my life would be so much emptier without you. Thank you my dear sister!
From the previous chapter:
Aya laughed after Yoso responded to Natusme's question, then said, "Speaking of kittens, Yoso, Natsume, I have something to tell both of you."
Yoso turned his head to face Aya. He noticed her shaking ever so slightly and went over to her. Yoso laid a gentle paw on her shoulder, then said, "Aya, you have nothing to be afraid of. You can tell me or Natsume anything and we will support and help you though anything. Please, tell me what's bothering you."
Aya started to tear up as she listened to Yoso's words. As she wiped the tears away from her eyes, she said, "You both might want to sit down to hear what I'm going to tell you."
Both Natsume and Yoso took a seat and held each other's paws very tightly while they waited for Aya to tell them what was on her mind.
Lisa put the sword down and went over to Aya before she gave her a comforting hug while saying softly to her, "Mark and I are here for you. Go on and tell them."
Aya pulled back ever so slightly from Lisa. With a fresh round of tears in her eyes, she said, "Thank you, my friend."
"You're welcome Aya. Now go and tell them. I promise, they will be ecstatic they have a grandson," Lisa said.
Aya simply smiled back at Lisa, knowing she was right and after she dried her eyes one last time, Aya faced the Saitos and said, "Natsume, Yoso, you know I love your son Ushio with all my heart and always will. That love we shared brought us something wonderful.
Yoso turned his head to his wife, not knowing what Aya was saying. But as he refocused back on Aya, he held his wife's paws even tighter if that were possible.
"Yoso, Natsume, you have a grandson. His name is Ushio, named after his late father. He is only two months old and too young to make the trip. But you two are more than welcome to come out to Nikko to meet him," Aya said as she nervously placed a strand of gray hair behind her ear.
"We have a grandson?" Yoso asked on shaky breath.
"Ushio impregnated me right before he was killed. I.. didn't know I was pregnant until after the funeral. He would have been a great father," Aya answered. Then continued, "I hope you are not upset that I have a child outside of marriage with your son?"
Natsume let go of Yoso and went over to stand directly in front of Aya. Her eyes start to water as she said, "A grandson, I have a grandson! Please tell me you have a picture of him?"
Aya went back to her patrol car, removed her hat from the front seat, and returned to the porch where she handed the hat to Natsume, saying, "Look inside Natsume. There is a picture of me holding Ushio right after he was born."
Natsume turned the hat over and peered inside the hat. She saw the tiny black and white photo of Aya cradling this tiny baby kitten in her arms. Then she noticed this little sparkle in the kitten's eyes that instantly reminded her of the same sparkle that was in Ushio's eyes. "Yoso, get over here and see your grandson!" Natsume ordered.
Yoso came over to where Natsume was standing and looked at the photo. "My grandson, he's beautiful." Yoso looked up to Aya and asked, "Why would you think we would be upset about having a grandchild?"
"You have told Ushio and I on numerous occasions that things have a natural order. I thought that since you were so against me and Ushio being intimate without being married first, you would be furious we had a child outside of marriage," Aya said as she backed away from Yoso a few steps.
"Child, am I blind? Am I so old that I wouldn't notice the way you and my son touched each other and not know you both were intimate?" Yoso asked. "Hardly. Natsume and I knew you two have been intimate more than once and there is nothing we could do to stop it. On the day of Ushio's funeral, I noticed a slight change in you Aya. But I could not put a finger on it, until now." He went over to Aya and embraced her in a tight bear hug, then said, "My father would have killed me if I impregnated Natsume without being married to her first. However, I'm not my father. Even though I cherish the old ways and his teachings, if you two would have waited, I would never know the joy of being a grandfather and to be able to hold my own grandson." Yoso pulled back just enough to look into Aya's eyes and said, "Natsume and I will accompany you when you return home so we can meet our grandson and please, call be father from now on."
Aya wrapped her arms around Yoso and shed a few tears of happiness into his shoulder as she said, "Ushio will love to meet his grandparents, father."
Lisa pulled Mark into a side-ways hug, leaned her head against his right shoulder, and said, "I wish we could be there to see little Ushio meet his grandparents for the first time."
"So do I Lisa. I have a good feeling that Yoso is going to become a doting grandfather and refuse to put his beloved grandson down. Come, we need to rest. We have a flight to catch first thing in the morning," Mark said.
Morning came way too quickly for all. Lisa busied herself, packing up the last of their things for the return trip back to MegaKat while Mark finished up in the bathroom.
Yoso entered the guest house and started bringing their luggage to the main house and the waiting limo.
Natsume and Aya had prepared a light breakfast consisting of grilled fish, steamed rice, tea, and juice and as Mark and Lisa entered the kitchen for their last meal in the Saito's home, Natsume said, "You both have given us something that we could never repay. These past two weeks you blessed our home with your presence as well as letting us treat you as parents. You both are welcome back here anytime you want and when you return, your kitten will have someone to play with that will be close to his or her age."
"That's correct mother," Aya said as she served the fish. "After you two went to bed, we talked for a few hours and came to the conclusion that I should transfer from Nikko's Police force and join the force here in Osaka. My father, Ushio and I will live in the guest house until I find a suitable place for all of us to live in. That way, Ushio will have his grandparents near by at all times instead of just his grandfather."
"Ushio is going to be one lucky kitten to have all of his grandparents around him at all times," Lisa said as she picked up a piece of her fish with a pair of chopsticks.
Mark managed to eat his meal without too much difficulty with the chopsticks using his right paw, since he was left-pawed. As he finished, he wiped his mouth with a napkin, then said, "Lisa, as much as I don't want to leave, we have a flight to catch in three hours. We need to say our so-longs and head out to the airport."
Lisa silently agreed with Mark and cleared her and Mark's plate from the table and when she returned from the kitchen, she embraced Yoso and Natsume tightly as she said, "Thank you both for having us in your wonderful home."
"You're welcome Lisa," Natsume said. "Without you two, we would have never known we had a grandson. For that reason alone, you both are welcome here, anytime."
"Yes, please come back and bring your family with you. Our door will always be open," Yoso said.
"Thank you both so very much," Mark said. "We have felt at home here ever since our feet hit the grounds." He looked around the house that was his and Lisa's home for the past two weeks, then said, "I don't want to leave either, but we have to go, there is someone who needs us back home."
"We understand completely, may the goddess speed you on your trip home," Natsume said.
After a long set of goodbyes, Mark and Lisa slipped into the back of the limo and headed out to the airport. After the doors closed on their flight, they looked out of the window at their adoptive country as the plane pulled back from the gate. Lisa grasped ahold of Mark's paw tightly and he brought it up to his lips to kiss it. He then said, "We've got a twelve hour flight ahead of us Lisa, let's get some rest cause once we get home, I doubt sleep will be one of the things we do for a while."
Hours later, Katerina was fastening Gwendlyn into her car seat in the rented passenger van since they were going to pick up Mark and Lisa from the airport as well as Katerina's squad when Gwendlyn asked, "Mommy, why do we have to go out to the airport on such a nice day instead of playing in our garden?"
Hearing Gwendlyn call her 'Mommy' still made her heart jump in her chest every time she heard it. But she loved the feeling as well as hearing Gwendlyn say it. She responded after kissing Gwendlyn on the forehead, "We have to pick up our brother and sister from their honeymoon in Japan Gwen. Plus, I have a few friends arriving from my home country that will be staying with us for a while."
"Do they all speak like you do mommy? I love the way you talk," Gwendlyn asked.
Katerina smiled at her daughter before she replied, "Da, they all speak like I do Gwen, and you know what?" She waited for her daughter's reply for a few seconds and only received a shaking of Gwendlyn's head in response. Katerina continued, "They are all going to be your friends."
Tina happened to arrive at the van as Katerina and Gwendlyn were talking. She heard Katerina mention her friends from her home country and as she climbed into the passenger's seat, she asked, "Are you sure this is really a good idea Kat? Do we want a group of mercenaries around our daughter?"
Katerina climbed into the driver's seat, buckled herself in, and as she placed her paws on the wheel, she said, "My squadron comprises some of the best fighters I know. And Gwendlyn will be in the best of paws with them here." She flashed Tina a very toothy grin before starting the van.
"Oh, great. You've grinned like that only once before and Sally had to buy a new van!" Tina said as they took off towards the airport.
Katerina managed to get them to the airport without causing too much chaos on the roads. She parked the van in a secluded spot far enough away from the last car in the lot. Katerina slipped the van into park and turned off the engine before she faced her lover as well as her daughter and said, "See, I got us to the airport, safe and sound."
"Safe and sound!?" Tina exclaimed. "Kat, I love you to death but what was that back at the intersection a few miles back?!"
"What are you talking about Tina?" Katerina asked.
"Oh, that little thing with the box truck that almost killed all three of us?" Tina answered.
Katerina's tail drooped and her smile faded away. "That truck's driver cut me off, so I showed him who is the better driver. I didn't think I would cause anyone harm by teaching him a lesson."
Tina unbuckled Gwendlyn from the back seat and Gwendlyn said, "Mommy, please don't be so hard on mommy."
Tina hugged Gwendlyn and Gwendlyn wrapped her arms around Tina's neck. Then Tina said, "I won't, I promise." She turned her head to Katerina as she lifted Gwendlyn from her car seat and said, "You can't be so reckless behind the wheel anymore Kat. You might have accidentally managed to hurt our daughter. Then what?"
"I..I never want to cause our daughter harm, I'll do better to keep myself under control. I promise," Katerina said on very shaky breath.
Tina went over to Katerina while carrying Gwendlyn. She kissed Katerina on the cheek and said, "I know you will Kat. You're an awesome mother. Let's go and get Mark and Lisa, they are going to want to meet their adorable niece."
The three of them entered the 'Arrivals' section of the airport and they all looked at the board to see what carousel Mark and Lisa's luggage would be presented at so they could go and meet them there since they would not be allowed to the gate.
While they waited, a few couples whispered to each other about Katerina and Tina's sexual preference as well as them adopting an all black kitten. Katerina wanted desperately to go over and berate the other couples since she loved her family just like any other family would. However, Tina stopped her while shaking her head.
Katerina scowled at the couples then instead of retaliating, focused on her beautiful daughter.
As they kept Gwendlyn occupied with looking out over the tarmac at the planes and describing what the various parts of each plane was and what it did, the flight Mark and Lisa was on announced that it arrived. The three of them left the large window facing the tarmac and went over to the escalator which Mark and Lisa will be descending to retrieve their luggage.
Lisa and Mark left their gate and started heading towards the escalator to get their checked bags. Lisa held on tight to Mark's right arm while resting her head against Mark's right shoulder.
Mark had his arm firmly wrapped around her waist, holding her close and loving every minute of it. They turned to the left in order to step onto the escalator and Mark kissed Lisa between the ears and whispered, "I love you my dear wife."
Tina noticed Mark and Lisa first and handed Gwendlyn to Katerina so she could be the first to welcome them back from their honeymoon.
Lisa noticed Tina coming towards them and said to Mark, "I think Tina missed you."
As they reached the bottom of the escalator, Tina waited for them to step off of the machine. And just as soon as they did, she closed the distance between them and hugged her brother. "I missed you Mark," she said then felt the bandage on Mark's left shoulder. She pulled back and worriedly looked into Mark's eyes as she asked, "You were supposed to be on your honeymoon, what happened to your shoulder?"
Mark simply smiled back at her and responded, "I missed you too, little sister and this is a small badge of courage for doing what is right." He noticed Katerina walking towards them, carrying a gorgeous female kitten in her arms. He then said, "You care to tell me who that beautiful girl Katerina is carrying is?"
Tina turned around and watched as Katerina and Gwendlyn approached. She turned around with a proud smile on her face, then said, "Mark, Lisa. While you both were gone, Katerina and I did something wonderful. We adopted Gwendlyn and brought her into our little family."
Lisa let go of Mark and went over to Katerina and Gwendlyn. She gazed into the golden eyes of the black furred kitten and said, "I'm Lisa Samuelson and he is my husband Mark. Pleased to meet you Gwendlyn."
"Hi Lisa, pleased to meet you too. Might I say you are quite beautiful," Gwendlyn responded.
Lisa smiled at Gwendlyn and said, "You may. However, you are quite beautiful yourself."
Mark lowered himself to be on the same level as Gwendlyn, then said, "As you probably guessed by now, I'm Mark, Lisa's husband and my wife is right, you are very beautiful."
Gwendlyn finally noticed how built Mark was and how his muscles were shown through his shirt. Plus he was quite handsome as well. "Thank you Mark," she responded. "You are very handsome as well. You must have had she-cats flocking to you before you got married."
Mark smiled back at Gwendlyn, then said, "Nah, ever since I met my wife, I stopped seeing other she-cats altogether. Something simply told me that Lisa and I were going to be together for their rest of our lives." He reached out with his right arm, picked Gwendlyn from Katerina, then said as he turned his head to face her, "Why don't I tell you a story of how the gorgeous ballerina fell for the campus bad-boy on the way back home?"
Gwendlyn snuggled into Mark's body, then said, "I'd like that but we have to wait for mommy's other friends."
Before Mark had a chance to ask, a group of six females all dressed in light colored loose camouflage turned the corner. Each one of them wore a different color beret. One of the taller she-cats who had light colored fur, a blonde braid of hair that fell a little past her shoulders, and wearing a red beret noticed Katerina. She led her group over to them and after she approached, she hugged Katerina and said, "Good to see you again Commander."
"Da, good to see you again as well Elizaveta," Katerina responded as she hugged her sergeant back. After Katerina pulled back, she said, "Comrade, let me introduce you to my family and friends." She turned to Mark, Lisa, and Gwendlyn then said, "These two are some of my closest friends, please meet Lisa and Mark."
Elizaveta quickly sized up the two adults and figured out they were not a threat to her mission. She extended her right paw, then said, "Please to make your acquaintance."
Lisa shook Elizaveta's paw as she said, "Nice to meet you as well Elizaveta."
Elizaveta smiled back at Lisa then turned her head ever so slightly to face Mark and Gwendlyn. She let go of Lisa's paw, stepped over to where Mark was standing holding Gwendlyn, then asked, "Good field dressing. You hurt during duty, no?"
"Not quite, I received this on my honeymoon as a reminder of doing what was right," Mark replied.
Elizaveta cocked her head to the left, not knowing what he meant. What she did know is a dressing like that and the scar that the wound would leave is a badge of honor, that is if he received the wound fighting for what he believed was right and just. "So, how did you get wounded, exactly?" She asked.
"My wife and I ran into a situation on the last day of our honeymoon that we shouldn't have gone into. However, since we are both Enforcers, when we hear a cry for help, we act and not wait for someone else to step in to assist Elizaveta," Mark replied.
Elizaveta understood what Mark was telling her. She pulled up her right pant leg to her knee, revealing this large scar in her calf. "I got this helping a fellow comrade. I was lucky, she wasn't. This scar reminds me daily that the path to doing what is right is not always the easy one," Elizaveta said as she lowered her pant leg back down. After she stood back up, she said, "Let me introduce you to my comrades." She walked back to her squadron who were all standing at ease in single file according to their rank. She stopped at the first she-cat on the right and said, "This is my Second in Command, Esfir." Esfir stood at the same height as Elizaveta with dark brown hair, the same light colored fur, brown eyes, and was wearing a dark-red beret. Esfir simply nodded in acknowledgment and didn't speak a single word.
Elizaveta took two steps forward to stand just to the left of a slightly smaller she-cat and said, "This is Verusha. She is my weapons officer as well as my tactical advisor." Verusha had short dirty blonde hair, slightly darker colored fur than Esfir, and a small scar on her left cheek. She said in her native language, "Nice to meet you all."
Elizaveta took another two steps forward to a very tall and built she-cat who wore a light green beret, and said, "This is Inna, she is the one I call on when I need muscle." Inna had very short black hair even darker fur than Esfir, as well as a deep voice. She responded in English, "Nice to meet you."
Elizaveta took a few steps to the left to stand in front of the two remaining she-cats. She smirked at the two youngest of her recruits, knowing they were two of the smartest and cunning in her squad, then said, "These two sisters are two of the best when it comes down to strategy and critical planning. Not to mention when they are teamed up together, they can take on Verusha as well as Inna and win. They are, Galina and Nadia."
Galina stood about a head shorter than Verusha, had long wavy blonde hair, blue eyes and wore a light blue beret.
Nadia was even shorter than Galina. She had the same color fur and hair which was cut short. Nadia wore a beret which was a slightly darker color red than Elizaveta's.
Both she-cats smiled at Mark, Lisa, and Gwendlyn. However, Nadia came over to Gwendlyn and said, "Hi, we are going to be great friends."
Mark looked over the group of she-cats, especially the way they were dressed and how they addressed Katerina. He then asked, "And just what are you six supposed to be anyway? You all look like a set of ex-patriots or something."
Elizaveta was about to respond to Mark. But before she could, Katerina held up her left arm, silencing her, then answering, "Elizaveta is my second in command and she personally picked these she-cats from my squadron back home to watch over and protect my family. I trust Elizaveta's decision without question. If she feels that these five are the best there is, then so do I!"
Mark handed Gwendlyn over to Lisa then he went to stand in front of Nadia, staring her down. He took a deep breath, then asked her, "Nadia, can you watch over Gwendlyn and do what is necessary to protect her?"
Nadia quickly sized up Mark and found every single weakness in his stance. She also took notice of his injury so she didn't aggravate it any further. "Mark, I'm more than capable of protecting Gwendlyn! I'm a highly trained fighter as well as holding a Masters degree in Physics and Mathematics. The beret I proudly wear signifies my rank. The more red in the color, the higher the rank of the she-cat who wears it." She quickly barked back at Mark.
"Is that so?" Mark asked as he puffed out his chest. "All I see is a small, loud-mouthed she-cat standing in front of me who looks like more bark than bite!"
Nadia hated being challenged because of her stature more than anything. She knew she could take out an opponent twice her size quite easily and has done so on several occasions. Her tail's fur bristled out as she listened to Mark's words. She turned to Elizaveta, silently asking permission to take him down a peg or two.
Elizaveta rolled her eyes at Nadia, knowing that once Nadia had her mind set on something, it would take a bulldozer to change it. "Da, but no killing!" was Elizaveta's response in her native language also knowing that Nadia could be quite deadly when she wanted to be.
Katerina's eyes went wide upon hearing Elizaveta's response to Nadia and was about to order Nadia to stop immediately when Elizaveta put a paw on her commander's shoulder, and said once again in her native language, "Nadia wants to teach him a lesson, she will not kill him. I simply had to remind her of that fact."
Katerina lowered her gaze to Nadia and watched her subordinate very closely, waiting to give the order for her to halt if she went too far with her lesson.
Nadia turned back to Mark and went on the attack. She brought her right elbow to his stomach, causing him to crouch over, then wrapping her right arm tightly around his neck as she climbed onto his back. Cutting off the supply of oxygen to his body.
Mark struggled the best he could with only one arm. He reached back behind him, in attempt to get Nadia to not only let go of his neck, but to get off of his back and every attempt he made to get her to let go, caused Nadia to move out of the way and tightening her hold around his neck.
Katerina noticed the extreme skill Nadia had in dealing with Mark and even though she wanted to smile and congratulate Elizaveta with training her squadron so well, she had to put a stop to Nadia before Mark passed out. "Nadia! Enough!" She ordered.
Nadia instantly let go of Mark's neck and jumped off of his back, landing on her feet. Then snapping to attention and saying, "Yes commander!" Without a second thought.
Lisa, Tina, and Gwendlyn were by Mark's side, checking him over while Katerina went over to Nadia and stared her down with her tail snapping back and forth.
Nadia could feel her commander's intense stare directed at her and that was not something she wanted at all.
In Katerina's native language, she said, "Nadia, you could have really hurt my friend, if not my brother with that stunt you pulled!"
Nadia was preparing herself to be sanctioned by her commander and cringed with every word Katerina spoke.
Katerina noticed the way Nadia reacted to every single word she said and if she was still Turmoil, she wouldn't have hesitated in taking Nadia out, permanently. However, Turmoil was long dead and she has changed for the better. "However, you showed great skill and restraint in dealing with a opponent who is much larger than you are. I'm proud to have you not only on my force, but also honored to have you watch over my daughter." She said and smiled at Nadia
Mark was still hunched over and catching his breath when he caught his sister smiling at Nadia. "She almost kills me and you're smiling at her!?" He asked.
"She wasn't going to kill you brother, just prove to you that she can protect my family very well. Besides, she was ordered not to kill you and none of my soldiers dare disobey an order from their superior," Katerina said with a toothy grin on her face.
Mark righted himself and stood tall once again. He looked around at his sister's group of she-cats, then said, "I hope MegaKat City is prepared to have these six around. I feel sorry for whoever is going after her family though."
End of Chapter