The Night
                          by Greg Sandborn


     "Akane!  Nabiki!"  Kasumi Tendo called from the downstairs
hallway.  Her 9 year old face was a mask of irritation.  "Where are
you!?"
     She was sure her voice could be heard over the sounds of her
father's students practicing in the dojo.  She was especially certain
that both her younger sisters could hear her.
     "Nabiki!!!"  She called again with an impatient stamp of her foot
and her voice rising an octave.
     "What is it, Kasumi?" Nabiki's voice came from somewhere
upstairs.  "I'm trying to do my homework."
     "Meeting!  NOW!"  
     Wiping her hands on the little apron she wore, Kasumi stomped
back into the main room.  Kasumi was always calling little  meetings'. 
Ever since their mother had gone into the hospital, she had acted like
*she* was in charge.  Like *she* was Mother.  Neither of the other two
girls really liked this too much but since they were unwilling or
unable to assume their mother's duties around the house, the job fell
to Kasumi.  With it went the authority to call family meetings. 
Something 7 year-old Nabiki thought her sister used entirely too
freely.
     Little Akane cautiously wandered down the hall from her room and
eyed her older sister suspiciously.
     "What is it, Nabiki?" she asked, her hazel eyes big and innocent. 
She was carrying her little stuffed kitty, the same one she took
everywhere, except to school.
     "Oneechan wants another *meeting*," Nabiki said with some
disgust.  "I guess we better go.  Otherwise, she'll tell daddy again." 

     With a sigh, Nabiki took her little sister's hand, led her
downstairs  and assumed their usual places around the table that
seemed to dwarf them.  Kasumi just stood across from them, arms
crossed and tapping her foot impatiently.
     "Ok, Kasumi.  We're all here.  What's so important you have to
call a meeting *this* time."  Nabiki slouched forward, her elbow on
the table and her cheek resting on her fist.
     "Is mommy coming home?" Akane asked while cuddling her stuffed
kitty.  Kasumi had tried to get her to give up carrying that thing
around with her, knowing what the kids at school were saying and all. 
So far, Akane had successfully resisted her efforts.
     "Not yet, Akane." Kasumi sounded tired.  This was the same
question Akane asked at every meeting.  Frankly, Kasumi was getting
tired having to repeatedly tell a 6 year-old that her mother wasn't
coming home just yet.
     "I'm not getting enough help from you two," Kasumi said coolly,
eyeing both sisters.
     "Kasumi, we've got homework to do.  Inoue-sensi said I needed to
study my mathematics more if I wanted to get into junior high school,"
Nabiki protested, using her usual shocked look.  It was the same look
she always used when someone asked her to do something she didn't want
to do.
     "Look!" Kasumi sounded more upset than she usually did at these
meetings.  "I've got homework to do too, you know.  In addition to
cooking, cleaning, doing your laundry, *and* the shopping, I don't
have enough time to get everything done!"  She was *really* angry now. 
"I *can't* do this alone!"
     "I want mommy to come home," Akane pouted looking at her kitty.
     Kasumi just dropped to her knees on the pillow in front of her,
planted an elbow on the table and rested her forehead in her hand.  "I
do to, Akane.  But until she does, I need your help."
     "Why doesn't father help out?" Nabiki asked, with a stern look on
her face.
     "Nabiki," Kasumi sighed.  This was the same argument they'd had
for the last four weeks.  "Father works hard teaching in the dojo. 
It's not his job to cook and clean.  That is woman's work."
     Nabiki just wrinkled her nose at the term *woman's work*.  She
couldn't understand why her father didn't just cut his class schedule 
and spend some time cleaning around the house.  Besides, they were
just children.  Why should they be expected to do grownup things like
cooking and cleaning?
     Kasumi pulled a piece of carefully folded paper from the pocket
of her apron.  Opening it, she looked sternly at her sisters.
     "What I have here is a list of things that need to be done.  You
are both going to take a few of these and do them each day."  Kasumi
eyed her sisters coolly.  If nothing else, they were going to get the
idea that she was serious about this.
     Akane and Nabiki, however, just looked at each other and made
faces.
     Ignoring her younger siblings reactions, Kasumi read off the
various duties, assigning them as she went.
     "Nabiki, you will sweep the walk and clean up outside every day
after school.  Do your homework before dinner because afterwards you
will have to gather the laundry and sort it.  I will show you how to
run the washing machine and you can do the laundry."
     "Even Akane's stinky underwear?" Nabiki protested.
     "I don't have stinky underwear," Akane charged.  "You do."  She
might have been the youngest but she had developed a personality trait
of never backing down when challenged.  Something Nabiki constantly
baited her with.
     "Enough!" Kasumi was not going to let her little meeting
degenerate into the usual childish squabbling.  "Now for Akane."
     "I'm too little," she moaned while pouting at the table.  "Daddy
said so."
     "Well, Daddy has been busy and doesn't know just how grown up you
are."  Kasumi was using something she had learned in school called
'psychology'.  Making Akane feel grown up and important, she felt sure
she could get her to perform the few tasks she had laid out for her.
     "You will have to clean the bath *and* the toilet."
     "NO!" Akane protested, almost leaping to her feet.  "I'm not
cleaning the stinky toilet!"
     "Akane..."
     "No, Kasumi.  I don't wanna.  I'm telling Daddy."  Akane started
to get up.
     "Tell Daddy what, daughter?" Soun Tendo's voice came from the
hall.  He had just finished his last class of the day and was looking
for his daughters.  As he came into the room, Akane jumped to her feet
and ran to embrace her father.
     "Kasumi says I gotta clean the toilet,"  Akane whined.
     "Daughter," Soun looked at Kasumi, the lack of sleep clearly
showing on his face.  "Perhaps you could find something else for Akane
to do that's a little less... objectionable."  Like all fathers, he
favored his youngest daughter.  Much to the irritation of the older
girls.
     Kasumi glared at Akane who just returned an "I told you so"
smile, her arms around her father's neck.
     "Very well, I guess she could sweep the front walk and dust the
rest of the house," Kasumi sighed looking over her list again.  This
wasn't working out like she had planned.  What little they were
actually going to do was not going to take much of the overall
responsibilities from her.  She was still going to be working from
before sunrise until well after everyone had gone to bed.  Refolding
her paper, she sadly returned it to her pocked.
     "Don't worry, daughter," Soun said softly, sensing her
frustration.  "I will clean the toilet."
     "See?" Akane tossed at her oldest sister, a tiny look of victory
on her face.
     Soun hugged her and set her back on the floor.  "I'm going to the
hospital for a little while."  He even sounded tired.  "I think your
mother can tell when I'm there."
     "Is she getting better, father?" Kasumi anxiously asked.  She,
more than any of the others, was eager for her mother's return.  She
wanted desperately to go back to being a child again.  She was even
looking forward to being able to spend more time at school.  As it was
now, she had to hurry home every day to get started on the housework.
     Soun just looked at the floor.  He knew the truth but wisely kept
it from the girls.  Their mother wasn't getting better.  In fact, she
was worse than ever.  The doctors had tried everything they knew but
the disease was beyond their science and she was slowly dying.
     "Tendo-san?"  The voice of Dr. Nagumo from the hospital broke the
spell.  "Are you home?"
     "In here, doctor.  Please come in."  Soun hurried to greet his
visitor.
     As the two men entered the room, the doctor's face told all
present that it wasn't the kind of visit he liked to make.  Kasumi bit
hard on her lip to keep from breaking into tears.  She knew what the
doctor was here to say and didn't want to hear it.
     "Nabiki... Akane," she said with a steady voice.  "It's bath
time.  I'm sure father and the doctor have things to discuss."
     Kasumi could see the relieved look on the doctor's face as the
girls excused themselves.  Whatever he was here to tell Soun Tendo, he
didn't especially want to do it in front of the children.
     "Why do we have to take our bath now, Kasumi?" Akane whined as
she was herded up the stairs.  "It's still early."
     "Because, stupid.  Daddy wants to talk to the doctor alone,"
Nabiki chided.  She probably also knew why the doctor was here and,
for once, was willing to help Kasumi shield the youngest from bad
news.
     "I'm not stupid!" Akane pouted again, only to be shushed by
Kasumi.  Obediently, she stopped her protest but shot Nabiki a
withering look.
     The girls quickly undressed in the changing room and moved
quietly into the bath.  As usual, Kasumi had to help scrub little
Akane who was acting more helpless than ever.
     Scrubbed and doused with cold water, the girls gingerly eased
themselves into the hot water of the furo.  With a sigh, Kasumi
settled back to enjoy the soak while  Akane played with her toys and
Nabiki kept looking for ways to irritate her.
     For several minutes, peace reigned.  Kasumi closed her eyes and
relived in her mind every school outing, every sleep-over, every fun
thing she ever did before her mother's illness.  She fought a wave of
sadness when she thought how her current situation might never change.
     "Kasumi?" Akane asked softly.  "I miss Mommy in the tub.  She was
always so much fun."
     Kasumi sadly smiled as she thought back to all the nights she and
her sisters shared the large furo with their mother.  She *was* fun to
be in a tub with.  Playing little games, doing  girl talk', and
sometimes singing.  Singing.  For some reason, that stuck in her mind.
     "What was that song Mother used to sing to us?" she thought
pensively.  Slowly the words matched the tune in her head.  Kasumi
always had a sweet singing voice.  Tonight she started softly, almost
like she was trying to remember each word as she went.
     "Yes, Oneechan."  Akane clapped her hands in delight.  "That's
the one."  And joined in, her little voice echoing through the room.
     Nabiki just looked at the water and pursed her lips.  She wasn't
much of a singer.  Besides, without Mother here, it just didn't seem
right to be singing her songs.  Still, Kasumi's voice was infectious. 
Soon, Nabiki was joining in, timidly at first, but with growing
strength and confidence.
     It was a simple, childrens' song.  Nothing special.  Almost
repetitive in its words but beautiful when song by a mother...or her
children.  In minutes the girls singing could be heard by the
neighbors.
     It was just loud enough to cover the sobs of a husband grieving
for his departed wife.

*****

     The night was cloudy and ominous when Soun Tendo returned home. 
He had made all the arrangements for his wife's funeral and had gone
to view her body once more before it was sealed up for cremation. 
Throughout it all, she had remained as beautiful as ever.  Even on the
worst of days, she always made sure she looked good for her husband so
he wouldn't worry.  
     He knew of the torment she had gone through the last few weeks
and how she remained cheerful throughout it all, always asking about
the girls and how they were doing in school.  She knew she was dying
but refused to give in to the sadness.  In the end, she waited until
she was alone to die, not wanting to inflict such a scene on anyone. 
When she was sure the girls were alright and her husband was busy with
the dojo, she quietly slipped away, leaving the pain and her family
behind.  
     Soun trudged slowly up to the gate of his home.  All the lights
of the house were on and the sounds of voices carried out past the
walls.  A small banner in Nabiki's handwriting hung over the "Tendo
School of Anything Goes Martial Arts" sign that said: "Closed Until
Further Notice."  
     With a sigh of resignation, he prepared to join his extended
family for an evening of mourning.  It was something he was not
looking forward to.
     As he entered his house, he was met by various cousins and uncles
who expressed their condolences while pushing things to drink or eat
in his hands.  Gifts of money in special envelopes filled a small
basket on the table inside the door.  He only glanced at it, knowing
he would need every yen to pay for the funeral and shrine for his
wife.  With forced little smiles he acknowledged each person who
approached to speak to him.  It was the hardest thing he ever had to
do.
     The girls reacted differently to their mother's passing.  Kasumi
went through the motions like a little robot, fetching food from the
kitchen as it was prepared by her cousins and aunts and delivering it
to the main room for the assembled family members.  She nodded an
acknowledgment to those who spoke to her but never responded.  More
than once, it became too much to bear and she locked herself in the
toilet to cry in silence, not wanting to be seen or heard.  She would
emerge later, her mask safely in place, to resume her duties in the
kitchen.  Her worst fears were coming true, her childhood was over.
     Nabiki sat in a corner of the room, her elbows resting on her
knees, her hands balled and held in front of her mouth.  Her head was
bowed but her eyes were constantly shifting from mourner to mourner. 
Fighting continuously to control her tears and her panic, she blinked
and watched until she could stand it no more.  Without even excusing
herself, she fled her home.  Outside she looked frantically for
somewhere to go where she wouldn't be heard or seen.  She remembered
the place where she and her friends used to hide when they didn't want
to be found; under old Mrs Suzuki's house.  Seconds later, Nabiki
found the loose board only she and her friends knew about.  Quickly
removing it, she crawled inside, badly soiling her best kimono in the
process.  She didn't care.  She *had* to be alone.
     The elderly Mrs. Suzuki, no stranger to mourning herself having
buried her husband only two years before, was preparing to go to the
Tendo's and pay her respects when she heard a child crying through the
floor of her bedroom.  Cocking her ear, she knew immediately who it
was.
     Over the last few months, Mrs. Suzuki had become a surrogate
 grandmother' to the girls; baking things for them, preparing their
lunches for school each day so Kasumi wouldn't have to, and doing the
occasional sewing and patch jobs on their rapidly aging clothes.  She
loved each of the girls, but Nabiki was her favorite.  She reminded
Mrs. Suzuki of herself when she was younger; opinionated, head strong,
even a little sassy.  When Nabiki and her friends set up their little
hiding place under her house, she didn't mind at all.  It was her way
of showing little Nabiki her approval.
     Mrs. Suzuki slowly made her way to where Nabiki had removed the
board and hesitated.  "A child needs to grieve for a departed mother. 
She just needs some time alone," she thought.  "It is what *I* would
want in her situation."   
     She would wait for Nabiki to emerge.
     Under the house, Nabiki was sobbing uncontrollably.  Muttering
how much she wanted her mother to come home, to return and help her
grow up.  She alternated between words of hate for her mother for
leaving her like this and whimpering pleadings for her mother to
return.  She had never gotten along with her mother, arguing and
fighting being their usual discourse.  Often she had wished her mother
would go away and leave her alone.  That memory, more than any other,
haunted her this evening.  
     Pounding the dirt with her fist, she cried how unfair it was and
how much it hurt.  Again and again, she hit the dirt until her hands
were raw.  It didn't change a thing.  Her mother was still gone.
     Outside, Mrs. Suzuki heard it all and fought back her own tears
as she felt every whimper stab at her heart.  Desperately, she wanted
to crawl in with Nabiki and comfort the sobbing girl, to hold her and
give her the love she so desperately needed.  But she knew this was
Nabiki's way.  It was the way she would have grieved herself if it
were her mother.  
     As the sky opened and shed its own tears, Mrs. Suzuki kept to her
post.  Nabiki would need someone to lean on when she emerged and Mrs.
Suzuki was determined to be that person.  She would wait... however
long it took.
     Akane had fled earlier in the evening, avoiding even the first of
the mourners.  She, alone, reacted to her mother's death with
immediate anger, first directed at the doctors and then at the disease
itself.  At age 6, she had no concepts of disease but knew it was
something that took her mother away so was to be hated and fought. 
Unlike her sisters, she had no dislike for the dojo and those who
trained there.  When she played in the yard, her father's students
were always friendly and would talk to her as they came and went.  She
was impressed by how they looked as they drilled; so strong and
forceful.  The sounds of their yells when they struck something sent
chills of excitement through her young body. 
     Tonight, she wandered into the darkened dojo alone.  If disease
was to be fought, she would do it to rescue her mother.  With grim
determination and the skills of a 6 year-old, she faced one of the
dojo's practice dummies and repeatedly struck it's padded body
screaming like the other students.  Again and again, she struck the
target, each blow barely denting the fabric covered surface.  Like she
remembered the students doing, she screamed as she punched and kicked,
over and over, until she collapsed on the floor, exhausted and crying. 
She had failed to defeat the disease.  Her mother was still gone.  By
the time she had cried herself out, her anger had returned and she
would resume the attack.  Only to repeat the cycle again and again. 
Hours later, her father would find her; still trying to kill the
disease with her blows; still trying to rescue her mother.

*****

     A clap of thunder startled 17 year-old Nabiki from her sleep. 
She sat bolt upright with a short cry, gasping for breath.  Looking
around her room, her breathing slowly returning to normal, she was
relieved to see everything was as it should be.  Her books were still
on her desk, her clothes were strewn all over the floor (she was still
messy), and her precious ledger books were still on the shelf.
     "I've *got* to stop eating pizza before going to bed." she
thought. "Good grief!  I'm covered with sweat."  
     She felt the dampness of her covers and disgustedly climbed out
of her bed.  Noticing it was only 4:30 in the morning and sleep having
been severely driven from her, she considered what to do.   
     "It's Sunday morning.  No school.  Might as well take a bath and
get rid of all this sweat.  At least I'll the tub all to myself."
     Quietly, Nabiki crept down to the bath.  Inside, she shed her
sweat soaked nightshirt, grabbed a small towel, and entered the bath. 
The storm was clearing and the lights of the city cast their gentle
illumination in the room. 
     "I'll just leave the lights off. And soak in peace," she mused
while closing the door.
     Once in the furo, Nabiki sighed contentedly.  Nothing like a hot
bath to make everything right.
     Her peace was disturbed by the sound of someone else opening the
door into the changing room.  Nabiki watched, an annoyed look on her
face, as her younger sister slid open the inner door and switched on
the light.
     "Akane no baka," Nabiki growled.  "Shut off that damn light."
     "I'm sorry...I thought..," Akane stammered as she quickly
switched off the light.  "What are you doing up at this hour?"
     With her cheek planted characteristically in her fist, Nabiki
leaned on the edge of the furo and replied: "I'm trying an experiment. 
Seeing how long it takes for everyone in the house to join me in the
bath."
     Embarrassed, Akane just looked at the floor.  She knew the
'pecking order' of the bath.  Nabiki had her by almost 18 months.  It
was her older sister's decision whether or not to share.
     "Oh, all right."  Nabiki waved her younger sister to the furo. 
"If there's anything I can't stand, it's when you pout like that."
     With a tiny smile, Akane slipped into the steaming water, making
sure to stay in the farthest corner from her older sister.
     "So, what got you up so early?" Nabiki asked cradling her head on
her arms as she leaned on the edge of the furo, looking out the window
at the clearing sky.
     "I don't know.  Couldn't sleep, I guess," Akane replied sinking a
little deeper in the water.  "Do you know what day this is?"
     Irritated at having to play guessing games this early on a day
off, Nabiki turned and shot a look at her sister.  
     "Sunday, why?"
     Undeterred, Akane pressed on.  
     "It's Mother's meinichi.  She died ten years ago tonight."
     "Oh great!" Nabiki thought. "We've got to go through all *that*
again."
     Akane had gotten better at reading her sisters emotions over the
years.  She could tell her sister wanted desperately to avoid
revisiting her mother's passing.  To her, it simply served no purpose
other than getting everyone, especially father, all riled up again.  
     "Why can't they just let the dead be?" Nabiki thought.  There
were some aspects of being Japanese Nabiki simply hated.  Poking
around in graveyards once a year was tops on that list.
     Nabiki was about to answer her sister when she heard the outer
door open and close again.  A few moments later, a naked Kasumi
entered the bath and switched on the light.  Both girls objected
loudly causing a startled Kasumi to quickly switch it off again.
     "What are all you doing up this early?" Kasumi demanded.
     "Actually, Oneechan, I thought we would have a meeting," Nabiki
dead panned.  "Got another list for us?"
     "There's room.  Join us, Kasumi," Akane invited sliding over to
make room.
     "You tell  em, stinky," Nabiki chided.  "You want your little
duckies?"
     "I am *not* stinky!" Akane hissed back.
     "Look, if you two are going to fight, I'm leaving." Kasumi turned
to the door.  "Ten years and they *still* can't take a bath together,"
she thought.
     "Just get in," Nabiki said with resignation before thinking: "All
I wanted was a quiet bath."
     Settling in, Kasumi sighed as the hot water engulfed her body.
     "So, Oneechan, what got you up so early?" Nabiki leveled her best
interrogation look at her older sister.
     "Me?  Why I always get up early," Kasumi protested a look of
slight indignation on her face.
     "At 4:30 on a Sunday?"
     "Well...maybe not *that* early." 
     They sat in silence watching through the window as the storm
clouds dissipated, revealing a few determined stars.
     "You felt it, too," Akane finally said to Kasumi.
     Kasumi looked at Akane for a few moments before nodding and
looking down into the water.
     "Aw don't start that 'Mother's meinichi' stuff again," Nabiki
protested.  "Every year, it's the same thing; get up early, go to the
cemetery, meet with a bunch of relatives we don't see unless someone
gets married or dies, and listen to some Shinto priest drone on and on
over Mother's grave.  Every year, you guys."
     "And every year you go with us," Kasumi quietly added.
     Nabiki turned away and sighed.  She had better things to do on
her day off.  She didn't want to relive her mother's death again and
again.  Wasn't it painful enough the first time?
     "You know, I think the furo is smaller," Kasumi thoughtfully
noted as she shifted her position.  "It's been awhile since all three
of us took a bath together."
     "Well, at least, we don't have to contend with all of Akane's
toys this time."  Nabiki shot a glance at her little sister.
     Akane just stuck her tongue out at Nabiki.  Nabiki returned the
favor and Kasumi, as usual, pretended she didn't see either one.
     They sat quietly for several minutes, each deep in their own
thoughts. 
     "You know, it's times like this I miss Mother the most,"  Kasumi
finally said.  "I miss the baths we used to take together."
     "How she used to play with us and sing us songs," Akane sighed
wistfully.  "She had a beautiful voice."
     "Oh no, not again," Nabiki thought, her eyes closed tightly.
"Please..."  Her body shuddered slightly.  She had kept her feelings
about her mother tightly locked away for ten years.  She could feel
her grip on the lock slipping.
     "The last time we all took a bath together was...that night..." 
Kasumi closed her eyes and bowed her head.  "When the doctor came to
talk to father, I brought the both of you in here..." 
     All three girls were staring off into different regions of space,
their thoughts drifting back ten years.  Each reliving their feelings
at that moment in time.
     "Kasumi?  Are you crying?" Akane asked as she noticed a tear
working its way down Kasumi's cheek.
     Kasumi sniffed quietly and used her towel to wipe her face.      
     "It's just sweat, that's all.  The water is really hot this morning."
     The younger girls exchanged glances and looked at their older
sister, remembering how she kept the family going through the last 10
years.  How she sacrificed her childhood and teen-aged years to care
for them.  How she was the mother they both needed.  How she, alone,
had borne the household responsibilities, never complaining, never
evading. 
     "I really do owe you, Oneechan." Nabiki thought.  It caused her
to wince slightly.  She really hated owing anybody. "Maybe, going to
Mother's meinichi wouldn't be so bad.  It'll just consider it  a
partial payment on that debt."
     Softly, almost like she wasn't trying to be heard, Nabiki started
humming the song the girls sang that night.  The song their mother
always sang to them in the bath.
     Kasumi's beautiful voice softly added the words with Akane
joining in.  Slowly the volume of the song grew, the girls holding
hands in the water.   For just that moment, they were children again,
with only each other to hold on to. They were sisters, bound together
the way few were, or could be.  Somehow, they had all made it through
that night and the last ten years.  Perhaps, Kasumi and their mother's
song was the reason.  What ever the case, the three now sang as one,
their voices gaining strength from each other.  The song carried out
the window, across the walled compound and into the street beyond.
     Somewhere a mother smiled.