The Year of the Rabbit competition had been good, and for Tuxing, she was glad that it was short. It wasn't that she hated the longer period of time that the Year of the Tiger competition had lasted, but she could also recognize the need for a shorter contest. The fact that the Year of the Rabbit competition took only two days, she then had the time to take in an added journey to see Lenard. That was the real reason, and shortly after that contest ended, she rented a car and was soon on the road for Idaho and the cabin where Lenard Bearstone lived with Mikey. It was to be a surprise visit and hadn't been too long since Lenard and Mikey had visited Heiya Island for Christmas, but a part of Tuxing really liked the idea.
It was also something that Tuxing found really growing since meeting Lenard the prior year. She liked his kind and protective nature, particularly with regard to his taking responsibility for Mikey. In many ways, he was what she didn't think the male Tiger Animalians would have when Liao had made some of the commentary about the contest being a spot to look for a mate the previous year. It was ultimately something where Tuxing couldn't be happier to be wrong in her expectations. And as she drove along, and particularly as she started to get out of the more desert-like areas in Nevada and into the more forested areas as she got into Oregon and then Idaho as she headed east, she found herself also marveling at the landscape in a way that she didn't have on Heiya Island or at the apartments that the Elements had in Lyre. That had its own things that bubbled in the back of Tuxing's mind, but for the moment, she let that slide as she drove on to the cabin where Lenard lived.
She found it quiet when she did arrive in the evening, though she could see that there were lights on. It put a smile on her muzzle as she collected her bags for the week and then moved to the cabin's front door. She knocked on it and quietly waited. It wasn't long before the door opened, though Tuxing found that it was Mikey who answered the door.
"Ms. Tuxing!" Mikey said happily.
"Hello, Mikey, is your brother in?" Tuxing asked.
Mikey didn't need to answer, as Lenard stuck his head out from kitchen to look forward. And his eyes practically bulged in surprise at seeing Tuxing at the door. She smiled back to him as he approached, carrying a pot of some kind in his hands.
"Ms. Tuxing's come to see you," Mikey said as Lenard came forward.
"I can see that," Lenard answered and then chuffed to Tuxing, "what brings you here, Tuxing?"
"Well... I had to come back for the Year of the Rabbit competition and hand the crown for the female winner," Tuxing answered, "just as Shuixing and Nate came to the Year of the Tiger's competition to do the same. And since that competition only went for two days... I have some time to spare... so I thought I'd spend a week with you. You don't mind, do you?"
"Oh... I don't mind... but I'm not ready... nothing's clean, and I'd only just got started on dinner," Lenard spoke in some degree of panic.
"I don't mind," Tuxing answered him and chuffed, "may I come in? It's been a long drive."
"Of course," Lenard stepped back, "come in."
Tuxing entered and heard that Mikey had been watching something on Cartoon Network. Though, the younger Bearstone looked up to Tuxing with a more inquisitive look.
"You were there for all the Rabbit stuff?" Mikey asked.
"Yes," Tuxing answered, "mostly to hand down the crown once they had a winner, but they did include me and Hercules in some of the other events."
"Like the race where the one bunny bounced out?" Mikey asked.
"You saw that?" Tuxing asked.
"Everything was blurry... but they obviously couldn't avoid everything from the start of the race," Lenard spoke up.
Tuxing nodded, "Well Mikey... what happened with that race was likely either a bad bra or the poor purchase in terms of the size. For say you bought a pair of pants and the elastic at the waist was weak or faulty... or they were a bit to big on you, what you think would happen?"
"They'd fall down," Mikey answered, "but wouldn't there be a rule or something?"
"Most of what that Rabbit Animalian lost with regard to points was the longer time it took her to finish the race," Tuxing answered, "there was nothing to indicate she did that on purpose."
"So... what would you be looking forward to for the week?" Lenard asked as Mikey shut the door and Tuxing then proceeded to follow him back toward the kitchen, setting her bags down at the base of the stairs.
"Mostly to see on things you do during the week," Tuxing answered, "and just to be with you."
Lenard thought there was a tone of flirtation in Tuxing's answer, but he nodded and smiled. In some ways, he wanted to be close to her as well. She was strong and beautiful. She was smart and responsible. All of those things stirred yearnings for her that he didn't want to blurt out, because it would likely hurt her estimation of him and would set a poor example for Mikey. Afterall, it wouldn't be too terribly long before Mikey would be old enough to start having an interest in girls and that would set its own set of responsibilities.
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And that week ultimately went rather well, and Tuxing had a grand time. A part of her had wanted to share Lenard's bed, just to be close to him, but with Mikey often being there, Tuxing never worked up the courage to actually ask and contented herself with the guest room, which she found to be reasonably clean, regardless of Lenard's apologies for not being ready to receive guests. Some of that then lead to jokes from Mikey, which did draw some laughter from Lenard and Tuxing as well. All of which was a thing that Tuxing liked about the trip and seeing Lenard, as it represented a sort of family bond that she had with her sisters.
One of the other things that Tuxing looked to was actually seeing where Lenard worked. When she'd first visited, Lenard was enjoying his summer break and thus she didn't get to see him at work. Now in January, Tuxing did get that chance and she was more than happy to ask to at least see where he worked and what he did. She didn't get the visit on the first day, as while Lenard worked at the school, he didn't get control over visitation rights and that took some time, though ultimately, he did get permission and on the second school day of the week that Tuxing was there for, she was up early, showered and cleaned and went in early with Lenard and Mikey. Mikey was dropped off at his school before Lenard took Tuxing to the school where he worked on their library staff.
The visit started with a stop at the front office at the school's office, where Tuxing found she had to fill out a form to be allowed to visit and this included a visit with one of the school's secretaries.
"So... what brings you visiting to our school? Miss... Xing?" the secretary asked.
"Tao would be my family's family name, Tuxing would be my first name," Tuxing answered, "and mostly just curiosity. Mr. Bearstone has told me a lot about the school and that has left me curious about what it's like and everything... how people get along with him and all that."
"Mr. Bearstone has been on our staff for years and is one of the best people at the school," the secretary commented.
"He is friendly and responsible," Tuxing answered, "smart and loving..."
"This would sound like you're scouting our school for future cubs between the two of you," the secretary spoke.
Tuxing blinked and looked to Lenard for a moment, who had turned to look away, likely embarrassed. It also reminded her of some of the things that had been developing with the Elements and how things were going forward. Shuixing was married and pregnant. Jinxing had her own boyfriend, Huoxing had a boyfriend, who would be her bond-mate by now if he could get over his shyness. Even Muxing looked to be bonding with Li-Wei, even if she didn't want to admit it. And now she had Lenard, and a part of her was more than happy to be his mate and perhaps have his cubs. The real question that was often in the back of Tuxing's mind was where that family would be.
"That could be part of it..." Tuxing answered, "some of it might be looking for my own ways to help."
"I see," the secretary replied as she looked over the paperwork and then nodded before producing a small cord with a plastic card on it that read "guest" on it. "Well, you are not to interfere with Mr. Bearstone's work, and the rest of the library staff will be monitoring you, and our resource officer will check in throughout the day. We are allowing this visit as a courtesy, and any threat to our students will be met with the full measure of appropriate legal action."
Tuxing accepted that, knowing that it would be best not to cause a fight. It then allowed for a fairly good day as Tuxing got to see Lenard at work, which followed sorting books and putting them back on their shelves during the day, interacting with kids as they came in with classes for reading sessions or the elementary was getting the closest thing they could get to "research" with regard to just getting them interested in something. There were some occasional tugs on Lenard's tail, but he seemed to take it all in stride. The biggest thing was something that came up in the afternoon when one little girl actually approached her in the chair she was allowed to sit in and observe things from.
"You're one of the Elements!" the girl said with a smile, "my big sister has showed the stories on when you became an Animalian."
"With my sisters, yes," Tuxing nodded politely and gave the girl a small smile and noting one teacher coming up behind her.
"My big sister says you all became heroes," the girl stated, "did you come here to teach us to be heroes?"
"I..." Tuxing didn't know what to say.
She did like being able to teach what she'd learned in her style of Kung-Fu, and she did teach classes on Heiya Island, but to some degree she'd never seen that as being a "hero." Some of this played with the private question on what would she do, for while a part of her wanted Lenard to come to Heiya Island as Nate did, the part of her that liked the area that Lenard lived in for its environment had the belief that Liao was truly maturing and wouldn't need to be the "apprentice" for too much longer. It was something that set a thought in a part of her mind that maybe she could settle here with Lenard and teach her style here, but that was all something that she hadn't made a final decision on. She'd only gotten as far as recognizing that Lenard was more than worthy of her heart.
"Don't bother her, Kathy," the teacher said to the girl as she approached and took the girl by the hand.
"She isn't a bother," Tuxing spoke softly, "though... I don't want to be an interruption to your lesson plans..."
The teacher nodded and continued to escort the girl away, leaving Tuxing still to think. It made for a lot of thought for Tuxing, but for the moment, it was still part of a vacation and visit and one that had been a good part of it, regardless on the bureaucracy from the school's secretary. The students had been friendly during the visit and the security officer actually asked Tuxing on tips for self-defense and any other issues that might come up. Tuxing gave her tips, though also stated that the officer shouldn't have to use them against children. Some of the teachers even complemented Tuxing on her behavior and relationship with Lenard, which made Tuxing happy. And this atmosphere remained for the rest of the week...