(co-written by O)
Tatsu definitely had his hands full with everything going on at the moment. With his grandchildren somewhere out on the battle field with their friends, fighting Hinata's forces, as well as Fukushu defending the capital, Tatsu was making sure the city's defenses were well protected.
"Make sure entrances are secure, I don't want to see one rogue soldier slipping by Fukushu's defenses unnoticed." Tatsu ordered a kitsune solider who nodded and had two more follow him on the entrances.
"Are the weapons ready should any of them come close to the city?" Tatus asked a female soldier who nodded.
"Yes my lord, I have several of my men checking them as we speak." The soldier informed Tatsu as he nodded and looked around to see a kitsune mother quickly bringing her two children inside their home when they tried to see outside their house to see the battle going on.
"Has anyone seen Shizen?" Tatsu asked a soldier who shook his head.
"No my lord, no one has seen her for a while now. She may be in her chambers." The soldier suggested as Tatsu nodded and went back inside their home.
Tatsu headed towards the bedroom, but found their room empty. Tatsu then checked every room inside the palace, and couldn't find a trace of his wife. But then remembered there was one place that he hadn't checked that he knew for sure she would be at. Tatsu traveled to the secret room that only he, Shizen, and Fukushu knew of to visit and pay respects to their deceased son. Entering the small shrine, he found Shizen kneeling before the image of their first son, with her hands closed together in a prayer. Tatsu let her be until she was done and she only slightly glanced behind towards her husband.
"Praying to our son in these hard times?" Tatsu asked.
"I ask him that he watch over his brother and our grandchildren." Shizen replied.
"His brother is stronger now than he was when he last saw him." Tatsu said as Shizen nodded before looking back at the picture.
"We lost him once long ago, but there are days when I do see a glint of the boy Jiro...Fukushu once was as a twinkle in his eye. This war.....this war started the day our son died and we could do nothing for him. Some days I wish we had gone with them, instead of being here. Maybe then he wouldn't have had that darkness clouding his mind for so long." Shizen sighed.
"I do see the boy he once was too. I sometimes see it when he speaks with Abolith, or when he admires his children. He also has his nieces and nephews to protect." Tatsu reminded her as he lay his hands on her shoulders.
"I know, and that's what worries me. What may happen to any of them out there? I can't bear to think of what might happen if we were to lose Kari again. She may not be our child, but I still love her as our grandchild. And of course, Haley, she always lights up a room with her bright and loving personality. She has such a free spirit. She reminds me of me in my youth before I met you." Shizen said as Tatsu gave a slight chuckle.
"Well, you were a very playful fox then." Tatsu said as Shizen gave a slight smile. "And quite intimidating. I was not used to a vixen being...so boisterous."
Shizen chuckled softly, recalling their initial meeting when the pair were merely one tail kits. Tatsu, the golden kitsune, a serious minded, stoic boy who thought himself ruler. Shizen, a kind, quirky, red vixen. She recalled their initial meeting, how Tatsu boasted of being a future ruler in a vein attempt to impress the young vixen. Shizen, though, was unimpressed telling Tatsu so. It flabbergasted the boy, that someone would be unimpressed by his status. It was what made the pair last for eons. Shizen was the balance that Tatsu needed in his life. To be a strong ruler, he needed an equally strong partner who would temper his worse instincts.
Shizen now sighed heavily, turning once more towards Raiden's picture.
"But then there's Mason. He has no powers or abilities, only a sword that he only learned to fight with so long ago. I know he's felt like a black sheep in our family, but he is still our family. Do you remember when they first brought him here? He was only a baby then. Mika asked me if I wanted to hold him, but I initially declined saying I would only scare him, but Mika insisted and I relented and held him. As I held him, his eyes opened and he looked at me directly and smiled, he even giggled a little. Even if he can't change like his siblings, I still love him all the more and would do anything to keep him from harm. I couldn't bare to see anything happen to any of them. Not again." Shizen said as she began to tear up looking at Raiden's picture.
Tatsu now bent down and sat at his wife's level and held her hands. "I know," he said softly. "I see it too with Mason. He reminds me very much of what Fukushu was before he lost his brother." The celestial nine tail now squeezed his wife's furry hand in an attempt to comfort her.
"Our family is strong, I have always believed our family to be strong, and able to overcome any obstacles. Fukushu not only fights for the capital, but also for Abolith and their children, as well as our nieces and nephews. Kari, Haley, Aaron, wherever that boy may be, as well as Mason, they all fight for their family as well as the future of the people here. That is what has always binded our family, even in the darkest of times, a belief in each other that we will succeed in whatever task may lay ahead for us. Believe in them, my love, as I do." Tatsu said as Shizen wiped her eyes and lay her forehead on Tatsu's forehead.
"Raiden be with them all." Shizen said.
"Raiden be with them all." Tatsu said as well he sat there with his wife another moment before leaving again to check on the defenses.