The Early Moon Chronicles
by Michaela Wills,br> E-mail:Shelli982@aol.com

Story 6 - 'Reasons for Roses' or 'A Younger Sailor Jupiter'

The door swung shut with a heavy thump. Makoto could hear her own heavy foot falls resonating on the floor. She pulled herself into a large armchair and sunk into it deeply. The skirt of the pink sundress she wore slid over her knees, revealing her slim legs, toned from her constant running and exercise. She curled up in the warm leather, wrapping her arms around herself protectively. She rubbed her bruised and dirty knees, trying to ease the pain from the scrapes on them.

"Is that you Mako-chan?" a sweet voice called from the kitchen. Turning a little uncomfortably, Mako answered.

"Yes Mama." she called, her voice heavy and depressive for a five year old. Her mother entered. Mako looked an awful lot like her mother. Her own hair matched her mother's wavy, bobbed locks. Her slender frame and wide shoulders were the same as her mother's also. She knelt beside the armchair, her own dark brown eyes meeting her daughter's green ones. An outstanding feature of her father's influence on her, identical to her wild and protective nature

"What happened Mako-chan?" She said softly, touching the bruises and scrapes on Mako's knee gently. Her eyes welled with tears, betraying her words.

"Nothing, I just fell."

"Are you sure that you were rough-housing with those older boys again?" She asked, brushing the wisps of brown hair that strayed from her ponytail away from the child's face. Tears slid down her cheeks and into the open as the truth did also.

"They were picking on another girl," She said, thinking of the little blond again. The timid girl had been playing in the park, chasing a large red ball when the boys took it from her. They teased her about her clothes and her hair, two pigtails drawn up in an odd bun fashion with the ends hanging into loose pigtails. Mako had thought it very unkind of these boys and had gone to make sure they knew she felt so. It was a justifiable reason to fight.

"And she was scared of them. I told them to leave her alone and they started teasing me. I . . . I . . . I told them to stop, but they wouldn't, so I kicked one in the shins. Then they pushed me down and yelled." She sniffled. "They said I wasn't a real girl, Mama. They said that I was to much of a boy and asked why I even tried wearing a dress. I'm too much of a b-b-b-boy!" The trickling tears became a wail of emotional pain as Mako was picked up.

Mrs. Kino held her tightly, taking her to the kitchen and cleaning her bruises and cuts, murmuring soothing words softly. And that is where they stayed. After Mrs. Kino finished cleaning Mako she resumed cutting vegetables for dinner, giving the young girl who sat beside the cutting board pieces of carrots, parsnips and mushrooms. Mako had quieted and contentedly ate the offered slices, eating them slowly.

She thought about those mean boys and the little girl. For some reason, she had never been able to stand watching the sufferings of another person. It was trait she didn't understand. It didn't matter if she knew the person or not, there was simply something that compelled her to aid a person in need. Even if it meant she would be hurt instead. Physical pain meant little to her, having found more ways to bruise herself on her own than the boys could contrive. It was only the insult of them saying she was too much of a boy that hurt. She knew she was a tomboy and didn't mind that, but everyone knew that tomboys were girls so it didn't matter. There was a difference between being called a boy and a tomboy. A realization along with many others that made little Mako wise beyond her years

"Do you feel any better?" Her mother asked. Mako looked up from her current handful of parsnips. Her eyes were dry, she had decided that she no longer cared what those boys thought and next time they tried to hurt her they would get more than they bargained for.

"Yes, Mama." She smiled and Mako smiled in return.

"I have an idea, how would you like to get your ears pierced? Maybe it would help you to forget what those mean boys told you. Not many little boys get pierced ears." she said with a conspiring smile that Mako loved to see. It was like a secret. Mako's eyes twinkled in delight. Pierced ears!

"Really Mama? I'd love to have earrings!" She cried, reaching out to the diamond studs that accentuated her mother's ears.

"Alright then, let's go." She responded, lifting Mako off the counter and setting her gently onto the floor. Taking off her apron, Mako gaped. "We can do it right now, and when we come home you can help me finish dinner, how about that?"

Mako hopped up and down excitedly, more at the offer to help her mom cook than to have her ears pierced at the moment. She loved to help her mother cook, it was so much fun. She had been helping her mother in the kitchen since she'd been large enough to sit on the counter and measure the ingredients. It was a special bond between the two that not even her father could invade.

Upon reaching the jewelry store, Mako let go of her mother's hand, running to the cases joyously. She stopped infront of them, looking into the glass entranced at the stones inside. Paying special attention to the earrings she gazed at the contents of a few different cases while her mother spoke to the lady at the counter.

It was then that she saw them. The pair of earrings weren't as glittering or ostentatious as most others, but still very pretty. It was a pair of stud roses, one for each ear in a redish-pink color. She stared at them in awe for some reasons. The roses called to her. There was something about roses . . . something that reminded her of her dreams . . . those thoughts that were just barely out of reach when she awoke . . . something of a castle . . . something white with gold . . . something green . . . something very special and very important . . . Her mother came to stand behind her.

"Is that the pair you want?" Mako turned around stunned.

"I get to pick?!" She asked incredulously. Her mother laughed softly at her surprise.

"They are your ears. You have to wear them, of course you get to choose which pair." She answered as the little girl hugged her around the knees.

"Ohh yes! That's the pair I want!" Moments later the roses were clicked into her ears by the little gun. The woman had said it may hurt, but Mako barely thought of the slight stinging as hurt. There were many worse kinds of pain, like a cut for instance. She touched her ear gingerly to see if the would stay there, rubbing her fingertips over the textured surface of the studs.

Looking into the mirror before her, Mako grinned widely. They felt wonderful and she liked the way they looked. They just looked right. Her mother clasped her shoulder gazing into the mirror along with the smaller brunette.

"Do you like them?" She asked the smiling child.

"I love them." Mako whispered. She turned from the mirror, gazing up at her mother. "Thank you so much." She cried, throwing her arms around her loving mother's neck.

"You're welcome dear!" She answered, "Are you ready to go and help me finish dinner?" Mrs. Kino asked. Mako hopped from the chair, eyes all aglow. There were no traces of the sullen child who had come home earlier.

"Yes! Let's go Mama!" She said exuberantly, nearly dragging her mother out of the store. "Oh Mama, I was wondering . . . could I take some lessons in karate, Mama? Please?"

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