For Her: Chapter 5 Defending

We walk into the house without taking off our shoes. Although it would be more polite to do so, it somehow just didn't feel right and we just kept moving through the house. What makes our house unique from most places is that it's a western styled one. Most of the mercenaries prefer the eastern style, sliding doors, ply wood floors, the way the Enrasha house had been when I visited there all that time ago. All narrow hallways and larger then life room sizes. However, the way my parent's house is arranged is very different. The doorways are wide and many rooms had no door separating it from the next room over. Other then the staircase leading to the upper level of the house, Aruba and I can see all the way through to the opposite end of the house from where we are. It's all wide open rooms, floors made of wood though in a few places we have throw carpets in place, a modest, elegant accent to the dull rooms. It's one of the few things I found that I actually like about this place.

Looking around, Aruba takes notice of the difference. Her parents had an eastern styled place too, I've visited there often. However, this is actually Aruba's first time in part of the house that isn't my bedroom.

" It's very pretty." she comments, patting my arm and adding. " I mean, I always knew it would be, but now that I see it I can say it for sure." Laughing, I scratch the back of my head with my free arm.

" My Mother does have a knack for these kinds of things." I inform her, extending my free arm outward and bowing a bit at the waist. " Let me show you around." Then, I pull Aruba along further into the confines of my family's living space.

The dinning room is on the opposite side of the staircase and I only peak in and show it to Aruba briefly. At the moment I'm more focused on finding where my parents are, hoping that I actually happened to catch the two of them when they were both still at home. My Mother didn't go out on missions anymore, but that didn't mean she didn't keep herself busy. She was always going out and having lunches with her old friends and other Councilman's wives. When it comes to social networking, no one's better you could say. However, for as much as my Mother is in the house, my Father is here even less . . .

Across the dinning room, on the opposite side of the entrance, I glance quickly into the reading room, frowning even more deeply when I find the couch and single chair within completely empty of persons. Placing my hand on my hip, I hum, half to myself, half to Aruba.

" I would've bet that at least one of them was in here." I inform her. " This is the room the three of us use the most in the house. We don't even use the living room as much as we use the reading room." Arching my neck I search the corners of the room, wondering if maybe one of them decided the floor was more comfortable today and was still sitting by the bookshelf. I'd found my Father in particular doing that on several other occasions, so it was possible, but not today. Today, books were stacked on the floor in random order like the rest of the room, the shelves already stuffed to the brim with books, files, papers and the like. Laughing, Aruba leans forward to get a better look of the room as a whole.

" All three of you must be nerds if the most used room in the house is the reading room." she kids me, bumping my side again and I snort with laughter myself at this.

" Well not all of us have the pleasure of having five younger siblings plus parents and grandparents to entertain us throughout our days off." I point out. " Some of us need to, you know, get a hobby-" she shoves me and we both end up just laughing there before I move us past the staircase and down the hallways that leads to the living room and kitchen. Both were unoccupied, but that is nothing new, especially at this time of day.

That's when a sound catches my ears. While standing in the stiff, clearly not well used living room, a small, out of place sound reaches my ears. It's such a small sound that I wouldn't have heard it if I hadn't been standing still. Freezing, I turn my eyes to look up at the ceiling. Aruba notices, leaning forwards and looking up with me for a second before turning her attention completely onto me.

" What is it?" she prompts me softly. Smiling half to myself, I look over at Aruba.

" I know where they're at." I say, leading her back down the hallway back to the front of the house. " Lucky for us, they're both here right now. We can just get this done and over with in one fowl swoop as they say." Frowning up at me, Aruba glares at me with those blue, crystal colored eyes as we reach the front and start heading up the staircase. However, she doesn't say anything, simply  scowling at me as we head up the stairs. Chuckling, I lead her along still. At the top of the stairs, the sound that was so small on the lower floor was louder, and much easier to identify. Aruba glances at me again.

" Koto?" she asks and I nod my head to her.

" My Mother." I murmur, stopping for a time just to listen. " She had to learn how to play it for one of her undercover operations and took a real liking to it. When she married my Father and stopped going out on missions she became a real expert at it. Father has her play for him whenever he's working in his office. Some of my Father's friends have joked that he fell in love with my Mother when he heard her play it the first time." Aruba gives a small, curious hum, nodding her head as we stand for a time just listening.

The hallway consists of only three rooms. Two of these rooms are bedrooms, one mine and one my parents. As for the last room, the one where the music is coming from is my Father's office. It's the only room in the entire house that has an Eastern style to it. The door is one that slides open and the inside of it has all the traditional parts of an Eastern room. From outside the room, though, it looks awkward in the wide, Western hallway.

Aruba and I look at each other again. Then I smile and we take a step forwards together. Even so, we linger as we pass my room. That room of mine holds such fond memories for the two of us. Our first kiss, first agreement and make up, as well as the first time that Aruba beat the crap out of me. It took me about twenty minutes of hiding her behind my door and talking circles around my parents to keep them from finding out Aruba was there. We always poke fun at each other for that one.

Still, we pass it by, as well as my parents room, finally coming to the door to the office. Reaching out, I rap my knuckle gently against the wood framework. The gentle knocking sound is louder then the sound of the music. For a second we get no reply from inside. The music continues as if nothing interrupted it to begin with.

" Come in." a distinctly male voice finally says, voice low, but loud enough to be heard over the sound of the koto. Squeezing onto Aruba's hand, with my free hand, I slide open the door.

The room is about as messy as the reading room was down on the lower level. Aside from the reading room, this is the room that my Father uses the most. Before missions he would always come into this room to prepare for it, going over details of it and having my Mother play the koto like she is at this very moment. My Father is across the room, his back to the two of us as we slip through the door. His head is angled downward, presumably working on something of importance. Just to the right of us is my Mother. Kneeling on the floor beside the long, wooden, multi stringed instrument, her eyes are closed as her fingers plucks and prods the strings of the instrument to bring forth the sound. She doesn't seem to be aware of what's going on around herself, and the fact that she hasn't stopped playing even through the door knocking and command of entry only seems to affirm this face.

" What is it, Sohan?" Father speaks up without even looking up from his work. Frowning, I take a deep breath.

" We need to talk." I state, voice firm and deep toned so that they both know that I'm serious.

" Can't it wait until later, little one?" Mother's voice surprises me as she speaks while still playing as beautifully as ever before. She keeps right on playing, her eyes still shut and her expression still pleasant as she elaborates. " Your father is very busy acting as military consultant for one of the lords we've promised to protect. Besides," a small, mocking sound comes out of Mother's mouth before she goes on, " surely your friend here doesn't want to hear our boring family conversations, neh?" Raising an eyelid, Mother gives a smirk over at Aruba. However, Aruba smirks right back at her, putting her one hand that wasn't holding onto my hand on her hip and allowing her posture to slouch.

" I suppose I'll just have to muddle through them from now on, won't I then?" she retorts. Before Mother can give any sort of response to this, however, I squeeze Aruba's hand hard and speak up again.

" It can't wait." I insist, dropping down to my knees and sitting back on my ankles, facing towards Father's turned back as Aruba settles down beside me in a similar fashion. " We need to talk about this and you need to listen to me this time." This, of course, causes both of my parent's postures to stiffen abruptly, though neither of them move. Mother doesn't even stop playing the koto. There's a silence then that holds out for what feels like centuries, though it could only have been a minute long at most.

" What is this about?" Father breaks the silence, his voice level, difficult to
read at the moment. From where I am, I can see that he has a quill in his hand and it has stopped moving since I've knelt down onto the plywood floors.

" You know very well what this is about." I answer him. " Turn around and sit across from me and we'll talk." Moving my eyes only, I glance at Mother out of the corner of my eyes and add. " You too, Mother. Sit down across from us so that we may talk properly about this." It's then that Mother finally removes her hands from the koto and sends a hot glare in my direction.

" Demanding things of us," she mutters, growling as she speaks to me, " you got a lot of nerve speaking to your parents like that, you ungrateful little punk." Aruba clenches her fists, the gaps between her fingers catching onto the cloth of her skirt that reaches to her knees today. However, reaching out, I take hold of the hand that's closest to me and slide my fingers into her grasp. She looks up at me and I give a smile shaking my head at her.

" Don't let her rial you up." I say, in a voice that I know that everyone can hear. " Mother is rather like the elderly wolves we still have hanging around here. All bark and no bite." Of course, Mother leaps to her feet, anger clear in every line and angle of her face. Aruba, on the other hand, giggles at my up forwardness with this comment and nods her head at me.

" I'll remember that, So." she replies, relaxing. Mother is anything but though, storming her way around the koto, hands rolled into fists as she makes her way over.

Luckily, Father finally moves. When he gets up from his chair all three of us stop moving and look over at him. For a few seconds he hovers over his desk, shifting through a few papers, possibly organizing the work that he had out before himself. Straightening up, he turns around, leering down at where Aruba and I kneel on the floor. Staring back into his golden yellow eyes, I can't help the feeling of being terribly small before his great figure. All my life I've been as much in awe of him as I have been completely terrified of him. Going on missions with him only did more to reinforce these feels because I got to see, first hand, just how powerful that he was.

Even just staring back at him like this, I feel the irremovable pressure on my shoulders of simply being the son of this man.

A tightness on my hand, however, draws my attention away from Father for a moment. Blinking, I glance at Aruba. She gives me a wide smile and a low giggle. For a second I just sit there, feeling very dumb, staring at my girlfriend of what felt like more then only a few years. Slowly, my own mouth spreads to the same width as hers and I straighten my back, facing forward once again. Father and I link eyes and for a time, simply stare at one another.

Finally, Father takes a step forward. It's the only step he takes. After that he drops gracefully down onto his knees, sitting back against his heels and ankles. His raises his lowered head and opens his closed eyes and linking them with mine again.

" You have my attention, Sohan," Father says, voice low, but firm, " let's talk."  With my eyes wide, I can only stare at him, somehow keeping my jaw from slacking open, though how, I couldn't tell you. Mother and Aruba both seem just as surprised as I do because it takes a few moments for anyone to make a move at all. Mother takes a step closer to Father when she finally does find herself able to move.

" Usha, you can't be serious-" she insists for a second, but Father raises a hand, looking up into her face.

" I'm quite serious," he replies, going on with a leisurely tone, " I must be." Lifting his hand, he gestures towards me. " Our son is requesting to speak with us in full seriousness. It's only respectful that we respond with equal seriousness." Mother stares, as though Father had suddenly torn her heart right out of her chest and is holding it up in front of her face at eye level. Sighing after a second of this, Father gives a dry smile and extends his hand to Mother. " Won't you join me, my dear?" For a few seconds, Mother hesitates, perhaps thinking about it. However, she proves herself loyal because she places her hand in his and slowly lowers herself beside him. " Thank you, Ledela." To my surprise, Mother gives a very unladylike snort at him for this thanks, which Father only smiles about before turning back to me. " You have our fullest attention now, Sohan." Lowering myself into a bow, I hide my smile.

" Thank you, Father, Mother." I insist and Aruba follows my example.

" Thank you." she murmurs and we sit back upright together.

" No need," Mother says, rolling her eyes as she adds, " so I suppose you mean to tell us that this young lady is your young bride to be?" Blinking, we both stare at her, and she scoffs at us. " I may not have as much bite as I used to, but I'm still as sharp as any of your knives. In my time, I was one of the best minds that this Pack has ever had." she raises her head, a smug little smile on her face. Then, lowering her head a little bit after a moment, she adds. " Though I wonder how you expect to convince us that this union between the two of you should happen. After all, the little miss," she nods her head towards Aruba with a quick sneer, " doesn't have much to show for herself. What makes her worthy of receiving our name?" Aruba's face darkens and, though she bites down on her lower lip and is quiet, her facial expression shows that she's angry at this accusation. Squeezing her hand in mine, Aruba looks over at me. However, I only face forwards and give a cool reply.

" Aruba has stolen my heart from me a long time ago." I say, simply. " That is reason enough in my eyes that she should bare my name." Unconvinced, Mother waves her hand dismissively at my answer.

" Whores have long since been stealing the hearts of men. I've stolen the hearts of more men then you can even imagine with just the bat of my eyelashes." she states, shaking her head. " You'll need more then that to convince us."  Frowning, I glare back at both of them.

" What you mean is you wish me to marry someone based not on my heart but on my head?" I reply, clenching my free fist once tightly before loosening it in order to keep myself from lashing out in anyway. Mother smiles, lifting her head up again, recognizing my expression probably. Suddenly, Aruba starts laughing. I don't mean just laughing normally, I mean like head thrown up, curling over her sides, lasting for five fucking minutes laughing.  Mother and I both stare blankly at her, clearly lost as to what had brought on this laughing crazy in Aruba. When Aruba finally starts to settle her giggles,
she waves at the three of us, trying to dismiss herself. However, she's gone on for so long there's no way that we can go on without her giving some sort of explanation to us.

" I'm sorry. . ." her voice trails, her hand by her mouth though she keeps on giggling for another bit of time. " I'm just picturing Sohan actually using his head for ANYTHING-" she snorts in a light, girlish way, trying to prevent another outburst of laughter. Shaking her head, I realize what she's trying to say. Instantly, my cheeks start to burn and I growl at her.

" AWE! COME ON ARUBA-!!" I moan in protest but it only does more to encourage her threatening laughter. Her face turns towards the ceiling and she holds her sides, laughing even harder then before, to the point where tears even enter her eyes. All it does is embarrass me even more as I sit there, the laughing stock of my girlfriend's day.

To my horror, a few moments after Aruba's eyes start to tear up, Father starts to laugh right along with her. Dumbstruck, Mother and I sit there just looking at the two of them as they go simply mad with giggles. Shifting uncomfortably, I stare down at my knees, my entire face on fire as I sit there, the butt of Aruba's untold joke. After a moment, finally calming her laughter some, Aruba pulls my arm away from my body and slides her elbow beside my own. Father turns to Mother taking her hand in his own and squeezing it.

" That's true," he says, grinning the widest I think I've ever seen him smile before, " Sohan has never been one for logic. Such a simpleton." Looking over at him, I blink as my Father chuckles for a second more before he finishes. " Sohan will end up hurting himself if he actually tries using his head for something." I can't keep my jaw from slacking at this comment, staring, looking helplessly between Aruba and Father as they both bust up laughing all over again. Face still burning, I clench my fist.

" GODDAMMIT!! I'm NOT STUPID!!!" I yell, shaking in my frustration and embarrassment. It does nothing to quell their laughter, but Aruba tugs at my arm, pulling me back down level with her. Blinking, I settle back down as Father and Aruba both start to control their laughing once more.

" That's not what we mean, calm down." Aruba tells me. Tilting my head, I cross my arms, not quite understanding what it is she's getting at. " Goodness. You just proved our point with that little outburst right there and you still haven't noticed it. Such a thick skull you have." she sighs, shaking her head. Frowning, I mutter to myself, tired of the way that the two of them keep giving me cryptic answers instead of a straight forwards one. " You're a smart person, Sohan," she says, " it's just not your strong point really." Lowering my arms to my sides, I stare blankly at Aruba and she giggles before going on. " You're strong point is your instinct, So," she pauses, her smile becoming gentle, " you do your best in life when you act on your emotions. When you jump into things maybe without thinking it through completely, following something that your gut is telling you to do."  Humming I consider this for a few moments.

" So, you're saying I should decide with my gut?" I say. A small pause follows and then all three of them start laughing like crazy. Confused, I look between them all again. " What? What the hell am I missing here?!" Smiling widely still, Aruba merely pats my arm with her hand a few times and meets my eyes.

" Don't worry about it, Sohan," she insists, " it's nothing that you need to concern yourself with." Turning to my parents she closes her eyes and dips her head as she adds. " As it is, we're a little off topic at the moment, wouldn't you agree?" They both settle into a calm, the air returning to a certain degree of seriousness at this point. Aruba goes right on talking, not even opening her eyes. " Admittedly, even I can't really think of any real reason that I should have the honor of holding the name of the Tor's beside my own." Turning I stare over at her. " In all honesty, I haven't done
anything all that amazing though the missions I've taken are many in number. My record is nothing of any particular interest and I'll be the first to admit it." Squeezing onto her hand, I can't contain myself for a second.

" Aruba-!"

" However," she interjects without looking over at me, " despite this, despite everything, Sohan has asked me to bear his name. If he believes I can bring greater honor to that name, who am I to disagree?" Then she finally turns to me and gives a smile.

Something about these words has my eyes wide and staring at her. My chest, suddenly, feels much lighter. In fact, it's a fluttering, a giddy sort of feeling, as though a flock of butterflies have been set free inside my body with all of them gathering together in my bosom hoping to escape out of my throat at the first possible chance. Staring there, dumbstruck for a time, once I get my head back in order I find a smile has already tugged the points of my lips apart and upward. Nodding my head, I face
forwards once more.

" Once more, you can not refuse us," I persist, " not anymore." Pausing, I draw a deep breath, finishing. " Aruba is the mother of my child and there's simply no way around that."