Miko’s happiness

Shiro watches with joy as Lilli and Miko laugh all throughout cooking dinner. His father smiles as he hears the laughter filling the house.

"I have not heard her laugh since she got pregnant with Niko. Your family being here has helped her so much. Thank you for visiting. " Hiroto smiles at Yona with gratitude. Yona looks at his friend.

"Lilli has that effect on most she meets. She is very outgoing where these two barely speak except to be sarcastic. I am glad that she is a help. You know it is not uncommon for women to get sad with pregnancy and after as well. Sometimes it takes someone that they do not know to help. Lilli loves people so she will help her as much as possible. " Yona says a little prayer that whatever the children did worked. He notices that William has kept Alex's body in close proximity to his where they are touching constantly. He must be healing the burn on his hand. Opening his mind and linking to William. Yona asks

"what happened to Alex? " Yona looks at the boys his eyes not leaving his sons face.

"Uncle he will be fine, the woman was not depressed she was possessed. We had to free her from the demon. When doing so Alex was burned by its venom. I can keep the poison at bay. When we get home he will need a bath with salt and sage. We all will need a sage cleansing. That way any residual negativity from the demon does cling to us. We need to purify this house as well but I do not know how to go about it. I will call mother and see what to do." William does not seem to be overly worried so Yona is at ease , the boys are confident in their gifts . Though they are cautious when using them. Thankful that they were able to save the woman, angry though because he is sure that they manipulated him. Yona is positive that the children already knew that there was something going on with Miko before asking to come. For that they will have to pay a price to him. Smiling thinking on what that price will be.

In the kitchen Miko is talking to Lilli nonstop.

"So how did you meet my son, he seems very attached you you. I noticed that when you first arrived he would not let your hand go. Except when you went to the restroom." Miko gives Lilli a look as if to say spill it. I need to know if your worthy of my child .

"We met when he was in the hospital, my dad was going to give a lecture at the hospital he was in. My uncle Yona was here in Japan when Mr. Kaji told him about his condition. Since I was coming to Japan with Uncle to study he thought it would be nice for me to have a friend. We became close very quickly. It's as if I found my other half. " Lilli smiles at Miko hoping that she will like her.

"My son is not very worldly he was sick so I was very protective of where he went and who he met with. He never made friends outside of his uncles . It surprised me how at ease he is with the three of you. Tell me more about what you will study here. " Miko encouraged Lilli to tell her more.

"I want to be a healer like those in my family, my uncles and my aunt are shaman's , my father and aunt are also Doctors. I want to learn traditional medicine of various cultures as well as attend medical school. I have a good basic knowledge of healing herbs and plants because of my uncles and aunt. Though I want to learn more about ancient practices throughout Asia as well. I will go to South Korea in a few years to study with Auntie Jin's brother. Since my uncle Yona lives part time in Japan and part time in America I figured I could start here. I will be visiting a temple tomorrow to meet the monks that will be helping me learn during the summers." Lilli tells her excitedly.

"Will you convert to Buddhism?" Miko asks her curious now about such a young child so determined about her future.

"No , I do not believe that I need to do that. We have all religions in my family and I take the best from them all. The father cares for us all the religions do not matter. The only thing that matters is that we believe in him and his son. That we show love and kindness to all his creatures. I believe the father will love me regardless if I practice Buddhism or Christianity. I meditate, pray and try to be the best person possible. I believe that the father will bless me . Shiro and I get along well because we do not try to change each other we just listen to what the other wants and try to understand that. He is very shy at first but once you get to know him he is quite the mischievous one. I promised to help him learn horseback riding and archery. My specialty is shooting a long bow while riding. I told Uncle Jiro I would teach him so he could learn a few samurai skills. It is one of the reasons I came . I will learn swordsmanship at the temple as well. I am excited to learn something new." Lilli gushes about what she wants to do not thinking about what Miko may think. By the time they finished talking dinner was ready.

Miko calls out that dinner is ready for everyone to come and eat.

The men enter the dinning room to see an array of food. Miko made Hitsumabushi ( grilled eel over rice),soba (buckwheat noodles, onigiri(rice balls filled with spicy tunas ) and yakatori ( chicken skewers) with various types of steamed vegetables. The men whistle at how much the two made.

The group sit and Akio thanks them for the food. Jiro remembered from his visit to America that the family normally does not eat till thanks is given to the father.

"In honor of our guest maybe Yona would like to bless the food?" Jiro asks Yona to say grace.

Yona smiles at him and reaches his hands out to take the boys. Lilli takes Shiro's and Miko's . Everyone around the table follows suite till a circle is made around the table.

"Father we thank you for the bountiful blessings that you have bestowed. We thank you for a safe trip and good friends amen." Yona nods in thanks to Jiro as he makes his plate.

" thank you Jiro for thinking of our custom. We have learned to say our grace silently as well . Fir occasions when it is not feasible to do so. Thank you for making us feel at home." Yona thanks his friend.

"It is the least I could do. Your family opened your home to us and your beautiful sister in law made us such a feast when we visited. If your wife had not gone into labor I had been trying to figure a way to stay longer." Jiro takes a bite of his food smiling at his sister in law. The rest of the meal is loud with sharing about their trip to America.

Hiroto feeling left out grunts , Alex nudges him.

"It's ok I'm usually the one left out. You know our home is open to you as well. You may come anytime. Are you into archery like Mr Jiro?" Alex asks Hiroto.

"No im more of a numbers man. I like using my brain more than my brawn." Hiroto mumbled under his breath.

"You would get along well with Uncle Marshal he is a numbers guy. Though he can fight with the best of them. He prefers using his brain. I'm not as strong as the others so I use my brain more. Do you like chess ?" Alex asks him.

"I love it, would you like a game sometime?" Hiroto ruffles Alex's hair as they get up from dinner.

"Yes I love it but don't ever play with Williams mom she is a shark when it comes to chess." Alex giggles thinking of his aunt and her antics when playing.