Teaching Trazhi love (2)

Trahzi's black eyebrows came up in realization. "You are trying to teach us empathy."

"Yes, very good," he said, taking out a band-aid from his essentials kit.

Her eyebrows came back down. "You are trying to teach us to have empathy... towards our food."

"Well, when you put it that way..."

"How can we have empathy towards something we eat?"

"Okay, you make a good point, but I had to start somewhere. You can't learn love by only thinking about yourself."

"So, love is thinking about someone else?"

"Yes, at least in part. You are thoughtful about their feelings, you consider how your actions will affect them, but more than that, you actually feel what they feel. When they are sad, it makes you sad. When they are happy, it makes you happy."

She found this troubling. "But wouldn't that give them a great deal of control over us?"

"Yes, and that aspect of love can be a little scary for people. It makes you vulnerable."

"You mean weak."

"Well..."

She pursed her full lips in disappointment. "If love means weakness, then maybe this is a waste of our time."

"But love can also be a source of strength."

This caught her attention. "How so?"

"Because it motivates you to action, to do things that benefit others. It creates in you a moral framework that guides your actions and leads you to do good."

"Good?"

"Yes, the opposite of evil."

She bit her lip in frustration. It was actually quite adorable. Gerald had to fight to keep from being distracted by it.

"These concepts are... difficult for us to understand," she admitted.

"I know, and they are all interconnected..." He strummed his finger through the grass thoughtfully. "There's something back at the mission I could show you, but I don't think there is time to..."

Suddenly fire erupted all around them, and when it vanished, they were sitting out in front of the mission.

"Oh, I guess that will work."

"We hate waiting."

When Gerald opened the front door, there arose a collective moan from the people inside.

"What's he doing here?" Dafan complained.

"If he's here then I'm leaving," Bleregorg added.

"Morning, siblings," Gerald greeted warmly.

"Sibling Dyson, what are you doing out here at this early hour?" Priest E'Rujer complained, his chameleon-like scales flashing between green and orange. "You'll be late for class at this rate."

"Sorry, just taking a slight detour," Gerald said as he slipped his way past stacks of food. "I see Madam Ssykes had another donation dropped off."

The dour priest brightened up a bit. "Yes, in fact for the first time ever we have more than we need. We are thinking about expanding our mission here in the city, opening up a second location."

"Oh, that's wonderful," Gerald praised. "They could really use the help over by the east bridge."

"So why are you here?" Dafan asked, his whiskers twitching angrily.

It was then that Trahzi stepped in. She had to bend over to get through, what was to her, a very short doorway, accidentally giving Dafan an eyeful of her amazing bosom. His jaw opened so wide it looked like it would fall off its hinges.

"Gerald is teaching us how to make love," she explained.

The color drained out of Dafan's face, and he fainted to the ground.

Gerald cleared his throat. "Um, I'm teaching you HOW to love. Make love is... is... something else."

"We know," Trahzi said with a mischievous grin. "We just wanted to see him faint."

As she walked past, Priest E'Rujer gave Gerald a fierce, reprimanding glance. Gerald smiled nervously and moved on, leading her to a small antechamber, little more than a closet.

Gerald shooed the others away, and when they were alone, he opened up the door, revealing a woven basket, lined with a soft blanket. Resting inside was a small animal called a netzav. Kind of like a wiener-dog with long floppy ears, the mother lay curled up like a horseshoe, her tiny litter of babies suckling hungrily.

"This is Nikki," Gerald explained softly. I found her last week huddled beneath the subway exchange station. She just had her babies yesterday morning."

Trahzi was clearly uncomfortable. "Why have you brought us here?"

He looked up. "Does this bother you?"

"A little," she admitted. "Those babies are frail, tender. We do not like weak things."

"We are all weak when we are born," Gerald explained softly. "The only reason any of us grow to adulthood is because someone cares for us when we are little."

Gerald took a piece of smoked meat out of his pocket and brought it down towards the mother. She growled in warning, curling herself tighter. When he held out the meat, she snapped out, biting deeply into his hand.

Gerald didn't flinch. He simply endured the pain and kept his hand still as her fangs dug into it.

"She has hurt you," Trahzi observed. "Why do you not hurt her back?"

"She is just protecting her babies," Gerald explained. "That's what a mother does. She loves her little ones. If the situation called for it, she would even die for them."

Finally sensing that he meant her no harm, the dog released his hand and took the piece of meat, gobbling it up hungrily.

"There, you see?" Gerald said, leaving his hand in place as he took out a worn handkerchief and wiped off the trickles of blood. "Little animals like this may be weak and frail, but to protect their babies, they can become the most fearsome creatures in the world."

Trahzi watched in fascination as the dog finished the meat, then reached out and licked Gerald's hand in gratitude. Gerald returned the gesture by stroking the back of her neck. The mother lay down and went to sleep while Gerald petted her.

"Do you see it now?" he asked, standing up.

"Yes," Trahzi said in fascination. "Her love for her puppies gives her strength beyond her frame. It allows her to challenge something many times her size."

"And she uses her strength to protect those that are weak."

Trahzi looked up, her face elated. A wide, pleasant smile crossed her lips. She was so pleased at what she had just learned that she laughed out loud. It was a gentle, silky sound, completely at odds with everything Gerald thought he knew about her.

"We think we understand. That is what you do here, isn't it?" She looked around at the ramshackle mission with new eyes. "You protect the small and the weak."

"Yes, we do," Gerald agreed, looking around the room with pride.

"But how can a person like you even exist? You are in complete violation of the laws of nature. The strong kill the weak, the aggressive topple the passive; they don't protect them. That is how the universe functions."

Gerald smiled. "The men and women of my order live by a higher law. We seek a world where no one has to hurt another in order to survive."

"A higher law? Higher than the laws of nature? Where is this world? Have you found it?"

"It exists inside the heart of everyone who chooses to love unconditionally."

Trahzi was becoming frustrated. "Again, with this love. We... we do not understand it."

"We grow to love those who we serve, and we serve those who we love. The two feed off one another in an endless cycle. If you want to learn love, then learn service."

She looked up. "Could it really be that simple?"

Gerald picked up the smallest of the netsav puppies and held it up to her. "We'll find out together."

Trahzi looked at the puppy as it gave off a tiny yawn. "You want me to take this animal?"

"Yes, the mother can only suckle six puppies at a time, but there were seven in the litter. This one will need to be cared for."

Trahzi seemed unsure. "What do we do with it?"

"Don't worry, I'll teach you how. The first thing to learn is to keep it warm. Not too hot, and not too cold. Can you match the body temperature of the mother?"

Trahzi looked over and her eyes flashed. "Yes."

"Okay," Gerald had her cup her hands and gently placed the tiny puppy in them.

"It is so small, we feel like it is going to break," she said, a little worried.

"No, you're fine, just be gentle with her."

Gerald took Trahzi's hand and brought it over, so that she cradled the puppy from above and below. "There. Just like that."

Trahzi looked at his hand as it lingered on hers just a little bit longer than necessary. Her lips parted ever so slightly as she inhaled in suprise.

"Sorry," he said, pulling away. "I forgot you don't like to be touched."

"No, that was..." she looked unsure. "We... are not sure what that was."