(3 days ago)

Hinata Mao, in all her years of life, had never felt her heart beat this fast before.

'I've faced monsters, fiends, bandits, tyrants, and all manner of madness. I'm one of the most skilled warriors on the continent. I've trained to push past fear!'

Her hands clenched. She felt the sweat matting her fur. Her muscles twitched.

'but this,' she thought with a gulp. 'this really scares me!'

All her instincts told her to run, to flee. This was not a foe to be trifled with. This was not a foe she could overcome. The onslaught would be swift and brutal and there would be no survivors.

'But I have too. I won't be able to live with myself if I back out now!'

"Hinata, are you all right?" her mother asked. "You've been rather quiet."

She took a deep breath.

"Yeah, Mom. Just a lot on my mind."

Her mother smiled and turned back to cutting veggies.

"Well, you can always talk to me if you need to."

'Yeah, that's kinda the problem,' she thought ruefully. 'Talking to mom should not be this fear inducing.'

Not that the Mao Matriarch wasn't intimidating in her own right. She was a former legendary hero herself, not to mention she was leagues taller than any of the siblings. Brunhilde didn't get her height and size from their father after all.

'How do I even start though?'

The fact of the matter was that Hinata and her sisters were not all that close to their mother. Much of their lives had been training with Shin Mao. Most of their interactions with her were during meal times. It could be argued that Mao Mao, the lone son of the family, was closer to Mama Mao than any of the Mao daughters.

That stung a bit, if she was honest. She'd heard tell of that special, unique bond between mothers and daughters. A bond that, far as she could tell, none of the Mao girls had.

'And because of that, I don't even know how to talk to her. Well, only one thing for it,' she thought as she took a steadying breath. 'Dive in head first, adapt, and hope I'm not making a huge mistake.'

"So, Mom," she began. "I've been doing a lot of…" She rolled her wrist, searching for the right word. "Reflection, I guess."

"Oh?" her mother hummed over the sound of cutting vegetables.

"Yeah, and, well…" She paused. "Am I… Am I a bad person?"

The question hung in the air. Her mother softly set the knife down.

"And what made you think this?"

'OH GOD! She didn't answer!'

She turned her eyes to the table. If she didn't make eye contact, didn't see the disappointment in her mother's eyes, it would hurt less. She hoped one day she'd believe that.

"Well," Hinata began. "I was in this town a few weeks back. Kinda out of the way. I'd helped take out a monster there and was just resting up. There was this family there. A mom, a dad, two young boys and a little girl. The dad was kind of a sexist."

Hinata frowned as she remembered. The man had done nothing but glare at her the entire time she was there.

"He was a town guard and I guess he was trying to train the two boys as guards. I overheard them one day. The little girl was asking if she could train too. The dad just said that she was a girl and girls shouldn't fight, and she was too small, and to go wait with her mother."

She could feel the tears pooling in her eyes.

"And as they walked away, I looked at the little girl. She had such a sad look on her face. And I couldn't help but feel that…" She gulped. "That I'd seen it before. On Mao Mao. When he'd ask to train with us, and dad would just say he was too small and told him to go play." The tears were flowing now.

"And just before the door to the dojo closed, I'd look back and…" Her breath hitched. She hugged herself. "And I'd see that face, that sad look of hurt, as he stared at the floor. And then I thought of all the other times Mao had been hurt. Like when he fell over trying to train and Brunhilde and the others just laughed, or every time Dad screwed up his name, or that stupid incident with the cobbler!"

She was shaking now.

"And I thought about how I did nothing! I just stood there! My brother, my own family, was hurting and I did nothing!"

She sobbed. Her eyes were closed. Her mother placed an arm around her.

"Shh, Hinata," her mother cooed.

There was something comforting about the way her mother said her name compared to everyone else. There was a different sort of inflection, a different emphasis of the syllables that came from the Mao Matriarch's slight japanese accent.

A hand tilted her head to the side.

"Look at me, Hina."

Hinata opened her eyes. She was met by her mother's. The green eyes, a feature only shared with Hinata, Minori, and Mao Mao, radiated warmth and comfort. There was no disappointment, only love and pride.

"You are not a bad person, my dear," she said softly. Her large paw wiped away Hinata tears. "The fact that you recognise the wrongs your brother has suffered proves that."

"But," she sniffed. "Dad trained us to be legendary heroes. What kind of heroes do that?!"

"Your father taught you to be legendary warriors, that much is true," her mother chuckled ruefully. "But Shin Mao could use a few lessons in being a hero."

"Huh?"

Her mom shook her head.

"Your father thinks being a hero is about fighting the monsters, beating the bad guys and finding treasure, but it's more than that. Being a hero is about compassion, it's about doing a good thing no matter how small, it's about fighting injustice and protecting life from those that would destroy it."

Hinata sniffed and wiped her eyes.

"Mom, I wanna be a better person, a better sister. How do I make it up to Mao Mao?"

Her mother sighed.

"Unfortunately, I can't offer you much advice on that. You have to find your own way." She smiled softly. "But I would say the first thing to do is to talk with him. He needs to know you're sorry."

"What if he doesn't forgive me?"

"He might not," she said with a shake of her head. "But you need to talk with him any way. Besides, a wrong committed through ignorance can eventually be forgiven."

Hinata nodded. "Ok, I'll talk to him." she paused. If I even knew where to find him."

Mama Mao laughed.

"That I actually can help you with."

She pulled a postcard from her apron. On it was a picture of three individuals. A blue bat and a bear-like creature with an eyepatch and a metal arm were waving at the camera. At the back, near some sort of building, was her brother, red caped back facing the camera and glancing slightly over his shoulder. The words 'Greetings from the Pure Heart Valley Sheriff's Department' was printed at the top of the picture.

"He's a sheriff now?"

"Yep," she said with a nod. "The valley seems to be a hot pot for monsters and sky pirates, so your brother decided to take responsibility for its protection."

"Huh, alright I guess I'll go to this Pure Heart Valley."

She tried to get up but her mother pushed her back down.

"No you don't."

'oh no, the 'mom' voice.'

"You will sit down, have dinner, and leave in the morning," her mom said turning back to her cooking.

"But Mom-"

"No buts," she said, pointing her knife at her. "An emotionally charged conversation is like a battle and, should you rush immediately from one to another?"

"Well, its not the best thing to do but-"

"If you can afford not to have to rush from one to another, should you rush?"

Hinata sighed.

"No," she mumbled.

Her mother nodded. "Good. You should approach this with a clear head. Now come help me with dinner."

"Okay, Mom."

(Present)

There was one last thing that her mother had said before she left.

'One last important thing, Hina. Know that you are aware of your brothers plight, you can no longer take shelter in ignorance. If you truly want to be a better sister, you can no longer turn a blind eye to him. You need to stand by him. Even if it causes you to be against your father or your sisters, don't let him suffer alone, even if he doesn't forgive you. Okay?'

'Okay, Mom,' she thought as she approaches the sheriff's building. 'I promise. I'll make this right.'

C.T.K: This chapter. THIS FREAKING CHAPTER! Not that it was a struggle to write. I knew what I wanted to happen. The problem came from the fact that of Mao Mao's family, only three of them have names! So it was a struggle to write it in such a way that I didn't have to refer to an unnamed sister!

And you might be thinking, 'well just give them names yourself, like you did with Hinata?'. Well, I would, IF THE NAMING CONVENTIONS OF THE MAO CLAN WEREN'T ALL OVER THE PLACE! I mean, we start with Mao Mao. Then we get Shin Mao, so I think 'okay, chinese names.' Except the next name we get is 'Minori'. Alright, fine. Asian based names. It widens the spectrum but fine. But then the next name we get is 'Brunhilde' a name with distinct GERMAN origins!

It was at that point, I threw up my hands and said 'screw it. I just won't refer to them by name.'. And that was a lot harder than I thought.

Anyway, NEXT TIME: a simple spar goes to far and the mental scars open wide.

Till then.