Moonlight Sonata

Lee

Lee was beginning to feel like something was off.  She had been in and out all day yesterday so she had not thought too much about some of the stranger things that had been said.  Today, however, she had woke up early like she usually did during the week.  Her head still hurt but nothing like yesterday.  She had gotten out of bed and was shocked by how unstable she was on her feet.  It took her a moment of standing very still before she had gained her balance.  The sooner she got moving, the sooner she could get out and go home.

She went to the bathroom and after relieving her aching bladder, she went to the mirror.  She winced as she looked at her reflection.  She did not even want to know what her head looked like under the bandage.  Her face as a whole was a little puffy.  She washed her face, clearing away the grime.  She did not like that Phoenix was with some unknown people, but all of the medics she had spoken to had talked very highly of Kakashi.  It was actually kind of weird the way the medics talked about him now that she thought about it.

She took a deep breath as she walked slowly back out of the bathroom.  As she looked around the room, it was a little different than most medical facilities she had been in.  She went over to the window, pulling on the blinds to look outside.  She froze as she looked out.  This was not South Padre.  The architecture was all wrong.  It looked more Japanese.  If she would have been in Hawaii, she might not have thought much about it but this was South Texas.  As she pushed the window open, there was no familiar smell of ocean breeze.  She then noticed a mountain  - there were no mountains in South Texas - and stone faces carved into the side.  Her mouth dropped open as she looked at it, her eyes zeroing in on the stone face of the man that had been taking care of Phoenix yesterday.

"Oh... my... god..."

She almost fell out the window as she leaned further out, not believing what she was seeing.  Her mind was whirling as she started piecing together the various clues and her mind started racing back in time.  There was a show she had watched in college when she had a roommate that was crazy into anime.  What was the name of that show again?  Naruto?  Was that right?  She remembered the faces on the mountain but his face wasn't on it then... Kakashi Hatake.  She gasped, remembering now why he looked familiar.  She had been in her early twenties when she had seen the show, it was no wonder she had forgotten.  What the hell?  How was this possible?  Was she even truly awake?

Kakashi had silently arrived in the room and had almost said something to her as she was leaning far out the window.  So far he was almost afraid she would fall.  He could see it on her side profile the minute she knew something was not right.  She was staring towards the mountainside for a long time before her eyes went back and forth across the village.

"No... no... no..." she was saying while shaking her head.  "This can't be possible."

Kakashi cleared his throat, not wanting to startle her.  She almost hit her head on the window, which he winced as he watched.  She narrowly missed it as she jumped slightly before pulling back fully into the room.  She looked over at him with wide eyes and he tried to give her a smile to calm down what he could imagine was going through her mind.

"This isn't South Texas is it?" she asked him.

"No," he responded.  "I don't know where that even is."

Lee's face paled and she moved to the bed to drop heavily onto the edge of it.  She covered her face for a moment as if trying to collect herself.  She looked at him as she lowered her hand.  "You're a Shinobi right? Naruto's teacher?"

Kakashi stilled as he looked at her, "That is correct.  How..."

"When I was quite a bit younger, I had a roommate that watched a show called Naruto.  I didn't see every episode but I watched several of them.  You were on it but in a cartoon form."  She grimaced, "That probably sounds crazy."

Kakashi tilted his head to the side, "Interesting.  So we're on a television show in your world."

"You're not shocked that I'm not from here?"

Kakashi smiled at her with that narrow lidded smile of his, "Naruto and I were there when a portal opened and your vehicle fell through.  Phoenix said that she did it.  Opened the portal."

"What?" Lee said with wide eyes.  "That's impossible!  She's just a normal little girl!"

"Hmm... I have not had that much experience with children her age so I will have to take your word on that," he responded softly.

Lee smirked before a giggle slipped out of her lips a little as the memory of his weary expression and his hair all in ties came back to her, "For someone without much experience, you managed to survive yesterday through her playing with you...." She covered her mouth, "I will never forget what you looked like. It was priceless."

Kakashi laughed softly, "I decided it was easier to just let her have her fun while I read than to try to corral her."

"You must have a lot of patience," she responded with a shake of her head.  She turned towards the window, a worried expression crossing her face as she absently tugged on her lower lip.  "What am I going to do here?  I started over once already.  I never thought I would be starting over again.... and with nothing."

"Can I ask... what happened to her father?"

Kakashi watched pain cross her hazel eyes as she looked over at him.  He noticed she tugged a bit harder on her lip before she released it to answer him.  "He killed himself.  Phoenix was only a month old, she never knew him.  He left no reason, just ended it."  She looked guarded, "Everyone blamed me.  To this day, I don't know why he did it.  He left that day smiling.  So I took Phoenix and went far away, started over.  Damn... now here I am again."

"I'm sure Naruto will help you get on your feet," Kakashi said.  "We have housing and some financial resources for refugees, widows, orphans, etc."

Lee glanced over at him, "That's a little reassuring.  Now if I can just get out of this hospital."  She gave him a little smile, "Thank you for listening to me whine a little.  We'll be fine.  I'm glad to know that Phoenix is safe for now while I try to get myself up and going."

Kakashi was processing everything she had said so far.  He was still unclear as to why Phoenix thought he was her father, since he obviously did not share any commonalities with him.  "What did you do in your world?"

"I worked at a jail as a correctional officer," she responded.

His brows shot up, she did not look at all like someone who would work in that kind of an environment.  For one, she was not that big of a person.  He guessed she was at most five foot seven, perhaps even a bit smaller.  She was petite in frame with a small bone structure.  An amused expression crossed her features as she looked at him.

"Don't give me that look, I'm tougher than I look," she grinned.  "Besides, I'll do whatever I must to give Phoenix a decent life. Even work in very dark places."

Kakashi gave a nod of understanding.  She was a mother and it was clear, she was all the little girl had in her life since the time she was born.  He had to admire that she had done it all on her own.  He wondered about the husband's death, what had driven him.  His own father had committed suicide but it had been the shame of failure that had drove him to it.  It was clear from her expressions she had been side swiped by the death and never received answers as to why.  He could understand why she had never spoken to her daughter about it yet.  How do you tell a child something like that?  It left a scar on the psyche, he should know he had found his own father at just a year older than Phoenix.

"I'll keep an ear open for anything that you might be able to do," Kakashi said before he started to stand.  "Speaking of Phoenix... I'll go get her so you can see her."

Lee watched as he started towards the door, "Kakashi?"  He stopped and looked back at her, "Thank you for everything you've done."

He gave that half-lidded smile of his before going out the door.