The Cause

5: Carpools and Katanas

"TiTi Rana! Hurrrry! I'll be late for rehearsal," Minne Smythe wailed from the back seat of the SUV.

"Patience, beauty, patience," Rana mumbled, the mantra repeated daily at car pool pickup.

"It's just that I'm so e-sited!" the five year old threw up her hands, fell back on the seat and began to hum the songs of the musical she was on her way to rehearse.

Rana glanced in the mirror and watched the silver haired cherub conducting an imaginary orchestra. Minne so closely resembled Stefin, she was his feminine mini-me. With delicate features, Minne looked like her half-elven father. Her heart ached that he would never see her sing again and neither would His wife, Rana's twin sister Tana.

Out of habit, she reached over and tapped her wallet. Inside was the last picture of her sister and her husband taken three years ago when Minne was two. It was a small ritual to connect to them in spirit if not in person.

As she pulled in front of the Wellsville Arts Center, Rana turned and said, "Beauty, I have a surprise for you. You are going home with Mrs. Cranston for a sleepover with Julia tonight," an excited squeal came from the back seat.

"TiTi, where will you be?" she said over a mouthful of neon colored fruit snacks.

"I'll be home," she replied.

"Won't you get lonely without me?" a small frown creased her smooth forehead.

"No, I have work to do," Rana assured her niece. They had rarely slept apart since they became a little family.

"I might get lonely without you. What if..."her voice trailed off as her eyes clouded over in fear.

"Beauty, remember who I am?" Rana said turning around to look into Minne's tearfilled eyes.

"You are a Keeper," she whispered.

"And what do Keepers do?" Rana prompted, taking the child's shaking hand into hers.

"They keep the covenant between what is seen and what is unseen," she repeated dutifully, one tear slipping down her cheek.

"And what does that mean?" Rana squeezed her hand willing courage to the little girl.

"You kick butt," she replied.

"Say it again, Beauty, this time like you mean it!"

"You...kick....BUTT!" Minne yelled, a smile on her face.

"So, you think you can go to the sleepover so I can kick a little butt tonight?" Rana asked.

"Do you have it?" she asked straining to look beside her Aunt.

Rana reached and pulled a sleek, leather wrapped scabbar which held a razor sharp katana.

Minne sat back and tilted her head to the side. As Finn had done at Darby's, the little girl silent-shared, "You'll come home? You promise?" The child's voice whispered across Rana's mind.

"I promise," Rana replied smiling.

"Everything is AWE-some!" Minne sang and began to gather the contents of her back pack which suddenly exploded over the seat. Just before launching herself and putting a wet smooch on her Aunt's cheek.

Rana resisted the temptation to wipe off her wet cheek until Minne skipped her way past the doors. She grabbed a tissue and, with a small smile, wiped her cheek leaving it smelling like fruit snacks.

Setting her jaw, she pulled her hair up into a tight ponytail. It was time for business.

_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_ Thank you for reading!_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+

You've met quite a few characters so far. Who was your favorite? And what do you think will happen tonight at midnight? DON'T FORGET TO VOTE!