Bionica: The War

Kindergarten

Little Diana Steele pranced through the halls of her family's mansion, playing with the skirt of her new royal blue dress. Her black, shoulder-length curls threatened to escape her matching headband as she gallivanted through the house. She loved the sound the dress made when she walked and the way it billowed around her when she jumped. It was absolutely gorgeous, and right then it was all she cared about.

She had a thought and began to run down the hall, her black, patent-leather Mary Jane shoes slapping the hardwood floor. Suddenly a figure rounded the corner. It was short and stout, with a large chest and gray, stringy hair pulled into a tight bun. It was the head maid, Mrs. Lowe.

"Now, Miss Diana," she said in a condescending tone, "just what do you think you're doing?"

Diana shied away, her head sinking toward her shoulders. "I... I just wanted to show Papa my new dress..."

Mrs. Lowe held Diana roughly by the shoulder and turned her around. "You'll do no such thing!" she said. "You know your father works day and night to keep this place running like it does, and I'll be damned if I'm going to let you through those doors to distract him!"

"But, I-"

"There'll be no buts about it! Now, go up to your bedroom and-"

"Diana?"

A creak was heard from the large mahogany door at the end of the hall. Through a small crack, Icharus Steele poked his head out. "What's all the ruckus?"

Diana stepped forward timidly. "Papa, I just wan-"

"I am so sorry about all this, Mr. Steele," said Mrs. Lowe, shoving Diana aside. "Your daughter was just about to interrupt you at your work, and I reckoned you wouldn't have that, so I took charge and-"

"And kept a father from seeing his only girl?"

Mrs. Lowe paled. "I... that is not, by any means, what I meant to do, sir. I hope you know that. Please, forgive me."

Icharus stepped out of his room. "Forgiven," he said. "Now, don't you have a dinner to start? I'm sure Diana will be hungry after all the trouble she's caused." Here Icharus winked at his daughter. Mrs. Lowe's face went from ghostly white to blood red in an instant, and she huffed off with a forced, "Yes, sir."

Icharus put his hands on his daughter's shoulders. "Now. What is it you wanted to do?"

Diana stepped back and grasped the sides of her skirt, swishing it around. "I wanted to show you the dress you bought me! I love it so much! And when I jump, it flows around me like a parachute! Look!" She did a little jump and twirled for her father, who smiled from ear to ear.

"You look just like your mother," he said to her, his brown eyes sparkling in reminiscence. "Did I ever tell you the story of when we first met?"

"Yes," Diana said, "but tell me again! I love that story."

So Icharus walked back into his office and pulled up an enormous upholstered armchair. He sat down comfortably, then patted his lap for Diana to come and sit with him. She did so happily, and he began.

"When I was about five years old," Icharus said, "my father took me to a magical place called kindergarten."

Diana giggled, having been to kindergarten herself. "It's not magic, Papa," she said. "It's just school."

"Well, it was magical when your mother was there. Anyways, before school every morning we had to line up outside the school building according to our last names. Her last name was Rush, and mine-"

"You mean ours!" Diana piped in.

Icharus chuckled. "Ours is Steele. But I would always forget which letter came first and stand in front of her in line. She would always correct me, and I loved seeing her big, round eyes, so brown they were almost black. Just like yours." He lightly tapped Diana's nose and she giggled as he continued. "But I remember one day I got it right. I was so sad that she wouldn't turn and look at me, but I was too shy to talk to her. It was very sad for me. But a few days later, I got my chance. A boy in my class who was much bigger than I was had asked me to help him steal something from another kid, and I wouldn't do it. So naturally, when recess came around, he decided to hit me. No one noticed, and he kept beating me up. I thought I was going to die there, on that pile of wood chips and sand. Of course, that wasn't going to happen anyway, but I thought it might. Then I remember seeing a royal blue skirt, same as yours, in between the boy's legs. And I heard a voice shout, 'Hey!' I looked up and there was your mother, looking just like you do now, only much fiercer.

"'What're you looking at, Amneris?' the kid yelled. 'Get out of here!'

"Then, without any warning, she slugged him right in the nose. The hem of her nice, new dress got some bloodstains on it, she got in a load of trouble with the school, and I bet her mother had a fit when she got home. But I knew right then and there that I was going to marry that girl. And I did." Icharus smiled at his daughter and lifted her off his lap. "Now, why don't you go finish your homework, all right? That addition's not going to do itself!"

So Diana got up off her father's lap and ran upstairs, her dress making that elegant swishing noise the entire way up.