Marriage Counseling (Part 1)

Posted on Wed Sep 23rd, 2020 @ 11:06pm by Lieutenant Commander Ryuuji Takasu & Lieutenant Takeshi Nakazato 'Zack' & Mako Nakazato & Sayuki Nakazato & Zack Nakazato Jr.
Edited on on Wed Sep 23rd, 2020 @ 11:07pm

1,444 words; about a 7 minute read

Mission: The Elachi Return
Location: Officers Mess
Timeline: After Takeshi's release from sickbay

When Takeshi came back from sickbay, safe to say, Sayuki and the kids were overjoyed, and Sayuki insisted that they all have breakfast to celebrate. Though Takeshi wanted to eat in their quarters, Sayuki wanted to see where her husband ate with the other crew. Takeshi eventually relented, admitting that there shouldn't be a problem letting civilians into the officers' mess so long as they were accompanied by a member of Starfleet, which Takeshi was.

That being said, trying to get two young kids to behave in the officers' mess was a chore to say the least: Takeshi found himself juggling plates of breakfast while yelling at Mako to stop running around and possibly exciting Zack, even though Sayuki knew that wouldn't be the case.

As the Nakazato family finally settled down to their breakfast, Takeshi couldn't help but notice Ryuuji sitting by himself, looking rather deflated. Though Takeshi should have probably left well-enough alone, he figured he'd at least try and engage him:

"Hey, Takasu!" He called. "Why don't you come and join us?"

Ryuuji looked over. "Whats up?" He asked his tone still relatively negative. He pushed his food away and ran a finger around the rim of his coffee mug.

"It's fine if you don't want to." Takeshi responded. "I can't force you to do anything: Just thought maybe hanging out with some people would help get your mind off things."

Without another word, Takeshi sat down to have breakfast with his family. Whether or not Ryuuji took up his offer was now up to the Lieutenant Commander. Takeshi had done his due diligence in trying to engage him.

Ryuuji picked up his mug and wandered over. "Well it seems as if the entire ships compliment is avoiding me at the moment" he explained. He motioned to the empty seat. "So, is that free?"

Takeshi looked up and smiled.

"Of course." He said. "I wouldn't have offered otherwise."

Takeshi looked Ryuuji up and down. He looked as if he hadn't eaten in a while.

"Though, fair word of warning, the missus is going to try and fatten you up." Takeshi advised. "It's just her way."

Ryuuji sat down at the table. "I've not eaten much since the battle. With all our damaged fightercraft, its been keeping me busy. Plus all this crap with Taiga isn't helping" he took a sip of his coffee. "From what I hear, you and her didn't see eye to eye".

"Well, that's an understatement..." Takeshi muttered. "I've had this vision of her killing me and my wife in our sleep, and whatever happens to our kids depends on what version of the vision I'm having: Sometimes she kills them, other times, she raises them as her own. Honestly, I'm not sure which one is worse..."

Takeshi picked up a strip of bacon and bit off a piece.

"I wanted to sit down with Captain Aisaka, let her see the wife and kids, and then tell her that if she did anything to try and harm them, I would not hesitate to kill her," Takeshi admitted. "But, I guess that's down the toilet for the time being..."

Before anything more could be said, Sayuki was pushing waffles in front of Ryuuji.

"Eat, you poor thing!" She said. "Now's not the time to waste away. Sorry, I'm a mom, it's what I do: Sayuki Nakazato, by the way, damn glad to meet you."

"Language, dear!" Takeshi reprimanded. "Remember the children?"

Takeshi turned back to Ryuuji.

"Sorry about that, she's a strong willed pain in the neck who will walk all over you if you let her." He explained. "But, that's why I love her..." He quickly said when he felt Sayuki's wrathful gaze.

Ryuuji took a sip of his coffee to let Takeshi's words sink in for a moment. "You really think that low of her?" He asked hypothetically. "Taiga's also very strong willed, she's arrogant but she knows what she wants" he explained. "But deep down she's really a harmless kitten, just with a big meow. That's why I've loved her for as long as I have"

He took another sip of his coffee. "You should know. She often mentions you and your family. I'll let you in on a secret...". He picked up the fork and pulled at the waffles. "She wants what you have right here at this table. We've been trying for years, afterall, she lost our first in the line of duty" he told them quietly. "The fact you're still here shows she has faith in your abilities and skills Takeshi".

Takeshi took a sip of his Darjeeling, letting Ryuuji's words sink in. Perhaps that was why he was having the version of the vision where Taiga raised Mako and Zack as her own: Because she's always wanted kids.

"Well, I'll say this much: Your old lady sure has a funny way of showing faith." Takeshi admitted. "That murderous rage is hard to forget, and easy to manifest in psychotic nightmares."

Takeshi took a bite of sausage and washed it down with another sip of Darjeeling.

"And since we're letting each other in on secrets, I'll go ahead and let you in on one... Kids are a handful." He said. "The grass always looks greener on the other side of the fence, but once children are actually in your life, you begin to miss things you once took for granted."

Takeshi lowered his voice, as the kids were still present.

"Making love for instance:" He said. "It becomes a wait until the kids are asleep deal. Oh, and speaking of sleep, be prepared to forget about sleep: Sayuki here will testify that after having Mako, she forgot what sleep even meant for a while, isn't that right dear?"

"Oh yeah," Sayuki agreed. "The first few months with baby Mako were absolute hell: I was probably up like three, four times a night if I was lucky?"

"Language, dear!" Takeshi said. "Be a little more mindful of the kids, huh?"

"And it somehow got worse with Zack." Sayuki continued. "Because his crying would wake Mako up, and then I had two kids to get back to sleep."

"Like I said, quite the handful." Takeshi said. "It takes a lot to be a parent, but I wouldn't trade this for the galaxy. To come home from work and see the gleam in my daughter's eye as she races her mother to be the first to hug me, to finally be there for my son after having not been for his whole life: Yep, it's not perfect, but it's what I call my little slice of heaven."

"Its a sacrifice we were both willing to take" Ryuuji replied. He popped a piece of the waffle in his mouth, chewed and swallowed. "Don't let Taiga get to you. She's been through a lot. She's got a good heart though, from what I understand you made some silly mistakes and got on her bad side"

He paused, took another sip of his coffee. "But she's no threat to you. My advice; keep on doing your job. Keep your head down and be there when she needs you. She loves this crew, she'll fight for every last one of you to the very end. Have faith in her"

Ryuuji took another sip. "You'rr a lucky man Takeshi. You have a wonderful family, just promise me you'll protect and be there for them. You've already got more than Taiga and I have right now"

"If I didn't love than more than anything else in the galaxy, than I wouldn't be wanting to threaten Captain Aisaka with bodily harm to protect them." Takeshi replied. "You can bet your ass that if anyone tries to harm them, I will chase them down to the ends of the galaxy and put a phaser bolt right between their eyes or whatever."

"Language, dear." Sayuki reprimanded. "You were the one saying be mindful of the kids."

Ryuujis eyes narrowed slightly. "Theres a difference between protecting your family and threatening violence towards a superior officer" he warned. "Be aware, and I'll only say this once, I feel the same way about Taiga and just like you, I won't hesitate to protect her either". A few seconds of silence fell upon the table.

"But, a warning from one man to another. Man to man" Ryuuji said simply his tone lowering slightly. "Don't say that you'll deliberately harm others when people can overhear you. Remember that you're still an senior officer and need to set an example, not just to others but... them too" he explained indicating to the two children sat at the table.

To be continued...

RSS Feed