Ryoucilo
Reflections of My Youth
   I get up from my cot realizing that my wife has
already left. I yawn and I get out of bed. As I am 
crossing the room I see myself in the mirror. I
am sometimes surprised at how much I have 
changed over the years. 
  My face is leaner than it used to and I don't look
 quite as stupid as I once did. There are however
things that will remain eternal. I will always have
green eyes, I will always have wild black hair and
I will always wear a black and yellow bandanna.
  I leave the room and go outside to practice. My
skills have also increased over the years and I
am considered one of the greatest martial artists
in the world. I don't really care for titles or glory.
 I sometimes forget why I practice, but the answer
will always back in the form of my wife.
  My wife is a martial artist and she wants to carry
on the legacy of her family. My wife is very proud
and would never admit that she needed my help to
accomplish that, but she did and that is why I train.
  Thinking about the mirror is making me look back
on what I used to be and the way things were. I 
don't fully recall when I fell in love with my wife, 
but I do remember that it happened so fast that I didn't
realize it until it was too late.
   My wife had been in love with another man before
we started seeing eachother. What she saw in him
I will never know. He was very arrogant, vulgar and
he never seemed to care about her feelings. Yet she
continued to love him even though he was involved with
three other women and he never acknowledged her love.
    My wife did have another choice, but one she would
only give a passing thought. He was even worse than
the one she loved. He constantly told her how much he
loved her and he always trying to hug her. But he was
never really willing to listen to her. 
    The man that my wife loved one day told her that  her
love would forever go unrequited. Her world had shattered
into a thousand pieces. She went back to her home and
cried for several hours.
    I had been traveling for several hours and I stumbled into
her room as I did every now and then. I had asked her what
was wrong and she merely continued crying. I was at a loss
at what to do so I sat down in an empty chair.
    I waited for what seemed like hours for her to stop
crying. When she did stop crying she vehemently asked
me as to what I was doing there. I was about to answer her
when the man who loved her rushed in saying that she
was free from the man she loved. The man who loved her
yelled out his love to her and she began to cry again.
    I felt a tide of anger washing over me and I punched
him as hard as I possibly could. The punch that I threw
sent the man that loved her flying threw the wall. I
couldn't understand how he could rush in asking her to marry
him when what she really needed was a friend.
    I realized that I was being watched and I turned around
to look at her. She was staring at me with a questioning look
on her face. I sat down next to her and asked if she wanted to
talk about it. 
    She began to tell about her broken heart and then went
over her life in general. I listened to her and I told her
things about myself I had never told anyone else. That is
when it all had started. When she said that she was feeling
better I said that I probably should leave. She asked me to
stay and I never left her alone again.
    We had gotten married a few months later after a short
period of courtship. Her family did not approve of me because
they had wanted her to marry the man that she had loved. I
proved that I was just as good as him and the quickly fell
silent about the whole issue.
    We have been married for almost three years now and I never
have felt this happy in my whole life. Just as I finish my kata
I hear my wife walking up to me. I smiled and took her into
my arms. I told her that I loved her and she said the same. It
felt so good to be in her arms. I pulled away from her and I 
put a hand through her long purple hair.