The owl settled in a tree, hooking his claws onto the branch, as he stared at the girl in the glade below. The wind moaned. Rocking the branch, scudding low clouds across the evening sky. Lifting the hair of the young girl.

The girl moved slowly from the trees towards the middle of the glade, where a small pool glimmered. Her hands were open and held in front of her. The wind sighed once again blowing her kimono against her slender body, and rustled her long blue-black hair behind her.

“Give me the child,” Kaoru said in a low firm voice. She halted, her hands still held out. “Give me the child,” She repeated. “Through dangers untold, and hardships outnumbered, I have fought my way here to the castle beyond the goblin city, to take back the child you have stolen.” Biting her lip she continued, “For my will is as strong as yours… and my Kingdom as great…”

Thunder rumbled and the owl blinked once as he watched from his perch.

“My will is as strong as yours.” Kaoru started again with even more intensity then before. “ And my Kingdom as great…” Kaoru’s shoulders dropped as she frowned.

“Damn…” she uttered to herself.

She reached in one of the folds of her kimono, and brought out a small leather covered book, called The Labyrinth. She read aloud from it. It was not easy to make out the words in the fading light. “ You have no power over me…”

Kaoru was not able to get any further, as another loud clap of thunder, nearer this time, made her jump.

“You have no power over me…” She closed her blue eyes, and whispered the phrase over several times.

A small clock above the little pavilion in the park chimed seven times and penetrated Kaoru’s concentration. “ Oh, no,” she said in panic. “ I don’t believe it! It’s 7:00 already!”

She spun on her heels and sprinted back home towards the dojo. Thunder clouds splattered her with large drops of rain, soaking through the layers of her dark blue kimono.

The owl had watched it all. When Kaoru left he still sat on his branch in no hurry to follow her. He knew what he wanted. After all, an owl is born with all his questions answered, right?

Kaoru ran down the streets, splashing mud on her kimono, thinking to herself all the while. “It’s not fair, it’s not fair!” She stopped mid thought as she reached the gate of the dojo covered in mud, thinking about how unfair life was for her.

Kenshin, to her surprise, had gotten married a while ago to a female doctor named Megumi. After all, she couldn’t just tell Kenshin and Megumi to leave so she let them stay with her; Kenshin was her best friend. Kenshin was the same kind person he was, but Megumi was ruthlessly unfair with Kaoru, always making her stay home and watch the baby, every weekend when she and Kenshin went out. Megumi always seemed to act like she was her step mother and Kaoru hated that because nobody could replace her real mother.

As Kaoru came to a halt on the path in front of the garden, she could hear Akira, crying inside. Kaoru didn’t hate the baby, definitely not, he was like a brother to her, but on some occasions he just made her so mad, that she wished he was never there.

Kaoru then noticed Megumi looking at her from the patio. “ I’m sorry,” she said in a bored voice, to show that she wasn’t sorry at all.

“Well,” Megumi told her, don’t just stand out there in the rain, come on.” Megumi stood aside to make room for Kaoru to pass her.

“ Why…” Kaoru thought for the hundredth time, “ does Megumi have to act like this every time I go out in the evenings, and have to treat me like I am her child?”

Megumi slid the door shut, and took a deep breath, and started her daily speech. “Kaoru, you're an hour late!”

Kaoru opened her mouth to say something, but Megumi cut her off with a humorless smile.

“ Please let me finish Kaoru! Your father and I go out very rarely—“

“You go out every weekend!” Kaoru shouted. “ And Kenshin is not my father, and you are not my mother!”

Megumi Ignored Kaoru and continued.”— And I ask you to watch Akira only if it won’t interfere with your plans!”

“ How would you know?” Kaoru had half turned around, putting her book on the hallstand. “ You don’t know what my plans are! You don’t even ask me anymore!” Kaoru yelled, anger showing in her eyes.

Megumi watched her coldly. “ I am assuming you would tell me if you had a date. I would like it if you had a date. A 18 year old girl should go on dates.”

“ Well if I did have a date you would be the last person I would tell.” Kaoru thought bitterly to herself. “Stop trying to act like you’re my mother!” Kaoru yelled on the brink of tears.

Kenshin walked into the room with Akira in his arms. “ Oh, Kaoru-dono,” he smiled warmly at her. “ We were worried about you.”

“ Oh, leave me alone!” Afraid that the tears were going to spill over, she ran to her room. Kaoru had nothing against Kenshin, but she hated the fact that he always took Megumi’s side.

Megumi sat down in the hallway, still in her new kimono. “ I don’t know what to do anymore. She treats me like a wicked stepmother in a fairy tale, no matter what I say.”

“Well…” Kenshin started. “ Maybe you should stop acting like you are Kaoru- donno’s mother.”

“That’s what you always say, and like always, you’re right. But will she ever change?” Megumi replied.

Holding Akira in one hand, Kenshin put his other one on his wife’s shoulder. “ I’ll go talk to her.”

Raindrops clattered on the windows as the thunder outside rumbled on.

Kaoru was in her room. It was the safest place in the world to her. She even made a habit of walking around it once a day to make sure everything was were it had been and should be.

All her books had to remain in proper position, and in alphabetical order by author. Kaoru placed her labyrinth book on the shelf remembering to grab it when she ran. Other shelves were covered with stuffed animals she had gotten from her parents before they passed away. Kenshin seldom came into her room because he knew that she always took care of it and picked up after herself.

Kaoru stood in the middle of her room. She sniffled one last time, and chewed her lower lip. She walked over to a small table besides her futon and picked up a small music box, which her father had given her on her fifth birthday.

The tune of “greensleeves” tinkled as a little dancer in a frilly pale pink dress twirled. Kaoru watched until the music stopped and the dancer jerked to a stop.

Kaoru sighed to herself, she had always wanted to be an actor, but she felt as if she would never make it, for she couldn’t even remember a simple speech.

“Through dangers untold, and hardships unnumbered, I have fought my way here to the castle beyond the goblin city, to take back the child you have stolen…” She paused when she heard tapping on her door.

“Kaoru-dono? Can I talk to you?” came Kenshin's soft voice.

“There’s nothing to talk about. You better hurry or you’ll be late. Don’t worry about me.” Kaoru replied.

“Akira had his supper, and he is in his bed right now. If you could just make sure he goes to sleep all right. We’ll be back around midnight.” And with that, Kenshin left.

As Kaoru turned to walk over to her window, something caught her eye… something was missing… Now she remembered, the stuffed bear her father had given her was gone.

Kaoru rummaged through her shelves, but the bear was nowhere to be seen. “Someone’s been in my room!” She yelled to herself, and then said out loud. “I hate her!”

Kaoru ran out of the dojo and saw that Kenshin and Megumi were already gone and screamed. “I hate you!”

She knew where she would find him. Kaoru stormed into Kenshin and Megumi’s room, and found her bear tossed on the ground like a piece of trash. Akira full of warm milk and almost asleep woke up at her entrance.

Kaoru glared at the baby. “ I hate her.”

Akira started crying. Kaoru hugged her bear close to her.

“Oh!” Kaoru cried. “Oh, someone please… save me. Take me away from this awful place.”

By now, Akira was howling. The stormed delivered a lightning flash right above the dojo.

“Someone save me,” Kaoru begged.

In a place faraway goblins stopped what they were doing. “Listen!” said a goblin with one eye opened.

“All right, hush now, shush.” Kaoru said trying to calm herself and little Akira.” What do you want? Hmm? Do you want a story? All right.” Without thinking she picked up on the thread of the labyrinth. “Once upon a time there was a beautiful young woman whose so-called stepmother always made her stay with the baby. The baby was a spoiled child who wanted everything for himself, and the young woman was practically a slave. But what no one knew was this: The king of the goblins had fallen in love with the girl, and had given her certain powers.”

In the castle the goblins eyes were wide as they listened.

Thunder once again crashed causing the windows to shutter in their frames. “One night,” she started again, “when her stepmother had been particularly nasty, the girl called on the goblins to help her. ‘ Say the right words,’ the goblins said.”

The goblins nodded happily.

“But the girl knew that the king of the goblins would keep the baby in his castle forever and ever, and would turn the baby into a goblin. So she suffered in silence. Until one night, worn out and hurt by the harsh words of her so-called stepmother, she could bear it no longer.”

At this point, Kaoru was leaning so close to Akira that she was whispering into his small ear. He turned over and stared into Kaoru’ blue eyes only a few inches away, and howled loudly and insistently once again.

“Oh!” She snorted standing straight up again.

Kaoru sighed, and decided there was no way around it, so she picked Akira up. She walked around the room bouncing him in her arms. “All right,” Kaoru sighed, “all right. Come on now. Rock-a-bye-baby, and all that other stuff. Come on, Akira, Knock it off.”

“Akira,” Kaoru started firmly and in a lower voice. “Be quiet, will you? Please? Or…. I’ll…I’ll say the words. No! No! I mustn’t. I mustn’t. I mustn’t say…’ I wish…I wish…” Kaoru said dramatically to the wall, while holding Akira up.

“Listen,” said the goblin again.

“She’s going to say it!” A second goblin spoke.

“Say what?” asked a stupid goblin.

“Shush!” said the first.

“Shut up!” said the other goblins.

“You shut up!” yelled back the stupid one.

The first goblin put his hand over the stupid ones mouth. “Sh! Shhh!”

The second goblin shrieked, “Quiet!” and hit those near him.

“Listen,” said the first goblin again. “She is going to say the words.”

Akira had just reached such a crescendo of screams that Kaoru thought wasn’t possible.

“I can bear it no longer, Goblin king! Goblin King! Wherever you may be, come take this child of mine far away from me!”

Lightning cracked and thunder crashed.

The goblins dropped their heads.

“That’s not the right words.” Said the first.

“Where did she learn that rubbish? It doesn’t even start with ‘ I wish’!” Snapped the second.

“Sh!” said the stupid one sensing his chance to boss the others.

Kaoru was still holding Akira up as he still screamed his head off. Outraged that he could scream any louder.

Exhausted by now, Kaoru told him, “Oh, Akira, stop it. You, little monster. Why should I have to put up with this, you're not my responsibility.” Kaoru found herself over come with anger, guilt, and weariness, as she whispered. “I wish I did know what words to say to get the goblins to take you away.”

“’I wish the goblins would come and take you away, right now.’ How hard is it?!” yelled the first goblin to nobody.

Kaoru looked at Akira once again. “ I wish…I wish…”

“Did she say it?” asked the stupid one.

As one, all the other goblins turned to him and yelled as loud as they could. “SHUT!!!! UP!!!!”

Akira stopped crying and Kaoru placed him back in his bed, and walked to the door. She froze in place with her hand ready to close the door when he began to scream again.

“ I wish the goblins would come and take you away…” she paused.

The goblins all grew silent, that you could even hear a snail blink.

“…Right now.” Kaoru said as she closed the door behind her and headed towards her room.

“She said it!” the goblins cried in glee. Then in a flash they all disappeared in all different directions, save the stupid one who was standing there with a big smile. “Hey!” he squealed, realizing he was alone. “Wait for me!” And he vanished.