Family's Family

"Well... it's easy for me."

The more Taylor thought about it, the more she realized that AFW was Japan to her, when in reality is was a very poor representation. She'd been living in a bubble. Even after retiring, she clung to the same lifestyle, even if she cut out as much wrestling related as she could. It was a miracle she'd learned Japanese at all.

"Yeah, maybe... But, like, that's not me. I'm not like, Yamato Parker or whatever. I'm me. I mean, I was on the prowl the night I met Johnny. I picked him up." She left out the part about how she was initially more after Mamouru. "I also kinda... well, no one really proposed, but I sort of suggested the idea of getting married. I don't think Johnny's less of a man or whatever because he's not as aggressive as me. He's plenty manly. I just have always been myself and no one else. I'm..." She cracked a smile. "I'm not real good at doing what people tell me."

She shook a stick of Pocky out of the box and stuck it in the corner of her mouth. It had been so long since she'd had actual junk food. Eating a steak was scandalous enough for her as it was. Pocky was heavenly.

"I mean, between the two, I'm way more comfortable in AFW than in Japan, I think. I don't know what that says about me." She laughed. "But I'm sure I could find other places to fit in. I already have, really, with the kids. I wish I could do that stuff more often, but I think they'd get sick of me. My star power only goes so far. They call me 'Imouto-chan', because of my tattoo."

She looked at Junko and reached across the couch with her bare foot to nudge her with her toe. "So if I wanted to figure out Japan, where should I go, huh?"

Junko listened to Taylor and smiled. she understood where Taylor was coming from, but it felt like Taylor had to defend herself. Junko wasn't attacking Taylor. She loved Taylor. She liked the spunk and the eagerness. She even sort of liked the defiance. But that wasn't what she was saying. She wasn't trying to change Taylor. She only wanted Taylor to try and see things from another perspective. Wouldn't Taylor want people to give HER that chance as well? When Taylor finished, Junko leaned over and pulled out a piece of pocky from the box and nibbled on it daintily.

"I think all that is wonderful, Taylor-chan. I like who you are and I wouldn't want you to change for anything. But even aside from just seeing how different the people and culture are from you, it's not just about looking at a new perspective. The world is wonderful and it's just great to go see. To get out and explore. Just to get lost in the area which you are living. It could be Tookyo or Japan, it could be New York or England. People should get to know the places where they take root. At least, that's what I think.

Around Tokyo, you could visit the NHK and go in the huge tower. Or see the brewery in Sumida. There's the Ryougoku Kokugikan for some sumo. It's right next to the Edo museum for some history. There's Shinjuku or Ikebukoro for shopping. But really, you could throw a dart at the city map and find something.

If you want to travel, there are onsen hotsprings or trips tot he mountains if you're into nature. There are shrine visits, the Inari shrine in Kyoto or the shrine in Ise are.... it's a hard feeling to describe. I don't know if you're spiritual or not but even if you aren't, you just feel it."

Junko grinned. "Of course we have beaches too. You could lounge in the sun down in Kyushu or spend a day in Osaka at the amusement parks they have" Junko leaned back and finished her pocky. "Well, now I feel like taking a trip! The onsen are definitely number one in my book." Junko cooed.

As though she suddenly heard everything Taylor had said, she sat back up and eyed Taylor coyly. "So, you kidnapped my baby and held him hostage, eh, Taylor-chan?" She said raising an eyebrow. "Now it all makes sense, fufufu."

Taylor laughed. "I didn't hold him hostage he just..." An infectiously impish smile overtook her. "Didn't want to leave."

She laughed again, this time with a hint of squirmy embarrassment. It was a little weird to talk about Johnny with his mom, but then again, maybe it was weirder for her.

"I won't gross you out by telling you how good your boy is in the sack. I don't want to toot my own horn, but I taught him. I taught him well."

She got up off the couch to go fill her water cup, her bare feet softly patting on the tatami. Her black dress was gone, and replaced by a small pair of cotton lounge shorts with angry ducks on them and a pale blue tank top. Her blonde hair was haphazardly constrained in a messy bun. She drained half the cup before coming back and standing next to the couch.

"Hey," she said, with an air of hesitation. "So do you want to, like... do that? Do you want to take a trip? I've got money, I can definitely pay for stuff or whatever, I don't care. But... do you wanna go?"

Junko laughed when Taylor spoke about how good Johnny was in bed. "Oh, Taylor-chan, you think you're grossing me out, but really you've fallen into my trap, fufufufu." She said as she lifted up her hand to cover her mouth. Usually whens he was devious she had her fan but it wasn't available to her at the moment so she used her hand. It was improper for a Japanese lady to show her mouth when the laughed.

"The better Junichi-kun is in bed, the more you'll desire him. The more you desire him the more you'll want to have sex. The more you have sex, the closer I am to havign grandchildren! Ufufufufufufu!"

She continued to chuckle when Taylor left and smoothed down the front of her shirt. For Taylor's sake, she decided to put on some sweat pants and a oversized shirt with some kanji scrawled on it. She stole another pocky stick and quickly finished it when Taylor came back, listening to her as she spoke.

Her eyes widened. "Taylor-chan..." She said softly. "I'd love to take a trip." She beamed. But then she frowned. "But... if you think I'll let you pay for it, you're out of your mind. Do you think I have one foot in the poor house? I have money too, you know and if anyone is paying for anything it will be me. I'll spoil my daughter and won't hear no for an answer!" She said and nodded firmly.

"Oh my god, dude." Taylor shook her head. Did this woman really not think of anything other than grandkids?

"Well, a'right, whatever. I'm not saying anything about you, I'm just saying that I have some money and it's not like I'm trying to be a millionaire or something. I don't mind spending money for other people, that's all."

She stopped to think about it. Where should they go? The first thing that came to mind was to go see an AFW show. She quickly dismissed the thought, surely there was more to her than just wrestling! Then she thought maybe they could go to the Tokyo dome to see the men wrestle...

Dammit. "Goddammit, man, everything I can think of is just about going to watch wrestling. How pathetic is that! That's my problem. I need to see parts of the world that aren't filled up with a ring! And, I mean, I can't just keep hanging on to wrestling. I need to figure out what I'm going to do, too, ya know? Where I belong. I feel so clueless about everything."

Junko frowned at Taylor. "I'm not dude, I'm Okaa-chan." She added. Johnny seemed to be rubbing off on Taylor in more ways than one.

Junko listened to what Taylor said. She wasn't going to accept anything g more than the two paying for themselves. But what caught her attention was what Taylor was suddenly going on about. Junko tilted her head. "Taylor-chan... let me ask you a serious question. When most people only have one thing on their mind, they are driven to pursue it. Why does it seem like you're trying to escape it? What's so horrible about it that you feel like you have to fight against it?"

"Well..." Taylor began , but she didn't immediately have anything to follow up with. She held up her hands defensively and cocked her hips to the side. "Um, I'm not try to escape it, but I said I was done. And I had really good reasons for being done, so I have to stick to them. I still have good reasons... I can do whatever I want now! I haven't figured out what that is, exactly, but I've done the interviews and TV shows and the magazine article, and I've got the t-shirts, and the kids, and I spend a ton more time with Jun-Bug. And I've done lots of other stuff, too, like I got back into gymnastics, like tricking and stuff, and I read books now... and I tried to learn to cook. And! And I'm planning on running a marathon soon, but I just hate preparing for that stuff..."

She put a hand on her hip and brushed her bangs out of her face. "I do so much stuff now that I never had time to do before. Why would I even want to go back into that? I'm not seeing Japan, but I'm like, getting to know myself or whatever, and that's a good thing."

Her eyes narrowed suspiciously. "Why do you care? AFW isn't going to get you grandkids."

Junko raised her eyebrow at Taylor's saucy retort. The fact that she had to give a laundry list like that told the older woman everything. "I care because you're my daughter. Even if grandkids would make us both happy," she emphasized the point, "I know you're young and you still have other concerns."

Junko waved her hand at Taylor and nodded sagely. "And you can talk about all the great things you're doing and how wonderful your life is and I'm not trying to dismiss that at all. But I've spent more years of my life than you've been alive watching girls come and go out of wrestling. I've seen girls hang up their boots too soon and I've had to watch girls be forced out of the thing they love because of injuries. Wrestling is hard. it takes more than a pound of flesh from those who get in it. "

Junko shook her head. "If there's one thing I do know, it's that you're not trying to convince me you're done with wrestling. You're trying to convince yourself. You're still bit by the bug, Taylor-chan. I can tell." She said smiling wryly at Taylor. "And I'm not talking about Junichi-kun, fufufu."

Taylor nodded her agreement. It certainly did take a lot from you... but that's not why she quit. She had always been willing to pay the price to live the life.

Then she made a face. "I think you're trying to convince yourself that I'm trying to convince myself. And I'm not bit by anything, I've just spent my whole life fighting and now I need to get to know the rest of the world." She shook her head. "You don't know what you're talking about."

She picked up her phone from the couch and slid it into her pocket. The pockets of her shorts were only big enough that she could barely wedge the phone in, and then it only fit in halfway, but it was enough to hold onto it. Then she began picking up their assorted food items and bringing them back into the kitchen.

"So I'm going to go to bed, I think. We can talk about our trip later. Hopefully it won't end up being, like, to the store, or whatever."

Junko continued to smile when Taylor spoke. "I know exactly what I'm talking about. I have experience. There's also a difference between fighting and wrestling. Maybe you just need to tell yourself that." Junko shrugged and yawned at Taylor's mention of bed. It was a good idea.

"Well, goodnight Taylor-chan. I think I'll clean up a bit and head to bed myself." She grinned. "If you get lonely, you can come snuggle. I won't bite. Fufufu." She said with a wink and walked off to patrol the rest of the house and get ready for bed.