The song is called I'm A Pioneer. Composed by Katsuki Maeda. English Vocals Produced by Kit Thomas. From Tenchi Muyo! 2nd series.
Did you know that I am a pioneer.
I'm out on a secret mission;
I travel the galaxy and far beyond.
"YOU TAKE THAT BACK!!!!"
Two small figures scuffled on the ground. One was a red-headed girl, her hair falling in trusses over her shoulder; the other was a boy, with a brown cap for hair, freshly tousled. The girl sat on the boy's stomach and repeatedly smacked at his face with her fists. He was almost twice her size, but he couldn't move nevertheless.
"YOU TAKE THAT BACK BEFORE I KNOCK THE STUFF OUT OF YA!!" the little girl yelled again before she was pulled away by the arms. Turning around she almost let a fist fly until she saw who it was. She managed to pull her fist away just in time. There was no sense in hitting the teacher. That only caused problems.
"Lina Inverse! How many times do I have to tell you. No fighting!" the woman teacher exclaimed as she led the little girl, by the hand, down the hall.
"But...but...he started it!! He called me a weak, bratty girl!" she whined angrily, trying to wrench her hand free from the older woman's grasp.
"I don't care who started it young lady. I'm finishing it." At that, the teacher sat her in a chair and sent another boy to summon for her mother. Lina winced. She was going to get an earful this time.
Now Lina...no more fighting. I can't have you causing more trouble than I need right now. Her mother's words rang through her ears. "Dangit..." she muttered. Soon enough...the boy returned, her mother in tow.
Can't you see that I am a pioneer,
Unlocking the greatest mysteries;
My key is a fearless heart,
So pure and strong.
Lina sat and sulked in her room. Her bottom was sore from where her mother had spanked her. A tear was caught in her eye and her bottom lip stuck out further then her top. "It's not fair...he started it."
Lina's mother sat at the kitchen table and sighed. She hated to do that...but Lina needed to learn to control her temper, no matter what she was called. She knew it would be hard...but Lina could get through it. She had to. She then smiled, remembering news from earlier that she had neglected to tell Lina. "Lina! I forgot to tell you! Your father is coming home this evening!"
Lina's hair flowed behind her as she came barging into the kitchen. Tripping, she slid across the floor on her stomach and face until she came to a rest right by her mother's feet. Not missing a beat she lifted her head. A huge smile was plastered on her face. "REALLY?! HE'S COMING HOME!?!?!"
Her mother laughed. "Yes dear. He's coming home this evening. He has finished his latest assignment and gets to spend a few days with us." Lina got to her feet.
"What does he do for work?" she asked, straightening her small shirt.
Her mother paused, unsure. "I can't tell you love."
"Is he a spy?"
At that, her mother laughed. "No...but just as important." she picked up Lina and set her on her lap. "Don't ask him when he gets home either. He doesn't like to talk about it, all right?" Lina looked disappointed, but nodded anyways. Her mother smiled. "That's good. Now go run and take a bath. He'll be home soon and you don't want him to find you all covered in mud."
Lina nodded and sprinted for the stream behind their home. It was too small for her to get washed away or drown, but Lina's mother kept an eye on her just in case.
Lina always enjoyed her little swims in the stream. There was a large tree next to the stream where a rope swing hung from. From there you could swing into the deeper part of the stream.
The water was cold, but warm enough to not be uncomfortable. Taking off her overalls and shirt and putting her towel on a nearby tree branch, Lina slowly waded into the water in her under-shorts and small white tank-top. When she was up to her knees, she giggled and sat down. As Lina washed with the bar of sweet-soap her mother gave her she watched the minnows. After a moment she ignored the minnows and stared at her own reflection.
A shock of red hair with little curls and ruby-red eyes met her gaze. The hair came from her mother, but her eyes came from her father. She always admired his eyes on his trips home. She admired everything about him on his trips home. He was so fun to be around when he wasn't working.
Scrubbing extra hard to get off all the caked-on dirt, she noticed another reflection on the water. When she looked up, there stood a little boy, about her age, on the other side of the banks. He lived just a little ways down the road. They had just moved there too. His brown hair fell in one shock over his right eye.
Lina called a hello, making a slight shower of water as she waved. He just stared at her with his blue eyes. After a moment, he smiled and said hello back. Before Lina could say anything more, her mother called. "Lina! Someone's coming down the road! They're riding a black horse too! You better hurry and get dried off!"
Grinning like a mad fool, Lina rushed out of the water and toweled herself off. Quickly putting on her clothes she waved at the boy to follow her and ran back to the house. He trailed behind slowly at first, but ended up running along with her.
People laugh when you are a pioneer,
Not walking the straight and narrow;
They tell you the way things are,
They swear you're wrong.
Lina ran up to wait beside her mother, who was standing in front of the front door. Her mother anxiously twisted a white handkerchief in her hands. Grabbing her mother's apron, she waited for her father, on his horse, to get close enough so that he would see her if she waved. The boy she met at the stream stood a little ways away, first glancing at the figure on the horizon, then at Lina, then back at the horizon again. When Lina decided that her father was close enough, she started waving vigorously, expecting the usual wave back for a response.
She was disappointed.
The figure didn't wave back. Lina continued waving in case he hadn't seen her yet, but the figure on the horse continued to ride on, not acknowledging her presence at all. This also had her mother worried. Turning to her, Lina asked, "Why isn't he waving Mama?"
Her mother bit her bottom lip with a worried expression. "I don't know....I just don't know."
For what seemed like an eternity she waited till she could get a good look at the figure on the horse. Her heart sank when it wasn't her father. She then noticed that he had two horses. The one he rode was strange... but....the other was her father's horse...what was this stranger doing with it? She was about to ask her mother but stopped when she saw the tears coming to her eyes. "Mama? What's wrong?"
"Oh no....oh no..." was all she said. Tears were starting to fill Lina's eyes too.
"Mama, what's wrong? Where's daddy?" she asked, tugging on her mother's apron. Her mother didn't answer however. She just continued to stare at the figure coming ever closer.
"It can't be....it just can't..." she muttered. Her hopes were dashed upon jagged rocks when the man finally reached their home. Lina just watched as her mother collapsed to her knees on the ground. Sobs wracked her body and Lina couldn't tell what was going on. The man then spoke.
"It seems you are already aware of what has happened. Here is his belongings," he paused and handed her a bulky package and a long package, both wrapped in brown paper and tied with thick string, "And I've returned his horse." he then handed my mother the reins. Lina's mother had already dropped both packages and looked as if she was going to make no move to take the reins. Lina wondered how long the man would have to hold them until the boy from the stream stepped forward and took the reins, keeping the horse still. The man cleared his throat once, and then gave Lina a bag full of something heavy. The contents clinked loudly as it shifted in her hands. "This is compensation for all your husband has done for us." With that he mounted his own horse and quickly galloped away.
Lina was very confused. "Mama? Where's Daddy? Mama, where is he?" she asked. Her mother being this frantic was scaring her. "Mama? Where is he?"
Finally looking up from her hands, her mother answered, trying to wipe away the quickly flowing tears. 'He's not coming home...he's not coming home any more."
Lina, the age of eight years now, stood in front of two graves. One fresh dug, the other old. Only a few gathered with her. Those were either her friends or her mother's friends. Mostly her mother's friends. In fact, only one of them was hers. Only one of them dared to be hers.
It was the boy from the stream, three years before. The one she met the day the news of her father's death reached her and her mother. He had helped take care of them in their grieving period. But her mother never truly got over it. Eventually...it killed her. And that was the reason for the procession today. The burial of her mother. She shed no tears. None. She promised herself she wouldn't cry anymore.
A woman, one of her mother's friends, came over and noticed how Lina wasn't crying. Only a small, stoic frown plastered her face. "It's all right to cry dear. There's nothing wrong with crying." She said as soothing as she could.
"I'll never cry again. Never." Lina replied, not moving her gaze away from her parents' gravestones. From his vantage point, the boy from the stream watched with sad eyes. That is, until a man in red robes came up behind him and put a hand on his shoulder. The boy looked up, keeping the worried expression.
"Come Zelgadis, there is nothing else we can do here." The man in the red robes said, and with a nod, they both walked off. That was the last Lina ever saw of either of them for a long time.
You can't be a hero,
hiding underneath your bed;
got to live the life,
you create inside your head.
So I opened the window,
caught the wind one night;
Now I sail with the birds in their flight.
Lina hurtled a fireball at a retreating bandit. Catching him in the rear, he collapsed on the ground, covered in flames. Lina just giggled to herself and started helping herself to the bandits' treasure. This was great. A life of her own...no one to tell her what to do...no one to tell her what to say. She was on her own.
After Lina was finished doing her looting, she thought about that. All alone... As she walked, she considered that. She had been on her own ever since her mother's funeral. Her friend's, the one she never found out his name, family left a day or so after that. And she was truly alone. Strange...it had never bothered her before...
After finding some traveling companions, Lina was fairly happy. Her days with Nagha were more like torture than anything else. This was a helpful respite. Looking over her news friends, she noticed something about one of them. Zelgadis to be precise. He looked an awful lot like the friend from so long ago.
Lina shook away the thoughts. Just wishful thinking. Oh well...
If you're tired of everything,
come hitch a ride with me;
you'll cry out with joy,
when you realize your free.
it's a trip like no other,
for you're heart and mind;
leaving all but the future far behind.
"Come one everybody!" she yelled as they headed out. "I know of a bandit camp with lotsa loot just a little ways away!" This almost everyone's attention and they headed out. Finally... Lina thought, A family...