Disclaimer: I do not own the Sailor Moon characters or the line from Ten Things I Hate About You. ^-^
Now A Spectator
There she went again. For the last time she walked away from him. His little girl.
But that wasn't true. She was growing up, even in Kenji's eyes. And if you asked Ilene, she was already grown. But it was so hard for him to accept it.
When a father watches his children grow, he's a part of their life, but at a certain point, he becomes a spectator.
Kenji had reached that point when it came to his eldest child, his only daughter, Usagi.
He'd fought it.
Started rumors of his "gun collection."
Forbidden Usagi to date.
Threatened any guy who even dared to show up on the doorstep.
Unfortunately, Kenji knew when to concede defeat. And defeat it was.
For this time, the guy had won.
Kenji had never seen it coming. Usagi had stormed home day after day complaining about the guy who made fun of her hair and clumsiness.
But one day she'd come home in a daze. A sudden transformation had taken place in her and she'd started to speak only good of her former enemy.
When the guy had shown up on the doorstep Saturday after Saturday and whisked Usagi out of the house on some mysterious date, Kenji had been incredibly willing to follow them and throw said guy off a cliff.
Sadly, his wife had always been there to stop him.
True, over time Kenji had learned to like Mamoru. He'd spent many afternoons with the family, getting to know everyone and working his way into their lives.
Then he'd dumped Usagi and Ilene had barely been able to restrain her husband. Watching Usagi made Kenji want to kill.
She came home listlessly and often went to bed without dinner. She refused to talk about it, but Kenji would sit outside her door listening to her cry. A number of times he'd gone in to try and comfort her. To his sorrow, she always pushed him away, claiming she wanted time alone.
That should have been his first clue that she was growing past his ability to care for her.
When they got back together it had a mixed effest on Kenji's mental stability. He couldn't forget Mamoru's previous departure. But Usagi was so happy, he couldn't deny her.
Then Mamoru went to the United States. Usagi was sad again, but there was an inner hope and light that told Kenji more about her relationship with this older man than she would ever be able to express in words. Her happiness was his undoing.
Her happiness was the reason that Kenji was now sitting in the front row of a church wearing a complete formal suit watching his only precious daughter bind herself to another man.
Kenji nodded his head in acceptance. He was no longer the only man in his little girl's life.