I stared at the ancient ruins of Henan Province…
"Interesting."
Looking down at my reflection in a lake, I let my hair nearly fall in front of my face, but I pushed it back.
(It's styled like in the second picture.)
'It's been a long time since I've seen that me…I won't be turning back into it anytime soon.'
Seeing another reflection in the water next to me, it is my closest co-worker, Etsuko Sakurai.
"Who is that girl I see staring straight back at me?" she asked with a big smile.
(Pun intended.)
"*Sigh* What do you want, Etsuko?"
"Nothing, nothing. I'm assuming you just had the urge to check yourself out," she spoke with a sly grin.
Lifting my right eyebrow in question, I looked at her, "And why would you assume that?"
"Because I thought you were aware of the hotty checking you out," she whispered, glancing to her right suggestively.
I looked over to the other side of the lake to see a young man blinking at me with wide eyes..seemingly full of confusion, or bewilderment?
My eyes narrowed, 'Why is he gawking at me like that? It's as if he's never seen a woman before. Ugh, men in today's society…'
Looking back to her, I walked pass her, "We have no time to fool around; we're supposed to be excavating the rest of the ruins."
Etsuko followed me by hopping on each foot, "Yeah, yeah. After this, you'll really retire from being an doctor of archaeology?"
"I don't see why I should continue, and I'm already in my mid-forties, $#i+ is beginning to hurt."
She sighed sadly, "That's too bad. I like working with you. Also, for someone in their mid-forties, you most definitely don't look like it."
"Well, you're in your late thirties, yet you still act like a teenage girl."
"Hey, there's nothing wrong with being childish sometimes," she said, hopping in front of me with a pout on her lips.
A petty smirk slid on my lips, "Then, get off my ca-"
"Dr. Hua! Dr. Hua! We found the burial site!" one of the excavators shouted, and it made me step in my footsteps.
"Woah! History is about to make a major change, especially to children! Kids won't have to be lied to anymore! This information will have to be added to their textbooks! Beat that, Disney!"
(I didn't expect myself to add so much humor in this…)
"Etsuko. Stop your rambling," I said as I let the excavator lead me to the burial site of the famous Chinese female warrior.
Arriving in little time to see the excavators surrounding the Rù Mù, I eased through the crowd, slowly approaching it. Most of the Rù Mù was above the surface of the soil.
When I got near it, I placed my right hand on the yellow, navy blue, dark red, dark and light green colored Rù Mù, and a gasp left my lips. Leaning on top of the as if caressing it, I closed my eyes as tears slowly slid from them down my cheeks.
With no words, my lips moved…
Duōnián láizì zé, wǒ bù lǐjiě; jìrán wǒmen tuánjùle, wǒ lǐjiě nǐ huí dàojiā shí de zhēngzhá, yǐjí wèishéme nǐ zuòle nǐ zuò de shì. Wǒ hěn gǎnjī duì nǐ yǒuyòng, xiànzài wǒ bǎituōle zhè zhǒng tòngkǔ.
(Many years of blaming myself, I didn't understand; now that we reunite, I understand your struggle when you returned home, and why you did what you did. I am grateful to have been of use to you, now I am free from this anguish.)
Opening my eyes, I leaned off the Rù Mù, staring at it for a while.
"Jia?" Etsuko asked, then put a hand on my left shoulder.
"I'm okay. You know how my passion for historical figures and/or artifacts gets when something or someone is discovered."
Turning around, I made eye contact with golden ones, the same ones that I met earlier…this time, they seemed to filled with empathy…maybe sympathy?
'But what could he empathize or sympathize about with me?'
Shaking the thoughts away from my head, I looked at the excavators.
"Natsumi, notify the Department of Japanese Archaeology at Tokyo University; Tatsuki, notify the Chinese and Japanese sections of the government that funded us to find the burial site of Hua Mulan; Xing, call in the helicopters to retrieve the Rù Mù; and Etsuko, carefully direct everyone on what to preserve this and taking it out of the ground. I have important business to take care of," I said, then headed to the lake again.
Walking calmly as I stared at the-
"Land of the Setting Sun, I believe that's what's this country goes by?" a voice behind me asked.
"As degrading as the title is from the Ancient Japanese, yes…but I find it more beautiful than the "Land of the Rising Sun" because of the illuminating fires that explode after a scarlet sunset."
"Ah, thank you for enlightening this old man," he said.
"Old man…? I see a old man in the form of a young man who has nothing better to do with his time, but stalk an old woman."
"You're funny."
"Youth is the time for assimilation of wisdom. Old age is time for its application," said Jean-Jacques Rousseau…I agree because you're never too old to learn new tricks."
At my last sentence, I slid my daisho from my right black boot and turned around to point it towards the old man.
(Daisho means "big-little", a type of short sword. Here's Jia's outfit [I have it spaced out due to the doc not letting me keep the whole url: Start with the occasional hyper tech transfer protocol secure colon right slash"]: www . qipao - dubai images / default / 20170527080655869487322 _ 0 . jpg)
"Who are you and what do you want," I demanded.
"My, so scary for an old woman. My name is Tsurumaru Kuninaga, and I've come to retrieve you by request of the Master."
"Master?...Ah, you mean them…What do they want?"
"I was only told to retrieve, and since I'm always almost bored, I'd thought it be interesting to look around the "Land of the Set-"
"China for short. Also, they really expect me to return without a good reason? Hah..I don't want to, I'm now free and I refuse to shed any more blood, I'm finished wi-…"
"I'm a girl, I have been through war and have done enough. I now want to be with my father."
Dropping my right hand by my side, I reflected on those last words for a few seconds…
"I almost forgot I made that deal in 1869…when the Shinsengumi disbanded..." I mumbled under my breath.
"What was that?" Kuninaga asked with a conflicted look.
"Nothing…Okay, I agree to go back."
Kuninaga blinked dumbfoundedly, "…Hah? Just like that? You sure make up your mind quickly, lady."
"My name is Fua Jia, it's…nicely strange to meet you," I said, holding my left hand out.
He blinked more, then grabbed it with his left hand and smiled. "Right back at you, Jia. Won't everyone be surprised when they find when you-"
I couldn't hear what else he said as everything went up into some golden bronze flame and a contraption-like noise is all I heard.
(Well...first thing's first, if you're very young and Mulan is your favorite princess movie, leave this story immediately. Second, I hardly see any Touken Ranbu stories so I just decided to put one in the community for the community to enjoy. Third, I hate that url links can't be saved properly in the documents nor copied, it just makes it a hassle for the author―to direct the reader on what to do or where to go―and reader―who probably doesn't understand what you're typing. Fourth, my favorite characters are Mikazuki and Okurikara~! And lastly, what girl―animate or inanimate―does not want to be surrounded by cute boys and handsome/hot men in a shrine...or should I say "Hua Jia's new life started in a sudden Citadel...")