A/N: I know what you're thinking. Another story when she promised to finish DGL. This is a co-project so….that's how it goes!

Jidai no Tsubasa

Prologue

Midoriko's Birth

Never before had she felt such intense pain. Her very nerves seemed to be set ablaze! The young woman cursed her family, her husband, all that she held dear.

Never before had she been so at disgust with her surroundings. Grime and mold infested the miserable existence of the birthing hut. The midwife was a stunted creature. A gaijin from a western land, she was of stunted growth and deformed limbs. She hardly seemed fit for her occupation.

"No push." The midwife's heavily accented Japanese was barely audible through the raspy voice.

"But it hurts. I--I need it out!"

"No push." The midwife repeated firmly. She grabbed the woman's arm, her stubby fingers digging deep into the flesh. The words were harder this time. "No. Push."

The laboring woman collapsed against her pillows when the midwife finally released her arm. It provided no relief. Like the bedding, the pillows were lumpy. Grains of horseweed and straw spilled out at the seems. Every part of her body was uncomfortable or in pain.

She let her thoughts wander. It took her mind off of the pain, especially when she thought about just how she had come to this desolate, pathetic village.

The village had no name, and there were very few Japanese that dwelt there. It was mostly a sanctuary for criminals that sneaked onto Western boats that arrived at Youkohama. It was ignored by both the daimyou and the Emperor. Only the samurai took any interest in it.

Their interests were hardly honorable. Rapes and pillages were common occurrences. It was most likely one of the reasons why both her parents and her husband saw fit to leave her here.

Tears started to well in the corner of her eyes. She knew how lucky she was that this midwife had recently found her way to the village. If it wasn't for this woman, then she would be in even more pain than she currently was. She would probably also be dead, but that was something that she would readily embrace. What was the point of living now that everyone had forsaken her?

She could try to blame her husband for experiencing this pain of birth, but it wasn't possible. She hated this child, whatever it may be.

It most certainly wasn't human.

She had tried to explain to her husband so many times that she was still a virgin. He hadn't believed her. Slut, whore, bitch. These were only a few of the hurtful words that he had called her. Her mother had taken her to see a miko when she had started showing. Her parents knew it was impossible for the roundness of her belly to be from pregnancy. Yet, they knew it couldn't be anything else.

Indeed, she was with child, impregnated by the seed of some unnatural being. The miko had asked, gently, of a time that the woman could remember when such a thing could have happened.

This inquiry had enraged her father, a powerful daimyou. It seemed to him that the miko was daring to suggest that he was incapable of protecting his own family. He struck the miko down where she stood, and had sent his daughter to this forsaken village. Her parents had found a double to take her place and be a wife to her husband.

Yes, at this very moment, some peasant wretch was enjoying all the luxury and comfort that she had enjoyed as a hime.

If the miko had lived, would she had saved her from this life of misery? Would it have mattered? She had not put the miko's inquiry from her mind. She had thought much on it, in fact—but there were as only one such incident that she had been able to recall, no matter how much she wracked her brain.

A sudden spasm of pain brought the pregnant woman—hime—back to the present. A shrill scream filled the hut. The foreigners of the village populace, even the midwife, cringed away from it.

"Get it out of me!"

It was dark. She slept comfortably, her silken sheets and embroidered blankets enveloping her in a cocoon of warmth. The soft, silver light of a full moon filtered through the dark clouds.

A soft wind pushed the clouds along, allowing more of the silver light to seep through the cracks in the shouji doors. As if moved along by some heavenly spirit, the clouds parted, allowing the moon's fill light to shine down on the hime.

"Okay. Now. Push."

The moon seemed unusually bright on this night. As time went by, the silver light seemed to only intensify, sending a soft glow to form around the hime's body. The samurai and shinobi that guarded the daimyou's palace had to shade their eyes against the brightness.

"Good, good. Push. Push."

But it lasted no more than a moment.

"Kaguya-hime, has descended from heaven." Was the murmur that rippled through the guard. Many wondered if they would be lucky enough to catch a glimpse of the heavenly maiden, but none dared to leave their posts.

Another scream of agony resounded.

The hime woke suddenly, her dark eyes flying open. Clutching at her sheets, she looked around, her eyes wide but not fearful. It almost seemed as if there was some sort of presence in her chambers-- a comforting, soothing one.

"Push, push! I see! I see!" The midwife became agitated, excited, and was jumping up and down on her squat feet.

The light from the moon quickly faded as she searched the room. It was only when the room was once again enveloped in complete darkness that she noticed the object that had settled onto her pillow.

The cry of a small infant ripped through the air.

A single, curled feather glittered like gold, illuminating the surface of her pillow in the darkness. The hime stared at it for several moments, marveling at its beauty; but when she reached out to touch it, the golden feather disappeared. Its image fading like ripples in the water.

The infant's mother sagged heavily in her bedding. Exhaustion seeped into her muscles, and she barely could keep her eyes open enough to look at the image of the midwife holding the baby. The gaijin had a tender expression on her face, one that made her even more grotesque, as she held the tiny, bloodied form.

She found herself overcome with such emotion that she had to look away. The midwife seemed delighted with the child. It was pointless, really.

"Girl."

Girl, boy, it doesn't matter. It won't live much longer. She was certain that she would be able to reclaim her former life once the child was killed. The thought of her husband wrapping his arms tightly around her body brought such a feeling of warmth and comfort. Her eyes drifted shut, and she willed herself to dream.

"Cord... knife... knife," The midwife muttered as she looked around for something to cut the umbilical cord with. She still held the baby carefully in her arms.

"Would you like me to hold the child?"

It wasn't the suddenness of the voice that startled the gaijin into a shriek that elicited wailing cries from the babe and woke the mother. It wasn't even the deep richness of this defiantly male voice. The midwife was used to people going in and out of her hut as they pleased. It was one of the general rules of the village. Even when looking back, the squat woman would have a difficult time figuring out just what it was about the sudden voice that did startle her.

Maybe it was the fact that the man was unlike any she had ever seen. His skin was a strange tanned bronze. Never before had she seen such a shade. In the orange glow of the late afternoon sun, it seemed almost golden. A dark blush, barely visible beneath the grime, colored the midwife's cheeks when she noticed the man's state of undress. He wore nothing but a pair of white hakama. His torso, like the rest of him, was well tanned and well sculpted. His hair was long and golden and fell down his back and past his waist in a thick braid. Seeing those fair locks made her homesick for her own land.

Ducking his head down—for he was quite tall—the stranger stepped into the hut. Still mindful that the baby was held carefully and comfortably, the midwife continued to stare at him in silence.

"May I hold the child? It will make it easier to cut the cord," he added when he noticed the wariness in the midwife's eyes.

She hesitated a moment before nodding her consent. Keeping his head low to avoid hitting the ceiling, the man stepped towards midwife. He treated the bloodied form with the same tenderness as the midwife. The wails stopped when the infant passed into his arms. He smiled, white teeth flashing, at the big, dark eyes that regarded him curiously.

"Akora! Come in and see her!"

"Did you finally find the child, Akro?"

The voice that answered the rich one of the stranger reminded the hime of bells. It had a beautiful, melodic quality. The owner to this voice soon appeared in the doorway.

She seemed to be the opposite of the golden-haired man. Her skin was very pale and clear, like whitest ivory. It was a great contrast with the ebony of her hair. These tresses fell down in long waves to her ankles.

She was also very small and slim. If it wasn't for the oddness of her silver eyes or the gauzy drapes of purple, red, and gold that concealed her body, she could have easily been taken for a Japanese. A golden linen was draped over one of her arms.

"Oh, bother." This new arrival waited until the midwife had cut off the umbilical cord before she spoke. "Look at all this blood. That's the problem with mortals. Death over beauty." Taking the golden cloth from her arm, she approached the man.

"Who's a pretty little girl? Who's a pretty girl?" Her voice took on a throaty, high pitch that caused the baby to smile broadly and giggle. The cooing continued as she dabbed at the blood, gently wiping the tiny child clean.

"Akora, please stop. You're embarrassing yourself."

"Oh, do be quiet brother. She likes it. Doesn't she?" Akora's voice took on that high-pitch tone once again. She took the baby into her own arms. She brought her nose down close to the infant and rubbed it against the small tummy gently. This elicited another giggle from the baby.

Her brother, Akro, looked away, covering his face melodramatically with one hand to convey his embarrassment.

After a time, she lifted her face away to look at him.

"Oh, stop it!" she scoldeds "It's nothing to be embarrassed about. If you're embarrassed, then it's your own fault. You know how much I love children!"

"You make it sound as if I had a choice to bring you. As if you would have stayed at home."

Akora ignored this. Instead, she began to rock the baby back and forth.

"What should we name her?"

"I don't know. Shoujo?"

"Oh, you males! That's a terrible name!" The pale woman paused as she contemplated a possibility. "There was this one name that I came across in one of the northern provinces of this country. I thought it was very pretty. It means green."

"Like the earth." There was a pause as he seemed to mull over the possibility. "What was it?"

"Midori... but I think this child deserves something more elegant. I have heard that many of the nobles add a syllable to the end of their child's name. One that is of particular popularity with girls is 'ko'. What about Midoriko?"

"If you think it best."

"'If you think it—' Brother, you're terrible! This is your daughter!"

"It's just a name."

"Just! Just! A name isn't just anything! Oh, what Essence would say if she heard you now! Not to mention Muse!"

"You." The voice of the weakened hime quietly interrupted between these two strange siblings. They turned to look at her and their eyes narrowed into looks of contempt.

The hime ignored the glares and, with great effort, shifted into a sitting position.

"Who do you think you are? You… you have no right to take it. That child is mine. It is mine to do with as I please."

The midwife started to whimper and backed away from the siblings into the furthest corner possible. They were emitting a force of some sort that she did not like.

"What would you do with her?" Akro's voice cut through the air like a poisoned dagger.

"What do you think? That child is an abomination!"

"She looks normal enough." Akora replied, her eyes flashing.

"What do you know? Do you realize that I have never lain with any man? I never even got a chance to kiss my husband before I was sent to this forsaken village. That child is unnatural!"

A look that was equally dangerous as his sister's dwelled in the dark depths of Akro's eyes. The taunting that his voice took was enough to soothe any potential fear. If anything, it only roused the hime's anger.

"For a daughter of an influential daimyou, you really are quite brazen. What other hime would declare her chastity so openly? Even the Queens of Africa don't act in such a bold manner."

She flushed crimson. "How dare you! You ignorant peasant! You—you gaijin!"

"Oh dear, sister, she called me gaijin."

"Best watch out, dear Brother," muttering under her breath, "moron that you are," then again in a normal tone, "she may send her father's army after you."

"As if that could happen." Akro's smile was almost cruel.

The hime was managing to draw strength from the anger that arose at these insults.

"Well, I best take little Midoriko home. I think she'll like it, Akro."

"Leaving so soon?"

"Well, I don't think that an infant should be around what is about to be said."

"You wound me, sister."

"You'll live. Indeed, how can you not?" she commented dryly. Then with the babe, Midoriko, in her arms, she exited the hut. There was a sound like a great gust of wind and shouting in numerous languages could be heard from the villagers. The hut didn't shake as it would have, but to any of this, no one but the midwife paid any attention.

A silence settled over the hut's inhabitants. Akro regarded the hime stoically as she finally managed to sit up. She rolled off of the futon on shaky legs. She breathed heavily and her form trembled, but she still managed to find the strength to speak.

"You! Come back here! I will do with it what I will! It needs to be killed!" She took several unsteady steps forward. "It must be thrown against a rock or tossed into the seas."

Now, Akro's expression had been steadily darkening as he allowed the hime to speak. By the time she had nearly finished, a great fire burned in those dark eyes. He waited until she paused to take a gasping breath before approaching her.

Not saying a word, he reached one hand out, smirking when she flinched and took a step back. This one hand he pressed firm against her chest and just as quickly withdrew. The hime went stumbling back, and fell on the floor hard. She stayed there, staring with glazed eyes, unsure as to whether it was her weakness or the suddenness of the push that startled her so.

Akro left without saying a word.

It would be quite some time before the hime had collected herself enough to notice this, and when she did, she would notice a trail of glittering, golden feathers curled in the shape of a crescent. A horrible realization would dawn on her as they vanished just as before—like ripples in the water. Stunned, she would only bring herself to whisper one word:

"Tsubasa."

Japanese Vocabulary

gaijin
foreigner

tsubasa
wings

daimyou
feudal warlord

hime
princess

shinobi
ninja

tennyou
angel/celestial maiden

Kaguya-hime
A tennyou from the moon that was born in a bamboo tree in Japan and raised by an elderly couple. She had many suitors, including the emperor, and after putting a set of impossible tasks before them, left for the moon. This broke the hearts of all that had loved her.

shouji
traditional Japanese screen, sliding doors

hakama
A pair of baggy, traditional Japanese pants. Worn mostly by men and Shinto priestesses and priests. In later periods, was worn by girls from well to do families.

shoujo
girl

A/N: I just want to take a moment to thank Regreme for making this story possible (and for his patience). This backbone of this story goes completely to him. It was all his idea.I just give it flesh. I hope you all enjoyed it. I have no idea when the next chapter will be out. This whole story is being constructed through AIM. Unlike my usual stories it's non-AU. Things are about to get really interesting for the Inu-gumi.

Jav-chan