.... Title?....(my title would probably be: War and Innocence)
by: Pixie Wings
AN: Ha! an authors note before the story don't you just love those? ^_^ Well I just wanted to tell you all where I got this story from. When I use to live in Japan (like when I was 9 or so) I use to read Japanese stories, folklores and such. I read a lot of those, for some reason I just loved them, like the story about how the rabbit got on the moon and such. But anyway this was a more matured story in content, and I'll give you a slight overview of it. ^_^ (I don't remember the exact name of it I think it was a persons cat or virginity... you'll see why later on) But it basically deals with a girl whose mistress had left her cat with her and wanted the girl to take care of it no matter what. Well now there was a war, (gee....) and everyone left and such..... uhhh... maybe you all should read the story instead to get the picture since I'm having a hard time explaining it just like this.... *sob* anyway if anyone knows the *REAL* name of this story PLEASE PLEASE tell me!!!!
Warning: this is an AU obviously if its based on a Japanese story ... well... maybe not obviously, but you know.. also the characters *are* out of character.
now on with the show... and remember... this is *loosely* based on that story....
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The sounds of the war just outside of the town were ringing around the now empty village, echoing off of the walls making it seem as if the battle was taking place within the standing buildings. A young girl jumped up in fright every time a loud war cry made its way to her ears. She hated the fact that *she* was the one that was sent back to retrieve a silly cat. No... not silly, of course not a silly cat. For it was her mistress' and if she failed to retrieve the cat, she would be severely punished. So instead of running back to the safety of the village just down the road, she pressed on to her mistress' now vacant house.
When she arrived to the once elegant house, it was dark and raining. To add on to the spookiness of the deserted town, the sounds of battle still clung to the walls, sending her running, drenched in fear and rain, into the house. She quickly slid the door shut behind her and closed her eyes in relief, glad to be out of the rain, among other things. She stood there with her eyes closed trying her best to calm down, the rain pounding on the roof created a rhythmic pattern which seemed to help her a little, but she could still hear the battles in her mind, the cries of pain, the sounds of swords clanging. No woman should be here to hear or even see these atrocities, yet here she was. Alone, searching for a cat that didn't even belong to her.
She brought her trembling hands up to her face preparing herself to weep into them, she wanted to cry, she NEEDED to cry. She sunk to her knees and felt the tears begin to come, but they were abruptly stopped when she heard footsteps echo throughout the room. She looked up and let out an audible gasp as she watched a strange man lean against the doorway, his arms crossed against his chest.
"What are you doing here? leave me alone!" the young girl cried out trying her best to get up but tripped on her kimono and fell to her knees again.
The man chuckled at the sight before him, obviously a servant. A pretty servant at that too he thought before a mewing caught his attention.
"hey there cat" the man said as he picked the feline off of the floor. He took a good look at the lavished cat and smirked, obviously this cat had lead a better life than he did.
The girl's eyes widened when she saw the stranger pick up her mistress' cat. "Put that cat down!" she yelled before she could stop herself. Her eyes widened even more when the stranger looked at her with an amused look.
"Mister, put that cat down or ... or...or else!"
At that the stranger allowed his deep laughter to ring out through the room. "or what? or you'll torture me with your womanish chatter?" the man teased.
The girl's mouth dropped open and she quickly shut it. "how... how dare you! Do you know whose cat you hold? You had better put it down otherwise you'll have to answer to one of the richest persons in this entire country!"
The man's laugher once again pierced through the otherwise silent room. "how would that 'person' know if I harmed this cat... unless....." The man smirked. "your that persons servant..."
The girl looked to the floor ashamed to look up anymore. She knew that he knew that she had come for the cat, and knew that if anything happened to it she would be the one blamed if anything would happen to the cat.
"Please mister... I'll do anything... anything, please just don't harm the cat..." the girl bowed down as far as she could on her knees.
The man studied the girl appearance, the cat busily squirming in his hands. Her hair was still quite damp from the rain, but it seemed to make her blonde hair shine even more from the little light that his lamp created. She had delicate features, her light blue eyes were now concentrated on the floor before her. Earlier her eye's held the spark of defiance, but now they were subdued. He let out a heavy sigh as he looked at her slim figure. 'Yes she was definitely a beautiful girl'.
His eyes twinkled in amusement, 'why not have fun with her'. "alright I'll leave the cat unharmed if...."
The girl looked up suddenly when he stopped at the if.
"If... " He smirked. "If you'll give yourself to me"
The girls eye's widened and she opened her mouth to protest, but was quickly quieted when the man reminded her of what she said earlier.
"Well you did say *anything*, didn't you?" He asked, his dark eyes twinkling at her naive ness.
The girl looked back down knowing that she had been defeated, then allowed herself to study the man over before giving her confirmation. He had black hair that seemed to have been greased down and put into a little pony tail in the back of his head. His dark almond eyes sparkled with mischief that made her flinch noticeably. He was thin for a man but she could tell that he was quite strong just by being in the same room with him. She could just sense it. He was by no means ugly, he was actually quite handsome, 'only if he'd get that smirk off of his face' the girl thought with disgust.
She returned her face back to the ground before nodding her head.
The man smirked.
The girl looked up.
The cat mewed.
"well... I suppose I should get ready...." the girl said sullenly.
The man put the cat down and smiled. "yeah..." He laid his cape down and walked out of the room and continued to talk to her from there.
"So your some rich and wealthy persons cat servant... and you forgot the cat I take it."
"...yes... why are you in my mistress' house?" she said beginning to undo the first layer of clothing. (yes there are more than one layer in some kimonos... well at least back then...)
"I came to flee from the oncoming war, when I arrived here nobody was around and this looked like the homeliest place, so I decided to stay the night here."
"why arn't you fighting though?" She asked taking the rest of the clothes off except the final layer.
"because I have nothing to fight for... no reason to loose my life" the man said from behind the wall.
"oh..." she said sadly and laid down on the cape. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. She didn't want this, but she had no choice, it was the cat or her life. She took a few deep breaths, would she ever have a husband after this now that her innocence would be tainted? She would be laughed at because of this, but she would be even more humiliated if anything happened to her mistress' cat.
"Alright... I'm ready" she called out in a low voice, hating the sound of those words.
The man stepped out and looked the woman over, a small smile crept over his face. This girl was way too innocent for his liking, no he couldn't take her one way or another, his honor wouldn't let him go that far. He started to laugh again at the sight of her laying on his cape with her eyes closed.
Her eye's shot open with annoyance, 'how could he think that this situation is funny?!' she asked herself.
He noticed her bewildered stare and managed to stutter out his reason for laughter. "you.. you were actually willing to give yourself to me... for ... for... for a cat?!?" He laughed harder than before as the anger built in the girls face.
"Why... why you!" the girl screamed as she got to her feet and ran to pummel the man with her fists. This sent the man into another fit of laughter before he expertly caught her fists in his hands and looked at her.
Outside the sounds of battle that were previously ignored became louder and louder by the second. Both occupants of the room heard this, both becoming nervous.
"Look, you can go now, take the cat, I won't hurt it or you..."
The girl blinked, "... thank you... but.. what are you going to do?" she asked running and gathering her clothes and slipping them on quickly.
"I will join the battle... to protect innocents like you" he said as he eyed the young girl once again.
She smiled. "Thank you" she said as she grabbed the cat and made her way to the door, but stopped short. "What is your name mister?"
The man put his cape on and grabbed his sword. "Why is it you want to know my name?"
"Because I want to know the person's name who saved me from the wrath of my mistress" she said with a smile directed to him.
"Chang Wufei... Yours?"
"Sally Po"
"Well I will see you later on down the road Sally Po, or maybe this will be the last time we see each other... only time will tell."
"Good bye Chang Wufei" and with that said she disappeared into the night.
~*~10 years later~*~
Soldiers were making their way through a small town, naturally there was much commotion about the soldiers making their way down their streets. Especially one general. The streets were littered with children who were celebrating the ending of an extremely long war. The shouted their approval at the oncoming soldiers who were marching back home.
Sally pulled her children out of the streets when she looked up and noticed a familiar face looking over the crowds.
'no it couldn't be!' she thought as she watched the general ride away on top of the carriage.
She heard people shout for their general Chang Wufei over and over again with awe written all over their faces. She couldn't help but smile. He looked the same as before, just a bit aged, and missing one arm. Other than that he still looked as handsome as before.
"mama we're hungry, I wanna go home!" cried one of her children.
She smiled, "alright, lets go home... we're safe now."
All the way home she wondered if he had seen her among the crowd, but realized it didn't matter, he had protected the country, and kept his honor.
She never did see him again after that day, but she was happy knowing that both had lead an honorable life.
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I'd just like to say also... this was an AU! Set back in like the 1600's or so... *sigh* okay so I don't remember the time lines and such OK??? But it was suppose to be set back when they still wore kimonos as their daily wear, and carried swords and honor was even more important. And to all who I offended by writing this I'm sorry. Remember I'm doing this all by memory okay? I read the story about 9 years ago and haven't read it since.... and things probably do get screwed up in my head after that long, but I do remember the basic plot line and what happened at the end.
*cough cough* uhhhh... I cant seem to recall if he was already in the military before he found her in the house or after and I know he had an honorable rank but I don't think it was general.....eep! And I know I massacred the characters but this was just SO screaming out Wufei and Sally to me. I know their not Japanese but... well I do way too many Relena/Heero stories and Sally needed some time in the spot light! Oh and about the story, I tried to keep it the way I remembered the story going, but I did modify it a bit, but not too much. Oh and I think she quit her job or something or was dismissed in the end. I don't remember but she did get married and had children. (obviously)
Well please tell me what you think? should I do another Japanese legend/folktale/story thingie? I honestly do love Japanese stories ^_^ they don't always end all happy and light like Cinderella and stuff ^_^ Well that's it for me!!
~Pixie Wings~
Oh and I do NOT own Sally Po or Wufei Chang. Whoever created Gundam Wing did.