Tales of Future Not Quite Past
By SenritsuBaroness
Author's Note: Italics are thoughts; and ~* indicates shift from one person to another. ^_^
Chapter One: A Flashback from the Past
Song-Mei Long clasped her hand to her breast as she watched the airplanes fly overhead. She knew what type of airplane they were; they were U.S. Navy Grumman F-6F Hellcats.
It was June 6, 1944. D-day. "This is D-day, this is the day," the announcement had come over the radio.
"I am sick of this war," Song-Mei said to herself. Ever since war had broke out, she could no longer enjoy the things she used to. She couldn't enjoy chocolate, or sugar, or meat, or cheese. She could no longer ride her bicycle with the ease she used to for fear of Zeros flying overhead. She was also tired of being mistaken for a Japanese person. I'm Chinese, for crying out loud, she thought.
This was the kind of talk she had endured for three years. Invasion and nothing but invasion, bombs, Jews, Germans, Nazis, Hitler, Mussolini, Italians, concentration camps, those "damned Japs", war effort, Womens' Army Corps, ration books, coupons, government cheese, etc., etc. It all got sickening after awhile; she couldn't even focus on her studies without war talk.
"I hate this stupid war," she grumbled to herself as she continued to pedal hard on her bicycle. "Wars are created by something ignorant in the human heart. Why kill and butcher and maim over five piddly acres of land?"
But in her heart, she knew this World War was over more than just five piddly acres of land. The happiness – and lives – of millions of European and Asian people hung in the balance of this war. If Hitler could conquer Great Britain, then he would emerge unstoppable in Fortress Europe. Song-Mei shuddered at the thought. Those poor Jews. She knew that even though she had to endure such trying times, it was all for a reason.
"It's all for a reason," she reminded herself as she stopped at a stop sign. "Just think if I were in Nazi Germany. . ."
She tried to picture herself looking like a European person. She tried to picture her long, black hair as blonde, and her ebony, almond- shaped eyes as circular and sky blue. She blinked in shock. I'd make a pretty European girl, but I'm much prettier as a Chinese maiden!
She continued pedaling towards home. School had let out for the summer session, and she'd sneaked off campus to come home. Stealth was her forte. She tugged angrily at the dark blue collar of the summer uniform, which consisted of a white shirt with a dark blue collar that formed into a tie, with three white stripes on it. The skirt was dark blue, too, and she wore her loose white ankle socks and her black patent leather shoes. I look like a sailor in the Navy, she thought as she narrowed her eyes. The back of the collar flapped behind her like a flag as she pedaled across the street. Her hair, which was swept up into two buns on either side of her head, with some "ponytails" of hair swirling from the buns, was reminiscent of Sailor Moon's hairstyle, and flew out behind her like a raven-colored cape.
"Mummy, I'm home!" Song-Mei called out cheerfully as she rushed into the house.
Ms. Long turned from her position hunched over at the stove to look at her daughter. "You sneaked off campus again, didn't you?" her mother scolded. "I told you before not to do that, you could get into trouble with the administration, and then you'd get kicked out of school. I don't want you to be a delinquent or a housewife; I want you to make something of yourself . . ."
Song-Mei rolled her eyes. "Yes, Mother. I won't be a delinquent. I promise." Maybe I can lie about my age and go enlist in the WAACS, she thought. She smiled.
"Your father is still at work," Ms. Long said as she went back to stirring the mysterious food she was cooking. Song-Mei tried to peer over her mother's shoulder and see what it was, when suddenly she found herself standing outside the kitchen door.
"I'll call you for dinner!" Ms. Long's shrill voice called out.
Song-Mei sighed and slumped against the door, her ebony ponytails cascading over her shoulders. Why did I even bother to come home in the first place? She wondered.
With nothing else to do, Song-Mei decided to go visit Chinatown. San Francisco wasn't too far from Chinatown, and she could ride her bike there and have a nice sit in the Chinese Tea Garden, and then ride back before it got dark.
"Mother, I'm going to go to Chinatown. Do you want me to pick us up some of those imported eggrolls?" Song-Mei called.
"You don't have any money!" her mother retorted.
Song-Mei rolled her eyes. I have money, she thought. Ever hear of a "part-time job"? "Fine. I'll be back shortly." She rushed out the door and over to her bicycle.
About twenty minutes later, Song-Mei was strolling happily through the lush greenery of the Chinese Tea Garden. She walked up the high bridge over the river and looked down at her reflection.
Her large, almond-shaped eyes gazed happily back up at her. Her hair, which she'd bothered to tidy up before she left the house, looked like dark silk flowing onto her shoulders. Her skin was a pale ivory, contrasting with the dark ebony of her hair. Her earrings were pretty gold circular orbs, which shone with the light.
"Waaaaaagggghhhh!" She felt herself teeter forward, then backward, and . . .
SPLASH!!
Song-Mei opened her eyes and there was water all around. She inhaled sharply and only succeeded in filling her nostrils with water. She flailed and flailed in the direction she thought was up, as a great burning sensation filled her chest. Her lungs were literally screaming at her. Air! Air! I need air! Give me what I need!
She could feel the darkness coming to consume her, and she shook her head rapidly to keep from losing consciousness. If I go unconscious, then I die, she kept reminding herself. Her entire chest felt as though it were on fire.
She finally broke the surface and took a deep breath, her chest heaving up and down with unnatural, more full breaths than usual. I can't believe I almost died, she thought, as she clasped a hand to her breast.
She narrowed her eyes as she noticed something was way different than it had been beforehand. . .
"It's nighttime," Song-Mei muttered to herself as she bobbed in the water. "It was only a quarter to three o'clock when I left the house. I couldn't have been gone that long." Silently she wondered, Just what is going on?
~*
"Hey, no, I don't think this is a good idea, what if someone sees you?" Mushu blurted to Mulan as she undressed.
"Just because I look like a man doesn't mean I have to smell like one," Mulan retorted. "Besides, everyone's asleep."
"So a couple of guys don't rinse out their socks. Picky, picky, picky! Well, I kinda like that corn-chip smell . . ." Mushu's rantings were interrupted by the tiny splash Mulan made as she leapt into the river.
"Ahhhh," Mulan sighed.
"Okay, now get out before you get all pruny," Mushu ordered, holding out a towel.
"Mushu," Mulan said, "if you're so worried, go stand watch."
Mulan turned to see a figure floating towards the nearby tree. Oh, no! she thought. What if they saw me?
A moment later she noticed the rather long amount of hair trailing behind the figure. That person's hair is too long to be a man. What is a woman doing here? Mulan decided to wait and see just who – and what gender – the person was.
~*
Song-Mei climbed out of the water and wrapped her arms around the tree. "Ohhh, my uniform is ruined! The admin's gonna kill me, this is the third uniform I've ruined this month! WHY did the uniforms have to be dry-clean only?!" She hung her head in remorse.
~*
Mulan's mouth dropped open in shock. A girl! The girl looked to be close to Mulan's age, with long hair swept up into two buns with ponytails swinging down from the buns. I do like her hairstyle, Mulan thought. Maybe when my hair grows back I'll wear it like that. The girl had rather large breasts and very prominent hips; Mulan would have loved to have the girl's figure. The girl was dressed in the most unusual clothing Mulan had ever seen: a white shirt with some sort of weirdly designed blue material at the top, and a weird-looking blue skirt down to her knees. How scandalous of her to show that much leg! Mulan thought. The girl also wore rather big, clumsy-looking, shiny black shoes.
~*
I get the feeling I'm not alone, Song-Mei thought as she wrung out her tie. She looked up to see someone floating in the water watching her.
Ooh! Maybe they know what time it is!
"Hey!" Song-Mei called. "May I ask you what the time is?"
The person stared at her like she had some sort of problem.
I know they heard me, Song-Mei thought. What is with this person?
~*
Mulan stared at the girl, who had now started making strange noises. I better help her out before she gets caught, Mulan thought. Mulan began to make her way over to where the girl was knelt.
~*
Song-Mei noticed that the person was making his/her way over to where she was. She continued wringing out her ponytails.
"Hey, don't you understand me?" Song-Mei asked once the person had gotten close enough.
"Shhhhhh!" Mulan clamped a hand over Song-Mei's mouth. "Hush before you wake up the soldiers!"
Song-Mei nearly did a double-take. The person, who was now clearly a girl close to her own age, had just spoken to her in Chinese. She found herself very grateful that her mother had taught her Chinese. "Did you just immigrate here?" Song-Mei asked in Chinese. "By the way, you're not supposed to swim in the Moon River."
"What are you talking about?" Mulan replied. "I've lived here all my life! And this river has no name!"
"Huh?" Song-Mei was now even more confused. "If you've lived in America all your life, why can't you speak English?"
Mulan looked at Song-Mei quizzically. "America? What's that? What's English?"
Song-Mei laughed. "Oh, you must be joking. It's America, you know, it's 1944, and we're in the middle of a war with the Axis nations, and . . ."
It was Mulan's turn to laugh. "1944 seems so far away! I know I wouldn't live that long. What are the Axis nations? Are we an Axis nation?" She paused. "By the way, this is not America. It's China."
"Erm . . .China?" Song-Mei was beginning to think the girl was slightly crazy.
"Yes. China. And the Huns have invaded China. We're going to war against them." Mulan laughed.
"Wait a minute. Then that means . . ."Song-Mei began. It means I'm in the past!