Author's Note: I am sorry for not writing this for ages but I got really distracted by prince of tennis (because that made me wrote a lot more fan fiction) but anyway, I finally managed to type this all up and edited it.
As I said, it is very important to remember that I got all these ideas when I only read the first five books, if I was to rewrite it now I would make her Inami instead of Urumiya. Because I really like Inami now and I think she and Hikitsu are going to end up loving one another. (and I really like Inami's power) I would love to let Setsuka play Inami's role but well, I can't.
I know that one of the person who read this really like Aira so I just want to warn her before hand, Aira won't be coming out in this chapter.
"You know, no matter how far apart we are,
When we look at the same sky,
I believe that I will surely be able to meet you someday."
(Cross) (1)
Emutato and Setsuka were at their favourite haunt again, with Yuki hovering between them, showing his affection by constantly licking them.
Emutato was holding onto one of the precious book owned by Setsuka's father. They only gained his permission after numerous promises of not fighting any one no matter what and cause the book to be ruined, as well as vowing to wrap the book in cloth if neither of them were holding it.
To every one, this day was like any other day, and no one in the tribe was aware of how drastic this seemingly fine day would end up as.
The two of them were now ten years old, but little has changed. Emutato was still a quiet and polite boy while Setsuka has not gained that much a control on her temper, although the dislocation of her leg did make her more careful.
The book they were reading contained their favourite story- a tale about how the heir to a kingdom was forced to be in hiding and was then befriended and saved by a wolf.
"'Who are you?' the young prince asked softly as he heard the sounds of the soft footsteps echoing in the dark caves. 'Are you working for the empress or are you…'" Emutato read out, his hand already eager to turn the page to reveal their favourite picture: the illustration of the wolf meeting the prince.
Wanting to show Yuki the picture, Setsuka lifted the wolf up and as to be expected, the animal reacted rather viciously. Due to worrying that her father's book might be damaged, she naturally tightened her hold onto the wolf, causing him to accidentally scratch her in his struggle.
Startled, she lost her hold completely. Yuki was clearly remorseful as he quickly began to lick her bleeding hand.
"It is alright, Yuki." Setsuka told the wolf gently, patting him.
Emutato carefully balanced the book on the cloth in his lap before he went to take her hand into his.
"It is only a slight scratch." She told him carelessly as he placed the edge of his own cloth over her wound.
What happened next was only able to result because they were two children who could read and write in a rural society that was almost illiterate.
"Emutato, doesn't blood look a lot like papa's ink?" Setsuka announced eagerly, pointing to the stain of her blood on his cloth.
"A bit," he admitted.
They have both seen the carefully stored bottle of ink that was only used when Hekyune wrote, a rare event as there was rarely any need for him to do so.
Because of this, neither of them had written properly. Hekyune taught them to write by using snow and sticks if they were outside, or the ashes on the hearth with their fingers as a pen if they were confined inside. (2)
"But Setsuka, not stopping a wound immediately is very bad." He reminded her.
"A little delay wouldn't hurt." She said.
Using her right hand, she smeared blood onto her finger and began to write very lightly on the snow in front of them. Because she was just reading a story about a wolf, that was the character that entered her mind.
She felt a sudden pain as she wrote out the word. Placing her hand on her, she realised that the area directly above her heart seemed to be burning as it was very hot.
"Emutato, it hurts here." She whispered, grabbing his hand and placing it onto that very spot.
Much to her surprise, he immediately withdrew his hand away.
"Mama told me…" he quickly explained, "That a woman must never let anyone touch that part of her body unless she is married to him."
Come to think about it, her mother seemed to have told her the same thing, although she didn't really care that much. She already made up her mind that she would not marry anyone other then him, so why did it matter if he touched that place?
Likewise, Emutato had asked his mother the same thing in full innocence.
"But Setsuka and I promised to each other that we will be the closest to one another. I will give her snow flowers as soon as I am old enough and I think she will accept them both times."
His mother could only point out that this was just not a proper thing to do, even though the children's logic was not really wrong, and most people were quite convinced that the two of them would marry as soon as they were of age.
The two children's attempt of understanding the logic of adults were interrupted by the strange sight that began to unfold in front of them, even Yuki seemed to be staring at the scenes in front intensively.
The word that was written by Setsuka's blood began to darken, at the same time the word seemed to be stretching into a shape. (3)
Unfortunately, they were not the only ones who saw this. Emutato's father happened to be on duty that day and he was naturally shocked that his son and friend has befriended a wolf, and like the man who had been on duty two years ago, his first thought was to notch an arrow onto his bow.
Then he realised that this was definitely not the first time because the two children were displaying both great familiarity and affection to the creature. It was soon apparent that the wolf was not a danger, but Etodo was still determined to focus on his son and Setsuka completely, as well as having a very long talk with them that very night.
Like the two children, he was enthralled by the strange sight that soon unfolded when Setsuka's blod began to grow into a wolf, but unlike them, he knew why she was able to do this.
It was not really surprising that neither Setsuka or Emutato has heard about the legend of the priestess and her seven celestial warriors. Hokkan regarded them as a curse, a plight for the country.
Hekyune accepted the fact that his wife's people did not share the same beliefs he was taught, but this did not mean that he should agree with them by telling his child something that he regarded as false.
So he decided to never mention these stories to his daughter or her almost permanent companion, as well as making sure that his books about the legend of Suzaku were carefully hidden.
Most of the people in Hokkan only learnt of the legend when they reached their teens, when they were seen as old enough to understand this.
The word that Setsuka wrote has transformed into the living image of the creature she wrote about: a grown wolf so realistic that no one would believe his strange birth unless they had been a witness to it.
The wolf made his way to Setsuka and it actually bent its knees, as if he was kneeling to her. He then leant forward and placed a paw over the spot just above her heart, the spot that was burning.
"Are you trying to tell me something?" Setsuka whispered to the wolf, who simply nuzzled at that spot once again.
Because she was naïve and ignorant of the legend she grasped at the clues eagerly. Pushing the wolf away very gently, she unlaced her dress, making her companion blushing and turning away.
"Setsuka, you shouldn't be doing this!" Emutato protested in a rather high voice that was muffled due to Yuki's furs.
"It doesn't matter! No one is looking!" she said simply before she suddenly chocked out: "Emutato…there is a strange word on my body."
That was a good enough proof for Etodo, he could finally release the awrrow.
Neither Emutato or Setsuka ever found out whether the arrow was meant to hit the unnatural wolf or not. Even though they both cared for the wolf that had been their companion for such a brief amount of time, they continued to cling onto the belief that his father's arrow did not miss the target.
Because the right target was Setsuka if the arrow had been a miss.
It was not easy to accept that this kind and loving man would actually contemplate murder, but their tribe really believed that the celestial warriors and priestess of Genbu were sent to destroy the kingdom. In some cases they were almost seen as being inhumane and monstrous.
Even if he only intended to kill the unnatural creature, this act will traumatise the two children greatly. Their hard way of living made them understand what death mean but this was still the first time either of them has seen the death of someone that they, especially Setsuka, was prepared to love.
What made matters worse was the fact that the wolf shielded her body with his.
"You were protecting me." Setsuka whispered, clutching onto the wolf in front of her. "I will save you somehow…"
Her words trailed off as the wolf licked her face gently before he laid his head onto her lap. The people of the nomadic tribes were very skilled in their archery due to daily practice, so the wolf did not have long. But, as Emutato pointed out, he seemed happy.
His departure was as strange as his entrance to this world: Setsuka felt that his weight was getting lighter and lighter while her hand was slowly sinking into a pool of liquid instead of furs.
A few moments later, the only thing that proved what happened was the arrow that was right in front of them. Not only has the wolf disappeared, there wasn't even any stain of blood on Setsuka's clothes saved for the scratches that Yuki made earlier on.
But the word 'wolf' written by her blood had appeared again.
Before they even had time to work out what has happened, Yuki leapt down from Emutato's grasp and crouched down in front of the two protectively, growing softly.
"Papa!" Emutato cried out in surprise. "Why are you…"
But he was prevented from finishing his words as his father grabbed him by the collar without any warning and hurled him behind, drawing out his sword at the same time.
"Papa!" Emutato protested again, and he naturally tried to go to Setsuka, but found his shoulder being grasped by his father very tightly.
"A celestial warrior of Genbu." Etodo whispered, forcing himself to not be wavered by the very frightened look in the little girl's eye. She was a child that he was very fond of, as well as the girl he and his wife hoped to be their precious son's bride one day- their daughter in law who they would welcome with open arms.
"They will bring disaster and ruin onto every part of the land." He repeated, reminding himself of why he was doing this.
The unfortunate girl's parent never once suspected that anything was wrong, there was simply nothing that indicated how disastrous the day would end up as.
Hekyune was also deeply occupied by his wife, her illness must have worsened this year because she was coughing so much more then usual and she barely has strength to leave her bed.
"I need to take her to the doctors in the city." Hekyune decided.
Her equally concerned father nodded in agreement. "She does need to see one but Hekyune, she can not travel in such a condition. A snow storm is going on."
"I know that!" Hekyune said worriedly. "But…"
A sudden gust of wind blew in because the flap of the door was hurled upward, and the ill woman's shudder resulted in both her husband and father frowning at the careless person angrily.
Fury replaced the initial anger when they saw Setsuka, who was dragged here. Her knees were scrapped while many parts of her clothes were wet. Even worse was the front of her dress.
"How dare you!" Hekyune said angrily as he snatched his daughter away from Etodo. "If you did this then I swear I will…"
"She did that herself.' Emutato began quietly, defending both his father and Setsuka. "She said that it felt really strange there."
"She is one of the accursed celestial warriors of Genbu!" Etodo yelled back, his hand tightening his hold on his sword. "I saw her summoning creatures with her blood and…"
"I didn't mean to!" Setsuka whispered, clutching to her father even more. "Papa, what did I do wrong?"
She was almost crying as the changes had all come in such a strange and sudden way. Being a child who was completely ignorant of these legends, she couldn't understand why this was happening to her.
"Setsuka did nothing wrong at all." Hekyune said firmly, hugging his daughter even tighter.
"Hekyune…" his father in law began slowly, using the voice of the chief, ordering him. "Give Setsuka to me, I must see…"
"No!" he replied, quickly moving to kneel beside his wife, who forced herself to sit up. "What does it matter if my daughter really is a celestial warrior of Genbu?"
"Hekyune is right," Manake added. "Father, I have heard some woman from the Ha tribe saying that the celestial warriors are actually our saviours."
Hekyune was from Konan- a country who believed that the celestial warriors were going to be saviours, that they would be the one to save the country, instead of the opposite by being the cause of any disaster.
Manake was aware that the presence of celestial warriors would bring disasters but she was like many mothers by refusing to believe in certain things being said about their child as her love for them was very strong. She was not being completely biased as she has been wondering about the alternative perspective ever since her husband secretly told her about it.
The chief was not a bad man at all as he truly cared for his people, but it was this very reason that causes him to condemn his only granddaughter. He could easily understand Manake's actions and perhaps he might have believed that himself if he was not forced to make a decision this very moment.
The rest of the tribe would never understand this or even see it in another way and he was entrusted with their welfare.
He snatched his granddaughter away from his father in this chaos, as well as un-prying his daughter's clutch from his robe.
Everyone in the tent then saw it, the black word on the child's body- just on the spot above her heart.
"Urumiya." Hekyune whispered out aloud.
"A celestial warrior of Genbu," the tribe leader said and he even though his tone was actually very bitter, he sill placed Setsuka in his daughter's arm very gently. "Manake, you know what I must do."
His daughter shook her head firmly and tightened her embrace with the little strength she had. "I will not let you kill my daughter. I don't care what will be said of me, but Setsuka will not be killed."
Her daughter gave a soft cry and clung onto her mother in fear. She was finally crying and she wanted to ask her beloved parents why everyone was so angry, but the seriousness of everything prevented her from saying anything.
Were they really going to…kill her? She thought that only bad men killed other people, so how could the grandfather she loved so much be a bad man?
"You know the rules of out tribe." He reasoned again, but drew a sharp halt when his daughter pulled out her husband's sword.
"What will bring you a greater curse, father? The departure of my child or the curse I will bring by my own death?" she said slowly, remarkably calm despite the situation. "Even worse, my blood will be split onto our ancestor's altar."
The people of the Kan tribe believed that the greatest plight rose from a suicide that was purposely done for the reason of cursing, because a person would only do so if a very severe injustice was done. (4)
The silence was only interrupted by Setsuka's sobbing, which she was trying very hard to halt.
"Then she must be exiled." The village leader finally said.
"Hekyune and I will go with her." His daughter said chillingly.
"Manake, there is a snow storm outside!" Hekyune pointed out. "If you…"
"I will go with you and Setsuka." She stated very firmly before she turned to her daughter. "Setsuka, always remember that your father and I love you very much, that is why we will do everything for you."
They did not even have time to grab anything before they were forced out of the tribe. Hekyune carrying his wife with their daughter grabbing the hem of his tunic.
Everyone watched them leave in silence because they were not really bad people. This small family was part of their community, if not being friends or kindred, but they were also selfish because they would rather have these three suffering instead of their own immediate families.
Emutato was truly confused- his father was keeping a vice-like grip to prevent him from escaping and he simply failed to understand why this was happening.
Why were they saying that Setsuka would cause everyone to die just because she could do queer things? A lot of adults did very strange things too.
Most of all, what was a celestial warrior of Genbu?
As they moved to the invisible bound that separated their tribe from the wilderness, the little girl turned around to seek for her companion once again. At this he immediately took a step forward, wanting to go to her.
Once again, his father stopped from doing what he desired.
I am so sorry, Setsuka, he pleaded to her with his gaze, but she was no longer looking at their village once she realised that even he would not go to her.
In the midst of their misfortune, the now outcast family was lucky enough to be able to find a shelter from the snow storm in the middle of the deserted plains in the shape of a hollow tree.
There they could think about what they had to do. Their tribe was some distance away from the near by city although it was not that difficult to travel if the weather was fine and provided that one had a horse- the complete opposite of their situation.
Hekyune managed to light a fire and the family was able to feel slightly warmed due to this. As they were all huddling together, the two parents could easily feel their daughter's trembling. With her face buried in her knees, she was actually sobbing quite violently.
What hurt them the most was the fact that Setsuka never once voiced any complaint.
Even though she was only a little girl, Setsuka had already developed the sense of belonging any of the nomradic tribe had. It was a strong love of one's tribe that made people remained in their tribe no matter how bad things get. To be away from the tribe meant losing one's identity.
That was why exile was the worst punishment.
"Setsuka," Manake began gently, her hand stroking her daughter's hair. "What happened is not your fault in anyway."
"It is everyone else's misunderstanding." Hekyune added. "Everyone is seeing this in the wrong way."
"The wrong way? Am I not a bad girl then?" she whispered rather brokenly. "I won't harm the tribe in anyway?"
Hekyune was just going to tell the legend of Suzaku to his daughter that he used to hear in Konan when they all suddenly heard the neighing of horses.
Manake nodded to her husband as she tightened her hold on their precious child, while he drew out his sword.
Emutato had been confused the moment Setsuka started to bleed, although what concerned him the most right now was that he wasn't allowed to say good bye to Setsuka, not that he understood why they had to leave the tribe.
But he was not allowed to think as he was forced to go to the tribal leader's tent and listen to the old man explaining in a rather patronising tone about why he must forget about Setsuka along with her parents.
The only way they could try and make him see their view was to tell him the tale of Genbu and even though the young boy listened to the story rather carefully, he was rather impatient.
"But the stories must be wrong because Setsuka would never do something that will hurt our tribe." He pointed out as soon as the story was finished, a mistake as this caused the tribal leader to explain everything from the beginning once again.
Now that he was alone with a young boy who was not prejudiced against the celestial worries in anyway, the tribal leader could not help but to wonder whether the harm that would follow might not be the direct result, which would then make his granddaughter harmless and blameless.
The snow storm has become so much heavier, and the old man couldn't help but to wonder how his daughter's family could survive considering their situation."
"This is a snow storm." Emutato commented out softly as he followed the other's gaze. "It is very cold."
Manake took over the role of weaving her father's robe when her mother died, a very fitting thing because she was his only daughter. Maybe it was because she was usually inside so her weavings were praised to be among the finest of the tribe.
One of the fine works she made for her daughter was spread before the fire- she must have intended to let Setsuka change into that when her daughter returned from a day of playing outside.
This then made him wonder why he didn't at least try to let them take some warmer clothing or…
"I will put it away for you." Emutato suggested politely when he saw his tribe leader beginning to shudder and then almost weep.
Emutato's was not doing this due to pure kindness, however. He was actually very angry with the man he always thought of to be a grandfather. He was still a child so he could not accept that the person he liked so much could be dangerous just due to some unusual ability.
Yet he was also old enough to know how dangerous Setsuka's situation was.
As he opened the chest to put Setsuka's clothes in, he quickly took out one of the robes he would see Manake wear on the rare occasions when she made her trip to the cities. He was only able to take one piece of clothing so he decided to take this because he knew that she would need it the most.
He managed to walk out with the robe tucked under his arm without the tribal leader noticing, this then encouraged him to sneak to the place where most of the horses were kept.
He wasn't really sure of what he was doing, but he knew that he was going to go after Setsuka and her parents. He had to say good bye to them, especially her.
His father's horse went up to him in recognition and allowed him to saddle him- Emutato was just about to leap onto the horse when he felt someone pulling at him from behind.
It turned out that he needn't have tried to make up some excuses due to his 'captor's' identity. Not only did the horse of his father recognised himm, so did Hekyune's horse.
"Let me go." He whispered in frustration- his attempts of unprying his tunic only led to the horse biting his sleeves even more.
It was not as if this horse has ever been so fond of him, yet it refused to let him go by keeping his bite very strong.
When he realised that he was not going to be able to win by force, he decided to try a second method.
"Please let me go." He whispered, remembering what the adults has told them about horses: they were very much like human, one would have to use a variety of ways to tame them. "I promise that I will give you a lot of food when I get back. But I must go and find Setsuka first."
The horse let out a soft neigh upon the mentioning of this name, and he even pushed the boy forward.
"Then let me go." He continued, as he was now sure that the animal understood his words.
But the horse did not loosen his bite, forcing him to back track his footsteps once more.
"What do you want? I can't take you with me…" he suddenly paused because he swore that the horse actually nodded.
"You want to come with me?"
Emutato has rode before since he was part of a nomadic tribe, but it was never without supervision, and he was also guiding a second horse by grabbing the two reins with one hand each.
Luckily for him, both horses were galloping at a similar pace and the other horse was probably being the one leading him as he wasn't really sure which direction he should go.
Upon the sight of that hollow tree he immediately got off because he knew that this was where Setsuka must be.
"Setsuka?" he cried out softly as he led the two horses around the surprisingly large tree with the robe carefully draped over his arm. "It is me, Emutato."
"Emutato?" Hekyune whispered in disbelieve as he sheathed his sword, hoping that he did not frighten the boy. "What are you doing here?"
"I don't really know." Emutato admitted. "I want to say goodbye to Setsuka and I also thought that you might need some more clothing. Your horse then insisted on coming with me."
He was interrupted by Setsuka, who immediately grabbed onto him and he was really astonished by her tears because crying had always been something that she was separated from.
"I was afraid that you'd hate me." She muttered out.
"Of course I won't." he told her sincerely, patting her on the head as his parents would do to him or Aira when ever they wanted to cheer them up.
He suddenly realised how much he wanted her to be happy, to smile and laugh. This was because he could not do so if she was not.
Hekyune accepted the robe from the young boy and his hands were actually shaking due to recollecting the first time he saw his wife: she had been wearing that very same robe while her long hair was only decorated by a few ribbons- she had been so unlike all the upper class women of Konan that he knew, especially when he compared her to his 'fiancée'.
Back then her brother had been with her, carefully sheltering her from any danger.
"I am so glad that Emutato brought this robe." Manake said, her soft voice drawing all attention. "This is the very robe I plans to give to Setsuka when she is older.
"When you wear it, Setsuka, remember that this is the robe I wore when I met your father. That day is the happiest moment of my life along with your birth."
Taking the children by their hand, Hekyune lead them until they were sitting right beside Manake, who remained lying down. His wife then held her hand out to both children and both used their free hand to hold onto her.
"You never did anything wrong, Setsuka." Manake whispered once more, "You will always be my precious daughter. Hekyune…tell her, tell her that same story you told me. The tale of Suzaku."
The horse allowed them to go to the closest city but they could not do so yet due to Manake's illness. She seemed much worse due to the exposure of the snow storm and the over exertion of her body.
The only thing they could do was to wait and hope that she would gain enough strength in order to ride when the snow storm was over.
"…and so the people of Konan believe that their priestess would come with her seven celestial warriors when the land is in danger. They firmly believe that they would arrive to save them." (5)
"I like this version much better." Setsuka declared out while Emutato gave a nod of agreement as soon as Hekyune finished the story.
Now that she was no longer so absorbed in her father's story, Setsuka suddenly noticed something very strange. There was still some trace of warmth in her father's hand although it was very cold, but her mother's hand was lacking any heat.
She raised her mother and her interlocked hands in order to blow on it to warm it, she frowned even more when she noticed that there was an additional stiffness along with the coldness.
"Mama?"
There was no reply even though the woman's eyes were still open.
Hekyune suspected that this might be happening but he was still not ready yet: he knew that his beloved wife's death was very close when he finally laid her down in their temporary shelter. It seemed that she knew it too and now that he thought about it, she must have choose to hold onto the two children's hand as well making him tell the story of Suzaku to prevent anyone from noticing her exact death due to reasons of her own.
As he gently closed her eyes for her he wonder whether she did this because she knew that they could have prevented her giving in the disease that has tormented her all her life.
"Mama is gone…mama is dead, Setsuka." He whispered gently.
Wordlessly, Emutato put his arms around Setsuka and she gratefully leant against him as she began to cry once more.
"This isn't your fault." The young boy informed her firmly.
"No, it is the other's fault for throwing us out." Hekyune added, forcing the bitterness out of his voice. "Setsuka, Emutato, you two must help me bury her and then we will carve her death plate and take it with us."
Because the nomadic tribes moved around very often, the exact location of a person's burial was not very important, although no one would simply leave their kin or loved ones unburied. But the most important thing was a person's death plate- this was what kindred and friends pay respect to. (6)
Holding onto one another's hand tightly, the two children followed Hekyune, who carried the now forever still Manake. They had no tools so they had to kneel down and dig the grave with their bare fists.
This was difficult task even for any children of the tribe who was more used to hard work, but it was clear that they would not stop until the grave was dug. That was why Hekyune's instant reaction was thinking that Emutato had hurt himself when the boy let out a cry.
"I found a snow flower." The boy examined in wonder as he placed the precious flower into his hand most reverently.
The flower of snow was one of the few plants that could grow in the snow plain and it was the only flower that blooms in winter. It was a rather difficult flower to locate as its petal was white, and therefore it was seen as rather sacred to the Han tribe. (7)
Only men who intended to give them to the woman he desired to court and then wed could pick these flowers.
Emutato had initially picked the flower onto his clasped palms but he suddenly closed his hands around the steam so that he was no longer shoving it toward Setsuka, but offering it to her.
"Do you know what you are doing?" Setsuka whispered, finding herself suddenly very nervous.
She had four main source of comfort and none of them were available to her right now: her mother was dead while her father was barely controlling himself, her grandfather no longer loved her while her best friend was the one who was causing all this.
"Of course I know." He told her firmly, the flower still thrust forward. "I think I love Setsuka because I always want to be with you. Isn't that what marriage means?"
"I do always want to be with Emutato too." Setsuka said shyly, fiddling with her hands.
"Doesn't people who engage ends up marrying even if they might leave the other for a time?" the boy pressed on, referring to an incident that happened some years ago.
A young man had given these flowers to his sweetheart before he travelled to the city and met a snow storm on his way. He managed to survive and he told everyone that he managed to do this due to their promise.
To be exiled was almost as good as being killed as they would never be heard in the tribe again. The two children saw engagement and marriage as a way to prevent this because it was a promise.
Setsuka stretched her hands out and closed them over the flower, holding onto his hand for a brief moment before she withdrew her hand along with the flower.
This was a bitter sweet experience for Hekyune as he was very happy that his daughter was not completely abandoned by all of her mother's people, as well as realising what he always suspected would still eventuate. But he was also very sad because this made him think about the wife that just left him.
He had been sent by his father to do some sort of business in Hokkan and strangely enough he could no longer remember what it was that brought him to this country. He would have returned to the land of his birth the very next day if it he had not saw her.
Instead of returning home he made up some excuse of wanting to learn more about the native tribes of Hokkan. He ended up gaining access to the tribe using that very same reason and he also offered to help them during their dealings with the people of the city.
All this was tolerated by his family as they saw it as nothing more then a passing fancy.
Her people were much more suspicious but he managed to earn an acceptance due to the approval of his future father in law, and then because of how loving and gentle he was to his frail wife.
"You must arrange a meeting place and time." He finally said.
There were other things he should say and think but after all that he was going through, he could only force himself to think of minor details like this- things that did not hurt.
"Then I say this tree because it is right in the middle." Setsuka decided. "I know that we can meet in the city but I think this place is better because this is in the middle. Right, papa?"
This was a wise choice because a person could probably manage to walk here, although no one even once doubt that a similar thing would be happening to Emutato only a few years later.
When they finally left, Setsuka was clutching to her mother's robe with her name plate wrapped in it, while the flower of snow were carefully tucked within her own clothes."
"We will be going to Konan, to my father's kindred." Hekyune told the two children.
"But I will come back as soon as I am sixteen." She promised him as she waved him farewell.
"And by that time I will be ready to leave with you." He added softly, a serious vow because he decides to leave his family for her, when he thought that they would continue to love him forever.
1 Cross is the ending song for the Fushigi Yugi Genbu Kaiden game.
2 In Chinese history, there was someone who learnt to write this way. I think his mother used reed to write on sand in order to teach them since their family was really poor.
3 As I said mentioned before, I got all this idea when I have only read the first five books.
4 This is my own invention in this story but there are a lot of folk tales when those who were wronged commit suicide as a way to get their revenge.
5 As always I find it so ironic that the believe of the people of Konan and Hokkan is the opposite, and the opposite things happened. Takiko, who was believed to be harbinger actually caused Hokkan to be protected forever, while Miaka- the savior actually indirectly caused the country to sort of get worse. (note, I don't like Miaka.)
6 I don't know if this is fully true but I did once read that the Mongolian's burial used to be quite simple, and the idea of a plate with the deceased one's name carved on it is quite a common idea, although nowadays photo seemed to be used much more.
7 Please don't ask me what exact flower this is because I have no idea, just think of it as some fantastical flower in this fantastical world.
Author's Note: One of the biggest problem I had is the tribe's reaction to it, because it really is very severe. So my interpretation is that they really see her as being someone who will bring them harm just by being around, and I always got the feeling that Hikitsu/Emutato was cast out as she was. (by the way, I really like the bit when his met his people once again.)
I don't know when the third chapter will be uploaded because I haven't write it now, but I will try and start soon though, but even if it all goes well I still have editing and typing. One can probably guess what will happen in chapter three anyway…
