to the stars

Chapter 7: Yao


The Easterner hummed to himself as he poured water into the kettle. He then set about looking for a tea bag to put in it. Rummaging through the cupboards, he then realized that he'd just run out.

Grumbling to himself all of a sudden, he decided to go postpone making breakfast and go check the mail. Looking through the usual pile of envelopes that had turned up on his front porch and throwing the useless ones away – "Bills…junk…ads…bills…" – he found one that finally set a smile on his face.

A letter! A nice, long letter! From his little sister! He hurriedly opened it to find that it was dated three days prior.

"Dear brother," Lien had written in her neat, ladylike handwriting. "I can't believe that it's been four years since I arrived at the Capital, it hardly seems like it. I'm sorry I haven't sent you a letter in so long…"

She went on to write that the military's mages were doing well; they hadn't had a single major flare-up since the incident a year ago, and they were all incredibly talented. Although it was a fun job being the head of the mages it was very stressful – "Really, brother, if only you'd come over here and join the military. I'm sure they'd promote you to my position really quickly. I'd be really happy if that happened –" –though the military technically didn't do much except help out in natural disasters and wait for some major war to come around.

Sunan was doing marvelously as well – Yao had problems sending the two of them to the capital – alone – but it seemed to have settled. "Everyone actually thinks we're a couple," she'd written, and even though he could picture her laughing graciously – she was always such a little lady – while writing it he knew it wasn't that far from the truth. Adopted or not, Sunan was still incredibly close to her. "He's the new head of the close-range fighters," she'd written about him. "Assassins, they like to call it, even though not a lot of assassinations actually happen. It sounds cool, perhaps? But then again, it is incredibly secret that not a lot of people know that the military even has a branch of close-range fighters. So they think Sunan just hangs around the training areas being a freeloader and such. If they only knew…"

Yao paused. When was the last time he'd seen Lien? Or Sunan, for that matter?

"So, anyway," the letter went on, "Yesterday we had a meeting with the rest of the military council – for the record, that's the heads of the military's different departments: that's me, Sunan, Mr. Oxensternia who's in charge of the knights, Mr. Vamainoen, who's the head for the other long-range fighters (archers and such – the man has terrifying aim, although he's also a fairly competent swordsman), and the Queen. There might be war brewing on the horizon, Brother. There are rumors of the neighboring kingdoms planning to attack. And on top of all of that…" At this point her handwriting trailed off, and she'd begun a new paragraph. "Did you hear of the dragons? Did our sibling tell you? Unrest, the Great Mages say, and they do not know why. We're having another council meeting, two weeks from now, to decide the next course of action. Only all four Great Mages will be here with us."

"I don't think I meant to startle you. But the thing is, brother, I'm scared. An attack from the neighboring kingdoms, we can handle by itself. Fantasia has great military strength. But to top that with a problem with the dragons? The Mages do not know what it is, and I do not know how it's going to take its toll on our country. Perhaps it will all die down; they will find a way to calm them. Maybe. I know I sound like a henpecked old lady," it went on, "But try not to let that worry you too much, all right?"

The one-sided conversation turned to sweeter things, because he knew his sister hated being the bearer of bad news, and Lien began telling him of parties and balls and glitzy things – "Did I ever tell you about that crackpot Francis Bonnefoy? If you haven't heard, he's engaged now. I don't know whether to feel sorry for or to laugh at his bride – Sunan went to their engagement party, I did not, for reasons you should know." She told him of a delightful bazaar that was in the Capital for only a week, and she and Sunan had gone there the other day – "I bought gifts for each of you. A pendant for Xiang, new sheaths for Yong Soo, and a necklace for Mei. I sent Kiku's gift in another letter to him, because I know it will trouble you to look for him. Please find some way to get it to them. Yong Soo told me in a letter that he's going to visit your house sometime next week – you can ask him to deliver the gifts for you. Perhaps you don't exactly want to see any of them right now, but I hope they receive them anyhow."

She'd ended the letter there, telling him that training was to start in a few minutes and wishing him good health. And she'd added a postscript in frenzied handwriting, telling him she'd bought tea for him at the bazaar and forgot to mention it – "I know you always run out of tea this time of the month, so I bought some for you." Oh, Lien was such a dear! She knew him too well. His happy mood restored, he went to the kitchen to prepare his breakfast, carrying the letter and the enclosed bags of tea.

"Yao?"

He dropped the letter. "Erik?" Cursing the fact that he'd taken too long reading Lien's letter, he bustled over to the front door. Sure enough, the boy was standing there, his face that usual blank mask. "Ah, come in, aru! Have you had breakfast?" He gave him his goofy smile.

"Well, yes–"

"Tea, then, perhaps?" Lien had sent a lot. While it wasn't the same as Eastern tea, Western tea wasn't bad on its own, either.

Erik gave him a strange look, but he accepted. As Yao sat down to his steamed fish and tea, Erik said, "You seem unusually…chipper today." He paused for a second and took a sip of the tea. "N-not that it's a bad thing, i-it's just…"

"Unusual?" Yao filled in, still smiling. "It is nothing, aru. I just received a letter from my sister."

Erik blinked.

"The one in the capital," Yao said, annoyed. "There are funny goings-on there right now, aru. Or at least that's what she tells me."

"Such as?" Erik probed, his eyes wary.

"Rumors of a war," said Yao with a nonchalant shrug. "Don't tell anyone, of course. And the dragons are stirring, aru, and nobody knows what to do with them." He shrugged. "So they're having a super-important council meeting next week. All four Great Mages will be there, aru. In the Capital."

Erik very nearly spit out his tea. "In two weeks?" Not good. Not good at all.

"Which reminds me, aru," said Yao, "Weren't you leaving in two weeks? For the Capital? Before you head on to the West?"

"Um, yes?"

"That means you might meet one of the Mages," said Yao with a faint smile. "Perhaps, even the one for the East, aru." He smiled at Erik and closed his eyes for a moment.

Damn, Erik muttered to himself. He'd forgotten to ask around about Yao's siblings.

Yao stood up. "Done with your tea, Erik?" he said. "We must get started with today's lesson. As you're leaving in two weeks, there's still a lot you have to learn, aru!"

Oh. That. "Uh," he piped up, "I-I think I'd like to stay for a little longer. For an extra two, three weeks, maybe."

"And pass up an opportunity to meet a Great Mage, aru? Or more? Or all four?" Yao looked at him incredulously, then shrugged. "If you say so," he continued. "I wanted to teach you for a little more, anyway." He gave Erik an endearing smile.

Stab of guilt. "Thank you."

Hours of wind magic and practicing later, they were once again sitting on Yao's front porch sipping tea. "So," Yao was saying. "You'll be canceling your train trip to the Capital?"

Erik nodded.

"Sad," Yao went on. "All those celebrities in the Capital at that time, too, aru."

You've met one, thought Erik. Your own flesh and blood!

"Where will you stay, then, when you finally do leave?" asked Yao. "The inns in the Capital are all ridiculously expensive."

"With Matthias Gylensted, a knight," Erik replied. "I don't suppose you've heard of him?"

Yao laughed. "I suppose I have, aru. Lien wrote that he tried to hit on her once."

"Typical," Erik muttered under his breath. Aloud he said, "Well, he's actually caring for my pet right now. And he – he's a friend of my brother." The words were out of his mouth before he could stop it.

Yao raised an eyebrow. "You have a brother, aru? You never told me."

Erik rubbed the back of his head. "I guess it never came up."

"So, what – was your brother an Easterner brought up in the North, like you?" Yao asked.

"Um, yes. No. Uh–" Erik trailed off. "It's complicated."

"Ah." Yao's fingers were moving and Erik could see that he was fingering his sister's letter. "That's how I feel sometimes, as well. Complicated." Yao stared at the horizon again, and closed his eyes.

As per usual whenever he was holding one of his siblings' belongings, memories flooded back to him. He remembered their parents screaming at each other, fighting, he remembered being confused and wanting them to stop because they were his parents, they weren't supposed to fight, they were supposed to be together and happy and care for him and his younger siblings. He remembered his mother finally leaving, his siblings' confused faces. He remembered his father breaking down into tears, hugging his eldest son close – because after all Yao was the one who looked the most like their mother.

He remembered the day his father got the news that his mother was dead.

And he remembered the day Lien came to live with them, his mother's daughter but not his father's. He wondered how his mother had only left a year ago and yet here was his half-sister only three or four years younger than him. And then he remembered his parents' fighting and somehow it all made sense.

His father didn't like Lien. He never did. A bastard, he called her. Undeserving of the Wang name. He hated the fact that Lien, like Yao, looked like Wang Lan Yueh, unfaithful as she was. Because he'd loved her despite it.

But Lien was steadfast, and eventually his father shut up, won over by seeing Lan Yueh's lovely dark eyes on Lien's pale face.

He remembered the day his father came home to tell him his aunt, his father's only sibling, and uncle were dead and that their cousins Kiku and Yong Soo were coming to live with them.

He remembered the day Yong Soo brought home a friend. And his father, warmed up to children by then, took the orphaned Sunan in, hoping that the children's tinkling laughter would remind him of his Lan Yueh's.

It did. And for a while, they were happy.

Yao was twelve when his father died of a disease.

The Wangs were wealthy. Everyone in those parts of the East knew that members of the family were filthy rich and very influential. But here was the eldest member, barely twelve, with no other living relatives save for his younger siblings and cousins. So the fortune was locked away till Yao became of age, but for those long six years before he'd turned eighteen he'd refused any outside help and set about caring for his siblings, blood or not, by himself. And they were happy. They were like a real family.

The day Yao turned eighteen he'd claimed the fortune. That was the day Kiku, Yao's secret favorite, announced he was leaving.

And that was only the tip of the iceberg.

Erik paused. Yao was spacing out again. "Yao?" he asked, a little timidly.

"Ah–" Yao's vision cleared, and he turned to smile at his protégé. "I – I was reminiscing again, aru. About my family."

"Oh."

"What is your brother like?" said Yao, turning thoughtful honey-gold eyes on him.

"Oh," Erik repeated dumbly. "Well, he's very – very talented."

"He's a mage, like you?"

"Yes. And he's quite work-oriented."

"Ah, so what does he do, then? Does he work for the military, aru?"

"Uh–" Erik paused again. "Sort of, I guess. And – a scholar?" He cocked his head to the side. Eager to change the subject, he hurriedly said, "What about your siblings?"

"Hmm." A fond smile found its way onto Yao's face. "Would you like to meet them instead?"

Erik nearly fell off the porch. Would he? Would he? Fighting to keep his face straight, he said, "Uh, I suppose. If – if it wouldn't trouble you too much…"

"Hah!" Yao gave a laugh. "I'll show you." He placed two fingers on Erik's forehead. "This is a special technique, aru – it's actually more of an application of wind magic than anything. It allows you to view my memories." He smiled. "Now don't fidget, aru," he snapped suddenly. "Calmly…"


The place he was standing in seemed familiar. He'd seen that shade of brown before. The paintings on the hallway looked newer, but recognizable. The floor was still smooth and cold.

He heard laughter somewhere, and, curious, he followed the sound up a large, regal staircase, vaguely thinking he'd never been up that staircase before, despite visiting the lower floor plenty of times. He entered a big room, filled with children. Standing in the doorway, he was able to see their faces clearly – while they all had the dark hair and eyes painfully common to people of the East, they were still beautiful.

There was a boy who looked around thirteen, with calm eyes and short-cropped black hair. Next to him were two others who appeared to be arguing, one with a face stoically calm and the other wearing a face of hyperactive energy. Two girls sat close to them, playing with the hair of a bespectacled pre-teen, who was bearing all the ribbons and glitter with an embarrassed smile. One of the girls, looking no older than eleven, had shoulder-length brown hair and a flower in her hair, while her companion –

Erik stopped for a moment, marveling at how the older girl resembled Yao. For a moment, he thought she was Yao, and he was about to announce his presence and greet him when a voice called, "I'm home, aru!"

He whirled around to see a younger Yao on the stairs, and nearly gave out a yelp of surprise. But then the younger Yao walked right through him.

Erik nearly fainted.

"Brother!" the older girl squealed, followed by several "Brother!"s from her (presumably) siblings. "Yao, you're back!"

Yao laughed, and for the first time Erik saw him as someone who made no move to conceal his emotions. The Yao he knew was careful even when he smiled. "Hello! I went to this lovely clothing store today, aru. I got you all treats!"

The children giggled.

"Xiang," Yao said, and the quiet-looking boy came forward. "I got you this, aru." He handed the boy a silk traditional Eastern robe with an imprint of the East's wind dragon.

"Brother," Xiang murmured, "I-it's beautiful. Thank you."

"Yong Soo," Yao called, "I got you new shoes. Mei told me how you ruined your old ones, aru."

"Well–" the energetic-seeming boy began, a slight smile on his face, but was cut off by laughter and his older brother hugging him and ruffling his head affectionately.

"New robes for Kiku as well, aru," said Yao, giving the calm-eyed boy a wrapped parcel. He accepted it with a quiet 'thank you.'

"As for Mei, I got you this," Yao said, pulling out a white pleated skirt. The younger of the two girls came forward and threw her arms around his neck in thanks.

"Lien and Sunan, I bought you new clothes from the Capital," Yao said. "These shirts are all the rage in the Capital, Sunan, but to wear them you'll have to get rid of that ridiculous hairdo, aru," he told the glasses-wearing boy, not two years younger than him, who laughed and pointed helpfully at his sisters. "And Lien, these blouses are what women want in the Capital. And I got you a new pair of shoes to go with them." The girl who looked so much like him came up and accepted it – she was indeed the Battle Medic, only with a grin on her face. He patted them affectionately on the head as they threw their arms around him.

Erik watched as if in a dream, his throat clogging up as he thought of his brother. He saw himself in Yao's shoes, being surrounded by adoring siblings, and he felt strangely happy. He watched, mesmerized, as Yao called his beautiful siblings down for dinner, and he noticed that the calm-eyed boy (Kiku?) had lingered behind.

"Kiku, is anything wrong, aru?" Yao said, looking up from Yong Soo and Mei, who were chattering happily to each other down the stairs.

"It's nothing, brother," Kiku replied, his face carefully balanced. "I was merely…thinking."

"Of course," said Yao brightly. "One must always exercise the mind, aru. Now hurry along downstairs for dinner."


The scene changed all of a sudden – so violently that Erik shuddered as he watched the earth browns of the room being morphed into brilliant gold. He looked around the room.

It was familiar, and yet he'd never been there before. He was sure of it.

"How could you!"

The scream jolted him out of his thoughts, and for a while he panicked – was he visible to them? And then he realized – he must still be within Yao's memories. He whirled around.

The children were older, now, with serious expressions on their faces. And one of them was missing.

"You let Kiku leave!" a female voice cried, and Erik recognized its owner as the ponytailed girl – Lien, was it? "And now look!"

Erik turned his gaze in the direction where the voice was directed at, to see Yao as the victim of the girl's screams. "My sister, Yao–"

No. Two of them. The boy with the calm eyes, and the girl with the flower in her hair –

"She was more my sister than she was yours!" Yao shot back, his face contorted in a mixture of anger and pain. "I cared for her as much as you did!"

Her brothers cowered. Lien no more than flinched and burst into tears. She shouted something he couldn't understand, and Yao shouted back, and suddenly there were people swarming around them and holding the two of them back -

Erik looked around. And he realized where he'd seen it before. He knew one of those people –


"I'm sorry, aru."

Erik blinked and wondered if the scene had changed again. He realized he was back in Yao's not-so-modest home, sipping tea. He blinked again, and realized that Yao was crying.


A/N: So. My Asian bias is showing. Very badly.

The whole shizzle with his siblings will be revealed in a bit, don't worry. And by a bit, I mean the next three/five/ten chapters.

And yes, I am a bitch. I publish this chapter then decide five minutes later to take it down. Sorry. :(

Next chapter will introduce, thankfully, only one new character. Mei is Taiwan, Xiang is Hong Kong, and Yong Soo is Korea.