EDIT: To remove Diva's name, as commedia suggested, it's inconstant with canon. Also, is anybody else unhappy about my replies to reviewers and my comments being added to my stories?

Thanks to all those people who reviewed!!! I hope you enjoy this chapter!!!


commedia: Yeah. I want Haji to shine! But I also want him to angst!!! lol.

gyuunmaesan: Haji I think is very much a robot. (in the sense that if he had a remote control device - it would be in Saya's hands... tee hee hee...) But that is part of the sadness of the show, I think. If we want to read deeper into the story, Haji is a victim as much as Lulu is. But what we see is always from Saya's perspective - we never get to see how HE felt about things. And to be honest, he can't really say, because I think alot of his humanity was lost, one way or another... Hope this chappie helps with that a little! Also, I'm afraid the link disappeared on the review. You might have to PM me with the link (but remember to put appropriate SPACING in the link itself...)

riha: thank you! I hope you enjoy!

een nihc: Thanks again! I'm glad you're enjoying the Haji-ness of this story! And I'm glad that my OOCs aren't annoying! I'm depending on you to smack me anytime Angela gets more ideas than she should... ;p

kristin: I really appreciate your input! I love hearing from new people! And thanks for reminding me about Haji's dialogue with Lulu. I went back and rewatched that arc again... and you were right! Somewhere along the way I had forgotten that dialogue, but had remembered the gist. :) You don't know how much I appreciate the reminder!!!

sexyinumama: Hahahaha!!! Yes! That would be a really funny scenario... (Imagines them upside down in a ditch). LOL!!! I think Haji has to have some failings... lol. However... the golf cart will be coming in the future... right now... pull out the hankies!!!

EvilS: Thanks for favoriting the story AND for reviewing! I'm glad to see that others want to know what Haji is thinking. :P I think that this time for him alone should be fruitful. lol... I'm glad you want to continue to review!!!

TangooFDoom: LOL. Yes. I know. What misinterpretations Haji must get! More to come!

TextWolf: No. It's okay. Really. I feel honored that you find me and my rather wacked out writing style good. Sometimes reading other people's stuff I wonder how it is possible that people still want to read my stuff. :P I'm not sure that I can see Haji driving either. But one thing I'm certain is that if he DOES drive - it will be understated and competent... somehow... After a lot of practice!!!

Raven the Dark Angel: Thanks for the heads up. As I told kristin (above), I knew that he was gypsy, but I forgot the basis for my theory. lol. And of course Wikipedia is really behind re the Blood+ fandom. Ah well. So I went and rewatched the middle of the show and got back on track. lol. such is the fanficcer's life. :P However, after research, I decided that his gypsy group was no doubt sold as a whole batch. The atrocities towards gypsies historically is as bad (if not worse) than the treatment of the Canadian native. :( The idea of Haji being sold by his parents seems really really angsty... but I decided for a less angsty idea... just because deeper angst, h/c, amshel/Haji stuff should be written seperately. Haji is socially challenged - and he needs to gain independence. your reading of Haji coincides with mine which is soooo nice:) There's nothing worse than a socially competent Haji in fanfiction. :( :( As for plot. Yeah. Nothing is coming to mind - but I think that fits this fic just fine. Thanks for your ideas. I hope this chapter will leave you excited! (wink wink, nudge nudge)

simmie: Thanks for your description of the "White Horse" area. I'm saving it for later (and will give proper credit as is due:p) I am indeed familiar with the "mother goose" rhyme - and the little song that you can sing with it... I'm wondering how I can tie the historical significance of that rhyme to Haji... we will see what happens. :) How long have I been interested in England? Since I started to read Arthur Ransome's "Swallows and Amazons". I loved that series - and I progressed onward through Enid Blyton, Francis Hodgson Burnett, C.S. Lewis, J.R.R.Tolkien, Edward Lear, Dick Francis, Dorothy Dunnett, Ellis Peters, Shakespeare, Charles Dickens... G.K. Chesterton... and many many others. I guess I love history - and although I am aware that every place on this planet HAS a history - natives and french people never excite me the way Blood Mary does. :) I'm just weird that way. Right now, I'm studying Old English (which is older than Middle English, which is found in the Canterbury Tales). I love Chaucer and Donne... and all those old writers - but there's something about Old English that is so beautiful. Hearing Beowulf and Caedmon's Hymn in that language... sends shivers up and down my spine. :) :) One day I hope to visit England and walk on the same ground my heroic authors walked. As for Niagara Falls. It's beautiful and powerful to look at. It makes you think in a different way. While England makes you think of the culture of man and the birthplace of thought, looking at Canadian scenery makes you feel small. Everything about Canada is big - I hope you do come over. I think it's a great place to be (if not, visit, at least)! WW1 and WW2 is exciting. I like Jeeves and Wooster (1920s) and stuff like that... like Dorothy Sayers novels which were set between the two wars. About the "prize" - you are welcome!

kagome: thank you sooo much for the praise! (bows) Sometimes I wonder if I'm waaayyy off base - but it seems that alot of people are enjoying it... so.. yeah... :) I'm not sure if this story will stay funny (or just get more angsty) - but hopefully you'll enjoy the continual delving and exploring of haji's personality!

Flames Chaos and Wolf: Gypsy. Hm. Yes. He tells Lulu in one of the middle episodes that "I am of travelling folk". So... yeah... (see my explanation after the story).

Arthen: Hahahaha! Thanks! Kakashidiot, Haji's Official Biographer!!! Haji: (gives a small cough) I'm in your hands... Kakashidiot: (rubs hands evilly) My chance at making him the most angsty chara in history. Haji: (sweatdrops) Errr... Hahahahahaha. At any rate, I hope you enjoy the upcoming peep into his past! Tell me if you think it's off or spot on!!! I appreciate your crit and your encouragement!!!!

9081: You know what? That's just fine! Telling me it's great just makes me happy to know I'm on the right path and people are enjoying my work! I hope you enjoy this chappie!

Vampyro: Hahaha... Yeah. Not this chappie tho. He was to get through France first... . ;;; lol. I'm sure that he'll enjoy himself though when he tries out new things. He'd better... . :;; Hope you enjoy this angsty installment!


I do not own Blood+. It belongs to another lucky person... sigh I wish I could own Haji tho...

Warning: ANGST! CHILD ABUSE, SLAVERY! Saya/Haji, mild Amshel/Haji.

YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!!! This author does not justify the actions of individuals against the gypsy race, nor does she sanction such racist attitudes towards different racial groups. This author is merely attempting some form of historical correctness.

I also apologize to people who live in Calais...

Also, if you read the WHOLE THING... there is discussion about another "prize"...

Read below the story for more details!

READ AND REVIEW! Cheap payment for free entertainment!!!


When Saya Sleeps

Chapter 7

He Deals With The Past: Part 1

Calais. A city of history. History - so long ago, this bustling city had been birthed - long before even his time. Underneath his feet, as in Paris, Haji could feel the ancient past looming. But where he had found comfort in the cobblestones of France's capital, in Calais, he could only see the marketplace. A time of darkness. The low flat green hills surrounding the area, the majestic iron and stone statues of soldiers and dignitaries long gone, the crumbling ruins of once warmly occupied castles brought no comfort to the celloist.

He could only see the marketplace.
He could only remember Amshel.

I met you and the past came back to life in my dead heart.

Amshel, flicking the horse crop, felt cheerful. It had been quite awhile since he had left Joel's estate. The feel of the horses along the reins, the cheery buzz of cicadas and the comforting rattle of the phaeton relaxed the scientist a little, as he made his way past the large wrought iron gates and out onto the dusty main road.


"We'll need a specimen for breeding," Joel had said delicately a month before. "I know there is to be a good sale up north in Calais. Ships from around the world will be there, Amshel. You should go. It would be good for you to get out."
"A week..."
"Well... perhaps a bit longer. It will take you a little while to get there, wouldn't it? And I want you to take your time. We want a hardy boy, with some spirit. But nothing too common, no? It is so hard to get these things right... we need something perfect. For Saya... and for the other..." Joel rose and walked to the window, smiling down at the young girl waving an epee at her instructor rather wildly. "Saya needs somebody with accomplishment... but for her sister..."
"I see..."
"I'm sure that you will pick someone suitable, Amshel... and ensure he knows his place by the time he arrives here, of course."
"It will be done," Amshel smiled. "He will be trained by the time he passes through those gates, mark my words. How old should he be?"
"Around ten, perhaps? We don't want something too old... nor too young... something in between... something small, something... malleable."
"Very well."
"What do you think... after the first phase of the current experiment?"
"If our experiment holds, then I can go at the end of the month."
"Good. Just what I want for her..." Joel turned back to look at his OTHER young "experiment", now viciously attack the legs of her instructor. "It will all work out. We just need to pick the right one..."
Something suitable, eh, Joel. Something accomplished, yet, malleable. Not too young, not too old. Something for my beautiful specimen... and for Saya. You can never ask too much, eh, old man...

Calais was busy when Amshel arrived... and finding room at a tavern was rather difficult. The scientist was not the only person there for the large slave sales held there. It wasn't hard to follow the crowd out to the sales grounds - and there he was met with a sight of unwashed, disgruntled, pathetic and scared flocks of people being overlooked by beefy guards and contemptuous would-be owners.

The lowest of the low, eh, Amshel mused to himself. If there was an evolutionary scale - where would these ones fit?

He wrinkled his nose at a particularly exotic batch of Far East children and some Timbuctoo savages. Unwashed... rather starved and scraggly, they did not look like fit specimens for Saya OR her sister. No. Joel would be expecting something of higher caliber.

Still... dirt comes off, and manners can be beaten into the body at worst... and they come cheapily...

During the next two days, he flipped through greyish paper "catalogues" and assessed the bones and teeth of the unwashed masses before him. When evening drew to a close, Amshel made his way back to the tavern, still dissatisfied. He had heard a rumor about a new batch of slaves coming in the next day. There was time enough to consider new offers. He would take his time.

This boy has to be... perfect...

The next morning, after his breakfast, Amshel once again made his way to the marketplace. Instead of the cheery sunlight filtering through clouds, the sky was overcast and gloomy giving everything an extra amount of grubbiness and greyness. However, the possibility of rain didn't stop Amshel from running his careful eye over the newest crowds just come in overnight.

Most of the slaves looked dead on their feet. Just recently forced from cramped quarters on a creaky ship, still sea-sick and wobbly from the long journey around the Spanish main, the gypsies, heathens and arab girls didn't look their freshest...

Amshel could only shake his head.

I want fire... Joel needs something... special..

"What's gonna happen to the women?" Amshel drawled, eyeing a particularly curvaceous young girl. The foreman winked at the sight of the scientist's smirk.

"Hm... well... most of the young girls will be taken in by Europe's brothels. The women... there are those who need aid in the gardens, the fields... even laundry rooms... dye works..."

Amshel's critical eye wandered over the group of women. Not that Joel NEEDED a woman, but the sight of long hair, cherry cheeks and generous bosoms was enough to make the more or less celibate man excited. A young boy was clinging desperately through the rough wooden fence to the hand of what looked like his mother. Their dark hair was very much alike - but it was perhaps the bright green eyes which drew his gaze to them.

She was trembling, and the young child seemed to be trying to soothe her. But behind his quiet green eyes, Amshel was sure he saw fear...

"Somethin' came through, mon ami," a short blonde man jogged up. "Pick twenty of them. Healthy ones for the Monseigneur..."

"Very well," sighed the foreman, waving a hand lazily.

Amshel stood back to watch. The daughters crying and yelling in various tongues as they were seperated from their mothers, grandmothers, aunts...

Like the bears in the mountains, he thought, enraged at seperation from their family...

The boy's mother was dragged away, their hands able to cling only for the moment. She was crying his name over and over. Amshel watched with interest as small fists clenched. In a flash, the gypsy slave was straddling the fence and running -

The guards picked him up and tossed him back easily, like a feather, onto the ground.

"Momma! Momma! Moooommmaaa!!!!"

There was rage and despair.

"A mea bebe! Haji! Ha -"

"Mooommaaa!!!"

Two burly arms lifted the wildly kicking child off the ground, slinging him roughly back over the fence - into the waiting arms of two very cross guards. Amshel glimpsed enraged green eyes looking up from the mud of the pen, before a rough boot mashed the young boy's face into the grime. After several minutes of kicking the young gypsy around, the slavers left yelling not-so-idle threats.

There was no response on the boy's side. But Amshel waited. Waited for the tell-tale tightening of the fingers as the boy's fingers twitched and tightened with returning consciousness - as he propped himself up on his elbows, glaring at the sympathetic eyes of others around him. Long chestnut hair fell in muddy clumps from his no longer neat pony tail... No doubt he stunk high as heaven... they all did...

Amshel's lip curled as he watched the boy wobble slightly on his feet, wiping blood away from his face and nose.

Joel... I think I found him.

... there are days, the transient hour ...

Haji closed his eyes to the monument Angie had dragged him out to see. The museums, the architecture, the green trees and the grey sky. It was too much like those hellish days so long ago.

It's almost as if it were yesterday...

Almost as if it was yesterday when he took me out of that pen - his broad hand on my neck. Promising me something - something perhaps I didn't want. And his eyes...


"What are you thinking?" the cool amused voice asked, making the young child shiver.

"Nothing..." The boy swallowed. "Sir." His thin arms wrapped around his equally skinny legs, still bare underneath the shabby tunic and torn short pants.

To Amshel's critical eye, he seemed delicate. He would never have guessed the boy held a strong fire inside him - but he knew that the loyalty would come in handy. If Saya bent him to her will, he would be hers forever.

I am sure... Boy, Amshel smirked. Saya... and even her sister... will make you forget that mother of yours... hmmm?

"You are ignorant. You must learn this. You are nothing. You must also learn this." Amshel paused, watching the fine thin fingers of the boy drift down the red weals on his shins to wrap around the hobble trapping his ankles. "Do you understand?"

Wind rattling at the creaky shutters broke the silence. Then:

"Yes... sir..." The young boy muttered from behind his bony knees.

"Hm. Good. Things could be worse. I want you to think on that tonight."

Amshel left the room, the child chained to the bed post. A necessary precaution. The young gypsy might LOOK as though the wind would blow him away, but Amshel knew that he very well might be capable of escaping again that day. After a fine dinner (even more satisfying since his task had been completed in record time), Amshel found some entertainment next door and stumbled into the room very late that evening and rolled onto the bed.

The boy was satisfyingly silent.

It's really been too good of a day, thought Amshel before darkness claimed him.

The next morning, Amshel woke to a blinding headache and a bad temper. He glared at the sullen boy. The young gypsy in question was tired, depressed, filthy and hungry - his bright green eyes now darkened to a dull pine color. Sighing, the scientist dragged himself out. When he reappeared, he was in another suit, feeling more refreshed after a handy remedy he had packed with him - and a small breakfast which he knew would calm his stomach.

He set his leftovers on the table in an elaborately obvious and tantalizing manner, watching the boy's wolvish eyes rest on the thick slice of buttered bread and eggs.

"It is time for me to impress upon you your future role," the scientist said coolly, catching the gypsy's eye.

"I'm to be your servant?" the boy bit out.

"Hm. No. You are to be the servant of a girl."

Haji stared at the scuffed clogs on his feet.

"A GIRL?" he asked, his young voice squeaking in dismay and mild panic.

"Yes. You are the property of a very important man. You will call him Mister Goldschmidt. And the young lady you are to be companion to is called Saya. When you arrive at the mansion, I want you on your best behavior. No running away. No disrespectfulness, inattentiveness... Otherwise, I can just sell you back to the nearest ship passing by Marseilles. You understand?"

"Yes..."

"Yes SIR!" Amshel repeated severely, a large hand following hard on his correction.

Fingering his reddened, stinging cheek, the boy shrank back. "Yes, sir."

"Now... I want to know about you. Everything. I talked to the foreman of the group. Seems like you and your family were important in this roving band of savages..."

"We aren't savages..."

The boy's eyes watered at the sting of Amshel's palm across his other cheek.

"NO Interruptions!"

"Yes, sir," came the soft, quick reply.

"What's your name? If it isn't suitable, Mister Joel and I are going to change it... but we might as well hear it..."

"Haji -"

"Haji... Hn..." The dark eyebrows of the scientist drew together in thought. "Haji... It's not so bad. I think Mister Joel will be pleased... but... still..."

He leaned forward, Haji stiffened.

"What else can you tell me, boy?" Calculating eyes seemed to strip him bare.


To this day, Haji knew he would always hate the feeling. Even now in Calais, long after the turmoil...

The feelings of those eyes. Haji felt them not only in Amshel's eyes - but in the clever eyes of Isaac. His keepers had always seemed to look at him in the same way Amshel would look at a butterfly collection...

What am I to you? He always asked that, fearing the answer.

You are Saya's Chevalier, they answered. The only one. The special one...


You are the BRIDEGROOM
, Amshel had confided in the young gypsy one night on the way back to the mansion. In the older man's eyes there was the fervour of anticipation - and jealousy. Haji had been frightened since the severe interrogation he had received under Amshel...

But now it would get better, surely? All he had to do was listen to a girl and do as she said... and one day...

It seemed vague to him. He remembered his mother telling him that he would find a pretty girl and dance with her on their wedding day.

And now here he was - being carried away - bought like a horse or cow for a girl. Would he have to dance with her?

He huddled in the back of the phaeton, feeling more trapped than ever. The shackles didn't seem so heavy the day before... but now...

Maybe it was the overload of information now on his shoulders. The fear of the Mansion and The Girl. Or perhaps, it was the hard look in Amshel's eyes, promising punishment. Or the Jealousy deep down. Would Joel be like the scientist? Taunting, clever and cold?

Haji shivered, remembering the burning feeling of humiliation as he begged the man for a piece of bread. His father would disown him if he knew how spineless his boy had become. Other things had hurt too - but those -

Haji clenched his eyes shut.

Let me forget...


Why do I have to remember?

Haji left the gardens in silence. Nothing that Angela said could bestir him out of his memories. Bitter, bitter thoughts that threatened to overwhelm the lonely Chevalier. The platitudes of a young girl, who's main worry in life was if his mascara didn't clump, couldn't possibly understand.

"Haji seems... quieter..." An oboeist noted at lunch, cocking an eye over to the celloist's small, silent trailer. "I didn't think it was possible until today..."

"Maybe he's sick..." suggested a chorus girl.

"Or on the run from some debtors," chuckled one of the devilish buisnessmen. "I know that feeling..."

Everybody tried to imagine Haji running from debtors.

"But he's already poor," Angela argued. "He's not driven a CAR yet... so he can't be in debt like that. Maybe... it's the town. He was fine before we came here..."

The Devilish Buisnessman shrugged.

"People have histories, Angela. When they come to this company, it's not like they are newborn babies. No matter how cute and innocent they may seem..." The older man sighed. "We come to this company out of desperation or desire - some to get money, some to forget things, some to leave a darker home and past... There are as many reasons as there are people, I think. Let it alone, Angela. Somethings aren't meant to be discovered. Some things are better forgotten."

"Well... I just hope he's fine for the performance tonight..." Anton said from behind a sandwich as he sat down at the rickety table. "I guess this is the day we're going to see if he's a pro or not tonight."

... when suddenly spring wafts again - and something stirs in us...

In the dark silence of Nature's Muse scene, he drew the bow back in a long quavering sigh and then downward as the higher notes lilted down in a bass waterfall... A waterfall over the ears of the audience. Ecstatic silence fell as an unspoken story unfolded...


Joel talking over his head, backlit ominously by bright lights coming from what looked like a castle to Haji's wide eyes.

"So this was your choice, eh, Amshel?"

"Yes, he... has more to him than he looks. He'll last. I'll make sure he lasts..." The deep voice rumbled in dark laughter above him, the large hands tightening painfully around Haji's bony shoulders.

"But he looks -"

"Nothing that a bath and a tailor won't fix. I suggest he meets Saya tomorrow - when he's looking more civilized."

"Good plan, Amshel. Good plan. Well... let's get him inside, now, shall we? Get a better look at him..." A more aristocratic hand, gentler and lighter steered the boy away from the scientist and up the stairs to the large mansion. "Don't worry... what was your name again?"

"Haji, sir," gulped the young gypsy.

"Haji, hm?" Joel turned to look down at the long, matted chestnut hair, the thin face, wide green eyes and clenched fists. "Now that's a nice name. Amshel call you that?"

"It's my OWN," emphasized the boy, holding back tears in the face of kindness. He would not dishonor his family any further - he would not cry. He would not remember those now left far behind.

Father, somewhere on Sicily. Mother... somewhere in France... his sisters and brothers... dispersed no doubt by now over the continent...

"I see... 'Haji'..."

There was a silence.

"'Pilgrim' in some languages... One who wanders... One who goes on a long journey... From the word 'hadj' - a long trip all followers of Mohammed must take. To the great Mecca..."

Haji frowned.

Mecca? Pilgrim? What was the old codger blathering on about?

"In some languages it is the root for 'beginning'... 'Haji'... what a great name. It shows alot of promise. A good start for this life. Here is where you will learn what you could not before - food and clothes and a roof over your head. As a gypsy savage, I'm sure you understand what that means -"

Haji bit back a retort.

I was happy before. Yes, we didn't live in castles or have big estates to rule over. But we were happy. Happy to have a small troupe - to travel every year - to perform. To dance - to scrounge - to beg - to steal - to play and sing... But we were happy... because we were together...

Joel was gestulating a hand out toward the large estate, talking excitedly about a girl named Saya and the opportunities Haji would have.

Haji could see nothing.

Only the dark.

Tears rolled down his cheeks.


The cello moaned as if in pain, as the bandaged hand played out the memories of the past. Pouring them out through invisible sounds and notes... Incomprehensible... What was it?

You could not understand.

You could only feel.

You could feel -


The suprise of Saya's embrace as he sobbed his heart out onto her lace and satin dress. She smelled of flowers, grass and sunlight - it reminded him of his mother -

His -

He didn't want to remember.


You could feel -
The mystery of Amshel's insinuations and his dark smile, following the young boy as the days turned into weeks, months and years. Looking out from the dark shadows, Amshel seemed to represent some sort of nightmare just lurking on the edge of Haji's vision.

A nightmare...


You could feel -
The simple kiss they shared under the lacy canopy of her large bed. The pink and white ruffles telling of innocence and purity - fresh as the flowers outside the window. Fresh as the green grass and blue sky... And the gentle, awkward, tentative brushing of their lips together - as he tried to find his way around her -

As he tried to understand her -

As her hand gripped his arm, her lips responding to his pressure -

As she drew him closer, demandingly - and he took her lead -

The simplicity of such a gift -

The kiss and the hair comb he had took so long to whittle and carve for her. Delicate, beautiful and -


You could feel -
The betrayal of Vietnam. He had tried his best to hold her back. Attempted to protect her despite her crazed nature. Karl was no match for her. And Haji, who could never hurt the girl who smiled, the girl who had embraced him as his mother, the girl who kissed him on her bed in thanks for a comb...

Swinging down, the sword cut through flesh and bone -

He called her name - and as the troops opened fire on her and the Chiropterans - she did not answer.

Looking down at his arm, he knew it would be fixed easily enough. When Saya collapsed, Haji tried to find her, his arm still numb, still trying to heal -

His mind tumbling over and over in shock. It wasn't so much the pain of sword cut, rather, the betrayal, the hate in her eyes...

Yet, here he was, looking for her, frantically.

"Saya!"

In fear. Did she hate him? For betraying her? For not being there beside her as he promised?

"Saya!"

Would she welcome him back? He who feared her - and feared his inability to please her - to aid her?

"SAAAYYYYAAA!!!!"

Was he even worthy to find her and hold her close?

What am I to you, now, Saya?

I have forgotten so much for you... You are all I have...

"Saya..."

He stood there, ankle deep in carnage and blood. Aching for her familiar touch to his mind, aching for the taste of violence at his feet... It was heady. Never had he felt so panicked and wretched.

"Saya..." He whispered.

She did not answer.


You could feel nothing but the pain of memory. Calais was brought to tears.
At the post-performance party, Haji managed to sneak away into the gardens. His thoughts were still in turmoil about the performance and what he had recalled. For a life of eternity with Saya, he guessed he was bound to be cursed by something.

The dark memories will always be there, hiding, like Amshel, on the edge of my dreams. Except I don't dream... I can't even sleep to forget...

"Wonderful. Just wonderful," a pair of arms crept around Haji's waist. "The Muse of Nature musing among Nature. But I sense a touch of angst, no?"

A pair of warm lips nibbled on a piece of pale, exposed neck.

Haji's automatic response would have crushed the man - but no one stood behind him. He turned around to find himself face to face with blonde hair and blue eyes. Startled, he stepped back, only to be pulled into a close embrace. The smile was warm, the eyes were cool... They drew closer...

I stare at you and think I'm dreaming,


TO BE CONTINUED...

Next up: Haji Reflects Further on the Past. Will he learn to let go? Will he conquer the hardest demon a man can face? Unexpected help from an unexpected place!


MY THOUGHTS:

Gypsy. Haji tells Lulu, "I come from travelling folk". He states this after she says he was "born in a castle". So, we know he's of "travelling folk". Now. He was picked up in the vicinity of France... which means... most likely... GYPSY. So, I went online and researched the gypsy race. Apparently, there are various types of gypsy, more or less seperated into region. More than likely, Haji's family was South-Eastern-European gypsies. From like, Romania or the Bosnian-Herco-whatchamacallit-region...

My reasoning for this is his name. "Haji" is an African name, with Arab origins. Swahili, according to one baby name site. "Haji" derives from the Arab word "hadj" which, if you are informed about Islam, is the pilgrimage one takes to Mecca. Therefore, Haji MAY have come from a more Muslim-influenced gypsy group. There are "white"(r) people groups in Eastern European who have come into close contact with Arab traditions etc., so Haji's family could have come from there. Secondly, if you are aware of Byzantine culture, the "Hagia Sophia" means "Holy Wisdom", so Haji's family could have come from around the 'stan' countries which once upon a time was occupied by the Byzantine empire (or influence).

In my story, he was shipped with his family group around the Spanish main (the penninsula) to Calais... but easily, I could have had him walk all the way to Calais... But shipping was a popular transportation for slavers... (shrugs) Whatever...

Amshel. I hate him. Always did. So, yes, I did demonize him here. I think, in my dark-yaoi fangurl mind, that he was really harsh toward Haji. At the end of the show, in his battle with Haji, he taunts Saya's Chevalier saying, "I enjoyed you when you begged me for bread", or something to that effect. I could totally see some form of child molestation going on there. :( Be that as it may, I know that hard-core, non-con, h/c, shouta-con is really touchy for people, so I'm not going to explore that deeply in this fic. (everyone breaths a sigh of relief). But yes, I do portray him as being creepy and sadistic.

Prize. I found online something called "Haji's Collection". It's the sequel (or rather, companion piece) to Haji's prequel "City of the NightWalkers". If you want to have the link posted in my next chapter, please tell me. I'd prefer to have at least 10 people tell me they'd like it... just because I want to know if it's worth uploading again:)

Joel. I think Joel was cruel in a different way. Cruel in that he really did start the experiments - and he did love Saya, but there is still this detachment from reality and I don't think he ever saw Saya as fully human, and Haji was merely a tool. Joel the elder seems like one of those cuddly scientist who actually think they are justified for playing with people's lives. Haji after all was BOUGHT - and in the manga, people were killed and dripped dry of their blood for Saya... so that means that Joel and Amshel were no doubt ruthless in the pursuit of truth. Nothing is black and white. I have a feeling Haji had a foretaste of BOTH sides. Which means that his reply to Amshel at the end of the show has alot more meaning to it then meets the eye. He KNOWS hie was mistreated, but he holds no grievances because Saya was the end result, and that is good enough for him. Which once again shows how important Saya is to Haji. Without Saya, the pain and mistreatment are just not worth it.

Without Saya, I think that life loses alot of point for Haji, because only for her did he plough on. So that makes her sleep (as well as the Vietnam betrayal) twice as hard for him. Without her, the memories and the realization of his isolation has more negative impact...


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