DISCLAIMER: Fushigi Yuugi isn't mine. I'm only borrowing characters from it. I'm also borrowing the setting from the Forbidden City in China. THE RISING SUN, however, is a product of my imagination. Any potential similarities to characters, currently living or historical, are not intended.
RATING: PG-13
The Rising Sun ©Jez (l.t.s.) 2003.
SUMMARY: AU, romance/drama featuring characters borrowed from Fushigi Yuugi.
AUTHOR'S NOTES: This story is constantly under revision. Letters in bold italics are memories of the character.
CHARACTERS:
Yuk Ming Jade Dawn - Yuki Miaka
Kiu Ching Fung Immaculate Wind - Kishuku Sou / Tamahome
The Rising Sun
written by Jez (l.t.s.)
Chapter 1:
The Phoenix Princess
In the beginning...
Forbidden City, Beijing
Northern China
Outside the dawn was breaking, a canvas of peach and crimson unfurling across the lightening expanse of dwindling grey skies. The light western breeze brushed softly against the silken curtains of a red palanquin. The scent of perfumed blooms was faint to her senses but the dews from yester night remained sharp in the wind. She breathed it all in, tasting the change that told her she'd reached the city.
She sighed, the sound soft and wistful, blending in with the muted songs of chorusing birds from far away. Even now, the cacophony of vendors squabbling over market spaces, of wives arguing over their wares and of children already at play laughing freely in the streets reached her and the normality of the noise almost made her smile.
This was the time of day that she liked, the slow moments between the fading dark and the glimmering light, the point where she could see the hope of tomorrow's rising sun and yet still cling to the embrace of yesterday's past. It was the period where today had not fully began and decisions need not yet be made, where she could still let the memories wash over her. It was in these remaining shadows between dark and light that a dream persists. Relentless in its call.
Freedom.
A chord in her mind stirred, carrying a familiar voice.
Let us leave together. Come, Yuk Ming. Come with me...
I wish I could. But I am not free to do so.
She felt the sting of nails bite into her flesh and she looked down at her clenched fists. The image faded. She knew that freedom was an ideal created by dreamers seeking to elude reality. Just as she knew that soon the azure skies would collide with the scarlet sun and the brilliance of their powerful aura would be unmarred by streaking clouds. And when the shadows slip away, the dream will sink back to its daily slumber.
She sighed and waited for the inevitable.
Dawn. The breathtaking tableau that provides the perfect backdrop for the magnificent splendour already outlined in sunkissed gold in the distance before her.
The Imperial Palace...the destination she was headed for and the place she had always known as her home. She closed her eyes as the voice once again beckons softly to her.
Come with me, Yuk Ming.
I cannot leave. This is my land, my home.
Home. There was no sense of warmth and joy associated with it. Only sadness descended, a heavy weight in her chest mixed with the burden of wondering if... what if... she had followed the voice and left...
Not for the first time in her life, she wondered why she was different. Those people - the city vendors, the wives in the market, the playing children - they were all from a different world. Home was were they decide it to be. Free was how they will always be.
Their lives would never blend with hers.
Even now, the graceful steps of four liveried servants and four outriders guided her conveyance smoothly through its slow tranquil progress, past winding walkways towards her ultimate destination, the sprawling set of imposing gates and the rising buildings beyond that were the seat of power of the whole nation. Her world lay within those gates and soon, the minute glimpse of the city would fade. Like her dreams.
With the full outbreak of the dawn, they reached the Gate of Divine Might - the Northern rear entrance of the Forbidden City. From behind the sheer silken curtains gently fluttering in the breeze, she watched the soldiers standing guard at the gate, their faces cold and stern. In one flash of a second, one recalcitrant thought flickered through her mind, teasing her that perhaps these sentries would stop her progress... that they would detain her... or even bar her entry... somehow enabling her to cling to the liberating world outside these walls and delay the assembly of binding duties that came with daylight.
She shook her head, as if the physical gesture could clear her mind. And in the next second, the thought was banished and with it the foolish dream that finally went back to sleep. Outside, the guards had taken one look at the red palanquin and had bowed deeply. The dark blue uniform of her servants with its ornate gold plated buttons and blinding white shoes had proclaimed their Imperial Guard status and the sentries had instinctively showed their respect. Then, at the flash of a golden badge crested with the flying phoenix, they all sank to their knees.
"We respectfully greet her imperial highness, may she live for a thousand years."
The sentries spoke together, their voices melding in a soft humble chorus as they bowed to reverently allow her procession through.
Her servants resumed their fluid pace and the procession moved past the thick walls of the northern gate. As the heavy iron gates clattered to a close, the heaviness settled more firmly in her heart, momentarily making her gasp in a breath, a quick intake that betrayed the uneasiness that flooded her. A sense of entering a prison that she could not escape.
But you must escape, Yuk Ming. You are no longer safe here.
I cannot. I'm sorry.
She squeezed her eyes shut and concentrated on easing the tightness in her chest, counting till she regained as much normality as she could. But in that brief loss of control, his face started to take form in her mind. She saw his eyes, a beckoning warmth that held the light of the silvery moon over a midnight sea.
Please, Yuk Ming. Leave with me and I will protect you with all that I have. With all that I am.
It is my duty to stay.
She looked outside once again, with eyes so clouded that they saw none of the glorious passing scenery. Instead, in her mind, a lonely patch of road appeared, an established course stretching to the future in a heavily-carved path that she must follow and all the signs that she could see only spelled the words duty and responsibility.Two principles that dictated all her actions, even now.
Duty. This was always what her life was about. In the past. In the future. In this present time. Her presence here was a response to a royal summons. A command that cannot be disobeyed. A duty that cannot be shirked. She had been away for several long months. Her recent trip had taken her down to the Eastern Province of Chekiang where her stay had been unavoidably delayed. Upon her return to the capital, she had received an imperious order from the palace requiring her immediate presence at court. The formality of the letter had been cold but she had not been surprised. Duty called to her but it was such a sad whisper.
Can't you leave all of these behind? I want you to be safe, Yuk Ming. With me.
I cannot. I must go back.
His voice had been warm, questioning, his eyes beseeching. It had taken all her self control not to give in. The sting of nostalgic tears blurred her eyes. She blinked them away and looked outside. Two small birds, pale green, peppered with gold and blue, swept past, flying low and singing a lively tune, calling to her with their unabashed freedom. She sighed, the sound lost in the happiness of the birds' song. They circled her twice, chirping gaily as one chased while the other playfully fluttered its wings - the two engaging in a dance as old as time itself.
The dance of love.
She closed her burning gaze, fighting the grasp of regret and longing as the burgeoning feeling of desolation overwhelmed her being.
For the love of God, come with me. I love you, Yuk Ming.
You must go now. Goodbye.
A pang hit her as his face finally took full form before her. Blue black hair that glinted bright in the firelight, falling over his eyes, making her fingers itch to trace it away. Eyes sparkled like stars on a smoky sky lured her to lose herself into their endless depths. Sensual lips that held the familiar lazy smile gave warmth and invited all the softness in her to rise to the fore.
She blinked the wetness from her eyes. Outside, a servant flung out a hand dissuading the birds' joyous disturbance and they ceased their courtship at once. That had been the end. He had confessed his love and she had turned away. One lone tear escaped her eye as the birds flew into the nearby Imperial Gardens, taking her last dreams with them. Her hand reached up and brushed her moisture away.
A gentle breeze blew the curtain up revealing her face… and all of a sudden, she jerked up, a chill running down her spine as she sensed something out there in the silence of her surroundings… almost as if there were eyes staring at her face, intently, and devouringly… Raising the curtain, she rapidly scanned the rooftops of the various courts and palaces… but everything was still and silent as before… yet she knew deep within herself that something was out there.
Quite suddenly, she heard the hiss of an object flying through the air and no more than a second later, the palanquin that carried her tipped to one side.
Breathing hard, she knew what had caused the rough lurching of her chair. A pebble had been thrown, the hiss of the stone palpably audible to her trained ears. And a second later, one of her servants had faltered in his step as his knee gave way upon the impact of the pebble. Gripping the sides of the chair as it tipped uncertainly, she prepared herself for the attack. Yet she wondered who would try such a foolhardy act to disrupt the progress of such an ordinary unofficial parade and risk bringing forth the multitude of dangerous Imperial Guards ready to protect the palace at all costs. In fact, she doubted if anyone other than the emperor and his closest advisers knew of her arrival. So who indeed would care to interrupt her homecoming like this? It wasn't as if they knew the importance of her return for even she could not as yet ascertain that… Yet it seemed, she would receive a homecoming welcome after all - one that she did not desire in the least...
At last, the chair settled down on the ground and she stepped out of the sedan and her servants immediately sank down to their knees.
"Your Highness, we humbly beg your pardon. Please punish us for failing to perform our duty properly", they chorused humbly, not daring to look up.
She stayed silent for a moment, shaking out her sleeves and arranging her robes around her as she strained her ears and other senses - trying to locate the figure who had interrupted the progress of her royal homecoming. Then she looked at her servants and their worried mien tugged at her heart. It hadn't been their fault at all.
"You are pardoned. All rise."
Even as she spoke and saw her servants rise, their heads still bowed respectfully, she suddenly felt the whisper of a breeze against her cheeks and she realized the hidden figure's rapid approach heralding an attack on her person. She looked up in time to see a whirling mass of silken black sheets descending upon her like raven claws. She reached out and instantly, two long thin flexible swords appeared in her hands, descending from her sleeves. As she swept her arms up and twirled both swords around in the familiar dance of the defensive arts she practised. In no time, she had ripped through the ebony sheets, creating a snowfall of little strips of black silk.
Then suddenly, masculine laughter reached her, warm and achingly familiar. Her heart skipped a beat.
It can't be...
She looked up to see a figure clad in a robe of midnight blue and red sash, lounging on a palace rooftop, blue-black hair flowing behind him like dark wings of an apocalyptic god. In that instant, emotions smouldering inside her charged relentlessly foreward.
Ching Fung…
She traced his features with her eyes, drinking in the handsome symmetry that marked every plane of his face. Her fingers ached to touch the tender curve of his lips that even now were stretching temptingly into that incredible heart-stopping smile. Those lips that had been firm and warm against her cheek, against her skin... Heat suffused her cheeks.
Beside her a servant coughed softly. She turned towards the sound. A eunuch stood before her, bowing low.
"Your Highness, pray forgive me for speaking in this forward manner... but may I be so bold as to say that His Majesty, the Emperor, may he live ten thousand years, patiently awaits at the Palace of Celestial Purity."
Torn, she stood there gazing back at the servant who waited with his eyes trained deferentially on the ground. If she flew up towards the roof, she will gaze her fill of him up close and lose herself once again in the depths of tempting turbulent pools.
The last time she had seen him, she had turned and walked away, leaving him standing there, his heart in his eyes. She had given him all that she could have. At that moment, she wondered if she should have let him know...
I love you too, Kiu Ching Fung... If you only knew...
She turned back to the waiting servant. He remained waiting respectfully. Regardless of her qualms, she could not turn back now. It was time for her to face the consequences of her actions.
"Very well."
The curtains of the palanquin was lifted and she stepped forward. A strong gust of wind swept by, raking up a minute storm of dust that settled as suddenly as it came. She shivered despite the warmth of the morning sun.
She cast one last look at the roof, hoping to catch a last glimpse of him but he was gone. Her surroundings had become as deathly silent as before and all around her not one single piece of shredded raven silk could be seen.
oOo
CAST:
Yuki Miaka as Yuk Ming Jade Dawn, the Phoenix Princess
Kishuku Sou / Tamahome as Kiu Ching Fung Immaculate Wind
oOo
A/N: Thank you for reading.