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Twisted Sakura Blossoms

Chapter Three: Only Magic By Emerald-eyes

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When Sakura woke that morning, a large pair of brown eyes seemed to be staring into her own bleary green ones.

Sakura gasped and pulled the covers over her head, almost fainting with fright. A happy sounding voice, filled with laughter yelled into her ear, "Get up Sakura!"

Sakura remembered suddenly where she was and looked out from her covers, swearing under her breath. She rolled over and called out, "It's to early Wu Chun!"

Wu Chun smiled tore the blankets off Sakura, "No its not, you lazy thing! We have an hour to get ready for the day, and you have training. We also need to neaten up the room, surprise checks happen all the time."

Sakura grumbled as she tiredly stretched. She lazily put one foot out of the bed, then her other, feeling a pain shooting up her ankle. She stood up and picked up the blanket, then threw it over the bed. She picked up her qiapo and underwear and placed them on the bed. Wu Chun passed her a towel as the two walked out the room.

They descended into the madness of all the girls walking towards the three bathrooms. They found the one that Sakura had used last night. The water was boiled and several other girls were in the communal bath. No one seemed embarrassed of the nudity that was so obviously on display. Wu Chun began undressing as Sakura closed the door. They both stepped into the bath and after a few minutes, the other girls looked at Sakura curiously. One piped up, breaking the uncomfortable silence, "Are you Sakura?"

Sakura was busy undoing her hair as she nodded. The girl smiled curiously, "They say you're Japanese? Is it true?"

Sakura allowed her honey blonde hair to fall loose as she leaned her head against the side, the other girl's attention riveted to her, "Yes, it's true. I am Japanese."

The other girl curiously wondered aloud, "Why do you have such good Chinese?"

It was no problem to Sakura, having learnt it from a Chinese traveller coming through her village when she was a little girl, "Someone taught me, a long time ago."

The girls all sat in silence as a girl reached out and took a lock of Sakura's long hair into her hand and with a jealousy filled voice she said, "You are lucky to have such beautiful and different hair. Now the men will look at you."

Sakura allowed the girl to play with her hair. It was true that her hair was also unusual in this place. It was honey blonde in a sea of dark browns and blacks. She choose not to focus on the comment about the men all looking at her and relaxed in the bath for a few minutes longer.

A bell sounded from outside a few minutes later and the other girls lazily got up, grabbing their towels from the pile heaped in the corner. Sakura felt confused, was the bell some sort of signal? She reached out and grabbed a girl's shoulder and asked with alarm in her voice, "What's going on?"

She wrenched her shoulder from Sakura's grasp and gave her a dirty look, "I would appreciate it if you didn't grab me so hard."

She began talking like she was talking to someone slow and stupid, "The bell sounds when it's time to get out of the bath. Silly girl. We don't sit here for hours soaking away. Now get, I have to boil the water and Im already late."

Sakura pulled back, and looked away, a blush staining her cheeks. She stood up and grabbed her towel, hurriedly walking away, confused by the girl's sudden icy personality.

Sakura then found Wu-Chun in the crowd. She attracted a few strange looks but thought nothing of them. They walked up the staircases and came to their room. Sakura went straight for her emerald green qiapo and underwear. She pulled on the underwear and then on came qiapo. She did up the buttons, feeling like she was now practically an expert. She turned to Wu Chun and asked "Am I ready?"

Wu Chun, who had been ready for the last five minutes, laughed; "Now comes your hair and make-up, I can do them for you. We'll make a bun in your hair and put these in."

She pointed towards a pair of dark green chopsticks on the dresser top. They were wooden, with little lighter green cherry blossoms winding round on them, beautifully done. She sat Sakura down on a chair and began doing her hair. She placed the chopsticks in, one across each other. Then she commanded Sakura to close her eyes as on came her foundation, then some blusher. Some lipstick was added and Wu Chun muttered, "It's a shame to put make-up on you."

Sakura looked into the mirror and smiled, you couldn't tell she was wearing any make-up, apart from the glossiness and different colour of her lips and the slight redness of her cheeks. She had never worn any make-up and it felt thick upon her cheeks and the lipstick felt strange on her lips. Wu Chun began expertly doing her own hair and did her own make-up, leaving Sakura to gape in the mirror.

They arrived at the bar where Sakura had been in the other night; Sheng-Xin was there, talking with Yen Jing, wearing a slightly more respectable qiapo now. Her hair was a deep black and her eyes were alive and bright. She was signalling a lot with her hands and talking earnestly. The qiapo was tighter then Sakura's own, clinging obscenely to Sheng-Xin's hips. Wu Chun poked Sakura's side and Sakura looked at her. Wu Chun pointed her head in the direction of Sheng-Xin "Why were you staring at Sheng-Xin?"

Sakura felt this was the time to ask, "Why is Sheng-Xin's dress tighter then ours? And the dress she was wearing last night...gosh, it was very daring. "

Wu Chun snorted, "First off, it's a qiapo, not a dress. And Sheng-Xin's the front girl. She's the prettiest one out of all of us, she's a flirt and most importantly she doesn't blush or lose face in front of men."

Sakura nodded as Yen Jing tapped her glass, already seated at the make- shift table, "Please sit girls."

All the twenty others sat at the table which was actually four tables pushed together. The tables were a dark wood. Sakura looked around; the walls had a wooden strip, just below the beautiful green material that lined the walls. There were framed, painting of beautiful girls all down the stairway. The room had a small area where alcohol was kept in a bucket filled with ice, which a girl was tending to right now. She finished and came to the table and pulled up a chair and sat down.

Sakura looked around; each of the other girl's attention was riveted to Yen- Jing. Yen-Jing tapped her glass once again, even though it was silent, "Good morning girls." she said in a quiet, controlled voice. She was looking at each of them, like they were precious treasures. The girls all echoed with sweet voices, "Good morning Yen-Jing."

She smiled and began with the daily notices, "First off, there is a new girl in our midst. Sakura, won't you stand please?"

Sakura stood and blushed a little at all of the eyes focused on her. Yen- Jing continued, "Please be kind and courteous to Sakura, help her when she makes a mistake as she doesn't quite know the ropes yet." She motioned at Sakura again, "Sakura dear; please sit. Also, we must congratulate Chen-Lei for braving, despite social ranks, to court Xiao-Lang Li, a very handsome heir to the largest clan in China."

The girl, Chen-Lei, had a large pout on her face, "He threw me out. He's absolutely horrid!"

Yen-Jing chuckled, "Well, Chen Lei, I believe you learnt your lesson?"

Chen-Lei crossed her arms and muttered aloud, "He's awful! All he wants to talk about is swords and fighting! To bad he's so attractive; his face alone makes me want to try again."

Chuckles surrounded the girl as she smirked, Yen Jing held up her hands to quiet them and began talking again but Sakura wasn't listening. She wondered if the man Chen-Lei talked about was truly that bad. Maybe Chen- Lei was still a bit bitter, and as far as she knew, she probably was. Her trance was quickly snapped away by the scrape of chairs and Yen-Jing calling her name.

She turned her head and looked over and saw Yen-Jing beckoning to her. She stood up and walked over to her, smiling.

Yen Jing pulled her over and led her into a small room, the same one she was in last night. But this time, she saw a small tea set and two chairs. Yen Jing sat down in one and Sakura sat down in the other. Yen-Jing smiled at Sakura indulgently, "I apologize for not giving you time to go help clean up; I just think it would be best if we start immediately. You better be eager to learn and not to full of yourself."

Sakura nodded and Yen-Jing's smile grew wider, "Good, you are now a working girl, do you understand the term?"

Sakura shook her head, and Yen-Jing explained, "Well, it is a girl who entertains and accompanies men. Sometimes they just want someone to talk to. Sometimes they want more. At my establishment, it doesn't go past a little feel; if they want more, they can be sent to somewhere else. "

Sakura nodded and a bewildered look came across her face, "A working girl? I've actually never heard of them until now."

Yen-Jing nodded, motherly look came across her eyes, "I understand your confusion Sakura, and a lot of girls never have. Many don't come here by choice."

A sad far-away look came into Yen-Jing's eyes. She quickly snapped out of it, "Anyway, so we better begin with your training."

After Yen-Jing had checked Sakura's ankle and bandaged back up, they spent the entire morning training until Sakura could barely hold her back any straighter, be any more polite or have her smile any wider. Yen-Jing clapped her hands with delight after Sakura demonstrated pouring tea correctly, "Excellent work, Sakura! You're doing wonderfully. But, is there any special skill you may have? We all love a bit of a performance."

Sakura thought long and hard before her face broke into a smile, "I can do magic!"

Yen-Jing raised her eyebrow, "Interesting...I was expecting something different but oh well, what type of magic? A card trick perhaps?"

Sakura shook her head, a smile gracing her pretty pink lips, "Real magic. I can call elements at will. It was taught to me by my mother, a powerful mage; it's this ancient elemental dance."

Yen-Jing couldn't bring herself to laugh at the girl who believed so thoroughly that she had magic 'this I must see'

"Sakura, are you absolutely serious?"

Sakura nodded again "I am very serious, Yen-Jing. As a little girl, I was raised with magic. I know it's a little far-fetched but Im serious"

And with that, she made some fire appear in the palm of her hand to prove her point. Yen-Jing stood up immediately, and backed slowly away, eyes never leaving the fire, "S-Sakura? Is that real?"

Sakura expression was serious now, "Yes, it is. I'm sorry if I scared you. I shouldn't have tried so hard to impress you."

Yen Jing watched Sakura very carefully, the fire's glow reflected in Sakura's emerald green eyes "Sakura, your dance, what does it involve?"

Sakura snapped her hand closed, the flame disappearing, "It involves scarves and fans, that's all I can tell you. It's a long-held family secret. Magic isn't a big secret but the dance can only be taught to direct family members."

Yen-Jing nodded, "Family secret? I understand. Sakura, I think I may have a job for you."

Unbeknownst to Sakura, all the time she had been explaining, Yen-Jing had been thinking how she could use Sakura's talent. Yen-Jing was nice; she just had to watch out for herself as well. And the idea clicked. A large party with the Li's was about to happen and they asked for a girl from Yen- Jing. Gold, riches and respect could all be hers if Sakura agreed. Yen-Jing put on a sweet tone, "Sakura, there is a celebration going to happen at the Li household. I'm asking you to perform your dance for them"

Sakura winced a little, "But, my dance shouldn't be used for entertainment purposes, it was used for celebrations in my village."

Yen Jing's sweet tone snapped and became business like, "This is a celebration. And let me put it simply for you, Sakura, you need money, I need money. Do your dance and get paid, its simple. Forget about the tradition."

Sakura felt unsure, "Perhaps, I mean, the dance is only used for festivals but this is a celebration."

Yen-Jing knew she was getting somewhere.

"Ok, Yen-Jing, I'll do it."

Yen Jing clapped her hands with delight and began babbling about practising but Sakura heard none of it, she was lost in guilt.

'Mother, you taught me to respect my gifts and not to show them off. Am I doing so?'

She could only pray her mother wasn't rolling around in her grave worried about her daughter. But Yen-Jing was right, she needed the money. In this century, it seemed that money was more important then tradition. Perhaps it was this Li family that had her tree in their yard. It seemed the place where she had first found herself was rich, beyond her wildest dreams. Perhaps they were the Li's.

She was snapped out of her planning by Yen-Jing shaking her, "Sakura, we have two days. Are you listening?"

Sakura nodded, and Yen-Jing continued talking, "You will be left alone to practice for the rest of that day"

Yen Jing said it gently. She could see from Sakura's haunted eyes that she had drudged up a few unwanted memories. "In that time however, I need to know what costume you perform in and get the measurements. I am a quick seamstress. I can get you ready."

Sakura wondered if she would be ready for facing her past and remember something so close to her heart.

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Anything I can do? Anything you think I can change? Review and tell me!

Also, points to SakK, the name Wu Chun Mei comes from the book, 'Chinese Cinderella'. Which I do not own.