As the butterflies scattered, eventually leaving no trace that they had ever gathered in the grove, Kiisan took his eyes away from the trees to look at Falina. Her round, young-looking face was still turned upward watching the last few butterflies flutter away. As the weather had grown warmer, his friend had stuffed the purple scarf that was usually draped over her shoulders into her pack. Her sleeve, having slid a bit from the fall, left one of her shoulders exposed slightly. Kiisan felt his face grow red, feeling Falina's weight against him, her left hand placed atop his chest. The last harvest gold colored butterfly disappeared amidst the green leaves and the green-eyed girl looked down at him and smiled, "Thank you for bringing me to see this Kiisan."
He felt his heart beat a little faster and the young priest knew he had to do something to pull himself together. Kiisan decided to try and act normal, "Falina! Are you gonna stay there all day or am I going to have to push you off of me?"
Falina jumped up lightly and giggled, "Oops! Sorry. I wasn't thinking."
The chestnut-haired young man sat up and rubbed his aching shoulders, the ground was pretty hard and the thin layer of moss hadn't done much to lessen the impact of the fall. His hat lay a short distance away, caught in some nettles, Falina pulled it out and tugged a few stubborn burrs off of it, "Here you go, just be careful not to get poked, I'm not sure I got all of them."
He took his hat back and placed it on his head, tipped back a little farther than usual. He didn't want his vision obstructed at the moment. "Thanks...and I'm glad you liked the butterflies. I'm sorry I had to scare them all away..."
"No, it wasn't your fault, it was just an accident," she responded gently, "Besides...Mr. Han told me that the most beautiful things are also the most fragile...and that their quality is enhanced because they last such a short time..."
Kiisan pulled himself onto his feet shakily, stretched, and attempted to smooth his crumpled robes, "Maybe that's true...but it's too sad..."
Falina grinned at her friend's response, "I think to Mr. Han, that's part of the beauty, Kiisan..."
"I don't like that kind of attitude! I want something that will last a thousand years!" he stormed in frustration, "A moment that will last forever!"
The black-haired girl observed Kiisan silently as he tried to find the best way out of the streambed they had fallen into, fuming all the while. "Um...Kiisan, what exactly do you mean?" she asked, approaching him slowly.
He whirled around suddenly and with his voice loud with passion the young man began, "You don't understand? Falina, I-"
"Hey!! Kids!! We've gotta get moving!" called Lucien.
Murasaki Fuji no Shita ni Kuni
"The Country Under the Purple Wisteria"
Chapter 20- Mio of Silverburg and Two Kinds of Roses
Kiisan's foot was throbbing from all the running he had done in the flower fields with an injury. However, the pain kept him distracted from thoughts of his earlier conversation with Falina and he counted that as a blessing. "What was I thinking, anyway?!" he scolded himself internally.
"It's easy to feel something, but it's hard to explain, isn't it?" murmured Sasshalai.
Kiisan eyed his young friend nervously, "The fact that you know all about the whole thing makes me upset...Isn't there some sort of way for you to stop reading minds?"
The boy from Klikk shifted his bundle of flowers and smiled in a sympathetic way, "I don't know how to stop, 'cause I'm not trying. The things you're thinking right now are so loud it's as if you were talking to me, but I can ride with someone else if you want. ...guess what? I've got a loose tooth!"
The blue and white robed teenager, had to stifle a laugh as he looked over his shoulder at the small boy who wiggled the tooth so he could see, "That's great, Sassha... Thanks for that...I know what you mean. And I think I could use some time alone...you want me to get Big Sister Falina?"
Sasshalai shook his head emphatically, "Nope! I'm okay!" He waved a tiny hand at Yuber, who seemed to sense the motion, without turning to see it. The tall black knight, who preferred walking to riding, hurried over to match pace with Kiisan's horse and lifted Sasshalai off, setting him on his shoulders.
Kiisan was both afraid and surprised, "Sir Yuber, are you okay with this? Sassha won't bother you or anything?"
"This kid and I are just fine. He knows what's going on. We have an understanding, am I correct, Sassha?"
The boy winked his hazel eye and stuck a daisy from the bundle of flowers he carried into Yuber's long, loose hair, "Yep!"
As the dangerous armored man slowed his pace and fell behind, Han Li approached Kiisan's horse and hopped up behind the young priest awkwardly, clinging to the younger man's arm with his eyes tightly closed until he grew accustomed to the movement of the horse. He opened his golden yellow eye first and glanced around, before opening his greenish eye and sitting up straight and letting go of his tight grip on Kiisan's arm. "Horses aren't your thing, are they?"
"As a matter of fact, horses are no problem, young man. It's your skill as a rider I don't trust," the dusty man sneered at the boy he considered his student.
Kiisan jeered back at his friend and mentor sarcastically, "You just don't want to admit you're getting old, Granpa!"
"Oh! That's more than enough, you little whiner!" laughed Han Li, knocking Kiisan's hat over his eyes.
"I can't see! Cut that out! You what us to both get killed?!"
The dark man, once again covered with dust from the road, threw his head back and only laughed more; "The horse knows where she's going a million times better than you do!"
Kiisan, having fixed his hat and regained his view of the road ahead, sighed, "Seriously...what did you come over here for?"
"To rest my tired feet--no! That's not it! I'm joking! I wanted to tell you that I'm proud of you."
"Proud of me for what?" Kiisan asked.
"For coming so far and remaining an idealist. That is something I will support...and it can make you travel...the stars await, Kiisan. This is not the first time I have met someone with eyes like yours...but it is the first time I have encountered such a spirit..."
The younger man smiled proudly, although he wanted to be humble about it, responding calmly, "I'm not doing anything that special...and besides, you've been helping me for a long time now. ...and after all this time, I still barely understand what you're talking about."
His older comrade wrapped his arms around Kiisan's neck and leaned his head against him, "You have the rest of your life to figure it out..."
***********
The ride to the tiny village called Silverburg was fairly uneventful. As the sun had nearly set already when the revolutionaries arrived Louis Abdul had the soldiers and volunteers begin to set up camp while he and Kiisan went on ahead to meet with Mio.
"I don't really want to intimidate him with our full force...that's why I gave the orders to set up camp. It's not that Mio is a wimp or anything, it's just that we aren't the average battalion. He might not seeing all those women or little Sasshalai and I know that he definitely won't like Kusa and Kurin."
Kiisan turned his gaze away from the captain to the jingling bell hanging on his staff. "We're not going to trick him, are we?"
The military man spread his arms open as if he were welcoming someone, "No tricks, just some convincing."
Well-groomed rose bushes surrounded the tiny house the two revolutionaries approached. A small figure with orangish-red hair clipped neatly at the shoulders crouched on the pathway with a pair of gardening shears. Louis Abdul recognized his old friend immediately and called to him, "Mio!!! Mio! It's me! Louis! Get out of that rosebed and come say hello to your old buddy!"
The dainty man jumped up in surprise, dropping his shears into the grass. Kiisan watched him run over to Louis Abdul with a slight limp, but enough enthusiasm to more than make up for it. His cheeks were carnation pink and his brown eyes shone with nostalgia. "The last time I saw you Louis...! You've gotten so tall! And you let your hair grow out! You look so strong! I can't believe it! How've you been?"
"I'm fine, just fine...You look well Mio. As much as I'd like to talk about old times, I came here on business. This is Kiisan, the one I told you about."
Mio flipped the longer part of his red scarf over his shoulder and held out his hand for Kiisan to shake, "A pleasure to meet you. I am Mio de Silverburg and for a revolutionary such as you to even look at me is an honor beyond compare."
Kiisan grasped the strategist's pale, thin-fingered hand and give it a good shake, trying not to blush from the compliment, "It's nothing...It's my pleasure entirely...If you would help us...I would be so grateful..."
The cheerful man unrolled his long sleeves that had been pushed up to his elbows, and turned towards the house, "I would love to help you, Father Kiisan, but we need to discuss the situation more thoroughly, please, come inside. It's getting dark and it will be far more comfortable there." Louis Abdul hurried Kiisan along the gravel path past the roses into the young strategist's home. Mio gestured to a wooden table and pulled out a chair, "I don't have much, but I hope it will be enough. Please sit down."
Kiisan sat down in the offered seat, Louis Abdul sitting down across the table and urging Mio to sit also. When he did sit down the strategist fidgeted with the vase of roses in the center of the table.
"You really like roses, don't you?" observed Kiisan.
"Roses are like love. They're both beautiful, but you must beware of thorns..." he answered quietly, eyes averted from Kiisan, "Now...onto business I suppose..."