Cleaning up Slalain Citadel had turned into quite a daunting task, and the heat was no help. Kiisan had been forced out of his robes by the sticky weather and sat on the floor in a thin shirt and a pair of pants rolled up to his knees. He had just finished scrubbing the tile floor of this room. The young man was not even sure what sort of room this was supposed to be due to the lack of furniture. He wiped his soapy hands off on his white shirt and tossed the scrub brush into the wooden bucket that sat beside him. "I'm so tired of this..." he complained to himself.
"You just stop all that, Kiisan," Father Carlos admonished him with a smile, "It's not very revolutionary to sit around and complain! Let's get some work done!"
"...But I just finished this floor..."
The ebony-haired man climbed out from the inside of the window which he had been cleaning off. As his bare feet hit the floor the cheerful priest slipped on the still wet tile and fell. He winced as he pulled himself up, "Ouch...that hurt..."
Kiisan heaved the bucket up off the floor and followed Carlos into the hall, "I'm surprised you fell. I thought that the hot weather would make things dry off sooner..."
Carlos stopped abruptly and turned to Kiisan with a smug grin on his face. Kiisan regarded him cautiously, "Carlos...what's with that funny look?"
Kiisan's fellow priest tucked the rag he had been wiping the windows with into his pocket and folded his arms. He scanned the sandstone hall silently, his smile broadening until he revealed his white teeth.
"Carlos! Cut it out! That's not funny!" Kiisan said, still holding the heavy bucket.
"You can clean this hall next!" Carlos exclaimed, giving Kiisan a push so that he spilled the soapy water all over the floor as well as both young men. Carlos laughed hysterically; glad to be back with Kiisan after his travels with Jirobane and the boy they had met together.
It had taken Jirobane and Carlos four days to catch up with their comrades. The boy they had found along the path was Tiko, who Father Shiku had sent to Giku to get help from the rebels. He had become so ill that the swordsman and the priest were forced to stop and seek help in the rural villages of the area. Once Tiko was well enough to travel again they set out quickly and made their way to the citadel, glad to find their friends already set up inside.
Carlos flicked soap at Kiisan, who threw a sponge at him in reply. The two splashed water at each other and made such a mess that when he walked down the hall past them, Lucien could only sigh and shake his head thinking, "Young people are always so much trouble..."
Murasaki Fuji no Shita ni Kuni
"The Country Under the Purple Wisteria"
Chapter 29- The Taste of Citrus and Salt
Falina was currently employed as a seamstress, working on everything from banners to sheets for their new headquarters. Hai-Yong tried to make himself useful by carrying in some of the fabric Zawn, Hyoko, and Dr. Clark had gone and bought in Geshi, but as Jirobane and the two knights from Giku were also moving the large bolts of fabric his work went generally unappreciated. Hittoko, Ocha, Russ, Father Shiku, and Han Li were also working with the cloth. For a while the red-haired man attempted to cut some pieces of cloth, but Ocha scolded him for not cutting straight, forcing the unofficial revolutionary to give up once again.
He sat down beside Falina in disappointment, deciding it was best just to watch her. The charcoal-haired girl was good at working with cloth and her needle flew up and down, in and out of the fabric like a dolphin jumping above the waves. Although he had first stopped in annoyance her small, swift hands soon enchanted the tall man.
Completing her work on the cerulean blue and sunflower yellow banner, Falina looked up and right into Hai-Yong's deeply gazing eyes. "Mr. Hai-Yong, what is it? What are you doing in here?"
He snapped out of his trance at the sound of her voice and shook himself back into alertness, "Oh, me...I'm...uh...I was...Just watching, I guess."
Falina gave him a friendly smile as she folded up the banner, "I never thought you would be so interested in sewing. You can watch as long as you want."
He stretched and stood up, "Actually..." Hai-Yong began shakily, "I was wondering if you'd like to take a break and go for a little walk with me...I thought you might like to check out the fruit trees on the back of the hill..."
Her face brightened at the suggestion as she shook her cramped hands, "That sounds like fun. I didn't know that we had any fruit trees here...all the ones I've seen looked like maple or oak."
As they left the fabric-filled room the soldier saw the bright sunshine draw out a pink flush in Falina's cheeks. The sunlight slid off his hair like water on a duck. Noon had passed sometime ago and the hottest part of the day was nearly over. Hai-Yong lead Falina around the middle level of the citadel, past some of the small buildings, to a few rows of trees. The trees were fairly tall and healthy looking and the lemon tree dripped with yellow fruit. Falina walked underneath the trees admiring their lovely shapes and color with Hai-Yong following a step behind her. Halfway through the grove she dropped to her knees on the grass. Hai-Yong rushed to her side, worried and wondering what could be wrong.
"Falina!" he exclaimed looked at her face. Her smile was gone. Tears ran down her cheeks and she turned away from him. "Falina..." he murmured, this time more softly, "Everything's okay...there's nothing to worry about..." The wavy-haired man sat down next to her and put an arm around her shoulders, "It's all right..."
Gradually she regained control of herself and turned to face Hai-Yong. Her viridian eyes sparkled with tears, "Hai-Yong...this reminds me of my home..."
Falina broke into sobs again and buried her face in his cream-colored tunic. Hai-Yong kept his arm around her and recalled his childhood home. It seemed so faded in his mind...a white house and an oak tree with a rope swing hanging from its branches...his mother baking bread...the tangerine grove where his father had worked each day...it had all burnt up. "Scorched earth" they called it. Hai-Yong also understood the pain of knowing a home you could never return to.
"I know what you're going through..." he said consolingly. Listening to her cry, he felt himself begin to break down, and before he knew it, Hai-Yong was also crying. Sunlight filtered down through the leaves of the trees and a warm breeze rustled the grass. He felt like he could taste the citrus fragrance wafting through the air. And perhaps, along with the lemons and limes, was a bit of tangerine.
************
"What will your next move be?" Sanada asked casually, leaning back in her chair.
"I...um...well, I was thinking that we should...maybe..." Mio stammered.
"You mean that you don't really have a plan," she stern woman said, summing up his disjointed message.
"No, I don't," Mio admitted.
"Admitting your lack of focus will bring you half way there," she said somewhat happily, "I will allow you, Father Kiisan, the honor of having my talents at your disposal from this point forward either until you win this war or you're just about to go under. Think of it as a gift."
"Ah...thanks, I guess..." Kiisan responded, not entirely sure what the female strategist was talking about.
"We should finish fortifying this citadel and getting the support of the country people. It would be nice to have a greater force at our fingertips. And a war needs money. I'm good at making money, but I don't make the kind of money you need...there is more to do before we set out too far in any direction. After we are all together in these ways I think it would be best, unless the situation changes drastically, to travel down the Farlance River into the Central Plains States and attack the twin fortresses there. That would send us down to the Dunan Lake Region, which I believe could easily be stirred up in revolt since the military is always crushing that region so hard. Things aren't as bad as I previously thought. ...But there's work to be done. Keep it up everyone," Sanada told Kiisan and the others gathered around the table.
Having finished with her part she left the meeting room to find Junsuke. The dark-skinned man was outside watering some tomato plants. She walked up behind him and tapped him on the shoulder. "Excuse me, Sir Hidetoyo, but I was wondering if you and your partner could scout something out for me..."