REUNION
Just before Machida ran off with Moon and Luna that day, in a certain part of Yokohama, a 14-year-old girl dressed in a pink pullover, loose jeans and rubber-soled canvas shoes waited anxiously in a small café for a certain someone. She looked at her Docomo cell phone for the umpteenth time that day, and took another sip of her second frappucino. It's a good thing Mom doesn't know where I really am, she thought. She thinks I'm working with my classmates on that science project. Boy, will she ground me if she ever finds out.
The bell hanging on the front door of the establishment tinkled as someone opened it. She looked up.
It was a young man of indeterminate age, also dressed casually, and sporting a floppy Yomiuri Giants baseball cap that didn't quite hide an unusual haircut consisting of straight bangs and shoulder-length hair. His piercing gaze skewered her eyes, and he did not look very happy.
"Hi, Haku!"
"I'm sorry I'm late, Chihiro," Nigihayami Kohakunushi apologized as she waved him to the seat opposite hers. "But I had a little run-in with the Sumidagawa on my way here. Please, don't ever ask me to gate in around here ever again. You may think the water's clean, but it's not!"
"Sorry. It's an emergency."
"Oh?"
"Well, actually I think they want you more than me." She gave him her cell phone, and he read the message.
"Oh, so that's what all the commotion in Aburaya was about. I was wondering why Zeniiba was there."
"She was?"
"Yes. She left quickly with her sister in tow, and asked me if I could come with them. I had just received your summons, so I had to choose." He handed her cell phone back. "Looks like I didn't need to."
"Grandma Yu-baaba left with her? That's unusual. Well, let's follow in their footsteps, then," urged Chihiro Ogino, standing up.
"Wait. I don't think you should come with me on this one."
"Why not?"
"Because you've got school tomorrow. And I sort of had the impression from Zeniiba that it was dangerous."
"That didn't stop me before, why should it stop me now? And before you even ask, I already did all my homework."
"Chihiro..."
"No 'buts,' Haku. You're not leaving me behind this time."
"Well, you left me the last time. Turnabout's fair play."
"No!"
They stopped talking as they became aware of the other people in the café looking at them. Sheepishly Chihiro called for a waitress and paid her bill, offering what was left of her drink to the river spirit.
Haku took it from her and his lips slowly closed around the straw. Chihiro nervously fiddled with her phone and tapped her feet against each other under the table. I wonder if he knows about contact kisses, she thought bashfully. 'Cause he's never let me kiss him, and yet I have the feeling he's teasing me with them sometimes. She sighed inwardly. Maybe I'll get to know when I'm older.
When Haku had finished the drink he threw the empty container into the trash. "Okay, I'm taking you with me," he acceded. "But you'll do as I say, or I'm sending you back instantly, got it?"
Chihiro grinned. "It's a deal," she said, and they hurriedly left the café. Finding an empty street nearby, Haku motioned for the young girl to get on his back and told her to hang on. As soon as he had changed shape, he and Chihiro became invisible to the eyes of men, and he took off into the bright blue sky, heading for parts unknown.
------oOo------
"Nausicaä! Stop!"
The wind-rider paused in her brisk walk and looked behind her.
"Kushana? How—what are you doing up at this hour?"
"I should be the one asking that question," said the Queen-Regent of Torumekia. "One of the guards told me he saw you heading for the hangars fully dressed. Where are you going, Nausicaä? You and Asbel have only been in Tolas a day, and now you're leaving?"
"I need to go, Kushana," the Child of the Wind said quietly. "It's important. What about you? Why are you awake?"
For a moment a haunted look surfaced on the Regent's face. "I was visiting my mother in her room," she said quietly.
Nausicaä reached out and squeezed Kushana's shoulder. "Sorry. To tell you the truth, I need to go somewhere... far away," she admitted.
Fine eyebrows lifted in the dim glow of the palace night lights. "The one you keep trying to invite me to?"
"Close, but not exactly that one."
Kushana perked up. "I'll go with you."
"No, you've got a kingdom to run."
"Girl of the Wind, you've been pestering me about this 'other place' of yours for the longest time, and now that I want to come with you, you won't let me." Kushana frowned. "Make up your mind."
Nausicaä sighed, but a little smile broke out on her face. "Alright, you can come with us. But I'm leaving soon. Now, in fact."
"Wait! At least let me get dressed!" Kushana looked down at her plain white shift. "And let me inform Senei and Kurotowa."
Nausicaä chuckled as her gaze followed that of her friend's. "Oh, Kushana. It won't hurt you to dress up a little. Even in nightwear. You are Torumekia's leader, after all."
"Correction, I'm only its caretaker," replied Kushana, giving Nausicaä a significant look. She raised her arms. "And I've grown used to this. What's the use of dressing up to sleep? I mean, who'd see me, anyway?"
"Eherm."
Kushana spun around. "Kurotowa?"
"I was doing the rounds, Your Highness," her aide replied sardonically, "and when the guard in your wing told me you'd gone after Nausicaä, I went looking for you." The man with the thin mustache, the mordant set to his lips, and the golden circlet on his brow looked pointedly at his superior's clothing.
Suddenly feeling mightily self-conscious, the Viper turned away from him. "I'm leaving for a while," she said haughtily, to cover her embarrassment. "You and Senei are in charge until I return."
"Where are you going, Highness?"
Kushana was about to say, "I don't know," but thought the better of it. "With her," she answered, nodding her head in Nausicaä's direction. "Nausicaä?"
The wind-rider had gone still and silent. Her eyes were open, but it seemed as though she were looking at something only she could perceive.
"Nausicaä?"
"Hmm? Oh. Kushana, you do have to come with us."
"You're changing your mind again? I'll never understand you."
"You're not the only one who has to come," Nausicaä continued.
"What do you mean?"
"I'll explain. We have a little more time now." Nausicaä looked sad as she said it. When she had finished Kushana and Kurotowa dashed off, one to get dressed and the other to summon General Senei and several of the senior staff—never mind the fact that it was early in the morning, the sun hadn't risen yet and he'd probably get shouted at despite his ranking position. Kurotowa was immensely happy and let out an uncharacteristic whoop as he ran down the open corridor. Kushana heard him and smiled to herself. Fool, she thought affectionately.
Nausicaä watched them go, then turned and continued on her way to the hangars of the new Tolas palace. She hadn't gotten far when a shadowy figure emerged from behind one of the fat pillars supporting the vaulted corridor roof.
"Why are you bringing her along?" it asked.
"Asbel?" The young man emerged into the light, already in his thick brown flying garb, fur-lined boots and metal-studded leather helmet.
Prince Asbel of Pejite looked at his brown-haired traveling companion. "I heard you, Nausicaä. Do you really have to bring Kushana with us?"
The Princess of the Valley of Wind lowered her eyes. "I'm sorry. She will be needed, where we're going. I know you don't like her..."
"Let's forget for now that's she's the killer of Rastel," said Asbel flatly. "The thought of leaving this kingdom without a leader makes me uneasy."
"Everything will be alright, Asbel." Nausicaä walked up to him and placed a hand over his heart. "You'll see. Everything will be alright."
"I hope you're right. They don't call it the Pit of Vipers for nothing."
------oOo------
And even earlier than when Chihiro had met Haku...
Cool breezes swept the mountainside as the steam-driven car putt-putted up the incline leading to a certain farm some miles beyond the outskirts of the town known as Gondoa. Spying a young man working in the fields on the other side of the rock fence lining the road, one of the car's passengers told the driver to stop the vehicle, and alighted as soon as it did.
She saw that the young man had stopped turning the soil and was looking her way with a curious expression on his face. "Heeey! Pazu, how are you?" she greeted him.
"Dora? What the blazes are you doing here?"
"Going off on a brand-new adventure, my boy!" The stout woman with the white braided hair and white ruffled blouse and pink baggy pants leaned against the rock fence surrounding Pazu's farm. Her sons grinned from within the car behind her at their old chum. "We were in the area looking for you and heard of a fabulous stash of treasure. Want to come along? There's a lot of money in it."
"Gee, I'd love to." The black-haired young man in the overalls and cloth cap looked towards the farmhouse standing at the other edge of the field, the one he had raised with his own two hands. "But Sheeta'd never forgive me if I went gallivanting again."
"Relax! Take her too. C'mon, I see you've harvested your crops already. It can't hurt to leave the farm for a while. Besides," the old woman said confidentially, "you can't really be serious about hiding here from Muska's family. I mean, if we could find you here, they could too."
"I know. But this is the best Sheeta and I can do..." Pazu remorsefully looked away, into the westering sun. He wanted so much for the girl he adored, wanted to be able to clothe and feed her like the queen she was, but times were hard, here and at Slag's Ravine as well. She never complained, she never said a word of recrimination or regret, but still... When he had told her so she had simply put her work-worn hands on his slumped shoulders and turned him around. "Pazu," she said, leaning her forehead against his, "I don't need riches. As long as we're together and living decently, I'm happy. I keep telling you that, but you never listen. But I do need you. I don't think I'll be able to go on living if something happened to you..." Lusheeta Toelle ul Laputa had tilted her face forward and kissed him then.
"Auntie... could you wait a moment?" he asked, snapping himself out of his reverie, his voice carefully neutral.
Dora smirked. She knew the look of someone who was hedging his bets. "Sure, sure. Take your time."
Pazu slowly backed away, still staring unbelievingly at her fat presence in this remote outskirt of Gondoa. Then he tripped over his own hoe, and when he rose again, he turned and took off like a rocket towards the farmhouse. "Sheeta!" he yelled over and over. "Sheeta!"
A small orange head popped out from in between Dora's sons. "Please, we have to hurry."
"You can't rush these things. But don't worry, he's been caught, hook, line and sinker," the old woman replied confidently. She turned. "Now, little cat, what was that you were saying about being one of Sheeta and Pazu's great-grandsons?"
Cameron looked up at the suspicious faces suddenly surrounding him and swallowed. Darn Toto, he thought. If only he could've stayed with me.
"I... aheheheh," he chuckled nervously. "Let's keep that our little secret, okay?"
Pazu, upon reaching the house, discovered the front door was ajar. He slowly pushed it in, and who should be standing on the other side but Sheeta, looking at him in a way that made him feel guilty about talking to Dora and even considering her offer.
"Sheeta?"
"Well, beloved," she asked, "where are you going this time?"
Pazu suddenly realized by the windburn on her cheeks that she had not been working in the small barn, as he had supposed. She had been somewhere outside. She had seen him talking to Dora, and had guessed what it was all about.
"I'm not sure. But you're coming with me."
The girl with the long plaited hair blinked. "What? B-but who's going to take care of the farm? The cows? The chickens?"
"We'll ask Mrs. Anders down the road to look after it while we're gone. She owes us anyway. Well, don't just stand there, grab your things!"
Sheeta stared blankly at him for a moment, then laughed joyfully and hugged him. She picked up her skirts and ran into the bedroom to gather a few belongings. Most importantly, the bronzed metal one working among the climbing beans in the backyard garden.
------oOo------
"That is my story, O Princess of Wolves. Will you come and help?"
The naked young woman placing her newly-washed clothes on the riverside boulders to dry looked at Toto. "I would come, crow. But I have not the means."
"I do."
San the Mononoke-hime nodded. "Then I will let you lead me and my brothers."
One of the large white wolves waiting on the fringes of the forest trotted to her. She took the white pelt hanging from its back and wrapped it around herself.
"Ashitaka?" the wolf growl-spoke.
"Leave him. He's much too busy with Tatara-ba and that accursed Eboshi."
"Why are you so angry at him, San? You frolic around like playful cubs, then you shriek like squabbling boars at one another. It's most unseemly."
"I don't care. His attitude towards Eboshi irks me. The people of Tatara-ba may need to live, but they're destroying the forest again."
"Humans never learn, San. Haven't you learned that yet?"
San lowered her gaze. "No. Probably because I'm a human myself, and let him enter my heart..."
"Be that so, I will always treat you as my sister. Come, let us return to the den. Your clothes will be safe enough in the meantime. Follow us if you will, crow."
Toto nodded at the canid. It was a good thing he had talked to Ashitaka earlier, he thought as he leapt off the moss-covered branch he had been sitting on and took flight.
------oOo------
In the end a small crowd had gathered outside the Cat Business Office. Fanciful and fantastic—those were merely two of the words Machida found to describe them. The rest seemed to have dribbled out of his slack-jawed mouth as he stood there trying to comprehend what was happening to him without going crazy. For some bizarre reason he found that he could understand what everyone was saying, even though some of them didn't look the type who would speak Japanese at all.
"Are you alright, Machida-san?" the kindly woman standing beside him asked. She was in her forties, had straight black hair tied in a ponytail, and wore a knitted shawl over her pale-yellow blouse. She had on gray slacks and black pumps.
"Y-yes, Mrs. Kusakabe," he managed to stutter. "Although I'm not quite sure what I'm doing here."
"Well, I know what I'm doing here," Yasuko Kusakabe said. "When the little cat showed up at the house asking for help, I knew I could prove useful. You see, I've been ill for a long time, and I know how to take care of sick people. What about you?"
"Well... I'm supposed to rescue my girlfriend, from what I can gather."
"Oh? You mean your girlfriend's in trouble, and you didn't know?"
Machida wanted to shrink inside himself. "But she never told me..."
"Okay, head count," said one of the beings, an old crone with hideously exaggerated features. She was wearing a blue dress and lots of jewelry, rings and necklaces, faceted earrings and a big red jewel at her neck. Her white hair was done up in a tight bun. "Some have decided to go on ahead, and I'd like to know who's here. Tanuki?"
"None," replied Cameron, who was standing beside her. "Some are at the Cat King's Castle, but I don't know why."
"Taeko Okajima?"
"Nope. She and Toshio-san said they couldn't come. They have an... unusual problem at their safflower farm."
"Howl?"
"Couldn't come."
"Angel?"
"Oh, come on, Zeniiba," groused another old woman standing to her left, her mirror image except for the scowl plastered on her face. "No one can find her. She comes and goes as she pleases, you know that."
The old woman named Zeniiba looked a bit miffed. Her enormous nose quivered, as if questing for something. "Wait! Where's Kaonashi?"
"Over here!" called a cheerful voice, and everyone looked as two girls, one in a pale-green jumper and the other in a yellow dress, ran into the plaza from one of the roads leading out of it.
"He's with us!" the older child said, while her younger sister peered curiously into the windows of a nearby house. A moment later the shadowy black bulk of Kaonashi came into view.
Mrs. Kusakabe called for her daughters to come to her. Kaonashi followed, and Mrs. Kusakabe smiled up at him and said, "Thank you for looking after Mei and Satsuki."
The being wearing the kabuki-like mask with the blank expression replied with a slow, dignified bow and plodded to Zeniiba's side.
"Mei likes this place!" the younger child said, looking up at her mother. "So full of dollhouses!"
"Well, you can't play with them, people live in them. So behave yourself while I'm away, understand?"
"Yes, okaa-san!"
"Well, now that that's settled," said Zeniiba, clearing her throat. "Chihiro and Haku have gone on ahead..."
When her surname was called, Mrs. Kusakabe answered and pointed out the young man standing beside her. The count was quickly over after that, and after saying a few words to them all, the old hag directed them to ride in the strange animal-vehicle standing near Toto's pedestal in all its furry orange glory.
Mrs. Kusakabe released her hold on her daughters. "Okay, we have to leave. You go to Luna and Kanta now."
"Yes, mother," said Satsuki. "Don't worry, I'll look after Mei. Hey, you, come back! Don't sit on that!"
As Satsuki ran off after her sister, Mrs. Kusakabe looked at Luna, who was sitting nearby. "Good luck."
"Oh, no, it's going to be no problem at all," said the black cat happily. "It's been ages since I've played with human children. Don't worry about them. I'm sure we'll have lots of fun."
Everyone boarded the Nekobus, and just before it was about to take off Mei ran up beside it and shouted, "Okaa-saaan! Ki wo tsukete, neh?" in her strident voice, which was surprisingly loud, coming from such a small throat. "Mom! Take care, okay?"
"Of course, dear. You watch your sister. Don't let Kanta kiss her."
"Whaaaat?" wailed Satsuki as she and their neighbor and friend blushed. "Mother!"
"I was just kidding," said Mrs. Kusakabe, giggling. "Bye now."
The Nekobus turned away from the commotion, and its signboard changed to read 'Cat Kingdom.' Then, with a chest-rumbling purr and a wide smile, it took off and left the realm of the Cat Business Office behind.