By Kaihua Mai (that's my lj name)
Word Count (Chapter One): 1696
Genre: I don't even know anymore. Drama? Sure, why not.
Setting: It starts out in the graveyard, but most of it's a flashback
Summary: The former 'Black Mamba' didn't know when it had begun as much as when it had ended. All she knew for sure was that the unravelling of her and O-ren's friendship had started somewhere around Sofie Fatale.
Dedicated to Sassy Lil Scorpio, who gave me the challenge/idea in the first place!
DISCLAIMER: I'm not Tarantino!
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Also, since the disclaimer puts us on the note of originality… I'm not the first one to write about Bea visiting O-ren's grave, apparently. All props there go to Anime Girl 666 For her story 'Goodbye My Friend". I would have changed it to somewhere else, but I really wanted the part about her tombstone to be in here. And I wanted it to be a flashback from that point; also I wanted the part about the flowers… Eh. OH! And the 'Casablanca Lily' idea is taken from the wonderful Naoko Takeuchi, author of Sailor Moon. Rei reminds me of O-ren for some reason, and that's her favourite flower. ALSO, the 'lily' part is implicative of a relationship between O-ren and Sofie. In Japan, when you refer to someone as a 'lily', you're referring to her as a lesbian. I just love the mix of different Japanese things, O-ren, SM, the lily reference… all in one! Gah, I don't know. Shmeh.
BAKA means IDIOT in Japanese. (I use that in here somewhere…) I thought it would be appropriate considering the subject matter of this chapter. :)
KATANA means BLADE, or SWORD.
Introduction
The Casablanca Lily
If there was one thing Sofie Fatale neither knew, nor would ever know, about her former master, it was – ironically - her favourite type of flower: the Casablanca Lily. A handful of those exact flowers was currently making its way, via the former "Black Mamba's" hands, to Oren-Ishii's grave. Beatrix Kiddo walked steadily through the silent forest of tombs towards the one belonging to her former friend, work 'associate', and fellow living human being. Somehow the fall weather was appropriate for such a setting; the leaves expired and fell off the trees in attempt to catch up with those already lifeless under the ground. The grass was yellow and dying; and it crunched under Beatrix's feet as she came across the grave of the former aptly - named Cottonmouth.
She stopped as she reached the headstone, grimacing a little at its markings and their insinuations. On it there were Chinese, Japanese, and English engravings to represent O-ren's diverse background. Some would have been proud of such a heritage, some would have relished in the many different cultures that they were knowledgeable of; some would have appreciated the seemingly kind words placed on their grave marker… But Beatrix knew O-ren was different.
O-ren 'hated', and rarely admitted to, her American and Chinese heritage. Anyone who knew her knew that quite well. However, the people who knew her were 'underground' folk, people that stayed out of the limelight; (after all, assassins didn't just announce what they did to the whole world, unless they wanted to get caught for political reasons). They were people who probably didn't have any say in what was engraved on the stone commemorating O-ren's life, and that was why it said the blasphemous things that it did.
Bea had studied Chinese and Japanese, along with other languages, while being part of the Vipers, (a.k.a. the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad), and beforehand. She couldn't speak Chinese all that well, but she could understand the characters; especially after studying Japanese, which had stolen - or as O-ren had said, 'made better' - over three hundred Chinese characters. It wasn't odd for Chinese and Japanese people to resent each other, but seeing as how Bea came from a completely different culture she was very much inclined to think of the unspoken hatred between the two as ridiculous considering all of their similarities. (However, O-ren tried to make the differences quite clear). The former "Black Mamba" didn't even need to read the Japanese or the Chinese on O-ren's tombstone to see the atrocious message, though. It had been written in English as well, something O-ren probably would have also disliked. What made it even worse than the simple presence of Chinese and English was what the message said:
"O-ren Ishii's love crossed worldly boundaries, and she will not soon be forgotten." The stone read in all three languages, under O-ren's full name and years of birth and death.
Oh, Good God. The former Cottonmouth was probably rolling over in her grave, waiting to lash out at whatever baka had written this. Beatrix wanted to gag simply with the sappiness of it. Whoever had written it had clearly not known of O-ren at all. Perhaps they had seen her identification records and recognised the fact that she was of American, Chinese, and Japanese origin, and it had inspired their disgusting little ditty that adorned - or rather, desecrated - O-ren's grave? That seemed like an explanation to Beatrix. She had worried that O-ren's background would be a problem even in her death. It appeared her worries had been, literally, dead-on.
B. Kiddo had often pondered the history of O-ren Ishii; it was fascinating for all that it was horrible. Questions of O-ren's background, regarding her heritage, that came up were usually answered violently, and didn't arise again. But everyone, to an extent, secretly wondered at her 'hatred' of anything Chinese and most things American, whether they be anything from food to clothes to customs or behaviour.
It was in thinking of such a dilemma of questionable traditions, regarding O-ren that the former "Black Mamba" hadn't known what to wear to the graveyard. She wasn't one to fret about ghosts; no, she had seen far too much death in her time to be worried about that sort of thing. But she wondered how much O-ren could know of the lives that continued on after her death, if she could possibly see Beatrix somehow… And at that question, Beatrix had wondered how offensive it would be to O-ren if she had worn white. White was the colour worn to a funeral – a Chinese funeral. Some Japanese funerals held the same position on the colour – but that was exactly the problem! Would O-ren view that colour strictly as a strike at her Chinese heritage, or would she see it as a tribute to the Japanese culture she loved so dearly? Would she say that because it was Chinese at all in the least, that it was wrong, and therefore not proper even though it had some Japanese ties to it?
Suppose Bea decided not to wear white – could she wear black? Black was worn at Japanese funerals, for the most part, only because of Western influence. So, wouldn't O-ren have been offended at that too, considering it alluded to her American heritage? No, it didn't seem that Bea could wear white or black. She couldn't wear red for its blatant Chinese cultural connotations. She didn't want to wear yellow for the fact that she had been wearing yellow when she killed O-ren. And then, any other colour seemed inappropriate by society's standards.
Does anyone dress colourfully while visiting a crypt?
In purchasing the lilies Beatrix had suddenly wanted to laugh at such an asinine debate. Perhaps the colours were of worthy questioning, but then – weren't O-ren's favourite flowers white? Hadn't the Kimono she had died so honourably in been white? Wasn't the snow, which she loved, white as well? The red was off-limits, and perhaps the black… but Beatrix supposed that the thought behind her chosen apparel would count more than it's construed interpretations. If O-ren was 'up there' or could somehow see Beatrix… she would understand.
Bea had bought the flowers a few days previous to her visit to O-ren's tomb so as to nurture them some before laying them on the grave. She had waited until they reached their softest point, until their stems were the perfect shade of emerald, and until their fragrance flourished without being too oppressive. It was the least Kiddo could do for her former friend. She had been betrayed by O-ren, yes, and she had killed her in the noblest way by giving her the death of a Samurai. Maybe O-ren didn't deserve more than that… but then, flowers didn't seem like much. Giving flora was a gesture people did while visiting the resting places of their departed loved ones, so it would make sense for Bea to bring some. The fact that it was O-ren's favourite flower was just a nice touch.
At first the thought of giving O-ren lilies made Bea somewhat angry. Not simply at the idea of lilies themselves, but rather at the thought of the person that lilies, (regarding O-ren), brought into Kiddo's head. However, in looking at the flowers her heart tugged slightly at the memories and she wished to bring them to the former Cottonmouth. Beatrix also recalled that she herself was probably the only person, or one of few, who knew what O-ren's favourite flower was anyhow. In the small pleasure that came from the thought of Sofie not knowing something about the woman she had admired so sickeningly, the decision to bring O-ren Casablanca lilies was forged permanently in Bea's mind. She didn't want to do it mainly to have one-up on Sofie Fatale, she already had plenty 'up' on her - and she wanted to get the flowers for O-ren, not Sofie - but it was a plus.
So; now Bea was at the grave in white, Japanese styled attire with the flowers in her hands. She had gotten over her shock at the writing on the tombstone and gingerly laid the flowers at it's base. It was ironic that the former assassin would have liked such a thing as the Casablanca Lily… O-ren had been no delicate flower. If anything, she was a katana, delicately made perhaps, but beautiful, strong, and deadly. Although now she was cold as the metal on a Hanzo sword above anything else… she couldn't really be any other way, being six feet under.
Beatrix wasn't one to regret things. It wasn't what she was taught, how she ran her life, or what she believed in doing to begin with. But she was only human, so she did think about her actions that had ultimately resulted in O-ren's death, and even before that, the unravelling of their friendship. O-ren had been human too, and all humans were destined to die. All life ended sometime. Only, O-ren had died at Bea's sword. She hadn't withered away like the flowers she favoured so much - Bea hadn't given her that chance. Perhaps O-ren would have wanted it that way… then again, perhaps she wouldn't have even betrayed Beatrix Kiddo and set her own death warrant in stone, if her and Beatrix's friendship had been more solid before Bea's departure into El Paso, and 'treachery'.
Bea couldn't remember exactly how their friendship had begun in the first place. She supposed it came about from various missions they had gone on together, and just from seeing each other constantly what with their 'work.' It had been generally forged over time… unlike how it had ended. Somehow, their relationship that had weaved itself together so 'tightly' had begun to unravel right before their eyes. It was cut short, yes, by the last and very dramatic event that all of the Vipers except for Bill had shared together… but before that fatal moment, the presence of a certain someone Beatrix would mutilate much later on had torn at the seams of their dedication to one another. After that, the general extrication of their friendship had begun.
No, Beatrix Kiddo couldn't recall how it had started, but she knew that the beginning of the end had come somewhere around Sofie Fatale.
End of Chapter One
Woot! Can't believe I did most of this in one sitting; usually it takes me days, even weeks, for one chapter! Ah well. This will probably be three chapters, and it will be updated bi-weekly. Also, just a note – I emphasized "did" in that part about people laying flowers on other people's graves because I didn't want to use the word 'performed,' as I thought it added a falsity to such an action. Bea and O-ren had a very real respect for each other, at least it seems so to me, so that word and its connotations didn't seem as appropriate compared to how appropriate such a simple word as "did" seemed.
Reviews would be very, very cool. :D