Femelle Guerrier
By: EmpathicReader
To Swan, for being the absent-minded genius of a friend.
A/N: ENJOY!
Cagalli could hear voices above her. She wanted to open her eyes to see who was talking about her. But the harsh bite of every sentence was all it took to have her know who it was.
"She's better off dead." Lara said angrily. Uzumi looked at her incredulously. His hold on Cagalli's hand tightened, "Sometimes even I suspect that you are really her mother Lara." Uzumi said giving Lara a hard and cold look.
Lara brought up a hand to adjust her hair, "Since her birth, our town experienced everything but heaven. We've had typhoons, floods, heat waves – Lara didn't have the chance to continue when Cagalli's voice cut voice interrupted hers, "Mother you didn't have to exaggerate." Lara's eyes widened in shock as she stumbled onto the floor, her voice quivered a bit as she said, "Aren't you supposed to be dead?" Lara turned her eyes onto Uzumi who was checking Cagalli's pulse. Uzumi felt tears sting his eyes as he hugged his youngest daughter, "I am glad." Cagalli hugged Uzumi back, "I can never leave you father."
"So…… What happened to me again?" Cagalli probed her father as she set down the tea. Uzumi stroked his beard and frowned a little, "The physician said that there was nothing he could do to save one who was hit by lightning. He told me to ready a coffin instead." Uzumi said watching Cagalli perform the traditional tea ceremony with ease, "Funny how you could perform this with ease yet smash all those plates in the kitchen."
Cagalli handed him a cup of tea before slapping his arm, "I was sick that day! And what type of physician doesn't even try to save a patient? That's unprofessional!" Cagalli scoffed before sipping her own tea. Cagalli enjoyed small discussions with her father and savored happy times like this that would one day become memories to last her spinsterhood for a lifetime. A small voice in her head reminded her of her task today.
Cagalli glanced at the chess puzzle her father was trying to figure out. Cagalli shifted the cannon three spaces forward, "I'll be doing my chores now father. Enjoy your tea." She said walking to the kitchen. Uzumi looked at the solved puzzle and sighed. Yes. It would have been better if she was a boy.
The crickets sang a low tuned melody outside her window as she grinded the ink. Cagalli dipped her brush into the ink that reflected her gloomy mood now. With graceful and powerful strokes, Cagalli started writing her letter of farewell. A tear trickled down her face and ended her letter with a small blotted dot. Cagalli rose and laid a small stone on the paper before pulling out a piece of cloth. She grabbed her comb, some money she stashed away since she was eight, some spare men's clothes she bought a few days earlier and the dried provisions she nicked from the kitchen today. Hurriedly, she tied the ends of the cloth together tightly and changed out of her clothes. First, she bound her breasts together before tying her hair into a bun. Now that she was fully dressed and armed with a traveling bag, Cagalli snatched her letter and tip-toed out of her room.
Once she was away from the sleeping quarters, she ran to her father's study and was about to open the door when a slight wheezing sound came from inside. Cagalli peeked in. Uzumi was practicing the familiar strokes of the sword techniques he taught her since young. He was about to do the low sweep with his foot when he fell. Cagalli watched in pain as her father tried to relive his sword techniques. Every fall and every wheeze wrenched at Cagalli's heart and made her more resolved to replace her father in war. Even if it meant that she was to die. Besides, she was not one of value to anyone but her father, sisters and Shinn. Tear threatened to fall as Uzumi hit his lame leg angrily. Cagalli would have continued if Lara has not come to fetch Uzumi back to their bedroom. Tears leaked from her eyes as Cagalli walked into the room. Oh father. How I wish I was a boy. I'll miss you terribly.
Cagalli brushed away the tears on her cheeks before grabbing one of the three swords in the cupboard. One of them belonged to her father wile the other to her father's best friend. Her father often mentioned of his 'good old days' back in the military. His friend died when the Mongolians started to attack China. The last one belonged to her for she was the only member of the family who showed interest in the art of swords. Cagalli fastened her sword around her belt before moving to the stables. Without another glance back, Cagalli rode out into the dark night.
Her brown eyes showed warmth as she stared at the figure that was Cagalli riding away from home. A smile graced her face when someone's deep chuckle startled her.
"What has gotten you to smile like this, my wife?" the Jade Emperor asked stroking his beard as he neared the Empress. The Empress smiled, "Well, this girl is going in the place of her father to the military." The Jade Emperor raised his eye brows and looked into the mirror; disbelieving what the empress has said. He frowned angrily, "This is preposterous! A girl doing a MAN'S duty? This is simply outrageous!" The Empress frowned slightly, "How so? Her filial piety is a virtue all should learnt from… not scoffed at." She said lightly. The Jade Emperor looked at her incredulously, "She is going against thousands of years of tradition! A woman… no a girl doing a man's job is not tolerable. I will ask of the Lighting God to strike her to her doom."
The Jade Emperor turned and was about to walk out when the Empress's soft voice reached him, "How about we have a bet." The Jade Emperor paused. If he refused, he would be backing down. "About what?" The Empress turned towards the Emperor and smiled, "Her. Do you think she can survive this?" The Jade Emperor gave a mocking laugh, "Her? Survive? Not a chance of survival I'd say" The Empress smiled, "I believe that she will survive this. The one who loses has to do whatever the other says without protest." The Jade Emperor smiled and nodded his head; he always wanted to know how the single golden apple grew on her famous peach trees. "I agree to that bet, Empress."
The Empress waited for a while before asking the maids to bring the Kitchen God to her. The wheezing God was punished for telling lies about Cagalli Yula Attha. If the girl was not that spunky, she would have died an unworthy death. The dirty black robes worn by the Kitchen God proved to be a stark contrast to the clean marble white floor as he knelt in front of her. The Empress cast him a single glance before informing him of her plans.
A/N: R&R!