A/N: Welcome back, whoever is reading this! I really don't have much to say except Merry Christmas to whomever is reading this. Oh, and that I was too busy watching the Hungarian musical Rómeó és Júlia to really work on this. Well that and school, but that doesn't really need mentioning at this point, eh?
It's a sad day when you realize that your view of Romeo and Juliet involves leather, epilepsy, rap, and Freudian complexes...sigh. Meh, it's good enough.
Any which way, I do not own Cirque du Soleil nor the song "Only Remembered" but I can use it as it is an Irish war hymn from 1870.
Yoshiko gave birth to a beautiful girl just before the summer solstice in a forest at the base of the largest mountain in the large range in the east, who they named Hatsusebe. And oddly, while Michiko had been a doting mother, it was Mihito who did the doting. And while Michiko had sung sweet lullabies she used to be sung, Yoshiko left no room for her daughter to think of her life as anything but what it was. She wrote her own lullabies, and they were blunt, but soft and sweet sounding.
Truly though, Yoshiko was very happy, practically glowing from her joy. She would dance about holding Hatsusebe and avoiding her niece and nephew as they raced screaming "Second born, second place!" "Not for long!" It amused her, but the baby demanded her attention and she would give this baby her attention, thank you very much.
And so there they were, mother and daughter, the little girl falling asleep as her mother sang. "Fading away like the stars in the morning," Yoshiko sang. "Losing their light in the glorious sun. Thus would we pass from this world and its toiling. Only remembered for what we have done. Only remembered, only remembered, only remembered for what we have done. Thus would we pass from the world and its toiling. Only remembered for what we have done. Only the truth that in life we have spoken, only the seeds that in life we have sown. These will pass onwards when we are forgotten, only remembered for what we have done."
"Your child is going to grow mentally impaired from grief," said Akihito fondly, smiling at her.
"Oh let off," sighed Yoshiko, turning, her daughter now asleep against her. "Your children are being let loose to run about!"
"Well, their home is this entire forest." She rolled her eyes, adjusting her hold on Hatsusebe.
"Do you know where Mihito is?"
"He is off hunting. Should be back soon though." She nodded. Truly though, Akihito did not tell her where her husband was. Because he was teaching his nephew how to fire both a bow and arrow and a sling. Both were devastating in battle, and Yoshiko did not want her nephew fighting. He hated thinking it, but Akihito's opinion was torn between keeping his son alive and preparing him for the life ahead of him.
Of course, it seemed to be that they led to the exact same thing.
"Now two fingers underneath the arrow and one above…" Mihito was saying, carefully guiding Norihito to hold the bow correctly. It was too big for him, but just by a little. He was a tall little boy, and very eager to learn how to fire a bow like the adults. He didn't want to fight like his father—that would be copying. "Now you are going to pull back the string. That is going to be hard now, so I will help you." And they pulled it back, Norihito struggling and Mihito guiding effortlessly. "And now we aim…and release." And the arrow fired, landing in the target (a tree) that was very close.
"I hit it!" cried Norihito excitedly. "Did you see, Uncle? I hit it!" He smiled and said,
"Yes, you did. Do you want to try again?"
"Yes!" and so they went through the same motions as before, Norihito happy again that he hit the tree. After the third time, though, Fusasaki and Tadamichi walked past. Norihito immediately ran over to the younger man and cried, "Fusa! Guess what! I just hit that tree three times with a bow and arrow!"
"That is wonderful," Fusasaki said, smiling at the boy. "But my father and I were talking about something very important…"
"Oh! I'm sorry! Keep talking!" and he grabbed his Uncle's hand and pulled him away, telling him how the Fujiwara's were talking and should be let alone.
And indeed, they were talking about something important. Tadamichi, at fifty one, was worried that perhaps his presence was growing more of a burden than anything else. But his advice to Akihito had kept them all alive and (mostly) well the past seven years. He had nearly been killed when they ran into soldiers last year, and now he was certain he was too old.
"But who shall keep Akihito's counsel?" asked Fusasaki, bringing up what had been a bit of an avoided issue. "Without you, who can he trust?"
"I believe that he may turn to you, Fusa," said Tadamichi.
"Me? What can I do? I-father, I am seventeen!"
"And? You are a fully grown man, you are my son, and you know everything I do at this point." Fusasaki bit his lip, looking away. Sighing, his father took his hand and said, "Fusa, you were nine when our kingdom fell, and your mother, rest her soul, always said you would grow to do well in the world. This is how you can do that."
"I…I'll see. If Akihito asks me, then I will, but I do not believe it would be right to volunteer for the job."
"I am glad you will consider it if he does, at least," said Tadamichi.
It had turned out that Michiko had not been pregnant, but she had recently contracted some sort of illness, and she was rather upset about it. She had only had a mild cold a few years previous during early spring, and now she was coughing like mad, a heaving cough originating in her lungs and made her feel very little hunger but immense thirst.
"You are certain about this?" she asked, presented with blackberry vinegar. "This will quench my thirst?"
"It works on people with fevers," said Toshinari.
"Well I do not have one, Toshinari, it broke yesterday. Perhaps I could just continue to drink water and sleep."
"You need to tell us when your fever breaks, Michiko!" said Miki sharply. "Honeyed tea, then, to calm that cough."
"And how long am I to be separated from my children and niece?"
"Until this goes away. We do not want them to get sick," said Toshinari. "From what we can tell, there are connections in your lungs that do not wish to work properly. We must help them return to normal. Should Hatsusebe contract it, she could die." Michiko sighed, but that turned into a horribly hacking cough that tore from her painfully.
"See?" said Miki. "Do you want your niece to suffer through that as well?" Michiko sighed, and lay down on the sleeping mat, pulling the blanket over her. "Good choice."
"Excuse me?" came the voice of her most wondrous husband. "May I enter the tent you have put my wife in?"
"Yes, fine," said Miki, brushing back a strand of graying hair. And the man entered, obviously amused at Michiko's quarantine.
"Is this entirely necessary?"
"You have heard her cough," reminded Toshinari. "We do not want this going around. If you will excuse me, I must make some tea." And she was gone. So, Michiko smiled up at her husband and said in her voice that sounded nothing like her normal voice,
"I miss you."
"I know. I miss you too," said Akihito. "You will recover soon though. I once had this same disease, you will be fine in a few more days."
"I hope so. It is quite saddening, being kept in here." Miki, on the other hand, folded her arms and gave as close to a glare as she could give. She wasn't used to glaring, just sharp glances…they were different!
"I know. I have been bedridden too, back in the palace." His wife nodded, a coughing fit taking hold of her. He smiled sympathetically at her when the fit subsided, and said, "I regret leaving you here, but our daughter seems to be missing. Shall I find her?"
"Yes, that may be wise." He kissed her brow gently before leaving, leaving her to sleep.
Prince Huhai was bored. Very, very bored. He was sitting in lessons, boring ones at that, and he could not stand it!
"Your highness, are you paying attention?" his calligraphy teacher asked.
"No, to be honest," the young prince said.
"Your highness…" But it was without base. The man teaching him couldn't really do much, he was Crown Prince, after all.
"Is my son refusing to learn?" Both turned to see Empress Zetian there, smiling indulgently but her eyes just that side of sharp.
"It is so boring, though, mother!" the young prince whined.
"And yet you will be glad you learned. I learned, your father learned, and everyone at court too," she said. Her tone was seemingly motherly, but Huhai knew that that voice promised some serious punishment if he didn't obey.
"Yes, mother," he intoned.
"Good. Master Liú, please continue the lesson."
"Of course, your Imperial Highness," Master Liú, rising from his bow. The Empress swept from the room, the teacher and Huhai's nursemaid rising completely. "Now, your highness, we will move on to another character."
"Do we have to? Mother is not here so we can assumedly pretend I did."
"Your highness, that is morally reprehensible and not at all befitting your character!" snapped his nursemaid. He sighed but nodded, dipping the brush into the ink, ready to continue. He was bored with it, but he would learn.
Ao Han joined them just two months earlier. He was twenty two, an idealist, and had far too much of an infatuation with Miki. She was one of those people who never seemed to get old, even though Michiko was a few years younger than her and the former princess was already going grey. So poor Ao was suffering a great crisis. On one hand, she was much older than him (32) and she was the healer with an oath of celibacy, but on the other hand, her legs.
Before he joined, he had lived in a small village focused around farming, as many villages were. There, every woman was wrapped up in layers. Here, unless the woman was pregnant, they wore only their undergarments. He had learned the hard way that staring at Takara resulted in a quick bit of physical violence to discourage this in the future considering her foundling relations with Seishi, and that Yoshiko, beautiful as she was, was married to a former General. Plus, they had a child. But thanks to this violence he got to meet Miki. She had the longest legs he had ever seen, and she seemed against violence as well. Her apprentice, Toshinari, she teased him daily about it, but he really did wish that she would just shut up.
At the moment he was sitting by the fire with Toshinari, who was brewing some tea for the ill Michiko, and Akihito was sitting with them, talking. Then he suddenly turned to Ao and said,
"So, you are harboring affections for our Healer."
"Does everyone know?" moaned Ao.
"Aside from Miki, yes. And you do know that she has an oath of celibacy, yes?"
"That's something that's making this just painful."
"He likes her legs," Toshinari said. Akihito looked like he didn't know how to process that, and Ao's head dropped between his knees with a groan.
"I am going to go kill myself now."
"Do not do that. Things may not be ideal now, but they will look up. When I first met my wife I could barely be called upon to pay any attention."
"And yet here you are, married to her with a son and a daughter. And that is quite impossible for me." Akihito shrugged, obviously unconcerned with Ao's threats to go kill himself.
"You will get over her, I promise," said Akihito kindly, patting his shoulder before getting up, going off to find his daughter, presumably.
"You are never going to get over her and you will die sad," laughed Toshinari. Ao could do nothing but make a face at her.
Takara and Seishi had left the small camp to climb partly up the mountain. Takara claimed to have seen the best view possible from up there, so there they sat, staring across the trees, watching birds fly above occasionally.
Takara settled happily against the man, his arm going around her as they watched the land around them ring with life.
"We will go home, someday," said Seishi. "Perhaps not to the Kingdom, that is fallen long ago, but we will find a home, and we will go home." Takara hummed her agreement, saying,
"When we go home, there will be no weapons, no fighting. There will just be a man and a woman." And they lapsed into silence, simply enjoying the purity of the world around them. As they sat, Seishi remembered the song he had learned the many years ago during their first stay at the Temple of the Harp, the one that Father Lăozĭ taught him.
So, he began to sing it under his breath. The lilting tune that held on notes that sounded like birds at times. Takara closed her eyes, listening to him sing with silent content. Truly, she could find no better enjoyment than the time she spent with this man, curled up beside him and listening to him breathe or sing. Seishi loved to sing.
They sat there for a long while yet, talking about when they "went home", an event they spoke of often but also knew wasn't going to happen. But they ignored that bit. It would be too painful to think of it otherwise.
"Tell me, do you believe that Norihito will be a good leader?" asked Seishi once he finished the prayer song.
"I…I do not know," said Takara. "He is so young, it would be impossible to know. But we can hope. I thought that Akihito's reign would be one of prosperity and peace…now we know that it is not."
"Indeed…" He heaved a sigh, and rested his head against hers, beginning to hum quietly. The thrum of his song under her ear soothed Takara, closing her eyes and lulling her into a peaceful doze.
Seishi smiled but kept humming. He loved her, he really did. But he worried. What happened come the day that he could no longer help protect her, much that she hated to admit he did? What happened the day he died? He knew he would, everyone did, and here the chances seemed higher.
But he would ignore that for now, instead turning to press a kiss to her brow, coaxing a happy hum from her breast. With a smile, Seishi turned to look at the sunny day. He long since learned not to trust sunny days without clouds. A storm always appeared by the end.
The next day dawned grey and slightly drizzly, making many quite upset. A drizzle was never fun. A rainstorm was fine. But not a drizzle. Those were the bane of their existence.
So, they all stayed close to the fire, talking. The children played small games with each other, but were kept away from the fire.
As they did, Mihito realized that his wife seemed to be bursting at the seams to say something and so he turned to her and asked simply, "My love, why are you holding in whatever you wish to say?"
"Because I wish to tell a story about Hatsusebe," said Yoshiko simply.
"And why do you not?"
"Because if I do, then I will wake up on the morrow looking like my nursemaid."
"You will not look like your nursemaid." Noriko and Takeda, who were sitting nearby, heard this and laughed. "See, why do you not tell a story to these two?"
"Oh, one moment," said Noriko. She pulled an arrow from her husband's quiver and placed her head against Takeda's. They then pretended to shove the arrow through their heads.
"Double suicide," commented Mihito.
"We made a pact," said Takeda.
"And that, Mihito is why. We cannot even be mature adults about this!" said Yoshiko, heaving a sigh. And that began Mihito's quest to let his wife feel secure enough to tell a story about their beloved daughter. It would take a long time but it would be worth it. It certainly would.
Yes, it took a week and half a move up the mountains before she could, but when she did, she was telling the stories of how Hatsusebe vomited over Mihito's shoulder to her brother, his wife and their friends Noriko and Takeda. Mihito sat nearby, playing with their daughter and listening with a smile as Noriko pulled out an arrow and said, "We are now going to attempt the world's first quadruple suicide by arrow." And they gave out fake screams. Mihito was forced to hold back a chuckle when he heard his wife say,
"I am ignoring your lack of love for me, I am wiping off the blood spilled on me and I am continuing my story, thank you."
A/N: So here we are again.
Hatsusebe was named for the daughter of Emperor Temmu (Oama) by a court lady. I gave Michiko bronchitis because I had it last year and I wanted someone else to suffer and that's about it.
Oh yes, the line "When we go home there will be no weapons, no fighting. Only a man and a woman" comes from the movie "Hero" which I do not own either. I just love that line a lot so I wanted to use it.
Review?