Whee, Saturday again! Today's chapter was FUN! It's actually been in the works for a very long time; there are two parts that I wrote before even knowing if I'd ever use them. The beginning sprang up from a moment of 'what if' that got out of control, and I never thought I'd make a full chapter out of it, but there you go. And then later there's a discussion between Jin and Touya that I didn't think I'd be using nearly this soon.
A few notes to be made; on the third of July, less than one week from now, I'll be going on a trip. I'm actually leaving the day before, taking an over-night train... I love trains... and staying where I'll be for two weeks. I didn't know I was going to be taking this trip until about a week ago, and I'm not sure if I'll have computer access, so there might not be another update until after the twentieth or so of July... but I'm going to try really, really hard to make sure that's not the case. I've already got the next chapter started, and it's one I've been really looking forward to, so with any luck at all I'll have it up some time on my vacation if I can't get it up the day before I leave, which is... gulp... Thursday. At the very least I'll have a few blank notebooks with me so I can write some chapters out by hand and type them up when I get home. I know it sucks that I'm doing this right after taking a break, but this trip is seriously last minute... so I'll tell you what. I'll try getting my sister to do a few more drawings of Mana when I'm visiting with her, sound good? That way we all get something out of it.
Wait, my sister is going to read this. Um... Hi! Love you, Ki!
Also, a note on the content of this chapter. Jin is usually regarded as a hyperactive, happy character, but there is evidence that he has a very sharp, very nasty temper. There is one scene, and only one, in the entire Hakusho series where you see Jin get mad, and not only is it practically instantaneous- when his team is first introduced in the Dark Tournament he goes from being very, very bored and kind of 'blah' to being downright scary over a single wrong move by a teammate- but he also gets over this flare almost as fast as it started, settling down to relax and whistling quietly to himself moments later when he's certain his point has been made. Jin can hold back some of the other shinobi with a single glare; not one member of his team argued with his decision. But, again, he did snap out of it fairly quickly; one flare that left Bakken shaking in his shoes (the stinky bastard) and he was back to being rather disinterested with the proceedings. I guess what they say about redheads applies to him, too.
This chapter is the plot device I mentioned in my last author's note- one character falls ill, and the others have to try to care for them. It's a concept I like to use from time to time when I feel like writing something with the "aww" factor. This is the first time, however, that it's ever reached the internet. The story of Gold-Tree and Silver-Tree is a little nod to my fiance, whom I enjoy reading to from my books of Celtic fairy tales. This particular tale his his favorite (I can't imagine why) and so I've taken one of his standard reactions and affixed it to Mana- "Again." It was incredibly fun to re-tell the story in Jin's words, and good practice for the line of children's books my sister and I want to work on together. The Celts, particularly the Irish, had troves of stories like this one, and I was imensly pleased to be able to touch on them even a little in my writing. I will admit to having a bit of a laugh myself as I did it; the redheads are invariably the rogues in these stories, just as surely as the most cunning theives are inevitably named Jack, at least in my findings. As such, I hope you all enjoy this chapter just as much as I did.
So let's go!
"Hey, Touy?"
It was a clear day in the Makai, at least as clear a day as it ever was. Touya had been enjoying a bit of that clearness by sitting up on the roof to read. It was the easiest place to find some peace and quiet, especially when he was trying to enjoy a good book. Books were a rare treat, although less rare now that Jin had made himself a friend in the human world who loaned them out freely, and he would have liked to be letting himself drift into one of the stories he had been allowed to borrow right now, but... "Touya..." ... apparently Jin had other ideas.
The ice master set the book down, sighing. Hadn't Jin said that morning that he was going off to bother... to visit Mana again? That should have meant an absence- and a period of semi-quiet- of at least a week. In other words, there was no reason the hyperactive redhead should be harassing him now. "Yes, Jin?"
"How do ya take care of a sick human?"
The swear that came to mind was a particularly harsh one Touya had once heard his old master use. "Why do you ask?"
"I went to see Mana. She's not lookin' so good." Jin actually looked concerned. "I'm thinkin' it's not a good thing when a lass like her can't even connect when she tries to hit ya, right?"
Touya cringed inwardly. "That depends. Why was she trying to hit you?" Mentally he added a silent this time. Mana trying to strike at Jin was nothing new...
"I was just tryin' to wake her up." Touya raised an eyebrow; the wind master was sitting on the actual roof. He must have been worried... "She was sleepin' on her couch, still in her school clothes. That's not like her. So I tried wakin' her, and she took a shot at me and missed, and I was right there." The redhead frowned. "That's not like her, either, Touy. Mana's got better aim than that."
Touya stood up. Unfortunately, Jin was right. That didn't sound like the human girl they knew. Grudgingly, he followed his fellow fighter back through into the ningenkai and up to the girl's apartment. Mana was sleeping on her couch, just as Jin had said. Actually, it looked more like the girl had just collapsed there to Touya; she still had her shoes on. He sighed. "You could have at least carried her into her room."
"She was takin' swings at me, though." Touya knelt down. The human healer's face was flushed across the cheeks and the bridge of the nose, but the rest of it was strangely pasty. Mana had seemed to be very pale, but this didn't look like a natural white, even for her. He sighed. She was definitely ill. Jin shifted, scratching the back of his neck as Touya gave him a look. "Ya want me to take her into her own room, then?"
"She'd probably be more comfortable there. Are you going to stay here?"
"Well, yeah." Jin reached down, lifting the girl up and cradling her against his chest carefully. "Who's she got to take care of her but us?"
A common misconception about ice apparitions was that they were cold blooded, not in the scientific sense of the term but with the literal definition that their blood was chilled. Many humans and other varieties of demon were surprised to brush up against an ice user and discover warmth in their skin, but the fact of the matter was that with very rare exceptions their blood did run heated. While it was true that an ice demon could survive in far colder temperatures more easily than any other kind of creature, and while it was true that many ice apparitions- Touya included- did have an average body temperature that was notably lower than that of a human or other demons, it was an untruth to suggest that their bodies were, in fact, icy.
Despite that, Touya's blood ran cold as he echoed, "Us?"
"All her friends are probably too busy with their own schoolin' if they couldn't have noticed she was feelin' so off."
Touya nodded slowly, trying his best not to chill the air around him. It was a crisp February day, cool enough outside already, and the girl probably needed warmth. He followed Jin as the redhead carried the little blonde into her room. "Is the heater running?"
"Not yet, I don't think. Knowin' Mana, she'd turn it off 'afore she left for school. Could ya turn it on for me?" Touya headed over to the small unit to flip the switch, looking up at a small noise. Mana was waking up.
The girl seemed slightly confused as she blinked sleepy eyes up at them. "Jin? Touya? Why are you here?"
"We came to visit ya!" Jin patted the blankets around her. "Only ya've gone and gotten yerself sick. Wot did ya go and do that for, eh?"
"I didn't get sick on purpose, you know." The girl sat up slowly. "Why am I in my room?"
"'Cause ya need yer rest!" Touya slipped out of the room as the healer tried to protest. He didn't think she would mind if he made some tea. Perhaps it might make her feel better as well.
Jin came out a few minutes later, as he was waiting for the water to boil. "Hey, Touy? Can ya do me a favor?"
He sighed. "What do you need?"
"Do ya think ya could find the store on yer own? I'm thinkin' she could use some medicine for that fever somethin' bad. She's been pushin' herself pretty hard for her schoolin', I think."
Touya nodded, reaching over to flip off the stove as the kettle started to whistle. "I'll need money. I don't have any on me." The redhead responded by picking up Mana's school bag and digging through it. "Jin, I don't think that's such a good idea."
"I don't think she'll be mindin' so much once she feels better." He pulled a small blue coin purse from the bag. "She needs somethin' to give her a boost, so says I. Could ya, Touy?"
"Alright..." He took the small bag, tucking it into his pocket. "I'll go."
"Good!" Jin seemed cheerful. "See, it won't be so hard to get her feelin' right again. Thanks for helpin' me, Touy."
This wasn't too strange for Jin, Touya reflected as he walked down the street. The wind master had always had a habit of looking after his comrades, at least to some extent. He wasn't the kind of person who would leave another apparition out in the cold, so to speak. But his fascination with the human was more than a little perplexing. Yes, Jin liked making friends and then harassing them endlessly afterwards, but he didn't typically try to nurture them to this extent. It was a little bit odd.
Then again, none of the friends Jin had ever made, to his knowledge, had been small little human girls. The fact that she could cook may have also been a contributing factor.
The ice master sighed, heading into the store. It was fairly easy to find the medicines; humans had signs everywhere in places like this. What proved to be a puzzle was trying to figure out what kind of medicine the girl needed. The entire aisle was nothing but box after box, each one listing different symptoms and offering a better remedy than the others. There were enough options to make a person's head spin, and Touya wondered just how the humans kept their health when one could get even more ill just looking through the options.
"Excuse me." The ice master blinked, turning towards the small woman who was addressing him. Her form was hunched and her hair was thick with wisps of white, but her eyes were aware. "Do you need some help, young man?"
Young man? He was probably older than she was. But she met his odd eyes without flinching, and he liked that. "I think I might. I have a..." A what? An acquaintance? A contact? "I have a... friend... who fell very ill. We're not sure what's wrong, but she's running a high fever and seems very lethargic." The woman nodded almost dismissively, but her eyes were understanding and Touya wondered if maybe he shouldn't try to explain why he was here for the medicine. "Her father is out of town right now, so my friend and I are trying to take care of her ourselves. Neither of us is entirely sure what to do. Is there anything you could recommend?"
Gnarled old hands reached up and pulled a box off the shelf. The packaging wasn't as fancy as it was on the other medications, but she seemed confident as she handed it to him. "Forty years it's been, since I nursed my own little ones through sicknesses like that. There have been a lot of new drugs since then, but this is still the best there is." Touya studied the box curiously. Instead of capsules or pills, it contained a bottle of thick syrup. "It's not much for the taste of it, though. If I were you, I would try giving her a good strong tea afterwards, to get the taste away. Are you keeping her warm?"
Touya nodded. "We put her to bed first thing."
"Good boy." The woman's wrinkled face crinkled into a smile. "Starve a cold, feed a fever, that's what my children learned. Keep her bundled up well, and make sure she drinks plenty. There's been a nasty bug going around, but if she takes this and gets her rest she should be just fine."
"Thank you..." The ice master headed for the front counter. To his surprise, the little woman followed him and rang up the charges herself. "Do you have many children?"
"I had five myself, and then they've gone and brought me twelve grandchildren, bless their souls." She smiled. "I've even got my first great-grandchild on the way. They say it should be a boy. I certainly hope he looks after his friends as well as you do. That's rare this day and age." Touya couldn't bring himself to do more than smile vaguely. "You're a nice young man, even if you do have funny hair. You shouldn't let people talk you into doing things like that, you know. No one would know you were such a sweet boy."
He left feeling... he wasn't even sure what. The whole situation had been distinctly awkward. Sighing, he looked down at the paper bag in his hands. At the very least, he'd gotten what he'd been sent to get. He hoped Jin would be happy now. Next time he could go to the store...
The wind master looked slightly perturbed when Touya walked into the living room. "Eh, there ya are. Wot took ya so long?"
"Do you have any idea how many different kinds of medicine humans have for a single ailment?" The smaller apparition opened the bag, taking the time to read the back of the box. "Is she awake?"
"Not hardly, she isn't." He was shaking his head for emphasis. "Out like a light as soon as I had her settled, didn't even give me a chance to finish speakin' afore she was gone. Ya want me to wake her?"
"That might be a good idea." Popping the box open, Touya raised an eyebrow at the tiny plastic cup secured over the cap. Convenient. "If she takes some of this now, she can take another dose before bed tonight. We should probably keep her from going to school tomorrow, too."
Jin cringed. "Oh, Mana won't like that one bit. Are ya sure there's nothin' else we can do?"
Touya shook his head, heading into the girl's room. "Jin, couldn't you have gotten something for her to change into? Her uniform is going to get wrinkled, and it can't be comfortable."
"Only if ya want to do the changin' yerself! I'm not askin' for trouble that way!"
He gave his comrade at arms the flattest look he could without causing a chill. "I meant, couldn't you have gotten something out for her to change into herself so she wouldn't have to get up on her own."
"Oh... right."
Sometimes he wondered if Jin ever heard more than half of what was said to him as the redhead headed over to the drawers and pulled out a set of kitten pajamas. He groaned. "Jin, do I want to know why you can find things in this room that easily?"
"Em..." The wind master set the folded clothes onto the pillow next to the girl's head. "No, probably not."
"Nosey." The only reply he got was a sheepish grin. Sighing, Touya gave the girl's shoulders a small shake. "Mana." There was a soft groan. "Mana, wake up."
"What do you want?" The girl gripped her pillow, blinking at him in a tired way. Pouring the medicine into the small cup, he held it up to her. She stared at it. "What's that?"
"This should help you with your fever." The girl sat up slowly, rubbing one eye. "Drink this, and then have a bit more of your tea, okay?"
There was a trusting nod that was quickly replaced by a look of revulsion as she shoved the small, now empty cup back at him. "Where on earth did you get that? It's disgusting..."
"I'm sorry about that." He picked up the teacup, resting it in her hands and noticing that they were shaking lightly. "Are you going to be okay?"
"Yeah..." She sipped the tea, looking over at Jin while she did. "It didn't take you three months to come back this time."
"Nope!" He reached over, ruffling the healer's hair. Touya watched, amused, as the girl wrinkled her nose. "Are ya feelin' any better yet?"
"I'll feel better once I get this taste out of my mouth..."
Touya stood then, leaving the apartment and heading up to the roof. He wasn't sure how long he'd been standing when he heard footsteps in the snow behind him. "Hey, Touya! Wot are ya doin' out here?"
"I was just thinking." The lights in the homes behind him were starting to flick on even though it was not yet twilight. "Why did you come back so soon, Jin? Why now? You waited longer last time."
"I wanted to see how she was doin', that's all." Jin trudged over to look at the cityscape next to him. "I'm thinkin', Touy, that I might just try helpin' her to train once she's well. She could use the help, by my way of thought. And besides, I like it here. Helpin' Mana, keepin' her from bein' lonely, I could really enjoy the sun."
He'd suspected Jin had been considering that idea. "I heard from Risho a few days ago. It was the same offer, as always."
The wind master nodded. "And ya told him no, right?"
The ice apparition hesitated. Jin wouldn't like this one bit... "I told him I'd think about it."
Deep blue eyes flashed. "Ya'd think about it, Touy? Wot's there to think about? We both said we weren't goin' back!"
"I know we did, but do we really have any other options? They need us there..."
"They need to stand on their own! Ya can't have forgotten what Risho did, how he acted. He let Gama's death go like it was nothin' and hit ya when ya were down!" He could feel his friend's agitation whipping up in the air around him. "Risho's nothin' to us, not from the day he left his ideals and his honor behind!"
"Jin," Touya's voice was tired, stretched almost. "I understand how you feel, but the fact of the matter is that Risho's propositions are starting to sound good. I miss home, Jin. I miss the old village. I miss the shinobi." He reached into his pocket, pulling out the pale purple medallion he still kept with him at all times; he knew, without ever actually seeing it, that Jin did the same. "This used to mean something. We worked hard to hold these in our hands. They were our badges. They stood for who we were. We promised we'd bring these to a place in the light and make it our own, didn't we? Well, I'm ready to give it another try. Maybe you're happy coming by here every month or so, playing with your new little pet human, but me... I miss feeling like I was a part of something."
Jin was silent as Touya returned the medal to his pocket. The ice apparition frowned, looking up, and immediately knew he had hit a nerve. The wind master's face was dark, his expression deeply serious as he stared off into the setting sun. Jin was usually regarded as too high-spirited, too easily able to run and laugh like a kid... but Touya had also seen this darker expression more times than he cared to count. Most people didn't even realize how quickly Jin's temper could be set off; one wrong word and he'd go from all smiles to a surly mood that, if let go, could easily permeate those around him. Touya sighed, knowing there was only one way now to get the redhead to talk. "I'm sorry. The pet comment was taking it too far, I know."
"It's not that," Jin mumbled. "It's not that and ya know it. Hell, that's almost about right, really. She's like a pet, a little diversion I can train and play with. She's fun to tease, gettin' her riled up, see if she'll hiss at me like a kitten. Fun to try and make her smile, too, see if the kitten knows how to purr. That sounds about right. She's just a pet." The wind master actually spat. "That's never been me way of thinkin' and ya know it. And this has nothin' to do with her."
"It does, and you know it." Touya walked over to stand next to his friend. The redhead's expression was colder than the ice master had seen it in some time. "You're already breaking the rules to come through here and see her. And you're risking Suzuka's methods being revealed to do it. Why, Jin?"
There was a long silence before Jin sighed. "Touya..." Touya waited patiently. "Touy, do ya remember when I first came to the village?"
"How could I forget? You picked more fights than anyone I had ever met."
Jin shoved his hands in his pockets irritably. "It wasn't me pickin' those fights, Touya, it was them. They all thought I wasn't as smart or as strong as another, just 'cause I maybe talk a little bit funny to them. They picked those fights. Me, I just threw the first punches."
"And they almost threw you out on your ear." The ice master huffed softly. "What's the point, Jin?"
"That's about how it is for Mana," Jin muttered. "Yusuke and his group, they're a right enough gang. I like them. But Mana, she doesn't have the same skills as they do. She's not on they're level, and they let her know it. So wot's she do, she works harder all by herself, just tryin' to earn a little respect. And she's never gonna get it, not at this rate. She's been left too far behind. I don't like that. Feels to me like she ought to have more of a chance than that."
There was more to it than that. Touya stood in silence, looking straight ahead, and finally heard Jin sigh. "Have I ever told ya about the stories me mum used to tell me?"
"You've mentioned them a time or two, but you've never told me any." Vaguely, the ice master wondered where the redhead was going with this. Jin's mind was like a spider's web, running around in circles and sticking things together that weren't always supposed to go that way. He decided to just let the thoughts run their course. Jin had a point, even if Touya couldn't see it yet.
"Me mum, she'd tell me all the legends from old Erin. Grew up there, ya know, in the human world. I think it was comfortin' to her, tellin' the stories she'd grown up with herself. She'd tell me about giants and ogres and fairy women, king's sons and heros, brave lads and lovely princesses..." Touya raised an eyebrow at the changing tone and chanced a glance over. Sure enough, Jin was starting to smile. "The princesses, the king's daughters, they were always supposed to be the prettiest girls in the land, and they always looked just the same in me mum's stories. They were all real delicate, with pretty little hands and nice, kinda smallish feet, and they all had fair pale skin and buckets of gold curls. Mana, the first time I woke up in her house I was all in a daze, and when she came around to talk to me and I saw all that gold on her head I almost thought she looked mighty strong like one of those princesses, especially if she'd just curl her hair up a bit. I laughed at myself for it later, 'cause Mana's far too rough to be a king's daughter, and of course her eyes are all the wrong shape even if she does blush just right, but it did make me think of somethin' else."
"Something like what?" Touya was trying desperately not to imagine Jin as a boy, listening to fairy tales like that; the image was unsettling. It was almost as unsettling as the idea of the little blonde decked out in flowing robes and curls. No girl should be able to be made into a little doll like that so easily...
"Toy, how do ya think she looks to the people around her? Physical appearance and the like, ya know?"
The ice apparition blinked. What in the world... "The same way she does to us, I suppose."
"An' how's she look to ya, Touy?"
Touya thought about it. "I guess she's pretty, although it's a sickly sort of beauty. She's a modest height for her age, fairly petite, a bit frail looking if you overlook the muscle, and that's mostly too lean to really stand out anyway. She looks pale, like she spends too much time indoors. She is very fair-skinned, but the undertones don't look Asian, not when she blushes, because her cheeks are just a bit too pink. Pale hair, again, it seems like it's a bit too fine to be Asian, and..." Touya trailed off for a moment, starting to see Jin's point all too clearly. "And light-colored eyes. She stands out. If it wasn't for the shape of her eyes, I'd have never guessed she was half Japanese at all. She looks like she's American or European."
"An' the lily an' the rose were fightin' in 'er face, and no sure bet as to which one would come out the winner." Touya decided not to ask. He was afraid he could guess anyway. "She looks like she doesn't belong there where she's livin'," Jin continued quietly. "And the way she acts, that doesn't help her any either. She comes out smarter and faster than the other girls her age, and they don't like that. Not out of someone that looks like she does."
Touya turned to stare openly at his old friend "You relate."
"I just think the girl deserves a chance. She's got two human friends in the whole world, and they can't do a thing to help her. She's on her own."
"You were on your own. You came out fine."
"Nah." Jin kicked at the snow before turning to head inside. "I had you. You at least kept them from throwin' me out on me head."
The ice apparition raised an eyebrow, but decided not to comment. Not on that, anyway. "So you intend to be there to give her a bit of a boost?"
"She saved me life. It's the least I can do."
Well, at least Jin seemed to be back to normal now. Touya followed after him, shoving his own hands into his pockets as well. "And it doesn't hurt, I suppose, that she first reminded you of a fairy tale princess."
"Bah!" Yes, Jin's foul mood had definitely passed. "I told ya, Touy, Irish princesses had curls!"
"Whatever you say, Jin. Whatever you say."
Sitting up in her bed with bleary eyes and her pink pajamas, Jin decided that Mana looked downright cute and about three years younger than she was. Now if she would just stay in her bed where she belonged, he'd be perfectly happy. "Jin, I'm fine. I have to go now..."
He refused to budge from where he was sitting, cross-legged, on her feet. "And I'm telling ya yer not goin' anywhere, not until that fever breaks. This isn't up for discussion, yer gonna get well!"
The look she gave him was irate enough to be worrisome. "I will shoot you if I have to, Jin."
"And that won't make me move any more than askin' me to will! Besides, I hid yer bookbag." An untruth, but she had no way of knowing that unless she got up, and he would have the bag hidden before she could get to it. "Touya said he'd be workin' on makin' ya somethin' to eat, so yer gonna stay right where you are."
"Can I at least have my feet back?" He shifted, relinquishing her ankles to her, and she pulled herself into a little ball. "You don't have to do this."
"Wot, look after ya? Someone's got to!" He decided he would not tell her about how the twins had stopped by that morning, intent on keeping her home themselves. She didn't need to know that everyone was out to make her miss school. It would just make her even more annoyed. "Listen, wot can I do to make ya get yer rest like a good girl?"
There was a distinctive scowl as Mana curled onto her side, peering at him from over her blankets. "You can stop talking to me like I'm a kid, for one."
"And mebe this will teach ya to not work yerself sick!" He gave her a gentle prod through the blankets. "I could tell ya a story, would that get ya to rest?"
"Maybe." He watched her shift, settling into her bed more comfortably. "What kind of story?"
Jin studied her for a moment, mulling over her hair and the conversation he'd had with Touya the day before, and then smiled. "Well, why don't I tell ya one of the stories me mother used to tell me? Did yer mother ever tell ya fairy tales as a girl, Mana?"
There was a small nod. He knew it might not be the brightest thing to do, bringing up her late parent, but maybe she had some good memories of her own that might calm her down. "She did... all the time. That's how I started to learn English..."
"And do ya think ya could understand if I told ya one in English?" There was a small nod. Jin beamed, settling more comfortably down himself. "Good. I know one, might cheer ya up a bit. I always have fun tellin' it, anyway, although I don't much get any chances to." There was another small nod. The wind master smiled to himself and started telling the story. "There once was a king, back in the old country, who had a beautiful wife. Her name was Silver-Tree. The two of them had a daughter just as beautiful as her mother, and her name was Gold-Tree. Gold-Tree and Silver-Tree used to take long walks, and one day of the days they came upon a glen with a deep well sunk in it, and in it there was a trout. Said Silver-Tree, 'Troutie, bonny little fellow, am I not the most beautiful queen in the world?'"
"Please tell me she didn't get a response to that..." Mana had one eyebrow arched delicately upwards. "You're telling me a story about a fish?"
"No, I'm tellin' ya a story about the people talkin' to the fish, and yes the fish answers her, so ya'd best not be interrupting me again. Now, Silver-Tree wasn't too please when the fish peeked up out of the water, and 'oh! Indeed you are not,' is wot he said. And then when she asked who was the most beautiful queen, the fish told her that it was her own daughter. Right then Silver-Tree decided she didn't like that, and when she went home she lay down in her bed ill and there was nothing anyone could do about it. Her husband asked her if there was anything at all that could cure her, promising to do whatever it took, and she told him she could only be saved if she had the heart and liver of their daughter, Gold-Tree, to eat."
"This sounds like Snow White," Mana mumbled sleepily. Jin blinked, reaching up to tuck her blankets around her a bit before, inspired, he ran to her father's room to get the rag doll angel from its box. The blonde stared as he tucked it onto the pillow next to her. "Jin..."
"Not a word until after I'm done with me story!" Jin settled back down where he had been sitting. "Now, the king wasn't very happy to hear this, but he did promise he'd give her anything. He couldn't bring himself to give his daughter, though, so instead he decided to play a trick. A prince's son from far abroad had come, asking to marry Gold-Tree, and now the king gave the price his daughter in secret and bade him to take her far away. Then he sent his men to the hunting-hill to fetch a goat, and had it killed and it's heart and liver cooked and given to his wife. Believing them to be from her daughter, Silver-Tree at them and rose up well again."
"They have weird names."
Jin blinked. "Yeah, some of them did, I suppose. I always thought Small-head had it a bit worse, though." Mana stared at him blankly, and he resolved to tell her that story another time. "So a year went by, and Silver-Tree went for a walk one day and found that same well. 'Troutie,' said she, 'bonny little fellow, am I not the most beautiful queen in the world?'She thought she'd get her yes this time, but 'oh! Indeed, you are not," said the trout. 'Who, then," Silver-Tree demanded, and as before the trout answered her 'why, Gold-tree, your daughter!' Silver-Tree brushed off the words of the trout, saying that it was long since her daughter was living, but the trout assured her that no, Gold-Tree was alive and well living across the sea. Silver-Tree had no choice but to believe him, 'cause of course ya must listen to a magic animal like that, and so she went home and told her husband to put the longboat in order, for she missed her daughter so. The boat was put to rights-"
"You're joking, right?" Jin tried not to laugh as Mana unconsciously gripped the rag doll with one hand. "This woman demanded that her daughter be killed so she could eat her. Isn't the king just a little bit suspicious when she asks to see her again?"
"If he was, he didn't say so. The ship was put to rights, and Silver-Tree steered it herself. When Gold-Tree saw it coming her husband was out at the hunt, and she turned to the servants for help. 'My mother is coming,' she cried, 'and she will kill me!' But the servants assured her that all would be well. They locked her in a high room so that when her mother came, she could not run to the shore to greet her. Silver-Tree pretended to be hurt by this, and asked that her daughter would at least slip her smallest finger through the keyhole in the door for her to kiss it. Gold-Tree did this, but instead of a kiss her mother put a poison stab to the finger, and Gold-Tree fell down dead. When the prince came home and found his wife dead, he was filled with sorrow. But she was so beautiful that he could not bring himself to burry her, either, and so he had her locked away where no one could get near her but him."
"Definitely Snow White." Mana snuggled down into the blankets further. "So then what happened?"
The question was asked so innocently that he couldn't help but grin. "Well, the prince remarried, and his new bride had the full run of the castle but for one room. She was always curious about what was in the room, and so one day when her husband forgot the key she snuck inside, and there she found the most beautiful woman she'd ever seen. At first she thought Gold-Tree asleep, but when she tried to wake her there was the stab in her finger. The new princess pulled the stab from her finger, curious, and Gold-Tree rose again as alive as ever. When the prince came home that night, downcast as ever, his wife asked him what gift she could give him to make him smile, and he said that nothing could make him happy save for if Gold-Tree were still alive. His wife told him 'well, you'll find her alive down in the room.' And there was rejoicing when the king saw her, for he did love her dearly. The new wife said, 'since she is the first one you had it is better for you to stick to her, and I will go away.' But the prince would hear nothing of it, for Gold-Tree did owe her life to her, and so he said that they would both stay with him."
"You're joking, right?"
"Nope!" Jin blinked thoughtfully. "Although that honestly always sounded a little shaky to me, too. I have to wonder that he didn't have other motives to wantin' two wives..."
Mana cringed. "Continue, please."
"Right." He tilted his head. "Well, they were livin' happy as they were, and a year goes by when who goes back to the well but old Silver-Tree. 'Troutie,' asks she, 'bonny little fellow, am I not the most beautiful queen in the world?'" Mana muttered something that sounded like a very soft 'again.' Jin raised an eyebrow and kept going. "'Oh,' said the trout, 'indeed you are not!'"
This time, Mana spoke a little louder. "Again."
He blinked, waiting to see if she would elaborate, but the girl fell silent once more. "And when the queen demanded to know who was, once again his answer was the same- 'why, Gold-Tree, your daughter.' And out came the truth, that Gold-Tree was alive and well once more. Well, the queen was all in a rage at this, but she hid it well and went to her husband, asking that the longboat in order so that she could see her daughter, for she did miss her so."
"Again. I'm starting to see a repetitive theme here..."
"Hug yer angel and hush." That earned him a glare, but he shrugged it off and kept talking. "Now, when Gold-Tree saw the ship coming she knew who was at the helm, and with her husband gone all she could do was cry, 'my mother is coming, and she will kill me.' But the second wife assured her that no, she would not die this day. They would go down to the shore to meet her."
"The second wife is supposed to be the smart one, right? Please tell me she has a plan."
"She did!" Jin beamed. "When Silver-Tree came ashore, she bade her daughter to come to her, saying she had a precious drink for her. But the second wife interrupted. 'It is a custom in this country,' said she, 'that the person who offers a drink take a draught of it first.' Silver-Tree raised the cup, intending to never let the liquid pass her lips, but the second wife struck the bottom hard so that some of it went down her throat, and Silver-Tree fell down dead. They had only to carry her home a dead corpse and bury her."
"And everyone lived happily ever after, right?" Jin nodded. Mana stared down at the little rag doll, running one finger along the beads. "It was like Snow White with a second wife and a much stupider father..."
Jin frowned. "I'll tell ya the story of Small-head next time, or perhaps Guleesh, and we'll see if ya don't like those more."
"I didn't say I didn't like it." The girl snuggled into her blankets. "I'm only saying that Gold-Tree's father was an idiot. The second wife was obviously the smartest one in the story. She was the only one who could think through a problem."
"I always thought the servants tried to do the best at protectin' their princess, though. They couldn't have known that Silver-Tree would get to her through the keyhole."
Mana actually half-smiled. "I think Gold-Tree took after her father on that one."
"She must have, I'm thinkin'. All beauty and no brains."
There was an actual weak giggle. "No wonder the prince liked her."
He couldn't help but laugh. "Well, that may have been part of it, I'm bettin'." He smoothed the blankets over her. "Now, why don't I go see how Touy's doin' with breakfast, eh?"
He had to try hard not to laugh as she nodded. She didn't even seem to realize she was resting her cheek on the doll...
It took three days for Mana to recover completely. Touya actually managed to get the hang of the temperamental stove in that time, as it was quickly discovered that Jin should not be allowed to try to cook. They never did figure out the source of the billowing black clouds of smoke, but the heater in the main room had to be run over-time to make up for having to keep the balcony door wide open to get it all out. Jin told her a few more stories to keep her quiet and in bed, and seemed to enjoy it fairly well. He didn't bring up training her before they left, but Touya was fairly sure it wouldn't be long until that came up. Jin could be more patient than people gave him credit for, but that patience always had it's rather abrupt limits. And life went on...
