ACT II – SCENE 1
[Melancholy music starts as the images fades from black to an overcast, dreary day where we see a few boats sail away from the pier. Masako and Norio wave them away. Seeing the boats are gone, Masako and Norio stop waving. They are both very troubled by the recent events.]
Norio: What happened?
Masako: You saw her. She just disappeared. Like a ghost.
Norio: I saw that, but WHY?! WHY DID SHE JUST GO?!
Masako: I DON'T KNOW! I just don't know! And we shouldn't bother the Prince or the rest of the Royal family. Let's just get back to doing our job of protecting the Kingdom, and when they are ready to tell us, they will.
Norio: What if they never tell?
Masako: Then, I guess we'll never know.
[Norio growls and kicks the dirt in frustrated defeat as they walk back towards the Kingdom.]
[The image fades to a foggy, overcast forest. From the distance, we see a man riding gently through the fog-ridden forest.]
[The close-up shows Jack, in his white kimono, riding the horse through the foggy forest. He's in a deep state of depression and pain. The horse trots gently.]
[The camera pans from a tree top to the left, showing Jack and the horse below, still trotting along.]
[Back on the ground, Jack and the horse stop in a somewhat open area of the forest.]
[Jack is still with his head down in pain as the hair blows his hair gently.]
[Jack dismounts the horse and walks into the forest.]
[A leaf lands on the grass. The camera then pans up to Jack, sitting against a tree, eyes closed, trying to cope with what has happened.]
[We see, in the woods, a slight hint of the sun trying to cut through the miserable fog.]
[The camera goes back on Jack, still with eyes closed. We hear some light buzzing. A ladybug flies and lands on Jack's fingers. This catches the attention of Jack as he opens his eyes to the insect on his finger. Jack looks curiously at the ladybug.]
[Jack brings the ladybug, still on his finger, closer to his face.]
[We see the ladybug on Jack's finger blink once.]
[Jack then cracks a smile for the first time in a long time.]
[Inspirational music starts as Jack stands up and holds his finger in the air. The ladybug stretches its wings and flies.]
[We see a shot pulling away from Jack, still smiling, as the ladybug flies past the camera.]
[From behind Jack and the tree where petals fall in the gentle breeze, we see the fog giving way and sun peeking through, lighting up the rolling hills of cherry blossoms. We hear a woman vocalizing in the music. Soon, all of the fog has burned away, and the sun engulfs the entire region, showcasing the beautiful sight of cherry blossoms in the hills.]
[From above, we follow the ladybug as it flies over the cherry blossom fields.]
[We follow the ladybug from behind as it flies over the cherry blossom fields and towards the Kingdom as the sun continues to fill the lands.]
[We see the ladybug flying over towards the Palace.]
[We see an open window in the Palace about halfway up to the top, where within, we hear soft sobbing.]
[The ladybug flies through the window and into the room as we hear the soft sobbing continue.]
[We see The Girl, in a white kimono, sobbing with her head buried in her bedding. The ladybug flies into her room.]
[We see a close-up of The Girl's exposed arm. The ladybug flies in and lands gently on The Girl's arm. The Girl's sobbing stifles as she slowly raises her tear-filled eyes, seeing the ladybug on her arm.]
[The Girl brings her tear-filled eyes closer to the ladybug on her arm.]
[We see the ladybug blink to The Girl.]
[Seeing this, The Girl's eyes become wide. A grin starts to tremble its way onto her face.]
[Inspirational music starts again as the ladybug flies off and back towards the opening of the room. Encouraged, The Girl wipes her tears and follows the ladybug out.]
[The ladybug leaves through the Palace window and back into the sunshine. The Girl looks out the window with tears in her eyes. We see a smile weakly come onto her face.]
[From behind The Girl, the sun is soaking up the Kingdom, showcasing the cherry blossoms of the hills. The inspirational music embellishes with a woman vocalizing.]
[A moment later, The Girl in her golden-brown kimono leaves through the front door of the Palace with an umbrella shading the sun from her face. She has dried her tears and has re-dressed her hair to the braided style she had back in her youth. The Girl walks down the stairs among the cherry blossom petals falling.]
[The Girl walks through the Kingdom. The families are looking after each other as they all appear to still be in mourning. The Girl appears to share in their pain.]
[The Girl leaves the center of the Kingdom and heads towards the cherry blossom forest.]
[Among the falling cherry blossom petals in the forest, we see The Girl, walking slowly along the falling petals. She seems to still process her emotions, but she's still seems a little depressed. She stops and opens her eyes to find a full bud, gently falling. The Girl lets it land in her right hand.]
[The Girl smiles weakly at the sight.]
The Girl: Beautiful.
[The Girl lets the breeze knock the bud off of her hand and float away. She continues walking.]
[We see six various shots of The Girl walking through the cherry blossoms, admiring the beauty.]
[We see the Girl walking along the cherry blossoms, but she stops as she sees something up ahead.]
[From behind the Girl, we see Jack walking up the row of cherry blossoms, with his horse behind him.]
[The Girl shudders slightly, not sure of what is to come. Nervous, she focuses on the cherry blossoms, trying to ignore Jack, but she cannot.]
[Jack, still coping, keeps walking with his horse, ignorant of The Girl.]
[As The Girl focuses on the cherry blossoms with teary eyes, Jack walks on by with his horse. The Girl glances to Jack briefly as he walks past.]
[The Girl, seeing that Jack has past her, glances towards him with great concern.]
[Jack keeps walking with his horse.]
[The Girl closes her eyes and looks away. She feels the pain.]
[As Jack is walking among the cherry blossoms, he opens his eyes that look towards his back. He thinks about it, but continues on, eyes closed.]
[Later, among the autumn leaves, Jack and the male volunteers all sit, legs crossed and arms down, in deep, sincere meditation.]
[We see several different shots of the male volunteers and Jack meditating quietly among the rustling leaves.]
[We see The Emperor, Empress, and the female nurses sitting in front of the palace fireplace, legs crossed and arms relaxed, deeply meditating.]
[We see several different shots of the nurses, the Emperor and Empress meditating deeply to the sound of the crackling fireplace.]
[In the forest among the autumn leaves, we see The Girl, and the women volunteers, legs crossed and arms relaxed, in deep meditation.]
[We see several shots of the women meditating to the sound of falling, rustling leaves.]
[A few days later, we see Jack meditating in the river. His kimono and sword are on the shore next to the river.]
[Jack is in deep meditation. We hear leaves rustling, which causes Jack to open his eyes and look.]
[On shore we see The Girl. She was walking towards the river but stopped at the rustling.]
[Jack sits and waits quietly for The Girl's next action.]
[After a moment's pause, The Girl gently speaks.]
The Girl: I can wait.
[Jack finds comfort in the words.]
Jack: Thank you.
[Jack goes back to meditating.]
[The Girl closes her eyes and walks away.]
[A few days later inside the Palace at night, we see Jack hugging the Emperor and Empress.]
Emperor: We are worried, son. You have not spoken much.
Empress: We are here for you, son. We love you.
Jack: Yes. I love you, too. I have more to tell, but only at the right time.
Emperor: Very well, son. Whenever you are ready, we are here.
Empress: Good night, son.
Jack: Good night, Mother….Father.
[The Emperor and Empress leave together and Jack goes his own way.]
[Jack walks up the hallway that includes the doorway to The Girl and Ashi's room, which is lit by candlelight.]
[From the open door of the room, Jack walks by. But The Girl chimes in, prompting Jack to look back in.]
The Girl: I cannot sleep.
[We see from Jack's point of view….The Girl, in her sleeping robes, sitting on her bed and looking at Ashi's bed, which is made up and where her wedding robes are laid.]
[Jack looks at the bed and begins to tear up. He looks at The Girl.]
Jack: It cannot wait?
[The Girl fights tears and looks at Jack.]
The Girl: No….
[Jack enters the room and sits next to The Girl on her bed. After a moment's pause, The Girl embraces Jack, catching his a little off-guard, but he embraces her gently as she begins to softly sob.]
[Through her light sobbing, The Girl speaks as Jack holds her.]
The Girl: (light sobbing) After all you fought for….after all you did to save the world…..why? Why did she go?
[Jack, with light tears in his eyes, meditates and responds softly.]
Jack: She did not go willingly. She wanted to stay….forever. I am afraid that it was…her fate.
[The Girl looks at Jack with a confused look.]
The Girl: Fate? What?
Jack: A fate she could never avoid. A fate that was sealed for her the very day she was created.
The Girl: What? How can that be?
[Jack stops at that. He closes his eyes and ponders hard within his head.]
[The next day, Jack is seen in front of the front steps of the Palace addressing the Kingdom. The Girl, The Emperor, The Empress, and the Volunteer Army are right behind him as he talks.]
Jack: My people! I know you have many questions! I am here to answer them! But as I do so, I must ask you to have complete trust in me! For what I am about to say may puzzle you, and it might scare you! You must trust me in what I say because I have seen many things in the future that have now been undone! And after all I have seen, nothing can make more sense than this! It is painful for me say this, but it is a horrible truth! Ashi was…..
[Jack looks once more at The Girl, who nods with caution. He sees The Emperor and Empress, who also nod in confidence.]
[Jack inhales deeply and bellows out the truth.]
Jack:…..a Daughter of Aku!
[The Kingdom gasps and murmurs in shock.]
Townswoman1: WHAT!? HOW!?
Townsman1: AKU PROCREATED!? BLASTPHOMY!
Townswoman2: THAT CAN'T BE TRUE! IT CAN'T BE!
[Jack begs for order.]
Jack: EVERYONE! SILENCE, PLEASE! PLEASE, LET ME EXPLAIN!
[The crowd gradually quiets down as the Volunteer Army appears to have swallowed the horrible truth.]
Jack: Please understand! I never wanted to believe it, either! But after what has happened, my worst fears were realized! In the future, Ashi was born from the pit of hate to a human mother who took Aku's seed! But when I destroyed Aku here in our time, I prevented Aku from infesting the future with his evil. Therefore, I-I-I stopped him from creating Ashi in the future!
[The entire Kingdom is silent as those words echoed through the Kingdom.]
[We see a few shots of the Townspeople with their eyes open in shock.]
[The Army appears to have taken a slight punch in the gut.]
[The Emperor, The Empress and The Girl all look towards the Kingdom with concern.]
[Jack, almost weak, stays eyes open towards the Kingdom.]
[We see Townsman1 think, and then steps forward with conviction.]
Townsman1: My Prince, she was NOT a Daughter of Aku!
Jack: Wha-?
Townsman1: A Daughter of Aku would not have helped us rebuild our Kingdom to its former glory.
[Jack smiles seeing this.]
Townswoman1: Yes. A Daughter of Aku would have never given all of us women the inspiration to fight and defend our lands.
[The female Volunteers smile with pride at that remark.]
Townsman2: A Daughter of Aku would have never helped you come home to save the world.
[The Emperor and Empress smile and embrace each other.]
Townswoman2: And no Daughter of Aku would have made you, our strong and mighty Prince, weak at the knees every time that she smiled at you.
[We see a split screen of two shots: One is of Jack smiling with a slight blush. The other is of The Girl smiling with a nod of confidence.]
Townsman3: Ashi was much more than a young woman. She was fearless.
Townswoman3: Yes. She was mighty!
Townsman4: A warrior!
Townswoman4: A princess!
Townsman1: Yes, she was OUR Princess! And as long as we are alive, the story of the REAL Ashi will NEVER be forgotten!
Townsman2: ASHI! THE PRINCESS WHO CONQUERED ALL EVIL!
[The Kingdom erupts in a roar of approval.]
[The Girl smiles with tears in her eyes as she looks to the Heavens.]
[Jack is so overwhelmed by the response, he goes to the Empress who consoles him as the Emperor takes charge.]
Emperor: MY PEOPLE! PLEASE! MY PEOPLE!
[The Kingdom settles down.]
Emperor: In response to this revelation, I propose that a memorial be erected in honor of Ashi and her amazing journey!
[The Kingdom roars in approval.]
[Jack rises and smiles with tears in his eyes.]
[The Girl tears up even more as she looks up to the Heavens again.]
The Girl: We love you, Ashi. We all do.