66th Journey
[Private]
I won't forget the lessons I've learned during that day. The memories and facts fade away, but the sentiment remains intact. I can't for life recall the faces of my parents or the sound of their voices. That feeling of anger and helplessness was a taste of what the citizens of Kei had been suffering all these years when the throne was empty or occupied by an empress.
The era of Yosei ended, this is the beginning of Sekiraku.
I will become a good Queen.
Now that you are here by my side, Rakushun, would you help me to plan how to build a kingdom without none of those horrors? It's scary. The past that wasn't mine and what I could become if I messed up.
Huh. That was a weird curse. I think there's no need to point out that I'm nobody's wife, mother or biological sister, right? I'll never become none of these either.
Sorry that you had to endure a curse so soon, Rakushun. I'd planned to take you shopping yesterday, so you could buy more clothes to wear in your human form. We can do that today. You'll need to become used to that body to pass your riding and archery courses at the University; it'll be a good idea to not waste time and practice while we're trapped here. We can ask around if there are instructors to teach you those disciplines.
I guess I'll have to teach you more about computers to you too.
Keiki, uhh, I'm so sorry about what happened the other day. I've already accepted and I want to renew my lessons the sooner as possible. I know you were cursed last Saturday, but I grateful for your words of encouragement. That was nice while it lasted. Right, I almost forgot. Taiki wanted to go to the zoo someday. Would you and En Taiho take him?
Sooo...
Was it a curse, Moro?
[Kenshin]
I saw her arrival...
[Her life in Hourai had been privileged: she had never starved or felt the touch of the deadly winter, she had put her life on line, she had never been exiled for what she was nor her family had been slain by tyrannical laws or by demons. They were harsh on her because of her hair color, but their deride and snide remarks weren't in the same level of execution. Her stomach turned to the idea of how many families had been destroyed by the Prophet's madness.
While Youko Nakajima wasn't Youshi, she could never forget the hardships Youshi went through as a regular person who wasn't a Queen chased by an envious peer. She couldn't because it was the history of many common people that were depending on her.
So she went to try again with her heart and mind clear from lingering doubts. She couldn't turn her back her choice. Maybe it was Rakushun's presence that lent her this confidence or the lasting mood since that curse struck her. She took the sword out the shattered scabbard and placed its tip on the falling water in the fountain. The blade glowed when the images began to appear on the surface.
Show me Kei.
The blurry reflection of Tokyo faded to display a less wealthy sight - the images of a country in ruin with poor homes and dry soil; the numerous graves at the cemetery. Youko flinched at the misery but didn't tear her eyes from the water. How could she ignore this? In the midst of the horrifying sight, she realized something to rescue. There were women among them. The refugees and exiled had come back, family reunited, with the growing hope to rebuild their lives. There was a speck of faith in the sea of despair.]
I won't forget the lessons I've learned during that day. The memories and facts fade away, but the sentiment remains intact. I can't for life recall the faces of my parents or the sound of their voices. That feeling of anger and helplessness was a taste of what the citizens of Kei had been suffering all these years when the throne was empty or occupied by an empress.
The era of Yosei ended, this is the beginning of Sekiraku.
I will become a good Queen.
Now that you are here by my side, Rakushun, would you help me to plan how to build a kingdom without none of those horrors? It's scary. The past that wasn't mine and what I could become if I messed up.
Huh. That was a weird curse. I think there's no need to point out that I'm nobody's wife, mother or biological sister, right? I'll never become none of these either.
Sorry that you had to endure a curse so soon, Rakushun. I'd planned to take you shopping yesterday, so you could buy more clothes to wear in your human form. We can do that today. You'll need to become used to that body to pass your riding and archery courses at the University; it'll be a good idea to not waste time and practice while we're trapped here. We can ask around if there are instructors to teach you those disciplines.
I guess I'll have to teach you more about computers to you too.
Keiki, uhh, I'm so sorry about what happened the other day. I've already accepted and I want to renew my lessons the sooner as possible. I know you were cursed last Saturday, but I grateful for your words of encouragement. That was nice while it lasted. Right, I almost forgot. Taiki wanted to go to the zoo someday. Would you and En Taiho take him?
Sooo...
Was it a curse, Moro?
[Kenshin]
I saw her arrival...
[Her life in Hourai had been privileged: she had never starved or felt the touch of the deadly winter, she had put her life on line, she had never been exiled for what she was nor her family had been slain by tyrannical laws or by demons. They were harsh on her because of her hair color, but their deride and snide remarks weren't in the same level of execution. Her stomach turned to the idea of how many families had been destroyed by the Prophet's madness.
While Youko Nakajima wasn't Youshi, she could never forget the hardships Youshi went through as a regular person who wasn't a Queen chased by an envious peer. She couldn't because it was the history of many common people that were depending on her.
So she went to try again with her heart and mind clear from lingering doubts. She couldn't turn her back her choice. Maybe it was Rakushun's presence that lent her this confidence or the lasting mood since that curse struck her. She took the sword out the shattered scabbard and placed its tip on the falling water in the fountain. The blade glowed when the images began to appear on the surface.
Show me Kei.
The blurry reflection of Tokyo faded to display a less wealthy sight - the images of a country in ruin with poor homes and dry soil; the numerous graves at the cemetery. Youko flinched at the misery but didn't tear her eyes from the water. How could she ignore this? In the midst of the horrifying sight, she realized something to rescue. There were women among them. The refugees and exiled had come back, family reunited, with the growing hope to rebuild their lives. There was a speck of faith in the sea of despair.]