by C. J. Anaya
No, how could she possibly be that far along?
He gave his wife a reassuring smile and squeezed her hand with his blood stained fingers.
“You’re almost ready to deliver, sweetheart,” he said as he tried to swallow back the tears that her cries of pain caused him.
“Already? That’s…that’s not normal. Is……no, that can’t be right. I thought I’d be in labor for hours.” She lifted her hand and wiped the sweat from her forehead. “This isn’t how I wanted things to be. I don’t want to deliver my baby here!”
“It’s not how we planned it, honey, but this baby isn’t giving us a choice.”
“She’s already a handful.” Julia gave him a brave smile, but her eyes were filled with tears.
“You ready to push?” he asked.
“Absolutely!” Her breathing came in short gasps.
His wife was a brave, wonderful woman, and he loved her for it.
“I can see the head crowning. Push, Julia. You can do this.”
Julia screamed as she pushed once, pushed twice, and then with one last push the baby passed to James’ outstretched hands.
A baby girl!
He almost started crying in relief until he realized the umbilical cord had wrapped itself around the baby’s neck. He swiftly set to unwrapping it and cleared the baby’s air passage, but his child didn’t take in a breath.
“Hachiman!” he said in a horrified whisper.
“You must wait for it,” the monk said softly. “She will be fine.”
James just shook his head as he looked down at his daughter and realized that she was, in fact, stillborn.
“James, what’s wrong?”
He avoided Julia’s gaze and stared numbly at the perfect little face of his tiny baby girl.
“Tell me what’s wrong. What—”
His wife was interrupted by a loud, thunderous sound that shook the earth and caused everything surrounding them to compress with powerful energy.
“What’s happening?” James shouted.
A loud crack reverberated to his left. He turned quickly to see what had made the deafening noise and stared in quiet amazement as the statue of the Asian woman proceeded to split in half. The two halves fell to either side.
He didn’t have time to wonder at the cause. Something else drew his attention. A young man with golden hair and icy blue eyes appeared out of nowhere, staring at him from just beyond the broken statue. James was about to address the enigmatic stranger when a high pitched wail sounded in his arms. It was the most beautiful sound he’d ever heard.
His baby girl was crying.
* * *
The events that followed the birth of James and Julia’s baby formed the backbone for what was to be a lifetime of hiding and overprotective parenting. After ushering them into the temple and providing lodging and food for them, Hachiman with loving patience explained the important role their child was destined to fulfill.
James went from grateful to outraged when the monk informed him that he and Julia wouldn’t be allowed to take their child out of Kagami, while his wife began to sob softly into the folds of the baby’s blanket.
He barely restrained himself from correcting the man on their location or strangling him for claiming ownership of his child.
He didn’t believe in any of the legends or folktales the monk spouted off, but knew one thing for certain: he and his wife were leaving with their child the moment the opportunity presented itself.
Minutes after Hachiman left their room, James began formulating a plan.
“What do we do?” Julia sobbed. “He can’t possibly think we’ll leave our baby in his care.”
James knelt beside the bed and smoothed her hair from her forehead.
“I will never allow that. I promise you we will get out of here. I just need a few moments to figure out how.”
“I think I can help you with that.”
James spun around at the unfamiliar voice. His eyes narrowed as he took in the young man he’d seen earlier when the statue had cracked.
“Who are you?” James croaked.
The young man took a step toward James and then bowed from the waist.
“In Japan I am known as Musubi. The literal translation into English would be a bit much, so we’ll just shorten it to Tie.”
“Tie,” James repeated. “Why are you helping us?”
“I understand that this all seems crazy, but believe me when I tell you, these monks will keep your daughter here and raise her for their own purposes. The realm in which you have entered is very difficult to escape, and you won’t be able to do so without my help.”
“Kagami isn’t part of Japan?” James asked, nearly willing to believe in alternate dimensions after all of the craziness he had recently beheld.
“It is, but it isn’t. Most humans don’t wander here on accident unless there is a need, and giving birth to The Healer created a definite need.”
James snorted. “I don’t believe in this prophecy of yours. I’m not even sure you can be trusted.”
“Whether you believe or not, these monks most certainly do, and since I am prepared to not only help you escape, but to mask your presence and their ability to find you, it would be wise of you to consider my offer.”
James studied him, pondering his proposal, and then extended his hand.
“I’ll accept your help so long as you never give me a reason to doubt you.”
Tie took his hand and shook it. “Believe me, I want the child out of here just as much as you do. It simply isn’t safe for her to be here no matter what the monks might say.”
“Okay, Tie. What’s the plan?”
* * *
James and Julia found themselves staring at a shimmering line of gold upon the grassy floor of a small clearing. It had taken several hours to travel to this particular destination once they were able to sneak off the grounds of the temple.
“Once you step over that line, you’ll be back in Okinawa,” Tie stated. “This is the only spot I can cross you over. I don’t know how far you’ll be from your dwelling, but I suggest you get there as quickly as possible and then leave Japan the moment an opportunity presents itself. I promise to keep your whereabouts cloaked until your daughter needs my protection again.”
James balked at this. “Protection? Protection from what?”
“I know that you still don’t believe in the prophecy or the fact that your daughter possesses healing powers, but she will need me eventually, James. I just want her to have as normal a life as possible until then. Do you believe me?”
“I believe you,” Julia said. James watched, baffled as Julia stepped forward and embraced Tie as if he were her own son. She shifted their daughter and held the infant’s face closer to the strange young man.
Tie reached forward and allowed the baby to grasp one of his fingers.
“What do we name her, Tie?” she asked.
James felt affronted that his wife hadn’t consulted him first, but the evident moisture in the young man’s eyes stopped him from voicing his annoyance. For some wildly outlandish reason their child was important to him.
Tie muttered something under his breath, but neither he nor Julia caught it.
“What did you say?” she asked.
“I said Mikomi. It’s Japanese.”
“That’s lovely, Tie.” Her smile momentarily brightened the darkness of the night. “What does it mean?”
James watched, mesmerized as tears glistened down Tie’s cheeks.
“It means hope,” the young man whispered. “You should name your daughter Hope.”
Hope Fairmont, Present Day
The distant sound of beeping intruded upon my troubled sleep. I had absolutely no desire to wake up, but I didn’t want to continue reliving a life that brought me nothing but indescribable pain.
Eventually the drilling beeps made it impossible to keep my eyes closed any longer. I groaned in annoyance and shifted my sore legs.
“It’s
about damn time,” a jarring voice said as I climbed to full consciousness. I couldn’t help but smile at the familiar sound.
Angie.
Her warm slender arms wrapped around me as she delivered a bone-crushing hug.
I blinked my eyes several times to adjust to the brightness of daylight seeping through the blinds. Angie sat next to me on my bed, wearing a broad smile on her gorgeous face.
“What happened?” I croaked. Geez. It sounded like I’d taken a shredder to my vocal chords. “Water?”
She snorted and stood up. “Of course I have water. What am I, an amateur?”
My lips quirked into another Angie induced smile as she handed me a cup of water and watched while I gulped it down.
“Thank you,” I said. Then my recent dream came flooding back to me in one debilitating head rush. I sat up in my bed and attempted to dive out of it as I babbled on and on about saving Saigo and healing Akane.
Angie grabbed me and pulled my head against her chest, encouraging me to take deep breaths as she called for backup.
“Tie, get in here now before the invalid overpowers me.”
Tie. Tie. Who was Tie?
A door flew open and loud voices could be heard. More than one person had entered the room.
I felt myself being transferred from Angie’s vice-like grip to another. As I beheld the face of my new captor my ramblings were cut short. It wasn’t possible. He was here. How could he be here with me? How was I even here in this room?
“Musubi?” I asked as I placed a tentative hand against his cheek. His concerned look moved to one of utter delight as he kissed my forehead and buried his face into my neck.
“You remember,” he breathed.
Then it all came rushing back to me as memories of both of my lives, my purpose, my death, my rebirth—everything flooded through me until I felt ready to burst.
“Does she remember?”
I looked up to see my father standing before me. Worry and concern created a mountain of new wrinkles around the corners of his eyes.
“Yes,” I responded. I turned back to the man I loved. “I watched Saigo die. Akane died and so did Kenji.” His eyes darkened in grief at my words, and he nodded.
I swallowed hard as a ball of emotion worked its way to the forefront. It had happened hundreds of years ago, but for me it felt as if I’d lost them only moments ago. The grief was raw, real, and recent. My sobs exploded from me, impossible to hold back, impossible to control. I couldn’t live like this, not with the knowledge I had, not with the memories of my previous life warring with the blissfulness of my current one. How the hell was I supposed to continue on when my brother, my tutor, and my best friend had been killed over a thousand years ago? I couldn’t even bury their bodies.
“Is she in pain?” my father asked. He was already moving a hand to my forehead.
“No,” Tie said. “It’s just a lot for her to reconcile herself with. Her brother and friends were murdered soon after she was killed. I didn’t realize she was able to see everything within the statue.”
“You mean my prison?” My head shot up. My eyes burned with rage, with a need to punch something. “Do you have any idea how difficult it was to remain in a tomb of stone day in and day out? Not even your visits kept me sane enough to stay awake.”
Tie looked astonished. “You heard me? When I went to visit you?”
I stroked his face and gazed into those piercing blue eyes of his. “You were the only one who ever came, and I cherished every word you said to me.”
“I can’t believe it,” he expelled a shaky breath. “I can’t believe you don’t hate me after what I did to you. Though I’m sure that stupid blossom has something to do with it. You couldn’t hate me even if you wanted to.”
“What are you talking about?” I snuggled my nose under his chin. He inhaled sharply.
“Dammit, Hope, you’re making this even more difficult for me than I thought possible.”
I lifted my head and gave Angie a questioning look. “Translation, please.”
Angie sighed in disgust. “Lover boy here seems to think that blossom he gave you forced you into adoring him. Some nonsense about severing soul mates. The whole thing’s an idiotic, imbecilic assumption. Any moron can see you two are meant for each other.”
“That’s completely incorrect, Angie,” a voice from the doorway said. Everyone in the room turned their attention to Katsu and Chinatsu as they entered the room. Or was it Victor? Now I was totally confused. How was I supposed to address these kami? They couldn’t have just stuck to their Japanese names? Like I wasn’t discombobulated enough either way?
“Tie severed Hope’s soul from mine when he gave her that blossom,” Victor continued, “but we were hoping the effects of that magic died out when she did.”
“Tactful, Victor,” Angie exclaimed. “You almost make it sound as if you’re grateful she died.”
His face flushed. “Of course I’m not. The entire thing has haunted me since the day it happened.”
A small blur of movement sprang into the room, and suddenly Kirby was at my side, throwing his arms around me.
“You’re alive,” he shouted. “I thought you’d never wake up, Hope.”
I pulled away from him for a moment to look him over and connect with his ki.
“No cancer,” I stated.
He gave me a happy smile.
“You shouldn’t be doing that,” Chinatsu admonished. “Your powers must be conserved for your ascension—”
“Stop talking,” I interrupted. She looked angry at my impertinence, but I had to remind myself that she wasn’t my mother anymore. Her disapproval was no longer a matter of concern for me.
“I do what I want, when I want. Is that understood?”
She looked at the floor, barely containing her anger.
“I understand you’re upset with me. We didn’t have the closest of relationships.”
“Try no relationship,” I spat out. “Oh no, it was much easier for you to remain oblivious and ignorant to every single beating the emperor ever gave me.”
“Beatings? What beatings?” my father asked in alarm. “Chinatsu, what in the world is she talking about?”
“The emperor was quick to punish Hope if she displeased him. It was not my place—”
“It was your place,” I said. “It was always your place, but you were too scared of him to defend your daughter. Years of violent physical and emotional abuse and the only thing that kept that psychopath from killing me was the fact that he didn’t have a weapon from the underworld to do it with. Do you have any idea how many times he broke my wrists? Broke my arms? My legs? Stabbed me, cut me, tortured me? My injuries may have healed immediately, but I’ll never forget the process or the excruciating pain.”
I saw movement from the corner of my eye and watched as Angie flew with lightening speed right in front of my former mother. She arched her arm back, ready to strike out, but Victor wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her back against his chest before she had a chance to deliver what promised to be one nasty punch to the face.
“Holy crap,” Kirby whispered.
“What the hell is the matter with you?” Angie shouted. She fought against Victor’s hold and dove for Chinatsu again, but Victor lifted her off her feet and clamped his arms tightly about her small frame. He gave Chinatsu a wary look.
I felt Tie grip my shoulders as pure rage effused his body.
“Why didn’t you ever tell me it was that bad?” he asked.
“Because I would have had to tell you who I truly was, and I’d already promised Akane I would keep my identity a secret from you.”
He shook his head and opened his mouth to argue.
I lifted a finger to his lips and left it there. He gently kissed it, bringing a smile to my own lips.
“We’ll discuss it later,” I said.
“Chinatsu, I really think you need to leave,” my father said. He couldn’t even look her in the eye due to the anger
he felt on my behalf. “I get that this abuse happened a thousand years ago, but it still happened, and it’s fresh for Hope. You need to take off for a while. My daughter’s been through enough.”
Her eyes flashed outrage. She shook her head and stepped toward me.
“Hope—”
Victor moved in front of her, his anger barely under control as he deftly moved Angie behind him.
“Get. Out. Now.”
Chinatsu lifted her eyes to glare at me, but her cold manner no longer hurt me as it once had. She turned on her heels and left the room.
Angie moved out of Victor’s grasp, straightened her clothes, and then pointed a finger in his face.
“The next time I’m in the middle of maiming someone, I’d appreciate zero interference from you.”
Victor’s lips twitched.
“It wasn’t a fair fight.”
“Why are you protecting her?” she demanded in outrage.
Victor leaned forward and tilted her chin up.
“I wasn’t protecting Chinatsu, Angie. I was protecting you.”
Their gazes locked for a few moments, and then Angie sucked in a breath, turned quickly, and headed to the chair next to my bed. Her face turned a bright shade of crimson. Was she blushing? I’d never seen Angie blush before.
This was new.
Victor appeared a little out of sorts himself and shook his head as if to clear away his confusion.
“Can I say something?” I asked, addressing the group as a whole.
I stood with my chin held high, attempting as much dignity as I could muster considering the hospital gown I wore. I checked my clothing and realized I was actually wearing pink, princess pajamas with little sparkles bejeweling the front of my shirt.
I examined the outfit in horror and then glared at Angie.
“Seriously?”
“Don’t you dare start arguing with me over clothing,” she said. “That hospital gown was an eyesore. You owe me big.”
I rubbed a hand over my tired eyes and then faced off with my collective audience.
“Everyone here is convinced that Katsu is my soul mate, right?”
There was a chorus of rights and one distinct wrong from Angie. I hid a smile at her obnoxious “wrong” and moved on.