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maderr*note* I off hand cannot recall the age difference b/t these two, chalk it up to exhaustion and me not being able to find my blasted notes. That or I'm a slacker author.
Umiko giggled as the tide lapped at her feet, reaching to touch her ankles before being pulled back into the ocean. The late afternoon breeze caught at bits of her hair, tugging them free of the elaborate braid the servants had spent two hours on that morning. She brushed them back with her small, still pudgy ten year old hand. The other hand was holding up the robes of her fine linen robe.
"Umi, we're gonna get in trouble..."
She laughed again and beamed at her little brother, "Only if we get wet, Kyo. Anyway, it was Nana's fault for falling asleep!"
"I suppose...oh!" eight year old Nankyokukai dashed into the tide, fumbling in the water and sand until he came up with a triumphant grin and presented his older sister with a small, pink and gold shell. "Look!"
"It's pretty!" Umiko clapped her hands, delighted. But in the next moment her expression turned worried, "But Kyo, now you're all wet..."
Kyo blinked, and looked down at his pants and tunic. "Oh...I forgot. I wanted the shell..." he blinked at her, then shrugged.
"Well," Umiko nibbled at her lip, then held out her hand. "If we hurry up we can sneak back and you can change, okay?"
"Okay!"
Hand in hand the two children raced up the stone stairway leading up to the palace from the private beach, the pink shell still clutched in Nankyo's small hand. They sneaked through the servants' halls, oblvious to the shaking heads and fond smiles of the servants they didn't think could see them.
Nearly back to their nursery room, a sharp, granite voice froze them in their tracks. "Nankyokukai! Umiko! What on earth is the meaning of this?"
Turning slowly around the two children stared resignedly up at the stern face of their head tutor. They noticed their nurse standing just behind him, her arms folded across her amply bosom in a gesture they knew to be a prelude to severe punishment. Their reed-thin tutor peered over his glasses and down his nose at them, "What would your mother say, if I told her you were traipsing about like this? What of your lessons? Did you forget them in your haste to be bad children?"
"We're not bad!" Nankyokukai asserted. "We just wanted to play!" He took a clumsy step back as Mr. Kuro stepped closer. "We finished our lessons..." he said more faintly.
Mr. Kuro peered at Umiko, "Is this how you influence him?"
"What?" Umiko said, confused.
"You should know better, Princess, than to go sneaking off."
Nankyokukai protested, "She didn't fluence me! I sneaked away first."
"That, I believe," their nurse said firmly. "Umiko, come. We need to fix your hair and have a nice long talk about proper behavior again. You shouldn't be doing this, it isn't seemly..." her reprimands faded as she dragged the princess away.
Nankyokukai stared gloomily at Kuro, who merely looked at him and crooked a finger before turning sharply around on his heel and striding back to the nursery. Gulping, Nankyo clutched his shell close and followed. His damp clothes clung to his tiny frame, making him shiver. He didn't look up at the sound of his brothers' voices in their own study room, the door of which was slightly ajar. Blocking out the sound of their voices and hunching his shoulders, he focused on the shell and how pretty it would look in Umiko's hair. He looked warily up at the thin, black back of Kuro, then hastily hid the shell in his red sash. If Kuro saw it, he'd take it away or even break it. He always broked the things he collected on the beach.
Blinking rapidly in a futile effort not to cry, Nankyokukai couldn't help a few sniffs as the nursery door closed behind him. Laughter came faintly from the other side of the walls, and he couldn't help but think again that it wasn't fair. Indou and Sei never got a whipping, and they sneaked out lots of times. And he hadn't been fast enough so Umi was going to get hit with her hairbrush and it wasn't fair. He started crying, fingers pressed to the small shell hidden in his clothes, as Kuro approached with the paddle Nankyokukai hated and feared.
... ...
Later, Nankyokukai lay on his stomach in bed. Sniffling, cheeks damp, he stared out the large window on the far wall and watched the ships sailing to and from port. Not the ships with the blue sails of the Royal Navy, but the white and black sails of the merchant ships, and the colorful flags of the foreign vessels. He watched them every night until it got dark, which was a long long time.
Watching them, he did indeed stay awake until the sun began to set, and feel asleep with the twilight, dreaming of being a sailor on a magnificent ship with great white sails and surrounded on all sides by a vast expanse of blue.
Umiko giggled as the tide lapped at her feet, reaching to touch her ankles before being pulled back into the ocean. The late afternoon breeze caught at bits of her hair, tugging them free of the elaborate braid the servants had spent two hours on that morning. She brushed them back with her small, still pudgy ten year old hand. The other hand was holding up the robes of her fine linen robe.
"Umi, we're gonna get in trouble..."
She laughed again and beamed at her little brother, "Only if we get wet, Kyo. Anyway, it was Nana's fault for falling asleep!"
"I suppose...oh!" eight year old Nankyokukai dashed into the tide, fumbling in the water and sand until he came up with a triumphant grin and presented his older sister with a small, pink and gold shell. "Look!"
"It's pretty!" Umiko clapped her hands, delighted. But in the next moment her expression turned worried, "But Kyo, now you're all wet..."
Kyo blinked, and looked down at his pants and tunic. "Oh...I forgot. I wanted the shell..." he blinked at her, then shrugged.
"Well," Umiko nibbled at her lip, then held out her hand. "If we hurry up we can sneak back and you can change, okay?"
"Okay!"
Hand in hand the two children raced up the stone stairway leading up to the palace from the private beach, the pink shell still clutched in Nankyo's small hand. They sneaked through the servants' halls, oblvious to the shaking heads and fond smiles of the servants they didn't think could see them.
Nearly back to their nursery room, a sharp, granite voice froze them in their tracks. "Nankyokukai! Umiko! What on earth is the meaning of this?"
Turning slowly around the two children stared resignedly up at the stern face of their head tutor. They noticed their nurse standing just behind him, her arms folded across her amply bosom in a gesture they knew to be a prelude to severe punishment. Their reed-thin tutor peered over his glasses and down his nose at them, "What would your mother say, if I told her you were traipsing about like this? What of your lessons? Did you forget them in your haste to be bad children?"
"We're not bad!" Nankyokukai asserted. "We just wanted to play!" He took a clumsy step back as Mr. Kuro stepped closer. "We finished our lessons..." he said more faintly.
Mr. Kuro peered at Umiko, "Is this how you influence him?"
"What?" Umiko said, confused.
"You should know better, Princess, than to go sneaking off."
Nankyokukai protested, "She didn't fluence me! I sneaked away first."
"That, I believe," their nurse said firmly. "Umiko, come. We need to fix your hair and have a nice long talk about proper behavior again. You shouldn't be doing this, it isn't seemly..." her reprimands faded as she dragged the princess away.
Nankyokukai stared gloomily at Kuro, who merely looked at him and crooked a finger before turning sharply around on his heel and striding back to the nursery. Gulping, Nankyo clutched his shell close and followed. His damp clothes clung to his tiny frame, making him shiver. He didn't look up at the sound of his brothers' voices in their own study room, the door of which was slightly ajar. Blocking out the sound of their voices and hunching his shoulders, he focused on the shell and how pretty it would look in Umiko's hair. He looked warily up at the thin, black back of Kuro, then hastily hid the shell in his red sash. If Kuro saw it, he'd take it away or even break it. He always broked the things he collected on the beach.
Blinking rapidly in a futile effort not to cry, Nankyokukai couldn't help a few sniffs as the nursery door closed behind him. Laughter came faintly from the other side of the walls, and he couldn't help but think again that it wasn't fair. Indou and Sei never got a whipping, and they sneaked out lots of times. And he hadn't been fast enough so Umi was going to get hit with her hairbrush and it wasn't fair. He started crying, fingers pressed to the small shell hidden in his clothes, as Kuro approached with the paddle Nankyokukai hated and feared.
... ...
Later, Nankyokukai lay on his stomach in bed. Sniffling, cheeks damp, he stared out the large window on the far wall and watched the ships sailing to and from port. Not the ships with the blue sails of the Royal Navy, but the white and black sails of the merchant ships, and the colorful flags of the foreign vessels. He watched them every night until it got dark, which was a long long time.
Watching them, he did indeed stay awake until the sun began to set, and feel asleep with the twilight, dreaming of being a sailor on a magnificent ship with great white sails and surrounded on all sides by a vast expanse of blue.
no subject
Date: 2004-10-07 08:17 pm (UTC)*huggles Kyo and Umi*
*fangirls you to pieces*
^-^
no subject
Date: 2004-10-08 04:47 am (UTC)I think I've figured out how to draw Skylarks out of hiding - just post Treasure XP
Thankee muchly ^__^
no subject
Date: 2004-10-07 08:19 pm (UTC)[/beta-ness]
That was such a bittersweet look into Kyo's life as a kid, really. *melts* I love how incredibly sweet his nature is. <3 <3 <3 <3
no subject
Date: 2004-10-08 04:46 am (UTC)Heh, you really don't have to worry about it. This was just a snippet I wrote b/c the actual chapter is being such a pain.
Hee hee!
Thanks ^_^
no subject
Date: 2004-10-08 08:02 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-10-07 08:23 pm (UTC)[ahem]: Nankyokukai lay on his stomach...
We've been over this before...
no subject
Date: 2004-10-07 08:35 pm (UTC)Yeah, yeah, yeah. *bows humbly* I'll fix it.
Oh yeah
Date: 2004-10-07 08:33 pm (UTC)I expect a solid smacking for this tomorrow. [grin]
Re: Oh yeah
Date: 2004-10-08 04:44 am (UTC)*SMACK SMACK SMACK SMACK SMACK*
no subject
Date: 2004-10-07 08:41 pm (UTC)*sniffle*