For Her

Ancient Temple was one of those places that always intimidated Wei, though she could never really understand why. Maybe it was all of the men and women that wandered the halls, with big-beaded necklaces adorning their shoulders and each wearing the same clothes as the other. But they were always nice, offering a smile, a bow, or both to her and her mother as Chen, their usual guide, would lead them through the winding halls.

Maybe it was Ancient Temple, itself. Her mother had often told her that the temple was many, many years old. It was a huge pagoda, with floors that seemed nearly endless as it reached up toward the sky. Outside, looking up, Wei always felt dizzy seeing just how tall the temple was. Maybe it was its age, for it surely showed it. Inside, the wood was cleaned and polished, but still looked old, and it smelled funny... A musty smell that Wei wasn't all too sure she liked all that much.

But she always put those feelings aside when she did visit, though, because Ancient Temple was the only place where she could see her sister.

Chen had finally stopped at the familiar door and slid it gently to the side, peaking through the small opening she had made.

"Mei? Your mother and sister are here to see you."

Chen's voice was always nice. She was a soft-spoken woman, though to be fair most of the people within Ancient Temple were soft spoken. Nevertheless, Wei did like her voice. It made her feel a little less uncertain about her surroundings, a bit more comfortable here.

Though the small, excited gasp that came from the room was always comforting too. The fact that Mei still wanted to see her family was a very comforting thought.

At this point, Chen moved out of the way and smiled at Wei and her mother, only to motion to the shoji board that was still opened slightly.

At that moment, Wei went running inside like the excited little child she was.

Mei had been sitting on her bed, fiddling with something that Wei did not recognize, but she didn't have much time to examine it, for soon Mei was shuffling onto her feet, her bright smile lighting up her ghostly, vacant eyes.

"Wei." Mei's voice was full of cheer, and yet her tone was calm and collected. She held out her arms for her sister, and Wei ran right into them, her arms clasping around her sister's shoulders. The warmth that Mei often had was always a pleasant surprise.

"Mei!" Immediately the princess gently squeezed her younger sister, smiling widely at her, knowing that it would not be seen. But she didn't care. She was happy to see her sister, and she knew that Mei would feel her happiness and the love Wei had for her. The love that would always be there, reserved for her sister and her sister only. "I missed you."

"I missed you, too, Wei."

Wei held her sister for quite some time, relishing in the familiarness of her younger sister's presence and feeling of her warmth. "What do you do around here, Mei? It's so boring here."

"It's not boring!" Mei retorted indignantly. "There's all kinds of fun things to do here."

"Oh, yeah? Like what?"

"Like reading time, and painting! And quiet time, too! That's my favorite."

"Quiet time? Quiet time sounds boring!" The whine that Wei made sounded almost pained. The sound of quiet time was enough for her little young self to just about die inside.

"Quiet time is not boring! You can hear everything during quiet time. Like the bells and the birds and the river. And all sorts of other pretty things."

"I hear all that already back at home."

"You can hear it better here."

"You hear everything better than I do, Mei." That caused Mei to just grin at her sister before she reached up to place her hands upon her sister's face. It was something Mei often did, for she was using her fingers to 'remember' or 'memorize' what Wei looked like. When Mei did that, Wei would just imitate her, and the two would memorize their faces together.

"You scratched yourself." Mei mused quietly, a frown now upon her features as her index finger traced the small scratch on Wei's cheek.

"Yes. I was running to meet the ducklings at the pond but I tripped on a rock."

Mei just giggled at that. "Watch what you're doing next time."

"Yes, mom." Wei teased with a laugh. At this point, Mei's hands had moved from Wei's face to her hair.

"Want me to brush your hair?" Mei asked curiously.

It was one of Mei's favorite things to do, to brush her sister's hair. Wei knew this well, and so always brought a brush with her when she came to Ancient Temple.

"Yes, please." Wei pulled out the brush from a concealed pocket in her kimono, then gently took hold of one of Mei's hands and placed the brush within it. The two immediately sat down on the floor, Wei with her back to her sister, and soon Mei was running the thick bristles through the short, dark locks that Wei adorned. In these moments they continued on with the typical conversational topics they often had, like how life was in the castle, then how life was in the temple. How they missed each other, and then Wei would complain of their father's decision while Mei would try to convince her that there was nothing that could be done. Then they'd leave that topic for a lighter one, and then mama would come in.

That was how it often was when she came to visit.

How she loved those visits, but she also longed for Mei to remain with her in the castle, too, where she belonged.

----

"Deep in thought?"

The smooth, deep voice pulled her out of her reminiscing, and soon the woman looked back to the source of the voice amidst the pale light of the moon that now hung in the sky. She could just barely make out Tuketu's silhouette as he leaned sitting against a nearby tree, but the reflection of light that came from his armor made him a little easier for the princess to see. Funny how he was always there, always within sight even now. Even when he was not technically obligated to.

"Yes," she replied softly, her gaze going from the samurai up to the sky above. "I was just thinking about my sister." The mere mention of it brought pain to her heart. Her sister... How long has it been since she had seen her sister? And how long would it be until she saw her again? This routine of looking and looking for her whereabouts was beginning to feel nearly endless, and Wei was beginning to feel overwhelmed once again.

Tuketu was frowning. She knew him well enough by now. He had once told her that he could understand that sort of loss, that burden that never truly went away, knowing that there was family out there, but either they could not be found or did not want to be found. She was still curious about how he knew the feeling, but never felt the real need to bring it up. It was something he seemed to almost push away, as if he didn't want to recollect anything remotely close to whatever he had experienced.

A hum came from his throat, just barely loud enough to hear over the chirping and singing of the crickets and distant frogs. "Tell me about your sister."

"I've already told you about her."

"Tell me more about her."

"Like what?"

"Whatever you were just thinking of."

"I was thinking of a long time ago," she began after a moment of silence, "when I would visit her with my mother... I always brought a hairbrush with me so she could brush my hair." The thought had her smiling to herself. "She always loved brushing hair. She'd brush mine then she'd want to brush my mother's."

"Why did she like to brush your hair?" He sounded genuinely curious.

"I suppose because she liked the feeling of it, especially when it was brushed out and smooth... She had pretty hair, too, and she liked to keep it well brushed. I remember her playing with it, twirling it around her fingers from time to time."

Another hum escaped him, and there was only a moment of silence before he spoke up again. "Typical girl."

That immediately caused Wei to sit up. "Hey! What's that supposed to mean?"

It earned a laugh from her body guard.

"Exactly what it means. Girls like to brush their hair."

"I don't like to brush my hair."

"You're not a typical girl."

"Oh, hush, guard." He knew when she used that title, she was playfully unhappy with him.

"Yes, princess." And with that, he playfully bowed slightly to her from where he sat, a grin plastered on his face.

She could only roll her eyes. "Men don't brush their hair?"

"Of course we do, we just don't obsess over it."

She just shook her head before settling back down on the grass once more, her gaze aimed back at the starry sky as the sounds of the crickets grew a little louder.

"Maybe she can brush my hair sometime, when we find her." Tuketu commented absentmindedly, causing Wei to cast a quick, curious glance in his direction.

"If we find her."

"We will find her."

It was at that moment that Wei cast a glance toward her traveling companion to see that familiar look in his eye. It was the same look he dawned when he had to stand and draw his katana. It was the same look that he made when he stood in front of her, to protect her. That same look he gave her now, a look of determination and confidence.

"We will find her, princess. I know we will." And with that, that look disappeared, replaced with the look he had before; relaxed and a little tired. Nevertheless, he did flash her a small smile. "She has to be somewhere."

She couldn't help but smile back at him. "Thank you, Tuketu."

He only gave her a nod at that, but the smile still remained.

"It can be hard to continue when you do not have clues or hints, but we'll find them. We cannot stop searching. We must keep going. For her."

"For her." Wei agreed. She would always agree to that. For her. For Mei.