Eternal Sleep:? Part Fourteen

Written by: Liz Donovan

(For this Chapter, all things spoken in Japanese will be marked by astrics (*’s) anything in regular quotes, ("’s) will be spoken in Chinese.)

Yachi-yunqi awoke from his much needed sleep, to a loud cry.

"Foreigner!" the voice yelled harshly. "Boy! Awake!"

Yachi-yunqi rolled over sleepily. "*I’m almost ready…*" he muttered. Then he sat up in bed startled, the covers falling off him. "*What!?*" he looked over to Cologne who glared at him. He blinked in surprised shock.

Cologne, too, looked at him peculiarly. "You over slept you fool!" she cried. Yachi-yunqi shook his head, remembering where he was.

"*Sorry.*" He muttered, getting out of bed. Cologne narrowed her eyes.

"You understand the tongue so you shall speak it!" she scolded. Yachi-yunqi blinked again, and rubbed the sleep from his eyes. He found it hard to think of the Chinese words so soon after awaking.

"Sorry." He finally said, in Chinese. Standing up, he looked at Cologne a moment longer. She, standing on her staff glaring at him.

"Well, and put some clothes on man!" she yelled. Yachi-yunqi blushed slightly and reached for his deep blue shirt. He quickly slipped it on, and it fell neatly around his black pants. The long, equally deep blue, headband around his head had come loose during the night, and he took the two long ends of it and quickly retighten it.

Cologne watched all this carefully. She thought to herself, and when Yachi-yunqi had put his shoes on, and relaced the deep blue strings to his knees, she spoke.

"Well, and you come again to China, foreigner." She said. Yachi-yunqi looked at her oddly. Her wrinkled face curved into a smile. "Yes. My mind is not so old that I cannot remember the first time you ventured into these parts."

Yachi-yunqi recalled the time he had been in China, to visit the cursed springs, and he could not recall meeting this old haggard. Perhaps she had been more beautiful when she was younger. He looked at her closer, and something in the back of his head flickered.

Nanniichuan.

The word sparked in his head. Cologne looked at him harder. Slowly, something of his past came forth. He recalled her. He’d been trained by her! How could he have forgotten that? It couldn’t have been but five years ago. He shuttered visibly at the thought of it. That would have put him in Japan or China. When he’d first visited the springs. He must have come through this village before and trained under her. Years of repression had caused him to forget it, but it came back now.

Nanniichuan.

And then, why did that word keep coming into his head? Did she have a cure? And then he remembered. Mousse. Cologne watched Yachi-yunqi, and when he’d been silent a moment longer she spoke:

"Well, and have you forgotten who you are after all these years, foreigner?" she asked. Yachi-yunqi blinked.

"My Chinese name is Yachi-yunqi." He merely stated after a moments thought. Cologne nodded.

"You remember me. You remember my son-in-law, but do you remember who you are?" she only said. Yachi-yunqi blinked again, and repeated:

"My Chinese name is Yachi-yunqi."

"And have you forgotten your Japanese name?" she questioned. Yachi-yunqi’s mind blanked.

"Japanese?" he muttered.

Cologne looked at him hardly. "Well, and I can see that time has worn you thin. That you have erased your memories. You remember me now though. And my son-in-law. Do you not remember where we met?" she pried. Yachi-yunqi thought.

"Met…in…the…the…Cat…no…" he put a hand to his head. "A restaurant. You ran with your son-in-law. He…wasn’t son then."

"The Nekohanten." Cologne stated. Yachi-yunqi’s eyes widened. He stepped back.

"*O-baba*!" he cried. Cologne narrowed her eyes at him more. He remembered it now. All of it. He’d buried those memories. He’d buried all his memories when he’d fled Japan. He’d had to, in order to survive. To live after what he’d done.

Yachi-yunqi looked around. He remembered now. He knew who Mousse was. Mousse was another casualty of the Jusenkyou Springs. That was the connection he was feeling to the Nanniichuan. And that was the connection he felt to Mousse. He’d once been told that all the springs were connected. The same curse, only different animals. His mind reeled. Had SHE told him that? He put a hand out to steady himself. He caught the top of a chair.

Cologne smiled at him. "The recollection of memories is often painful, isn’t it?" she questioned. Yachi-yunqi looked at her.

"You Shampoo are great-grandmother?" he blurted. Cologne nodded.

"And do you now remember who you are, foreigner?" she asked. Yachi-yunqi turned the chair around and sat in it.

"*Who am I*?" he questioned aloud. "*I know who I am…Yachi-yunqi…that is my name in Chinese. Sheng-ying Yachi-yunqi. My CHINESE name. I’m…I’m…who am I?!*" he cried, looking at his rough hands. They knew but would not tell. He had to remember on his own. Cologne watched.

She turned, leaving Yachi-yunqi to remember. At the doorway departing the room, she stopped, glancing back at him. She thought to herself. "He’s forgotten so much. Even who he is. His pain must be great, and the hardships he’s endured terrible. Yet, he is strong. Weaklings would be dead by now. They kill themselves. He…is strong. To have survived…yet his memory is gone. He has run to long. He needs to return and to confront his fears. He is a coward if he cannot at least do that. And strong cowards are not men." she looked back at Yachi-yunqi and then left, thinking. "Perhaps my son-in-law does require a return trip to Japan."

By the time Mousse returned to the place Cologne had left Yachi-yunqi, it was high noon. Yachi-yunqi sat in the chair, looking at his hands ,deep in thought. Mousse, confused, stopped near him. He knew Cologne had talked with Yachi-yunqi. He wondered what damage the old crone had done to him.

"You spoke with her?" Mousse questioned. Yachi-yunqi looked up, as if seeing Mousse for the first time. He nodded silently.

"We talk. I remember. Pain. It hurt." Yachi-yunqi spoke, struggling to think of the Chinese words. Mousse knelt near him. Cologne had gone to far this time. She hadn’t even left wound marks to indicate where he was hurting from. Mousse took Yachi-yunqi’s hand and looked at it. He should be able to tell where Cologne had internally hurt Yachi-yunqi by reading the pain in his palm.

"The scars are on his heart, Mussu." Cologne stated. Mousse looked up, pushing his glasses down with his hand.

"What did you do to him?" Mousse demanded. Cologne laughed, hopping towards Mousse on her staff.

"He did it to himself! This warrior! Ha! He hid his memories inside himself to escape his pain. I only helped him remember what he had forgotten!" Cologne replied, looking at the blank faced Yachi-yunqi.

"You did something to him, or else he would not be like this. Fix him!" Mousse cried. Cologne laughed again.

"Not this one, Son-in-law." She stated. "This one will remember who he really is, and when he does, you will return with him once he remembers what he needs to do." she replied. "He helped my grand-daughter once, and now I will help him." she whispered. Mousse watched Cologne leave the room. He looked back to Yachi-yunqi.

"*Are you gonna be alright?*" Mousse asked in soft Japanese so Yachi-yunqi would understand clearly. Yachi-yunqi nodded yes, but whispered no. Mousse sighed, still kneeling, and wondered what the old ghoul was up to.

Cologne watched from the shadows, and she thought to herself: "He helped my grand-daughter, although that lead to her unfortunate demise. I will help him, and end his suffering for him. Pain is a burden not to be carried forever. I will help relieve him of his load." She thought. Then she turned and vanished completely, into her room.

To Be Continued…

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