Reunited – Chapter 44

Takayama is a beautiful mountain town. Everyone we pass on the streets is content and happy, children running around and stores bright and busy. Perfect and well-kept houses line each avenue between parks and gardens. An old man passes us and smiles, nodding his head.

“I like it here.” I take in a deep breath, all the way down to my toes. “One thing I love about Yūsei is the fresh air. I never realized how stale the air in Nishikyō was until I lived in the open.”

“Are you feeling all right?”

“I’m nauseous again. I should have grabbed a snack before we left. More deep breaths.”

Jiro puts his arm around me as we saunter up to the main house at the end of a long, clean, paved street. Usagi walks behind us. We’re all carrying swords. I will not be without Kazenoho again.

A thin, black cat cleans her paws on the front porch and watches us approach. When we step up, the porch creaks under us like the hallway back in our estate, and I glance down at our feet in time to see the cat weave in and out of my legs before the door slides open.

“Jiji, get out of here and leave them alone,” scolds a woman the same age as Mariko and my aunts before bowing and smiling to us. “You must be Sanaa. I’m Terumi. Please come in.” She shoos off Jiji, and pushing her long wavy hair off her shoulders, she gestures for us both to step in.

“That’s all right,” Jiro assures her. “Sanaa loves animals. They flock to her. I fully expect to return to Yamato and find more waiting for us there.”

I kick off my shoes in the front hall and bow to Terumi. “It’s nice to meet you.”

“Please, please. Come in. Arata is out back smoking. I’ll bring us some tea. We have an hour before people start arriving for dinner.”

“Smoking?” I ask.

“Good. We’re just in time.”

Jiro smiles and pushes me forward into the house by the small of my back, and I get a quick look around before heading to the back porch. The Sasaki home is oddly mixed in styles, both Japanese and Western. An oriental rug and upholstered couches adorn the main sitting area, but the dining area is raised to our left, two steps up, tatami mats and a substantial table over a well in the floor. I crane my neck around in search of the bathroom, just in case, and see it down the hall towards their bedrooms.

Jiro heads straight for a sliding glass door at the rear of the house. Arata Sasaki sits on a large cushion on the porch outside, a blanket over his lap, and he’s, well, smoking something. I’ve only ever seen cigarettes in movies. No one smokes in Nishikyō. What a nightmare that would be under the domes.

He exhales a long breath and smiles up at us before jumping to his feet. “Sanaa, Jiro, thank you for coming to my home.”

Jiro helps me sit down, and I wince before putting my weight on my butt. Arata’s forehead scrunches, deep lines appearing where none were before, and he frowns at me before handing me a blanket and tapping ash from the end of his cigarette.

“So, Sanaa,” Jiro says, sitting down next to me, “before we even rescued you from the capital, Arata was telling me he suffers from a chronic pain condition that’s common here on Yūsei. This condition affects the joints and physical therapy helps but not enough. The best way of dealing with the pain is this.” He points to the smoke curling up from Arata’s hand.

“We have a lot of meds here but no real pharmaceuticals like you do. We grow this herb, both domestically and in the wild, and it helps with pain management and a few other things.” He leans over to hand me the cigarette, but I sit dumbfounded.

“What? Oh, you’re giving this to me? But I don’t know what to do with this.”

I actually laugh, and it’s one of the few laughs I’ve uttered since returning to my life. Jiro smiles and nods his head at me, so I take this thing from Arata and hold it between my fingers.

“But I’m pregnant. I shouldn’t smoke this.”

“My wife, Terumi, smoked this during both of her pregnancies and many women here do. It also helps with nausea which is why I’m recommending it.”

Hmmm. “Can’t I just ingest the stuff?”

“Well, yes. You can ask your… dokumiyaku?” I nod at him. Poison tasters must not be common here. “To cook it into things but it’ll take a lot longer to work that way. It hits the bloodstream a lot faster through your lungs and makes it easier to get the relief you need.”

I look at this thing in between my fingers and sigh. I know when I get back to Yamato, if I can get back to Yamato soon, there will be a limited supply of pain meds available for my hips I can take while pregnant. We’re not manufacturing them in great quantities yet — or any quantities. I’d want to save them for people who really need them, but I can only take so much pain and still do my job.

Sometimes I hate my rationalizations.

But I don’t know what to do with this.

“Here.” Jiro reaches over, takes the cigarette out of my hands and brings the tip to his lips, inhaling. I’m stunned. He looks like a pro! He holds the smoke in for a long time and slowly exhales, before laughing. “You should see your face right now. I love doing that to you.”

Arata laughs as I pull the blanket up to my neck to cover up my blush.

“Breathe the smoke in, like you’re taking a deep breath, hold it, and then exhale. You’ll probably choke your first few times but it’s okay. I did. It gives you a nice, sort of floaty feeling. Not at all like pain meds.” He hands the cigarette back to me. “You need something, something to get you through this. You can’t be in pain and nauseous if we’re traveling or trying to fight Fujiwara and Taira. We still have a long road ahead of us. So try it.”

The smoke smells good, earthy and a little sweet. I bring the cigarette to my mouth and inhale first into my mouth, and then way into my lungs, but they kick it right back out, and I cough until my eyes water.

Arata takes it from me and nods his head with a smile. “I think you got some. Try again after some tea.”

Terumi joins us with tea and small, handmade sweet biscuits.

“This plant grows around here almost all year, and we harvest it spring, summer, and fall, dry it, and then store it away. I have plenty I can give to you and some papers to roll it up. This is a crossbreed between several different herbs brought from Earth. I don’t consider it habit-forming though I smoke it every day. My pain makes it habit-forming. Plenty of people smoke it for fun too.” Arata shrugs his shoulders. “It’s less popular than alcohol, though.”

“What do you call it?” My head buzzes and all the hair on my scalp prickles. The pain in my hips and feet is not so much gone as distant, but that’s a hell of a lot better than only ten minutes ago. The constant nausea has abated as well. I take a sip of tea and reach for the cigarette again.

“It smells sweet, right?” Arata smiles and laughs. “I’ve always called it ‘cake’ but I think the technical term is chamiclove because it shares genes with chamomile, cloves, and hemp.”

Ah, okay, I’m familiar with this, too. Hemp and marijuana mixed with other herbs. Jiro likes to make fun of me for not watching enough movies, but I’ve studied history more than he has.

This time I inhale and manage to not cough. “Mmmm, okay. I like cake. I’ll think of it as cake.”

We sit silently for a moment while I munch on a biscuit, drink some tea, and mentally examine my body. I’m light and floaty, and happy, and when I adjust my seat on the cushion, my hips barely hurt. This is a relief. I smile at Jiro, and he scoots closer with his arm around my waist.

“Better?”

“Yes. Thank you.” He kisses me on my temple, and I close my eyes and listen to the breeze in the trees. “I hope the hip pain is a temporary thing — that maybe some extra stretches will help — and hopefully I won’t be sick the entire pregnancy.”

“It doesn’t last long usually.” Arata nods, and we each smoke one more time before he stamps out the cigarette. “Now, we should talk of other things. Mark Sakai isn’t here, but we spoke yesterday.”

“It’s fine. Jiro handles anything having to do with me.”

“Right. Well, your break out from the castle is stirring news from the capital. The Fujiwaras had no idea you were so popular. When we attacked, they figured it was our normal fight. We often strike at them when they least expect it, but they’re not able to strike back at us in the mountains because we blocked all the paths. I’m sure finding you gone and Osamu stripped naked and unconscious was quite a shock.”

“I hope so. I left him looking like an idiot, but I needed his clothes.”

Arata smiles again. “I’m sure you left him exactly how he should be left.”

I pull the blanket closer around me. “Maybe I should have left him dead. So now that I’ve escaped Fujiwara’s grasp, he’s going to want revenge, right? And I have lots of enemies. I brought them all with me from Earth. How convenient for him.”

Arata laughs and shakes his head. “I don’t know how you could have any enemies, Sanaa. I barely know you and already like you.”

“Me too,” Terumi says. She has been listening quietly and pouring tea when our cups grow cold.

“Thank you both. I have a temper, for sure, but in general, these enemies of mine hate me because of my bloodline, not because of anything I’ve done to them. It’s unfortunate I inherited more than a legacy.”

“I think you’ll find Sanaa to be charming and persuasive to just about anyone, Arata,” Jiro says, and I roll my eyes at him. Flatterer.

“Indeed. Fujiwara only controls about twenty percent of the people on this planet. Everyone else hates him, both openly and in secret, but that twenty percent controls the military and everyone stays quiet and subdued.”

“I had a feeling this was the case after our conversation.” I take another sip of tea and clear my throat, prepared to make an offer. “We’d be willing to help you in your quest to find your Hikoboshi brothers and sisters. In another year, more ships will be arriving from Earth and every year after that for some time. A contingent will be left behind on second wave large enough to split between us.”

“You and Mark Sakai must share the same mind because he said the exact same thing.”

“I have as much desire to meet them as you do. Is this something most people here want?”

“I believe so. At the very least, most people want to be rid of Fujiwara. He’s stifled our advancements in technology and medicine, and been an all-around tyrant. We’ve done a lot in secret — just wait till I introduce you to the Odas — but we can’t build ships or use technology out in the open for fear of reprisals. Sanaa, the people here are scared. They need motivation.”

Everyone stares at me, and I laugh. I laugh hard, so hard my abdomen hurts, and I start to cough.

“Well, when we’re in public you should refer to me as Tennō Heika.”

Jiro squeezes my waist, and I shake my head at him and sigh.

“And it’s time to start spreading the word of who I am around the continent.”