Categories > Anime/Manga > Samurai Champloo
Empty; Lullaby for an Exile
2 reviewsThings to think about in the middle of the night. A pair of linked drabbles: AngstLite
4Ambiance
1. Empty: Fuu
The moon was so bright it woke Fuu up. There it sat in the sky, like a huge manju on a black plate. Or a thin slice of pickled daikon. Maybe a bowl of shiro miso, viewed from above - you could even see the beancurd at the bottom. Or a piece of sushi, once you'd licked the tobiko off and felt its fishy squishpop between your teeth.
Or...a long-ago woman's voice: open your mouth and close your eyes, Fuu-chan - something white and sweet that had melted on her tongue...
Fuu wrapped her arms around the emptiness inside of her.
2. Lullaby for an Exile: Mugen
Half-asleep on the side of a mountain, Mugen thinks about the sea. It's so far away he can't even smell it on the wind, so why is it in his head like this? Eyes almost shut, he looks up at the sky, stars visible through the branches of the stone-pine over his head...on the island where he was born, there are beaches where each grain of sand is shaped like a star, smaller than anything except maybe the real stars up there. Farther away from here than anything, except maybe.../lying on the shore, he looks up at the sky, stars underneath him and stars above him - there's no difference, no distance, and all he needs to do is take his sword and walk back up the path./
The night wind moves through the pines , a soft roar and hush, an endless, rhythmic wash of sound.
The moon was so bright it woke Fuu up. There it sat in the sky, like a huge manju on a black plate. Or a thin slice of pickled daikon. Maybe a bowl of shiro miso, viewed from above - you could even see the beancurd at the bottom. Or a piece of sushi, once you'd licked the tobiko off and felt its fishy squishpop between your teeth.
Or...a long-ago woman's voice: open your mouth and close your eyes, Fuu-chan - something white and sweet that had melted on her tongue...
Fuu wrapped her arms around the emptiness inside of her.
2. Lullaby for an Exile: Mugen
Half-asleep on the side of a mountain, Mugen thinks about the sea. It's so far away he can't even smell it on the wind, so why is it in his head like this? Eyes almost shut, he looks up at the sky, stars visible through the branches of the stone-pine over his head...on the island where he was born, there are beaches where each grain of sand is shaped like a star, smaller than anything except maybe the real stars up there. Farther away from here than anything, except maybe.../lying on the shore, he looks up at the sky, stars underneath him and stars above him - there's no difference, no distance, and all he needs to do is take his sword and walk back up the path./
The night wind moves through the pines , a soft roar and hush, an endless, rhythmic wash of sound.
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