FicWad

Sparrow

By kira



They were on their way home from a mission that had left Jakotsu oddly subdued and Suikotsu would steal an occasional glance at him to make sure he was alright. Thinking back over the past events, nothing in particular stood out that was terribly traumatic. It was in fact the type of mission the two of them could do in their sleep; get in, kill the daimyo and his family as quickly and quietly as possible and get out, leaving the place intact.

So they walked home, taking the more scenic route through the woods, while the claw-bearer did his best to keep up a one-sided conversation. It was not long before they had lapsed into silence again while they solemnly brooded.

"People get reborn all the time, right?" Jakotsu asked softly.

"I think so, Jak. Why?"

The cross-dresser shrugged. "I dunno, I was just wondering..."

"Okay, but if you're still wondering when we get home, I suggest you go see Ren about it. He did grow up in a monastery so he'd have more knowledge about those kinds of things than I do." Frowning, he stopped and grabbed Jakotsu's arm, forcing him to stop as well. "You're not nursing some injury I should know about, are you?"

"No..."

"You sure?" the claw-bearer asked when it hit him. Something about the cross-dresser's subdued demeanor reminded him of the incident with young princess at the castle. That had been the main reason why Bankotsu had insisted they go together; Jakotsu had no qualms against killing women and children whereas Suikotsu did. And things did go smoothly until Jakotsu had found the daimyo's youngest children. They were huddled together in the far corner of the room, the girl's arms thrown protectively around her little brother as she watched him approach. Suikotsu, who had arrived on the scene minutes later, saw his comrade-in-arms pull his sword about halfway from its scabbard when he froze. When it appeared he would stand there forever like that, the claw-bearer quickly pushed past him and finished the job, and the sight of the blood spattering everywhere was enough to rouse Jakotsu from his stupor. Twenty minutes later they handed the castle over to its new owner in exchange for payment and that was the end of it, or so the claw-bearer had thought.

But now, when Jakotsu merely nodded, Suikotsu was not so sure he was as fine as he claimed to be. This sad and listless behavior was something the claw-bearer had only seen a few times before and that was mainly whenever Bankotsu was sick or injured, although the occasional fight with his lover often produced the same results. Yet Suikotsu knew that if given enough time, something they definitely had plenty of on the way home, Jakotsu would eventually open up and tell him what was wrong. Pushing his own remorseful thoughts aside, Suikotsu waited patiently for the cross-dresser to decide the time was right.

So they continued on their way in silence and the claw-bearer was starting to wonder if his fellow teammate was ever going to tell what was bothering him, when Jakotsu stopped and fell to his knees.

"I'm so sorry," he whispered over and over again to a small bundle of leaves that turned out to be a dead bird. When Suikotsu came over to him, he shrieked, "Be careful you don't hurt her!"

"Hurt who, Jak?" the claw-bearer said softly.

Jakotsu looked up at him and said, "Sparrow..."

"Sparrow?" Suikotsu repeated as the cross-dresser nodded.

"She was the only one in that hell-hole who was ever nice to me and they let her die, Sui..."

"I'm sorry..."

"She had a fever and it took her three long scary days to die... and nobody did a thing about it. Not even her sister Dove cared if she lived or died, although nobody wanted to work after she died. Not that it mattered as we didn't have much business anyway. There was a fever going through the village and I suppose it was just lucky that only Sparrow got sick and died..."

"Yes and you're lucky you didn't get sick too. But you know, Jak, sometimes these things can't be helped."

"I know..." Jakotsu sighed.

"But that isn't what's bothering you, is it?"

"No..." he looked at Suikotsu sadly. "Sui, when I was little, I remember Sparrow telling me, that when die, we'd leave that hell-hole for good and that we'd be reborn as a prince and princess..."

"And you'll live happily ever after...?"

"Yeah..." the cross-dresser said sheepishly.

"And you think maybe that little princess was her?"

The cross-dresser shrugged.

"Jak," Suikotsu sighed. "I don't know for sure whether or not it was her, but if your friend did get reborn as a princess, it's possible she could have been someone else..."

"Someone I might have killed before without a moment's thought?" Jakotsu said sadly.

It was Suikotsu's turn to shrug. "No, not necessarily. Did it ever occur to you she might have been reborn as a prince and you're the one who's going to get reborn as a princess?"

"No... but..."

"But nothing," Suikotsu said and softening his tone, he went on, "Jak, if you don't mind telling me, how long ago did she die?"

"Ummm..." Jakotsu tried counting the years on his fingers. "Ten years ago...? I was seven, I think, when she died ..." He paused to think about it. "Ummm, Sui," he said, the ghost of a smile tugging at his lips. "Do you think she was reborn as Aniki-chan? Sparrow liked wearing her hair in a long braid down her back too."

Suikotsu tried not to laugh at the cross-dresser's mathematical skills as it was impossible for that suggestion to happen because that would have made their young leader five years shy of his actual age. Still, if it made him feel better to think that, then who was he to disabuse Jakotsu of the idea. "Yes, I do. You see? She missed you so much, that she came back as someone you came to love very much."

"Yeah..." Jakotsu's smile broadened. "And that's why Aniki-chan came to rescue me from there?!"

Suikotsu nodded. "Yes. And I think we should start heading home too, before Oo-Aniki misses you too much." He extended his hand and pulled Jakotsu to his feet.

"Thanks, Sui..."

"No problem."

And as they finished their journey home, Jakotsu regaled the claw-bearer with various tales about their leader and his connection to the small brown birds that gave a long dead child-prostitute her name...