Meeting at Tenzan Pass
Author’s note: I personally hate those stories where Riou leaves the
(insert name here) Army and finds Jowy at Tenzan Pass, only to fight
him and then declare his love. Blech! Because of my distaste (don’t
get me wrong, I’m just plain tired of the same formula being used over
and over again. I really am against yaoi-yuri stories, unless they’re
done well, but I’m not a homophobe), I have decided to lampoon said
formula. This is a “serious satire”, so try and spot what’s different.
Tenzan Pass was a long and winding road at the end of a long and
winding road--fitting! The pass itself had so many twists and turns in
it that only a truly dedicated person would bother to look for
something here. You could get lost in a place like this, and even if
you ever do find the object of desire, escape will prove just as hard.
Oh, the similarities!!! Life itself was a long and winding road, full
of complicated twists and turns and so many different ways in that it
makes your head spin. Only a truly dedicated person would bother to
really set out to find a Goal in life--everyone else, according to my
observations, just wanders around. They think they’ll find their way
out (of life) eventually, and sometimes they’re right. But in the
process, they could get lost. They could die, or worse yet, their
Goals, their ideals, could get lost, and in turn, so could they.
And if somebody found what they were looking for… what then? Oh, the
similarities!!!
I took my time as I walked through Tenzan Pass. I was dressed for
walking weather; I would not perspire easily. It was very cool in the
ravine, though not chilly, and the wind in my hair felt great, though
a little sick. The path itself was very rocky, with enough stubborn
bushes growing here and there to constitute for an environment. There
was life and fertility in this valley, but with those exceptions out
of the way, Tenzan Pass was just stone.
Aha, the similarities! Life is rough, and rocky, and lonely, and
barren! You find shrubs of happiness here and there, just enough to
keep you going, but not so much to make you happy forever! …Not so
much…… to make you happy forever…… Ha… Those words sure did ring in my
head as I carefully walked the path. Not enough happiness… So where
can you find more? You can’t stop walking on the path--otherwise,
you’ll never reach your destination. So, where then?
Why was I walking the path? Happiness? Fulfillment? …Boredom?
No.
I walked it because… I promised someone…
I promised them that… if we were ever separated…
We’d meet back here…
And then what?
I guess I’ll just have to find out.
As treacherous as the path was, I came to my destination safely. In
the distance, I could just make out the object of my search, and as
cautious feet drew me closer, I held my breath inside of me as my eyes
glanced at the figure. This figure turned around, having been staring
at a stone with an “X” carved in it, and gave me the most hollow and
empty look I had ever seen. Was it possible for humans to look so
dejected?
“…Hello, Eilie,” said the figure in that same gentle voice I knew. A
grave lack of emotion had replaced most of the gentleness, granted,
but it was still there. I responded in almost the same tone.
“…Hello, Jilia.” We stared at each other for but a few brief seconds,
and as I drew closer to her, she began to speak. Jilia was a Queen, in
theory, so she obviously had a very goood way with words, unlike me. I
tend to speak a little crudely, but I get the point across. Normally I
can’t stand longwinded speeches, but I made an exception in her case.
After all, no matter what had gone on between us in the past, we were
still friends…
“…This is where it began for us,” motioned Jilia with her hand. She
was pointing to the rock with a cross cut into it. “We grew up
together, yes, but this… is really where it started. From this point
onward, our lives were destined to draw apart, and we were destined to
be enemies.
“The symbolism on the rock alone speaks for itself,” she continued.
“We were once divided, like the marks are at the top, but slowly we
made our way together, and for a brief time, we were united, just like
the cross unites at one point. But as we intersected, we also divided
yet again--but this time, as you can see, there is no longer any hope
of either of us ever uniting again.” Her voice, as I anticipated, was
flat and weary, as was her usually-beautiful body.
That came as no surprise; both of us had been through Hell in the past
few months. We really had started out as friends, best friends to be
exact, and even though she was royalty and I was but a gypsy, we were
still very close. Sometimes, when she knew the circus was in town, she
would sneak out of her house just to play with me and my sister. I
always liked the way she behaved: outwardly, she was a prim princess,
with tact and punctuality and decorum, but on the inside, she was wild
and free.
We spent our childhoods in secret mostly, though at times Jilia’s
family would come out to see us perform. Little Jilia would always be
kept at a distance, though. After all, her father didn’t want her to
be “snatched away by suspicious characters”. The fact that King Blight
was so protective of his daughter (and so unaware of our secret
friendship) made our late-night activities all the more fun.
But as Jilia said, those times were over. We had parted ways, went our
own paths, walked down a road that forked off in two different
directions, and never met again. We had become enemies: she the Queen
of Highland, and I myself one of the key figures in the Aegis Army. It
was a classical case of civil war, and though I desperately wanted
things to revert back to “the good old days”, we both knew that it was
impossible.
Which was why I was here. This fighting had to stop, right here and
now.
“…But still,” said Jilia, who had allowed the long pause in the air to
retire, “even though we were on opposite sides in the war, I would
still like to think that I gained something from this experience. I…
want to feel like I’ve learned, and grown, and become… better, I
suppose, or maybe wiser. But… well… I… I suppose… it had to come to an
end.
“I wanted a better life,” she said, avoiding my gaze. I had taken a
step forward in the brief intermission she allowed, and was just about
to speak my mind, but she beat me to the punch. “…I wanted to create a
country where… children could wander around free, and where there
would be no war, or want, or greed. I wanted to make a safe place for
everybody, so they could live in peace forever.
“I… guess I just lost my ideals there,” she said with a final whisper.
I swallowed sadly, my own lips quivering just barely. Jilia… she had
always had a good heart, even in the worst circumstances, and… I
suppose… if I thought about it long enough… I suppose I could
understand why she did what she did.
“Jilia… I… I wanted those same things too,” I said with a whisper. She
sighed, hung her head, and began to mourn silently. I couldn’t blame
her one bit.
“We… we were destined to fight,” she said with a strained murmur. The
sheer sadness in her voice was overpowering. “We may have beaten back
fate a little during our youth, but… we were destined to be enemies
from the first day… When we first carved that cross in the rock, and
leaped into our fate…”
“I don’t believe in destiny!!!” I shouted suddenly. My voice carried
across the empty rocks, echoing off into the distance and scaring a
few birds away. For the first time since I arrived, Jilia raised her
head and looked straight into my eyes. I felt a knife of hurt cut my
heart open as I looked into those once-hopeful eyes, and I darn near
broke out in tears myself.
“I don’t believe in destiny,” I repeated in a softer voice. “Jilia…
things don’t have to be that way…”
“But I killed people, Eilie!!” she roared, finally allowing the tears
to flow as she glared at me. A mournful pause. “I killed people, both
directly and indirectly… I sent so many men and women to their deaths,
and I… I stained my own hands with the blood of other humans! I… I
ended the lives of other people, Eilie! People just like you, and me!
I… I’m a murderer!”
“And how do you think I feel?” I asked, keeping my voice soft and
gentle. “Not only was I witness to several people’s deaths, but I even
commanded a few in battle myself! I had just as many people killed as
you did, Jilia! We’re no different! We’re the same! And we don’t need
to fight!”
“Yes we do…” she wailed, her face sending tears down like arrows. “I’m
the Queen of Highland, and you’re one of the key members of the Aegis
Army. We’re enemies, Eilie, we’re enemies! We have to fight!”
“No we don’t,” I repeated gently, stepping forward to take her hand.
Jilia quivered at my touch, and I began to knead her fingers gently.
Though she was royalty, her hands had become just as tough and coarse
as mine were, but they still had that same kind of softness that I had
always known. We had not changed so much in the years.
“Let’s leave all that behind us now,” I said gently, looking into her
mournful face. I was crying just as much as she was, but I didn’t let
the tears affect me. “Let’s go back to being Eilie and Jilia, and
forget about wars and kingdoms and armies. Please…! We’re… we’re both
too young to think about things like that. Please…” Jilia sighed, and
slowly slipped her hand from my grasp. Only an arm’s length away from
me, I could smell the perfumes and the blood that had been sprayed on
her, and I couldn’t decide which was more prominent.
“…It’s too late for that,” she sighed. “This world is too small for
two countries. We need one or the other, Aegis or Highland, and it
looks as though Highland lost. Eilie…” She looked into my eyes, nearly
to the point of begging, and I knew she was about to say something
that I didn’t want to hear. “…You have to cut off the last thread to
Highland. Fight me, kill me, and your country, your Aegis country, can
thrive and prosper. I know now that the better country won…”
“Jilia, no!”
“…and now all we have to do is make it official!” Jilia stepped
backwards suddenly, reached into her dress, and pulled out a thin
fighting knife, one not too unlike my own. She stood in offensive
position, practically begging me to fight. I stared at her in horror,
my mouth and eyes both wide open.
“Jilia, no!” I hissed. “I can’t fight you! I won’t!!!”
“Then I’ll kill you!” she shouted, the tears threatening her again.
The intense glare in her eyes told me that she was serious, and my
best friend took a single step forward, her hand clutching a knife
tightly. She suddenly dashed forward, screaming out in sorrow, and
slashed at me with her weapon. My own knife came out, and I blocked
her blow before it could harm me.
“That’s no good!” she hissed, staring at me as she pressed her knife
against mine. “Eilie, you have to fight me! I don’t want to kill you,
but I will if you don’t fight!”
“I don’t want to kill you either!” I insisted, and pushed her away.
Jilia snarled at me, and lunged forward with her knife again. I
blocked it, my eyes burning with pain as they stared into her own.
Tears. She struck again, and I blocked, and we continued to slash and
guard each other’s blow for some time. I could tell that Jilia was
fighting without any heart at all; she wanted to die, wanted to lose,
wanted to let me win…
Wanted to let me win… as always… Jilia had such a big heart… she would
always let me succeed, especially if I was in a bad mood, and would
always congratulate me afterwards. She always let me win no matter
what we did, and even now, as she attacked me, I could tell she wanted
to lose. She let me do that because…… she loved me. She… loved me…
And… and…
Jilia suddenly collapsed as she backed away from another duel,
dropping her knife and sobbing uncontrollably. I called out her name,
hoping she was all right--“JILIA!!!”--and rushed to her aide. By now,
the tears had soaked her face, and were even landing on her dress. I
bent down to examine her, but only got wailing in return.
“No…” she moaned, her face twisted in agony, “I……… I… can’t… do it…
Please, please Eilie, please… end my life…”
“I can’t,” I whispered, wiping her tears away with my hand. I slowly
lifted her chin up, cupped her cheeks in my hands, and smiled as I
gazed into her beautiful, haggard face. “I can’t kill you, Jilia,” I
whispered. “I love you.”
“…Eilie…” She began to cry again, but I smiled at her, trying to
assure her that all would be okay, and we didn’t need to fight, and
that everything could go back to the way it once was… back to when the
world was innocent, and pure, and big, and loving. Slowly, she
sniffled her tears up, and gave me such a beautiful and sad smile that
I could do nothing but lean forward and physically express the depth
of my love with a kiss.
Her lips were not chapped like mine were; no, they were soft and
moist, like a Queen’s should. They were refined, and delicate, and
slightly scented; mine were rough, and dry, and smelled like sweat a
little, but even so, I could feel the love and tenderness she
expressed as our mouths touched. She let out a soft sigh, like a
dove’s, and slowly, hr hand went to my short, dark hair and began to
stroke it.
When I broke our kiss, I was smiling and weeping joyfully, and she had
such a gorgeous and noble look to her sad face that all I wanted to do
was hold her and comfort her and be with her forever--the way we were
truly destined to be.
“Eilie…” she whispered. With tears falling towards her mouth, her weak
voice came out and declared the one thing I had known all along. “I
love you too, Eilie…” Crying out of joy and sorrow, Jilia pulled me
close to her again, and placed the lips of a Queen upon the unworthy
lips of a gypsy, and together we held each other and cried and
declared our love on that rocky pass.
“Forgive me?” asked Jilia as she whispered in my ear. I smiled back at
my childhood friend, at the young lady I loved with a love deeper than
life itself, and touched her face.
“Yes.”
“Love me?” she asked, and I almost laughed. Jilia was cute in that
way. No matter how many times I told her, she just had to make sure
for herself.
“Always.” She smiled, her face now dried of tears, and folded her arms
around my neck.
“You’re so sweet…” Her mouth opened up in a genuine glow of happiness,
and both our hearts exploded with love. The weight of Destiny was cast
off; we felt light as doves, and forgave past sins, and kissed, and
loved, and lived.
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