Chapter 1

How long … must we suffer … before you … are … content? The gaze of the Japanese man stared into my dulling eyes which were blurred by tears. My back bleeding severely while creating a pool of blood underneath me. No soldiers moved, watching the battle between leaders become eased into anguish. "F-Finish me… aru," I muttered, feeling my vision go awry. I did not wish to endure this pain much longer as it numbed my shoulders and back―facing the sky… it wasn't so bad with the sun glaring down. How I wished…it was the moon instead.

The Japanese man lifted his katana in front of me, and I closed my eyes, preparing to say goodbye to life. There was a splattered sound and I reopened my eyes when the pain I expected had not come. The Japanese man sheathed his rusty blood stained katana back into his scabbard and looked at me with eyes full of regret―the only regret that I understood. To others, it may look like he was glaring at me. "N-Nihon…" I muttered, but he turned away from me and walked back to his army.

In a loud, clear voice that resounded in the silence, he shouted, "RETREAT!" I gritted my teeth as I tried to push myself onto the support of my elbows. A soldier rushed to me and helped me up, muttering apologies and weeping tears of fear that his leader had almost died. I drank in his sorrow as I remembered my own achievements. I … could not lose now, no matter what.

My army left the battlefield which was dyed red by the blood of many soldiers injuries and bodies. How I wished Nihon would have been able to come back with us. Closing my eyes, one thought as I wept to sleep: I forgive you Nihon … so don't leave me.

Several months later, when China was finally given permission to return:

"Da gege!" came a sobbing Taiwanese girl in a pink qipao.

Smiling gently, I held her shoulders as her face buried into the long end of my red mandarin jacket. "I'm back, Mei," I knelt down and caressed her cheek. With the side of my hand, I brushed away her bangs and kissed the middle of her forehead. "Are you okay? Where is Yong Soo?" I muttered, wiping her tear stained cheeks. I lowered my gaze from her eyes and she did the same. It was still just the two of them―Li had not come back yet, and Nihon's betrayal drove him away from the place where he had last called home.

"Hyung," wept a young Korean boy. He ran up and hugged me with tears escaping his eyes.

"Yong…" I muttered, feeling tears creep out of my bottom lid, "You're getting too old to cry."

"Shut up!" he cried in my ear, as Mei hugged our legs while holding in tears as well. "You're crying too… so don't say that…." We sobbed until Yong Soo let go―his tear stained face made Mei and me laugh, and we earned a blushing face from him while he used his sleeve to hide his nose down, saying, "Be quiet!"

I picked up Mei, she had grown from before, but was still a bit small. I tapped her nose with a finger and said, "You're going to grow up big and strong before you know it, Mei. Don't worry about your size." Squeezing her into a hug, I said, "I promise to protect you. I won't let you go." Turning to Yong Soo who was wiping the corner of his eyes still, I said, "Now, let's go inside instead of wondering around the porch, aru."

"Okay, da-ze," obliged the Korean boy as he walked beside me after he slid the door firmly shut. Mei wiggled a bit in my arms but didn't say anything when I gave her my attention. It was alright… this life…. With all my heart, I promise everybody that we will reunite. No matter what.

Thank you for reading. This is a fanfic inspired by a video (again). Link: watch?v=O_KsqOAap9A . Please watch it, it deserves more views and likes. Enjoy and watch out for more chapters!

~Yui Lathens~