An excerpt.

Lake Toya, Hokkaido 1592

    It’s a quiet night along the shores of Lake Toya, well…quiet enough to hear the sound of the crickets chirping in the summer night. The scent of the sakura petals left that sweet scent in the air, almost soothing in some respects. In the sky above, the stars were shining bright enough in the darkness to give enough light to see the other side of the lake. It felt like there was no one left in the world except for the two people sitting along the shore with a fire going to keep them warm. The first person, a young Japanese woman dressed in a light kimono still looked up at the night sky, wondering what was truly out there beyond this world.

    While her companion, was watching her with curiosity while admiring her view of the world around her. His clothing did not match the style of the young woman; it was strange and looked like it belonged to a different time all together. His eyes were moving up to notice his long bangs were in the way of his face and started swatting it out of his way before he relaxed and pulled out a small pocket book and slowly pulling out an image of a young woman. Quietly, he sighs taking one more look before he returns his focus on his travelling companion and her fascination with the stars.

   The young woman turns away from the stars and looks at him, “Do I fascinate you that much?”

   The older gentleman was smiling at her question, “That is an understatement.”

   She looked at him putting the picture back into the pocket book before placing it in his pocket, “Still thinking about the woman back in your homeland?”

    He nodded and said, “Yes and no. I was thinking about how different this place is from the world I know. There are no airplanes, satellites and Fast Food. It is almost a paradise with the exception that I can’t call to order a pizza.”

    “There you go always saying strange things.” The woman did not want to figure out what he meant and continued looking at the stars.

    “It may sound strange to you, but it does make sense to me.” The gentleman said while pulling out a small hi tech device in his hands that had a set of headphones and put them in his ear while singing the first words the tune of an old Keiko Toda [1]song called ‘To the Cosmos with You.’ [2]

    “What is it with you and that device?” The woman’s curiosity towards the machine was overwhelming her, for the past few nights her travelling companion had put the device in his ears and started singing songs that she has never heard before in English or Japanese.

    “It helps me relax when I travel.” The man stretches himself out and starts to relax.

     “You sure are strange to me.” The woman turned away deciding that stargazing was the better approach.

     “I might be strange to you Michiru, but to me you are an incredible woman.” The man said taking one more look at her before he leaned against a soft bag he was using as a back rest, “It’s not every day a person meets a woman who is deadly and beautiful.”

     The woman, Michiru starts laughing at him, “Be careful what you say because I don’t think you would know what to do if you had a woman like me.”

     “Probably.” The older gentleman, Wanderer looks up at the night sky as well.

     He was not taking the bait; at first she thought he was honestly ignoring the whole remark. She continues to look back up at the stars for a moment letting the comment pass before she says, “What do you mean probably?”

     “It means that you’re probably right and then again you might be wrong.” Wanderer takes the device off of his ears, “Or are you looking to find out yourself?”

     Michiru looks down at the Wanderer, “I have seen how you look at me, it’s a little unsettling.”

     The Wanderer lifts his head up, “Is it because I am a foreigner?”

     Michiru shakes her head, “No, there is something else….”

     The Wanderer moves his head back down, “Maybe it is because we’re more alike than different.”

    “I would not go that far…” Michiru laughs and her attitude changes into being slightly serious, “Besides you still have not told me who you really are.”  

   Michiru pokes the fire a little more to keep it from going out, while the Wanderer is now looking out towards the lake, hearing the sound of the water splashing on the surface. She didn’t understand him that much although they had been around each other for the past few weeks. He was not from Japan, but he was familiar with the customs and could even talk like her. Then there were the words he mumbled when he was a sleep, about a woman and how he wished to return to her as soon as possible and this faraway place. She wanted to know more about him, but the one thing that she could tell right away was that he felt alone and he tries to hide it by keeping his concentration on the mission at hand. He did not have any real obligation to her or her friends waiting for her, but she knew that he was needed.

    “You still don’t know if I am to be trusted, right?” The Wanderer’s attention was still focused on her.

    “Well, I have a few questions to ask.” Michiru felt a little cautious in prying but she knew that her companion had no qualms answering her.

    “Go ahead and ask me anything” The Wanderer brought his attention back to the stars above him.

    “What is your name, your real name?” Michiru’s voice had a sense of finality.

   “Does it really matter what my name is?” Wanderer looked at the expression on her face and immediately understood that she was serious, “Thomas Xiao Li.”

    “Tomasu Shiao Ri.” Michiru tried to sound it out phonetically which made the Wanderer smile.

    “Just call me Li.” The Wanderer continued to smile, “Since I think that would be a lot easier.”

    “Li…” Michiru showed a slight smile and then continued with her questioning, “Are you related to the warrior Xiao Li?”

   “He is my father.” The Wanderer’s attention turned towards the fire almost like he was seeing something beyond it, “I know that you probably won’t believe what I have to say next…but I come from another time, 512 years into the future.”

   That took a moment for Michiru to grasp. Was it a trick from the Gods? No, she could sense that was the truth, “How did you come through time.”

    “You sent me here.” The Wanderer never turned away from the fire.

   Michiru could not believe the words that came out of his mouth, she did not want to believe it. What could have happened in the future for her to bring this man here? Yet, she still could sense the truth in his words and wanted to know more, “Why would I send you here?”

   “Because if you didn’t…..” The Wanderer stopped himself, “Are you sure you want to know?”

    “Please tell me, Li.” Michiru wanted to hear the answer.

    “We would have never fallen in love.” The Wanderer moved back down, but she could sense that he felt a little uneasy telling her this. She now had knowledge of the future, “When I was 18 years old, the two of us will meet. I still remember looking at you and wondering what it was that caught my attention, but I could still see in that look that was on your face.”

    “What kind of look?”

   “Almost like a great burden had been taken from you. Back then I could not understand why. Yet every time I look at you, I can see it. I wish I knew what exactly it was…”

    Michiru moved towards the Wanderer, “If what you say is true, then I will tell you. Right now, I just want to understand more about you.”

    The Wanderer touched Michiru’s hand for the first time, at first she wanted to move it back, but she could not find a reason to. Her heart raced when she felt him slightly tighten his grip. It just amazed her that for all this time that since he recovered from his wounds. The main reason that he stayed with her that he was doing it because he loved her, (It did not matter that it was a version of her in the future.) Not once did he try to take advantage of her or anything that would make him look like a degenerate.

    “It’s a little sad…” The Wanderer suddenly blurted out.

    “What is?”

   “Eventually, I will have to go back and it will be centuries before we could truly talk about this.”

   Michiru could not help but agree with that and she hated it. Why did the fates have to play such a cruel joke on both of them? For the Wanderer…..Li, he was a man from another time and is introduced to the woman he loves for the ‘first time’ and will eventually have to leave her alone until time allows them to be together once more.  Slowly she moves beside him some more and rests her body against him. At first she tried not to think much of it given that they have done this so many times before on their journey, but this was different. There was more to this than there was before, and that was when she slowly moved up and kissed him lightly on the side of his face.

 “What was that for?” He admitted to himself that it was nice to feel the touch of Michiru’s lips against him, but he did think that it was a little too soon for anything like that.

    “I may not be her.” Michiru said looking into Li’s eyes, “But I think that she would have not minded if I did that in her place.”

Notes:

[1] Keiko Toda: Japanese Voice actress known for her roles in the anime Soreike Anpanman, Space Runaway Ideon and Mobile Suit Gundam. She is also known to be a popular singer.

[2] To The Cosmos With You: (Cosmos ni kimi to) Ending song to the 1980 Japanese Anime, Space Runaway Ideon.