Seien sat on the steps, silently, watching the family. The lady was sitting up on a tree branch, laughing brightly down at her daughter’s protests that she wanted up in the tree too. It was good, if a little strange, still, to sit in the sun, warm and safe with nothing to worry about.
Even stranger, truth be told, to watch the sweetness of how this little family acted toward each other. The hand that the lady set on her daughter’s head, as she finally descended and leaned down to laugh with the girl, made Seien flinch, his own hand closing tight. He could remember his brother’s fine, soft hair under his palm.
He remembered very clearly that Ryuuki had been the only one he could touch like that.
Did he dare to see Ryuuki again? To go back, even to visit in secret? It had been almost two years. But… Kou Shouka said that the fighting between his older brothers had gotten even worse, though it hadn’t come to swords yet. Seien’s mouth tilted; none of them but him had ever really favored the sword, anyway.
Did he have any right to go back, when he couldn’t even protect himself, much less Ryuuki, against the weapons their brothers and the concubines did use?
He hugged one knee to his chest, sighing. He probably didn’t. He should probably take the gift of his life and forget what he had been, and dedicate himself to what he still could be. To the people who had saved him. His lips moved silently, shaping the name Shuurei-chan had given him. Seiran. He smiled a little.
Perhaps he should just trust Shouka-sama’s strength to protect Ryuuki, and be only Seiran. There was a certain peace in that thought, a peace that went well with this sunny garden, and these people. Only a few people; the only ones to cup his frostbitten self in their warm hands until he thought maybe his blood was flowing again.
Surely even he could manage to protect that few.
Shuurei-chan’s laugh blended, in his ear, into Ryuuki’s, the bright laugh that only he ever heard. A sweet sound, for his sweet brother, totally at odds with what the Imperial Court had become.
Let alone what it might become soon.
Seien thought of Ryuuki in that court, and his back straightened. No. No! It would just be cowardice to abandon his life now. He had been given power, by the hand of Heaven, and his father. Surely that meant he had a duty to use it!
If he didn’t, who would? He thought of the bandits back in Sa and a corner of his mouth tried to curl up in a snarl.
“Seiran?” A small hand tugged at his sleeve and he looked down to find Shuurei-chan looking up at him with innocent, concerned eyes. He took a long breath and smiled at her, laying a hand on her head.
“Thank you, Shuurei-chan.”
He would protect his brother, and he would protect this girl. He would take this kingdom and guard the precious things it held from the rot inside it.
Shuurei patted his hand comfortingly and offered him a clover from the bunch in her fist. When he took it she nodded, satisfied, and ran back to her mother, who was busy shooing away disturbed bumble bees. Seien tucked it into his tunic and rose to go back inside and find Shouka-sama.
There were plans they needed to make.
End
A/N: Clover is for luck.
Ohhh, I want more of this. It’s a tasty little tidbit, but I really need to see more before declaring your brilliance. ^_~
*laughing* Oh, more is coming, all right. Glad you liked it! *pokes Seiran* Now, if he’ll just give me the /bridge/ stories between the major, dramatic bits, so he develops right…
*sparkles* Ooooooooh. Shiny sharp-edged Seien. *swoons*
I’m really very taken with him this way. *grins* Of course, he’s going to get out of hand, a bit, eventually, but that’s what Shuurei and Ensei are for.
Ryuuk: *indignant* What about me?
*dry* You’d still think he was the most perfect thing in the universe if he killed and ate your mother.
Ryuuki: … well yeah.
Okay, maybe not the best possible example. Still.
::laughs:: Oh, dear. I laugh much. Ryuuki’s mother must have been beautiful, judging by her son, but she was a lousy excuse for a human being. Who but a monster could abuse chibi Ryuuki, who is conceivably the cutest thing ever to exist?
Poor kid was totally surrounded by monsters, it seems. Geez, the previous Emperor must have had some kind of curse, only two of his offspring turned out decently . . .
Sure seems that way, doesn’t it? I mean, wow. I keep looking at the concubines and thinking “you actually went to /bed/ with these women?”
*tries not to get drool on the fic* Oh yes please pretty please. Seien all lovely sharp edges and selfish selflessness and Ryuuki’s aniue is coming home! *loves some more*
*hearts* More coming, yes!
selfish selflessness
You know, that may be the best capsule description of Seiran I’ve ever heard.
hmm, somehow i have a feeling things are going to get pretty scary, especially considering the events of “may we be truly thankful.” somehow i’d never considered the link with seiran going from having a little brother ryuuki to a little sister shuurei.
loyal fangirl devotion makes me ask: are shuuei and kouyuu going to show up? i can’t think of anything right off that might lead to them being much different, unless the lack of the plague/starvation/war “8 years ago” led to kouyuu not separating from his parents, or shuuei decides not to be a shogun or something. but if you’re planning to include them i bet you’ve already come up with something.
AUs are really fun =D
*grins* Scary in places, yeah. Since Seiran now has /two/ little siblings to look out for. *evilly pleased*
And yes, they will be coming! In pretty much the same places, yeah. *laughs* Shuuei is alternating between fascinated and freaked out, and Kouyuu is laughing at him. They both agree they gotta get Ensei into the Inner Circle, though, so he can haul on Seiran’s reins when it’s called for.
I really /wasn’t/ going to plan any big, huge arcs… ^_^;
Seien was born to be a big brother, totally. He should be constantly surrounded by cute small children to assure his complete happiness.
Haha, yes. Your words make me picture him surrounded by 10 kids running him going crazy and just looking completely overwhelmed. =D Maybe in the future…
Please excuse me while I do a little dance in glee.
The emperor Seien AUs ARE taking over the fandom, and I have nothing but happiness and praise for it. By the by, the bunny that Thea-san and I are working on is at http://grey-damaskena.livejournal.com/10
……I am stupendously pleased with awesome ficcage. Keep up the great work!
Majo
*laughing* Great to hear you’re liking it! The idea thundered down on me like a fic-mammoth within hours of her mentioning it; I was totally lost. *hearts Emperor!Seien mightily*
*goes to look at the cousin-bunny*
I am pleased to hear the thundering down like a fic-mammoth – that usually heralds high word volume (or at least more frequent updates).
Cousin bunnies for teh Win! Battlejoy-san is also doing one. Ahhh…like I’ve been saying to everyone I see online…it’s like Christmas.
Words cannot express my joy and glee. I look forward to more. ^^
Majo
Yep, yep, definitely have a nice word-cascade going. Now I just hope I can sustain it!
And, um, you’re going to be writing up your bits, too, so that you and grey_damaskena can post more lovely fic? Yes? Because that was really quite lovely, and, most marvelous of all, different enough from where I’m taking it that I can read it without getting derailed. *sparkles* Totally like Christmas.
I have stuff being beta-ed, but I’ve not given up on the task of convincing Thea-san that she should do all the writing and I do all the cheerleading (and the occasional doodle) because her stuff is much better than mine.
But yes. Christmas. And I also noticed this about the whole “emperor Seien AU” thing. Three different takes on it, and yours and BJ-san’s were both completely different from what I had originally imagined. Variety being the spice of life and all, the my life is very good right now, indeed.^^
Majo
NOOOOOOOOOOO LIES! Do not deprive me of Majo-writing!! Your stuff is awesome and fun and I love it! If I did all the writing there would be nothing but angst and people bleeding all over the place. It would not be good at all.
Just for that, you owe me one of the bunnies you’ve been attacked by. ::stern:: I shall expect to see it in my mailbox within the next few days.
Absolutely nothing wrong with angst, or with people bleeding all over the place. You do angst and people bleeding all over the place MOST excellently.
…Bunny needs to be rewritten. Just realized life would’ve been a lot easier if I’d started with Ensei’s POV.@_@ Ah, the lovely writing process…
Majo
The writage will be continuing, aye. We’re at something like 100 collective pages now and still going. ::coughs:: Next post is currently being beta-ed and cleaned up, should go live soon.
I’m glad to be responsible for this spread of great 3v1l, oh yes. ::proud:: Next I shall have to try to gain further converts for my Saiunkoku crack pairing of DOOM . . .
*giggling* Okay, now, you /know/ that, having mentioned crack pairings, you simply must tell me what they are.
Seiran/Kochou for the win! It is good crack, yesyesyes. And not one I’ve seen save in those I’ve infected with the awesome. 😉
And incidentally, Kochou tops. EVERYONE.
::goes and hides::
Oh, Kochou /totally/ tops everyone! *hearts her*
*giggles wickedly over the image of her with Seiran* Oh… oh /dear/… I think I may have to see if I can include this. After all, who better to, erm, educate our young, incognito prince?
Young!Seiran: *eyes wide* Um…
Oh yeah.
(Incidentally, that icon makes me die laughing; you /know/ Fluffy-sama has wanted to get into a yo’ mamma match with Inu Yasha since forever.)
*glee*
Just ignore me here. Still happily enjoying the Christmas mood.
Majo
WOOHOO! Emperor Seien AUs are taking over the WORLD!!!! oh gods I win so, so much. so much. so so much. glee glee glee.
::coughs:: In case you couldn’t tell, I am very pleased with this fic and thank you much for writing it. Much happiness for Seien’s thoughts of Ryuuki and the line of reasoning that leads him back to the palace again . . . one has to wonder what Shouka will do in response. Does Shouka know who his foundling really is? Or I should rather ask, does Seien know that Shouka knows? From the anime and manga, I was always of the impression that Shouka knew but Seiran didn’t/doesn’t know that he knew.
Really, Seiran’s secret is about the worst kept in the series. Shouka wins the prize for best-kept secret, since there’s apparently only three people alive who know about him . . .
Please, please write more. I shall be waiting with great eagerness.
*huge grin* So much winning, all over. I am writing more as we speak!
*pokes her characters* Shouka’s known all along. I think Seiran thought he didn’t, but when he marches in to declare that he’s really Seien, and is going to take over the world, Shouka will be all “oh, of course”, and Seiran is going to have a sweatdrop moment.
I think this will have to be an omake.
And! Then Shouka reveals /his/ secret, and Seiran wibbles, and Shouka is all fatherly, and Seiran totally melts, and it’s just too adorable for words. *hasn’t just finished that one or anything, no* *thoughtful* Really, it’s kind of amazing how Shouka can be fatherly and also declare his allegience as a deadly assassin all in the same scene. I think it must be a gift. Or, possibly, that Shouka doesn’t see all that much difference between the two where his children, blood and adopted, are concerned.
There’s entirely not enough of people taking care of Seien/Seiran. The guy deserves to be cuddled and hugged and have allegience sworn to.
Er, I’ll stop spamming your comments page now. Sorry.^^;
Majo
Ooooh, I’m intrigued. I have a hard time imagining Emperor Seien for myself, so I can’t wait to what you do with him!
And, awwwwww! Wee Shuurei comforting him!
Thank you! It’s going to take a handful of stories to actually work him up to that point, that’s for sure, but he’s cooperating so far.
*dotes on Shuurei* She is the most adorable thing, and I be she does worry about her big brother Seiran.
I am so happy you seem to be addicted to Saiunkoku fics. All of them have been excellent, and it always brings a smile to my face when I see your name on my friends list. Keep up the good work!
*hearts* Thank you! I’m having a lot of fun with these; it’s the first time since tenipuri that an arc has really grabbed on hard.
Haha, I remember your Tenipuri stuff, and I was just as happy back then as I am now. Hope this holds you tight for quite a while yet. 😀
Mmm. Intrigued. Looking forward to more! 🙂
*grins* Definitely more coming. I just can’t resist the cute sibling moments. Or the shiny, sharp Seien. It’s like Yukimura, only with /real/ swords. ^_^
Yay! More well-written, interesting gen Saiunkoku fic! And it’s not even my birthday!
<3
Thank you! *giggles* As much as there is UST of Doom just dripping from this show, the actual storyline is even more fun to play with.
*nods*
I, personally, am a great fan of gen fics, and most of the time feel like an alien (
well, it’s not like I really mind, either, since I could very well be one)… so when I find gems like this story, they’re bound to become my favorites! 😀*thoughtful* It’s funny, you know. I started out, back with FMA, writing all smut, all the time; it’s a fun way to do character pieces. But I swear, most of my actual motivation to write smut is usually when I disagree somehow with most of the smut I read. *rueful* The long plotty stuff attacks me and grabs on under its own power, but I don’t seem to stay with smut unless I have some fandom spite to feed. Man, that sounds bad! *blushing*
Seien!! And quite a lot of Ryuuki even if it was indirectly!! I really liked it and I hope we get more soon!
Thank you! *chuckles* Ryuuki is the secret center of this whole ‘verse, it’s turning out to be kind of cute. And I’m planning to post more up this weekend. ^_^
*starts waiting*
Ohh, interesting start. I think I’ll read all of this tonight instead of sleeping.
*blushes* Thank you! I just couldn’t resist exploring it, especially after gray_damaskena made such beautiful emperor!Seien fanart.