Echoes of a Mother’s Love

Year 1252 since the Great Fall

A few days had passed since Takisuma had opened his eyes to this new world and he had learned a bit about it since. The biggest thing that he had realized was that it looked a lot like ancient Japan in terms of architecture and culture. He had also learned a bit about his new family.

The Komono House was one of the seven noble houses that ruled over the country of Woucan. Known for its skill in crafting weapons, especially swords, that they supplied to the other six houses, the Komono House was also the one that acted as the frontline warriors against the monsters that plagued the land.

Hana was the House head, a rare position for a woman in this patriarchal society. His apparent father, Ryuu, was married into the Komono House from another house higher in rank—Takisuma thinks that he might have been a younger son in the family if he married into a house of a lower status. Hana had inherited the title from her father, who was killed a couple years prior when his transport was attacked by the monsters… “Festers” is what keeps coming up, but Takisuma had heard other names of monsters as well, though he couldn’t remember them as well.

Takisuma also learned that there was a magic system in this world, but he did not know much about it. He only knew that there were two types of people: those who carried the magic—or “mana”—inside them, called Carriers, and those who could use the mana from Carriers, called Wielders. Carriers could not use the mana themselves, but they could lend it to the Wielders.

Wielders, on the other hand, could not carry any mana to use themselves, but could pull on the mana from the Carriers and manipulate it to perform various abilities. This created a hand-in-hand magic system where each part is useless without the other.

And all that Takisuma knew about the manipulated mana that the Wielders could do was that there weren’t many Wielders who had the same power, each one had their own for the most part. He was sure as well that he had only the base understanding of the magic. It wasn’t like someone just walked up and told him everything that he needed to know about it, and he couldn’t exactly get a book to read either.

Takisuma did not know which type he was, or if he had any magic at all. He heard something about “testing” once a child reaches a certain age, but not enough to fully understand how it all worked.

As he pondered these things, he felt his mother's arm around him as she carried him outside. Sakura followed behind them, holding her mother's hand. Takisuma had initially thought that she might be his friend Misha reincarnated from his past life, but he soon realized that she was not. She was too different from Misha in personality, even though she looked quite similar in appearance.

That also meant that the real Misha was somewhere else in this world, if at all, alone. She died before Takisuma, so she wouldn’t think that he was here, and therefor wouldn’t have the desire that he has to find her. If they were to ever meet again in this life, he needed to be the one out looking, but that would be many years down the road at least…

He only hoped that she would not have forgotten about him in this new life by the time he finds her… If he ever finds her.

They walked towards the blacksmith shop on the Komono Grounds, where they met a woman sweeping outside. Takisuma had seen this woman many times, giving she was one of Hana’s highest-ranking handmaidens. A gentle and kind woman with long brown hair and brown eyes, she often helped Hana with taking care of Takisuma and Sakura over the past few days while Hana was busy.

"Good afternoon, Hana-sama. Hello, Sakura-chan." Yuki greeted them warmly as they approached the wooden and stone building. She had a friendly smile on her face and a gentle voice that matched her role as a handmaiden. She was a woman extremely loyal and devoted to Hana.

"Good afternoon, Yuki-san." Hana replied politely, nodding slightly. She held Takisuma close to her chest, feeling his warmth and heartbeat. She was grateful to Yuki, who had been kind and supportive to her since she gave birth to Takisuma.

"Good afternoon!" Sakura exclaimed happily, waving her hand. She liked Yuki a lot. She was always nice to her and gave her sweets and toys. She also taught her how to make flower crowns and other crafts.

Yuki gave Sakura a wide smile and ruffled her hair affectionately. She adored the little girl a lot.

She looked back up to Hana and Takisuma, noticing her pale and tired face. "How are you feeling today?" she asked with concern. This was the first time she had seen Hana this giving day, since she was given the day off to help Kuroda in the shop.

"I'm doing better. Just needed to get some fresh air.” Hana said with a small smile. She had been feeling weak for the past few days after giving birth to Takisuma, though, her duties of being the House head could not be put off to the side. She hoped that the fresh air and the company of Yuki and Kuroda would help her relax a little.

Yuki nodded sympathetically and focused on Takisuma with a wide smile. "And how is this little one doing?" she asked, admiring his cute features and white hair.

"He's well, though, very quiet and calm." Hana said, stroking his back gently. “Far more so than Sakura at this age.”

I’m not just going to make a commotion if it is not needed… Takisuma thought looking from Yuki to Hana. Especially with Ryuu the way that he is about me.

Hana smiled at Takisuma and kissed his forehead lovingly.

“Well, the more I watch him, the more I have noticed that he is one that takes in his surroundings a lot more that other kids his age.” Yuki noted, studying Takisuma carefully in Hana’s arms. “I remember my cousin being like that when he was young, and he turned out to be fine. In fact, he is quite smart.” Yuki laughed, covering her mouth with her hand almost as if to hide her smile.

“I’m smart too!” Sakura said excitedly with a wide smile. Her body bounced up and down as she rocked back and forth on her heels.

Yuki looked down at Sakura with a smile that built off the little girl’s excitement. “That’s right! And how is your learning going, Sakura-chan?”

“It’s fun! I learned how to write my name today!” Sakura said excitedly, her eyes sparkling with pride. She took out a piece of paper from her pocket and showed it to Yuki. “See? This is my name!”

Yuki looked at the paper and saw that Sakura had written her name in kanji, the complex characters that represented words or concepts in their language—Identical to Japanese Takisuma quickly found out, just like many other aspects of this world. She was impressed by Sakura’s progress.

“That’s amazing, Sakura-chan! You are very smart and talented!” Yuki said, her voice filled with pride and admiration.

Sakura beamed with joy and thanked her. “Thank you so much!”

After all this time, Kuroda finally put down the hammer he was using to beat a red-hot piece of metal straight, inspected his work, and approved it before sticking the metal into a bucket of water. He looked over to Takisuma and the other women with a smile as he wiped the sweat from his brow.

Kuroda was the best swordsmith in the Komono House and one of Hana's closest friends. He was a tall and muscular man with short black hair and a scar on his cheek. He had a stern and serious expression on his face most of the time, but he was loyal and respectful to Hana.

This was the first time that Kuroda saw Takisuma since he was born, even though his wife had already seen him many times. He greeted Hana and Sakura warmly as they entered the shop.

"Good afternoon, Hana-sama. Sakura-chan." He said humbly, as he walked over to them and bowed respectfully to Hana. The look of curiosity he gave Takisuma was only stopped because of his bow.

"Good afternoon, Kuroda-san." Hana said calmly, she knew what he was thinking. She was sure he had heard the rumors and whispers about Takisuma’s origin. Ryuu had convinced a lot of people in the past few days to doubt that Takisuma was his child, since he was born looking so different compared to Sakura—who looked very much alike to Ryuu and Hana. Hana had even heard herself that some people even suspected that he was the result of an affair with Kuroda or a rape.

All of it was lies that Hana couldn’t seem to dismiss.

"So, this is your son?" he asked Hana softly, glancing at Takisuma again with interest.

"Yes, this is Takisuma." Hana said confidently, meeting his gaze without hesitation or doubt.

Kuroda took a very long look at Takisuma with hands on his hips. Takisuma looked back at him at the same time. He tried to look as natural as possible for a baby, but that included smiling—he thought anyway. He was never really around babies in his past life, so trying to play the part as one the past couple of days was rather difficult. Also embarrassing at times. Though, the hardest part for Takisuma was the fact that he couldn’t speak. He had already lost count of how many times he nearly let words slip…

I wish I could just grow up a little faster. Takisuma thought, his smile fading the longer Kuroda and he kept eye contact. Being a baby isn’t as much of a joyride as I thought it would be at the start.

After about fifteen seconds of intense studying on Kuroda’s behalf, Takisuma’s face had dropped to something more of a disgusted glare, but that seemed to be enough for Kuroda. He smiled and let out a laugh after trying his best to hold it in.

"Nope… He looks like Ryuu alright…" Kuroda said through his snickering. Trueth was, he did not believe that Takisuma looked like Ryuu at first glance, but the look in the baby’s eyes was enough to convince him otherwise. “No doubt about it…”

“You really think so!?” Hana said, honestly surprised.

Kuroda smiled, “Yup! Only a child of that man can look at me the way he is. Ha Ha Ha Ha!”

Yuki nodded in agreement, “He’s right, Hana-sama. He has the same eyes as Ryuu-sama. They are sharp and piercing, like a hawk’s.” She gently stroked Takisuma’s white hair, making him relax a bit.

Hana felt a wave of affection for her son as she cuddled him closer to her chest. She glanced at Sakura, who was busying herself with some scraps of metal on the ground.

Sakura… my darling girl. Hana thought to herself with a soft smile. She is so smart and curious, always eager to learn new things. She inherited Ryuu’s hair and my eyes, but she has her own personality.

Kuroda and Yuki shared a look, seeing something in Hana’s eyes. They understood she adored her children more than anything, but they also thought she looked scared. Very well could have been of her situation with Ryuu lately.

The two of them looked on at Hana in silence for a moment, before Yuki became the first to break the still air. “Hana-sama…” she began, but Hana cut her off.

Hana spoke with a serious tone, holding the gaze of her two closest friends. “You know how much I love you both, and how much I have always valued your loyalty… But I have a favor to ask you.” She paused, gathering her courage, then went on, “If something ever happens to me… if Ryuu ever tries to take me away from my children… will you promise to take care of them?” She looked at them with pleading eyes, hoping they would understand her fear and her love.

Kuroda and Yuki were stunned by her words, as well as Takisuma—who’s look he gave her appeared too much like he understood what she was saying. They looked at each other again, then at Hana, who had tears in her eyes.

“Hana-sama, don’t say such things!” Yuki exclaimed, “Nothing will happen to you! Ryuu-sama loves you! He would never hurt you or the children!”

Kuroda nodded, “That’s right! And beyond that, you are the head of the Komono House, not him… There is no way that he could have the power to do such things…”

Hana shook her head sadly, “You don’t understand. Ryuu doesn’t love me. He never has. He only married me for political reasons, to gain more power and influence for the Ryoma House… My father knew that was the case as well, but I knew that he would have had a plan against all of this…” Hana blinked tears. “Ryuu doesn’t care about me or the children. He only cares about himself… I have always known that… I have… I have caught him trying to go behind my back and influence others against me several times before, and now he is doing it again; claiming that I went against him and had Takisuma. I have heard the rumors. I have seen the looks given to me lately… The Ryoma House holds a higher status than Komono, he could easily pull authority from his brother and…”

Hana trailed off, biting her tongue to try and not make her children worry. She raised her eyes to Kuroda and Yuki again, pleading with them, “Please… promise me… promise me that you will take care of them if anything happens to me. Promise me that you will love them as your own.”

Kuroda and Yuki were speechless. They didn’t know what to say or how to react. They felt a wave of emotions wash over them: shock, disbelief, anger, sadness, fear.

They looked at each other again, then at Hana and the children. They saw the fear in Hana’s eyes. They saw the innocence in Takisuma and Sakura’s faces. They felt their hearts ache for their friend.

They made their decision.

They nodded slowly. “We promise,” they said in unison.

Hana smiled through her tears, “Thank you… thank you so much…”

The deep, distant ringing of the bell in the town closest to the Komono House drew everyone’s attention outside. It marked the time of day that shops started to close, but the Komono’s used that bell marking the time for dinner. It was time for Hana to take the children back and get ready.

She turned back to Kuroda and Yuki before they bowed humbly to her. She took Sakura by the hand and left the blacksmith shop.

Takisuma looked back and watched the two other grownups start to pack up the shop as Hana left. Many things were going through his head at the moment. He didn’t even know what to think. He honestly wouldn’t put it past Ryuu to do something like what his mother mentioned, he had thought the same about the man from the start. Though, the fact that it made the woman worry that much was beyond him.

Ryuu must have done something to her before now to make her worry this much. He thought, as he looked back in the direction Hana was taking him and Sakura.

Hana walked to the entrance of the estate with her children in her arms, where she was met by Ryuu and a group of guards. They stared at her with cold eyes, as if she was a traitor or a criminal. She felt a chill run down her spine, knowing that something terrible was about to happen.

"Ryuu, what is this? What are you doing?" she asked, fear and confusion in her voice.

Seriously!? This is happening now, right after she was just worried about this man!? Takisuma thought, having a very hard time believing the coincidence.

"You know what you did, Hana. You betrayed me. You betrayed the entire Komono House." Ryuu said, his voice harsh and unforgiving.

"I didn't…! I didn’t betray anyone!” Hana protested defensively, Sakura clinging tightly to her side, scared of the sight of all the guards and the fear in her mother’s voice.

Ryuu didn’t heed her words for as much as a moment. He nodded to the guards, who lunged forward and grabbed Hana by the arms, as well as Takisuma and Sakura. They wasted no time and dragged Hana away from her children, ripping Sakura from her as she was still clinging to her mother desperately.

"Mommy! Mommy! Don't leave us!" she cried.

"Let me go! Let me go! Please, Ryuu, don't do this! Don't take them away from me! They are my children! They are your children too!" Hana screamed, trying her best to fight back against the guards, though she didn’t have near the strength for that.

"Sakura might be." Ryuu said coldly to Hana as the guards dragged her past him through the entrance to the estate. “But the other is not. That much I know. I will figure out what to do with them after I am done with you…”

He turned his back on everyone and walked away, leaving them to their fate.

"Mommy! Mommy!" Sakura called out, but her voice faded into the distance.

Hana sobbed and struggled, but it was useless. The guards were too strong for her. She looked back at her children one last time, before they disappeared from her sight.