Waiting for Godot (D4, EM, Fukawa's Yurt)

[Moto Baatar]

"Why is that 'fitting'?" Baatar asked. "I mean, there's no cherry blossoms or emperors here."

[Doji Fukawa]

Fukawa nods.

"No, but I thought at least one love story was appropriate to have, even if love so often leads to things ending poorly." she says.

[Moto Baatar]

"Sounds pretty mushy," Baatar declared, making a face. "Maybe impractical, too. What if you fall in love with one person, but then they make you marry someone else? It would be a big mess."

[Doji Fukawa]

Fukawa nods.


"Oh, it's horrible, Moto-san." she agrees. "What if some villain kidnapped your love? You'd have to rescue them or give in to their demands. Or what if your lord ordered you to the opposite side of the Empire from your love? Or even worse, what if your love died, and you were left with nothing but memories of your time together?"


"But do you know what the worst part is, Moto-san?" she asks, leaning in a bit conspiratorially.

[Moto Baatar]

"What if some villain kidnapped your love? You'd have to rescue them or give in to their demands. Or what if your lord ordered you to the opposite side of the Empire from your love? Or even worse, what if your love died, and you were left with nothing but memories of your time together?"

"What?! Villains? Kidnapping? Really?" Apparently love stories were more exciting than Baatar had originally thought!

"But do you know what the worst part is, Moto-san?" she asks, leaning in a bit conspiratorially.

"Worse than kidnapping and death?! What do you mean?" He leaned towards Fukawa, unconsciously mirroring her body language.

[Doji Fukawa]

"Samurai....want to fall in love." she informs him. "The read stories of great loves, they court each other, they leave anonymous poetry for each other, they leave offerings and prayers to Benten-no-kami."

Fukawa leans back and shakes her head.

"It's quite the trap."

[Moto Baatar]

"Ack!" Baatar said, alarmed. "Why would someone want to do that to themselves? It sounds awful!"

"Is that why you are reading this love story, Doji-san?" he asked. "So you know what to avoid?"

[Doji Fukawa]

Fukawa looked at the book briefly.


"That's a good question, Moto-san." she returned honestly. "Some think it's that we are destined to mirror the Heavens. Lord Moon and Lady Sun loved one another very much, until Lord Moon became jealous of Lady Sun's love for her children. Some feel that having someone to love makes them better. They have someone counting on them, they have someone with them to share both good times and bad. Some preach that it's the sin of desire trying to tempt samurai away from the true path of bushido."


She looks down at the book again.

"I would never seek love myself, but I do wonder if it's simply an inescapable fate. After all, if it's fate, you cannot burden yourself worrying about it. What will be, will be."

[Moto Baatar]

"No man can outrun his fate," Baatar agreed, nodding agreement. "Or woman, I suppose," he amended after a moment's thought.

"I guess if we get afflicted with 'love' all we can do is hope it doesn't ravage us too badly, huh?" he asked. "It sounds kind of like the plague. Or do your books say something different?"

[Doji Fukawa]

Fukawa looks amused.

"Fever, weakness in the knees, increased sweating, heart beating faster, chills.....it does rather sound like an illness when you strip it of it's poetry." Fukawa offers.

"On the other hand, those in love could liken it to chopsticks. You, by yourself, are a chopstick. There are many things you can do by yourself, point at things, poke at things....but it's not until you have your mate that you can fulfill your true purpose."

[Moto Baatar]

"Well... maybe so," Baatar allowed. "But two chopsticks don't need to love one another to work together. They just need to be the same length."

[Doji Fukawa]

Fukawa shrugs.

"Same length, a perfect match. I think the language is flexible enough to take the metaphor, Moto-san." Fukawa says.


Of course, the odds of the Moto being the author of the poem was now behind Nintoku, but there was something about conversation with the Moto, as if he was the bratty little brother she never had.

[Moto Baatar]

"Does everyone find a good pair of chopsticks in their life?" Baatar asked, sounding curious. "Or do most people end up going hungry?"

[Doji Fukawa]

Fukawa considers that.

"I think it's more apt to say that some are destined for a life of nothing but miso soup." she replies "You don't starve without your paired chopsticks, but there is a great deal that is unavailable to you without seeming brutish."

[Moto Baatar]

"But, you can't eat soup with chopsticks," Baatar protested. "You have to lift up the bowl and drink deep." Wait... what are we talking about now? he wondered. Talking to courtiers was so complicated!

"Umm, but with all this stuff you brought all the way from the Crane lands, you must've packed extra chopsticks," he said, trying to steer the metaphor back on track (maybe?). "Or are you looking for chopsticks still?"