This is actually my fic for the FFIRC one hour challenge. Just written today.
If you've read it there, there are no changes.
Leaving Home
by Ken Arromdee
"Oh boy!" yelled Sasami, "we're here...."
"Yes" replied her mother Misaki. "Back on Jurai. Do you miss it? After
you stowed away on Aeka's ship I was sooooo worried until we all found you safe
and sound on the Earth. It was so long!"
"I want to stop and get some Planet Crunchies... I ran out of those...."
"If you want to, dear."
"And I want to say hi to Misao and all my other friends again..." Sasami
had even inserted her friend in some of her own imaginary tales about herself
fighting crime.
"Well, if you want. Now give me a hug...."
* * * * *
As the ship descended, Sasami looked out the window. "I can see the
desert...."
"Yes, dear."
"Are we going to land in the desert? There's nothing in the desert."
"Of course there is. We're in the city of Shinmura. It's the city where
your friend lives now. Haven't you ever been... no, that's right. I
completely forgot! You couldn't have."
"But I know that there's no city in the desert. Why would anyone put a
city in the desert? There's no water."
"There are oases and water comes from them. It's a very convenient place
next to the capital... the climate's very healthy and the spaceport is bigger
than the capital's."
"Oh", replied Sasami. She pointed out the window at some towers, on the
horizon. "What are those?"
"They're buildings. They were built for the Galactic Fair a long time
ago... would you like to visit them?"
"No, Mom... well, just a little. I missed the Fair, didn't I?"
"Don't worry, there should be plenty more in your lifetime."
* * * * *
Sasami looked around the spaceport. As a princess, she'd had to travel
lots of times in her life, but she'd never seen anything like this. Something
looked odd about the writing on signs and other places. But she knew how to
read! Well, a little bit, anyway.
There it was. There was a stand. Maybe they had Planet Crunchies. She
ran away. "Wait!" yelled Misaki. "Where are you going?"
"I'm just going to get some snacks! I'll be right back!" Funaho sighed
and waited.
A few minutes later Sasami returned. "Mom... something's wrong. The man
said he hadn't heard of Planet Crunchies... and he thought I was joking. He
said he didn't take play money."
"I was trying to tell you, dear..." replied Misaki, and handed her
daughter a few bills.
Sasami looked them over. They were completely unfamiliar. "What are
these?"
"They're money."
"But I had money!"
"Sasami... your money is seven hundred years old. Nobody's even going to
recognize that it's money, let alone take it."
"Oh..." Sasami thought it over. "I wonder if they have Planet Crunchies."
"Why don't you ask?"
* * * * *
"What? Planet Crunchies? What are those?"
"They're, umm... they,re made by the Satou Candy Company." Sasami was
very proud for remembering that.
"I've never heard of anything like that. Is that something from one of
the colonies?"
"But they're the official royal candy company!"
Misaki whispered in Sasami's ear, "We'd better go. That candy company
went bankrupt four hundred years ago. Nobody's going to remember it."
"Say, you look sort of like the queen", replied the vendor.
"I think we'd better go", whispered Misaki. She grabbed Sasami's hand,
and said "One, two, three...", then ran off, dragging her daughter with her,
heading for the exit.
* * * * *
As they left for the open air, Sasami looked around in wonder. "It's such
a big city!" she said. "I've never seen any city so big. There must be
a million people here."
"Three million", answered Misaki.
"But there wasn't a city here. It's a desert. The city came and got big
so fast."
"Oh, no, not at all, Sasami. It was founded six hundred years ago. It
took six hundred years to grow to three million... that's not fast at all."
"I... think I understand", replied Sasami, starting to realize just why
everything was unfamiliar.
"Is something wrong, Sasami?"
"No, Mom...
* * * * *
"Wow! What big towers!" exclaimed Sasami. "And look at all the trees in
the middle...."
"They have to have trees somewhere in the city even if it is in a desert"
replied Misaki. "Which one do you want to see first?"
Sasami closed her eyes and waved her hand around, then opened them. "I
want to see that one!" she said, pointing more or less in the direction of
one of the towers.
"All right... wait. There's a fence there." Upon closer examination, a
thin fence completely surrounded the base of the tower, while a policeman
waited nearby.
Sasami walked over to the man at the fence, pulling her mother by the
hand. "I want to see the tower" she said.
"Sorry, they're closed", replied the policeman. "You can't get in. You're
not tourists, are you?"
"A little bit..." answered Sasami.
"Too bad", answered the policeman. "Sometimes I wonder what it was like to
be inside, before they closed them down fifty years ago. It must have been one
heck of a view, like my grandfather told me. Don't worry. The towers are old
enough to be historical monuments. I'm sure they'll get repaired eventually."
"What happened to them?"
"Hm? Just metal fatigue. They never expected these to last more than a
few hundred years, after all. These things are _old_."
"Oh. I don't want to see them any more...."
* * * * *
"Mom?"
"Yes?"
"I still want to go see Misao. She's not..." Sasami thought. The day
had made a big impression on her. "She's not... is she dead?"
"Dead? Why would she be dead, Sasami? She's nobility. She has a tree;
she'll live as long as any of us."
"Oh. I know she'll be older... a lot older. Will she still remember me?"
"I remember you, Sasami. Why wouldn't anyone else?"
* * * * *
The guards around the mansion quickly let Misaki and Sasami by when they
realized just who they were.
A dark-haired woman around Misaki's age entered, followed by several other
men and women wearing royal purple, and two children, one only a few years
older than Sasami. "Sasami?" she said.
"Hello, obas-- oh. You're Misao, aren't you? I knew you were no longer a
kid now. Do you still remember me?"
"Yes I do, Sasami." She stepped forward to hug the princess. "How could
I ever forget us playing together. Even though it was so long ago."
"You're all grown up now. I'm not... we're no longer the same!"
"Sasami", replied Misao, "you'll grow up some day. I think I understand
what your problem is... but some day we'll be the same age again. Well, in
the same age group, anyway... grownup is grownup. You can come over any time
you want, all right?"
"Hai..."
"Oh, and this is Tarou, my grandson." Sasami expected Misao to point to
one of the children, but instead she indicated one of the men that seemed the
same age as her. "And this is my granddaughter Momo, and these are Maria and
Akira, my great-great-great-great-great-grandchildren. They're just here to
visit too."
"I see now", replied Sasami.
"Would you and your mother like to stay a little longer?"
"No", answered Sasami. "Goodbye Misao. I'll see you again someday..." A
tear began to form in each eye. "I miss you...."
* * * * *
"It's less than an hour to the capital", said Misaki. "And the palace.
You had a long day today, I know. You can rest... do you know how long
you're going to be staying with us?"
"I... I was going to stay a week but I think I'm going to go back to Earth
tomorrow. Everything's changed so much. Even the writing. The writing looks
funny because it changed, right?"
"Well, the language changed a little bit in seven hundred years... but
it's just a few letters and spellings. You can still read it! It's not like
on Earth where most of the languages aren't even seven hundred years old. And
Sasami, it's not all bad. Your family remembers you."
"How many new brothers and sisters and aunts and uncles and cousins do I
have who are a few hundred years old, Mom?"
"No brothers and sisters... we don't want to have too many potential
heirs. Maybe around fifty other relatives." Sasami's eyes and mouth widened.
"Wait!" continued Misaki. "please stay a little longer. It's been so long
since you've been in the palace."
"All right, Mom. But..."
"But...?"
"After the week is over, I'm returning to Earth. Returning home."