-----Original Message-----
From: matthew lewis mal@bulldog.georgetown.edu
Sent: Tue, 02 May 2000 02:42:11 -0400
To: ffml@fanfic.com
Subject: [FFML] [FFML][Fanfic][short][SM] Left Unsaid
C&C would be appreciated
Left Unsaid
By Bastet's Chosen (Matthew Lewis)
Disclaimer:
Sailor Moon and the characters in that world are not mine, and
never have been. Seeing as I write this with the utmost respect and I'm
not making any money off it, I hope to avoid any lawsuits.
"Waaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhh!" Rei had heard that noise only once
before.
She was used to Usagi crying about small things, but only
when Mamoru left her had Usagi hit that particular note. Rei
gave up any hope of meditating and braced herself. By the
Doppler shift-
Rei grunted at the impact as her blond princess latched onto
her seated form. And stuck. Unlike other times, Usagi just
clung to Rei and sobbed into her shoulder. The girl did not
speak or complain as normal, she just cried. Rei was not used to
comforting Usagi like this, usually she tried to keep the blond
from making a mountain of a molehill. The priestess awkwardly
folded her arms around Usagi. She and her friends tried to live
normal lives, but Rei vowed that if it would help, whoever caused
this would suddenly become a pillar of fire.
Finally Usagi managed to force some words between her sobs.
"My uncle . . ." Her uncle? Had he, had he violated her? How
mad would Mamoru be that she killed the bastard?
"He didn't . . ."
"No." The answer did not come from Usagi. Rei looked up to
see Ami standing in the doorway, her ever present book tucked
under her right arm. "Usagi's mother called me after she ran
off; I hoped to find her here." Ami sat down on the other side
of Usagi and wrapped her arms around both her and Rei.
Eventually the crying stopped, and Usagi let go of Rei. Instead
of sitting up she lay on her side, her head in Rei's lap. Rei
stroked the blond's hair.
"She read this, all the way through," Ami said as she held
out the book she carried. Upon closer inspection, Rei saw it
wasn't a book, but a manuscript. The title read "Left Unspoken."
"She read a book?" Rei strove to keep the disbelief from her
voice. Usagi did not sob, so she believed she had been
successful.
"Her mother is sure Usagi stayed up all night to read it.
Usagi's uncle submitted to a publisher, and they rejected it
because it's about Japan's conduct in World War Two."
A VERY touchy subject in Japan. Most ppl who survived the era just wanted to forget abt it and go on with their lives.
"About how we wouldn't surrender and the military co-opted
the government?" Why did Ami look surprised?
"It's about the horrible things we did." Usagi's voice was
horse from crying. "It's about how we let the soldiers rape women
in China. We starved and worked prisoners to death. We let
their scratches fester and become wounds that ate the flesh to
the bone. We experimented on living people with biological
weapons and took them apart while they were still living so
student doctors would see what they were like." Ami paled a
little at the last. "I was bored, so I started reading. And
then I couldn't stop. I read, and I read, waiting for the
government to find out about it all and make it stop. But the
end came, and they never did." Usagi's sentence ended in a
whimper.
"Things happen in war, Usagi. No wonder it was rejected! I
don't mean to insult your uncle, Usagi, but he probably took some
isolated incidents and made it look like there was some pattern
of abuse."
Hmm... a bit of a stereotype here... but generally true. Most Japanese teenagers never learn much about World War II. Only a footnote that they participated in it and lost it blah, blah, blah... :)
"Rei," Ami said quietly.
"Think about it, if the Japanese army had been like that,
everyone would know. We'd learn about it in school!"
"Rei," Ami said, again.
"We would have had a trial like the Nazis had at Nuernberg."
"It's all true." Ami's sentence shouted with its almost
inaudible volume.
"What?" Rei shrieked.
"It all happened. The reason you don't know about it is
that the government doesn't like to admit it existed. So none of
the textbooks and allowed to mention it. Books are discouraged
from dealing with it." Ami paused. "Of course, from what I've
seen of that book, it was rejected for being too dry, not for
offending the government."
There were a series of war-crimes trials held by the Allies to try Japanese military officers for the atrocities the Japanese army committed in their conquest of part of China and South East Asia. Except it wasn't as well-recorded as the German one.
"I don't want to be Japanese," Usagi croaked.
"Now wait a moment!" Rei snapped. "Even if the army did all
that, it was the army. They took over the country, if the
emperor had been free to rule, it would never have happened.
Besides, there's stuff like that in everyone's history. The
Germans killed the Jews. The Russians concurred and oppressed
most of Asia. China is killing people right now. The English
oppressed people everywhere to make an empire the sun never set
on. Don't forget the Americans! They marched so many of their
native tribes to death and stuck the rest in deserts. The kept
slavery forever, and it took a war to make them stop. They
burned down cities in World War Two, and are the only country to
ever use nuclear weapons." Rei crossed her arms, then uncrossed
them to continue stroking Usagi's hair when she saw the sadness
on Usagi's face.
Sad to say, with truth in those statements. Unfortunately, history is usually written by the victors. There's an old Chinese proverb, 'The victor is king, the loser is honourless.' or something like that... I not very good at translating Chinese to English.
"We deserved it," Usagi said with a catch in her voice.
War is a senseless thing. No one deserved anything. Especially those that suffered from Hiroshima and Nagasaki. They were only civilians. Not the military machine that committed the crimes.
"Usagi!" Rei snapped, "No one-"
"Rei," Ami said, her voice quiet and toneless, "before you
continue, remember that we're responsible for at least one act of
genocide."
"That's different."
"Is it?" Ami shot back. "What would you do if you heard
youma were doing those things?" Ami nodded at Rei's silence.
Usagi surprised them when she spoke.
"I'd take Haruka, Michiru, and Hotaru aside, and tell them
that I was trusting them to make sure it stopped. "When I become
queen," Rei had never heard Usagi refer to the future like that,
never talk about the future they all knew would come. "When I
become queen, we'll be strong enough to make sure that nothing
like this ever happens. We'll be strong enough to make sure
there's justice."
A bit awkward around here. Maybe describe Usagi's voice when she starts saying this...
Author's notes
Well, this was provoked by a special on the History Channel, but
it touched some other thoughts I'd had knocking around in my head. The
girls seem to have fairly normal lives outside their fighting evil invaders
from other planets. At first, they might have been too young to think
about it, but by high school they have to think about the morals and
implications of being magical girls and future rulers. Also, if Neo-queen
Serenity is to be able to act morally and justly, she needs to have total
power, so she isn't forced into doing some for politics, and no foreign
policy, for the same reason. So she'd have to controll all of known space
and rule with absolute power. Only with Usagi would that even have a
chance of working, but how did she come to consider it?
Absolute power is an evil. No matter how benevolent or generous Serenity would be, it would still be opression. Utopia wouldn't be what it cut out to be if everyone was just walking around trumpeting what the Queen says.
However, the good of society should always be placed above the individual. An old Confucian (or say generally Asian) ethic.
But then, who decides the best for society? In the hands of a tyrant, it would be disasterous. In the hands of the corrupt and greedy, it would be ruinious.
The headache would kill any philosopher.. >:)
Overall, an okay fic. A good view into what Usagi and the gang would be like in real life...
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