The Twelve Kingdoms: A Thousand Leagues of Wind

dying?" He looked up at her with the frightened face of a child.
    "It's just words, Seishuu. I don't have any reason to thinking your dying."
    "You've got a mean streak in you, Suzu."
    "Yes, I do. Sorry. And you're a plenty bad stinker of a kid as well. Besides, you know that only the good die young."
    Seishuu laughed in agreement and Suzu gazed briefly at his bright, smiling face.

    The sailor laughed. "Feeling seasick, little guy?"
    "No way," Seishuu shot back.
    Suzu poked her head out from the shelter and wrinkled her brows in concern. It was awful the way he dragged his body along. The sun was low in the sky and yet his condition hadn't improved.
    "But I am feeling a little dizzy."
    "Don't get yourself all worked up so. Take it easy. You must be getting all worked up about returning to Kei, huh?"
    "I'm not!"
    The sailor said that because Seishuu's hands were trembling. More than a tremor, he was almost convulsing.
    "The best thing to do when you're sick is to sleep it off. Tottering around like this you're going to fall overboard."
    "Okay," Seishuu laughed and disappeared into the stateroom.
    Suzu watched this with some relief. Seeing Seishuu like that frightened her terribly. A headache or a few tremors, perhaps she wouldn't be very concerned. But day after day it all piled up, that's what worried her so. She followed Seishuu into the stateroom. Seishuu was sitting there with a vacant look on his face.
    "You okay?"
    Seishuu looked over his shoulder at her, glancing around the stateroom with a puzzled look on his face. He blinked several times, then rubbed his eyes.
    "What's wrong?"
    "I'm not okay at all. My eyes are really blurry."
    "But are your eyes okay?"
    Suzu rushed up to him. She knelt down on his right and examined his face. "Does it hurt? Do you have a headache?"
    Several times, Seishuu glanced back and forth between Suzu and the wall in front of him. "Suzu, I can't see you."
    "You can't?"
    "When I'm looking ahead like this, I can't see you at all."
    Suzu hurriedly directed her gaze forward. People normally had a wide field of vision. She could clearly see Seishuu out of the corners of her eyes.
    "What's wrong with me?"
    His childlike face colored with fear.
    "Seishuu--"
    His stricken countenance crumpled. She thought he was going to cry, but instead he laughed. The tint of fear still hung in his eyes. "I guess I'm a good boy after all."
    "Seishuu."
    "Yeah, looks like I'm going to die."
    "No, you're not! Don't say stupid things like that!"
    His face fell again.
    "Let's go together." Suzu reached out and grasped his trembling hands. "Let's go to Gyouten together."
    "Gyouten?"
    "I'm going to Gyouten to see the Royal Kei. Surely the Empress will be able to heal you. The best doctors are in the royal palace. So shall we?"
    Seishuu shook his head. "I don't think people like that are going to want to see me."
    "But it hurts, doesn't it? And your headaches are real bad. What happens if things just keep getting worse and worse?"
    "Do you think she can heal me?"
    "If the Royal Kei can't, we'll go onto Sai. I'm sure the Royal Sai will."
    "Okay," Seishuu nodded. A small tear spilled down his cheek. "I'm scared to die."
    "Seishuu."
    "No matter who you are, everybody dies. But you can't laugh about your own death."
    "Idiot. You're going to be fine."
    Seishuu laughed and cried at the same time. "It looks like I'm going to have to practice my poker face a lot more."
    "Don't be a smart-ass." Seishuu nodded and rested his head in Suzu's lap. "Everything's going to be okay," she said, stroking his back. "I promise."

    Three days later, they finally made it to Goto. Though called a "port," Goto had no real docks or piers. Instead, a series of large boulders had been sunken off the coast in a gentle arc. The boat anchored to the stones within the arc, and then barges came out from the cliffs to meet them. The barges were from the floating wharf at the foot of the cliffs. From there, a stone stairway carved into the cliff face in switchbacks up to the top of the cliffs.
    Suzu helped Seishuu down from the stones, assisting him on his right side. His eyes still hadn't improved. Since that day when he said he couldn't see her, the vision on his right side hadn't returned.
    Many times his feet got tangled up and they almost fell. A longshoreman, seeing that Suzu was not able to support Seishuu without losing her own footing, offered to carry him the rest of the way. They arrived at the top of the cliffs out of breath. From there