Returning (OPEN)

[Veata Chea - Cambodia]

Veata glanced curiously around the market street, her eyes bright and sharp as they took in the bazaar stalls. It had been a few months since the young female had visited these familiar streets with the brightly colored smiles of the locals and warm scents of food. She had almost forgotten what it was like to slip among the bodies that felt and looked as familiar as her own. So many months had been spent overseas with unfamiliar Europeans and Westerners; she liked walking among those that shared her physical traits again. Surrounding herself with the Barang, the white world, had been interesting but it couldn’t compare to the Oriental culture she had been raised under.

Slender fingers tucked away a stray lock of her raven black hair as she continued to hum a quiet lullaby her father had sung to her before his death. It would be a lie to claim that the song still didn’t send a small twinge of pain through her body but the pain was bearable these days. Little by little Veata was beginning to learn how to let go of a murdered family she had not stolen away with. True, years had passed since the incident but progress was progress. How could she possibly argue against this small pain when she could clearly still remember her nightmares?

Lips twitched up into a bright smile as she mused aloud to herself, “I wonder if the little dumpling stand run by Mister Xie is still here…” A glint of reminiscence sparked in her eyes as she recalled the tastes of dumplings upon her tongue. Dumplings were hard to come by among the Europeans and right about now Veata well…she certainly wouldn’t kill for them but she wouldn’t mind paying a rather high price for the dumplings Mister Xie had made. The old man had been so kind too…It would be a shame if he was dead.

With a cattish stretch and small yawn Veata turned sharply down a small street, her black boots hitting the pavement in a steady beat as the female trusted her memory to lead her to her destination.

[Vietnam]

It hadn't been too long since she and Yong Soo had been reuinited, and she was already away from him. Not exactly by choice, but because she had to. While her "Big Brother" had claimed to have been prepared, upon a discussion with Yao and a short trip around the boat she had decided they were missing important supplies. She had simply asked the Captain to let her go to get some important things they would need. Some were specifically for her medical kit, which was lacking in some medicines she knew she could get in the city, and some herbs that she could find as well. The others were some food items they lacked, like fruits, and a few other key items.

She had already had some of the supplies, and they were tucked neatly into the bag she wore over her shoulder and at her side. She had the medicine and the herbs and some oranges tucked away already, and she was on the hunt for a few other things. A treat or two for her family, trinkets that she could give them to make them happy. Of course, it was taking awhile to find things they would enjoy. A small black metal figure of an asian dragon grasping a red gemstone in it's claws caught her eyes first. She thought immediately of her precious Dragon, Yong Soo. After some discussion with the craftsman over the price, she finally managed to purchase it for a relatively low price, and she was sure Yong Soo would love it, so it was worth the price.

She was going to continue her shopping when she heard a voice amongst the crowd that she vaguely recognized. After some searching she managed to pick out a familiar face. A small scowl crossed her expression as she remembered the little brat. Always making trouble and blaming it on HER. Of all the things to do. Yong Soo had been the only one to defend her, because most of the other boys and girls were wary of Phuong, at least for awhile. She was a girl, but she played rough like the boys, and that scared people. With a sigh-knowing that she had promised Yong Soo to bring the family back together(and as much as it pained her to admit it, Veata was kind of family)-she headed off towards the woman.

Quietly Phuong followed her before finally calling out "Veata!" She trotted towards the girl with a smile on her face, not knowing what to expect from her.

[Veata Chea - Cambodia]

Dark brown eyes flickered to the sky, enjoying the impossible blue with a grin she could not and would not chase away from her face. It would not bother her to freely admit that she had missed this land and all that had come with it. After all, where else could such a beautiful shade of blue be found in the skies? Within Europe everything had appeared gloomy and gray to her from the natural sky to the man-made buildings. Even the people there had seemed tinged with the price of industrialization and a modernizing world. Everybody had bustled about, focusing on their own business without pause to indulge in social relations, not even with family it would seem.

Coming from a culture that prized the family above all else, it had been a hard readjustment on Veata’s part. It had bothered her to walk the streets and observe the visible distance between a father and child in terms of their bond. It had been even more bothersome to watch the parentless children that ran the streets despite there obviously being more than enough families in the area to take them in. An orphan was a rare thing in Cambodia; they were quickly ushered into other families or at the very least, watched after by a multitude of families until one chose to take the child in. Out in Europe nobody had seemed to care for them and that broke the Khmer’s heart.

“Veata!”

Instinctively Veata felt her lithe form tensing in reaction to her name. She was unused to hearing the sweet syllables roll off of a tongue that did not bear a heavy Western accent. A piece of her delighted over the noise while another felt wary to hear her name spoken so beautifully. It had been several years since she had set a single foot back into the streets of Asia. To have her name known was meant to be hunted by somebody she did not want or to find somebody that she had given up when she had left the village of her childhood. In words she would not speak of it but even so it was obvious to those around her that she did not want to return to those memories…not yet…When the female was good and ready to face the memories of her village again she would; Veata did not want a reminder of those days.

Against her will she found her body turning, eyes scanning the crowd of faces in confusion. None of them seemed familiar to her or sent that small pang through her mind that would whisper ‘there, there is the girl that you grew up with when you were little’. When her original captain had told her that time would erase and blur the memories she did not want, she had not believed him. Faced now with struggling to find and place a face that knew of her Veata realized he was right. One would think that such a thing would gladden her and in a sense it did but the other mourned the thought of forgetting her father’s face and gentle smile.

Dark brown eyes froze onto a single figure as she stepped away from the others, an eager smile upon her lips that brought a flicker of confusion to run across Veata’s face. Footsteps paused as her doe-like eyes took her in and tried to place this girl with her pale skin with a face from her past. Ink black hair, a color that mirrored her own, fell over her shoulders but was held in a loose ponytail unlike her own free locks of hair. Her sharp features were softened with a smile but also a hesitance that lurked behind the dark color of her eyes. Around her slender fingers Veata took in the heavy bags by her side. This was a pretty girl but not in the sense that she held obvious beauty. There was something more subtle, more fae-like about her…

“Jum…reap soo, Bong.” The Khmer rolled easily off of her small tongue as she openly stared at this female with confusion and an instinctively pleasant smile. Veata was unsure of what to do with this female she could not remember. It was embarrassing to be remembered so clearly by this other whereas she could not place even a face to this mature woman. Perhaps it was because this was a woman that stood in front of her now instead of a child that made it hard to place where they had met before. After all, Veata was still young and retained many of the physical features she held as a child. It would not be hard to recognize who she was despite all these years; she hadn’t grown fully yet into a woman.

After a few moments of shameful hesitance she spoke quietly, “Have we…have we met before?” A deep bow accompanied her words. “I’m very sorry that I cannot place your name. It has been many years since I have been in Asia.”