Yao had taken a break from cooking in the kitchens. He wasn't forced to do the work as much as he was happy to do it. The work had kept him busy in a bad time and it was actually nothing that he wasn't used to. The last few decades had been filled with doing requests for every nation that came to take a piece of him anyway. It got to the point to where he was so exhausted he was going to have a mental breakdown. How did he ever end up letting so many countries take advantage of him? It didn't seem to matter now.
Now he had less taking advantage of him but he was completely controlled by Japan. Everything was so backward. It should have never been this way to begin with. Japan belonged at home with him and the rest of his siblings. Yao couldn't complain about that though. It had been a long time since they were all together and he had his whole family around him…
Well… Almost…
That was actually what was on his mind the most today. He'd come into a sitting room set out for guests and found Vietnam. At least he didn't have to worry about being separated from her. The girl had always been strong willed and pushed away from his chest even when she was small….Especially when she was small. Just thinking about it made parts of his body ache from the pulling and the strikes that she'd pull on him. As she got older, of course, she became slightly less aggressive with him. It didn't change her incredibly unpredictable temper.
Yao took a seat on a floor pillow and bowed a quarter to her from his position. "Ah Thi..I was hoping I would run into you." He greeted her and sighed softly. It was clear that he was either not feeling well or wasn't happy about something. He fully planned to tell Thi how he felt about it too. If anything she could sympathize with the situation, having many of her wants stripped away from her as well. They weren't in the worst situation they could have been in - at least they were together as a family.
It's been a rather eventful handful of years for Vietnam. After about eighty years of living under France's rule, he was defeated by Germany. And Germany wasn't interested in keeping her, so he decided to hand her over to Japan. She'd seen all the confusion that all of this caused as an opportunity to escape, but in the end Japan managed to stop her and punished her so severely for it that she's given up on the idea of independence. At least for now. She needs to wait for a better opportunity, and be prepared to take it.
In the meantime, she also needs to keep that dragon that is her independence streak happy - if not it will consume her and she will fight whether it's currently wise to do so or not. Fortunately, her compliance with Japan's demands has bought her sufficient time to do so. He doesn't demand for her to work so hard that she doesn't have time to sit, meditate, and just be. During these times she can remind herself that her situation has increased greatly under Japan's rule and she can be content with that if she tries hard enough. And because independence is not currently possible, she can be content with that. But not one moment more than necessary.
She looks up with China enters the room, not minding his presence even though she came to this particular room because it was empty. After all, it was her eldest brother who taught her how to calm her inner dragon in the first place. Calm it, but not tame it - dragons can't be tamed. And, also as he taught her, she smiles brightly when he takes a seat near her and greets her in spite of the mix of emotions his presence stirs up. There's both positive and negative ones - she does enjoy being around her family even if she prefers to live by herself, and China in particular she respects much more than the other. But she's also very angry at him for not doing anything about France colonizing her. Some brother he is! She's glad that Japan defeated him - he deserved it.
"Xin chào, anh Yao," she greets him as she returns his bow, nothing but a rather serene form of happiness in her voice, "You were looking for me?"
Her smile was enough to warm his troubled heart. Despite her wild temper, Yao knew she was sweet and kind underneath. There was a part of Thi that he'd come to know and love over the years that she couldn't hide no matter how hard she tried. Some parts were best to hide and she was disciplined about those. When she rose after her bow he brushed a strand of hair back behind her ear. So much turmoil over the years and she was still so pretty. He just admired her for a few moments before he side and turned his thoughts back to why he'd came in the first place.
"Shi, I was looking for you Thi, you're looking well." He commented mostly on her appearance and the way she'd dressed today. It wasn't like they had a many options as they did before. "I wanted to talk to you about your little brother. He explained a little quieter than before. Yao leaned forward and looked around, making sure there wants anyone at the door or in his visibility before he continued. "About Hong Kong…"
He knew that He might have been a bit of a sore spot with the family. Hong Kong was a little bit of a difference that popped up in their family. Leon was so young and sweet and now he was going through all of this so far away from his family. For right now, that was the best thing. Yao still had a lot of anxiety about it though. Japan would be horrible for him to be with after what already happened, but he didn't trust Germany to be kind either if he got into Arthur's head. He trusted Arthur enough to at least be stubborn enough to delay that, but for how long was the question? Yao was in a bit of a position and Leon was in the middle.
"I'm worried about him. I just needed to vent to you, Thi. Your presence and voice is so calming to my heart." He confessed and smiled gently at her. He knew that she wasn't happy about the position she'd landed in either but her siblings weren't in the best of positions either. At least, for the moment, they had who they had. Surely, she cared somewhat for Hong Kong, if anything because he was related. If she didn't, at least to care about how Yao felt about it.
Yes, Vietnam is sweet and kind underneath her wild temper. And beneath that sweetness and kindness is her wild temper. And so on it goes: she is fully both. Deep down at her core she is simply one who is very soft with those she loves and very hard with those she hates. But she's been put in too many situations where she had to tolerate those she hates and then there are those who she has very mixed feelings about, so she's learned to be soft to those she hates so that she can be that much harder to them in the future. Forcing her to 'behave' when she didn't want to only taught her intrigue.
Like smiling somewhat shyly in feigned flattery when China touches her hair and says that she looks nice. She doesn't care at all what he thinks of her appearance, and if she does look nice then it's no thanks to him. Though when he does go on to say that he wanted to talk about Hong Kong, that does catch her attention and her expression becomes solemn. He's a family member, after all, and she feels deeply sorry for the boy.
And if it was up to her she'd rather that he was living here, with his family, instead of that bastard European England. Yes, England has his claim on the boy, but she doesn't like it and would rather not recognize it if it were feasible to do so. True, living under Japan also has its problems, but she'd still count that as better than living with England or any other European for that matter. But as long as China and even Japan tolerate it then that is that - she herself doesn't have any say on that matter whatsoever. Which is actually quite frustrating to her because as far as she's concerned she's the only one here who actually has the boy's best interests in heart.
When China says that he's here just to vent to her about it, a twinge of irritation goes through her. China doesn't deserve to have his heart calmed by her voice and presence. After all, he didn't seem to value either enough to lift a finger in her behalf for 80 years when France forced her to serve him, and even before that he seemed quite happy to ignore her. He took the fact that she didn't want to continue to live in his house much too personally, especially since he ought to know by now that she was literally never truly happy there.
But China will always be China, and it doesn't serve her purposes for her to hold a grudge - or at least to let the grudge come before more important things. So she lets her face relax into a soft smile as she says, "I'm worried about him too, but remember that Kiku cares about him also. I'm hopeful that he will not let Leon get caught in between any disagreements he may have with England." Now is not a good time for her to fight and argue with China, no matter what she feels about him on the inside.
China went completely unaware of Vietnam's current irritations with him. She really didn't have a whole lot of justification to be upset with one of her only family that was sane at the moment. It was better to stand together as a family unit than stand apart and this… China agreed with. He would exclude Japan from the equation for the moment. Maybe when Kiku retracts everything he's done and apologizes they could talk.
When Vietnam voices her concerns about Leon, Yao couldn't say that he agreed with her completely. Kiku may care about Leon in some way, but what way mattered to him greatly. If he cared about him enough to take him as his own and raise him, that was not okay. Yao believed Leon to be Asian first, but he was only half Asian and England would see to the rest of that. He had full confidence that Arthur would be unwilling to let him go. If he did, there would be consequences to pay.
Vietnams stand point was also strategic to him. She didn't fully commit to either side, only stating that Kiku cares and that she hoped Leon didn't take the brunt end of anything. The reality was that the boy was always bound to take the brunt end of everything. Yao and Arthur already had enough trouble agreeing. If Kiku really didn't want him hurt in this mess he would just let him stay with England. He was Axis right now, but still had his independence and that’s what mattered. Germany wasn't able to order him around.
"I know Kiku cares about him…" He confirmed softly. It would be difficult for Kiku not to care in some way, even if it was a sinister way. "I just don't know what his intentions are and you know he's still upset with me." He sighed at that. There was really no reason for Kiku to be upset. The thought gave him a headache and he rubbed his temples to try and get his concentration back. "I did everything I could to raise Kiku well…And look at him now….I should be proud of him." Should be…He'd raised him into what he was, but at some point he'd gotten so far away from all of his values.
If China knew what Vietnam thinks about his sanity level he might be might be rather upset. After all, someone who refuses to accept that his siblings are grown adults who have their own thoughts and don't need him to take care of them has to have some issues. Especially since, at the same time, she wouldn't necessarily call Japan crazy. Is it really that crazy to want to take over the world? Not that she doesn't think that someone should stop him (without upsetting the balance of power in such a way that she ends up being captive to a different empire instead of free), but she wouldn't call that alone to be a mental health issue.
Really she dislikes China quite a bit more than Japan - her anger with him is old. Her anger at Japan is young and fresh but not nearly so deep. She'd like to not live with either of them, thank you. She doesn't care for either of their opinions on anything she does. Not that she doesn't care for them in general - they're family, after all. She can't emotionally divorce herself from them for that reason - no matter what happens she can't break that bond. But that doesn't mean that she can't wish with every fiber of her being that they would simply... be different.
Though Vietnam is unaware of whether or not China is trying to find out her position on anything, she would certainly like to find out his on an issue or two. After all, her main goal in life is to leave the Japanese empire completely - even as a puppet state she would be unhappy. It's not that she has it out for Japan, but if he gets in the way he gets in the way. And to that end, China would be a powerful ally if he's similarily minded. But she has to be wary that he might not be. She doubts that he's fully content with the situation as it is, but it's possible that he's uninterested in going against Japan for a number of reasons - she's been defeated in war a number of times herself and knows that it's fully possible that he'll simply be uninterested in fighting against anyone for awhile. In fact, he might see all of this as a good thing in the short term, and in that case he might even sell her out if she indicates her wishes. And even if he feels similarily, he must also view her with the same amount of caution - after all, she does her best to make it clear that she's happy with the present situation as it is even though she knows that is highly suspect coming from her. So if she's to find out how he feels without betraying too much of her own opinions in the process, but she'll have to reveal at least some in order for him to trust her into saying something himself... well, that's a bit of a dance.
"Well, you raised someone who is strong enough to conquer all of Asia - you must have done something right," she says with a smile. More seriously she adds, "But, so sorry, can you remind me why he is so upset with you right now? I don't think that I ever heard about that - it happened while I was still living with France." Yes, she'll pretend that some incident must have happened in order for someone to be angry at China, rather than assuming that it has anything to do with the many things that China has done over the millenia that are worth being angry about. Then again, for all she knows something in particular did spark the situation - after all, as upset as she is with China for much of their entire history she wouldn't simply attack him unprovoked. Of course, she isn't Japan.
If there was anything to be said about sanity levels, Yao could have talked about Thi's for a while. When he first found her, he was certain that she had lost her mind. All the same, he loved her. She was so alone and so protective of the little muddy, watery swamp that she looked more stuck in than anything. If he would have left her there alone, who knows who else would have come to take her. Thi should be thankful he came in when he did, but she didn't go without a fuss. Such a frightened child….Frightened being used loosely in this sense…alone and protective of everything she held. Yao knew the moment he was pelted with rocks that she was to be a part of his family…..And he loved her so.
As Thi acted so neutrally in front of him he kept this in the back of his mind. He knew that she cared about Leon, that she cared about Kiku and that she cared about their family. Thi always had the most fire out of all of them, but he knew she loved her family. If she thought she could hide the ways he taught her from him, she was fooling herself. But in a time where eyes were everywhere, it was the smart thing to do and the most polite under someone else's roof.
But yes…He must have done something right to raise Kiku into who he was today. He was confident that he could take the German and the Italian if he wanted to. A world run by Asia would not be such a bad thing. Yao could even think of worse things than a world run by Kiku…But it wasn't the way it was supposed to be. It was the Wests influence that drove Kiku to act so irrationally.
"Shi, I must have." he answered her idly before her next comment. A long pause came after and he sighed deeply, half in thought about what he'd done to upset Kiku and the other half catching that she was implying something within the sentence. She was upset with him as well. But there would be little use in fighting against one another right now. "Kiku doesn't have a good reason to be upset with me…I was good to him. His rebelliousness brought consequences he won't accept." He glanced at her for a moment before his eyes cast to the floor again. "One shouldn't let their child stray so far away that they get hurt. But if that is what they want…the consequences will come from others." He nodded. There was a lesson in everything. Is it better to be punished for your disobedience by your family?...Or by a stranger.
After so many years living with and next to her eldest brother, Vietnam can find it within herself to be grateful for the things that he taught her. But not for taking her home with him - no, she'll never thank him for that. He may see her lands as an inhospitable swamp, but it's her home and it belongs to her and her alone. Could he not have taught her things while allowing her to live under her own roof? That's all she ever wanted!
But that is in the past, and though she'll probably be holding a grudge about it for all of eternity, that is less important than their present situation. When she has solved the problem of her independence, then she can worry about who she is angry with about what. Which is why, as China declares himself innocent of wrongdoing, her expression is troubled as if she agrees with him and is also concerned about their brother's behavior. In reality she's quite sure that China did something to Japan to set him off, and is pretty sure that she'd even agree with Japan that it was adequate provocation even without knowing what it was exactly. That doesn't mean that she isn't going to do everything she can to fight against him, but morally she would be on his side. It's just that she doesn't give morality much weight in her decision-making.
"It's a good thing for those who make poor decisions to learn the error of their ways by having to face the just consequences of their actions," she states, because just because she doesn't make decisions based on morality very much doesn't mean that she'll not use morality in an argument when it helps her, "But it would be better if the consequences remained in the family. Others do not love Kiku as we do - they do not understand what he needs and how he needs to be treated. And I couldn't bear to see him suffering due to some outsider's actions." She steals a glance at China as she says the last bit, wondering if her beloved eldest brother will agree with that idea - which would be extremely hypocritical considering the fact that she was with France for 80 years and he did nothing. And if he disagrees with that idea then he's scum in her world.
Yao found himself completely innocent of wrongdoing. He’d only helped Vietnam over the years in every way he could. It wasn’t his fault that when she finally decided that she needed him that the world had plagued him with too much. As she has her issues, so does he. It was through no fault of his own and he wasn’t even going to begin to acknowledge it.
As for her statement, he glanced at her briefly. “I will agree with you on that Thi, but some things are out of our current reach.” He counseled her on that matter. As unfortunate as it was, it was important to know ones limits. “If he does something that brings this upon himself.” Yao finally said plainly and felt every moment of it as he did.
It took a steadying breath to remind himself of why he was sitting here with Thi and why they were talking about this. It couldn’t sustain much longer. “ How long… Do you think this will last Thi?” He asked her, keeping his gaze on the ground. He left it ambiguous but he didn’t think that he needed to elaborate. She’d been sitting here with him in Japan’s house just the same and they both had choices to make about the way things were going to go. He needed to know whether Thi was going to fall with him, or whether Thi was going to fall with Japan.
The thought pained him. China cared so much about his family and wanted to keep them all together. All he wanted was for his family to be under the same roof, but not like this. This was all backwards. He’d had them all like this before, but it was better. It wasn’t like this and surely Thi didn’t think that this was better. He knew that all of his siblings had their difference but there was something that bound them together still. They were a family and this wasn’t right.
Unfortunately for China, Vietnam believes in family above almost anything else. And a part of what that means to her is that if a family member is in trouble and you can do something about it then you do it, no excuses. So she isn't about to forgive him for not helping her because while he was having his own problems at that time she doubts that they left him completely unable to do anything to help her. Not for the entire 80 years - surely he'd had the time and resources at some point. And to make matters worse, he was the one that taught her to value family so highly in the first place.
She nods silently to his words about Japan, not fully agreeing but understanding what he's trying to say. When he next asks a question, she frowns slightly in thought. "It is very difficult to say. But this peace that has been reached seems to be very unstable, and if it crumbles to pieces I do not think that Japan will sit back and watch even if he has a choice. And then he will get hurt, and it will be his own fault," she says, her expression troubled but her voice quite calm.
"And I will probably get hurt as well, but this will be unfair because I have no choice in the matter. It has been a very long time since I have been allowed to have a choice in such things," she adds. Her voice is extremely dispassionate as she predicts her own future. A part of it, China would know, is because even though she doesn't like getting hurt she isn't afraid of it. In fact she's never hesitated even for a moment to get messy if she believes that it would help whatever her goals are. So really the only thing she's saying here is that she's unhappy with her present situation.
