Yuki: A Snow White Retelling

by Nicolette Andrews

  "Of course you are. I saw your face when I banished that creature. You were terrified."

  He laughed. Is that what this was about?

  "Why are you laughing. Do you think this is funny?"

  He stifled his laughter. "This whole time I thought you hated me for being weak. When that thing attacked, you knew just what to do. I am in awe of you. What scared me was that I thought I couldn't protect you."

  She stared at him through the gloom of the night. Then very slowly she jumped down to stand in front of him.

  "I don't need protection; I'm not like other girls."

  "That's what I like about you."

  She shook her head. "Don't do that. I know why you really came here."

  He froze. She couldn't know what he wanted her for. Could she? His desires for fame and glory hadn't driven him into the forest. It wasn't about that anymore. He had genuinely come to care about her.

  "I came because I was worried about you, Yuki."

  "Don't lie. My own family thinks I'm a freak. I'm not even human." She crossed her arms over her chest, looking away from him.

  He grabbed onto her shoulders and she turned to meet his gaze. "I don't think what you can do makes you less than human."

  "You're just saying that."

  He held onto her even as she tried to pull away. "My brother is like you. He could see things others could not see his entire life. He tried to hide it and even I condemned him for it."

  She was staring up at him, her large eyes reflecting pools of moonlight. "But?"

  "I realized how special he was. How lucky he was to have that. It's a gift and you should embrace it."

  She turned to look away from him, but he grabbed onto her chin and turned her to face him.

  "You are the most beautiful, strong woman I have ever met. I wish I could be a man worthy of you."

  She stared up at him for a moment, her eyes tracing over his face. He thought about kissing her but he knew that would ruin this perfect moment and he held back. She turned away from him.

  "Come with me. There's something I want to show you."

  They traveled deeper and deeper into the forest. Even the sky overhead was blocked by a thick canopy of trees. Hotaru could not see in the dark, but it seemed Yuki could see even in the pitch black. She held his hand, guiding him around obstacles. Then they arrived at a pool. The trees broke away and a shaft of moonlight illuminated the surface of the water, and blue light reflected over everything. Strange lights danced over the water. At first, he thought they were fireflies but their color was all wrong: it was the most vibrant blue, and their dance was nothing like an insect.

  In the center of the pool was a small island, and atop it was a simple stone shrine. Yuki sat at the edge of the water and bowed her head, clasping her hands together in prayer. Hotaru joined her in paying respects to the kami who dwelt there. There was an energy to this place, as if all of it was alive and watching.

  "I should have died with my mother," Yuki said quietly, her head still bowed.

  Hotaru watched her as she spoke, her profile lined in blue light.

  "I was very weak when I was born. The midwife did not think I would last through the night. With her dying breath, my mother begged my father to bring me here, to dedicate me to the kami."

  She looked up at the statue. The flickering lights had started to gather around the statue, moving in a spiral around it. "In exchange for my life, a part of the kami lives in me. And because of that, I can feel the forest. I can see yokai like most humans cannot. And I have powers others do not."

  He bowed his head once more to shrine. "Thank you for saving her."

  There was no answer but the wind rustled through the trees overhead. Yuki lifted her head as if listening to something only she could hear. Hotaru looked toward the statue in the center. He thought from the corner of his eye he had seen someone there but when he looked again there was nothing.

  19

  The kami sat on top of the shrine. His pure white robes rippled around him, floating on the air, though there was no breeze. His long ebony hair was half tied up into a top knot, and rest cascaded over his shoulders, touching the ground. It was impossible to describe his face, because it was that of the divine. Impossibly beautiful and glowing with an inner light of his pure energy. He so rarely showed his face to Yuki, though she always felt him inside her. Looking at him stole her breath away.

  "I did not give you life for you not to live, Yuki," he said. "You are not bound to this place as you would believe."

  There was no excuse she could give him. None that wouldn't sound selfish and hollow. She didn't want to leave because this place was all she had ever known; this forest was familiar to her. This was where she belonged.

  The guardian turned to look at Hotaru. "He is a good man with a good heart. If you were to let him in you would find the happiness that has eluded you."

  "You cannot say what will make me happy," Yuki said.

  Hotaru, to her left, looked confused. "I never said anything."

  "Your mother would not have wanted this for you," the kami said.

  "Don't speak of her to me," she snapped.

  "What are you talking about?" Hotaru asked.

  The guardian's beautiful face was filled with grief.

  "Think about what I have said, Yuki, before it's too late," the guardian said as his form slowly dissolved into a thousand twinkling blue lights. And like that he was gone.

  "You can't do this to me!" Yuki shouted, wading ankle deep into the pool. "Don't pretend like you care. Where were you when my father died?"

  Before she could go any deeper Hotaru grabbed her by the arm, pulling her backward.

  "Yuki, who are you talking to?"

  The peaceful air of the place was disrupted by her own anger. Once the kami was gone, the place felt darker as a result. Hot tears stung the back of her eyes but she didn't let them fall.

  "It was the kami, the deity who protects this forest and my family." She looked up at Hotaru and turned her back on the shrine.

  "What did he say?"

  She had thought him arrogant and spoiled before, but there was such kindness in him. He was handsome and daring, funny, everything she could have wanted if she'd ever considered such a thing before.

  But what she feared more than anything was being caged. To never feel the touch of the guardian again, never look upon his ethereal face. To never run wild. A lord’s wife was expected to serve, to look beautiful, to bear children, to obey. That was a life she'd never wanted for herself. And for all his kindness, and no matter how much he made her heart race, if she were to marry him she'd be bound by those same rules.

  This was where she belonged. The guardian was wrong, nothing was missing from her.

  "Nothing important."

  She turned to walk away from the glen. It was foolish to bring Hotaru here. What had she been thinking? Hotaru caught up with her quickly, grabbing her by the shoulder.

  "You said, 'this is where I belong.' That sounds important to me."

  She glared at him. "Do you think he told me to leave with you? Get married and have a brood of children?"

  "Not at all, but clearly something has upset you."

  She turned away from him. "What does it matter to you?"

  They glared at one another. Her words had hurt him, she could see that clearly. She couldn't stand to look at him another moment and know she'd caused it. She marched through the forest, and Hotaru followed after her not speaking.

  It was several minutes before he said, “That monster is still out there. What are you planning on doing?"

  It was a relief not only to have a change of subject, but to know he trusted her enough to take care of the problem. "I have to lure it out," she said.

  She would root it out like a rat and she would exterminate it.

  "I want to help."

  She stared at him for a moment, seriously considering his offer. It would be nice to have someone to rely on, but she equally feared
trusting him too much would only make their parting that much worse.

  "I don't need your help."

  She ran from him before he could try and stop her. She was going to have to keep her guard up if she were going to avoid falling into his spell. She returned to the palace, sneaking over the wall that she had escaped from. She'd dealt with this type of yokai before. It fed off human energy. It may have retreated but it wouldn't be far. Spreading out her senses, she felt its energy skulking around the kitchens. It had been taking the form of a maid, and Yuki had been so distracted by Hotaru she hadn't noticed all the signs. It was just another reason to keep him at arm’s length. Her negligence had put the clan in danger.

  The song that would rend the creature apart, piece by piece, burned inside her. She crept into the kitchen. The cooking fires had burned low but the faint smell of spices still remained.

  As Yuki crept across the space, she lost track of the yokai. Its energy disappeared. She spun around, just as it lunged toward her from the dark. A tentacle wrapped around her neck, strangling her throat and preventing her from using her song.

  Yuki wrestled the monster, clawing at the tentacle around her throat as it lifted her up into the air, her legs kicking.

  "Oh, what a meal you will make." The creature hissed, unhinging its jaw and revealing rows of jagged teeth as it brought her toward its mouth.

  Then a blade sliced through the tentacle and Yuki fell to the ground where she gasped for breath and massaged her damaged windpipe.

  Hotaru reached for her, a bloody sword in his hand. The creature hissed in his direction before slithering over toward him. One tentacle knocked his weapon out of his hand, while a second wrapped around his body, squeezing the air from his lungs.

  Hotaru wrestled against it, holding the tentacles back. But it grabbed onto him and slammed him against a wall where he lost consciousness.

  "Hotaru!" she shouted.

  As the creature turned its attention back on Yuki, the song of binding poured out of her, burning her throat in its haste to do its work. The creature hissed and tried to fight against her song, its tentacles writhing above its head. But it was no use. Yuki was much stronger. The power wove around her until there was nothing left but a smoking crater on the ground and a single stone in which it had been sealed.

  Once the creature was defeated, she rushed to Hotaru's side. There was a gash on his head, but otherwise there didn't appear to be any broken bones.

  "Hotaru, wake up." She shook him gently.

  His eyes flicked open and he groaned. "I'm fine." He tried to sit up but stopped mid-way, clutching his head.

  "What were you thinking, you idiot?" she chastised. She wanted to strangle him and hug him in equal amounts.

  "That I wanted to be a hero," he said as he rubbed his head.

  She laughed and rested her head against his shoulder. He was going to be fine if he could joke around.

  "Yuki?" he said cautiously. She met his gaze and in the heat of the moment she lost all sense of herself. When he leaned forward and kissed her she didn't fight it. His lips were warm and inviting and a million different sensations were burning up inside her.

  It took her a moment to realize what she had done. She pulled back, blinking at him.

  "Well. I—I got to go." She leaped up and ran out of the room, her heart hammering more than it had been when she'd been fighting the yokai.

  20

  Lord Fujimori was propped up like a doll. His stepmother seated just behind him, Yuki on his other side. On the surface, it was a show of household solidarity, in reality, it was likely so someone would be there to catch him were he to collapse. The entire household lined the room.

  Hotaru knelt on the ground before him, his head bowed in contrition, but he wasn't here to apologize. Yuki had just finished explaining the yokai to the clan. And deadly silence filled the room. Now all Hotaru had to do was wait for Lord Fujimori's decision.

  Lord Fujimori hadn't said a word since Yuki finished. Hotaru kept his head bowed but stole a peek at Yuki. She'd been avoiding him since their kiss. Not that he was that surprised. Even now her eyes were directed away from him, and there was a faint blush on her cheeks.

  At last lord Fujimori spoke, "This is a very strange case indeed." His words rolled over the crowd. "We who live within the forest have witnessed these things before. We are fortunate Lord Kaedemori was here and rid us of this menace."

  Hotaru's head shot up and looked Lord Fujimori in the eye. He hadn't done anything. He'd been lucky he hadn't gotten himself killed.

  Yuki did not protest, instead kept her head lowered.

  "I did nothing, Lord Kaedemori. It was Yuki—"

  "Nonetheless—" Lord Fujimori cut him off. "We can proceed with the union of our two clans. The wedding will be held in a few weeks’ time."

  Hotaru's stomach sank. He hadn't told Yuki about their deal. Between their investigation and the attack, there hadn't been a good moment.

  Yuki glared at him. She stood up and was preparing to make a scene when Lord Kaedemori began to cough violently, doubling over and clutching his sides. Yuki went to console her brother, but her stepmother was already there, her hand around his shoulder and guiding him out of the room as he coughed.

  The crowd murmured as Lord Fujimori was led out of the room, leaving Yuki staring after him. He had to talk to her now, explain everything. But Lord Fujimori on his way out the door, collapsed onto the ground.

  The entire audience hall erupted in chaos. Yuki ran to her brother's side. Hotaru chased after her.

  "Riku!" Yuki shouted. "Call the healer." She turned and saw Hotaru hovering over her.

  Instead of sending him away, she pleaded at him with her eyes and Hotaru went to work.

  "Send for the healer." He shouted to a nearby clansman. Then to another. "Help me carry him to his chamber."

  Hotaru and another man gently carried the unconscious Lord Fujimori, while Yuki walked beside them holding her brother's hand. They laid him down in his bed just as the healer arrived. He checked his pulse and pressed his hand against his forehead.

  "He's going to need rest. All we can do now is wait," the healer said.

  Yuki was trembling like a leaf. The crowd and the stress were getting to her. She needed fresh air. Hotaru took her hand and gently led her out of the room into the garden beyond. They were still within earshot if they were needed, but at least they weren't surrounded anymore.

  As soon as she was outside Yuki took a few calming breaths and her shaking subsided.

  "He's going to be alright. You heard the healer," Hotaru said. He still hadn't let go of her hand.

  Yuki shook her head. "It's not going to be alright." She pulled away from him and paced over to a nearby tree, pressing her palm against it. "He's dying just like my father."

  "What makes you say that?"

  Yuki let out a shaking breath. "It's a curse."

  "What do you mean a curse?"

  She turned to him, tears in her eyes. "My father had the same symptoms. We consulted every healer we could find. Riku went to every territory, to the most skilled healers. I begged the forest guardian for help. But there's nothing that can stop it. Whatever it is, it consumes them from the inside. And now my brother is dying of the same illness."

  He grabbed a hold of her, pressing her against his chest. There was nothing else he could do for her. She clung onto his clothes, tears silently sliding down her face.

  "When he's gone, I'll be all alone."

  No, you won't. Whatever comes, I will be there for you. Even if I must watch from a distance. I will find a way to keep you safe and happy.

  Though he wanted more than anything to speak those words to her, he couldn't make them pass his lips. He was afraid she would push him away. Later when she was calm, he would tell her the truth. But not yet, not now.

  Hotaru was just finishing up a letter to home. Lord Fujikawa was moving fast, and if he wanted to beat him he'd need to move quickly. But he couldn't leave Yuki now
in the midst of a crisis. There was a knock on the door and he put aside his papers to go and answer it. He opened it to find Lady Fujimori standing outside. Her gaze was lowered.

  "What do I owe the pleasure?"

  "May I come in?"

  It wasn't entirely appropriate. But she lifted her gaze to him, her eyes mesmerizing him. The hairs on the back of his neck stood on end. But despite all his instinct telling him to refuse, he stepped aside to let her in.

  She walked into the room, her eyes skimming over his bed, and then turning to him with a smirk. Involuntarily he felt a stirring of lust. He pushed down the feeling. He was officially engaged to Yuki now. He couldn't risk any scandal. And besides he didn't want to hurt Yuki.

  "How can I help you, my lady?"

  The smile was wiped from her face and she covered her mouth to hide her tears. "I came to you because I didn't know where else to turn."

  "What is it?" He took a step toward her, reaching out to take hold of her and comfort her the way he had held Yuki earlier. But it felt wrong and he pulled back.

  "My son, Lord Fujimori is dying." She choked on a sob and came forward to grab a hold of his haori, burying her face in it.

  Hotaru's gut clenched. Did Yuki know? Was she there with her brother? He should go and comfort her. He'd only left her long enough to write to home. But perhaps Lord Fujimori's condition had worsened since then.

  He placed his hands on the lady's shoulders. "I need to go to Yuki."

  But as he tried to pull away, her grip tightened. She looked up into his eyes. "Don't go. I don't think I can be alone right now."

  As he looked deeper into her eyes, he found himself drowning in her gaze and burning up with a sudden heat that stirred from deep within him. Her cherry-red lips were parted ever so slightly, and tantalizingly close. But even as he dipped in closer to her, Yuki's face popped into his mind.

  He gently pushed Lady Fujimori away.

  "I can't. I'm sorry. You're beautiful, but there is someone else I love."

  "Do you really think she can learn to love you?"