Leon felt his nerves were shaken; not only was he about to come face to face to his old grandfather, for whom this body of his felt warmth and affection, even if his memories of him were hazy and distant, but the whole village seemed to have poured from their houses to bear witness to his arrival. As his black eyes cast over them, each caused an awakening of a memory, some good, some bad and some he could not make sense of for each focused on different times, places... he rubbed his temples as the a.s.sault became a flood and caused a painful headache to form. A familiar touch lightly grasped his wrist, his body relaxed automatically and he felt the memories were washed away with the image of one man covering them all. To that man, to Jin Li, he nodded and gave a rea.s.suring smile, before turning back to the small village house before him.
To call it a courtyard would be to exaggerate somewhat. It looked like it may have been originally, but the wall surrounding it had crumbled in places, patched in some, while others were ignored. Hardy weeds grew in the flowerbeds and brown gra.s.s where some sort of dirt path should have been. The roof on the rear part of the property seemed more or less in tact, although the thatch had seen better days, while that of the side building was full of holes and open to the elements. It was clear that it had been ignored for want of more urgent repairs. Fortunately, the walls of the main property seemed sound and the door solid. Leon quickly bowed to the crowds to acknowledge them, before hurrying to knock on this door as well as calling out; "Grandfather, it"s m-m-me..."
The crowds whispered amongst themselves in speculation and gossip.
""Ere, didn" he go off to some fancy school in them north mountains?"
"Mrs Arion said he"d likely drop out! Probably come home in shame!"
"Tha" didnae explain the posh carriage an" young masters..."
"Ye reckon Leo sold hisself to bein" a servant?"
"Well his dress is a bit posh..."
A more enterprising auntie spotted Russ also getting out of the carriage and beckoned him over. "Wha" is it, auntie?" He asked politely. He was well aware that the old biddy was after gossip, his family was often at the centre of it, he felt a little torn that the central subject was now his best friend instead.
"Tha" some mighty n.o.bby fellows, how is it tha" you and young Leo got to be riding in his carriage?"
He rolled his eyes inwardly, but decided the truth wasn"t anything bad. Anyway, the whole village would know some enough. "They be Leo"s friends from his school. We met in Cenapar city, as you know, Aunty, I was there seeking work. The carriage belongs to one of them and it were their idea to come back with Leo for a bit, to see his old granda"."
"Such a filial child," the old Aunty murmured.
"Tha"s what you think!" Muttered a neighbour, but before anyone could question what she was on about, old Leonard opened his front door.
Tears instantly blurred Leon"s vision as a comforting familiarity swept over him at the sight of the wrinkled face. The old man really could only be in his sixties, not old by terms of his previous life, but clearly the years had worn down this white haired old man. His brows were still as bushy as the memory that had appeared in Leon"s mind and the gla.s.ses beneath them were just as thick as the ones he"d originally used back in the summer, before the accident had seen them beyond repair.
"Leo? Is that really you?" The old man should have been equal to Leon in height, but his spine was curved and shoulders stooped as he leaned on a roughly carved wooden cane, so he had to look up to see his grandson clearly. The lines of this grandson"s face had not changed much, still as familiar to him as his own and a relief swept through his old frame. He lifted his cane and bopped Leon upon the head. "You unfilial grandson!" He began yelling. "After no hearing from ye for half a year ye dare jus" show up like this?"
Leon rubbed the aching spot and lightly laughed, sheepishly. "Sorry g-g-grandfather. I d-d-didn"t m-mean t-to worry you."
"Tch, alrigh" well I guess ye be here now," the old man said in a gruff tone. "Get inside. It"s cold out and ye never did well in the cold."
"Yes, g-grandfather," Leon smiled, he turned to gesture to Jin Li and Sun, while Russ waved from a distance and mouthed that he was headed home and would come back tomorrow.
The old man frowned, noticing the two young masters and their servants as well as the crowds of villages hovering around. "Ye all go" nothing better to do than gawk?" He demanded of his neighbours, whom all tutted and verbally complained beneath their breaths before heading home. Old Leonard rolled his eyes openly, but he was a little more respectful to the village chief, basically nodding his head and greeting him by name before ignoring everyone and entering the dubious warmth of his home.
The inside of the property was in a better condition than the outside at least and was divided into two rooms, one the hearth and home with a stone stove on which large metal pots were placed and a brick, heated bed topped with thin blankets. This room also contained a wooden desk with paper and bindings strewn across it and a rocking chair, in which the old man now sat within. The only light came from a couple of candles placed upon the stove, the fire beneath the brick bed having not yet been lit. It made the room quite cold.
Leon automatically moved to place coals beneath the bed as if he was used to this sort of thing. "G-Grandfather sh-shouldn"t let this p-place g-get so c-cold," he chided the old man, the words spilling off his tongue naturally, as if his amnesia had never existed. "D-didn"t you say your b-bones ache in the c-cold?"
"Eh," the old man grunted, unkindly, but Jin Li recognised the warmth in the old man"s expression, despite the familiar thick lenses obscuring his eyes. "So ye have some explainin" t" do me boy. Who are these people for a start?" He also eyed the two Coeurl, one large, one small following the crowd, warily. The bigger, black beast fortunately sat obediently just beside the door and pressed one paw down upon the tail of the smaller creature, stopping it from running wild, allowing the old man a little relief.
"These are my friends, J-Jin Li and Sun..." Leon indicated them in turn and they respectfully bowed to the elder, who dismissed their gesture with a disgruntled wave of his hand. "They study m-m-Martial arts in school. And this is Wu Ye and Li Ming..." Leon felt his knees give way, his body more able in front of the old man than his memories and knelt before him. "S-s-Sorry, g-grandfather, for worrying you. Something h-happened."
"I"m a.s.sumin" you are still in school," the old man muttered, "seein" as you be introducin" these folk as friends no masters."
"En," Leon nodded in agreement and proceeded to explain as best he could about the deviation, how his hair had turned partially white and his memory became a blank. He did not mention that he had awoken the memories of his past life and he was vague about the extent of his injuries, just mentioning that the party responsible was no longer attending the school. Li Ming scrambled to get to its master and nuzzle his shoulders comfortingly.
His old grandfather glanced sideways at the beast before returning his attention back to his grandson and sighed. "Tha" had been me one worry. Ye is too soft, me boy." He glanced up at his grandson"s friends. They definitely had the air of young masters, but whether it was a good thing that his Leo had mixed in with them remained to be seen. He worried that Leo had as poor a judgement of people as his youngest daughter, Aleora had that time. "Thankin" ye both for takin" care of me grandson. Ye will have to forgive me, though, this humble home no" go" enough food for this old man to eat, besides tha" it"s no" what ye young masters are probably use to. I can no offer ye somethin" t" eat."
"That"s okay, Grandfather," Leon rea.s.sured him with a pat on his weathered hand. "I p-p-purchased rice and things in the c-c-city. I"ll start the f-fire and c-c-cook now, okay?"
"Wait... you can cook?" The old man said startled, even more surprised to see Leon"s confident nod, before he moved to the stove.
"This Lord wants meat," Jin Li demanded, approaching his lover, while surrept.i.tiously poking him in the waist a few times. Just wait, he thought. Twice now he"d been labelled as a mere friend. This would be added to a mental list of things that required repayment.
"I"ll just tell my servants to head back to town," Sun added gleefully. "I want to eat Leon"s cooking!" Li Ming yowled in enthusiastic agreement, however it was thwarted from pestering the masters by its big brother, who nudged it out of the door Sun left open.
Old man Leonard frowned, seeing his small home bustling with youthful exuberance, seeing his grandson happily cooking even as his tall friend hovered close and the excitable one bounce about asking questions of him about the village and its people and Leonard couldn"t stop himself from smiling. It had been a long while since it had felt as if these four walls contained life. He leaned back in his rocking chair, feeling the heat of the two fires fill the room and his body sighed in contentment. Now if he could just find his pipe, everything would be perfect.