Diplomacy 101

[Rachel Ascot]

The Imperial Palace's front gate is a great distance away from the front door, and thus guard duty was kind of boring. Still, if guard duty wasn't exciting, that meant the guards were doing a good job. The road was clear, the cherry blossom gently floating by in the gentle breeze, adding to the spring atmosphere. The sun shone high and bright in the sky, beams of light passing through the canopy and casting all in a soft pink haze. The guards stood still, backs as straight as the barrels of their guns, as firm as the swords in their scabbards. The air was natural but disciplined. No chaos. No panic. No disorder. The guards knew their duty; stop everyone with no authorised access. They had heard the fiery queen of Creta would be making an appearance, but it was highly unlikely that...

Thump.

One of the guards looked up. The branches of the trees all shuddered for a moment.

Thump.

The moment repeated itself. The two guards looked to each other. Was it the sign of an earthquake?

Thump!

Now the ground shook with a fierce tremor, the rattling of gravel bouncing on the tarmac filling them with a fear that they did not know. On cue, they took their guns in their hands, ready for anything...

THUMP! THUMP! THUMP! THUMP!

... anything except for what actually turned the corner.

The usually disciplined guards didn't even bother attempting to stop the beast simply walk towards them, towering over them. It was heading for the palace, and any resistance was futile. It was going to the palace, and they had best open the gate or they would have to repair it. The guards buckled under the pressure, and, wordlessly, they pulled apart the iron gates, simply letting the beast go by. One of them heard the familiar buzz of their pager.

"You've just opened the gates, but we've got no word of anyone having authorisation. What's happening?" Came the voice. The guard looked to his companion, who shrugged his shoulders. It's not like they'd believe them anyway.

------------------------------------------

"Well-behaved, am I right?"

"No, Rachel. As usual, you're not well-behaved at all."

Rachel pouted a little, every thud gently rocking her body from side to side. "I was talking about Samson." She said, looking down on her club's bouncer, who simply paced her on foot. He looked to his immediate right, towards Samson.

"I thought I'd have a problem, but I've actually got no complaints with Samson." He replied, before drifting his gaze back up to Rachel. "He's quiet, respectful and disciplined."

"He is also loyal, doesn't talk back, loves me with all his heart and can squash you like a bug, so watch the snark, Franklin." The queen warned, readjusting her position, the swaying forcing her to steady herself. "I think I've found someone to replace you." Franklin rolled his eyes. Rachel had finally begun her policy of meeting with all of the world's leaders, drawn up since the Central City Festival, and with Wolfgang of Gelemorte already met, the Shogun of Aerugo was the next on the list. But this was not how he imagined it. Granted, Franklin knew Rachel too well to expect that she'd have a formal diplomatic mission involving businessmen in suits and lots of treaties and trade agreements being made, but this was somehow beyond what he was expecting.

"I thought you only hired him for the day."

"I change my mind often, Franklin." Rachel said, gently patting the hard grey surface on which she sat. "We've really bonded over the last few days, and I just think it'd be nice to have him on hand for more occasions like this."

"I'm sure Hans will be happy when you ruin his carpet, and the road leading up to the Amestrian seat of government." Franklin said, before looking forward. The front door of the Imperial Palace, already with plenty of people outside. "We're here."

"Awesome. Look at this trick I taught him, Franklin." Rachel said cheerfully, before looking down, her voice softening to a motherly coo. "Samson~ Put me down, boy~"

Samson, the 12 foot tall elephant, looked up as his rider gently patted him under the ear, before slowly wrapping his trunk around the puny rider's stomach and lifting her off of him. He lightly placed her on her feet, and the rider rewarded him by carressing him for a moment, before giving him what he really wanted; a handful of peanuts. He chewed on them gratefully, his trunk ruffling Rachel's hair. The elephant was a grand beast, at least 12 feet tall, with a vibrant gold shawl on his back bearing the flag of Creta. The queen laughed at Samson's affectionate rubbing, before walking up the steps to greet the Shogun of Aerugo.

"Yoshida Izanagi, it's an honour. I believe we've been formally introduced, but we never got a chance to chat. And Yoshida Izanami, it's a pleasure to meet you." She greeted the Shogun and his sister with a reverent bow, something she admittedly didn't do often or naturally, before she lazily gestured to the elephant that curiously toyed with a nearby tree with his trunk. "Don't worry, Samson's tame. I've brought more peanuts for him if he gets hungry. So, anyway, have you got the kettle on? I could do with a cup of tea."

[Guest]

Big day, big day, BIG DAY!!!! It was a HUGE day for them today!! The Cretan Queen was coming to visit! And even better? HER BIG BRO NEEDED HER HELP!! Izanami had practically been jumping for joy ever since he let her know the day before. Right. Proper dress! She must wear the PROPER attire. It was a day for her white kimono patterned with a sakura branch on the left breast with the red under-layer! There was a faint pattern in the white kimono as well, that of water lilies that were of a darker white and thus stood out the faint white of the rest of it. Her obi was blue and very intricate in its design for there were great flowers and dotted circles all over it. Her grey eyes stared back at her in the mirror that she was looking at, currently within one of the Royal Palace's bathrooms to double check her appearance. She knew her brother would not mind, would probably tell her that she looked beautiful no matter what, but that was big brother being big brother. She wanted to be sure.

In reality, she did appear fine and-- Thump. What was that? Thump. She bolted out of the bathroom and ran down the stairs in her indoor slippers, heading towards the front door as another thump interrupted her along the way. It couldn't be another earthquake right? THUMP! THUMP! THUMP! THUMP! "What in the world...?" She murmured quietly as the doors were opened for her, withholding the little frown that graced her lips at that sight. Oooo she hated it when that happened. Still, she bowed her head thankfully to them and hurried outside only to see an elephant towering over the entire courtyard. She gasped in surprise, but it quickly turned into an exhalation of simple, "Wooooaaaaaaahhhh!!!! An elephant! Big brother, big brother do you SEE?!" She cried happily as she moved forward, except that was when she realized who was ON said elephant. Uh-oh. Blinking, she immediately recomposed herself into what everyone saw her as, the right hand of their Shogun. Impassive expression, hands clasped in front of her, short hair blowing delicately on the air.

Her grey eyes watched as Rachel fed her pet, mentally reminding her that she needed to visit her kitty friends as soon as this was done for a couple of them had taken to wandering further away from their normal area. Probably because some unhappy person bullied them away. "Yoshida Izanagi, it's an honour. I believe we've been formally introduced, but we never got a chance to chat. And Yoshida Izanami, it's a pleasure to meet you." Izanami bowed respectfully to the Queen, "It is an honor Queen Rachel." Some of the guards were watching the elephant warily as he played with one of the trees, though it wasn't like they could do much now was there? "Don't worry, Samson's tame. I've brought more peanuts for him if he gets hungry. So, anyway, have you got the kettle on? I could do with a cup of tea." She looked up to her brother since this was his meeting, she was just here to help him in terms of translation. She knew he understood Cretan fine, though speaking it? Well.. um.. it... it was rather atrocious...

[Yoshida Izanagi]

Thump. Thump. What on earth? Thump? the whole area was shaken, including Izanagai's dojo. The man was thrown off by a centimeter with each tremor, most disappointing. The whole back-swing was thrown off and in turn annoyed Izanagi. What sort of military practices were they doing that was causing such massive tremors? It had been a normal morning in the beginning, but now.. it seemed as if the world itself was shaking from something massive. He had hoped today would go without a hitch, but it seemed he would have to ask his kind neighbors to stop-

"Wooooaaaaaaahhhh!!!! An elephant! Big brother, big brother do you SEE?!"

"Come again?" Izanagi wasn't sure fully how to respond. An elephant? In Aerugo? Outside of a zoo? It didn't seem logical, but alas he came to the outside of his palace, he could see the large beast (At least twice his size) towering over him. "Sister, why is there an elephant in the palace gates?"

The woman spoke. "Yoshida Izanagi, it's an honour. I believe we've been formally introduced, but we never got a chance to chat. And Yoshida Izanami, it's a pleasure to meet you." He nodded. It wasn't like he could embarrass himself with his night terror that was what happened when he spoke Cretan. "A pleasure is mine. Do you need someone to.. park your elephant?" He asked after introductions were aside and both his sister and Rachel were done talking. "Also, the tea is ready. Come inside." He motioned and turned on his heel. He went back in the building and waited. This day was going to be strange.

[Rachel Ascot]

"A pleasure is mine. Do you need someone to... park your elephant? Rachel smirked a little at the Shogun's question.

"I already told you, Samson's tame, isn't that right, Samson?" She looked back to the elephant as she said this. At that moment, he was lying on a tree, beginning to fall asleep in the warm Aerugo spring. The tree was simply bending under his weight, about to snap at any moment. "Eh, I'm sure that tree isn't too important anyway."

Rachel happily took Izanagi's invitation, following him into the Imperial Palace itself. Franklin simply tailed them, keeping close enough to protect Rachel from any possible threat (or protect anyone else from anything Rachel might do), while she distracted herself with small talk with the Yoshida brother and sister.

"I might need a hand with translation, my Aerugese isn't the best and I might hear stuff wrong." She explained, looking to Izanami. "I can order a sandwich and ask where the toilet is, and that's about it." She then looked back to the Shogun himself. "I hope that doesn't get in the way of any future relations, Izanagi. We're new leaders, born out of a similar time and in similar circumstances, we need to stick together, am I right? Though before any of that, tea! I've never been a fan of formalities, so tea can't hurt the atmosphere."

[Guest]

"Come again?" Silly brother, how could have not known? It was a GIANT ELEPHANT!! "Sister, why is there an elephant in the palace gates?" "Cause its what the Queen rode in on."[/i] She answered as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. Cause it was obvious!! The Queen was there wasn't she? And there wasn't a car or carriage or any other riding thingy that could possibly be how she got there. Oh, right, translation time! "A pleasure is mine. Do you need someone to.. park your elephant?" "He asked if there is somewhere to park Samson." It was a little bit awkward since it appeared the Queen at least understood their language, "I already told you, Samson's tame, isn't that right, Samson?" She knew her brother understood Cretan, but did the queen understand Aerugese? No matter. She would translate anyways! "Tea is ready." She spoke as she turned with her brother to head inside, "Eh, I'm sure that tree isn't too important anyway." Izanami just giggled as she decided not to look, hoping her brother wouldn't either.

"I might need a hand with translation, my Aerugese isn't the best and I might hear stuff wrong." Izanami looked up to the Queen, "I can order a sandwich and ask where the toilet is, and that's about it." She smiled politely and bowed her head respectfully, her hands hanging at her sides as they walked. "Of course. I'd be more than happy to. It is why I'm here after all." She answered her with a giggle, glancing back over to her brother as well. She could only imagine how he may handle today. Queen Rachel was rather... different. "I hope that doesn't get in the way of any future relations, Izanagi. We're new leaders, born out of a similar time and in similar circumstances, we need to stick together, am I right? Though before any of that, tea! I've never been a fan of formalities, so tea can't hurt the atmosphere."

"Thats true, we are all out of a similar time frame." She mused quietly, biting her tongue after that since, well, she had been addressing her brother. Not her. Raising those grey eyes up to him, she tilted her head, making sure that he still understood all that she was saying. Yes, understanding he was good at, but speaking? mmmm... not so much.

[Yoshida Izanagi]

There went a tree. Iza pinched his nose and sighed roughly, then looked at his sister. He wasn't as upset as he was troubled. She certainly was something else, that queen. However, she had ideals worth investigating. It wasn't as if she were psychotic or a dictator, but the mannerisms she has were different than traditional.

"I hope that doesn't get in the way of any future relations, Izanagi. We're new leaders, born out of a similar time and in similar circumstances, we need to stick together, am I right? Though before any of that, tea! I've never been a fan of formalities, so tea can't hurt the atmosphere."

He nodded and poured three cups. Each gave off steam and warm scent of home to him. He dropped in a cube of sugar to his and then offered to both his sister, then Rachel. After a few sips of his own, he sat down upon the cushion seats he had. "You could not be more correct. So tell me. What is it you wish too gain from this time?"

[Rachel Ascot]

"Of course. I'd be more than happy to. It is why I'm here after all." The young woman said; Yoshida Izanami, if Rachel remembered correctly.

"Thank you very much." Rachel sounded gracious, but in her mind she was trying to work something out. The name. Too many 'Iza's in the Yoshida family, really; how do nicknames work? Izzy and... Izzy... still, it makes referring to them both at once a little easier. Rachel waited for the Shogun to sit first, for basic courtesy sake, before she took the offered tea. She didn't like sugar in her tea, and she knew that Cretans seemed to be the only people to put milk in their tea. Still, she had grown to like the taste of black tea, and she took a sip before she heard the Shogun's question.

"You could not be more pin point. So please let me know. What is it you want to buy this time?"

Rachel raised an eyebrow. There is no way she could've heard that right. She said it again to herself in her head, and after a moment's hesitation realised that she in fact hadn't. "You could not be more correct. So tell me. What is it you wish to gain from this time?" A too few similar sounding words could throw her off; she'd probably need Izanami's help more than she thought she might. However, she set her tea down to make her case, the queen's eyes fixing upon the shogun's.

"Izanagi... if I can address you by your first name, 'coz Mr Shogun just sounds odd." Rachel began, though her tone was a little more sombre than its usual bouncy and wild hop. This was the voice that with it brought thunder. Not anger, not fear, but a voice that forebode and told all of a darker future. "I know that Creta and Aerugo has not really been formal allies or formal enemies in a very long time; the last war we had was centuries ago, after all, but I think it'd be good if we strengthened what good ties we currently have between us." In her cushion, Rachel wiggled a little into a more comfortable position, almost sinking into the fabric, making her look smaller than she actually was, not helped by the tall stature of her current peers.

"There is something coming. There is something really big coming. It's hard to say exactly what, and I won't pretend that I have every answer, but the brewing tension in the world is thick enough to be cut with a knife." With this, Rachel's thoughts turned back to the Central City Festival, so many months ago now, but to Rachel it felt like yesterday. The looming threat of a bombing, followed by who knows what, and while the clear goal was to frame Amestris Rachel knew that Qin, emperor of Xing, was behind it, and with Aurelius' presence it was fairly obvious that he knew, if not being directly involved. She hadn't told anyone, and she didn't plan to for a while, just wanting to hold onto that little ace until she really needed it, but to her it was merely the indication of a much larger problem. A problem she wanted to diffuse as much as she could before the wire snapped. "Tension both between and within countries, and either no one's noticed or everyone's pretending that it isn't there. But the more no one does anything about it, the tighter the tension gets, and it's going to snap somewhere, which will lead to violent uprisings and war, and we'll all collapse back into chaos. Could be Xing, Drachma or even in Creta, but somewhere, and the knock-on effect will hit everyone." She looked back up to Izanagi, her face unreadable. "And all our work would be all for nothing."

Even the room itself seemed a little colder. She had emphasised the 'our' in her words on purpose. Partly to compliment Izanagi, for he had done a lot to get Aerugo out of a crisis state as she had done and had done a lot of good work, but also to show him just what was at stake. She briefly looked to Izanami for any reaction from her, taking a sip of her tea, before she continued.

"Still, I don't think it's all doom and gloom." She said, her voice becoming a little more chipper. If her previous words had brought a cloud of darkness into the room, these words cleared the air, purpose chosen and said to snap the spell of fear away. "All it takes to snap is for us to be a little more trusting of each other. I've never seen any reason for tension to exist between us specifically, and as far as I see it that's reason enough to tighten the cord, as it were. Become more than just neighbouring countries, but start acting a little more like neighbours too, see if we can set a bit of an example. After all, even if it's just for your own sake I doubt that having Creta as a friend can hurt. It means you get trips to London free of charge, after all; I treat my friends well." She gave both the Shogun and his sister a smile as warm as summer, before taking another sip of the black tea.

"By the way, this tea is amazing." Rachel instinctively looked towards Izanami, gesturing to the cup. "What blend is this? I'll have to get some myself."

[Csilla Angelis]

{BUMP}

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