A Fleeting Season ((Jaan Velik))

[Yukimura Suoh幸村]

Country: Estonia, under German Occupation
Current Time: December 1941
Weather Conditions: Winter, rather chilly/snowing.

A cold breeze blew past the young girl, it was probably almost a month since she had left Japan to join her uncle, the Japanese Foreign Minister to Europe. This was so exciting for the young Japanese woman. She held on to her camera excitedly looking around at all the serene landscape that Estonia had to give. It was snowing...and honestly it didn't seem too much different from the snowy afternoons back in Kyoto...perhaps a tad colder, but the woman didn't mind.

It took a lot of convincing, but she was able to convince her uncle to let her go off on her own and explore the city itself. But of course, she needed an escort....the young Japanese woman barely knew the place---let alone communication. She didn't know Estonian...and although she knew a bit of German to hold a short conversation, it wasn't enough to navigate the city.

She blinked lifting her camera to a group of soldiers with girls latched on to their arms.

Click! Click!

Went the camera as the group walked past her. The uniforms the soldiers wore were rather nice....appealing if not, but very different from the ones she was use to seeing back at home. The women...well, they were beautiful---the way the women wore their hair down to their clothes. The Japanese girl looked down at her own, she wore a simple thick fitted princess coat her uncle had bought her in Berlin, with a black knitted scarf tightly wrapped around her neck to keep off the chill---along with boots and leather gloves.

She had tied her ebony hair into a low side ponytail to keep it from blowing everywhere and into her face---she wanted to take decent pictures to show her family back at home and she couldn't do that if her hair blocked her vision everytime a gust of wind would blow past her.

Her bistre eyes gazed curiously at the people around her, wondering who her escort looked like. Her uncle did say he had arranged for someone to meet up with her, she wondered who. Perhaps it was a woman? She thought curiously---how will she greet them? What would she call them? Should she be formal? Informal? Of course obviously polite....she would bring shame upon her family if she wasn't.

The girl was clearly excited, she just wanted to go out and try the food, see the sights and sounds the city had for her and perhaps the old history and beauty hidden behind war.

She lifted her camera again and began to fix the focus on it.

[Jaan Velik]

Oh Tallinn, Jaan thought as walked along one of the city's streets. Such a beautiful city this time of year. Albeit a cold one, not that he minded. For the young Leutnant was both used to the cold, and wearing the new German Army overcoat he had just received after finishing his training. It's fieldgray form dotted with fresh fallen snow.

Jaan's mind wandered back to the conversation he'd had with his Commanding Officer shortly beforehand. The Japanese Foreign Minister's daughter was here on a visit, and Jaan had been selected as the best candidate for an escort. Evidently because he was the only junior officer both available at the time, and with a reasonable knowledge of the city.

An unusual assignment to say the least, though Jaan didn't complain. Orders were orders. Besides, maybe she would turn out to be a decent girl. Or not, he thought.

It had been impressed upon him that despite (and because of) the language barrier, he was to be on his best behavior. Jaan wondered whose genius idea it was not to bring along some sort of interpreter. Especially considering the only language closest to Japanese he knew was (a bit of) German. And as most people know, German isn't similar to Japanese.

A sudden breeze blew past while the Leutnant looked at his watch. Good, he thought, I won't be late. As he looked up, he noticed a Japanese girl with a camera several yards ahead of him. Jaan stopped and started to straighten his uniform, knowing it had to be her (she was standing in the designated place after all). He lifted up his overseas cap and brushed aside his dark-blonde hair one last time for good measure before continuing on. All the while trying to ignore his stomach (with assistance from it's friend the brain) as it tried to convince him he was suddenly an extreme introvert.

His mind was starting to run wild with questions. Why was she here in Estonia of all places? Did she even know Estonian? Was she a spoiled brat? And why did she have a camera? Jaan swallowed his fear knowing that those, and other, questions were about to answered.

Jaan cleared his throat.

"Yukimura Suoh?" He asked, trying not to struggle with the pronunciation of the young girl's name.

"Minu nimi on Jaan Velik. Ma olen teie eskort täna." After introducing himself as her escort, he realized that despite his hopes, she probably couldn't speak Estonian and added;

"Uh... Ich bin Jaan Velik. Ich bin Ihr Führer." In the hope that she understood some German.

This would be either a very awkward day, or a very interesting day.



Translations:
"Minu nimi on Jaan Velik. Ma olen teie eskort täna." - My name is Jaan Velik. I'm your escort today. (Estonian readers can blame Google translate for my bad Estonian)
"Uh... Ich bin Jaan Velik. Ich bin Ihr Führer heute." - Uh... I am Jaan Velik. I am your guide today.

[Yukimura Suoh幸村]

Suoh fiddled a bit more with the focus on her camera---her attention was then directed at a soldier upon hearing her name. It was rather strange hearing her name spoken with a different accent, though she supposed that was one of the perks of being in another country. She turned with her camera still attached to her face as the soldier approached her.

A smile graced her pale features as he greeted her first in his own language than German. Oh? she thought as she lowered her camera. She gave the soldier a rather puzzled look, thinking that was one of their customs here. It was strange but, she suppose she'll just go with it. She bowed to him before speaking, " Ano.....sore wa yorokobi ni taiō suru no, Velik-san." she replied in Japanese.

She paused for a moment trying to think of the translation in German, "Ano...." she began, " E-es ist eine Freude, sie zu treffen, Velik-san." she replied hesitantly.

Her German wasn't very good, but she hoped that it was enough for him to understand, but nevertheless communicate with her, "Umm... Hat mein Onkel senden für Sie?" she asked, " Ich bitte um Entschuldigung, wenn Sie lieber etwas anderes tun." she said with a slight apologetic bow. That was pretty much the best German Jaan was going to get out of her.

It took hours upon hours rehearsing that same line in the mirror and in front of others to get the pronunciations correct and to the dot. Suoh was a perfectionist when she set her mind to things...and learning a different language was one of them.

Translations:

Ano - Umm...

Ano.....sore wa yorokobi ni taiō suru no, Velik-san. - Umm...it's a pleasure to meet you

E-es ist eine Freude, sie zu treffen, Velik-san. - It's a pleasure to meet you

Hat mein Onkel senden für Sie? - Did my uncle send for you?

Ich bitte um Entschuldigung, wenn Sie lieber etwas anderes tun - I apologize if you'd rather be doing something else.

[Jaan Velik]

Uncle? Jaan was sure he'd been told this Foreign Minister character was her father. Not that it really mattered, he thought. "Er, Ich wurde von meinem Kommandierender Offizier geschickt. Obwohl Ihr Onkel kann eine Hand in ihr gehabt zu haben." He said.

"Und keine Sorgen um mich. Ich bin gut mit hier zu sein." Jaan added. He guessed that whatever he would wind up doing with her would be much better than what his CO would be doing with the other Junior Officers and their men at the moment.

He motioned for her to follow him down the street. "Ich dachte, wenn wir zuerst durch den Besuch der Altstadt zu beginnen." Jaan guessed there would be the most to do there. "Es ist wahrscheinlich der schönste Teil der Stadt." He added. the prospect of visiting the Old Town delighted him, there always seemed to be something he'd never seen there before each time he went.

As they walked, Jaan tried to thinking of something they could talk about to make the trip to the Old Town less awkward or boring. Something that was still in grasp for their limited knowledge of the common language of German. "Nun, äh, wo kommen Sie her?" He said.

It was probably a somewhat stupid question, but it was simple enough for the both of them. Though Jaan guessed his own grasp of German was somewhat better than hers. He waited for the inevitable reply of 'Japan'.

Translations:
Er, Ich .... Obwohl Ihr Onkel kann eine Hand in ihr gehabt zu haben. - Er, I was sent by my Commanding Officer. Although your uncle may have had a hand in it.
Und keine Sorgen um mich. Ich bin gut mit hier zu sein. - And do not worry about me. I'm good to being here.
Ich dachte, wir zuerst durch den Besuch der Altstadt zu beginnen. - I thought we'd start first by visiting the old town.
Es ist wahrscheinlich der schönste Teil der Stadt. - It is probably the nicest part of town.
Nun, äh, wo kommen Sie her? - Well, uh, where are you from?

[Yukimura Suoh幸村]

Suoh gave the officer a rather hesitant smile---only recognizing a few words he had just said to her, which mainly comprised of Uncle and something about his commanding officer. Regardless, the girl was able to put two and two together to figure out what he meant. Giving the man another nod and smile she began to follow him down the street, she slowly place her camera away and walked beside the man.

Her almond gaze falling on the details of his green uniform with intrigue. It was so different from the ones the men from her country wore---then again they weren't fighting in tropical climate and the uniforms here had to be effective in cold weather. Her attention was soon directed to the man's face as he stated in German, that they should start by visiting the old town.

Suoh nodded quickly, feeling rather giddy that she would be able to take many pictures, "Hai!" she exclaimed excitedly, before growing a little embarrassed when she responded in Japanese and not German, "A-ano...n-nn...ja!" she corrected quickly.

Her lips pressing into a thin line in irritation, scolding herself internally that she needed to pay attention to which language she was using.

As the two continued down the street she smiled when he asked where she was from. Did he not know she was from Japan? or was he just trying to make small talk? Either way, Suoh found it rather refreshing to talk to someone----even if they had a rather large language barrier. She nodded and replied, "Japan." of course, he probably expected her to say that, "Kyoto, Japan." she clarified with a sincere smile on her paled lips.