Into the Sunset

Chapter 1: 1861-1986
1861:

Joseph was not having a good month.

Tuberculosis was worsening from the conditions where he was.

He was starving, sick and wasn't going to live another week.

"Call......Saoirse........" He said, coughing between breaths.

”Joseph, stay with us!” Another private said.

He looked at the visibly heartbroken look of his father, Michael.

Joseph felt himself come and go out of subconsiousness,

He then finally went unconsious.

A DAY LATER

Saoirse had became sick with malaria, which she caught from a Confederate soldier carrying the disease.

"Mama, Papa, I love you and my Seosamh." She said.

She then closed her eyes.

Michael wanted to throw up, two of his kids are dead, leaving only his younger daughter alive.

1986:

The twins woke up.

"Where are we?" She asked.

Joseph groaned.

The twins saw an elderly man in his sixties.

"Martin! Go get the shotgun, there's a bunch of intruders!" He shouted.

A younger man got out a rifle.

"Don't kill me! Please don't kill me! Please!" Joseph wailed.

Martin put down the gun after seeing how frightened Joseph was.

The poor guy was visibly thin and pale, Martin put down the gun.

"Bring them inside." He said.

The two were led inside, Joseph looked at a little girl play a weird device he'd never seen before.

Joseph was a shy and timid man, when Martin went next to him.

"My name is Saoirse." She said.

"Martin, judging by his twin sister's name, which is Saoirse, the fact he writes his name as "Seosamh Ó Mac Conmara" and his sister "Saoirse Ní Nic Conmara" and their Irish brogue in both, these two might be Irish, their accents sound like their from Dublin...." Ichiro said.

"Wait, did I get quarter Irish ancestry and quarter-English ancestry on a DNA test?" Maria said.

"Sorry about that, there was burglary going on." He said.

"It's okay, I'm used to having a gun pointed at me." He said.

Martin thought Joseph's Dublin accent was absolutely charming.

"Are you hungry? My wife's cooking dinner." He asked.

A loud noise came from Irish-American man's midsection, causing him to rest his hand on it.

The loud noise from the young man's stomach confirmed that he was hungry, He covered his mouth with his hand and twitched.

" (Yes)" He said in Irish language.

"I'll take that as a yes." He said.

Saoirse was starting to adjust to her surrondings and Maria liked the Irish lady that came into her house.

She found the girl's grandfather Ichiro to be kind.

"What high school did you attend?" He asked Martin.

"N.B Forrest High School, I met my wife there aswell." He said.

"Wasn't he a Confederate soldier?" Joseph asked him.

"Yeah, he's got a school named after him." Martin said

Maria, who was five went over to the male in the uniform.

"Your uniform is cool." She said.

She then climbed on him and sat on his knee.

"That's Maria, my daughter." He said.

"She looks different than you." Joseph commented.

"My wife's Japanese." Martin said.

Satsuki had finished making dinner, she made sushi.

"This is sushi." She said to Joseph.

Maria had to teach him how to use chopsticks, she noticed he seemed to got the hand of it.

"What languages do you speak?" She asked him.

"Well, Irish Gaelic and English...." He said.

"Can you speak some Irish Gaelic?" She asked.

"Slán, Dia dhuit, Éire, Balie Átha Cliath (Goodbye, Hello, Ireland, Dublin)" He said.

"My parents spoke Irish and they moved to Dublin to escape poverty and escaped Dublin during the famine, Joseph and me cannot write in English, we could read English, well nearly, just not write it, when he was being conscripted, I had to tell the English version of the name Seosamh Ó Mac Conmara." Saoirse said.

Saoirse was now in new clothing, while Joseph preferred his Confederate uniform.

A few hours after dinner, Joseph began coughing violently.

Saorise ran over.

"Seosamh, you okay?" She asked.

He turned his head side to side.

With the help of Martin, Joseph was placed on a bed.

"It's tuberculosis, I've seen people suffer from it, It was incurable, I suffered malaria and died within weeks." Saoirse said.

Martin had cough syrup ready.

"Open your mouth." He said.

Joseph willingly took it.

”How do you feel?” Martin asked.

”A bit better, I wanna rest for now......” Joseph said as he fell asleep on the bed.

Chapter 2: Josephine visits
Josephine and her parents, Derek and Denise visited.

"Hey, Satsuki!" Jani said.

Denise saw a woman in shorts and a top with black shoes and white socks and a male in a grey uniform.

"Who's that?" Denise asked.

"Their names are Saoirse and Joseph." Martin replied.

"Are they from Ireland?" Denise asked.

"Sure sounds like it, Let me ask them about Bobby Sands." Derek said.

He went up to them.

"Hey, heard of Bobby Sands?" He asked.

"Bobby Sands? Who's that?! Who picked his surname, it sounds weird!" Saoirse said.

Joseph shook his head.

"And why the fucking hell are you in a Confederate Army uniform?! Take it off!" He shouted at Joseph.

Joseph flinched.

"He's very unwilling to wear modern-day clothing, He says he likes his uniform the best because it's the closet he's got to clothes that weren't torn." Martin said.

"Can I bring him to school?" Maria asked.

Tomorrow, Maria, Joseph and Saoirse went to school.

Maria's teacher saw the two.

"Hey, what's that you brought in?" She asked.

"That's Joe and Saoi, Mikey and Daddy found them outside." Maria replied.

"Can you two write your namez?" She asked.

Joseph wrote "Is ain dom Seosamh Ó Mac Conmara" which was "My name is Joseph McNamara" while Saoirse wrote "Is ain dom Saoirse Ní Nic Comara"

"That's a funny way of writing your names." Suzie said.

Joseph Wintergreen then looked at the board featuring the bulletin board.

"Um, I can't read the board." Joseph Wintergreen blurted out.

"It's Irish language." A student spoke out.

"My daddy told me he had Irish ancestors, and he told that their youngest daughter couldn't write in English until she was 18 and her elder siblings, who were twins could only write in Irish Gaelic." She said

Chapter 3: Tangerines
When Maria woke up, she heard sound coming from the kitchen.

” (Hungry............)” She heard a whisper in the same language that Saoirse and Joseph spoke in.

Satsuki went downstairs and saw a man sitting in the kitchen, eating tangerines from the fruit bowl, bananas and bread.

Saoirse went down as well, she was familiar to the man.

” (Dad?)” Saoirse said.

The man wiped the juice from his face, then looked at Saoirse.

The man was about 5’4 and was slender, He had dark hair and pale skin, much like the twins.

There was tangerine peels, apple cores and bread crusts everywhere.

He coughed a little before standing up and wiping his mouth with a kitchen paper towel, he then threw them in the bin.

Maria recongised him.

”Michael?” She asked.

Satsuki held out her hand.

” (She’s from Japan)” Saoirse said to her father.

She realized that her father was bleeding from a cut on his side.

” (I....remember when that idiot was accusing me of eating their food when I hadn’t eaten since yesterday, Then I fell down into a pit and I woke up here.)” He said.

Joseph translated it back into English.

Michael allowed the Japanese woman to help him lie down.

He barely slept since yesterday and was into shock when he woke up here.

” (You know, Maria-chan, He’s not as bad-looking as I thought he was)” She said.

Indeed Michael was not ugly, actually far from that, years of starvation and poor nutrition seemed to have an effect on his growth, he did have a rather handsome face, Satsuki never saw the Irish man have a relaxed expression on his face before.

When the bright sun hit the man’s back, He began to put his hands over his eyes.

” (Saoirse.....I.....I can’t see.....)” Michael said.

”Da was born with a condition that causes severe yet temporary blindness in hot temperatures and strong sunlight, Me and Saoirse don’t have it, neither Mia of her descendants.” Joseph said.

The older man struggled to find his way around.

Satsuki held onto the man, who was around the same height as her and helped him on the couch.

”My wife’s name is Satsuki, call her if you need anything.” Martin said.

Michael nodded, understanding him.

Maria looked at Michael’s eyes, they were open, but they seemed to cloud over and were barely opened widely.

”You know, I’m not always blind, It‘s a condition I have that causes that terrible blindness, Is this Miami?” Michael asked.

”Yes, It’s Miami.” Maria said, nodding.

Josephine, Denise, Abby, Michael Armstrong and Derek entered the house.

"Please remove your shoes." Satsuki called out.

“Great, another fucking Johnny Rebel.” Derek said. "I just brought picked up my kids Michael and Abigail at the train station this afternoon after they came back home from their respective boarding schools for a religious holiday."

Michael McNamara obviously heard him, then responded.

”Great, another fucking insect, My name is Michael McNamara, refer me as such.” Michael responded back.

Abby looked at the man sitting there, she gently approached him.

”Hi, It’s me, errr, My name is Abby.” She said.

”You are, African-American?” Michael McNamara asked.

The family was startled at their question

”Please don’t be racist, please don’t be racist.....” Maria said.

”Yes, I am, why did you ask?” Abby asked.

“It’s nothing, I‘m not a racist bigot or anything, I apologize if I seemed out of line, I only saw slave ones.” He said.

”Can you see things?” Abby asked.

Abby and Denise looked at the man looking upwards, giving a good view of his eye, It seemed to have clouded over in order to protect his eyes from the subtropical heat.

”Abby, I think he’s blind.” Denise said, as she placed an ice pack over her black eye.

”No, I cannot at the moment, I’m temporary blind in strong heat and sunlight.” Michael said.

”Are you Irish?” Abby asked.

”Yes, Yes I am, Is it the accent?” Michael responded.

“Yes, and your name.” Abby said.

Denise turned to Maria.

”You never told us you were of Irish descent.” Denise said.

Michael McNamara stood up.

”Martin, Can you get me some ice cold water?” Michael McNamara asked.

”I’ll get it, hold on.” Martin said as he went up to get his ancestor a drink.

As Martin left, Derek spoke.

”Your family is full of Pagans, and there’s more pagans here.” Derek said.

”What the hell is your problem?” Saoirse asked.

”You have the same markings on your arms as that bitch Satsuki.” Derek said.

Abby looked up, confused.

He then went up and showed Michael an old Jim Crow anti-black propaganda poster, Michael heard the paper.

”Do you even approve of this?!” Derek asked.

"Derek!" Denise snapped.

Michael turned and began to yell.

“I don’t know! I mean seriously, what the fuck are you trying to show me?!” Michael yelled.

Michael then pulled on his eyelids using both fingers on each hand, revealing his eyes, which were clouded over giving his dark brown eyes a much paler shade including pupil.

”I’m blind!” Michael yelled.

Later on in the day, Josephine was throwing a fit over what to watch on TV.

”I wanna watch My Little Pony! I want to watch it!” She cried. She wanted to stay at home by herself so she could watch her favorite program. "If you don't let me, I'll pee my pants!"

"Can it, you nit!" Maria hissed from the kitchen.

Maria and Satsuki were watching Fist of the North Star that was recorded on VHS tapes and sent to the family.

Michael couldn’t see, but he seemed to like it.

”Kenshiro is a strong hero who fights for justice, He’s very kind and forgiving.” Maria told him.

Denise herself was shaking and put down a glass of water.

”I...I got you a glass of water......” Denise told Michael, only to carry one arm since the other was in a cast.

Michael turned to her, his glazed eyes stared into hers.

”You sound injured, are you feeling alright?” Michael asked.

”Yeah....” Denise said.

Michael seemed to notice she was lying and gently sat her down.

”Maria, can you describe Denise’s injuries to me?, She seems hurt.” Michael said.

”Okay, She has a black eye, bruising on her legs, scrapes, her arm is in a cast, one big one on her upper leg, she also looks like she was hit with a beer bottle and her cheek is bleeding, There’s also alcohol staining her cheek.” Maria explained. "Her head was sore..." and then her voice drifted.

Michael’s expression turned to disgust, When he lived back in Sionnaigh Tine, He learned from his mom and dad that hurting your wife was wrong.

”What the hell are you doing with my wife?! Ya fucking Confederate!” Derek yelled, he came out holding a beer bottle.

”Derek, let me ask you one question, Do you beat your wife?” Michael asked, his tone almost threatening.

“What?, No!” He lied.

”Don’t lie to me.” Michael said, he stood up, and took a feel off the bottle, then took a sip of the alcohol and then licked the alcohol off his finger when he moved it across Denise‘s face.

”This is the same taste of alcohol, You do beat her.” Michael said.

”Why do I have to listen to a blind Confederate?!” He yelled.

”Y’know, Me grandpa would beat me ass if he saw me treat Aofie or Saoirse like that, Go to hell.” He said.

He sat down, holding Denise protectively to him.

"What should we do? She seriously needs help." Maria said to her mother, and then she turned to Denise. "Why don't you leave him? You know, divorce him?"

"I can't..." Denise replied. "I'm too scared..."

" (Scared? Of what?(" Satsuki responded. Denise winced; she was too afraid to tell them anything else. Life had been so complicated for this pale-skinned woman as her father arranged her to marry Derek, who came from a very wealthy Christian family. Decisions had all been made for her by her strict Catholic father, who was a minister; whether it was which clothes to wear, which books to read, which music to listen to, television programs and movies to watch, friends to hang out with, and there was even a strict curfew. Her father enrolled her in an all-girls school and he never let her date boys or attend prom.

After she had been married and had kids, her life became hell for her. Derek started yelling and cursing at her, drinking alcohol, belting, pushing, kicking, slapping and hitting her, and calling her names. He pushed her against the wall. She got really scared when Derek said he was sorry and he'd never do it again. One night, he came home drunk, and after arguing, he punched his wife in the stomach. The drinking continued, and the abuse continued. She stayed, as she could not see a way out.

He would even trip her over, throw things at her, strangle, hold her hand so tightly that it hurt, yell abuse, the list went on and on.

Every day, Denise lived in fear and she reached out to grab a phone book to look under "Domestic Violence " in the front, but Derek tossed it and burned it in the fireplace so that she would not try to get away.

”Michael, Do you think God allows men to beat their wives?” Denise asked.

”I’m not a Christian, I’m a pagan, I rejected Christianity after the police beat the hell out of me for no reason, What they saw was just a little ghetto rat with no God, What’s left for poor little Irish bastard in a world where paganism was a sin?“ He said.

Michael turned to her.

”Grandpa said he would beat the hell out of me If he saw me treat Aofie like that.” Michael said.

”You must of really loved Aofie.” She said.

”Yes, We did everything together, The last time I saw her is when I was enlisted, my youngest daughter was 6 at the time.” Michael said.

Chapter 4: Wound
Michael was still bleeding from his wound and Satsuki and Martin sat him down.

” (Michael, I need to assess the wound on your side)” Satsuki said.

Michael looked at her, then began to speak.

”Why?” Michael asked.

”Saoirse noticed you were bleeding.” Martin said.

The Irishman did what he asked and began to unbutton his coat and removed his undershirt.

”Gerald stabbed me, fuckin’ bastard, If there’s a hell, I hope he’s not there with me.” Michael said.

The man’s ribs weren’t there, but he had very little muscle tone, his torso was covered in marks from fistfights he got into.

The cut was quite large, reaching from his chest all the way to his left side.

” (You kind of reek a bit)” Satsuki said.

“Satsuki, you deal with him, I’ll prepare a bath.” Martin said as he walked off.

Satsuki started by rubbing ointment to ease the pain on his side, Michael almost flinched.

“ (Ticklish?)” Satsuki asked him.

”No....no...keep going....” Michael said.

Michael kept his eyes shut tightly.

” (I’m sorry If I am, but bare with me)” She said.

Chapter 5: Aofie
At night, the family heard a knock on the door, Michael walked down.

He could see fine at dusk, He made his way down, Maria woke up and tagged along.

”Go back to sleep, Maria.” Michael said.

Maria stayed at the top step when Michael opened the door, It was Aofie.

”Michael?” Aofie said.

“Aofie?” Michael said.

Aofie was the exact same when Michael last saw her.

”But, how are you alive? They told me you died! That Gerald bastard killed you!” She said.

The twins went downstairs.

”Excuse me, Maria.” Saoirse said as she and Joseph made it down.

The twins reached the living room.

”Ma?” Joseph spoke, his timid voice caught the attention of Aofie.

”Da, How’s your eyes?” Saoirse asked.

”I can see until morning.” Michael said.

Chapter 6: Kindergarten.
Michael, Aofie and Martin took Maria to Kindergarten, Michael sat in the back seats, sitting quietly.

Michael and Aofie were going to the park, Michael wore more modern day attire while Aofie wore a sundress.

”Bye Aofie and Michael, bye daddy!” Maria said as she stepped out of the car and was accompanied in by a teacher.

The couple was dropped off at the park, The blind Michael held onto his wife’s hand.

”See you two later!” Martin said.

Aofie waved as he drove off.

The two walked around the park, Michael looked at his wife, she looked more beautiful in modern day clothes than the dress.

”Michael, Do you ever want to go back to Ireland someday?” Aofie asked him.

”Seems nice, I heard it’s much wetter and cloudy, I like weather like that, blistering heat doesn’t do it for me.” Michael said.

A Concerned Citizen, a man around 40-45 approached the couple.

”Do you two know this girl?” He asked.

”What girl?” Michael responded back.

“This girl!” He snapped back

He showed a poster, Michael turned his head to the source of the voice.

”I don’t know, I mean seriously, What’s with you bastards?! I’m blind!” He yelled.

Michael then pulled his lower eyes, revealing to the man his glazed eyes.

”Do you know Maria Tachimi?” He said.

”Maria?” Aofie said.

”She‘s a poor little Japanese-American girl abused by her pagan parents and make her do horrible things against our lord and savior Jesus Christ, We in God’s name are trying to liberate her for her sake.” He explained.

”Maria?, I met her.” Michael said.

”Yes, can you help us take her out of her house, away from her terrible mom?” He asked.

”No.” Michael said.

”What do you mean no?” He hissed.

”You think the way that tarot cards used in our family is abuse, I met that Mihai bloke, He hates you guys.” Michael said.

Michael raised his sleeve, revealing his Tarot marking, the same one Satsuki and Martin had.