Masters of Fate, Slaves to Duty

Chapter 10

“Damn the illusions of redemption, and the hopes that held me here;
I will oppose all that would befall me, with this rage inside of me;
I'll defy what I would become.” – VNV Nation

“Fukuyomi-san!”

Tatsumaki heard Kiyomi’s frantic yell from across the yard. He leaned back to look through the door. Kiyomi’s skirts were hiked up as she ran in his direction. She nearly tripped climbing the short stairs to his office.

Kiyomi grabbed the door for balance as she tried to recover her breath. “Matsuri…has…returned.”

Tatsu looked back to his work, and could not stop the sense of dread that filled his chest. This was a moment that he had wished to avoid, but he’d had to reach out for help from the one person Yume could truly rely on.

Tatsu nodded and brushed past Kiyomi as he left his office and walked to the other residence. He could see Matsuri sitting on the walkway outside of Yume’s room. She was not alone, but it wasn’t until he reached the couple that he realized the one sitting next to her was Daven.

Tatsu put a smile of fake amusement on his face. “I see you’ve taken to wearing our traditional clothing,” he said, pointing out Daven’s simple yukata.

Matsuri patted him on the shoulder. “Yeah, he was drawing too much attention with that uniform, so Miki-san made him change.”

At the sound of his name, Miki appeared in the doorway. From that height, he was imposing, and contempt was the word that came to mind when Tatsu stared into his eyes. Disdain and hatred were a close second and third.

The two men did not move during their contest of wills, but Daven was quick to take the hint.

“Matsuri, why don’t you go see your sister?” he said, prodding Matsuri to leave the obvious situation alone. He had learned quickly that her words could easily make any situation worse. “And I’ll go and sit with Yume.”

Matsuri took one more look at the two rivals before leaving for the main house. Daven walked past Miki and closed the door behind him, giving the two men privacy.

Tatsu hated this feeling that Miki instilled in him, like he was a child who was caught doing something bad and was waiting to be scolded. Miki looked away, but Tatsu could still see his jaw set, his fists tight under his crossed arms. Like a shamed dog, he looked to the ground as Miki stepped down and moved past him without a word. But, he understood Miki’s anger for his had been the same when he came home and found Yume on the ground. And inside he knew Miki would blame this on him.

Tatsu turned around to speak first, but instead a fist connected with his face before he could say a word. Tatsu was unprepared for the blow, and he was knocked to the ground from the force of it. He immediately put a hand to his swelling face, feeling his eye to make sure it was still attached. He turned his head to the side and spit out a blob of blood.

But Tatsu did not move. He knew if he did, Miki would knock him down again, and he would continue to do so until Tatsu stopped getting up.

Miki stood over him, his form resembling a shadow in the moonless night. “Where were you when she needed you?” he spat, his words strained.

Tatsu wiped the blood from his lips before he spewed his excuse. “I was on assignment elsewhere. It happened just before I came home. I heard screams when I walked through the front gate, and found her on the ground.”

“You left her alone?” Miki yelled, displeased with Tatsu’s feeble excuse. “You knew what kind of state her mind was in! Even her children were scared for her! But you, who claim every day to still love her, left her on her own!”

Tatsu sat up on his knees, and grabbed the edge of the walkway for balance. “She was here with the girls. They were ready to help her with all her needs.”

“Strangers? You left strangers to watch over her?” Miki said as he covered his eyes to suppress his shock. “Matsuri said she had no idea anything was wrong with Yume. How could they possibly care for her if they didn’t know?”

Tatsu had no defense, no way to explain that Yume had seemed all right. She gave no indication that anything was wrong on the entire trip here or during her short stay before he left. Their conversations had been short, but he was working to keep both of them alive. That didn’t leave a lot of time for catching up.

As the internal stars behind his eyes faded, Tatsu made an attempt to get back on his feet, but Miki was faster. The slender man planted his fist into Tatsu’s stomach, doubling the man over. Tatsu sank back to his knees.

“Stop it!”

He looked up to see Kiyomi and Matsuri running across the yard to his rescue.

“Leave him alone!”

Tatsu shook his head, bringing the stars back to his vision. “Stay there! Do not get involved in this!” he yelled, hoping they heeded his warning.

He could hear their feet sliding across the dirt path. He looked up to see that they had indeed stopped, but they were not retreating. They would bear witness to his torture and disgrace at Miki’s hands.

Tatsu could hear Miki’s breathing hitch, and thought he heard the man sniffle. The man was clearly distressed, but something was off, like there was more to it than what was going on here.

“She’s always been unpredictable,” he said, his voice taking a lower tone to keep the girls from overhearing their conversation. “She should have been safe here, Tatsumaki. Instead, you’ve created another place that reminds her of pain. I’ll have to take her to Ezo just to keep her from your reach.”

Tatsu shot him a look of surprise. “You will do no such thing,” he said, trying to get back to his feet again. “This is our home; this is where she and our children belong. No more of this political intrigue, no more missions, and certainly no more killing. This is where she will spend her remaining days.”

“From the look of things, she has already died in this house,” Miki said, trying to keep his anger in check. “Her body just forgot to give up.”

Tatsu turned around and shoved Miki. “Don’t say that! She’s a fighter!”

Miki snorted as he stared at Tatsu with condescension. “She is no fighter,” he whispered, his voice choking on his sorrow. Miki’s hands flexed again, as if he wanted to batter Tatsu until he stopped speaking. “I’ve seen someone fight against death, and what lies in that room is no fighter. You haven’t seen the agony in her eyes as her body convulses with wave after wave of pain assaulting her body. And she grips your hand, squeezing tightly as if trying to hold onto this world long enough to bring a new life into it.”

Miki turned away, unable to stop the tears from falling down his face. In his mind he could see Sakiko lying in a pool of her own blood, coughing up more blood each time she tried to speak to him. He had felt the moment her spirit left her body, her hand loosening its grip on his.

Tatsu didn’t know what had happened, but he could surmise that something had happened to Sakiko. But the pain was still too raw for Miki, so he didn’t want to ask. Instead, he approached him quietly and put a hand on Miki’s shoulder.

Miki, however, was not finished with Tatsu. He whirled around on Tatsu and punched him across the face again. When Tatsu hit the ground, Miki was on top of him, alternating punches. Tatsu threw up his arms to deflect them the best he could, but he was quickly losing the battle against the grief-stricken man.

“Enough!” yelled a masculine voice.

Miki stopped throwing punches, and both men turned in the direction of the voice. Daven stood in the open doorway with a bundle of sheets in his arms. Carefully Daven set the bundle down, a pale arm slipping free from the sheets to hold on to Daven for balance. Yume stood before them, awake and alive.

~*~*~

The group had moved back to the living room where Yume had been secluded for the last several days. Miki and Daven sat to her left, while Tatsu sat to her right. Kiyomi had left to retrieve the doctor while Daven worked to get her back to bed. Matsuri was in the kitchen making a batch of miso soup with fish.

Yume looked back and forth between the men. Her movement was restrained due to her head injury, and too much movement made pain shoot up from the base of her neck. She could see that Miki’s eyes watered with more unshed tears, but because he was on her left, she couldn’t touch him with the reassurance that he needed.

“How is Sakiko?” she asked, trying to break the silence. “Isn’t she due soon?”

Tatsu looked to Miki, also wanting an answer to that question. But Miki turned away, unable to speak.

It was Daven who answered for him. “She passed on during the premature delivery, taking the child with her. It happened just before we received your news.”

Yume was shocked and saddened for Miki. Sakiko had been his chance at a normal life. He had met her by accident. She actually worked for the Empress, and had trained Yume on her daily duties. Miki had come to visit her one day, and he and Sakiko had been married a month later.

Yume reached across as best she could with her right arm, and laid a hand on his knee. Tatsu fully understood the pain he saw on Miki’s face, and the grief behind every punch he threw out in the yard. The only difference was that the love of his life was still here, though not by her volition. But that was not a subject he wanted to breech in front of Miki.

“Out,” Miki whispered. “I need everyone out, now.”

Daven quietly rose and went to the kitchen, closing the door so he could preoccupy Matsuri. Tatsu stared at the man who dared not look at him.

“Are you sure?” he asked as he gently stroked Yume’s bare arm.

Yume remained silent between them. She knew a lecture was coming, but she had imagined that it would come from Tatsumaki, not from Miki.

“Just go,” Miki said. “I’ll keep the yelling to a minimum. And please occupy the doctor until we are finished.”

Tatsu exited through the front of the house, but not before he took another look at Yume’s broken body on the floor. She refused to look at him as he left, and he knew there was nothing he could do to help her now. He just wondered if she would want to soar off of another roof after Miki was finished with her.

~*~*~

Miki helped Yume into a sitting position. He felt this conversation was best handled face-to-face. But the conversation did not start right away. Instead, the two sat in silence, not knowing who should go first. With her one good hand, Yume reached up to her head bandage, and slowly started to unravel it. Carefully each piece fell away until she could feel air on her wound.

Miki grabbed her chin and gently turned her face away so he could take a look. “It’s healing well. I wouldn’t recommend sleeping without the bandages; it looks like parts of it are still fresh.”

Miki guided her face back to him. She could still see the pain in his eyes, and she knew this situation was not helping him.

“Umm, what day is it?” she asked. She had no idea how long she had been there.

“It is the beginning of the seventh month,” he said, curious of her intent.

“Oh,” she whispered. She had lain in this bed for almost two weeks. “The girls must be disappointed that I couldn’t go to the solstice festival with them.”

Miki snorted. “Don’t feed me your fake concern. You had no intention of going to the festival. I bet waking up here was not part of your plan either.”

She couldn’t deny it, so she just sat in silence instead. But Miki was not finished.

He grabbed both of her shoulders and pulled her close enough that the two of them were almost nose to nose. The unshed tears in his eyes were slowing chipping away at the dam, and Miki was unable to blink them away any longer.

“How dare you think for one second that you can leave this life without my permission,” he said as he tried to restrain himself from shaking her. “How can you be so selfish to think you are not important in our lives!”

Yume reached her good hand up to Miki’s face, and wiped away the stream of tears there. “I’m sorry. I am so very sorry about Sakiko.”

Miki squeezed her harder, eliciting a yelp from her lips. “What would you have to be sorry for, Ayume? Because of you we met and fell in love? Yeah, that was all your fault. And I’m thankful for that every day, but that is where it ends. Sakiko is gone, and you almost joined her in the abyss.”

She knew he was angry with her if he was calling her by her birth name. The man’s grip was like a vice on her left shoulder. The pain was shooting through her body, causing her head to thump. “Please stop,” she whimpered. “You’re hurting me.”

“Don’t like the pain, Ayume? You didn’t seem worried about it when you leapt from the roof,” Miki’s words oozed from his lips like poison. “Tell me, how does it feel to wake up and find out you have to continue to live? Do you like knowing that tomorrow you have to get out of bed and face the world and the people who love you?”

Miki squeezed her shoulder again, and the pain was forcing tears from her own eyes. “I feel betrayed!” she yelled through the pain. “I am disgusted that my body won’t let me go! I am sickened by the fact that I have to get up tomorrow and look Tatsumaki in the eye knowing that I am no longer what he needs to survive! I knew two weeks ago that I had no more reasons for living if he did not need me by his side!”

Miki loosened his grip on her and pulled her into his embrace. Her body shook not only from the physical pain inflicted by him, but from the emotional strain on her heart. Her tears flowed like a river, and Miki’s shirt soaked up every last one. She had no idea how wrong she was about Tatsumaki and his feelings toward her. Miki knew he was not the one who could help to ease her pain.

That role belonged solely to Tatsumaki, the man she had given her heart to years ago. Their love for each other had created two beautiful children. It had brought them together in circumstances that were not of their own creation. And they had persevered, until now.

He had known from day one that her marriage to the captain was a mistake. He argued with both the Council and the Emperor the five days prior to the wedding. Both men knew where her heart belonged, but her emotions had no bearing on a decision that would solidify their nation’s power structure. Her role in that was small, but for her, it was unrelenting misery.

Slowly he rocked her shaking form, rubbing his hand up and down her back to help soothe her. She did not deserve what these power-hungry men wanted from her, and he hoped that with her out of the palace, she could move on with her life. Her brother would surely miss her, but he would be content in knowing that she was safe and happy.

Yume’s breathing calmed, and as her sobs became less frequent, Miki started to stroke her hair. “I know this may be hard to believe, but there are still people here who need you by their sides. Arashi and Seimei need you to watch over them. I know you haven’t been there for them over the last ten years like you wanted to, but you are still their mother. You are the one they will turn to when wounds need kissing, when hearts get broken, and when they start families of their own.

“You know I will always need you in my life. Playing your brother for the last couple of years has pulled us closer together than we ever could have been as lovers. And in your head you may not believe this, but in your heart you know Tatsumaki needs you. The man is completely miserable and intolerable when you are not near,” Miki said, eliciting a small laugh from Yume. “Give him time, Yume, and he will come to show you that the love you two share is far from dead.”

She nodded against his chest as she took comfort in the knowledge she already had. It was up to her how she wanted to proceed at this point. Her love for him had never waned. Though he was out of her life for a time, he was never far from her thoughts. He was the reason she could never be intimate with Jonathan. Her body and her heart had always belonged to Tatsumaki, and even in his absence, that fact never changed. She hoped one day that Jonathan could forgive her of her transgressions. No one should have their love go unrequited.

A soft knock from the kitchen door drew Miki’s attention away. Daven cracked the door open enough to peek inside. “Kiyomi says the doctor is here.”

Miki nodded, and Daven closed the door again to give them privacy. He pulled away from her embrace and held her face in his hands. “This is all I can do for you, Yume. From here on out, you will need to talk to Tatsumaki. I feel there is a great misunderstanding between the two of you that needs to get settled very soon.”

Taking a clean section of the discarded bandages in his hand, Miki wiped the tears from her face, removing all traces of her woes. When she was cleaned up, Miki moved to stand up, but Yume grabbed his arm.

“Don’t leave me alone, at least, not yet.”

“I won’t,” he reassured her. “The doctor needs to see you, but I’ll be with you the whole time.”

Yume nodded. She was thankful that it was Miki in the room with her because she had no idea how to address Tatsumaki. But for the moment, that would have to wait. Her body needed to mend before she could focus on her heart.

~*~*~

Tatsumaki sat on the porch. He couldn’t hear the conversation, but he knew it would be heated. In the distance he heard the front gate close, and a few moments later, Kiyomi walked around the corner with the doctor.

He looked relieved when he saw Tatsu. Kiyomi excused herself to tell Matsuri the doctor was here. He merely patted Tatsu’s folded hands, and started to head in Yume’s direction.

“Wait,” Tatsu said. “She’s in a meeting.”

The doctor tapped his cane hard against the ground. “In her condition? She just woke up and you’re letting her entertain guests?”

“It was necessary. They should only be another few minutes.”

The doctor huffed, and then leaned against the post next to Tatsu. The two remained in silence until they heard Miki’s voice call out for the doctor. Tatsu wasn’t sure how much longer he sat there listening to the sounds of the night. Daven came around the corner moments later.

“Um, it’s probably not my place to say anything, but we have some things we need to discuss. I think there is trouble coming this way.”

Tatsu nodded to Daven. “You’re right. I have information as well,” he said, slapping the man on the shoulder and led him in the direction of his office. “We can trade notes over a bottle of sake while the doctor is busy with our patient.”

~*~*~

“And you trust that this information is accurate?” asked a skeptical Miki. “I find it strange that this man would just suddenly show up on your doorstep and tell you about a plot against the captain and his wife.”

Tatsumaki nodded. “I had the same thought, but I trust him enough not to disregard what he said. The question is, if he can find me so easily, who’s to say this assassin isn’t already here and waiting for the moment we leave her alone?”

Miki knew that no matter how many different ways they rationalized them, the facts were not going to change. “Either way, we need to make our way to Kyoto immediately.”

The three men had sat in Tatsu’s office for a couple of hours going over all the information that the group had acquired. The night air had cooled significantly, and it even provided a nice breeze for the weary men. The travelers were exhausted, but matters of state and of the heart needed to get resolved first. Daven had remained quiet for the majority of the conversation, and he was confused about one key factor.

“What I’m not following is why you are involved in this business at all?” Daven asked, directing the question to Tatsu. “I may be an outsider, but it seems I belong here more than you do. You only recently started to come around our lives. I’ve only met you a couple of times, but each time you were near Kurenai, I mean Yume, and on two of those occasions you were saving her grace. I get the feeling there is more to this story.”

Tatsu looked to Miki for an explanation. “You didn’t tell him?”

Miki simply shrugged his shoulders. “The time never came up, and it wasn’t relevant until now.”

“Tell me what?” Daven asked. “You’ve brought me this far. I think I’ve proven that I am no threat to any of you.”

Tatsumaki stared out across the dark yard. He could see Kiyomi walking along the small lighted path as she helped Yume to the bath house. It looked like Kiyomi was holding Yume close around the waist, shouldering some of the weight so she could walk a little easier.

Miki looked in the same direction and sighed. “Why don’t you go and help them, and I’ll get Daven up-to-date on the drama that is your love life?”

Tatsu hesitated before answering. He was in no hurry to address his former lover. “When do we depart for Kyoto?”

Miki knew a deflection when he heard one. “Day after tomorrow, that will give us time to get rested. I will procure a carriage. It will make it easier to transport an injured woman and a foreigner. We do not need to attract any unwanted attention on this trip.”

Tatsu and Daven were both in agreement with Miki’s assessment. The last thing they needed someone spotting their unlikely group on the road. No one would be looking for Daven, but that didn’t mean he wouldn’t stand out amongst the locals. And a woman with silver hair? The assassin had probably paid several informants to seek out the unique woman. The more Tatsumaki thought about it, the more complicated the situation became.

“Shall I send for the priest tomorrow?”

Tatsu’s attention quickly came back to Miki. “Why? Are we praying for our souls so early?”

“As I see it, no matter how far we run, we still have a duty to this country we love and the Emperor that we serve. This may be our last mission, and I find it hard to believe that you would face Fate’s sword again without your wife by your side.”

Out of the corner of his eye, Tatsumaki saw Kiyomi slide the bathhouse door closed and make her way back to the house with Yume’s dirty robe and bandages in her arms. She waved when she saw Tatsu watching her from the office.

He was relieved that physically Yume was doing well. The emotional trauma he could help her through since it directly involved him. He loved her to no end, and maybe her finally taking his name would help with her healing.

Tatsu smiled at the thought before he stepped down from the office. “We’ll hold the ceremony tomorrow night,” he said, his thoughts calming at the prospect of going into that bathhouse with good news. “I want one night with her before we go into battle for last time.”

~*~*~

Yume sat quietly in the tub, her back to the door and her thoughts miles away. She could feel the tension in her muscles releasing under the warmth of the bathwater. She moved her left arm back and forth, creating ripples in the water from the motion. Though her movement with the shoulder was still limited, she was able to move it without pain.

Yume was so deep in a trance that she did not hear the door open, but she became aware of a presence in the bathhouse once the door closed. From the silence, she knew it wasn’t one of the girls. They had fused over her repeatedly once the doctor had finished with her. Kiyomi helped to get her comfortable while Matsuri prepared her meal. When she had inquired about the men’s whereabouts, Kiyomi simply said they were in a meeting.

Yume did not move from her seat. She was at a disadvantage with her back to the door, but she could easily surmise who had entered this sanctum. “Is the meeting over already?” she asked.

Footsteps quietly shuffled to the tub’s edge. She heard the man sigh before he laid a hand against her right cheek. Yume leaned into the touch, enjoying the small comfort his effort provided.

“What will it take for you to forgive all of my wrongdoings?” Tatsu asked, his voice barely above a whisper.

Yume’s heart stilled at Tatsu’s voice. She raised her head away from his affectionate touch. “I could ask you the same question.”

Tatsu backed away from her, and Yume was afraid he was leaving her alone again. Instead she heard rustling behind her, and in moments, Tatsu’s naked form was climbing into the tub with her. Yume was still fascinated by the sight of his body. His lean muscles moved below his skin, the muscles in his arms flexed as he lowered himself into the water. She had memorized every inch of that body years ago, and she was pleased to see that it was still how she remembered it, give or take a few scars.

Tatsu situated himself in the water, and held out his bare hands to her. “Now, I am as naked as you. I have nothing to hide, just as you can not hide anything from me.”

In the candle’s light, she could barely see the bruise blooming on the side of his face. Fighting was the only way Miki and Tatsu could ever solve their differences, and it seemed this time Miki won the argument. And as Tatsu watched Yume’s assessment of his injuries, Yume could feel her face flush under his intense gaze. Her body naturally warmed to the thought of having him this close to her again. But she knew those thoughts were for another day. This was not the time, regardless of the place.

Nervous, Yume turned away. “Where do we begin?”

Tatsu was not going to let her avoid him. Easily he slid across the tub to get closer to her. The look of surprise on her face pleased him as he stopped mere inches from her body. She was against the wall of the tub with nowhere to go.

“Do you love me?” he asked.

It was a simple question that required a simple answer. Yume knew this.

“Yes,” she said. “Do you really have to ask?”

Tatsu knew she was trying to redirect, but he wasn’t going to let her. “Marry me.”

He had asked her once before, but this time, it was a statement so profound that Yume’s heart started to beat faster, as if in anticipation of her answer. By the Gods how she wished she had done it the first time he had asked. How different her life could have been! But that was the past. He was her past, as well as her present and future. No matter what had happened over the last couple of years, here in this moment, her answer would seal the fate of the two lovers. Their forgiveness would take the form of a single vow, a vow between two people that only death could tear apart.

“Yes,” she said, the word passing her lips so naturally.

Tatsu smiled and nodded, then proceeded to climb from the tub. Yume could hear him slip back into his robe, and something inside said she couldn’t let him leave, not just yet.

Yume quickly stood up in the tub, turning around so fast that her hair came loose from its bun on top of her head. “Wait,” she said. “That’s it?”

Tatsu turned to see her naked form standing wet before him, her long hair clinging to her damp skin. Inside he was pleased to see that two years in an English home did not instill her with the prudish idea of modesty. Though his eyes initially went to her perfect breasts, it was the fear in her eyes that quickly drew his attention away from her assets.

He approached her as he tied his robe closed. “What else is there?”

Yume was confused by the man who stood before her. “I don’t know, questions, demands?”

Tatsu reached out and wiped a tear from Yume’s cheek. He couldn’t remember a time when she was so concerned about his opinion of her. He only smiled, “We’ll have plenty of time for that later. Right now, I need you to take care of you. Tomorrow you will be my bride, and the following day we depart for Kyoto.”

Yume nodded, the prospect of becoming his bride easing her mind a little. But she was still worried, and was now curious as to why they were going back to where it all started. Kyoto.

Tatsu could see the cogs in her mind turning. Yume opened her mouth to ask another question, and instead Tatsu moved forward and pressed his lips to hers in a chaste kiss. Immediately Yume moaned, sending the vibration to his lips. Tatsu grabbed her face on both sides and opened his mouth to hers, their tongues gracefully meeting in the middle. Yume could feel her heart pounding in her chest as she let herself be guided by Tatsu. She had forgotten how severely she had missed him. His lips always had a way of making her forget her troubles, if only for a moment.

Unfortunately, a moment was as long as the kiss lasted. Breathless, Tatsu pulled away, his lips swollen from the desperate kiss. Yume could feel her face flushing as the heat in her body rose again. Tatsu released his grip on her, and touched his thumb to her lower lip.

He chuckled, “There will be more time for that as well, my love.”

Yume nodded as Tatsu walked to the door. Her heart pounded and her mind swirled as she sat back down into the cooling tub. When she heard the door slide open, she said, “Tomorrow night then?”

Tatsu laughed before he closed the door, “A raging war between three countries couldn’t keep me away.”