The Sacred Bond

If you are filled with sadness...

I gazed out into the endless ocean and seen a beauty in which I could not describe. The sunset blending into the horizon until the light was no longer there, thus darkness taking over what light had been left. The stars began to slowly appear in the clear night sky, the moon a shimmering white croissant in the sky. I sighed as I glanced down at the paper in my hands; the wooden dock in which I sat on was gently floating on the ocean, as I waited for an answer that I knew would take an eternity to receive.

You can lean on me alone in this darkness...

The wind gently whipped my hair in my face; the night was comfortable as I laid the letter into the water, letting only the surface be saturated before placing it on the wooden dock, the ink, now bleeding into the other words that cut into my heart so deeply. I knew from that moment on I would be alone. The enemies had taken my lover captive. Leaving me, alone at my castle on the mountainous hill. I knew that if I tried to go after him I would lose my life and my lover if still alive would be devastated. My people are at war, and I longed for a peace that would soon come.

---

Close your eyes, come close to me, and sleep...

The words my lover wrote me were still running through my head vividly.
Momoko,

For the fourteen months we have been together, I am very aware that my time with you could run short. The war in which our two clans are facing is affecting how my people view me. I fear that I won't be able to see you anymore. But my love for you runs deep as river in which every flower petal that falls from the plum tree reminds me of you. You will forever remain in my heart, each beat in which I am counting the time when we will meet again and this war will be over between us.

Li Zheng

Even though his letter had been short and full of meaning, I did not want to read what he had to say, if he was abandoning me. A lone tear slid down my cheek, glimmering in the moonlight. I slowly yet gracefully stood up and walked slowly back into my castle. Walking past the few guards I had left protecting me. My kimono followed behind me, like rippling water in a stream. My love you could say was forbidden, the alliance between China and Japan were not stable. My love had come from China just fourteen months ago when he had captivated my heart. We met on the bridge surrounded by a Zen garden. We have broken a secret bond in which we both knew we were in grave danger.

I'll be with you, I'll be with you i'll stay beside you...

Even now as I lie on my feather bed, I am not safe even as my guards protect me. The oil lamp in my room creating a silhouette of myself on the shoji, as I let the other half of my hair down from decorative sticks with ribbons, and placed them on my small table on the floor, my kimono sliding softly off my shoulder, exposing some of my skin. A flashback occurred in my mind as I remember one of the nights my lover had come to me in the night. I softly ran my fingers over my neck and trailing lightly over my collarbone and breasts. I missed his touch on my skin.

Calling out...Can you hear me?

Just then I jumped at a sound I heard outside of my door, and the wooden door slid open and one of my guards kneeled.
"My Lady, your Lord has an important message for you. He says, within a few days he will return to you." I immediately turned my attention to my guard,
"A few days, are you lying to me guard?" I asked gazing at him.
"No, my Lady, I do not. His messenger just arrived a few moments ago. The messenger he sent is still here if you wish to tell him anything."
"I do, bring him here quickly," I demanded.
"Right," He said and quickly left, to retrieve the messenger. I lay back on my bed, thrilled to hear I would soon see my love again, glad that the weeks I had been waiting, that I had finally some word that I would see him again. My heart fluttered with excitement, as the guard had returned, opening my door again though to my surprise, my love was at the door.
"Momoko..." He spoke softly and gently closed the door.
"Aijin," I said almost breathlessly, as he picked me up from the bed and held me close to him.
"I missed you so much while I had been gone," He replied, brushing his lips softly against mine. I looked into his eyes, placing my hand on his neck, gently caressing his cheek with my thumb, before burying my face into his chest. He smelled of spice and I always loved that scent from him.
"I missed you too..." He gently placed me back down on my bed, before lying beside me.
"My love, I need to know, I want to know if you would like to spend the rest of your life, standing by my side," He said gazing softly into my eyes.
"Li of course I will, I want to be with you no matter what."
"Then let us escape so we can’t be found...ever since that secret bond was broken, I fear our lives. I believe there are assassins that are looking for us at this very moment..."
"I'll go anywhere with you as long as you don't leave me again," I said looking sincerely in his eyes with a slightly hurt look, from the last time he had to leave me.
"I will stick by your side from now on, there is no need to worry anymore, we should leave first thing tomorrow." I nodded.
"We can head towards the northern land, that's where they will least expect us to be."
"Mmn, Li..." I trailed off and wrapped my arms around his waist. "I love you..."
"You know my love for you is forever."

I realized that you are the only precious person in this world...

The next morning we woke up early to escape from our death, that we knew was slowly creeping upon us. I gathered a bag of things that we could eat and drink until we reached half way to the Northern Island. Where we would then find ourselves at a small farming village. We would stay the night there before we would continue our travel. With assassins you always had to be careful which way you chose to travel since they were more or less considered ninjas. I walked close to Li as we headed down a mountain path and around a hill towards the village that we would soon arrive at by late afternoon.
"Momoko, if you get tired tell me and we can rest somewhere under a maple tree," He said noticing that there were a lot of them along the mountainside.
"Okay," I said softly. He smiled a bit at me and then continued along the path. As we were walking I looked at the various scenery around me. Bamboo and different shades of maple trees lined the path and the leaves swayed softly in the wind. I looked down at my feet and continued to walk. I noticed that Zheng glanced over at me. I knew he would ask me what was wrong but truthfully wouldn't know what to say. For some reason the thought of dying made me upset and even though Zheng would do anything for me, I knew that he couldn’t save us from that fateful day. The memories flooded over me like a waterfall and drown me in bliss.

---

I walked gracefully towards the bridge that bends just over the river's edge; plum trees were in the area, the petals raining down on everything in the area. I walked over to the ledge of the bridge, glancing at my reflection in the water, wondering, and hoping that my love would meet me on time. I held out my hand outstretching it, my silver and pink floral robe sleeve exposing my pale skin, as a petal gently glided into my hand. I smiled slightly and let the petal slip through my fingertips, allowing it to float to the water surface.
I leaned my body a fourth of the way over the railing of the red and gold painted bridge, resting as I waited for my love to walk over to me. I glanced around at all the foliage surrounding the garden. Various different plants, flowers, and plum trees in the garden made it a beautiful and serene place to be. I knew I should probably be at the castle, but at the moment I really wanted to see my love, I needed him. I wasn’t really sure if it was a good thing that I had become attached to him within a matter of four short weeks.
I trusted him with my life though and I know that I could tell him anything and he would listen, and try to understand if he didn't already. His hair was dark, long and kept in a ponytail most of the time. He was so handsome and mysterious I loved everything about him. While I continued to wait, I began to wonder if he was even going to show up, I was slightly upset at the fact that he could not show up. I watched my petal float more up stream. I slowly let myself slip to my knees as I gazed through the bars of the railing and felt a soft fur brush against my skin for a second. I jumped slightly and turned quickly to see what had brushed against my skin. At that moment I saw a rabbit sitting close to me. I smiled softly and picked up the soft white rabbit, careful not to frighten it at first, and held it in my lap, gently petting it.
I sighed softly, and gaze at the river again, as I began to sing softly.
"If days go by and you can't seem to find happiness,
I want to be able to fill your life with light
Let my voice comfort you in the darkest night,
I can't imagine my life without you now

As I watch the days pass me by
I have come to realize my very existence

The whispers of your soul
Listen to what your heart has to say
Your life is no longer painful
So trust me deeply

As I watch the days pass me by
I have come to realize my very existence

I want to know your deepest secrets
To be held in your arms
I feel so safe when I'm beside you
Wrapped up in a sorrowful reverie..."

That's when I felt a presence near by. I slightly turned my head and placed my hand in the sleeve of my kimono where I kept a katakana. I was about to pull it out when I realized it was my lover. I looked up at him,
"Ai, what are you doing sitting on the bridge?"
"I was waiting for you," I said standing up gracefully and looking into his eyes for a moment. He gazed back into my eyes before placing his hand on my shoulder gently.
"Is something the matter?"
"No, nothing." I searched his eyes for a second before I brushed past him and walked into the actual garden. I walked over to a bench and sat down, he followed, though still believed something was wrong. I picked a yellow rose and admired it while sighing softly.
"I don't believe you that its nothing Momoko, tell me what it is," He said.
"I don't want to tell you," I said.
"Why not?"
"Because it's unimportant. Do not worry about something I am keeping from you. You should worry only if you see a change in my behavior."
"Momoko, is it something I did?"
"Why would you even think that?"
"You are acting differently...was it because it took me a while to arrive?"
"Perhaps, even if it was I wouldn’t tell you the reason." I glanced over at him through the corner of my eye and snapped the stem off the rose before placing the yellow flower in her hair. He huffed,
"Ai if you keep this up..."
"What would you do? What could you do?"
"Love you." I looked over at him before I stood up and walked farther into the garden. I knew that beyond the garden there is a hot spring, where flowers had grown half way around it. There were also a few maple and plum trees in which surrounded the area. Sometimes I didn't know what to think of Li, and other times he often left me guessing. I also knew that past the hot spring there was a castle in which the wealthiest samurai lived with his family in which also ruled the entire Kanto area. He has hired multiple assassins and has killed many people who betray his rule and disobey the laws. I was in a way frightened of what would happen if he had caught us. In a way the hot spring and garden area belonged to him and right now my lover and I were trespassing.
I pushed back my suspicion of anything being wrong when I felt his hands on my arms and slowly slipped the first robe, then the second and third robe down to my elbows leaving one robe left. I turned around and looked up at him, a questioning look in my eyes. He leaned in and pressed his lips against mine, I was slightly surprised, but returned his kiss. I slipped my hands under his shirt, running my fingertips lightly against his skin. He then picked me up bridal style carrying me off somewhere, while I continued to caress his skin with kisses and we lost ourselves within the passion.

---

I was brought back to reality when my love had quickly grabbed my arm and we hid behind a tree. We miscalculated; the assassins were better than we thought. I started to panic a little as I heard them quickly running through the trees, the dogs were barking, I knew they had found us, my love took my hand as we started to run off through the forest of maple trees careful not to fall down the steep slope from the path. My heart was pounding in my chest, as I glanced over my shoulder they were close behind us, I knew that one of us wouldn't make it, I knew that my love would protect me...I felt my eyes beginning to burn as my vision started to blur.
"Li don't do this... don't sacrifice yourself like this," I said my voice broken up and a bit scratchy.
"I won't let you die Momoko...you have to keep living...for me," He said looking back at me for a split second, sadness in his eyes, I felt wetness on my cheeks as my vision was fully blurred, I sobbed as we continued to run as fast as our feet would let us. It was sad to think that mortal lives are so short compared to eternity, as mortals we are only on earth for a mere few moments.
"Momoko...whatever happens…you have to continue on smiling, I'll always be with you..." His voice was sharp yet broken from his heavy breathing.
"Li!" I sobbed as we came to an abrupt halt, as we both stared death in the face. The bond that I said we had broken was really between the countries. As royalty in Japan it was forbidden of me to have been with another man outside of my country. They wanted to kill us both for committing adultery. Our passion had been our own death from the very beginning.
"Li Zheng, Murasaki Momoko, you are both ranked as criminals in this country. Now you shall face your punishment..." The stern, emotionless voice, masked by a veil of black as he removed his sword from his sheath the silver gleaming blade reflecting in the fading sunlight. My heart beat was pulsing in my ears, I glanced around and everything went in slow motion at that moment as I watched the assassin hold the sword and in a flash held it stomach level before quickly stabbing my love in the stomach disemboweling before removing his sword. I watched my love fall to the ground, as his blood had splattered on my flesh and kimono. My tears mingled with his blood as I sobbed and held onto him.
"Li..." I cried as he placed his hand on my cheek.
"I always...loved you're smile..." He trembled, and I held his hand to my cheek, as my tears cascaded down my cheeks.
"I love you..."
"Forever..." His eyes closed as his arm went limp.
"Li...Li...Li!!" I screamed and sobbed as I quickly grabbed my love’s dagger and stood up, unsheathing it and holding it out and threw it behind me, stabbing one of the assassins in the neck. I punched one of the others who went to attack me knocking him to the ground. The assassins except for one who had just murdered my love, were proceeding to attack me, as I continued to knock them to the ground and blackening their eyes, breaking their noses. The assassin who killed my love watching my every move just stood there.
Finally they stopped moving to get back on there feet and I went to attack the assassin who had just killed Li. He placed his weapon back in his sheath before he took my hand quickly spinning me around and pressed in on one of my pressure points before my vision faded into darkness.