Nasami is part of Samuraiko's canon arc, "The Sword of the Soul." Edited, 5/07/09.

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Nasami wasn't sure what jerked her awake so late in the night, the room was still completely engulfed in darkness, but she couldn't help a creeping sense of dread lull inside her belly. In her sleep she must have dreamed and she must have dreamt something unpleasant, even if she couldn't remember it. Her insides trembled slightly and she burrowed herself in the plush covers of her bed.

Keeping her eyes wide open, there was nothing but the emptiness of darkness. The weight of the bed she lay on shared the knowledge that her husband was beside her, close to her, but heavily asleep and oblivious. She rubbed her feet together slowly, almost afraid to move. Her breathing was shallow and he stirred from the sound and presence of her.

"What's wrong…?" Kambei slurred sleepily.

His eyes were closed. She made a quiet moaning sound in her throat, touching her fingers to her mouth and she was terrified that her dream would come slithering back into her head, heat welling to the back of her eyes.

"…Nothing." She whispered.

Kambei wrinkled his nose. It was something he did when he didn't believe her and it made him look like a younger man when he did that, Nasami thought, her heart suddenly happy he was there beside her.

"Bad dream…"

She trembled again, cold, and he felt it. He rolled onto his side and wrapped his arms around her, making his arm a pillow for her head and she was cocooned in his arms in a swift movement. He sighed loudly and murmured again, "It's okay…" and he fell back asleep.

She lay very still. Pressing her hands and lips against his firm chest, Nasami implanted the feel and taste and scent of his flesh in her memory for another countless time, willing herself to memorize him ultimately. She nuzzled her nose in between his chest, where his comparatively massive scar cut across his body, and it was on instinct that his body molded to hers. When instinct occurs with two people, she thought, then instinct becomes a common practice between a man and his wife.

Within seconds, Nasami fell back asleep.