Author's Note: Please bear with me. I sail on a ship that was never meant to be. :D

"I beg you, please."

She subtly shifted her gaze to princess. Her golden eyes, usually brimming with brilliance and ferocity, have markedly softened. She immediately understood what they were trying to convey.

"I commend your boldness, Sagara-dono, although you should have given more consideration to the time and place. Sixty points." Niwa Nagahide responded to his request with a genial smile. "However…"

Whoosh. The wooden blades of her hiogi slid shut. "I cannot act on my own volition. Hime-sama?"

All eyes were on Oda Nobuna, whose face was devoid of any emotion. "Dearuka," she replied with a hint of reluctance. "I accept this match."

(later that night)

Sagara Yoshiharu nervously waited in his room. "Nobuna seems to have forgotten the reward she promised. She won't fool me this time. The prettiest girl in Japan..." He was, once again, hopelessly lost in his fantasy harem world. "Don't tell me…gah! This is torture. Damn. My heart…my heart can't take it. Nagahide-cha—"

"What disgusting things are you scheming in that filthy brain of yours, Ero-saru?" Nobuna was looking down on him, her nose mere inches from his. Both turned red upon realizing their close proximity to each other.

"W-what are you doing, Saru? Staring at me with weird eyes…ba-baka!"

"Huh?! You were the one who burst in here and shoved your face into mine!"

"Shut up! Shut up! You're up to no good again, aren't you?"

"Ara ara, is that jealousy I hear?"

Nobuna jammed a foot into Yoshiharu's abdomen. "Jealous? What are you saying? Is there any rea—mmf!" His lips were on hers in a flash, swallowing her words. In that crystalline moment, she felt like she could do anything. Invincible, indestructible. Everything seemed to have ceased existing; her mother's hatred, her father and the Nanban missionary, Kampaku Konoe Sakihisa, all her fears and sorrows, erased by that intimate meeting of lips. She no longer cared if someone were to 'accidentally' walk in on them. She fervently returned the kiss and wrapped her arms around his neck.

"Listen, Nobuna," Yoshiharu mumbled into her delicate mouth. "I love you."

That was a first. She had declared her love for him on several occasions, loudly and not to mention, proudly. Not once did he utter those words to her…until now. Blushing furiously, Nobuna's eyes grew wide. "S-saying something so embarrassing at a time like this…" She let herself fall into his embrace, causing both of them to tumble into the futon.

His arms obligingly tightened around her, like a chain never to be broken. Lying there beside her, it was as if time itself had stopped. An immense surge of happiness flowed through every fiber of his body as he breathed her in. But with that pleasant sensation came anxiety, a dark shadow looming over his heart.

"I feel like I could stay with you forever. Just like this. Just you and me...always."

His heart clenched at these words. Grief slowly etched into his features. Fearing that his voice would break, he could only manage an "Mm-hm." He nuzzled her hair as he struggled to hold back the tears that welled up in his eyes.

Nobuna angled her head to look into his eyes. They were burning with passion and determination, illuminating like the morning sun. "The weight of the burden I put on Manchiyo...I'm horrible, aren't I? She's always been understanding, so nurturing...much more loving than Okāsama ever was." Her lips curled into a melancholic smile. "She stood by me from the very beginning. Even when I was dubbed "the fool of Owari," and cast aside by my own mother, she never abandoned me. I'm truly grateful for her."

"Aren't you worried?" Yoshiharu joked.

"Hm, what's that? Just so you know, Manchiyo is not interested in horny monkeys."

He sniggered and planted a chaste kiss on her forehead. "That's harsh, even for you."

Nobuna pushed herself off him and caressed his cheek with her palm. "Saru," she murmured. There was deep longing in those golden eyes of hers. Endearing as it was, it wounded him severely to see it. Another tender kiss on the lips and she was gone. Yoshiharu was alone again, trapped deep in his thoughts.

Hopefully, this will put an end to all those rumors about Nobuna and me. She's special. Extremely so. The visionary, the one fated to liberate this dark nation, she who has resolved to sacrifice her heart, her soul, her entire humanity; she's Japan's only hope. This relationship is…

He suddenly began laughing manically, only to burst into tears at the next moment. "Fucking up history for a love affair? Huh, HAHAHAHAHAHA." He clenched his fist and struck himself in the chest.

"Are you dissatisfied at such an early point in our marriage, Sagara-dono?" Nagahide greeted Yoshiharu's pain-stricken face with her usual cheery disposition.

Abandoning his prone position, Yoshiharu made a face and smirked. "Now, how can that be? We haven't even spent a night together."

"Sagara-dono looked like a monkey just now. Fifty points."

"Oi, Nagahide-chan, I have feelings, too."

Gracefully gliding across the room in a lilac nightdress that flowed past her ankles, she was a goddess. With its low neckline and high slit, her thin garment did little to conceal her form. Yoshiharu was familiar with her slender legs, as he had seen her flaunt them in the battle at Okehazama. Only, he had never seen them up close. The color suits her, he thought inwardly, trying to distract himself from her long, elegant limbs. His eyes trailed up her body, pausing briefly at her bust before finally settling on her face. They're not as huge as Katsuie's, I mean those are just GINORMOUS, but for some reason, it doesn't bother me. Wait, what am I thinking? Feeling ashamed of his musings, he averted his eyes from her and concentrated on the wooden floor instead. "N-Nagahide-chan, aren't you freezing?"

"Ah, you're right. It's snowing outside," she answered and took her place across him on the futon. "But I can't appear before you poorly-garbed or draped in blankets now, can I? It is our wedding night, after all."

"Um..yeah, of course."

"Then will you provide me warmth, Sagara-dono?"

"I-I really wouldn't mind if you were to call me by my first name. Just Yoshiharu is fine, Nagahide-chan."

She gave slight nod and smiled. "Very well, Yoshiharu." She gently jabbed a finger at his chest and pushed him until he was completely bent over backwards. Her knees were on either side of his hips, leaving her body hovering above him and dangerously close to his burgeoning arousal.

"E-eh?"

"Not 'eh'." Taking his hand into hers, she began loosening the knot that held her dress in place. "From this point on, I am yours. Even if you leave this world before me, even as my soul is severed from my flesh, all of me belongs to you. Forever."