Silence and Shadows

Please be aware that this fic contains a lemon...in fact, it's a good portion of the fic...

The room was quiet except for the slight sound of bamboo brushing softly against ceramic. In the flickering candlelight a figure knelt in the center of the room, their shadow spreading out in front of them. Almost, but not quite, touching the second figure kneeling by a low table. The sound stopped, and the figure glanced up - purple eyes watching as the chasen was set on end by the form surrounded by the wooden utensils and ceramic pieces that comprised the necessary objects to perform a traditional tea ceremony.

The one and only witness and guest reached down carefully to pick up the crystalline sweet sitting in front of them, bringing it up to her mouth slowly. She hesitated a moment until the golden eyes of the room's only other occupant were on her before sliding it into her mouth past her crimson lips.

The room was silent again before there was the rustle of silk as Nobunaga stood to approach the table. The cup in his hand was turned with practiced fluidity before being set before his wife. Noh's lips curved into a smile as she picked the cup up, her nails rasping softly over the ceramic as she turned it as well. Her eyes studied the flowing colors on the cups surface, before bringing it to her lips. She sipped slowly, breaking twice before the last drop was drunk. The cup was turned again and sat down. Their eyes met briefly, clashing in an internal battle that neither ever seemed to win.

Nobunaga picked up the cup, turning it the required times, before returning to his original position. Noh lowered her eyes again, waiting until the sound of the chasen once again started and stopped. The soft brush of fabric against the ceramic had faded. The softest of clinks as things were set back to where they'd started. Only then did she raise her eyes to gaze at the man before her.

"You've been subdued tonight." She murmurred, her voice sliding through the air. A soothing sound that seemed more to accompany the silence than to break it.

"Have I?" The question sounded almost amused. Nobunaga's deep voice an undertone to the silence and shadows around them.

Noh's lips curved slightly in amusement, but she did not respond to the words. "Things have been...quiet lately." She commented instead.

"It will not last." The words were a premonition. He rose, walking to the nearest candle, his shadow lengthening on the ground behind him. He reached up a hand, curling it around the flame. Close enough to feel the warmth, but not close enough to burn. "Change is coming."

He'd heard no rustle of fabric, no sound of footsteps, but it did not stop Noh from appearing by his side, the flickering flame of the candle illuminating her perfect face in a golden warmth. "Whatever comes..." Her eyes turned to the candle, and she leaned closer, her lips forming into a circle as she extinguished the flame with a single breath. The disappearance of the light seemed to change her. Warm glowing skin turning to icy porcelain. Her eyes were deadly. "Is inconsequential. A small flame is easily extinguished."

He gazed at her for a moment, allowing a thrill to tingle through his frame at her nearness. "And if the flame is fanned? If it grows to a fire? What will remain?"

"You will, my lord." Noh's voice was as silken as the hand that slide down his arm. "If you are fool enough to let something so small kill you...I would have to kill you myself." A warning flash in her eyes before she turned away.

He was tempted to pull her back, but held himself in check as he watched her wander the room. She blew out the burning candles with methodical diligence. With the last one she met his eyes, bringing her fingers to her lips to wet them, then snuffed the flame out with her hand. Darkness descended on the room.

Nobunaga's own mouth curved into a smile. He moved through the darkness with ease, waiting. The door slid open, moonlight flooding into the room. Noh glanced back at him briefly before exiting. A chuckle escaped his lips as he followed her outside. Another may have found her actions insulting. Tradition said she should never have left the room ahead of him. But Nobunaga did not care about archaic standards. And Noh was so much more than the simple object tradition restricted a wife to. Much more.

She had paused on the walkway, arms wrapped around her stomach in a gesture that was patient and impatient at once. He took a moment to admire her in the moonlight. The pure paleness of her skin. The accented curves of her body. She did not move at all, though he knew she could feel his gaze on her. As still as a statue, and perhaps even more flawless.

"The moon has risen high." He murmurred.

"It will rise higher still." She countered, turning to face him slowly. Amusement in her eyes, and something more. An invitation.

He moved closer, close enough to feel the heat of her skin, to bring their faces a breath from eachother. "Walk with me."

"You know I will follow wherever you go." A promise. And perhaps a threat as well.

He turned, moving down the wooden walkways. Aware of her presence besides him as they weaved through the familiar grounds of the castle. Aware of her own gaze lingering on him, and fueling the heat that was rising between them.

The pace he set was unhurried, and Noh matched it. Gazing at his form, clothed in only a simple kimono and hakkama, not clad in dark armor. To another it might have been a strange sight, used to facing him only as the Demon Lord on the field of battle. But this was perhaps how she knew him best. They had a more personal battleground, she and he. In the early days perhaps he had not known whether he'd be met by her kiss or her blade. Now she was as much a part of what drove him forward as the ambition in his own heart. Their life and death were intertwined.

At the door to their quarters he paused, turning his head slightly but not truly glancing over his shoulder. She watched him, waiting. Patient and silent as their entire walk had been. Finally he reached out and entered. Noh's steps were silent as she followed.

Candles flickered in their room, lit with the rest of the castle's lights by servants earlier in the night. A few had burned down to nothing, and would soon extinguish themselves. He waited until he heard the door slide shut, then whirled to catch the knife between his fingers. Noh's lips curled into a smug smile, releasing the weapons handle, even as she kicked him away. He stumbled with the blow, but retained his footing, having expected it.

Her hands sliced through the air in deadly arcs, and though he dodged them it was not with the ease an observer might have foolishly believed. A kick arched high, and he leaned backwards, avoiding it - unable to help himself from admiring the unblemished smoothness of her skin.

She took up a defensive position, lips curving as she noted how his eyes trailed up her body. He flipped the knife still in his grip, slicing it forward. Noh dodged the deadly blow, leaping out of the way with feline grace. The attack was followed by a quick succession of others. She weaved her way around each one, watching and waiting. On one slice, his hand slid too far, and she twirled, landing a kick that sent the knife skittering across the floor away from them. She aimed one last strike with her palm at his chest, but he whirled around her, catching her from behind. One arm on her shoulder, the other yanking the arm behind her back.

A laugh trilled from her lips. "You see? I knew you were not ready to simply give up yet." Her words were amused, but a current ran beneath them. Deeper and more inviting.

Reaching up he pulled her hair pin from her hair, letting it cascade around her as he tossed it aside forcefully. The arm behind her back was lowered, and he pulled her back against him, lips pressing against her ear. "Did you think I was ready to die?"

"You've been too subdued, beloved." Despite the breaths heaving her chest from their brief battle, her voice did not show a hint of weariness. "I just wanted to remind you who your life belonged to." She pressed her body backwards, feeling the pressure of his excitement against her hip.

His lips carressed her neck, and her lids fluttered downward at the sensation. "To you and you alone. As yours does mine." Spinning her too him, his mouth crashed upon hers. Passionate and demanding. She met it with a fierceness of her own, mouth opening, drawing his tongue inside. He swept her mouth in a searching caress that was matched by his hand. First sliding through the silken strands of her hair, then down the curve of her back. His hands drifted lower, and she pressed forward against him, arms cinching around his shoulders

She could feel him harden against her and she pulled their mouths apart slowly, lips trailing down his neck. There was no words. No more to be said between them. Her teeth scratched against his collarbone as he ground their lower bodies together despite the clothing in the way.

She nipped her lips against his skin, before he pulled her back into another kiss, parting their bodies as he moved them back toward the futon. His hands undoing the fastenings of her obi as hers worked on the ties of his hakkama. The obi came away first, her kimono sliding open. She parted the kiss, a laugh escaping her lips, throaty and hinting of the lust consuming them both. Stepping back, her gaze met his as she slid the clothing from her arms, tossing it aside.

He let his eyes skim over her body, the fullness of her breast and the curve of her waist and hips. One hand slid down her leg, nails curved as she waited, watching him. Her eyes skimmed over him and he could almost hear the words she wasn't saying. Sliding out of his hakkama he tossed them aside as well, moving forward, still drinking in the sight of her body.

Her hands moved forward to the ties on his waist keeping his own kimono close, but he pressed against her again, forcing her back against the wall. Eyes meeting before he dipped his head to trace her throat with his tongue, trailing downward. Her chest reverbating under his lips as a moan escaped her control. His hand slid downward, divesting her of the last bits of clothing keeping her from him, his hand seeking her opening.

Noh let out a gasp as his mouth captured her breast, tongue twirling around her nipple even as the fingers of his hand slid teasingly inside her briefly before withdrawing. Despite the desire weakening her legs, her hands managed to rip the last of the ties keeping his own clothing around him. her fingers slid inside, across the planes of his stomach. She felt a shudder run through his frame, matching the tremors running through her own.

Her fingers dipped lower, trailing his length. A groan came from his throat and he released her breast to bury his face in her shoulder. Her fingers did not stop, sliding along him with the knowledge born of countless nights in eachothers arms. The fingers still touching her groin slid upward with more force, and she gasped again, freezing in her actions.

Their eyes met, heated equally with desire, and they slid downward to the futon, bodies seeking eachother. Releasing him, her hands pulled at his kimono, and he shrugged out of it as he pulled her to him. Lips seeking hers again in a bruising kiss. He was burning with the need to feel her around him, his hands reaching down to spread her legs, only to find them spread already.

"If you don't hurry up, dear, I really will kill you." Her words were a teasing hiss in his ear, and a laugh escaped his own throat. Dark with need.

Her moans were music to his ears as he slid inside of her, feeling her constrict about him with a need that matched his own. Their mouths wandered. Tasting skin briefly before seeking eachother again. She tightened around him purposefully and he shuddered at her action, before withdrawing to press in again. He buried his face in her neck as he repeated the action, feeling her meet his thrusts. Each one slightly harder, slightly more wanton as the want of their bodies overcame all thought, all feeling. Until their was nothing but the slide of their bodies against eachother, the explosion of pleasure as they met time and again. And finally the blinding white hot feeling of release.

If she cried out he could not hear it above the pounding of his blood in his ears. If he spoke any words, they were lost in the feeling of ecstasy that shuddered through them.

Hours or days could have passed before he felt strength return enough to adjust their positions, to not crush her beneath his weight.

Noh's purple eyes slid open, filled with satisfaction and amusement. He lay back on the futon and she turned to lean over him, watching the satisfied smile that curved his own lips. Words seemed pointless, and she raised a hand to trace his smile with a finger, before leaning down as if to kiss him once more. Their lips never touched, though. She only gazed at him for a long moment, before lowering her head to rest on his chest. His hand reached out to sift through her hair briefly before curling around her shoulder to press her closer.

When dawn lit what had once been shadows, the demon lord and his wife slumbered peacefully through its golden light.

I'd say, I don't understand why there aren't more Nobunaga and Noh fanfics, if this hadn't been so devilishly hard to write. And I think there's maybe...a dozen spoken lines in this entire fic. LOL Niji says the tea ceremony that opened the fic was scandalous and that Nobunaga's master would smack him over the head for it. I don't see it. LOL Hope everyone enjoyed! R&R please!

Erhime