I hold no claim to any of the original characters!

Chapter One

In all sizes

Date Masamune was an enthusiastic man. VERY enthusiastic. He was the energetic and fearless young ruler of the Date Clan, his newest nickname the One-Eyed Dragon taking a huge hit around the Clan and the others. This cocky and ambitious warlord was now leading his men back to their homes after a successful battle in a nearby village with bandits. He had thoughts of alcohol and food passing through his head as the rain pounded down on them. The rain didn't bother him, it washed all the blood off of him, but it also meant that he was going to have to spend tile in drying his armor off so he didn't receive rust on it. He was going to have to clean his swords as well, but he would worry about that after getting food in his stomach.

"Masamune,"

The voice made his head turn to the right. "What is it, Kojuro? Something wrong?"

Katakura Kojuro was the loyal retainer of Date, but also a brotherly and mentor-like figure for the One-Eyed Dragon. Older than Masamune, Kojuro was tall with long brown hair and matching eyes.

Date, on the other hand, was quite different. His left eye was blue, the other covered by the black eye-patch. Medium-long brown hair, he was dressed in an uncommon and original blue suit and a helmet with a golden crescent moon it the top.

"Call me strange, but there's just something in the wind."

"Something in the wind?" Date smirked. "Don't tell me you're getting old on me, Kojuro." The other man stayed silent. "Don't worry about it. You're just as tired as the rest of us."

Kojuro didn't say another word but wore a frown as the rain continued to pound on them and their horses. He had this strange feeling on his since they even left for the bandit ordeal. He wasn't sure what it was, but-

"STOP!" He then shouted out, pulling his horse to a stop. The others skidded behind him, the mud and water splattering everywhere.

"What is it, Boss?" He heard from behind him.

"Kojuro," Date had turned his horse around to look at his friend. "What's wrong?"

The answer was given by the forms that shot into the road. Date pulled a surprised look.

It was two women. Both with long black hair and wounded, only one of them seemed to be moving, holding the other to her as she stumbled closer. Date glanced around the find all the dead bodies splattered around the clearing that he hadn't even noticed before. He went to take a closer look but the walking woman cried out.

"Please!" She had moved closer to them, her eyes pleading. "You have to save her! Don't-don't let her die!" She was trying to hold the other woman out to the man but she couldn't. Date reached down and grabbed her in time for the other woman to fall backwards, her own wounds taking their toll. Kojuro caught her.

"What the hell did we just ride in on?" Date heard one of his men comment. He didn't have an answer. These two women had been attacked and it seemed, from the sword the woman in the hands of the woman he was holding and then the one on the hip with the one Kojuro held, that they had fought back, killing their attackers. They had taken some serious casualties themselves though, too.

"Trait…or…" The word slipped from the woman's voice.

Date raised a brow as he stared down at her. She was alive, but barely. She was probably going through the last moment visions. It wasn't often that you saw a female warrior. If she was going to die, then it was going to be somewhere warm. "Let's go, boys! Double-time!"

It took them half-an-hour to get back to their main village and Kojuro instantly grabbed some of the women that knew about healing and bringing them to the room in Date's home where the wounded had been set up.

"Any ideas what the hell happened?"

Kojuro glanced at Date. They were standing outside of the room, waiting for the elders to tell them the results. Date wasn't sure about the one that he had been carrying…

"I'm not sure. When the raining stops, I'll send a few of the men out there to try and find out who it was."

"Good idea," Date pulled his helmet off and turned to move towards his own room. "Get some rest, Kojuro. And keep your fingers crossed."

He watched the leader of the clan move away before giving a short bow. "Of course."

~So I will fight my battle

till I fall

and I conquer them all

Till we conquer them all~

Everything was sore and stiff. She felt like she had been stabbed over and over and lost so much blood. It took a few moments before everything came back to her. Her being chased. The rain. The warriors that had caught her. The other woman.

"Keiko!" She shot up with the name being ripped from her mouth before a squeal of pain escaped behind it, making her fall back down to the bed.

The bed? Opening her eyes, she glanced around to find herself in a warm room; a nice room. It was empty next to the swords over in the corner and the woman beside her. "Keiko!" She reached over to the woman beside her but couldn't reach. She could see her chest moving though so at least she was alive. And she was bandaged too. "Thank God."

"I see you're awake."

The voice made her jump and she gave a wince of pain before turning her head to the figure that now stood in the open door. He must had heard her calling Keiko's name.

The man was tall with brown hair to his shoulders and a single blue eye; the other was covered with an eye-patch. He wore a small smile and was dressed in a kendo outfit.

Date took this moment to take in the woman that he had held to him two nights ago. She was young, early twenties maybe, with long black hair and sharp green eyes and pale skin.

"How are you feeling?" He asked her. She just stared at him. He smirked. "Dumb question, I know." He commented. "You had us worried there for a moment. It's been two nights and we didn't think that neither you nor your friend was going to make it." She glanced over at the other woman again. "You owe her, you know. She carried you out into the road. Almost got trampled by horses if Kojuro hadn't of seen you." Her reply was silence and he tried to keep his calm. "What's your name? You wanna tell me what happened?"

"Just stupid bandits, I guess…" She finally answered. "I don't know what happened…"

He would take that. At least she responded. "And your name?"

"Natsumi…" Her voice stopped and she stared at the wall for a moment. "Natsumi Nakura," she told him.

"Nakura?" Date raised a brow. "I've never heard of that Clan before."

"Like you've heard of all of them!" She hissed, crossing her arms.

Date stared at her for a moment, a bit shocked at the fierce annoyance in her voice, but then gave a grin. "Settle down, tiger. Besides, you owe me so I'd be a bit nicer if I were you."

"I owe you?" She hissed. "I didn't ask for your help! I don't owe you anything!"

"If that's the way you feel, then be my guest to leave. I won't stop you." Date told her. Natsumi had turned her head to glare at the man. He gave a silent sigh. "Calm down, tiger. I'm not going to kick you out and I wouldn't let you leave after all the trouble my people did in taking care of your wounds so just rest up. I'll bring you something to eat. It's gonna take a while for you to heal…" He paused. "I'll send someone to help you eat."

"I can eat on my own," Natsumi told him, glancing away. "I don't need your pity."

Date stared at her for a moment before another grin spread across his face. He left the room in silence. Natsumi gave a sigh. She had gone through all that trouble to get away and be on her own and again she found herself unable to do anything.

"If I didn't know you any better, I would think that you're being rude because you're wounded."

Natsumi turned to look at the other woman. "Keiko," She gave a sigh of relief at the sight of the other woman sitting up. She must not have been as wounded as Natsumi was. Keiko was a few years older than Natsumi with black hair to her shoulders and brown eyes and light tan skin.

Keiko glanced at her. "How are you feeling?"

"Like I was stabbed to death." She grunted. "You?"

"Like was I was branded a traitor; before I killed the bastards."

Natsumi gave a small smirk before slowly, trying to ignore the pain, pushing herself up into a sitting position. "Why did you save me?"

Keiko looked at the other woman like she was an idiot. "No matter what happens, I will choose to save you, just like you did me all those years ago, remember?"

Natsumi was silent for a moment, staring at her hands. "You know, for running after me, your boyfriend is going to be upset…"

Keiko gave a snort as she moved closer to her friend. "Yeah, and I hope he's ripping those bastards a new one right at this moment for not being smart enough to keep me from moving."

"Are…are you going to go back?"

"Of course I am. As long as he's there, then so am I." Keiko nodded. "I'll leave in a day or two. I'm not as wounded as you so I'll be fine."

Natsumi closed her eyes. "You chose my side, Keiko. You're going to be in trouble."

"No I won't. There was no one to go back and tell them what happened. For all they know, I got my ass-kicked by you before you disappeared. I don't know where you went. All I remember is an older woman and her daughter finding me and saving me before I was strong enough to return home." Keiko gave a sigh and leaned forward, placing her forehead against her friend's. "I wish that you would come back with me."

"I refuse," Natsumi turned her head and closed her eyes. "After all that happened…after what they did, what he did, I can't."

"I know that," Keiko closed her own eyes. "If you ever need anything, Natsumi, you know where to find me. And don't worry. If they try to find you, I will keep your trail cold."

"Why? It's not like I'll be staying here forever, you know."

"True, but you are wounded. Badly. Worse than I am. You'll be here for at least a month or two and then it'll be winter. Do you really want to travel in the snow?"

Natsumi pulled a face. "No, not really."

"Don't worry. Everything will be fine. You'll just have to forget everything and start over." Keiko gave a sigh and returned to her bed, leaning back down to get some more rest.

"Yeah," Natsumi turned her head as she leaned back down herself. ~But, I don't want too…~

Date pulled away from the door. He had heard all of it and that just made him more interested in the women that they had saved. He was interested in what had happened before but now he wanted to know more than ever. Such mysterious women.

~Well, a story comes in all sizes," he told himself with a grin. ~And I do love a good mystery~

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