They were taking a bath.
It was the simplest of activities, the most cleansing of rituals, the quietest of moments and they share it together. For thirty years they had been separated. For thirty years Saya had slept with no hint of his surviving. For thirty years, he had held vigil over the Miagusuku tomb reliving memories, sculpting images of her body lithely stepping out of the threshold and recognizing him. He could almost feel these ghosts touch him as he longed for her.
And now this moment reigned over them; it was heavenly.
They didn't speak much. There was not much left to say. Saya took the wet cloth from the banister and pulled Hagi's left foot out of the soapy water. His foot was slender, gangly-like. She was suddenly reminded of a giraffe; the thought made her grin as she measured the foot with her burgundy eyes. It was surprisingly soft and it felt solid in her hands. She took the rag and scrubbed the arch of his foot, he twitched subtly, disturbing the placid water.
"You're ticklish." She could only manage to whisper the words. She worshiped this silence that felt so comfortable, so domestic and clean. He was ticklish, like a child.
He attempted to recoil his leg back into the water, but Saya held on and continued to scrub over his heel, toes and top of the foot, moving up his leg.
He was so thin, but so devastatingly strong. He was wrapped around her in so many fashions, it was hard to distinguish where he ended and she began. She pushed the cloth over his knee and paid special attention to the bend in his leg, cleansing it with the jasmine soap and planting feather-light kisses on his skin.
He sighed into the chaste kisses she planted on his leg. His eyes darkened. His face softened with the seraphic touch of the moment. His hand came up to take the cloth, but she evaded his touch. He felt so comfortable, so heavy in this moment, that his hand plummeted back into the bathwater, splashing a bit on Saya's face.
She continued to scrub his upper thigh, conveniently avoiding in between his legs. Then, her hand was at his abdomen rhythmically messaging his waist. The suds gathered in awe of his form, just as her eyes sucked in his presence. He was alive. Alive. He was hers.
She pushed herself forward to better reach his chest. She was recklessly deliberate about her strokes. Her eyes never leaving his as she outlined his breast-bone and shoulders. She bent down to kiss his shoulder then his neck. He tasted of Jasmine and frost. He was soft and bitingly dark.
His head turned, attempting to kiss the side of her slightly dampened head. She brought her fingers up to run this his hair. It felt as if the heat from the water had entered her soul and was burning every ounce of her being. It became difficult to breathe.
Hagi took advantage of her distraction. She was absent mindedly biting his ear, when he managed to pull her on top of him so that her thighs snuggly straddled the part of his body in which all the blood had pooled.
When she realized he had finally won advantage she sighed, sultry and thick, like syrup. Hagi felt suddenly hungry to taste her, his tong swept along the line of her jaw and made its way to her lips which he parted and tasted.
His vision was blurred. He was in an euphoria that clouded all thought and all sense of presence. It was only Saya. It had always been Saya.
He was ready to invade her body and feel his own blood badger and beat his skin as he thrust. He was so ready, he could die in need of it.
Saya's arms had wrapped around his shoulders and engraved themselves into the plush skin of his back. She moved to take him insider her. They both let out their breath as if it was too heavy to contain in their bodies. The water gave an appreciate slosh.
She was ready to move when…
AUNT SAYA!!!! AUNT SAYA! I Can't find my purple shoes! Haruka says she doesn't know where they are, but I KNOW she was wearing them the other day to that DAMN DANCE! AUNT SAYA, I need you to talk to her!
Akina was pounding on the door so forcefully it shook the soap dish on the vanity. Saya blearily registered that her niece was crying about shoes. Hagi's head fell to her shoulder in a silent acquiescence.
"Alright, Akina…let me get out of the bath. I'll be there in a minute. Where is your father?" she tried to mask her extreme annoyance, as she pulled herself from him. The warmth dispersed and the chill of absence filled her. She reached for her robe.
"I don't know! I tried to find him, I think he's out with David and Lewis. Aunt Saya, I'm going to be late for my date with Kouske!" her voice began to tremble.
"Okay, I'll be there in two seconds."
The water precariously danced and threatened to overrun the edge of the tub as she lifted her body out of the tub. As she pulled her rob around her thin frame, she looked over at him, his face etched out by the dimness of the room and amber light of the lingering candles. He looked at her. He looked at her with such loyal passion. He would wait for her. He had always waited.
"I'll be right back" she whispered, kissing him briefly. "This shouldn't take too long."
"I'll be here, Saya." he murmured against her curled lips.
"I know."