Hello everyone! Sorry for the extremely slow update (and short chapter .). I don't remember if I've mentioned that this is a story that was already written as an original...but I was reading it again, and I saw this part. I then realized that I really liked it, and wanted it to at least be seen in this story to give the readers the information that would have been given to them if you had seen the story in its original format. ^.^

I will call this 'Interlude', and there will most likely be several more featured throughout the story. It helps me get inspired and become able to write more, and I promise that there will be an actual chapter update after this...but until then, enjoy :)

Reviews!

ChouRan - Perhaps :P I suppose that you will just have to keep reading and see! ^.^ Yeah, his dad is kind of mean in this story =/ I like to think of him as separate from the Suwa we know in the anime and manga, because I actually really do like Kurogane's father there. xD This guy is just blehhhh. :P And perhaps there is an explanation for that hiding in future chapters ;) Oh yus - the KuroFai must live on! :D Thanks for the review!

Guest - Here is the update! Perhaps answers are coming to you sooner than you might expect :) I'm anxiously waiting for the day when you guys put together the pieces and discover what is going on! ^.^ Thank you for the review!

I hope that you guys enjoy this update, despite its length! Chapter Four is in the works as of right now, and I will continue the main story shortly. ^.^ In the mean time, I hope this can tide you over :) Have a great week! See ya next time!


Five Years Ago

The Outskirts of Nihon

It's only when we're leaving the castle at full speed, the horse beneath us pounding its hooves on the earth in a frantic fury, that I realize the gravity of our situation.

I cling tight to him, hoping that somehow, my desire to protect him will keep him safe. We're wildly bounding across the landscape, and already we've almost slipped from the horse several times. I know that he's in a rage, but...he cannot be careless. Especially not now.

Escape is our only option; of this I'm certain. The way that his father's been looking at him lately, as though suspecting his son for something that he cannot name has been worrying the both of us. We didn't know whether or not someone had told him that we were together...but even that wouldn't have driven us from my lover's home.

No; the fault of that lies in my hands alone.

"Are you alright?" My darling asks, driving the horse almost to its breaking point in our desperate attempt to fly. I don't know why he's so desperate, though; when the people wake up in the morning, there will be no reason to suspect us. We'll be long gone in more ways than one.

When there is not an answer, he begins to slow the horse. I cling onto him, barely breathing for fear of waking the townspeople...for the fear that I might let slip what I am thinking. If I were to ever utter anything that sounded as though I were blaming myself, I would be subject to more of his kindness and loving, gentle care than I could handle. In mere minutes, I would be reduced to a crying mess...and he didn't need a crying mess right now. He needed the man that I was supposed to be.

However, he knew that he was the strongest out of the two of us – both in physical strength and that of the emotions. There is no reason for him to need me, but yet, he does...he always has. Those nights that he was about to break from the strain of learning, training, and whatever else his father subjected him to; the days when he thought that we were going to be separated and just wanted to hold me tight...those times when we first got together, and he just needed to prove to himself that I was more than a figment of his imagination...these were the nights where I had to be strong.

Being strong was much harder than it seemed.

"I'm fine, darling. Please, continue on." Though I felt like puking over the side of the horse into the dark grass, I would lie until the end of my days to make sure that he was not worried. He had worried for me for too long. My sweetheart was too sweet, his love too gentle; he loved me too well. But it was fully returned; I could no longer go a day without him, even if I needed to. Doing so left me terribly lonely, left me pining for him and unable to concentrate on anything that required more than a third of my attention.

The horse came to a stop, and I knew that he had seen through my lie. It wasn't that hard; I mean, even I could hear the shake and strain in my voice. There was no doubt that he did, also. In a warning tone, he said my name. I was about to reply when the nausea overcame me – I grabbed my middle and threw up the few crackers I had eaten that day into the darkness below us, hidden in the night.

There was a soft sigh from above me, and then hands went around my body. He gently pushed back my hair so that I wouldn't get mess in it. "Fine indeed." He sniffed, trying to soothe me as I finally got everything back up. Exhausted, I leaned into him, not in the mood for his sarcasm.

"It's not different from any other day." I snapped, voice weak. "I really am fine – you should automatically add 'and feeling like I'm going to vomit' to that by this point."

He rolled his eyes. "You know that we have medicines for that in the pouch. All I have to do is get them." He began to reach for it, but I placed my hand on his, shaking my head. I began to get off of him, knowing that he was twisted around at a weird angle...but he turned his body around while still on the horse, moving so that I was lying against his front instead of his side.

"We need to get moving. We don't have time to delay." Funny how I thought the exact opposite until he turned around and started caring for me...but it's been this way ever since we found out. I've caused so much pain for him; I don't want him to be gentle anymore for my sake...but for the sake of my...

'I can't even think it and not...feel guilty.' I thought miserably, shaking a little bit. I knew that it was there...that it wasn't just a possibility. I'd been throwing up for months now; my midsection was swelling. I knew what my magic could do inside of me...what it had done. Beyond a doubt, my darling's baby was now resting in the depths of my stomach. I couldn't deny it anymore.

"We can afford to stay here for a moment." He said softly, his hands moving to where the swell of my stomach was hidden under my forest green cloak. "Just until you feel a little better." His promise was gently rumbled in that low baritone of his; the one that made me shiver whenever he said my name. Now, though, he was speaking as though the baby inside of me was sleeping, and he didn't want to wake it.

I chuckled softly, feeling so guilty for what I was depriving him of. I said his name quietly, voice breaking on the last part. Before I knew what was happening, tears were sliding down my cheeks – I buried my face in my hands, moving to get away from him. His touch, his kindness, the way that he spoke...it was all too much. I didn't deserve it. I couldn't deserve it. He was too much. Too perfect. He was-

I was falling before I could stop myself. In my frenzied state, I'd forgotten that I didn't have much room to manuver, and that I was no good on horses. I braced myself for the impact with the ground, but...it never came. I opened my eyes to see that he was holding me, inches above the ground, looking very panicked.

"BE CAREFUL!" He thundered, glaring down at me. "Have you forgotten that you're-,"

"I have not!" I snapped back, wrestling my way out of his arms. "How could I, when it's caused you to lose everything? How can I ever forget that I am the reason that we've been deprived of easy lives...that we're going to have to break our necks trying to make it from here on? We don't know how to live like commoners! It would be better if I just-,"

"If you just...what?"

I didn't know why I turned to look at him. His brown eyes were on fire; he glared at me as though he were going to tear me apart, piece by piece...but there was no hatred in his gaze. Yes, anger; but no hatred. "Kill the child? Yourself? And then what? What would I be left with?!" He roared, jumping from the horse and storming over to me. Frightened, I stepped backwards, shaking as he continued to rant.

"With you, I have a family. I've only ever had that with one other person...and you know who that is. I have everything that I've ever wanted here with you...and you would throw that away to make me miserable?"

His words were piercing. I shook my head, trying to come up with something...anything...

But all thoughts were lost as I backed into the tree. He'd cornered me – I couldn't run away.

He was right up against me. I closed my eyes, expecting that he was going to hit me, or yell more or do something that would hurt. However...he didn't. He placed his arms around my shivering body and held me close, as though I were precious. "Don't tell me that you're going to leave me...," He begged, sounding nothing like the strong man I knew as my lover. "I can't handle it."

I shook my head, unable to believe it. "You could have family with a woman...with someone you're supposed to love. I just...I don't understand why you didn't leave when this happened. Neither of us wanted it when the doctor discovered it and warned us. You could have just ordered it dead and married that girl like you were supposed to-,"

"And been miserable for the rest of my life."

I looked at him, then, my eyes wide as plates. "You never listen when I tell you, do you?" He asked, fingering a lock of my hair. He'd pulled away from the embrace by now...but only enough that I could see his face.

"I love you, you idiot."

He didn't allow me to doubt it, or say that it wasn't true. He covered his mouth with mine, and told me that he loved me with his body as well as his words.

That was enough. It took several more times of saying that before I completely believed...but that night began our new love as well as our new life. I can no longer doubt anything that he says because of how he's proven to me that his love is the truest I've ever encountered.