Chapter 3: Momentary Peace.
A/N: A character bio for Gracia in Sengoku Basara.
Akechi Gracia is the third and youngest daughter of Akechi Mitsuhide. Mitsuhide cares Gracia deeply and does not like to see her hurt by anyone, so he kept her sheltered away from the war and chaos that plagued the land and raised her to be a peaceful Christian. However that never gave Gracia full protection from Mitsuhide's fears as Oda Nobunaga uses Gracia to carry out some of his dastardly deeds for him, effectively forcing Mitsuhide to obey his commands. Gracia always felt like she was doing the things that were against what she was taught, but Mitsuhide always assured her that she wasn't wrong in the eyes of the Lord. For her 13th birthday, Mitsuhide had given Gracia a pendent that is shaped like an pendant grants her protection from the attacks of people who are made of pure evil, like Oda Nobunaga.
In battle, Gracia utilizes this pendant to draw Holy energy from the heavens and even the Lord himself. Allowing her to aid others or unless devastating attacks on her opponents. However, she can't use this at the tip of a hat. She has to pray before she can receive and use this energy, so she has to rely on guerilla tactics until she can.
Alright enough chit-chat, let's continue, shall we?
Gracia, Yukimura, and Sasuke arrived at the Takeda manor in Kai. The One-eyed Dragon of Oshu and his Right eye joined them since Yukimura was worried about the former's wounds being re-opened.
"Here we are, Lady Gracia." Yukimura calls to the girl on his back, but he doesn't receive a response. He turns to see that she's asleep.
"Lady Gracia? What's wrong?" Yukimura asks frantically as he begins to shake the unconscious body, but is dealt a swift smack on his head by Masamune.
"Can it you moron she's just sleeping." The Dragon lashes out, keeping his voice low enough so he won't wake Gracia.
"Well it has been a long day, so we all deserve a little shut eye." Kojuro says.
"Okay, but Lord Masamune's wounds should be looked at first." Yukimura says as he lifts Gracia bridal style and begins carrying her to the estate so he could find a guest futon for her.
"Damn kid's just too nice for his own good…" Masamune sighs as he jumps off his horse. When he does he doubles over in pain, causing a worried Kojuro to catch him.
"Given your condition I say his concern is well justified." His retainer retorts.
"Whatever." The One-eyed Dragon huffs as Kojuro aids him to the manor to have his wounds looked at.
In the manor Sasuke was helping Yukimura get out the futon for Gracia in the room across from Yukimura's.
"Alright, this should be good." Sasuke assures his master, who places Gracia into the futon.
"Master Sanada, are you sure it'll be alright keeping her here? Technically she is an enemy…" The ninja warns.
"It's fine," Yukimura says firmly, "besides what harm can she do?"
"If you say so…" Sasuke resigns before trying to go out again.
"Sasuke where are you going," Yukimura inquires, "it's getting late and you've been in battle all day. I think you deserve a rest."
"I appreciate your concern Master Sanada, but who will keep guard if I'm asleep?" Sasuke argues.
"You've done enough for today Sasuke, please rest." Yukimura retorts lowly as to not wake Gracia, little did he know she was awake the whole time they were talking.
'How nice of him…' She thought silently to herself. She's never seen a master treat the people who serve them so nicely before. She's been with Nobunaga for as long as she can remember and he treated his underlings rather harshly, so this was a pleasant surprise for her.
Yukimura looked at Gracia, who closed her eyes quickly to fake sleep, before walking out of the room and closing the door. He then went to the room where Shingen was lying and slowly entered. He kneeled beside his master and bowed in respect before speaking.
"Your Lordship we've done it, we've defeated the Devil King Oda Nobunaga." He announces proudly, but keeping his voice low as to not disturb everyone.
"The whole land banded together, and with the effort of everyone we were able to best the Devil King." He continues.
Gracia had wandered outside of her room and began to stroll around the manor. She eventually found herself off of the manor grounds and staring at a beautiful garden of flowers.
"It's so pretty…" She remarked. She'd been so used to the dull castles her father and Nobunaga had kept her in; she never really had the opportunity to admire the outside scenery like this.
"Oh, I almost forgot…" She said to herself before picking four flowers, one with red petals, one with orange petals, one with pink petals, and one sunflower.
She wandered around a little more until she found a secluded tree before lying each of the flowers down and kneeled beside them. She then began to pray.
"Please rest in peace… may you all be forgiven for whatever sins you may have committed here on Earth and be allowed into Heaven…" She says, using a bit of Holy energy to replant the flowers into the soil.
"Lady Gracia what are you doing out at this late?" A voice called. Gracia turned to see that it was Sanada Yukimura.
Gracia jumped out of surprise before turning to face the Tiger cub of Kai.
"I'm sorry Lord Yukimura. I was just…" Her voice trails off as he walks closer.
"Just Yukimura is fine." He says reassuringly before he stops to look at the flowers she replanted.
"These flowers weren't here before," Yukimura says in amazement, "How did you do that?" He asks Gracia.
Gracia's face slightly flushes before she answers, "They're my way of paying respect to the fallen." She says. Yukimura sits down beside her and begins to listen.
"What you were saying before, about forgiveness?" Yukimura asks, looking from Gracia to the flowers.
"These flowers each represent people who were close to me that were lost today." She points to the red one, "Lord Nobunaga," then to the orange, "Lady Nōhime," then to the pink, "Lady O-Ichi," and finally to the sunflower, "and my father…"
"You mean you can find yourself to forgive Lord Nobunaga and his wife, even after all they've done to you and your father?" Yukimura asks with confusion evident in his voice.
"Yes, it is always important to forgive no matter what one has been done to you." Gracia responds happily.
"Even someone like the Devil King?" Yukimura asks.
Gracia nods in reply, "Even him." She says firmly.
"They may not have been the nicest people in the world, but they still deserve to have someone forgive them so they can receive closure and move on from the space between life and the afterlife." She continues.
Yukimura looks at her astonished as he listens to everything the girl says.
"I could've used your wise words not too long ago, Lady Gracia." Yukimura speaks up, causing Gracia's face to flush again out of embarrassment, for she always thought wise was a word that was only used to describe old people.
"Really," She asks enlightened as she gives a small giggle. She shifted her body to face Yukimura as it was her turn to listen.
"Yes," He says, "as I had said earlier, my Lord Shingen and your father were not on the best of terms…"
"What happened?" Gracia asks, her voice shifting from happiness to absolute calm.
"Your father attacked my lord by surprise while he was trying to aid the villagers in repairing the Dragon King's Dike," Yukimura clenches his fists tightly and lets out a shaky breath.
Gracia gently placed a hand over one of his balled up fists, "Please go on…" She insists.
Yukimura nods slowly and steadies his breathing before continuing, "He… defeated my lord and succeeded in destroying the dirk." He admits.
Gracia looks at the Tiger cub of Kai warmly as he continues.
"As my Lord was rendered bedridden I fell into a complete state of depression," He says, "I constantly stayed moping by his side for what seemed like an eternity."
Yukimura smiles softly as he goes on, "I thought I'd never get over it, however Masamune, Kojuro, Sasuke, and the faithful soldiers of Oshu all reignited the fire in soul!" He announces proudly, drawing a smile out of Gracia.
'So warm…' She remarks in the back of her mind.
"However," Yukimura adds, "while my spirits were lifted the burning need for revenge was not extinguished."
"You mean revenge for Lord Shingen against my father?" Gracia asks.
"Not just for my lord, but for many of the others slain by him like Azai and Lord Tokugawa." Yukimura replies.
"I see," Gracia says, "did you realize your need for revenge wouldn't get you anywhere?" Her voice became tense and she unconsciously tightened her grip on Yukimura's hand.
"I did not until Master Katakura reminded me at Honnoji." Yukimura replies calmly. "And thanks to your kind words Lady Gracia, I firmly believe that vengeance is never the answer." He adds calmly.
"Is there something wrong?" Yukimura asks noticing Gracia gripping his hand rather tightly at this point.
"I want to know what really happened at Honnoji." She admits, "I do not believe my father was killed by a simple trap." She adds firmly.
Yukimura lowers his eyes slightly before replying, "I cannot be absolutely sure of what happened to your father. Lord Masamune and I crossed blades with your father for a short while before Master Katakura interrupted to tell us where the Devil King really was and that you were being held captive. Master Katakura then stayed behind to fight your father while Lord Masamune and I rushed to Azuchi castle."
'So he was holding something back…' Gracia thinks about Katakura as she flashes back to his expression at Azuchi.
"Thank you, Yukimura." Gracia says happily.
"It is I who should be thanking you, Lady Gracia." He replies with a bright smile.
"We should head back now, it is getting awfully late." Yukimura adds while helping Gracia stand up.
Gracia nods and the two walk back to the manor and Yukimura escorts Gracia to her room for the night.
"Thank you again for tonight, Lady Gracia. I appreciate everything you've said to me." Yukimura says sincerely.
Gracia's face flushed again at Yukimura's forwardness, "I appreciate your gratitude." She replies, "Goodnight, Yukimura." She says before going into the room and closing the door. Once inside she slowly climbed into the futon and covered herself with the blanket. She then pulled out her pendant and began fiddling with it.
'Father…' she thinks to herself. Even though her father couldn't raise her as perfectly as he wanted he still did his best and she loves him for it. She's never seen him as the psychotic monster everyone else sees him as, she only sees him as her loving and doting, albeit a bit too overprotective, father.
Her mind flashes to what Yukimura told her about the Honnoji incident and to Kojuro. When Kojuro came into her mind, she felt a little anger rise in her. Not because she wants revenge, but because she wants him to tell her the whole truth.
She said a short prayer before she drifted into a slumber.
I apologize for this chapter being short! But I hope you enjoyed it nonetheless. ^_^ Until next time.