"So that's the last of it Obachan, all that is left to do is load up my coffin and me in the morning" I turned to look at her, she had a black velvet box in her hand.

" This is for you Mae-chan , its from all of us on the Kitsune Council. We wanted you to have something to commemorate your visit here" Obachan handed me the box. When I opened it I saw a single strand of 10mm Mikimoto pearls inside.

"They are beautiful!" I was so overwhelmed by the gesture a tear rolled down my cheek. " Oh, mae-chan please stop that!" Obachan was shoving a hanky in my tear duct. Even after all these months the sight of vampire tears disconcerted the Kitsunes. It's understandable. I gave her a hug. " Careful mae-chan, to tight" she said laughing.

"Thank you Obachan" I said and reached around me to pull out a package I had just finished gift wrapping. " And this is for you"

She unwrapped it and looked at it appraisingly. It was an Ink and water color drawing us standing under a full moon among snow covered mountains. Obachan was painted in her fox form. I had tried to capture my favorite memory on paper. She smiled. I could tell the memory of our trip to the snow country was a happy one.

"Remarkable, you have captured the feeling of that moment. You are skilled" she said .

" If I am skilled, it is because I had you to teach me" I said warmly.

" Come we must find the best place to hang it" so we went and hung the picture. Then we slid the door open and looked out into the night. She sipped her tea, and I played the koto while we talked. This had become our nightly custom during the months I had been here visiting.

For the first time since I arrived in Japan the conversation steered toward the final night of the proceedings. It was only natural it should come up tonight. I was heading to Shreveport the next day for Chow's memorial service. Chow had been killed in a battle against some Were wolves amped up on V-juice and into magic. I guess some folks can't get enough power. They had created all kinds of mayhem, putting a spell on Eric, killing other Were's and extorting wiccan's into helping them. I thought of the man Chow had been before he was turned. As a hikeshi , he had been destined to perform feats of courage. It seemed fitting that he would die his final death in a battle fighting bravely. I guess vampires could cheat death for a time, but not fate.

Obachan and I both agreed Chow wasn't to blame for what had happened to me, and as my maker he at least deserved that I pay him my final respects.

" He will be there" Obachan said. She was talking about Sato, of course.

"I know" I said and kept playing.

"You are all he has left now" Oshichi had died in a fire some anit-vampire fanatics set about a month ago in San Francisco. It was a disturbing trend, these attacks on vampires were increasing and I didn't think we had seen the worst of it yet. So far, there were attacks in at least 31 states, among them Louisiana and CT.

" He has friends, he isn't alone in the world" I pointed out.

" Why did you spare him Mae-chan? I deferred the decision to you so you could avenge yourself" Obachan asked.

When Eric and I had returned to the proceedings, Sato's guilt has been established. Oshichi had been sentenced to two -weeks confinement since that was the punishment Chow received. Sato's punishment was supposed to be him meeting the sun. The vampires had been willing to deliver it but the treaty stipulated that the Kitsune council had to sanction this since he was a TKO. Obachan, as the emissary of the council , had deferred the decision to me.

I stopped playing. Thoughts of that night were still painful. Finally I said, " What he did was messed up but he didn't deserve to die for it" and started playing again.

The fallout from the proceedings had been :

Mr. Chow- 2 weeks chained in Silver and placed in a nailed coffin

Oshichi- 2 weeks chained in silver and placed in a nailed coffin.

Maeve Michaels (me) - 2 weeks chained in silver and placed in a nailed coffin ( the first week of my confinement wasn't related to the treaty)

Takeshi Sato- master mind of the whole scheme, nothing. Not even a slap on the wrist.

Isn't it typical ? What's the saying, " shit rolls down hill". As for me , It seemed my fate was to meet men with boundary issues, and being the bigger person, getting stuck picking up the emotional tab. Sato's case was extreme, but in many ways it was just a variation of a familiar theme. I think I mentioned it before, my guydar is broken. Even being able to see AU's hadn't prevented me from being completely deceived.

Obachan was saying something, and I decided to take a break from my internal pity party to pay attention.

"Things haven't turned out so badly for you. You have made many new friends, traveled, are wealthy, don't have to worry about aging, have supernatural abilities, your business gives every indication it will thrive, and "

"Obachan!" I interrupted" are you saying all is well that ends well? That I should forgive Sato because existence has been infinitely more interesting since I stopped breathing?" no answer.

" I thought you couldn't stand him. Didn't you just say you wanted me to avenge myself? have him meet the sun? You do remember I am dead because of him"

" Are you dead Mae-chan? Do dead people have conversations, play the Koto, whine and complain? Laugh and smile? I did feel that way at the time, but since you didn't…. I just don't want to see you have an eternal loveless existence" she said. This made me laugh, I couldn't help it, "eternal loveless existence " just sounded so melodramatic. The laugh surprised her.

"Obachan, all you said was that KO's couldn't form ties that last with non-Ko's or Kitsune. It might not even apply to a TKO"

"Of course it applies to a TKO, why else would Sato have taken such extreme measures. He had been jumping from relationship to relationship for 300 years and wanted to settle down, Mae-chan."

"A lot of guys want to settle down, Obachan, but they don't run around turning their prospects into vampires. Besides, why is this about him? Maybe I am not ready to settle down. I will spare you the gory details but I am sure some of my, um, activities couldn't have escaped your notice. ( we had been traveling around quite a bit and well people on holiday are less guarded. Lets just say my source of sustenance wasn't strictly bottled anymore) . Making a life time commitment was daunting enough, I can't even imagine the prospect of on an eternal one. I don't think vampires can be monogamous"

"I will never forget the sight of you sitting on his lap. If that isn't love I don't know what is" Obachan's statement was punctuated with an air of authority " all this talk about commitments, monogamy what does that have to do with love? When you love, you love. Everything else falls into place"

" What you saw was me clinging to what I thought was the only friend I had in the world. The intensity of my feelings were probably just the result of post traumatic stress. I had just been chained up in silver for three weeks, after all. And things don't just fall into place. I only knew him a couple of months" this came across more defensively than it should have.

" What does time have to do with love?" she asked. I guess the Kitsune were hopeless romantics at heart.

" We are incompatible" I said this in a tone that would bode no argument.

" You don't know that" Obachan retorted gently.

" I am not compatible with a man who can bite my thigh under false pretenses" I said sharply , then I softened my tone, " Why are we talking about this? I will see him there yes, but even if he is the only man in the world I can love and who could love me, you and I both know there are things that separate us. Things that are hard to overlook. Do I smell something burning?"

" I don't smell anything, so are you going to talk to him?"

" I don't know" I answered. Seeming satisfied, she patted me on the head. " Come, I have something I want you to take for Mr. Northman as a gift from the Kitsune. Please tell him we will always remember the kindness he showed our community, in particular to one member who is also part of his community"

We went to get Eric's gift, and spent the rest of the evening reminiscing about all that had transpired over the past few months. The time I spent in Japan was the happiest of my existence. It had given me a chance to learn about my heritage and to be a part of tight knit community. I had never had that before. When we didn't stay with the Kitsunes, we traveled. We went to the places that were known for being scenic to take in the sights. Most of these places had scenery that was best admired during the day because of the vivid hues.

Obachan took pictures in daytime of the more colorful scenes so I could imagine that was what I was seeing when I stood there and looked at them at night. Without light there is no color. Sure, there is artificial light, but nothing compares to the colors one sees in sunlight. So even though I was there, I didn't get to experience the full beauty of things. But thanks to her pictures, I could almost get the full experience. The one exception had been the snow country.

In my opinion, the full beauty of the snow covered scenes could only be experienced by moonlight. The daytime pictures didn't compare. We spent a great deal of time walking outdoors in the snow country. Obachan usually was in her fox form when we went on our walks, she said that was the best way to experience snow. Her fur was a shinny silver and black. Her nine tails would dance in the cold wind. We walked searching for different vantage points from which to admire the ocean of white that extended into the horizon. Yes, I had been very happy.

The last thing Obachan said to me that night was " A pearl starts with a grain of sand"

_-x_x_x_

Chows memorial service was attended by vampires, Were's , wiccans,, and other humans. Although there weren't any remains to lay to rest, a plot and tombstone had been purchased in the Shreveport cemetery. His empty coffin was interred and the memorial service was held by the tombstone. Those who fought with him in the war talked of his courage and ferocity. The out of town vampires talked of his penchant for fun and for the ladies. Sato remembered him as a loyal friend and talked of their adventures. When it was my turn I remembered him for his wicked sense of humor, and mentioned some of the heroic deeds his fire brigade had been involved in while he had been a part of it. Sato placed a bottle of sake on the tombstone and we lit incense. It was a good service ,I think Chow would have been pleased.