allow me to preface this chapter with my sincerest 'thank you' to those who reviewed previous chapters...it's a real kick to read your comments and realize that some of you out there actually DO like the story thus far...lol...i've read a few AWZUM stories that others have posted and just hope i can provide a story that captivates and entertains as much as your stories have thrilled me...and as always... I.D.O.S. : )

"Love is merely Madness." ~William Shakespeare~

Chapter Thirteen

Pain. It was the first recognizable sensation Shizuru felt as her eyes fluttered in an effort to open. Wincing, she slowly regained consciousness enough to realize that her entire body hurt. She felt as if she'd been stuffed into a barrel and rolled down a bumpy mountain. Aches and pains from every part of her body awakened more fully as she tried to clear her mind of the fog surrounding her. She struggled to focus her eyes but they felt heavy, too heavy to hold open for longer than a few seconds at a time. But she pushed herself, clawing her way out from under the blanket of lethargy she was trapped beneath. It felt suspiciously as if she'd been dosed with some type of drug. That coupled with the feeling of discomfit caused Shizuru to wonder if she'd been in some sort of accident. Was she even now in a hospital room somewhere?

Running her tongue over dry lips, she opened her mouth and called out in a hoarse voice, "Hello? Is anyone there? Where am I? What happened to me?" No answer came from the shadows of her blurry vision.

Concentrating, she managed to hold her eyes open, slowly regaining control of her senses. Blinking thickly, she took stock of what she could see of her surroundings. She was stretched out on a floor mat, a light cotton blanket draped over her body. There was a bowl of water with a neatly folded cloth draped over the edge sitting beside her mat. A cup holding a clouded liquid was also placed beside her mat. It probably held the drug which I'd been dosed with, she surmised, feeling more awake and less confident about the circumstances of her situation by the second. But where was she? What happened?

Turning her head, which rested on a rolled bed pillow, she blinked several times at a square patch of light before realizing that she was looking out of two open door panels into the yard of a small zen garden. A light breeze holding the scent of fresh earth and water on it, permeated her sense of smell. She saw patches of colors that could only be flowers and areas with manicured, green shrubs as well as a few stunted pine trees scattered around the perimeter of the garden.

A flash of memory surfaced in her confusion as she suddenly realized that she recognized this place. Or at least she thought she did. Maybe it was just similar to the one she remembered. She couldn't decide which in her current state of mind, but it reminded her of the little secluded compound belonging to one of her friends from school. She liked to come here alone and meditate on the calm spirit of the place...sipping her tea on the porch as she listened to the relaxing sounds of the water lapping against the rocks in the pond. Yes...this had been the place she'd taken...

"Natsuki!" Shizuru called out, trying to push herself up.

"Shizuru. You're awake! "a familiar voice greeted as the touch of a cool hand against her forehead brought her unfocused eyes up to the face of the person kneeling down beside her. "Lay still a moment longer child. Or at least, allow me to help you sit up. I dosed you with a sleep tonic to help calm you down. You were very...distraught when I brought you here."

Frowning in disorientation, Shizuru stared up into a pair of persimmon colored eyes. As she continued to gaze into those kind, strange eyes, the flower of recognition suddenly blossomed and she caught her breath in surprise. "Sensei Kagami," Shizuru greeted without even thinking about it, adhering to the proprieties of master teacher etiquette that had been instilled in her as a child by this woman.

"It's good too see you again Shizuru. Although I would have preferred our reunion to be under more desirable circumstances," the woman greeted, smiling as she helped the girl sit up. Kagami Kenatsu had been Shizuru's martial arts teacher since childhood. This woman had instructed a young Shizuru in all forms of hand to hand combat as well as how to wield several traditional Japanese weapons...the naginata being the one favored by Shizuru. Sensei Kenatsu had taught the young girl the path of zen meditation as well as the art of the assassin. By the age of thirteen, Shizuru Fujino knew more ways to kill a man than most military recruits could ever hope to learn in a lifetime of service.

Kagami Kenatsu had been Shizuru's mother's best friend and thus had been a permanent fixture in Shizuru's life since birth. It had always puzzled her how her mother and this woman managed to become, as well as remain, such close friends, considering the two of them were totally opposite in every aspect. Shizuru's mother had floated on the wings of a social butterfly, the darling of Kyoto's most wealthiest familes. Her best friend Kagami, on the other hand, was an instructor at a family owned dojo who came from a modest background. Whereas Shizuru's mother had been graceful, feminine...a beauty of some renown...Kagami was clumsy in the social graces, more masculine in body and actions...not a woman that most would consider beautiful at all. Her nose was severe...sharp like that of a hunting hawk...perched above a mouth whose lips were pencil thin...a vertical slash across her face. Her eyes were elongated and tilted slightly...a haunting color somewhere between orange and red, topped with full, dark eyebrows. The only redeeming quality she possessed, some would say, was her hair. It was a rich, dark auburn color that just kissed the tops of her shoulders. But she had always kept that glorious mane of hair in a plethora of tiny braids...except for her bangs, which were parted in the middle and hung down on either side of her face. Each braid she wore was capped with a small wooden bead and when Kagami tossed her head or engaged in training, one could hear the soft sounds of the beads 'click-click-clicking' against one another. Shizuru had always loved that sound. And she had always adored this woman. To see her again...and so unexpectedly...lifted her spirits perceptibly.

Shizuru pushed a handful of hair out of her face as she asked, "Where did you come from? What...what happened to me? How did I end up here?"

Sitting back on her heels, the woman reached out one large, callused hand and retrieved the pitcher sitting beside her. Taking a cup she held in the other hand, she poured it full of water and handed it to Shizuru, indicating with a nod that she should drink it. As Shizuru dutifully did as she was instructed, she was struck by the fact that she was thirsty...too thirsty actually. It was as if she hadn't had anything to drink in forever. The cool water ran down her parched throat, refreshing and rejuvenating, as she greedily gulped it down. "How long..." she began, handing the cup back to her sensei.

As if reading the young woman's thoughts, the older woman answered the unfinished question. "Two days. You slept through two full days even though the sleeping tonic I mixed for you was not very strong. Your body and mind were just...exhausted. You must have really needed the rest. I brought you here after..."

Now it was Shizuru's turn to finish her master's thoughts. "After the meeting with my father." The return of her memories concerning the argument she'd had with her father hit her like a thunder bolt and she had to take several calming breaths as she weathered the storm of emotion the recollection sparked.

"Yes," Kagami confirmed, pity and dark anger brightening her strange colored eyes. "I knew you'd returned to Kyoto. I could only assume that meant you were prepared to give your father an answer concerning the marriage contract he planned to arrange for you." She poured another cup of cool water into the green, handle-less cup and passed it back to Shizuru, urging her to drink more.

Shizuru's eyes widened in surprise as she sipped at the water. "But..how did...how could you possible know that?" she questioned curiously. "I confided my plans to no one other than my father's personal assistant so she could set up the arrangements and fit me into his schedule."

Kagami smiled mysteriously as she folded her fingers beneath her chin in gesture which meant she had something important to say, the tips of her fingers forming a steeple. "Ah. As to that. Never underestimate any situation. For the second you take a truth for granted is the moment it reveals it's false nature." Pausing only a moment after that sage bit of advice, the woman laughed, taking Shizuru's hand in hers...the sound of her laughter husky and warm. "However much I'd love to leave a former student of mine thinking I have some mystical power of divining the truth from predicting the future, the real reason I knew of your arrival in Kyoto was the call I received from Mrs. Tomomatsu. Her father and I are...old friends." The woman smiled secretively at this vague explanation before continuing. "Well, anyway, the long of the story is...he owed me a favor. So he instructed his daughter to contact me immediately if and when you returned to Kyoto...or more importantly...when you returned to face your father. I suspected you would show up sometime after graduation. Looks like I was correct, hmm? One does not need to be a soothsayer, however, to know the answer you gave him. You refused his offers, didn't you child? And this..." she raised her hand and touched Shizuru's swollen lip tenderly, "this was the result of his displeasure."

Shizuru carefully sat the cup of water down beside her mat. The fog of confusion was slowly lifting, but the more she heard, the less she understood her current situation. The one thing she had no trouble remembering at all now, was the anger her father had shown her when she refused his offers...and when she'd confessed her love for... "Oh Sensei," she whispered, wishing she'd never woken up from the sleep she'd been peacefully resting in for the past two days. "My father..." she broke off here, trying to cover the bruises on her cheek with one hand, but Kagami gently pulled the girl's hand away from her face.

"Never take the dishonor of another persons actions against you to heart. It was HIS dishonor...HIS shame alone that left those marks on your face. You did nothing wrong. Wear the bruises as badges of HONOR, Shizuru! For no matter how much anger he might have felt at you because of your refusal, you acted honorably in your duty. Your responsibility as a daughter does not include selling yourself at another man's whim. Even if that man IS your own father. How many times must I stand idly by and watch as..." Kagami broke off here, a look of desperation and anger fixed on her face, before continuing. "The fool should be beaten with the flat edge of a katana for causing you such pain." Shizuru felt the tension in the other woman's body tingle through her fingers like electricity before Kagami released her hand with a reassuring squeeze. "Ketsuna's only child! The only..." Kagami pulled her bottom lip between her teeth in an effort to calm herself, uncharacteristically falling into the fool's trap of letting anger provoke her into reacting. That had been the number one rule she'd drummed into Shizuru's head as her student. Never allow anger to provoke reaction. It was a rule that Shizuru had failed utterly to master.

There was more...much more behind the words the woman had just spoken, but Shizuru was too preoccupied with another question of her own to give her teacher's strange behavior much more than a cursory thought. "I still don't understand what happened after I left my father's office. How did I end up here? And why do I feel so...sore?" As if to prove her point, she flexed one shoulder and winced as she felt the burning pain of overexerted muscles protest the movement. And it wasn't just her neck. It was her entire body.

"Ah yes. The answer to your questions." Kagami had replaced the anger in her voice and face with the calm of a renowned martial arts sensei. "I brought you here after first following you to a bar where you got into an...altercation with three of the establishments patrons."

Shaking her head, Shizuru chuckled lightly. "I appreciate your attempt at making me laugh Sensei, however, I would have the truth of my situation now...if you would be so kind."

Kagami leaned in closer to Shizuru, the braids in her hair hanging down into her face, clicking softly together, as she replied, "I have given you the truth of your situation, Shizuru Fujino. After the meeting with your father, you wandered into a local bar, got VERY drunk...and...well let's jsut say you FINISHED a fight with three of the toughs who just didn't seem to get the message that...you weren't interested."

"I...I did...what?" Shizuru gasped in bewilderment, raising one hand and placing it against her throat in a gesture of disbelief. "That doesn't sound like something I'd do...at ALL!" she protested, trying to justify the validity of her aches and pains with the words of her master, who remained silent, as if waiting for her student to come to grips with what she'd just been accused of.

"This is true, isn't it?" Shizuru suddenly realized, starring at the back of one hand, noticing for the first time that the knuckles were red, swollen...as if she'd been pounding on a locked door. Or the hard angles of a man's face, she reminded herself in horror. "But..but why would I do that? And more to the point..." she turned a red eyed glower onto the older woman sitting peacefully beside her...watching with those strange eyes of hers. "Why would you ALLOW me to engage in such behavior? By your own admission you'd followed me from my father's office. You MUST have known how...overwrought I was following that meeting with him! I was...not in my right mind. Obviously! Why, Sensei?"Shizuru demanded vehemently of the woman whom she had trusted all her life...trusted more than any other person in the world. "Why did you let me get into a common barroom brawl? I'm sorry, but i just don't understand your actions in this regard!" She turned her face away from the other woman, angry at not knowing what happened, confused by her actions and ashamed that she should break down like this in front of her master...the woman who had taught her how to brave the injustices of life.

Strong yet gentle hands gripped Shizuru's shoulders. "Zuru. Hear me," Kagami instructed in a soothing voice.

Zuru, the young woman mused with a small smile, no one has called me Zuru in many years. She looked back around then, and worked to quell the questions that had taken over her senses. Quietly, she waited for her master to make known what it was she wanted to convey.

"I will answer any question you have. And even add a few details that you will soon need to know. But first, " Kagami continued, "you will take a long, hot soak in the tub. I have placed bath salts made with herbs and oils that will work in conjunction with the heat and steam of the bath to help relieve you of the pain you are feeling. Add one cup of the crystals to your bath water and soak no less than fifteen minutes. It will allow the healing properties of the ingredients to be absorbed into your skin. Plus, a good steam will help clear your mind as well." She reached out and gently touched the angry bruise on Shizuru's cheek which had been left by the girl's father. "After your bath...we shall share a pot of tea. Like old times. And I'll do my best to answer any and all questions you still have."

Shizuru took Kagami's hand in hers as the woman lowered it from her face and brought it to her lips, gently kissing the back of her fingers. "I am thankful you were here for me, sensei. You have always been like my personal guardian angel. Even after my mother's death, you still watched over me. I am...grateful for your continued kindness."

The woman smiled, a smile that lit up her otherwise plain looking face causing it to glow with an inner beauty. "No Zuru. I do this not out of a sense of kindness...but rather from a feeling of love." After a short pause, Kagami cleared her throat in embarrassment and said in the voice which she reserved for instructing her students, "Now do as I say. Get into that bath. Then meet me on the porch for our tea."

Bowing her head in acknowledgment, Shizuru intoned respectfully, "It shall be as you say, sensei."