Disclaimer: I only own what is mine. My OCs and ideas.

A/N: School is starting again soon... *sigh* Well, I'm honestly getting a little bored with summer; today's a little rainy, nothing much is happening. But anyway, I don't know what my schedule looks like yet, so... we will see how things work out. Anyway, I'm happy to put up this next chapter. I mean, I only have about three or four more chapters pre-written, I'm going to have to pick this up again soon, but first I am going to update Together As One. Anyway, on to the story! Enjoy!

Reviews:

ArtemisBAMF1218 - I liked that opening scene. Because Ryu will just walk in randomly, and Ryu's a 21st-century kid so Aiko just lets it slide because it's just something she can't really fix. But then it's Danny, which I guess is slightly embarrassing to her.
You should look up 'the weaver girl and the cowherd.' It's got a lot to do with the festival and Danny's gift to her and the festival.
More togetherness in this chapter. So I know you are going to love it... and up next is Danny's birthday... exciting?
Anyway, I'll stop here so you can go ahead and get to it! Enjoy!

Chapter 21

Aiko smiled as she hugged Danny's arm. "That geisha show was incredible." Aiko smiled as they walked away from the Japanese styled building. "And dinner was really great also."

Danny smiled down at Aiko. "It was very well put together."

Aiko yawned and stretched out her joints. "I'm worn out. Are you going to take me home yet?"

Danny shook his head. "Not yet. Come on, Aiko, do you really want all of this to end?"

"No, but I'm worn out." Aiko yawned.

Danny smiled and his hand covered hers.

Aiko let go of his arm and gently placed her hand in his. "So, what now?"

Danny shrugged. "I don't know."

Aiko smiled to herself. "You know what?"

"What?"

"This reminds me of when I first came to New York and you would take me out to eat or something, what was the deal with that?" Aiko asked. "That wasn't dating, so what was it?"

Danny looked down at Aiko confused for a moment.

"No, that wasn't dating." Danny shook his head. "It was not my intent anyway."

Danny smiled as gave Aiko's hand a squeeze. "You seemed so on edge, you may not have noticed it, but you seemed scared to me. You were in a new world, and all you had to survive was the ability to speak English. I felt bad for you. Ava helped me come up with the idea to try to give you a piece of home, something that would feel like home and help you adjust."

"That explains why we always went to eat Chinese food." Aiko cut in.

"Yeah, plus, we spent a year apart. We had more than enough catching up to do." Danny teased as he gave her a nudge.

Aiko blushed some. "You're too kind for your own good."

"How is that a thing?" Danny asked.

Aiko shrugged. "I'm certain it is."

Danny smiled as he started to walk faster. "We should hurry up." He pulled Aiko's arm as he walked quickly.

"Where are we going?" Aiko asked.

"That would spoil the surprise." Danny smiled back at her.

"Danny, you've taken me out to eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner. We went to watch street performers, ceremonies, a magic performance, a geisha show," Aiko listed out. "What more could you possibly have in store?"

Danny smiled. "Plenty."

Aiko sighed as she hurried to match Danny's pace.

She shook her head and smiled to herself. He was a child sometimes, in the best way possible.

"So… what's new in the palace?" Aiko asked. "I haven't got to hear about palace life yet."

"Palace life?" Danny asked.

"Just, what's new?" Aiko smiled.

"Well, Ryu and her tutor are still constantly at each other. Ryu's been getting so much better at her Chinese. She doesn't think it was that bad, to begin with, but when she does not know a word, she speaks All-Speak without thinking about it." Danny sighed. "She's learning still."

Aiko nodded her head along. "Yeah."

"So… she's doing well." Danny finished. "Wedding Preparations are coming along. I've started to get my own Qipao-like thing ready. I'm not really sure what to call it."

Aiko shrugged. "How long did you have to stand on a stool and listen to the seamstress yell at you, gossip, and occasionally draw blood?"

Danny sighed. "Most of an afternoon. Ryu got a kick out of it when she came to get me for dinner. I was still standing on that stool and my shoulder was killing me from holding it out."

"How long has it been since you hurt your shoulder?" Aiko asked.

"About four months. Nearly." Danny shrugged.

"And it still hurts?" Aiko asked.

"Sometimes." Danny sighed. "I'm doing a lot more than I am supposed to, but I haven't been doing anything to hurt it. It's just; I have so much to do. A major injury, even like this one, can slow me down."

Aiko sighed. "Look, when we're married, I expect you to actually take care of yourself."

Danny looked down at her with slight annoyance. "Look who is taking. At least I'm not randomly collapsing."

Aiko stuck out her leg and hit Danny who stumbled forward. "That was once."

He quickly regained his balance and looked down at Aiko. "So, we're both worried about each other?"

Aiko shook her head. "Look, if you can't govern and do your job, it will fall to me. I don't want to do that."

"If you were to have to take my place for an extending time, you would have the council. The final say would be yours." Danny gently explained. "As much as those meetings bore me to death, some good does come from them."

"Did you skip one of these said meetings?" Aiko asked. "Like today while you were out with me?"

Danny looked at the road ahead. "To be honest, I think the council knew I was planning on skipping out on them. Ryu's friend, Taslima, brought me a note from the council last night as I was getting ready for bed. The meeting for today got canceled."

Aiko sighed. "They know you fairly well."

"Yeah, they also think they know you pretty well." Danny sighed.

"Doubt that." Aiko deadpanned.

"You are correct. They think you would be interested in more lessons on law, and philosophy." Danny laughed. "And they also asked about having you move into a guest room for a while so you can get used to living there."

Aiko groaned. "Again?"

"I told them no, about three or four times." Danny sighed. "Then I got frustrated, pulled rank, and called it end of discussion."

"You pulled rank on somebody?" Aiko asked, she stopped walking and looked up at Danny with confinement, pain, and slight fear. "What?"

"Yeah, I…" Danny had kept walking and a step later felt the pull in Aiko's arm as she had stopped.

He stopped walking and looked back to her. "What?"

"You seriously did that? No kidding?" Aiko asked.

"What Aiko?" Danny asked.

Aiko walked up to him and put her hand on his forehead. "Are you feeling ok?"

Danny sighed. "Aiko, I'm fine. It was a spur of the moment thing. I'm just fed up of them focusing on you so much. I know you don't like it. I know you don't want their constant attention."

Aiko looked down at their feet. She moved her head down from Danny's forehead.

"Aiko?" Danny asked. His hand reached out and slowly tipped her forehead up. "Are you alright?"

Aiko looked away and off to the side.

"Come on, what's up?" Danny asked.

"I'm, I guess, surprised," Aiko muttered. "Danny, that isn't you. It's not like you at all."

"Aiko," Danny began gently. "I know it is not like me. My job has changed me. My birthday is coming up, and I have to be able to do everything on my own."

Aiko sighed. She looked down at the ground and pulled her hood more over her face.

"Aiko, do you want me to take you home?" Danny asked softly. "It's been a long day, are you tired?"

Aiko watched her feet. Eyes wet for unknown reasons. "Where were we going?"

Danny placed a hand on each shoulder. "I was going to take you to watch the firework show, but… it's alright. We can miss it."

Aiko smiled to herself, eyes wet. "Let's go watch it."

Danny pulled her close and hugged Aiko tightly. One hand was on her back and the other held the back of her head.

Aiko's arms slowly wrapped around Danny. He was warm, comforting.

Aiko sighed. Her face was buried in Danny's chest.

Danny held her head close and rubbed her back. "Ready to go?"

"Yeah, sounds good." Aiko nodded.

Danny smiled and looked around. "Let's go before they start."

He took Aiko's hand and pulled Aiko along.

Danny started to pick up the pace as he looked back at Aiko, who had to start running to keep up with him.

Danny smiled turning back. Making one quick and sharp turn after another.

"If you get us lost!" Aiko threatened.

"I'm not!" Danny called back behind her.

Aiko sighed. She had no idea where they were.

Danny skidded to a stop quickly. He looked around to make sure they were alone.

He turned to Aiko, "We're here."

Aiko looked around. They were standing in front of over grown trees and plants.

"Danny?" Aiko asked.

Danny smiled and led Aiko into the forest area. Aiko sighed as she watched her step carefully. Danny was still pulling on her arm as the pair walked through.

"This is not fun," Aiko complained as she ducked under a low tree branch and then jumped onto a large tree root.

Danny only laughed in response. "Almost through."

Aiko sighed heavily and looked up at the night sky; she could hardly see it through the trees above her head.

"Ok, now we're here," Danny said as he stopped. He let go of Aiko's hand and moved some vines that were hanging down from the trees off to the side.

Aiko could hardly see past them.

"Ladies first," Danny insisted, smiling at her softly.

Aiko sighed as she gently put one foot forward, she had to push some of the vines out of the way herself.

She stepped through slowly. When she looked up she instantly felt shocked overtake her.

"Whoa," Aiko muttered as Danny joined her.

"What do you think?" Danny asked.

Before them; stood an old worn dock, that still looked sturdy enough to walk on. A large blanket of sorts had been spread out. The small pier had plenty of water below it.

Aiko smiled as she looked around. "How did you know about this?"

Danny started to walk over to the pier. "So, I was across the water the other day. Kind of to see the fishing port and check things out."

"I noticed this place," Danny went on. "Fishermen told me it was just an old abandoned dock. So when I figured out where the firework show would be, I thought that maybe this would be a cool place to watch the show."

"Is it going to give out under our weight?" Aiko asked slowly.

"I don't think so." Danny sighed. He was now standing on the pier and Aiko was still on land.

Danny stomped on the pier a few times. "Should hold us."

"I'm blaming you if I fall in," Aiko informed as she slowly stepped onto the dock.

"That is fine with me," Danny said as he took her hand and led her out towards the end.

Danny easily sat down on the blanket and leaned back on his back, one hand on his stomach and the other behind his head. Looking up at the sky.

Aiko stood beside him for a minute before she lay down next to him. She laid her head on Danny's stomach as a pillow, intertwined her fingers and laid them on her stomach.

Danny didn't complain. He just smiled down at Aiko.

"You know, I love you." Danny smiled as the first firework was shot into the sky.

His hand that had been rested on his stomach now played unconsciously with Aiko's hair.

A few more went up and exploded before Aiko answered. "Yeah, I know, I love you too."

A few were shot up at the same time. Each exploding within seconds of each other.

"They're beautiful." Aiko smiled. "Good idea."

"Thank you." Danny smiled. "You know, it's going to be fun. All the celebrations and festivals. Spending time with you and then slipping away like this. Hiding out and enjoying the show when our official jobs are over."

"You've put a good deal of thought into that," Aiko remarked.

"Haven't you?" Danny asked, his voice was slightly confused.

"Well, not really," Aiko admitted. "I've been focused on the now. We've got a lot of work to do."

Danny nodded to himself. "Twenty days until the wedding, and twelve more days of working on preparations before you get whisked off and we can't see each other."

Aiko sighed heavily. "It's exhausting to think about."

Danny sighed also. "You are telling me." He stated simply.

Aiko laughed. "No one is more tired than you."

"Yeah," Danny agreed. "Worn out."

Danny free hand stopped messing with her hair and reached down and took Aiko's hands. "I'm excited to marry you, start our lives together."

"Me too." Aiko smiled. She took her hand in hers. "I'm excited."

Danny gave Aiko's hands a squeeze. "What are you looking forward to the most?"

Aiko watched as more fireworks shot into the sky and exploded. "Hm… I'm not sure."

"Pick something." Danny pressed on.

Aiko thought about it to herself. "I'm looking forward to spending more time with you." She decided. "I guess I'm also getting excited about other aspects outside of our marriage. Like…" Aiko trailed off.

"Like what?" Danny asked.

Aiko thought to herself for a minute. She was not looking forward to meetings. Ceremonies didn't seem like they'd be a bother, maybe they could be fun.

Nothing about being queen seemed appealing.

"You don't have an answer to that, do you?" Danny asked.

Aiko sighed. "Yeah, I don't know." She sighed. "I mean, I am excited about everything, it's just I'm not really sure what I'm going to be spending all my time doing. You have a constant desk job… but what do I do all day?"

Danny thought about it for a second.

Aiko watched the fireworks as she played with his hand.

"I'm not really sure." Danny sighed. "I'm still trying to figure out how my schedule will look once my birthday comes around. Right now, there really isn't a constant schedule. I just do stuff when I can."

"Do you think things will calm down soon?" Aiko asked.

"Yeah," Danny smiled as he watched the show and played with her hand. "I believe they will.

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