Hi everyone! I'm SOOOOO sorry that it has been this long since I updated this story! I just couldn't seem to write anything at made me happy from my stopping point :'( I thought for a long time about just leaving it there and maybe letting a friend of mine continue it for you, but I FINALLY dug myself out of the hole I created and found a way to continue the story. I really have to say that all of your nice comments and continued pushing really got this going again and I intend to write until the end this time. Unfortunately I have to warn you, it will be slow going since I'm really bust right now with life and job and school, but if you keep sticking with me I'll keep sticking with you and we'll find out together what happens with Ariel and Katsumoto together okay? Thank you all so much you're so inspiring to me and I just have to tell you thank you!

Chapter 20

It took some wheedling and begging on Ariel's part but she finally convinced Nathan to take a walk with her outside. She felt so stifled in this small unusual house, especially sitting with Nathan who happened to smell like the back end of one of the pack mules. Not that she would tell him that to his face. Surely he would realize soon enough, like she had, that he needed to bath. But until then, she wanted to get out into the open air.

When Nathan had passed out, the lovely woman from before had lead her unresisting back to the room she had resided earlier so Nathan would have some peace. That didn't keep her from worrying about him however. The woman pulled back the paper doorway to the room for Ariel to step through, never once looking Ariel in the eye. 'Does she dislike me?' thought Ariel. Well of course she must dislike you, everyone in the village has probably heard by now you're in their country to fight the samurai. Ariel cringed inwardly. The woman with the cold eyes shut the door with a sharp snap and Ariel heard her footsteps retreating back down the hallway. Hopefully she was on her way to tend to Nathan, thought Ariel. She couldn't remember much from after the confrontation with the black samurai when she arrived at the village, but Ariel did hazily remember that woman's face swimming in and out of focus as she lay on the hard mat in excruciating pain. 'She was stitching up my wounds'. Ariel rolled her shoulders testing one of said wounds. It was still tender and sent a sharp pain shooting through her, but the skin didn't tear, which she had to admit was something. Ariel's vision focused on nothing in particular as she tried to force herself to remember everything she could about the time she was healing from her wounds. If she did that perhaps, she wouldn't dwell on thoughts of Nathan unconscious and bleeding out in the hands of the enemy.

The things she could remember where vague and unfocused , like she was seeing them through a cloud of thick smoke. The lovely blank face of that woman as she tended to Ariel's shoulder wound, and people talking with low voices in what must have been Japanese. She couldn't remember much other than that since the pain and fever had taken their toll. But there had been something else... something Ariel felt she needed to remember. She clutched her head and squeezed her eyes shut, trying with all her might to grasp it through the fog. She was standing in a magnificent garden overlooking a large glassy pond. The bright hues of autumn surrounded Ariel as she stood shivering in the crisp breeze in nothing but a summer dress. She felt an overwhelming sadness steal through her, like someone had a vise grip around her heart and was squeezing the life from it. It was like the feeling she had after being a part of the massacre of the poor Sioux tribe, complete and utter despair along with wisps of self hatred . Mixed into the reds, yellows, and orangey browns of the leaves on the tree beside Ariel, there was also one single green leaf. Green the color of grass in early summer bright and crisp and lovely among its garish brethren. With a horror she could not understand, Ariel watched as the leaf was pulled from the tree by the biting wind and sunk almost pitifully into the pond below.

Ariel opened her eyes with a jolt. That could not possibly have actually happened, she thought wildly. It must have been a dream. It wasn't uncommon for her to have nightmares after battles, but this one was different. Usually she would see her comrades and friends as they died around her as she was helpless to save them or the ones that plagued her the most. The dreams where she slaughtered innocent people, people who had been kind to her and who had thought of her as one of their own men, women, and children alike. Ariel reached up absentmindedly and touched her wet cheek. She realized with chagrin that she had been crying. 'I don't deserve to cry for them' she though wiping the tears away angrily with her sleeve. 'They were kind to me and trusted me and how did I repay them'. No considering how she had betrayed them she never deserved to be happy again. In all honesty, she thought she should have taken their place. The scene flashed before Ariel's eyes again, as if it had just happened. Bodies strewn all around her, bleeding out where they had fallen trying to flee mounted men. Left for the carrion animals, left to rot on the prairie that was their home, by the person they thought was their friend just because she couldn't disobey an order. Ariel threw a hand over her mouth, feeling like she was going to retch. She was so lost in her thoughts she didn't hear the soft steps approaching the door until it started to slide open. Ariel felt like she would die of embarrassment if anyone saw her like this, it was her burden to bare and she would not show how weak the memory of that day made her. Shoving her emotions down like any good lady could she straightened her appearance as quickly as she could and wiped her eyes again hastily, facing the door with a determined look on her face.

Ariel was brought back to the present as Nathan dropped his arm issue jacket into her lap. She looked up at him, her head tilted to the side telling him she wanted an explanation. "It was getting cold out there before we got ourselves captured. Do you really think I'm going to let you wonder around this god forsaken place without a coat?" As Ariel when to open her mouth to retort, Nathan cut her off, " If I hear anything that remotely sounds like an argument come out of that mouth of yours, I'm going to lock you in this damn room." Nathan almost wanted to laugh at the look of indignant anger that washed over her face as her mouth snapped closed, but he quashed it down hard. No he couldn't go letting her get away with too much while they stayed here. Ariel had a nasty habit of getting herself into trouble at the best of times, but right now they were in a remote village at the hands of the enemy. He had to be on guard. If she got herself into trouble here, there was no telling what might happen, and he couldn't fight off a whole village of warriors on his own with no weapon. If it came to that though, thought Nathan, he would protect her with everything he had. She was all he had left after all, the only thing that could make him happy since the start of the damn war. No, he thought looking down at her small glowering face, he would protect her no matter what.

Okay I know that this is really going slow for the Ariel Katsumoto romance, but I'm just having a hard time writing a believable, but fitting scenario for them to meet. It's been hard trying to balance out character traits and actions for a meeting. I want it to fit in with what I having going already, but I don't want it to be a love at first sight thing since that doesn't really work with the characters... Anyway be looking out for Ariel Katsumoto meeting in the next chapter or two! Thank you for continuing to read my story, you all are the best! Also some people have mentioned the story time line is off from real life and you are totally right! I was just writing this for fun originally so I didn't really look into many of the facts and timelines. It's just for fun so if you don't mind it being inaccurate please continue to read and enjoy!