Peri was already sleeping on her futon, her arm around Umikaze who was sucking her chubby fist. Sarevok stared at the ceiling, but could not get sleep. Too much was swirling in his mind. This was the land of Tamoko - the soil her ancestors had bled on, loved and lived, hated and died. The land of crystal rivers, fresh pine woods, volcanic mountains, swamps haunted by dragons, ricepads and the fleeting time of the cherry blossoms. The land that had always seemed to him like something magical and unreal, a place of legend, a paradise long lost as she spoke of it. And yet here it was... under his very feet, around him in its alien ways. The land he was bound to save now - or die trying.
- "Finally, Tamoko. Finally I am able to do something right by you. Would you like to see the land of your ancestors saved? I think you would," he said, smiling yet shedding one tear. "I will always love you, you know." For a moment he thought he could see a fleeting vision of the sad almond eyes, and an accepting smile on those once so familiar lips.
He was quiet for a moment, sadly reminiscing. Then he turned his mind into another thing puzzling him. The woman Mei... meeting her was so eerie. It was as simple as coming home, greeting one he had always known. As if all these events had led him towards that one moment, meeting of two souls. He knew, instinctively, that the woman felt the same. What was she, anyway? She professed to be no more than a frivolous decoration of the lavish court, a woman whose main function was to look pretty and entertain. But there had to be more to her than that. Not only that she was so knowledgeable about the prophecy, and had been there to greet them. The depths of the complex soul so apparent in those large dark eyes, the way she moved like a hunting feline beast. She was an enigma.
Sarevok sprang on his feet, hearing the crickets in the warm night from the window that was ajar. He walked to the end of the compound and noticed that someone was standing on the balcony there. Mei. He could instantly recognize her stature, small and slender but feral. There was something similar in her than in the half-elves of the West, but she seemed more deeply to be part of nature, the spiritual, that humans only superficially understood. That was because of their short lifetime, consumed by passion that seemed foolhardy and incomprehensible to more long-lived races. Perhaps Sarevok, too, would one day see things differently - if there was a future for him.
Mei just stood there, not moving an inch, her jet black hair glittering in the moonshine. It was piled on the top of her head, and a few strands falling down softened the artistic neckline. Sarevok felt an irrational urge to gently touch those strands, to press his face into that shiny hair.
Mei, for her part, kept gazing at the stars. She could sense the large gaijin - Sarevok - standing there, watching her. Such a large man... those shoulders so wide, the body lean and muscular. The golden eyes, the pain and ancient knowledge in them haunting her. If this was the man of Atsuko's foretelling - and who else could it be - he had been in the depths of Jigoku, and come back. He would have seen much no mortal man has seen - and would never, given the choice. He had said to the emperor he had been in 'the Abyss'. Perhaps it was the same thing. His was a soul of warrior's. It radiated the same kind of inborn honor she always felt in the spirits of the most noble samurai. Death was always in their wake too, for it was what they did. They were dealers of death. Therefore, it was so imperative that honor guided their blade. This man, gaijin or not, was worthy of the highest ancient traditions and privileges of the samurai. Now Mei could feel him advancing, stopping by her side. Mei could discern his scent. Cinnamon. Resined leather.
- "What are you, Mei?" Sarevok asked quietly.
Mei turned her head and tilted it, looking him deeply in the eye.
- "I am a soul in between. The spirit world is where my mother is from. She was the spirit of a bamboo grove in Shou Lung. The world of the mortals is the one my human father knew. I belong to both, and yet neither," she spoke serenely.
- "Yes... I met a man in Shou Lung, with inheritance like yours, a wu jen of some power. But he was content, he was part of a community of others of his kind. You have a restless soul... a soul that could never be content to simply decorate the court."
Mei smirked.
- "They night can have ears. Come to my chambers, and you shall hear the truth."
Sarevok followed her, noticing that her deep blue kimono looked very beautiful. It depicted a narrow boat on a river. Mei sat on her futon and Sarevok sat next to her, aware of the intimacy of being in a woman's bedroom.
- "Do you know what a ninja is, Sarevok?" Mei casually asked, not looking him in the eye.
- "An assassin, or a spy," Sarevok replied. Was the truth that mundane?
- "Yes... and that is what I am. But I am not just any assassin or spy. I do it for those who have no money to play the clan ninja. I serve Zetsubo, the goddess of those who despair, though I make my own decisions as to whom I help and whom not. My secret would be the death of me if anyone knew. In addition to you, only one person is aware of this." Her eyes glittered in the dark.
- "Oh." Sarevok didn't know what to say. It spoke volumes that she had chosen to tell him this. He became aware of Mei's scent, the herbs and spices of the Orient, and something like the bark of a tree. He felt the familiar ache in his loins... it felt like it had been centuries, and his blood raced so hot.
Mei came closer to him, her hands stroking the smooth large head.
- "I am mad," she murmured, "telling you my secret, laying myself open like a book... and yet, I feel no regret."
They melted into a kiss, sweet, moist, longing.
Suddenly Sarevok, his face full of horror and pain pulled off and sprang to his feet.
- "I... I can not! This can not be!" he whispered hoarsely and stalked off to his own chambers.
Mei gathered her blankets around her knees and sighed.
At his own chambers, Sarevok cried bitter tears, his face twisted in pain and sorrow.
- "I am so sorry, Tamoko. So sorry..." he whispered, and made a shallow cut into his arm with a dagger. The pain mixed into the pain of his soul, and made it more bearable.
