Note/s: This is written for the first day of Jashi Week 2021, for the theme "Battle Through Time". If you haven't played this game...you should.

Spring Grass

Ashi's lashes fluttered open and she cupped a hand to her mouth to stifle a yawn. She pushed herself away from the warmth at her side and smiled at the peaceful expression on her husband's face. The sight of which filled Ashi's heart with joy as she never tired of seeing it. His eyes, once shadowed with turmoil, were closed in utmost contentment, lips curled up into a small smile. He looked so much younger and carefree, the burden of the world no longer heavy on his shoulders. Strands of his long ink-black hair flowed gently with the wind.

Ashi would have continued to let him sleep undisturbed, but he had an appointment to keep with his parents that same morning. In hindsight, it would have been prudent to have postponed their little excursion for another day. But Jack had been so excited like a child, eager to show her the beauty of his homeland in the light of dawn. It was his favorite spot, a small cliffside on the edge of the forest that overlooked the valley, surrounded by hills and mountains and sky.

They had stood under the boughs of a solitary cherry tree in bloom and watched the sun rise, its rays penetrating the cold misty veil of the new morning. Ashi looked up, past the gaps between the branches overhead, to study the sky. It was almost midmorning in her estimate. They needed to make haste.

Gently, she nudged his shoulder. "Jack. Wake up. We need to get back."

Jack's eyes squeezed tightly with resistance but gradually opened as he straightened his back against the tree, arms falling away from where they rested on his knees. He shot her a haughty glare with one raised eyebrow.

"Impatient woman. We have only been married for a week and you are already showing your true colors, ordering me around."

Ashi rolled her eyes. "Pardon me for waking you, your highness."

"Let me rest a bit more then." He declared, making good on his word as he promptly resumed his position and slumped back into sleep. His eyes remained stubbornly closed even as Ashi pushed against his shoulder once more, this time none too gently.

"You've rested enough. Get up. We or rather you have to see your parents, remember? I don't want them to think that I'm keeping their son from his responsibilities."

Jack opened one eye. "Well they are correct in that regard. Shame on you."

"Shame on"— Ashi shook her head in disbelief, watching her husband stretch himself. "You! You're the one who insisted we come here—and the one who dozed off first!"

Jack ignored his wife's sputtering and began to muse aloud, stroking his chin. "I seem to recall being kept late last night. I wonder why."

"Still your own doing!" Ashi huffed, playing along to her husband's baiting. "I cannot believe you are the same man who got flustered just touching my hand." She paused as she reflected upon the memory. Then, she smiled. "We have only been married for a week and you are already showing your true colors."

He laughed and wrapped one arm over her shoulders, bringing her closer to him. "My beloved wife…" He said, pressing a kiss against her temple, earning him a soft giggle. Ashi's humor swiftly died, however, when she felt his hand slip inside the top of her gi. Her eyes immediately sought his face, wide and scandalized.

"What are you doing?!"

"Hmm...the breeze feels nice." He said with an innocent smile as his hand cupped the fullness of her breast. Ashi's mouth dropped open. Having been roused before dawn, she had drowsily omitted her sarashi from her wardrobe, thinking they would return shortly. Without her binding, she was completely bare underneath from the waist up. Her thoughts paused in wariness when she realized the same applied from the waist down.

"Jack!" She admonished, grabbing his wrist. "We're outside!"

"The blossoms are lovely this time of year." He said, carrying on with his molestation until he found a hardening point of interest.

"You're horrible!" whined Ashi, but despite her words, she found her grip slacking as Jack shamelessly rolled the nipple between his fingertips. Against her better judgment, her traitorous body welcomed his exploitation. She sucked in her lips as she arched forward to his touch.

"This must be your influence." Jack sighed with crestfallen eyes as his hand momentarily retreated. Then, without warning, both his hands grabbed hold of the panel flaps of her gi, pushing it down to fully reveal her shoulders and breasts. "I was an honest, virtuous man until you came along."

"Is that a complaint?" Ashi's voice hitched as she found herself backed further against the tree. He twisted himself around until he was on top of her like predator to captured prey. Ashi had to tuck her legs closer to herself to accommodate his proximity.

"Hmm...I forget my thoughts." He murmured, lowering his head to her bosom. "My mind is going…" He nuzzled his face in between her breasts, his lips dragging softly against her skin as though grazing from it.

Ashi stared at the crown of his head, a smirk dancing on her lips. "Well, that's no surprise considering your advanced age."

She giggled when his face flashed up, eyes large with comical disbelief. "You would insult your husband?"

"Perhaps." She teased.

"Well then…" Jack shook his head gravely, as though coming to a difficult decision. "I must punish you thusly for your insolence."

Ashi was about to make another cheeky remark when he pushed her left breast to his mouth, his lips closing around the dusky tip.

A moan tore from Ashi's breath, his lips closing around the tight bud, moistening it with wet flexes of his tongue as he sucked with an erotic rhythm. There was a smug glint in his eyes when she glanced down, made even more obnoxious when he tried to mask it with an innocent questioning expression.

"Don't...look at me like...that, you...lecher!" She managed breathlessly.

His mouth unclasped from her nipple with a loud pop, then regarded her with mock exasperation as though she were uncouth. "Ashi, please. Your slander is unfounded." Jack smiled down at the glistening red crest of his doing and flicked it with his finger, causing Ashi to flinch and whimper.

"I am merely performing my marital duties." He said. "Such a burden." Chuckling, he renewed his sensual assault on her other breast while kneading the former. Ashi's mouth formed a circle as she squeezed her eyes shut.

Since their wedding night, Jack had committed himself to mastering every carnal pursuit onto her body. Approaching it with the same mindset of learning a new skill or martial art.

Their wedding night—their first experience had been initially slow, full of timid laughter and tentative touches, acquainting themselves with the new form of intimacy. But as the night went on, the intensity of their exploration had gradually increased. And their inhibitions had soon given way to a burning passion.

Ashi felt her legs quiver from both memory and the present, a flood of warmth trickling down from between. Jack, like an opportunistic fox, seemed to sense this, letting go of one breast to trail below her obi.

His mouth hummed around her nipple. His hand slipped through the panel of her gi to access her smooth skin. He stroked her hip before making way to the prize he sought.

Ashi failed to stifle a moan when his fingers began stroking the slick folds of her center. She threw her head back against the tree bark and found herself opening up to him, spreading her thighs to grant him undeterred access. Jack arranged himself accordingly, aligning himself between her legs, doubling as a blockade to shield her from view.

His fingers slid languidly between her wetness, his knuckles deliberately bumping up against her most sensitive area. Then, without warning, he entered a finger inside her and pressed the pad of his thumb onto her sensitive pearl. He watched her face when he entered a second finger, taking satisfaction from the desire that made her mouth tremble and eyes water.

His fingers pumped with efficiency, causing more of her nectar to sluice out, forming narrow rivers down his forearm, her sweet scent rising up to his nostrils. His sleeve was beyond damp when he added a third finger. But this time, Ashi resisted, her small hands pushing against his chest, causing Jack to cease but not pull away.

"That's enough!" She whimpered, her cheeks burning with embarrassment. Then, with conviction added. "We need to head back."

"I am the prince of this land." Jack replied, affecting an edge of aristocratic boredom to his words. "I can do whatever I want now."

"My." Ashi snorted, pulling up the front of her gi to cover her breasts. "Who knew saving the world would turn you into such a spoiled brat?"

His mouth quirked up to one side as he leaned his head forward, his hair falling from the sides like curtains. He stopped until their noses touched. Ashi, although flustered, kept firm in her resolve as she stared back at him.

"Ashi." Jack said, his voice suspiciously melodic. "My fingers are still inside you."

A flick of a wrist and he gave her the much needed reminder. Ashi tossed back her head with a whine. She could hear the rapid, slick movements of his skilled fingers, coaxing out a spasm from the bundle of pulsing nerves within her that only he could locate. His mouth landed on her neck, seeking the pulse beneath her ear.

Ashi dug her fingers onto his shoulders, as blinding pleasure took hold of her, until she shivered and overflowed. Her legs were still shaking when he finally withdrew his hand. He slanted her a lascivious smile as he wiped his fingers clean on her sash. This earned him a sharp slap on the wrist.

"Pig!" Ashi snorted, but her reprimand did not last, breaking into soft giggles. Jack laughed along with her, wrapping his arms around his wife as she buried her face into his chest.

When they finally sobered, he helped her up onto her feet and located their sandals. When he placed her pair to her feet, she did not slip them on and instead kicked them aside before taking a step back.

Jack straightened himself back up to find Ashi reaching for the lowest hanging branch of the tree. Before he could ask, she pulled herself up, feet momentarily dangling from the ground before she captured Jack's waist with her legs, pressing him close against her. The spindly branch dipped from her weight and she was nose to nose with him. The astonishment in his eyes was met by the determination in her own.

The lower part of her gi split open, naked legs and thighs on display, brushing seductively against his clothed body. Slowly, she moved her lips down to his own, softly whispering, "Well?"

She felt his smirk as his fingers danced up her legs to grip her hips.

Jack felt a thrill gather in his throat as he ground up against her, his body aching to have its fill of her. Quickly, he removed a hand to unfasten his own restraints, yanking off the sash of his gi to leave it fully parted and all but tearing off his fundoshi.

Ashi clucked approvingly, welcoming the length of silken steel pressed against her, melded between her wet softness.

Jack made a deep, guttural sound as he rolled his hips, bucking against her warmth. Ashi obliged him, reveling in the outer friction that made her shiver. Her body was far more prepared than she when he at last penetrated her. She felt a rush of air escape her lungs, so sharply that she almost believed it to be her soul.

She did not have time to dwell on it as Jack dug his fingers into her buttocks, pulling her closer until she took all of him to the hilt. Jack stayed in place where he stood, barely having to move to derive his own pleasure, simply pushing and pulling Ashi's suspended weight.

Ashi held on to the thrashing branch as Jack quickened his pace, grunting with need as he drove her onto him again and again. Leaves and petals scattered from above like rainshower. The tension she felt in her arms were surpassed by the pleasure coursing through her.

Jack lifted his face, his lips crashing to meet her open mouth, barricading the senseless words that gushed forth. He continued to seat himself inside of her, pushing and pulling to meet both their needs. She sank her teeth on his lower lip, earning a primitive growl that she felt within the marrow of her bone. He paid her in kind, tongue and teeth clashing like a delirious storm, only tearing away when the intensity reached its peak. Jack let out a guttural cry that sounded almost like a whimper.

His fingers dug deep into the skin of her backside as he made one final thrust. Ashi held her legs tighter around him as her arms slowly released the branch to cling on his neck. She waited for him until he was fully spent and kissed his brow tasting of sweat.

Jack took a moment to catch his breath, the exertion leaving him winded but not enough to sap away the strength from his knees. He gave her a winsome smile before finally disengaging from her. Ashi could barely stand on her own and had to lean against Jack's side.

"Wait." She said after fixing their clothes. "I need to lie down…"

She stretched herself onto the grass, the sunlight warming her face as she closed her eyes, her body still thrumming with gratification. Ashi wondered if this was how it felt to be a goddess. Before she could chase the idea further, something soft brushed against her cheek. She opened her eyes to find a storm of flowers raining down on her from a shaking branch too unnatural and tremulous to be caused by the wind. She laughed as the perpetrator's face came into view a moment after.

"What are you doing?" She asked, blowing silky petals away.

"You deserve flowers." He said softly. "If it were possible, I would make spring never-ending for you."

"I don't doubt it." Ashi muttered as she sat up, removing more of the flowers from her person. "But I must decline."

"No?" Jack sounded taken aback as he settled beside his wife. He was obviously proud of his romantic statement. "Why?"

Ashi rolled her eyes and as she pressed her cheek against his shoulder, a content sigh preluding her words.

"Because I'd rather enjoy the rest of the seasons with you."

Her heartfelt answer earned her a kiss, which led them to fall back to the grass once more. It was close to noon when they finally collected themselves. A fact that greatly amused Jack as his forgotten parents came to mind.

"Now see what you have done, wife." He teased. "You have made us late."

The End.