AN: I've been rereading Uncharted Lands to gather up information amongst other reasons, and thought I'd write this in the meantime. I'll mark this as complete for now, but I'm always up to write another era where these two meet and get up to shenanigans. Obviously it doesn't have to be M rated, but if any of you all would like to see a particular setting, let me know! I'll be swapping between Luka and Miku's perspective each chapter.

Part One – Gion

It was a game now, these meetings with Miku. Every time I leaped to a different era, no matter how many, we always found each other.

At first, we accused each other of following one another. Then, stalking. But as time passed, and we carried on finding each other like the river met the sea, we found that there was no reason or rhyme to it – we just were drawn to one another. Moth to flame, magnet to magnet.

This era, it began with a play.

I had decided to spend some of my time, though by this point I had begun thinking of time as a trivial thing, in early twentieth century Japan. Both mine and Miku's homeland, although the era we hailed from it was endless solar glass and greenery. Already having experience with traditional instruments and dance (for what must one do with endless life?) I had gone to this wholly different place with the intent to put my instruction into practice. With some knowledge, equipment, and the right words, I had cemented myself in Kyoto as a geiko of relatively high standing. Just enough to have sway, but not so much it would be difficult to wipe myself from records and memories afterwards. That wasn't really a problem, but I always thought it best to take precautions.

Of course, the best way to show off my skills was to take part in a performance. Dance and music coming together to form a beautiful story during the falling of the cherry blossoms, it simply could not be any less perfect, and my performance had to be the same. I had gained a prominent role, but not the best.

Which obviously was good, but I also felt a small pang of envy for the geiko that was to take the leading role.

Sat getting ready for the day in my apartment (I didn't live in an okiya, as this pretender geiko was able to afford such luxuries) painstakingly layering on my makeup, I read the letter of who was going to be in the various roles. At the top, in the lead role, the name Hatsune Miku was spelled out in bold ink.

Ah. So this performance was to be a joint venture, then. Not that I should have been surprised, but rarely had we been thrown together in such a close way. With my makeup ready, I called my dresser, and began the process of putting on my kimono. Rehearsals would begin soon, after all, and I still had to look perfect.

Especially if Miku was to be there.

When I'd arrived at rehearsals, I noticed her as soon as I opened the door. Even from behind, she cut a striking figure. While I had taken on the role of a geiko in this period, Miku was a senior apprentice – a maiko. Which meant she held the beautiful ofuku hairstyle, while I simply wore an elaborate wig for my day to day activities. Miku had always had a penchant for colourful things, and her kimono was no different, depicting the blossoms of spring in pale pink. Even so, she looked tired, which was no surprise given how uncomfortable it would have been to sleep with such outstanding hair. Not that anyone else could tell, but I had an experienced eye when it came to her.

I quietly moved past the others in order to walk by Miku, giving her the barest minimum of a nod while she had to bow deeply, given that I was her senior. That made me smile a little, rarely was she so submissive. There was a hint of a glare in her eyes as she straightened, but we were prevented from saying anything as rehearsals began in earnest.

The next few weeks were so gruelling that we didn't have any time to talk to one another as we were used to doing. Not only that, but given the time period, there was precious little we could do to talk to one another normally anyway. In our brief snatches of conversation, I'd found out she'd already secured a mentor, so I couldn't take that role to gain more time to spend with her. I would find a chance, however, and exploit it to its fullest extent.

Still, there was a slight ache in my chest as I thought of all the missed opportunities that I could've talked to her, even if only for a moment. I quashed it quickly, however. There was no use for such strong feelings when the time for the next leap came. There was a chance, although it was unlikely by this point, that we could never see each other again. We kept no contact outside of leaps, and Miku wanted it this way. I didn't have the heart, or the courage, to make it any other way. It was a game, and I told myself I was comfortable with that.

I was comfortable with that.

The day of the performance arrived, and with it, my nerves. Although I could leap and leave none of my presence here at all, it felt unfair to Miku. Though history would meld itself around my disappearance, a slightly different dance partner would make for an awkward performance. So, I clamped down on my feelings and waited for the moment to arrive where the curtains would rise and the show would begin. I had gotten rough sleep, as this was one of the Miyako Odori dances, I had to have my hair in the chuu shimada style. Which, unfortunately, wasn't a wig. Miku, on the other hand, looked effervescent as she floated into the backstage room, having gotten used to sleeping oddly to keep her hair in place.

Backstage was a flurry of nerves as we all took our last minute preparations and rituals. Nobody showed it outright, but the atmosphere was charged, buzzing with the ideas our intense rehearsals hadn't been just quite enough.

I tried to keep my eyes away, but they always settled back on to Miku. She didn't turn my way often, just furtive glances where I had to look away quickly so she didn't think I was staring. I couldn't think of a better word of how she appeared other than ravishing. All I wanted to do was to peel past those carefully constructed layers and see her properly one more time, before the next leap. If we didn't see each other again… I didn't want to end on cold terms.

Once everyone was ready, we got into position. Miku and I were performing first, along with a few others, but we were the leading roles. We were who these people had paid to see, since our faces were painted in loving detail on posters throughout Gion.

I bit down on my nerves as the music began to play. Each move was slow, precise, and had to be exactly so to generate the correct image. One had to be beautiful, almost like another creature entirely while also being the image of femininity. The notes of the shamisen plucked across the hall, and the sureness of my movements surprised me. I hadn't realised just how much I had memorised the dance, and Miku and I worked so well together it was like a dream.

Miku herself was captivating, and it was difficult to not just become one of the audience and just watch her dance away. Every time we grew close to each other on the stage, my heart began beating a little faster, and if my face hadn't been obscured by my white makeup, I would have been quite obviously blushing.

Once we were finished, there was a flurry of activity as we changed over, leaving us both backstage, tired yet accomplished.

'This is the first time I've managed to speak to you properly, isn't it?' Miku murmured, taking a seat on the cushion next to me.

'I suppose it is,' I said.

'I hear you're quite the renowned geiko. The name Luka is going to be favoured by Gion for a little while. At least until the next leap, anyway.'

'Are you planning on leaving soon?' I asked, hoping my voice didn't sound as needy as it did in my head.

'Tomorrow,' she said simply. 'I always wanted to dance like that. Now, I have my wish.' Miku stood up. 'I suppose there's a chance I'll see you wherever I go next.'

'Naturally,' I said. Was this it? Did she really want to leave without anymore words between us?

Did I really mean that little to her?

But I couldn't let it show. If I showed my feelings then she might fly away, and then we would never really be the same again.

Swallowing thickly, I looked up at her from where I was sat. She had a gentle smile on her face.

'Then I'll see you around, Luka,' Miku said, before walking away, the long tails of her obi drifting behind her.

'Maybe,' I whispered.

That night, back in my apartment, I stared at the device that would leap me wherever I wanted to go next. Through time and space, to the next portion of my endless life. It would wipe my presence as though I'd never stepped foot in Gion, as it would for Miku.

For the apartment itself, I wondered whether it would stay the same after I had gone. Probably not, as the trinkets, paintings, and various things I had collected over my time here were for me. I didn't know why I collected so many things, as I only ever took one back home before my next leap. Still, I thought it gave the place character, and I couldn't stand bare rooms.

A knock on my door brought me out of my reverie, and I opened it to find a familiar face.

'Miku,' I said, and she smiled.

'I thought now would be a good time to talk. We didn't get much of a chance, otherwise, and I felt a little bad.'

'Come in, I'll get us some tea.'

'Your maid isn't here?' Miku said, coming inside.

'I sent her home for the evening. I was planning to leap. I don't have much of a reason to be here now the dance is over.' I started the preparations for making tea, and as we waited for the water to boil, a silence grew between us. I wished that I had said the truth – there was no reason for me to be here now that Miku was planning to leap tomorrow. But… I couldn't. There was no courage in my heart to do such a thing.

'So…' Miku said, looking around my apartment, as I got up. The water had heated, and I poured out tea for both of us and placed it on the table with a soft clink. Part of me wondered whether she was going to ask where I was leaping to next. 'You looked beautiful today,' she said instead.

'… As did you,' I said, sipping my tea.

'We need to get rid of this hair before we go home,' Miku said with a little laugh. 'We may look beautiful, but I don't fancy walking the streets of our time like this before I leap next.'

'I can draw a bath, if you like,' I said, and Miku nodded.

As I busied myself with that, I knew what this night would end up becoming. At least we would be close, for a time, and for now that was enough. Or at least, that was what I told myself.

When it was ready, I called Miku, and as she came in the bathroom, I excused myself. She caught the sleeve of my kimono before I left, however, and with a smile, pulled me close to her. Leaving me breathless, our faces close but not quite close enough, Miku murmured.

'Do I really have to bathe all by myself?'

I looked down. 'I suppose not.'

Miku brought my chin up with the tips of her fingers. 'Hey. What's up?'

'Nothing,' I said, quickly. Too quickly, because her eyes narrowed. I had to lie. 'Really, it's nothing. I just met some good people this leap, that's all. I'll miss them.'

'Well… you don't have to think about them now. Come with me.'

Guiding me towards the bathtub, Miku began the long process of undressing me. As each layer fell to the ground, forgotten, Miku traced her fingers over my figure, her fingers ghosting over my silhouette. Once I was down to my white under robe, she teased it open and let it fall to the floor. She didn't touch me, kiss me, or anything like that, just looking at me with something akin to hunger in her eyes. Her gaze travelled up and down my body, and a pleasant shiver ran down my spine.

I went to untie her obi, finding the cord that held it in place, and Miku let out a small breath as it fell away. Once she was completely undressed, I held back from touching her, just as she had me, and Miku tilted her head.

'Another game to add to the collection?' she murmured.

'It won't be for long, if you stand there like that.'

Miku grinned, and finally, finally, came forward for a kiss. It was slow, languid, and it seemed we had all the time in the world for that one moment. I sighed into it, and her hand found the back of my neck, pulling me closer. When we came apart, Miku guided me into the bath, and I stretched out in the water.

'Are you going to stare at me all night or get in?' I asked, amused. She laughed, and made me move forward so she could slip in behind me.

Feeling her press against my back, I lay my head against her chest as we both settled. Humming, Miku began to take the pins and accessories out of my hair, and lay them one by one on the little table next to the tub. Picking up the hand cloth, Miku dipped it in the water and began gently circling my face. My eyes fluttered closed as she washed my makeup away. Once that was done, she began the arduous process of cleaning my hair, letting it fall down once more. I turned around to repeat the process with her, but Miku shook her head.

'What about the rest of you?'

I smiled. 'Surely you'd be more comfortable with your hair how it is usually.'

'And have you stop looking at me in the way you are now?'

Blushing, this time being no makeup to hide it, I shook my head at her words, but Miku just turned me back around and began washing my back.

Feeling the warm water, and her presence at my back… I wished that this time could last forever. But she didn't want that, and I knew in the morning she would be gone.

Her hands moved over my collarbones, and she pressed a kiss against my back before her hands moved lower, caressing my breasts lightly before moving to my stomach.

'Tease,' I said, and she just gave an amused hum.

I couldn't deny that I was growing flustered by her actions, though, and there was a slow, sinewy heat building up inside me that I easily welcomed. If only for tonight, we could be together. Miku carried on with her ministrations, moving up my thighs before stopping just before where I wanted her to touch and pulling her hands away.

'Go and dry off,' she said. 'I'll be with you in a minute.'

'But…' I started, wanting to feel her as she did me.

She shook her head with a grin. 'Like I said, I'll be with you in a minute.'

I sighed, knowing I wouldn't win the argument, and climbed out the bath, finding a towel to wrap around myself before I left.

As I went out of the room, however, I swore I heard a small sigh.

Traded breaths, hands tangled in hair, pressing ourselves closer just to be one with each other.

Miku swore as I kissed her neck, travelling down to press kisses along her collarbone and sucking, biting just enough as not to leave a mark. With a small growl, she pushed me back so I was lay on the futon, straddling me and biting down on my earlobe as a warning. Moaning as she licked where she'd bitten me, Miku claimed my lips with her own, pressing her tongue against my upper lip. I opened my mouth willingly, and she immediately asserted her dominance. Her hair fell around us both, loose and smelling of soap.

The coil down below was tightening, molten heat flowing through me as she kissed me everywhere, each one like a spark against my skin.

My thoughts, my feelings, they all went out the window as Miku found my nipple and bit down. Each time her tongue flicked in just the right way, I let out another breathy moan, while simultaneously trying to keep quiet so I didn't alert the whole of Gion to our activity.

Her weight on me, the heat coming from her, her lips back on mine… I found myself clutching to her, wanting her closer, close enough that we would never come apart again.

Miku moved down, looking up at me through her eyelashes before trailing kisses down my stomach, down past the small patch of hair… and then she stopped, and I could feel her breath on me as she spoke.

'So wet,' she whispered. 'So ready.'

Her tongue flicked out, and I responded with a mewl of pleasure even though she'd barely touched me.

But my thoughts couldn't stay away for long. After this, she'd be gone, and there was that chance I would never see her again. Could I say it? Could I say my feelings?

Miku, oblivious to my torrent in my mind, dragged her tongue up and I gasped, hands bunching in the fabric of the futon. I couldn't – I didn't have the courage, not now.

But I could be in this moment.

At least we had this.

Miku sucked, licked, rough and unrelenting, and I couldn't help but writhe and squeeze my legs together. She immediately pushed them back, holding on to my thighs and digging her nails in slightly. The air was filled with the sounds of my breath and Miku's ministrations, and as I was thinking that it was almost too much, so much of that intense pleasure, Miku slipped a finger inside me.

'Ah – ah, Miku, please…'

She stopped, her finger still inside. 'You want me to stop?' she said a little breathlessly, a grin on her face.

'N-no,' I breathed. 'Please…'

With that, she went back down, and I rocked with each thrust of her fingers. The pressure inside was building, an elastic band almost stretched out fully and ready to snap back. Miku found my clit and sucked, and I found my voice catching in my throat as I held my breath, the overwhelming feeling of my climax zapping through me like lightning.

As I lay back on the futon, panting, Miku crawled back over me, kissing me slowly until I opened my mouth and I could taste myself on her tongue.

She lay next to me, after that, cuddling up to my side.

'What about you?' I asked. Miku shook her head.

'Never mind that,' she said, like always. I closed my eyes, and soon heard her breathing grow heavier as she fell asleep.

There were so many conflicting thoughts in my head. I wished that we could've stayed like that forever, but I knew it was impossible in these circumstances.

I didn't know if I could change those circumstances, but I was so scared. I was at a loss, and I didn't want Miku to feel caged. She was the definition of a free spirit in my eyes, and I knew she didn't want this to be anything else.

And yet I couldn't separate myself from her. I couldn't spend all my life in my own time – I'd go crazy, but nearly every time I leaped, I met her.

I sighed, and closed my eyes, feeling them sting slightly.

I guessed that this would be my lifetime, this was my own fate I had built.

In the morning, Miku was gone.

Staring at my leaping device, I dragged myself over to my main living space in the apartment and picked an object to take home – one of my hair accessories. I left Miku's on the table as I pressed the button that would take me back to my time.

As usual, there would be nothing left behind. Our presence simply had never been, and those memories were only kept with us.