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The hill was near his village. Indeed, the familiar sight of the village itself was spread out below them on their right. He looked down upon the tranquil, relieving scene for a moment, but his gaze did not linger there.

Instead, he soon looked up. His gaze did indeed linger on the sight just before him. She looked back meeting his gaze a slight smile on her face and flower in her hair. Her form was lax and expression warm. She looked content …

He smiled back and crept toward her a few steps. Her smile widened at his actions. He felt his own smile stretch across his face in return. Then he reached up. He took her face in his hands before drawing her near. He bent his own head …

. . .

Loud laughter in the distance snapped him awake. It was Lord Noriyuki's. One of the Samurai quickly begged him to be quiet. It was not, however, Tomoe Ame.

The face from his dream was instead off to his left looking down at her katana as she sharpened it. She sighed seeming to feel his gaze upon her without looking up and meeting it. "I am glad to have recued you and Gen, Usagi san. Your swords will mean much to us. And the ruse probably helped us keep our full number a wonder indeed, a gift we have been able to thus do so far, but we have lost our armor, and it is still a long way from the city. Would that I had been able to silence the throat of the one who told my Lord Noriyuki that wondering so far from it was a good idea."

Usagi slowly rose to sit rather than lie on the mat he'd been sleeping on in the grass and moved off it to sit less than an arm-length from the cat. He reached out and placed a hand on her shoulder. She looked up and he realized their noses were too close together, but his sharp mind and instincts told him drawing back now would make things more awkward. "You have done well. Protected him well. Whatever happens stories should be told both of the horrors that brought a young panda lord to a throne in the first place and the actions of the brave, skilled, fearless Necko who kept him there so long at great odds. She is worthy to be in tales indeed."

Tears filled her eyes and he wondered she let them. Was she so tired as this, or was it him too close to her now, or did she truly trust him so much with her weaknesses? "Usagi, it would be so much easier if I had the best sword in the land at my side to help protect him! Hebi and Hekiji will never rest till he is dead and you know what will happen to the Geisha clan then! They did it to your own lands!" Usagi flinched, but remained silent as the cat continued. "Why will you not help me? They are your enemies! Any help you give us is dirt in the faces of those who killed your lord, your skill is invaluable, and even my lord loves you and calls you friend and risked us all to free you! How is all that not enough? Is it truly only that you served Lord Mifune first? Surely he was not so cruel in life you fear serving another now he is dead?"

"No, Tomoe Ame. I will not have you think him cruel. Indeed,his kindness to me then makes me hesitate, but all you say is true. There is another reason, and I fear our enemies know it already."

Now she drew back her eyes widened and drying. He could see her form harden as if for a fight. "What?"

He lowered his voice now looking down at the ground though he held his head very near hers. "In the village, they were using me as bait for Lord Noriyuki, but also for you. They believe you love me and hope you might even betray your lord for your passions."

He glanced up. She certainly looked passionate now. Her eyes sparkled, but like light glinting off neither the flat nor the edge, but the very point of a blade. Her form was stiffening, yet shaking at the same time. Heat poured off her too. And he felt his own feelings betraying him at the sight. How "is" she so beautiful when she looks ready to kill you?

He could have kissed her then and accepted whatever punishment she met out for it afterward, even painful death, but instead he drew back. "But I know, and the Samurai beneath you know, and your lord knows, your loyalty to him is unparalleled. I would never assume such a thing from you, but foolish, ever-hopeful enemies do."

"And how is that an argument against you serving, as a Samurai, my Lord Noriyuki?"

He flinched at the fury in her voice and turned round, wide eyes toward her. She continued. Her fury, shown by the glint in her eyes, stiffness in her form, and heart pouring from it did not seem to lessen. "For then it would mean several other warriors would surround you, and it would be harder for them to part you from us and hold you for ransom for whatever reason!"

Curse her sharp, strategic mind! She was going to make him say it yet! He opened his mouth to do so.

Then the goat healer approached and bowed and they both looked away from each other and toward him. He spoke calmly almost emotionlessly. "May I examine my patient now?"

"Yes," Tomoe Ame replied her fury falling from her, or perhaps it was court decorum falling over her, like a garment. She brushed some grass blades off those she wore now. "I will go and look things over now he is awake. It might give him time to think if you find no injury to his head to stop him from doing so." She then strode off without looking back at them. Usagi watched her and sighed.

. . .

Later, after the examination and looping walks around the campsite the healer had recommended he take, Tomoe Ame came to stand by his side. Her head and shoulders drooped. "Usagi …"

He glanced over at her. She sighed, her head still bowed. She did not lift it to meet his gaze. "Forgive me, I, who am so loyal to my living lord cannot imagine how it is for you. I know Lord Mifune meant much to you, and yet I blamed you for wishing to remain loyal to him."

Usagi remained silent as he gazed sadly at her. His broken heart was in his eyes. She didn't look back into them though. She finally raised her gaze to look off into the horizon instead. "Whatever decision you make to serve my Lord Noriyuki with me as his Samurai or continue always to wear the crest of your Lord Mifune, I will respect you for it. I am sorry if I made you think otherwise."

He looked away and a small smile lifted the corners of his lips a small light lit in his mostly sad eyes. "I heard Gennesuke chiding you."

She gave a soft laugh of her own. "Not many would dare to speak so to Tomoe Ame Sama."

Usagi shook his head, "Murakami Gennesuke dares many things he should not. He even went back on paying his latest debt on his latest bet."

"And how was that?"

Both Samurai turned to see the bounty hunter approaching their backs. Usagi grinned over his shoulder at him. "You agreed if you lost a fight to nine of their ninja," Gennesuke scowled darkly at him and Usagi raised a paw and continued, "And they did play a nasty trick on you, otherwise I think you would have won, my friend." Some of the scowl fell away and Usagi continued still further. "You would stay in the village until the time that lies just before us now." Usagi gestured toward where the sun sunk nearly touching the western horizon.

The rhino snorted. "'As his guest.' When your 'host' hangs one's companion up to be tortured without consulting or even sending anyone to inform you of it, I call that not treating one as a guest anymore."

Usagi stared at the rhino not sure whether he should be touched or ashamed. Oh Gen … Only you …

"Besides, that wasn't the last bet I made."

Usagi's eyes widened. What, when, where?

"I played some games with Lord Noriyuki this afternoon."

"You what?!" Usagi's hands came up to grip the sides of his face. He could feel his ears straighten above his head. How was Tomoe Ame, still at his side, standing there relaxed and even smiling slightly at him?

Gennesuke shrugged. "It was about time he learned what bets he can safely make and when he should do so."

Tomoe Ame broke in with only a soft growl in her voice. "Especially which ones 'not' to make."

Usagi's mind began to clear of panic. "How large were these bets?"

Gen shrugged. "Oh, not so much. Didn't add up to more rice than I can carry. The young ruler even won a few games."

Tomoe Ame's voice was now very soft indeed. "He didn't win back all he owed you, though."

"Nope, but I showed him how to spot a cheater."

Things began to make a little more sense to Usagi, and his form began to relax next to Tomoe Ame's. "I see."

"Yep, so I'll continue my circle of the camp now I know you two aren't out here shaming yourselves."

He turned and walked away. Usagi slapped a paw to his forehead and groaned. Tomoe Ame laughed. "The game truly did not amount to much debt considering all the wealth of my lord's lands. Gennesuke speaks truth. For, he did indeed show my lord how to spot the most common cheating tactics. I was glad, though, he did not go too easy on him otherwise. Gambling often makes fools of those who need to be wise. I thought it good my lord feel its inevitable bite before he grows much older … from a friend."

Usagi turned his gaze back to her a true, gentle smile on his face. "Your wisdom continues to amaze me, Tomoe Ame …"

She shrugged and moved off. "We will be moving again as soon as the sun touches the earth. The Komori will be able to fly soon." Her smile had fallen away. "And we all prefer to meet them on our feet."

What do you think?

God Bless

ScribeofHeroes