Chapter Forty-Six – About Time

Before I began my trek down the path to the lower shrine, I paused at one the cedar trees. The bark was still damp from the wormhole's storm and felt rough under my fingertips. These trees had always been my favorite part of the Togakushi Shrine area. Their massive trunks instilled a feeling of comfort in me. Permanence. Their roots had been in the soil for generations. But now, knowing that they hadn't been here during the Sengoku era, I felt the weight of those five centuries pressing down on me. When I'd originally been swept into 1575, the shock had kept me from thinking of anything except survival. Now, as I looked up into those giant 400-year-old trees, I felt lost. The cedars had grown up in between the then and the now.

Maybe I had too.

By the time I got to the middle shrine, I was already on sensory overload. It was so loud. I had forgotten how much ambient noise the modern world produced. From the roar of the planes overhead, the low hum of electricity, the people walking by talking on cell phones, and a distant sound of traffic, my ears were ringing.

To be honest, I almost wanted to take a nap. I couldn't of course. I needed to get to the entrance before the last bus left… and what time was it anyway? For that matter, what month was it? There had been a blizzard in 1582, and a mix of rain and sleet in that other timeline. But here, it was much more obviously Autumn. That didn't mean that it couldn't be the exact same date only hundreds of years apart – the blizzard Yuki and I rode through had been an early season storm, and global warming might have delayed winter here in modern Japan.

Below the middle shrine was a tourist information center with a small noodle stand. There was an American (or maybe Canadian?) group of tourists milling around the information desk, so I headed to the noodle stand, where the two clerks were gushing about some hot guy who'd been in there earlier. I waited patiently for them to notice me while they argued good naturedly about which of them he had smiled at more. "Oh, good afternoon. Would you like to order?"

Aware that I didn't have any money on me and likely made a ridiculous sight in my kimono, I shook my head. "Um, my purse was stolen, and I lost my phone – can you tell me what time it is?"

Both girls were horror struck at the idea of being without a phone, and one of them pulled out an android in a case decorated by images of what looked like a K-Pop band. I didn't recognize them. They were cute enough that I probably would have been into them if I had never time traveled. She unlocked the phone and showed me the time. Four-fifteen.

I knew I couldn't get away with asking her what the day was, but luckily that was visible on her phone too: November sixth. It had been closer to the equivalent of November 21 when I went through the wormhole. That meant I hadn't done a date-to-date travel. I wondered if it also meant Sasuke and Shingen were still in Kyoto, and not planning to arrive up here for a couple more weeks. "Oh, I'm sorry, I wasn't listening." I belatedly realized the girl had asked me a question.

"Did you want to get any food?" She buffed her phone on her arm, then put it back in her apron pocket.

"I wish, but stolen purse, no money." I turned to go, but gratefully accepted the cup of tea that they gave me, likely out of pity.

Once back outside, I sat down on a nearby bench – looked like someone had already wiped the rain away – sipped the tea and contemplated my next move. The date had basically confirmed that Kyoto needed to be my next stop, although it was late enough in the day that I doubted I'd be able to find an open antique store in Nagano where I could exchange my dagger for cash. I was going to have to figure out a place to sleep – sleeping in a bus or train station didn't hold any attraction for me. I'd rather slip off the trail and camp under a tree.

Tempting thought… but I was probably better off at least getting to Nagano and figuring things out from there. Maybe I could barter something at an internet café and find Sasuke online. Again, always assuming that I had managed to land in the correct timeline. I allowed myself a few more minutes to finish the tea before hauling myself to my feet. Alright, enough stalling. Get moving.

It took almost an hour to get to the parking lot, where a couple happy families were loading up their vans to head home after what probably had been a hiking outing. Several cars and a motorcycle were threading their way out the exit. Idly I wondered what had happened to Toshiie's moped that that had been left abandoned in this parking lot seven years ago. Hopefully, someone who needed it got some use out of it.

The bus stop was empty – I checked the posted schedule, good – there would be another one coming in about twenty minutes. Could I con my way onto it with the same story about having my purse stolen? Might be simpler to give the driver a sob story about losing my IC card on the trail. It was, more or less true, although the trail I had lost it on was over four hundred years in the past. Guess I still needed to put those lying skills to work after –

"Need a ride?" The motorcyclist had circled the lot and pulled up to the curb next to me.

I turned with a 'hell no, asshole' waiting on my lips when he removed his helmet and gazed at me through those intelligent grey eyes. "It's about time you got here, Devil."

Shingen.

His name was a whisper on my lips, then I threw myself into his embrace. He caressed my face, touching my cheeks, my eyelids, my forehead, then he buried his hands in my hair, as the abandoned helmet fell to the ground and rolled across the grass. Then he crushed me against his chest and kissed me hungrily until I was dizzy and gasping for air.

"I missed the taste of you. Not even this century's chocolate can compare to one moment on your lips." He enveloped me in his arms, resting his chin on the top of the head. We simply stood there and breathed each other for a long moment. If someone had walked up that moment and offered a billion yen to let go of each other, I do not think either of us would have taken it.

"Are you ok now? Your illness? They could treat it here?" To my untrained eyes, he looked healthier - vital… but I was so happy to see him that it may have been wishful thinking.

"According to a large team of doctors, I am now cured. But it took a long time, and I was in the hospital several weeks." He pushed my hair out of my face and looked down at me. "It was a benign lung tumor, but it was pressing against my throat, causing the chronic pneumonia. They removed it surgically."

Then it had been worth it. The knowledge that he was alive and healthy released that dark worry that had dogged my days and nights. Being apart from him these past three months had been difficult, especially not knowing if modern medicine could cure him, but he would live. He was going to live.

I held tighter to him, reveling in the solidity of his body against mine, the soft leather of his bomber jacket under my fingertips. I wanted to tell him about Toshiie, and Nao, but what came out of my mouth was, "You learned how to drive a motorcycle in three months?"

He stilled, and when he spoke, his voice was rough with worry. "A year. It's been over a year."

A year?

Had my encounter with the fog lasted that long? The memory of that first claustrophobic trip that spit me out into the wrong timeline overwhelmed me, almost as if the dizzying grey was taking over again. For a moment, I thought I might throw up, though after a year what would even be in my stomach? The overwhelming background noises faded away. I felt myself slipping into—

My girlfriend fainted. She was very tired after a long hike. Do you have any water?

Katsuko. Come on, Devil, wake up. Katsu.

But this time, there was a voice calling me out of the grey. I opened my eyes. We were on the bench of the bus stop, and Shingen was cradling me in his arms. At the look of sheer panic on his face, I tried to wave away the worry. "It's ok. The thought that I was stuck in that thing for over a year kind of… freaked me out. Oh… thank you!" One of the kids who had been in the parking lot brought me a bottle of water.

I downed half the bottle in two gulps, only just noticing how thirsty I felt, even after getting that cup of tea along the trail. "Maybe I was dehydrated too." I finished off the water, while Shingen kept his grip firmly around me. I didn't think I was likely to faint again, but I wasn't going to argue with being held.

"What I think, is that you're exhausted." Shingen pushed my hair out of my eyes. There was just enough vanity in me to worry about what my hair looked like after a year of not being brushed.

'Exhausted' might be going a bit too far, but since the rest of the evening passed in a blur, from the short motorcycle ride back to the hotel suite in Nagano that he and Sasuke were sharing; to a shower that I sleepwalked through, he might have been right.

I wish I had been awake enough to enjoy both of those experiences. Once clean and dry, and wearing a comfy Henley top that I borrowed from Shingen ("stealing my clothes again, Devil?" "You have several identical ones, you'll never miss it."), I was curled up on the sofa, tucked comfortably under Shingen's arm while we waited for Sasuke to return from the observatory in Nodeyama, where he'd been tracking all the wormhole activity.

It felt like I had been running from something and could finally stop. Running for years, maybe, since before I'd even gone through the wormhole. But maybe I had been running to something. To him.

"It will be a while before he gets here," Shingen said. "Why don't you go to bed?"

"The shower woke me up. I have a second wind." Then I gritted my teeth to fight off a yawn. There was a part of me that was afraid if I went to sleep it would all disappear.

"Then, rest those pretty eyes for a little while until he gets here." Shingen drew his fingers across my eyelids, closing my eyes with a butterfly touch.

I burrowed into his warmth. Mmm. Ok. Just for a min…

Warm bed… thick quilt… big pillow… I floated in a haze of modern comfort, then by slow degrees came to awareness that it was morning. When I opened my eyes, it was to see Shingen propped up against the headboard, phone in hand, intent on some sort of puzzle app. He turned, and looked down at me, his hair turned red by the sun shining through the window.

"Sleeping beauty awakens." He set the phone aside on the nightstand, where I couldn't help but be happy to see he also kept the puzzle box I had given him. "If I could paint, I would do one of you in this moment – relaxed, sleep flushed, burrowing in my shirt."

Someone's been catching up on fairy tales, I thought, before pointing out, "Sleeping Beauty was awakened with a kiss."

Without another word, Shingen pulled me close and brought his lips to mine in the gentlest fairy tale kiss that within moments became less gentle and more arousing. Ok. Yes. More of this. He swept his tongue into my mouth, and rolled over, his hot weight on me and –

Ow?

I hissed at the sharp tight pain in my arm. Shingen stopped immediately. "Damn. I'm sorry, I forgot about your arm."

What? I lifted my arm, pushed back the soft knit of the shirt to reveal a gauze bandage wrapped around it. I could see the faint hint of a butterfly strips underneath the gauze. I looked at Shingen, unspoken question on my lips.

"You had a gash on your arm. You were so tired you slept right through when we cleaned it up." He gently ran his finger around the border of the bandage.

Oh. Oh shit! I remembered Iekane whirling out of my blind spot and slashing at me with his sword. "Iekane went through the wormhole. I need to warn Sasuke!"

I threw the blanket off, intending to leap out of bed, but Shingen pulled me back to him. "He knows. Last year, while I was still in rehabilitation, Sasuke went through at Togakushi to let you know how it was going. Yukimura told him what happened."

So Yuki was ok then. I hadn't thought he'd have any trouble with those bandits, especially once Iekane was gone, but it was good to have confirmation. Shit. He must have been frantic when I went into the wormhole. "Then you knew I was in the wormhole somewhere and hadn't reappeared?"

"Sasuke has been monitoring the wormhole activity – there's been a lot of it – and we've been travelling back and forth between here and Kyoto, hoping you'd come through at some point." The words were matter of fact, but the concerned look on his face and the knowledge that I had been missing a year made me feel guilty for putting everyone through all that.

"I'm sorry it took me so long." Not that I had been aware of the passage of that much time. If I had known, would I have figured my way out sooner? Or would the 'messed up timelines' have kept me trapped no matter what I did?

"I never doubted you'd get here eventually." Shingen pressed a kiss over the bandage. "That said, I hope you're comfortable here in my arms, because I'm not letting you go again." He pulled me closer. "In fact, not only are you forbidden to leave my arms, I'm not letting you leave this bed."

"I'm not sure I can leave this bed – I don't have any pants!" I was not going to do the 1980s romantic comedy thing and walk around pretending a long man's shirt was a dress. Only Madonna could successfully pull that one off, and I am not Madonna. Nor did I want to put back on the sweaty and probably bloodstained Sengoku period clothes I'd been wearing when I arrived.

"That's one way to keep you out of trees, but not to worry. We did actually purchase clothing for you." He linked his fingers with mine. "That's how certain I was that you'd find your way through."

I'm glad he had had so much faith in me. More even than Tosh, who had accepted without questioning the news that I had been killed (by a bear!... No, I wasn't going to let go of that). "Thank you."

"For getting you clothes? As much as I would enjoy the view," he ran his hand along my bare thigh, "I realize you can't walk around half-dressed."

"I meant, thank you for believing I'd get here. Especially after -." Even thinking about it made the feelings of guilt return. "We – I – betrayed you and I wouldn't have been surprised if you never wanted to see me again."

"I can't say I wasn't angry, especially at first – but your actions saved my life. According to the doctors who treated me, even though the tumor was benign, the secondary illnesses would have been fatal if I had waited much longer." He rubbed his hand across his chest. "Sasuke had as much part in this as you, and I realized that once I forgave him, it would be hypocritical not to forgive all. Then you were missing, and all I wanted was to see you again… why are you crying?"

I was crying? I casually pressed my finger against my eye. Wet. Huh. I was crying. All I knew was that my emotions were exploding all over the place. "I don't know. I don't deserve your forgiveness because I'm not sorry. I mean, I'm sorry that we did things the way we did them, but I can't be sorry because you're better."

He gathered me to him and let me snuffle all over him. "I could tell that last week that something was tearing you apart. I know you didn't make that decision easily."

This was true, I hadn't, but… "I'd probably do it again."

He stroked my hair. "You wouldn't have to. I should have listened to you instead of putting you off every time you tried." Yes, he had done that. "If I had known earlier what your mother had put you through – I might have realized what I was asking of you."

Once again, he understood what was in my head before I did. If he had been of this century, or the previous one, I imagined he might have made a good therapist. Although the instances of transference would probably be epic.

"She couldn't help it," I said, almost automatically, then realized that implied he could have. "I meant-"

"I understood what you meant. I won't leave you. You're stuck with me, even when I'm a fat and bald old man." He rubbed his hand over the back of his neck. "The old part of that equation is quickly approaching."

I laughed at that image. I mean, sure it was possible given his eating habits, but, whatever – he'd still be him. "I'm good with that."

"From now on, I won't redirect you when you want to discuss the difficult things." He put his hand under my chin, so that I was forced (not that it was a hardship) to look into his eyes. "And you too?"

"Yes, I promise." I knew it wouldn't be as easy to do as it was to say, but I was as willing to do the work as he was.

"I promise too, Katsuko." He sealed those words with a kiss.

We would have sealed that promise with additional activity, had Sasuke not knocked on the door, apologetic, but impatient to hear what had happened to me in the wormhole. And, given what I had learned about the other timelines, I realized that a debriefing session was likely critical.