Chapter Forty-Seven – Shingen's POV – A Promise For Tomorrow

Shingen sat outside the noodle stand until the wind turned cold. Spending time in cold damp air would no longer bring on another illness – but it wasn't a terribly pleasant way to spend the evening either. Or, rather it wasn't a pleasant way to spend the solitary evenings that were his status quo these days. In the summer, Sasuke had dragged him out to explore Kyoto's nightlife, and while he found the people and places fascinating to observe, but he never felt like he was part of things. He didn't fit. There was a lot about modern Japan to admire and enjoy, but this was not his time.

Tomorrow, when Sasuke returned from the observatory, they would have to sit down and come up with another strategy to locate Katsuko. He had lost patience with inactivity.

After tossing his food containers in the recycling bins – throw-away containers… another strange modern concept he'd had to get used to, he hiked back to the parking lot where he'd left the motorcycle. The seat and the helmets were soaked – apparently it had rained harder than he'd thought while buying his noodle snack. He checked out the storage compartment under the seat and found a semi-clean rag to dry everything off.

No use stalling any longer. He climbed aboard then joined the few vehicles in line to exit the parking area as everyone grimly prepared to leave their outings and return to whatever daily grind their lives served up.

On impulse he glanced back at the mountain path for one last look at a place he knew was special to her. At dusk, it was difficult see much, but walking toward the parking lot was a figure wearing a kimono, rather than the jeans and puffer jackets most of the hikers wore.

Was she a product of his own wishful thinking; or, had the greasy rag he'd used to wipe off the helmet distorted his view?

It was almost as if she'd stepped out of his memories – she was as bedraggled as she had been the day they'd met, with that same defiant set to her shoulders that said, 'the world can keep throwing things at me, and I'll throw right back.' Just like that day, there was an intent look on her face as she likely was formulating a strategy for how to survive whatever situation she'd found herself in.

There you are, Devil. There you are.

He turned the bike around and circled to the bus stop, where she had stopped to read the schedule. A hundred poetic greetings clashed for supremacy in his head, but his mouth settled on the short and to the point, "Need a ride?" It was the first time in memory that he'd failed to access any of the smooth flirtatious openings he had stockpiled.

She turned around, defensive, fists clenched.

Helmet.

He removed his helmet, and watched as that defensiveness evaporated, replaced by joy. Again, nothing glib was coming to mind, just a semi-plaintive, "It's about time you got here, Devil."

She formed his name on her lips, too quiet to be heard, then she was in his arms. Finally. Again.

There you are.

Here you are.

You are here.

She was in his arms. There was her face… her cheeks…her hair… he wanted to touch her everywhere, brand the valleys and plains of her features into his hand. Then the need to fit her to him, cocoon her in his arms, took over. He welcomed her back with a kiss, the voice inside that always cautioned him to be gentle was overwhelmed from the start with the intense craving for her. It had been more than a year. Gentle was not possible. If they hadn't been surrounded by tourists and hikers, he would have carried her into the trees and taken her on the soft blanket of fallen leaves.

Surrounded by tourists and hikers. Right. Surrounded by tourists and hikers.

"I missed the taste of you. Not even this century's chocolate can compare to one moment on your lips." He held her again, that initial rush of intense unwavering desire merged with the simple longing to hold her, to breath her in. He let his chin rest on the top of her head. There was time now. The desire, the want could wait. A little while, at least.

Katsuko leaned back and looked up at him. "Are you ok now? Your illness? They could treat it here?" There was a mix of hopefulness and fear in her voice, and the defensiveness had returned to her posture as if she were preparing to shield herself from a blow.

"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 her hair out of her face, and this time the gentleness came easily to him. Fear had led her to her actions, he needed to calm that fear before they could move forward. "It was a benign lung tumor, but it was pressing against my throat, causing the chronic pneumonia. They removed it surgically."

The relieved smile lit up her face. It occurred to him that she did not smile often. It wasn't that her natural expression was sadness or anger… or what was the term Sasuke had used to describe the thoracic surgeon? Resting bitch face? No, none of that would describe Katsu. It was more that her features, when not schooled into the businesslike impassivity that suited a messenger, or a scout, reflected an intensity, excitement, passion for whatever task was at hand. She could deal out a teasing grin, lips quirked with mischief, or let her mouth relax into a soft contented line. But a true smile from her was rare, and he always felt gifted when he saw one.

She clung tighter to him, resting her body against his, fingers stroking his arms, and once again he had to remind himself – tourists and hikers. "You learned how to drive a motorcycle in three months?"

Three months? Did she not realize? "A year. It's been over a year."

The smile changed to an expression of panic. He could see her struggle to process that before suddenly she let go of him and would have slid to the ground had he not scooped her up in his arms. "Katsuko!"

Alerted either by his shout, (or perhaps he looked like a serial killer with his latest victim in his arms?) the family packing up their car nearby looked over at him and started chattering over each other. The woman got out her phone.

He hurried to reassure them before they called 110 and involved the police. "My girlfriend fainted. She was very tired after a long hike." Given the shadows of exhaustion evident on her face, it was very likely true. "Do you have any water?"

Their son scrambled to open a cooler which had not yet been packed into the car, while Shingen carried Katsuko over to the closest bench. Her breathing seemed to be ok, and – he felt her forehead – no evidence of fever. "Katsuko. Come on, Devil, wake up. Katsu."

In a moment, she stirred and opened her eyes. She looked around – seeming more embarrassed than ill. "It's ok. The thought that I was stuck in that thing for over a year kind of… freaked me out. Oh… thank you!" The little boy from the family handed her a bottle of water.

With shaking hands, she twisted the cap off and gulped down the water. Shingen held her tighter. After all this, he refused to lose her again. How long had it been since she had had anything to eat or drink? Where had she been?

"Maybe I was dehydrated too." The rest of the bottle was emptied.

"What I think, is that you're exhausted." He held her until there was a bit more color to her face. "Let's go home." The hotel wasn't home, but any place where they could be together was in a sense a home.

He hoped she knew how to be a passenger on a motorcycle… hoped even more that they wouldn't be stopped by the authorities, as he didn't have a passenger license. But he wasn't about to wait for Sasuke to get…

Sasuke.

While Katsuko settled herself behind him – thankfully the rental had come with an extra helmet – he sent off a quick text to Sasuke. She's here! There was no immediate response – he was likely still driving, and had his phone safely hidden in the glove box. "Ready?"

She wrapped her arms around him, and they were off. In some ways, two people on a motorcycle was far more intimate than two on a horse, as they needed to lean their bodies in tandem around curves. The hotel was only a few kilometers away, and the ride was over far too quickly – but they'd take longer rides in the future.

Yes. He had a future now. They had a future. We have a future.

By the time they reached the hotel, Katsuko was asleep on her feet. Ignoring her tired protests that she could walk, he carried her up to the suite, juggling her and the key card. "I can walk," she repeated.

Probably yes, but he liked carrying her around, especially now that he had normal lung capacity.

Once inside the suite, Katsuko perked up a bit at the sight of the bathroom. "Oh. Running water. Bliss."

"You want a shower, don't you?" He was fond of that device himself, although he admitted a greater fascination with flush toilets. In fact, he'd been having fun trying to figure out how to rig such a thing in Tsutsujigasaki Castle.

"Yes. So very much yes." She drifted into the bathroom, and Shingen sat down on the bed to wait – and to keep an ear out in case she fainted again. Sometime in the future – again there was that tidal wave of happiness at being able to envision a future, especially one with Katsuko in it – he imagined sharing a shower with her. Many showers. But for the moment, he figured she only wanted to bathe off whatever horrors she'd experienced in the wormhole.

His phone finally buzzed with a text from Sasuke. As usual, it was full of abbreviations and emojis that Shingen had to think about to decipher. How? Did wrmhl open? Where wz she? Where RU? Should I stay here? This was followed by a picture of an … was that an eggplant?

He replied, in full sentences, and maybe that made him old fashioned (ha!), but he'd never gotten a handle on SMS, let alone emojis. No, come back. She's exhausted, but I'm sure she'll want to talk to you as soon as possible. I'm not sure where she was. Then, because he had to ask, What is with the picture of a vegetable?

Maybe it meant Sasuke wanted to know if he should bring in take-out? Hm, Katsuko was possibly hungry.

The text chime alerted again. Eggplant is fruit no veg. Thnk abut it or ask K. Followed by a lot of winking smilies.

The shower water stopped and her heard her rustling around.

"Katsu?"

"Yes?" She peeked out through the partially open door. She was wrapped in a large towel, her hair was streaming water, and he was almost transported back to that night at the lake when he had stolen a blanket from her and bargained for two kisses.

He waved his phone at her. "What does an eggplant emoji mean?"

"Who sent you an eggplant emoji?" Interesting. She didn't sound particularly happy there.

"Sasuke. He said you'd know."

"Oh." She blushed and directed a look toward the bulge behind the zipper of his jeans.

Ah. Well then. He laughed though his jeans were feeling tighter. "It only took me a while to figure out because I was distracted by the thought of you."

"Smooth."

"I try."

She disappeared back into the bathroom for a couple more minutes, then re-emerged with her hair bundled on top of her head. She was still wrapped in the large towel, and he was enjoying the mental image of unwrapping her like a gift, when she began rummaging through his open suitcase. She grabbed one of his shirts. "Stealing my clothes again, Devil?"

"You have several identical ones; you'll never miss it." Without any self-consciousness – or possibly she was still too tired to notice, she dropped the towel and pulled the shirt over her head in one smooth motion, then tugged it further down around her hips.

They had purchased modern clothing for her, knowing that if – when - she came through, she'd need something to wear, but the bags were in the back of Sasuke's vehicle. Shingen was happy to have her walk around like that, clad only in his shirt, but he figured that wasn't her preference – and, well Sasuke probably wouldn't appreciate that (or maybe he would – but in that case Shingen wouldn't appreciate that), so he unzipped the side pocket of his suitcase and found a clean pair of boxer shorts for her. They'd likely be far too big though.

She stepped into the boxers – yes too big – then somehow knotted the fabric at the side so they stayed up.

Then she wandered into the main room of the suite and looked out the window. The lights of Nagano glowed in the distance. "It's so bright. I'd forgotten what that was like."

He stood behind her, hugged his hands around her waist. She sighed and leaned back into his embrace. "Sasuke's on his way back – should I text him to grab some food? Or do you want something from the machine in the lobby?" He didn't want to leave her though, even for the few minutes it would take to get her a snack.

She looked confused, as if the concept of food was something she'd forgotten about altogether. That alone sent a pang of worry through him. "Maybe later." She yawned. Hopefully, she was simply too tired to eat. He led her over to the sofa, and she tucked herself under his arm. She fit there, fit in a way that no one ever had.

"I'll tell him to get something vegetarian, yes?" There wasn't a response. He realized she was nearly asleep. He watched her doze off, then jerk herself awake twice before he said, ""It will be a while before he gets here. Why don't you go to bed?"

"The shower woke me up. I have a second wind." She was obviously fighting off a yawn.

Stubborn devil. He could take care of that though. "Then, rest those pretty eyes for a little while until he gets here." Shingen drew his fingers across her eyelids, forcing them to close. He repositioned her until she was lying down, with her head on his thigh for a pillow.

And… she was out.

He ran his fingers through her hair. She mumbled something in her sleep, then shifted, revealing a long gash on her arm. It was rather deep, and still somewhat fresh, and why she hadn't even seemed to notice it was another worry altogether. He lightly touched the wound – it didn't feel hot, so it probably wasn't infected - yet, but it needed to be treated, somehow.

He was still researching "katana wounds" and "blood poisoning" when Sasuke arrived.

Sasuke, in spite of his (too often) repeated joke that he was a physicist, not a doctor, didn't think Katsuko's wound necessitated a trip to a clinic. "It's already started healing. Fascinating though. There's been a passage of a year both in this time and in the Sengoku, but the wound looks like it's no more than a day or two old."

She hadn't stirred, even when they doused the cut in antiseptic then spread a layer of antibiotic gel across it. Sasuke put some butterfly strips on to hold it closed. "Unlikely to need stitches, although it might heal smoother with them. Probably a little too late either way." Again, Sasuke flipped into theoretical mode. "Could it be possible that she ended up in a place where time had no meaning at all?"

Since the ninja-scientist looked like he was tempted to awaken her and ask, Shingen had simply picked Katsuko up and carried her into the bedroom. "Goodnight, Sasuke."

Katsuko always claimed she didn't need much protection, but he would protect her from nosy ninjas tonight.

After nearly fourteen hours of sleep, Katsuko finally stirred. Though Shingen had been awake for about seven of those hours, he hadn't left her side for more than the few minutes required to take care of certain biologic necessities. It was less about worry – she'd settled into her normal sleeping pattern and her temperature stayed cool – and more about making up for lost time. For the moment, it was enough to just have her next to him.

He put aside the game he'd been playing to kill time. "Sleeping beauty awakens." He felt gratified to see that smile bloom across her face. "If I could paint, I would do one of you in this moment – relaxed, sleep flushed, burrowing in my shirt." Burrowing might not exactly be the word he was looking for – the shirt was too large on her, and dipped at the neckline, allowing him to admire the curve and shadows of her breasts.

Katsuko's wit had caught enough sleep too. "Sleeping Beauty was awakened with a kiss."

Well then. He could fix that. He pulled her close and in his best impression of Prince Charming, placed a gentle kiss on her lips. She sighed into him, then molded her body to his, and forget gentle, he had to be with her now – it had been too long. Hands tangling in her hair, teeth nipping at her throat, he rolled onto her softness –

She made a tiny yip of pain.

The sword injury. Instantly contrite, he pulled back. "Damn. I'm sorry, I forgot about your arm."

Katsuko pushed up the sleeve to examine her forearm. The confusion was back in her eyes.

"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 – good, the wound didn't feel particularly warm under the gauze.

Comprehension. Katsuko threw off the covers. "Iekane went through the wormhole. I need to warn Sasuke!"

He tried to sooth her panic, and took her hand, easing her back into bed. "He knows. Last year, while I was still in rehabilitation, Sasuke went through at Togakushi to let you know how I was doing. Yukimura told him what happened."

She relaxed back into his arms. "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." If there hadn't already been roads, he likely would have worn a path between the two wormhole nodes.

He tried to keep his words impartial, but some of that worry and stress must have come through, because she placed her hands on his face, and said, "I'm sorry it took me so long."

"I never doubted you'd get here eventually." Shingen kissed the top of the bandage. "That said, I hope you're comfortable here in my arms, because I'm not letting you go again." He was only half-joking. "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!" She punctuated this statement by placing her cold feet on top of his.

He debated whether to let her know they had clothes for her. It wouldn't hurt her to rest an extra day or so in bed. Wouldn't hurt him either. But he'd been hearing Sasuke bumping around in the main room of the suite for the past couple hours, and it probably made more sense for her to tell her story to both of them at once. "That's one way to keep you out of trees, but not to worry. We did actually purchase clothing for you." He took her hand. "That's how certain I was that you'd find your way through."

"Thank you." There was a relief in those two words for far more than being assured of something to wear, and Shingen wondered at that.

"For getting you clothes? As much as I would enjoy the view, I realize you can't walk around half-dressed." Were it not for the fact that he was living with Sasuke, he might have encouraged her to spend more time semi-clothed. Katsuko had great legs.

"I meant, thank you for believing I'd get here. Especially after -." Her body tensed, and she gripped his hand tighter. "We – I – betrayed you and I wouldn't have been surprised if you never wanted to see me again."

Too much time had passed for his initial anger to linger. He knew they would be better served discussing the deeper issue that had led to the betrayal, because otherwise, they'd never move forward – and he wanted, very much, for them to move forward.

"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."

There were tears rolling down her face now. Shit. He'd made her cry. What had he said? What had he done? "Why are you crying?"

Her hands flew to her face, and she swiped away the tears. "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."

Yes, deeper issues. He suspected he knew what those were, too, but she likely needed to cry through everything to get to those realizations on her own. "I could tell that last week that something was tearing you apart. I know you didn't make that decision easily." He held onto her while she sobbed into his neck.

And cried.

He patted her on the back, while she sniffled and hiccupped.

"I'd probably do it again." The words came out stuffy with the aftereffects of her crying spell.

He kept her close to his chest and stroked her hair. This had all come about because he'd batted down the conversation whenever she'd tried. He hadn't wanted to voice what frightened him about the initial plan, and he'd known that she would have gone there. "You wouldn't have to. I should have listened to you instead of putting you off every time you tried." If he had allowed the conversation, then he would have learned earlier what that deeper issue was. "If I had known earlier what your mother had put you through – I might have realized what I was asking of you."

"She couldn't help it," Katsuko said, then flinched from the implication that Shingen could have helped it and hadn't. Maybe that had never been on her mind, but her past had informed every decision she'd made when it came to his health. "I meant-"

He was quick to reassure her – but perhaps only time would provide the reassurance that even a promise could not – that he had no intention of ever abandoning her, not by choice. "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, where he was getting an ache from this awkward sitting position. "The old part of that equation is quickly approaching."

He intended, in fact, to become an old man, although he would do his best not to become fat and bald.

She laughed as she eyed him up and down. "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 her chin, looked directly into those gorgeous eyes. "And you too?"

"Yes, I promise."

Good. She might be a liar, but he knew she had kept every promise she'd made. "I promise too, Katsuko."

Their kiss was a promise too, a promise for the future – one that would include both of them, no matter when they were.