Tutto A Te Mi Guida
Chapter 7- Wishful Thinking
Disclaimers: I do not own RK and its characters. Sole credits would have to be given to Nobuhiro Watsuki for creating these wonderful characters. Except for my own characters, I am merely borrowing them for a few pages. Please don't sue, I'm a good kid.
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Misao took a deep breath as she sheathed her kodachis. She felt strong for the first time in weeks, feeling her muscles tighten and uncoil with the familiar pattern of her kata. She shook her head in disgust at her mobility... still too slow! Her near brush with death and the nerve wracking blow from the lightning bolt badly damaged her coordination.
She sensed a hostile presence behind her back. Tensing in preparation for an attack, she tried to analyze the ki. With a sigh of disappointment, slid her kodachis up the long sleeves of her voluminous nightgown. The ki felt pretty weak and petty. Most likely the ki of a spiteful Englishwoman.
"You shameless slut! How dare you parade in your sleeping clothes!" hissed an infuriated female voice. Her voice was imperious and cultured, her tone clearly meant for Misao's ears only.
With a sigh of impatience, Misao turned around and faced her 'adversary'. She found herself looking into the face of a tall, voluptuous woman whose face was of an unforgettable magnetism.
"Gom-- I mean, I'm afraid you misunderstood the situation, lady. I am a guest in this house, I am not a courtesan or a hired lady," said Misao concisely, looking at the astonished lady straight in the eye. Obviously, the lady had not seen Misao performing her katas or holding her kodachi.
With a loud smack, the imperious woman has slapped Misao.
Reflexively, Misao slapped the woman back and drew out one of her kodachis in a split-second movement that made the woman's eyes widen in sudden fear. "I wish you hadn't done that," said Misao softly in a menacing voice.
"Good grief! Lady Clarisse, Lady Misao is my guest! I really wish you hadn't attacked her!" said Gavin as he walked up to the two ladies, amusement glinting in his clear brown eyes. He chuckled silently as he watched Misao release and sheath her kodachi in a flick of a wrist, completely ignoring a furious and shaken Clarisse.
Clarisse threw herself into Gavin's arms immediately, sobbing in pretentious fear. "Oh Gavin! It was so horrifying! She attacked me all of a sudden and pointed her ugly sword at me! Please kick her out of your beautiful home!" said Clarisse as she sobbed.
Gavin saw Misao clench her hands at the mention of her precious kodachis being ugly. With a disdainful sniff at Clarisse's clinging hands, she nodded tersely at Gavin before walking away, her movements lithe and supple.
"Who was she Gavin?" asked Clarisse with hatred flaring in her beautiful gray eyes. "Misao Makimachi, okashira of the Oniwabanshuu," answered Gavin stepping away from Clarisse's embrace. Clarisse gave Misao's retreating back with a venomous glare as she complained, "Goodness Gavin, you always insist sheltering such pathetic scraps of humanity! Remember your blue-stocking Spanish charge? So pathetic..." murmured Clarisse gauging Gavin's expression from the corner of her eye.
"I don't see anything wrong with females who use their minds rather than live for gossip and clothes," answered Gavin his expression shuttered and unreadable. Clarisse's mind worked in rapid motions as she inquired further about Misao and Gavin's mysterious charge whom for her part was rumored to have been proposed to by Gavin.
"This Misao seemed to be a bigger obstacle", mused Clarisse as she was escorted out of Gavin's sea-side estate. It looks as if she must pull a bigger tragedy that would send the Makimachi whore scurrying back to Asia, thought Clarisse with a malicious smile on her gorgeous face.
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"Why so insistent in going to England, Aoshi?" asked Soledad with an unreadable expression on her face. Surprised, Aoshi turned to answer, "I thought you wanted to see the whole world and I think there's something in England that's waiting for us."
Abruptly, Soledad turned her back and instead stared out at the sea. A few days ago, Aoshi spoke up about leaving Spain. Wanting to keep her polite yet distant friend, Soledad volunteered to go along and keep him company. Now she wants nothing more than go off at the nearest port. England was not her favorite place in the whole world.
"What's wrong?" asked Aoshi quietly, sensing the turmoil seething under Soledad's nonchalant manner. Soledad turned and gave him a weak smile but her thoughts were so far away as she answered softly, "It's just that... I've always viewed England as a place of great pain..." She looked up and met Aoshi's eyes, her own gaze full of past hurt and sorrow. "I found unsurpassed grief in England Aoshi, somehow I think you might find it too..." she whispered as she looked off in the horizon again.
Silence reigned as their thoughts were consumed by their own pasts.
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"Good morning Misao!" greeted Gavin cheerfully as he sat down beside Misao who was reclining against a huge evergreen tree. Misao smiled as she greeted back, "Ohayo gozaimsu-- I mean good morning Gavin," she said her smile widening a little.
It was a strange companionship they found in each other. Misao found Gavin's title as an Earl worthy of respect but not reverence. She calls him by his first name than rather 'My lord.' Gavin found Misao's respect gratifying since he long ago tired of people who revered his title simply because it held power and influence.
"I saw a portrait in your study Gavin... I'm wondering who the girl in white was. Her eyes were so vibrant, I couldn't help but gaze at her picture for hours," asked Misao idly twirling a kunai between her fingers. She felt Gavin tense at the question beside her and her instinct told her she hit a nerve.
"Just a little girl from my past," he answered and lapsed into a brooding silence. "From the looks of the portrait, she might not be such a little girl anymore Gavin," replied Misao as she flipped the kunai in air, catching it by its wooden handle. A long silence ensued and Misao strained to hear Gavin's hoarse whisper. "No, she's not a little girl... not anymore."
Misao glanced at the pain filled expression on his face and decided to drop the subject. She wouldn't want Gavin digging around her own past just as she did. She opened her mouth to apologize but Gavin's deep voice made her mouth dry at his sudden and terrifying question.
"Who is Aoshi-sama?" he asked gauging Misao's reaction as well. Misao stiffened and felt faint at hearing that beloved and much despised name once again. "I heard you crying out his name in delirium when I was nursing you back to health," explained Gavin feeling satisfied at catching Misao unguarded.
"A man-- a man from my past," murmured Misao her eyes looking bleak and desolate. Unconsciously, her right hand touched the necklace. Tracing the familiar contours of her pendant, she felt a little more at ease and tried to breathe easier. "He-- he left me and gave me this necklace as a final parting gift," continued Misao, her eyes was painful reflection of her thoughts.
Curious, Gavin took a closer look at the necklace. His eyes widened as he took in a well-known shape. The same rose shaped emerald and gold-tapered filigree. With expectant eyes, he turned the necklace over, oblivious to Misao's gasp.
Tutto a te mi guida
He felt his vision waver in an overwhelming sense of poignant memories. With a sigh, he released the pendant and leaned back against the tree, closing his eyes in remembrance of those forgotten days. The way she would knock at his study and bring in fresh tea every afternoon, reminding him not to work too hard. The way moonlight would highlight her dark hair with silver, her lips with moonbeams.
"Gavin, what's wrong?" asked Misao not wanting to intrude upon Gavin's seemingly memory filled world. With a sad smile, Gavin turned to look at Misao's shadowed eyes with concern so clear in their blue depths.
"You know Misao, when he gave you that necklace... maybe it wasn't a parting gift. Maybe it was a promise that one day, he'll come back to you," whispered Gavin.
A lone breeze swept through, carrying thoughts and dreams, hopes and old promises. Silence reigned as the past was intertwined too deeply in their present. "No, it was goodbye Gavin. I don't think he can ever learn to love me," answered Misao as she closed her eyes. "But maybe you do have other people waiting for you back home who care for you," he said before falling silent. Gavin suddenly stood up and offered his hand to Misao.
"I forgot to tell you that the reason why I came here is because I wanted to invite you as my companion on the Duke Havisham's ball. Would you honor me with your charming presence milady okashira?" asked Gavin. Misao gazed at his proffered hand in askance, memories clouding her vision.
Suddenly, she smiled. It was a radiant smile, a smile of renewed hope. She placed her hand in his, feeling suddenly revitalized. An old familiar light revived in the cerulean depths of her eyes. "All right. Just tonight... and then you'll help me find my friends. I have a job to do in Japan," she answered allowing Gavin to pull her up to her feet.
With a smile of renewed vigor, Gavin nodded in agreement," You've got a deal Misao," he said as he led Misao back to his estate.
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Nervously, Misao smoothed back her gown of royal blue velvet. Her hair was swept up high and entwined in the strands were ropes of diamonds. The only other ornament she wore is the necklace Aoshi gave her. She felt confident and nervous at the same time. What a strange rush it is, to finally be able to feel again.
"Daijoubu yo Misao, you look great," whispered Gavin patting her hand. Misao forgot her nervousness as she looked up in surprise at Gavin's cocky expression. Her eyes narrowed and she punched his arm lightly. "You knew my language all along and you made me at times stutter and feel foolish!" exclaimed Misao unaware that avid gazes were hooked onto their seemingly 'loving' display.
"That's her," whispered Lady Clarisse behind her fan as she stood next to an overdressed middle-aged man. With startled eyes, he gave Clarisse an imploring look. "Look, my lady, isn't my debt fully paid? I've ruined the other young lady with such success before, surely you can get another poor fool to do your 'errands'," he whined.
Clarisse turned to give him such a wrathful look he immediately began stepping away. "No! Unless I say that you're free, you're not! Now do it before I lose my patience! I want you to make it slow and painful," said Clarisse as she gave a mock smile above the silken slats of her fan.
She watched Misao conquer the ball with surprising ease. Her delicate beauty and innate grace called the attention of young swains. Her fluid moments caught and drew one's eye and even Clarisse found herself becoming besotted with the young woman in blue velvet.
"On second thought Chambers, you better save her for me. Give her a hard time but wait for me at dawn," Clarisse said before turning away to join the society.
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Misao found the ball enchanting. It was a thousand times more beautiful than the formal parties she occasionally attended in disguise at Kyoto. She felt her smile slipping at the thought of home.
"I sure hope everything's all right back at the Aoiya," she mused aloud as she nodded and tried to listen attentively to the Earl of something who was speaking to her.
"There's nothing back there for me except my... family. Oh goodness, I forgot about Kaoru-chan and Himura!" she remembered and began casting a look around the crowded ballroom. She couldn't stand the heavy perfumes and the rustling of silk and satin. She felt a sudden urgency to assure her friends that she was alive and well and that Aoshi Shinomori is a thing of the past.
A waltz was struck and Misao found herself swept up in Gavin's arms. "You seem troubled," he said, perceiving her thoughts. Misao gave a rueful smile. "I don't know what's wrong with me but I suddenly feel the urge to find my friends and go back to Japan. It seems as if I do have a lot of things left unfinished," explained Misao.
The haunting strains of the waltz made Gavin's understanding smile all the more poignant. "I see you've realized what really matters Misao," he said with an impish look in his eyes. With a sigh, Misao rested her head against Gavin's broad chest. Being held in his arms like this reminded her of all that she had lost-- her beloved Aoshi-sama but then again, as Gavin had said life is too precious to be wasted on regrets.
"Yes, I think I know what you mean now. There are people who care about me who I care about too," she whispered thinking of Jiya and the Oniwabanshuu. A sudden turn in the dance made her snap out of her thoughts as she looked up in surprise at Gavin. He winked slyly at her.
"Well mademoiselle, looks like this is going to be the start of your new life. Let me at least show you what England is made of before you hurry back home to where you belong," he said smiling as he began whirling her in circles.
Laughing, Misao smiled at him. A genuine smile of gratitude and caring. "Thank you for being so nice to me Gavin. I'm sure your young lady wherever she may be shares the same tender feelings of love and loyalty you have for her," said Misao slyly enjoying the startled expression on Gavin's face.
With a lofty smirk she answered his unspoken questions, "The Oniwabanshuu is an excellent network of spies. I do have my own means and ways of ferreting the truth, I am their okashira you know," she said smugly as Gavin laughed her audacity.
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Soledad mumbled curses under her breath as she stepped down from the dock. Never in her wildest dreams did she ever dream of returning to England! It held to many painful memories for her and the person she most determinedly avoided in the last three years.
"Are you all right Soledad?" asked Aoshi watching the play of emotions on his companion's face. "Fine," she answered tersely and pulled the hood of her cloak over her head. Aoshi shrugged and took a deep breath at the cold and biting air of England. He found himself huddling into his trenchcoat at the coolness of the country.
After walking in silence to a nearby inn he said, "You never told me England was so cold." "You never asked," she answered as she stopped by a respectable looking establishment. "Why don't we stay here Aoshi? From the looks of it, a storm is brewing," observed Soledad.
Looking up at the midnight-blue sky that was suddenly streaked by lightning, Aoshi nodded. "Aa, looks like a huge storm to me," he said frowning, feeling a strange sense of peril looming.
Jagged streaks of lighting colored the sky once more.
"Yes, a real storm," he muttered feeling a strange chill in the air.
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