Chapter 10: The Promise
They ran past buildings and through vaulted courts, Ashura leading the way. Tenou found it difficult to keep up with the deerlike figure, but nevertheless when Ashura vaulted up onto a balcony, Tenou was right behind. They stopped before a locked door. It was made of heavy wood. Ashura opened clenched fingers and Shurato's blade slid completely free. Her eyes were blazing with fire. As Ashura reached for the door, Tenou said, "Wait! Ashura! Do you really want to do this? Do you really want to see?!"
Ashura turned and Tenou took a step back. Madness glittered in the slitted golden eyes-- something far beyond ordinary jealousy or even rage. This is the Black Ashura, the Ashura I remember...
"Ashura!" cried Tenou in desperation. "These are the rooms of Shukidevi!"
Ashura spun back. One delicate, golden-bangled foot impacted with the warded door and it shuddered on its hinges. The next kick knocked it down and Ashura was through. Tenou followed grimly. Ashura strode through a second door, ripping down a curtain, into an inner chamber. Shurato hissed and spat, casting a golden light on the scene.
Shukidevi the miko was climbing to her feet, a fur covering her naked skin as she rose from the couch upon which Yasha lay still stretched out and frozen with astonishment. "--Ashura!" he managed, then regained his composure and sat up. It looked to Tenou like the two had been napping after a mighty love-battle, the musky scent of which still hung heavy on the air.
Ashura paused long enough to spare Yasha a single contemptuous look before turning to the miko. "You bitch! Yasha-- belongs-- to-- ME!" On the last word, the entire floor erupted in golden flames.
Tenou had the presence of mind to toss Yasha his black silk robe. The warrior-god donned it as he was scrambling to his feet. "Ashura! No!" he barked, reaching for Yamato as Shukidevi screamed.
No one else in the world can control my dark side... "Yasha!" cried Tenou impulsively, remembering those words on Mount Meru. Yasha, somehow intuiting Tenou's thought, did not hesitate but threw Yamato hilt-first to the Emporer. Tenou caught the heavy blade and was shocked by the feel of the sword. Yamato was alive. He felt the invisible tug of the weapon on Ashura, heard Shurato whisper in answer to its summons. He felt and understood, and directed all his will into the sword. "Ashura!"
Ashura was watching Shukidevi's frantic attempt to escape the flames. A smirk of cruel satisfaction marred the perfect features until Yasha plunged into the fire that could not burn him to drag the miko out. For a long moment Yasha and Ashura faced each other, Yasha's big hands resting on Shuki's heaving shoulders. "Ashura! She bears my child!"
Ashura froze in place, eyes dilated. Then: "NO! Only Ashura is Yasha's!"
Ashura's shock was enough to let Shukidevi abandon Yasha's protection and run for the door. Ashura sprang after her, but Yasha caught Ashura by one arm. "Ashura! Yasha clan depends on this child!"
Ashura whirled and struck Yasha hard in the face. "That is a lie! Yasha clan is not a bloodline!"
Yasha did not move, but his grip on Ashura's arm might as well have been made of steel. Behind him, Tenou gasped, all his might bent on the focus of Yamato as Shurato's blade was raised, hovering. Yasha stared it down. For the longest of moments everything seemed perfectly still.
Then Ashura abruptly tore free and ran.
At first both Yasha and Tenou thought Ashura was pursuing Shukidevi, but it was not so. Ashura veered in a different direction and ran on, barely visible in the dark ahead of them, an insubstantial shadow.
As they followed, Yasha panted, "Use Yamato!"
"I-- am--!" Tenou's teeth were clenched.
"Tenou!"
Suddenly the invisible bindings gave; Yamato screamed as if in frustration, and Tenou fell to his knees. "Yasha--" he gasped. "I-- couldn't. It won't work. Please, take your sword!"
Yasha caught up Yamato with one hand and Tenou with the other, barely missing a stride.
* * *
Ashura rushed through the Peacock Garden, leaving a whirlwind of scattered blossoms and broken branches behind. A pair of women on a moonlit tryst screamed and scrambled to get out of the way. Yasha and Tenou had fallen back, trying to force their way through the decorative thickets where Ashura had slipped like a spirit. Yasha halted for a moment and saw Ashura come to a skidding stop on the edge of the platform where lovers offered their flowers to the water far below. "ASHURA!" he roared.
But Ashura was gone.
Yasha and Tenou rushed down the marble steps. Yasha vaulted the balustrade while still high up, splashing heavily into the water. The pool was large and deep to contain the waterfall which spilled endlessly into it from the garden above. Tenou reached the bottom of the steps and ran along the raised stone rim at the water's edge, casting off his cloak in preparation to swim. Except for the moonlight and a few glowing plants, it was dark. Then Yasha surfaced and the light of Yamato shot through the blackness and reflected from every surface, turning the world into a many-faceted sapphire. "Can you find him?" Tenou cried.
"No! Help me!"
As Tenou dove into the pool, Yasha sank beneath the waterfall, holding the glowing blade of Yamato between his clenched teeth. It was almost impossible to see. The currents were hard and froth obscured everything. He followed the flow and Yamato's whisperings. Then, a flash of white. Ashura, still alive, he knew from Shurato's echo, pinned like a helpless butterfly against the intricately pierced stone grate which drained the pool. The current swept Yasha to his loved one and immediately he gathered Ashura in the crook of one arm, but their trailing hair caught in the grate. An awkward stroke of Yamato freed them from this trap, but it took all of Yasha's considerable strength to gain ground against the current. He slipped, sliding back; then Tenou's hand appeared from above. Yasha dropped Yamato and reflexively thrust Ashura upward, into the Emporer's grasp, even as he felt himself beginning to drown and realized what he had done.
Tenou stood in agony at the pool's edge, Ashura coughing and dripping in his arms. Yasha did not reappear. Tenou set Ashura gently on the floor and dove into the pool a second time. If Yasha were to die...
He found Yasha by the dimming light of Yamato, pinned to the grate just as Ashura had been. Leaving the sword, he grabbed Yasha's wrist and began to climb the stonework. The current buffetted them as though they were insects; he nearly screamed underwater as ligaments began to tear in his twisted arm. He couldn't hold on--
Then the flow suddenly stopped. Tenou burst forth from the water, hefting Yasha's body. Ashura was standing above them, holding a golden shield of light that deflected the water. When Tenou hauled Yasha out of the pool, Ashura collapsed, beginning to sob. It was clear that the cold plunge had brought Tenou's real sibling back "Y-- Yasha...! He is dying because of me! His heart... I cannot heal this for him quickly enough! Yashaaa!"
But Tenou knelt quickly and placed his mouth to Yasha's, forcing lifebreath into him. Yamato, in the blue depths of the pool, flared like a star, and Yasha began to gasp desperately. Tenou rolled him over and draped him over his good arm, pounding his back until he heaved up a great flood of water and took a huge breath. Then the Emporer delivered him into Ashura's lap, where he lay semiconscious, coughing painfully. "Ashura..." said Tenou kindly, rubbing his injured arm. "If you do not stop weeping, he will be drowned all over again!"
Ashura looked up with huge, hurt eyes. "Yasha... Why, Tenou?"
Tenou bowed his head. "Long, long ago, after the fall of my father's kingdom, when you were in the kekkai, young Shukidevi fell in love with Yasha-ou. She would watch him as he waited for you day after day, and wished that his constancy and love were for her. That was, and is still, her one wish in this world, and Yasha is her one love. But--" He held up a hand for Ashura to be silent-- "She knew that he is devoted to you alone, and that the love she dreamed of would never come to pass. As the years went by, she continued to watch him despite my orders against it... and I could not blame her. Who can bear to not look now and then at their only beloved, despite themselves?"
Yasha stirred a little in Ashura's arms. Ashura bent to kiss his forehead and stroked the wet strands of hair from his eye as Tenou continued the story. "When Shuki saw you throw away Shurato in the jungle, she knew her chance had come. She went to Yasha-ou in the night. She was the one who broke the kekkai you had placed around your sword. Did you never wonder how Yasha got Shurato back?"
"I... I thought his love for me had somehow done it."
"No, Ashura. Shuki's passion did it. But she did it for a price-- that she could have your Yasha for one night. When she told this to me, I was very angry, for I knew the sanctity of your promise. But that was later. At the time, Yasha had no choice but to agree, or forfeit your life."
Ashura's head was still bowed, ragged, dripping ends of hair hiding that fair face. "Then... You knew, all this time. You took me on your horse to give Yasha a chance to keep that other promise. You and Yasha arranged their meeting. Why?!"
"Ashura, you of all people should know that Yasha will always keep his promises. Even if it is a promise he doesn't want to keep. I only wanted to make it easier for both of you."
"I wonder if he ever doesn't want to keep his promise to me."
"Oh, no!" Tenou's eyes were filled with sadness. "Please, don't think that. Your Yasha loves you so much he will break his sacred promise to you to save your life. But not otherwise. Never otherwise. Shuki herself says this is true."
"That is why she hates me."
Tenou lifted Yasha without another word, ignoring the pain of his arm, and carried him back up the one hundred and eight steps to the level of their dwelling. Morning was just appearing through the skyglass above, and the soft sounds of japa could be heard coming from the temple complex. Once in their quarters, Tenou lay Yasha on a blanket and helped Ashura undress and dry him. Both siblings doffed their clothes as well and quickly towled themselves off, Tenou taking two robes from the well-stocked closet, flinging one to Ashura and donning one himself. Ashura's robe turned out to be one of Yasha's, and the sleeves hung a full foot too long while the train trailed behind like a black peacock's.
Yasha was finally coming around as they got him into the bed, but he said nothing, only lying still with eyes closed. Ashura bent, listening closely to Yasha's breathing. "He didn't get all the water out."
"I know." Tenou stood for a moment in concerned thought. "He breathed a lot of it. He may be strong, but that water could make him feverish nonetheless. You will have to watch him closely for the next few days." Tenou walked around the bed to sit down next to Ashura. "Are you all right now? No more Black Ashura?"
Ashura's face fell instantly into desolation. "It happened again. Didn't it. After all this time."
It was Yasha who replied, softly. "Yes. But it was my fault, Ashura. I betrayed you. I broke our promise."
"Yasha...! No..."
Tenou made as if to leave them to themselves, but Ashura reached out to grab his wrist. "Please stay. I... I need you here now."
The Emporer sat back down on the bed. "I am with you both."
Yasha cleared his throat to speak again. "You should hear this as well, Tentei. Ashura... It was not only my promise to her which drove me to this. Have you ever thought fully about our own promise?"
"Our promise is that we will stay together until the end of our lives," Ashura said.
"But what if I were to fail, to die before you? What will happen then?"
"Do not speak of such things! I forbid it!"
"Ashura--" Tenou interjected gently. "You must speak of these things. After all, Yasha almost drowned just now."
Ashura would not meet their eyes. "I... have thought of it many times. It is my greatest fear. I would surely die too."
"But what about Black Ashura?" Yasha suddenly began to cough violently. Ashura reached for him, but Yasha shook himself a little and managed to half-sit, leaning against a cushion. "I also think about it, every day. It is my greatest burden."
"Our promise is a burden?!" cried Ashura, stricken.
"No! No! I did not say that! It's what may happen, Ashura! Not even your own brother's love was strong enough to stop Black Ashura this morning. What will happen if I were, indeed, to die?"
"The end of everything." Ashura's words were almost inaudible. Then, quickly: "Kujaku should never have brought me back to life. Oh, Yasha--!" It was a cry of pure pain.
"Wait, Ashura. You will love Yasha's child!"
But Ashura was too lost for some minutes for the words to realize themselves. Yasha waited patiently, with Tenou looking on, until the time was right, then repeated himself. "You will love my child. You will love him because he is part of me. You would protect him if I were gone, and that would mean you would conquer Black Ashura as you did once before, for me."
Ashura's eyes brightened for only a moment, then faded to dull bronze. "Yes. Yasha's child is precious..."
"Yasha-ou," Tenou interjected softly. "Are you certain Shuki is pregnant?"
Yasha nodded silently as Ashura turned to the Emporer. "I can feel it now too, even from here," Ashura said. "But Yasha's child is not Yasha!" Then Ashura froze in shock as all hope died in Yasha's eye.
"Then my betrayal of your trust tonight was for nothing."
"No! No, You were right, it will restore the Yama bloodline!" Ashura had given up any remaining anger. "Yasha...? I know the Yasha clan itself is not a bloodline, but your Yama line of kings is, and you are the last one left except for this child. I will not be jealous any more. I promise."
"And I will never touch anyone else ever again. The bargain was struck to save your life. I should not have hoped that it could save you twice."
Ashura sat with a straight back, hands clasped between knees. "Yasha... let us make another promise. One that will remove the burden of your thoughts, and mine."
But Yasha took Ashura's hand between both his own. "Make me this new promise on the day we wed. Tentei?"
Tenou smiled gently. "I'm glad. I would never have wanted Shuki to come between you."
"Thank you."
Ashura was smiling now, too, a little shakily, wrapping both arms around Yasha's neck. "Thank you, Tenou." Then, suddenly, the smile vanished. "Tenou..."
"What?"
"I broke our promise, too. With Kama! Why did you make him my teacher? I couldn't help myself!"
"It is Kama who rules the destiny of gods and men, and I wanted you to feel his power firsthand, Ashura. I wanted you to see him and to know. He is strongest of all except for Mahadeva, the God. Stronger than Yasha, stronger than I."
"But why did he make your father and mine fall in love like that? Why did he drive Taishakuten to slaughter all those clans?!"
"Nobody knows. Ask him if you wish, but do not expect an answer. He has moved us all at one time or another." Tenou leaned forward to take Ashura's chin on his palm, lifting the delicate face so those golden eyes were looking at him steadily. "Ashura, I wanted you to see that the past was unavoidable. It wasn't your fault. You and I and all of us are only pawns in the hands of the God."
Ashura looked down at Yasha tearfully. "Then the God is evil."
"We cannot see all, Ashura," Yasha said softly. "Love, in itself, is never evil."
"Oh, Yasha...! I am so ashamed! I let Kama love me... And you forgave! But with you-- and Shuki-- I was not thinking like that at all! Only of myself!"
"Ashura, I have said this before. My greatest wish is for you to be happy. Your childhood was terrible, you wept more than you laughed, and I want you to be happy now instead. If you are happy, you are not betraying me. Only if you are unhappy, and do not tell me, are you betraying my trust, for then I cannot protect you."
Ashura looked down, picking at the satin blankets.
"You are inexperienced, love. You are still like a child, for though your body is thousands of years old, you have only been conscious in this world for a few years. And I do not love Shuki. She forced me into a promise that I could not avoid. Were she not a pretty woman, I do not know that I could have even fulfilled that promise!"
There was an awkward pause; then Tenou arose, and bowed to them deeply. "Yasha-ou, I will have your sword retrieved for you."
"Yes. Yamato is calling to me. Tentei--"
"Yasha?"
Yasha shook some ragged hair out of his eye, noting ruefully that both he and Ashura had been thoroughly trimmed by Yamato's blade. "Shukidevi said something to me. Is she Ashura's sister?"
"...No."
"But she is yours."
"Yes. Shashi was not her mother. Hannyara was. When my arm-- was hurt-- my father took her, in case another heir was needed."
"I see..."
Tenou sighed. "I should explain this. When I lost Ashura, my mother, and Kendappa-ou all at the same time, I nearly lost my will to live. Since then, I have never found another like Kendappa to love, and often I feel that I never shall. I do not know if I will leave an heir to Heaven's throne... So I helped you with Shuki for this reason also. Her father was my father. Yasha, your child will be the grandchild of Taishakuten, and the heir to Heaven."
They ran past buildings and through vaulted courts, Ashura leading the way. Tenou found it difficult to keep up with the deerlike figure, but nevertheless when Ashura vaulted up onto a balcony, Tenou was right behind. They stopped before a locked door. It was made of heavy wood. Ashura opened clenched fingers and Shurato's blade slid completely free. Her eyes were blazing with fire. As Ashura reached for the door, Tenou said, "Wait! Ashura! Do you really want to do this? Do you really want to see?!"
Ashura turned and Tenou took a step back. Madness glittered in the slitted golden eyes-- something far beyond ordinary jealousy or even rage. This is the Black Ashura, the Ashura I remember...
"Ashura!" cried Tenou in desperation. "These are the rooms of Shukidevi!"
Ashura spun back. One delicate, golden-bangled foot impacted with the warded door and it shuddered on its hinges. The next kick knocked it down and Ashura was through. Tenou followed grimly. Ashura strode through a second door, ripping down a curtain, into an inner chamber. Shurato hissed and spat, casting a golden light on the scene.
Shukidevi the miko was climbing to her feet, a fur covering her naked skin as she rose from the couch upon which Yasha lay still stretched out and frozen with astonishment. "--Ashura!" he managed, then regained his composure and sat up. It looked to Tenou like the two had been napping after a mighty love-battle, the musky scent of which still hung heavy on the air.
Ashura paused long enough to spare Yasha a single contemptuous look before turning to the miko. "You bitch! Yasha-- belongs-- to-- ME!" On the last word, the entire floor erupted in golden flames.
Tenou had the presence of mind to toss Yasha his black silk robe. The warrior-god donned it as he was scrambling to his feet. "Ashura! No!" he barked, reaching for Yamato as Shukidevi screamed.
No one else in the world can control my dark side... "Yasha!" cried Tenou impulsively, remembering those words on Mount Meru. Yasha, somehow intuiting Tenou's thought, did not hesitate but threw Yamato hilt-first to the Emporer. Tenou caught the heavy blade and was shocked by the feel of the sword. Yamato was alive. He felt the invisible tug of the weapon on Ashura, heard Shurato whisper in answer to its summons. He felt and understood, and directed all his will into the sword. "Ashura!"
Ashura was watching Shukidevi's frantic attempt to escape the flames. A smirk of cruel satisfaction marred the perfect features until Yasha plunged into the fire that could not burn him to drag the miko out. For a long moment Yasha and Ashura faced each other, Yasha's big hands resting on Shuki's heaving shoulders. "Ashura! She bears my child!"
Ashura froze in place, eyes dilated. Then: "NO! Only Ashura is Yasha's!"
Ashura's shock was enough to let Shukidevi abandon Yasha's protection and run for the door. Ashura sprang after her, but Yasha caught Ashura by one arm. "Ashura! Yasha clan depends on this child!"
Ashura whirled and struck Yasha hard in the face. "That is a lie! Yasha clan is not a bloodline!"
Yasha did not move, but his grip on Ashura's arm might as well have been made of steel. Behind him, Tenou gasped, all his might bent on the focus of Yamato as Shurato's blade was raised, hovering. Yasha stared it down. For the longest of moments everything seemed perfectly still.
Then Ashura abruptly tore free and ran.
At first both Yasha and Tenou thought Ashura was pursuing Shukidevi, but it was not so. Ashura veered in a different direction and ran on, barely visible in the dark ahead of them, an insubstantial shadow.
As they followed, Yasha panted, "Use Yamato!"
"I-- am--!" Tenou's teeth were clenched.
"Tenou!"
Suddenly the invisible bindings gave; Yamato screamed as if in frustration, and Tenou fell to his knees. "Yasha--" he gasped. "I-- couldn't. It won't work. Please, take your sword!"
Yasha caught up Yamato with one hand and Tenou with the other, barely missing a stride.
* * *
Ashura rushed through the Peacock Garden, leaving a whirlwind of scattered blossoms and broken branches behind. A pair of women on a moonlit tryst screamed and scrambled to get out of the way. Yasha and Tenou had fallen back, trying to force their way through the decorative thickets where Ashura had slipped like a spirit. Yasha halted for a moment and saw Ashura come to a skidding stop on the edge of the platform where lovers offered their flowers to the water far below. "ASHURA!" he roared.
But Ashura was gone.
Yasha and Tenou rushed down the marble steps. Yasha vaulted the balustrade while still high up, splashing heavily into the water. The pool was large and deep to contain the waterfall which spilled endlessly into it from the garden above. Tenou reached the bottom of the steps and ran along the raised stone rim at the water's edge, casting off his cloak in preparation to swim. Except for the moonlight and a few glowing plants, it was dark. Then Yasha surfaced and the light of Yamato shot through the blackness and reflected from every surface, turning the world into a many-faceted sapphire. "Can you find him?" Tenou cried.
"No! Help me!"
As Tenou dove into the pool, Yasha sank beneath the waterfall, holding the glowing blade of Yamato between his clenched teeth. It was almost impossible to see. The currents were hard and froth obscured everything. He followed the flow and Yamato's whisperings. Then, a flash of white. Ashura, still alive, he knew from Shurato's echo, pinned like a helpless butterfly against the intricately pierced stone grate which drained the pool. The current swept Yasha to his loved one and immediately he gathered Ashura in the crook of one arm, but their trailing hair caught in the grate. An awkward stroke of Yamato freed them from this trap, but it took all of Yasha's considerable strength to gain ground against the current. He slipped, sliding back; then Tenou's hand appeared from above. Yasha dropped Yamato and reflexively thrust Ashura upward, into the Emporer's grasp, even as he felt himself beginning to drown and realized what he had done.
Tenou stood in agony at the pool's edge, Ashura coughing and dripping in his arms. Yasha did not reappear. Tenou set Ashura gently on the floor and dove into the pool a second time. If Yasha were to die...
He found Yasha by the dimming light of Yamato, pinned to the grate just as Ashura had been. Leaving the sword, he grabbed Yasha's wrist and began to climb the stonework. The current buffetted them as though they were insects; he nearly screamed underwater as ligaments began to tear in his twisted arm. He couldn't hold on--
Then the flow suddenly stopped. Tenou burst forth from the water, hefting Yasha's body. Ashura was standing above them, holding a golden shield of light that deflected the water. When Tenou hauled Yasha out of the pool, Ashura collapsed, beginning to sob. It was clear that the cold plunge had brought Tenou's real sibling back "Y-- Yasha...! He is dying because of me! His heart... I cannot heal this for him quickly enough! Yashaaa!"
But Tenou knelt quickly and placed his mouth to Yasha's, forcing lifebreath into him. Yamato, in the blue depths of the pool, flared like a star, and Yasha began to gasp desperately. Tenou rolled him over and draped him over his good arm, pounding his back until he heaved up a great flood of water and took a huge breath. Then the Emporer delivered him into Ashura's lap, where he lay semiconscious, coughing painfully. "Ashura..." said Tenou kindly, rubbing his injured arm. "If you do not stop weeping, he will be drowned all over again!"
Ashura looked up with huge, hurt eyes. "Yasha... Why, Tenou?"
Tenou bowed his head. "Long, long ago, after the fall of my father's kingdom, when you were in the kekkai, young Shukidevi fell in love with Yasha-ou. She would watch him as he waited for you day after day, and wished that his constancy and love were for her. That was, and is still, her one wish in this world, and Yasha is her one love. But--" He held up a hand for Ashura to be silent-- "She knew that he is devoted to you alone, and that the love she dreamed of would never come to pass. As the years went by, she continued to watch him despite my orders against it... and I could not blame her. Who can bear to not look now and then at their only beloved, despite themselves?"
Yasha stirred a little in Ashura's arms. Ashura bent to kiss his forehead and stroked the wet strands of hair from his eye as Tenou continued the story. "When Shuki saw you throw away Shurato in the jungle, she knew her chance had come. She went to Yasha-ou in the night. She was the one who broke the kekkai you had placed around your sword. Did you never wonder how Yasha got Shurato back?"
"I... I thought his love for me had somehow done it."
"No, Ashura. Shuki's passion did it. But she did it for a price-- that she could have your Yasha for one night. When she told this to me, I was very angry, for I knew the sanctity of your promise. But that was later. At the time, Yasha had no choice but to agree, or forfeit your life."
Ashura's head was still bowed, ragged, dripping ends of hair hiding that fair face. "Then... You knew, all this time. You took me on your horse to give Yasha a chance to keep that other promise. You and Yasha arranged their meeting. Why?!"
"Ashura, you of all people should know that Yasha will always keep his promises. Even if it is a promise he doesn't want to keep. I only wanted to make it easier for both of you."
"I wonder if he ever doesn't want to keep his promise to me."
"Oh, no!" Tenou's eyes were filled with sadness. "Please, don't think that. Your Yasha loves you so much he will break his sacred promise to you to save your life. But not otherwise. Never otherwise. Shuki herself says this is true."
"That is why she hates me."
Tenou lifted Yasha without another word, ignoring the pain of his arm, and carried him back up the one hundred and eight steps to the level of their dwelling. Morning was just appearing through the skyglass above, and the soft sounds of japa could be heard coming from the temple complex. Once in their quarters, Tenou lay Yasha on a blanket and helped Ashura undress and dry him. Both siblings doffed their clothes as well and quickly towled themselves off, Tenou taking two robes from the well-stocked closet, flinging one to Ashura and donning one himself. Ashura's robe turned out to be one of Yasha's, and the sleeves hung a full foot too long while the train trailed behind like a black peacock's.
Yasha was finally coming around as they got him into the bed, but he said nothing, only lying still with eyes closed. Ashura bent, listening closely to Yasha's breathing. "He didn't get all the water out."
"I know." Tenou stood for a moment in concerned thought. "He breathed a lot of it. He may be strong, but that water could make him feverish nonetheless. You will have to watch him closely for the next few days." Tenou walked around the bed to sit down next to Ashura. "Are you all right now? No more Black Ashura?"
Ashura's face fell instantly into desolation. "It happened again. Didn't it. After all this time."
It was Yasha who replied, softly. "Yes. But it was my fault, Ashura. I betrayed you. I broke our promise."
"Yasha...! No..."
Tenou made as if to leave them to themselves, but Ashura reached out to grab his wrist. "Please stay. I... I need you here now."
The Emporer sat back down on the bed. "I am with you both."
Yasha cleared his throat to speak again. "You should hear this as well, Tentei. Ashura... It was not only my promise to her which drove me to this. Have you ever thought fully about our own promise?"
"Our promise is that we will stay together until the end of our lives," Ashura said.
"But what if I were to fail, to die before you? What will happen then?"
"Do not speak of such things! I forbid it!"
"Ashura--" Tenou interjected gently. "You must speak of these things. After all, Yasha almost drowned just now."
Ashura would not meet their eyes. "I... have thought of it many times. It is my greatest fear. I would surely die too."
"But what about Black Ashura?" Yasha suddenly began to cough violently. Ashura reached for him, but Yasha shook himself a little and managed to half-sit, leaning against a cushion. "I also think about it, every day. It is my greatest burden."
"Our promise is a burden?!" cried Ashura, stricken.
"No! No! I did not say that! It's what may happen, Ashura! Not even your own brother's love was strong enough to stop Black Ashura this morning. What will happen if I were, indeed, to die?"
"The end of everything." Ashura's words were almost inaudible. Then, quickly: "Kujaku should never have brought me back to life. Oh, Yasha--!" It was a cry of pure pain.
"Wait, Ashura. You will love Yasha's child!"
But Ashura was too lost for some minutes for the words to realize themselves. Yasha waited patiently, with Tenou looking on, until the time was right, then repeated himself. "You will love my child. You will love him because he is part of me. You would protect him if I were gone, and that would mean you would conquer Black Ashura as you did once before, for me."
Ashura's eyes brightened for only a moment, then faded to dull bronze. "Yes. Yasha's child is precious..."
"Yasha-ou," Tenou interjected softly. "Are you certain Shuki is pregnant?"
Yasha nodded silently as Ashura turned to the Emporer. "I can feel it now too, even from here," Ashura said. "But Yasha's child is not Yasha!" Then Ashura froze in shock as all hope died in Yasha's eye.
"Then my betrayal of your trust tonight was for nothing."
"No! No, You were right, it will restore the Yama bloodline!" Ashura had given up any remaining anger. "Yasha...? I know the Yasha clan itself is not a bloodline, but your Yama line of kings is, and you are the last one left except for this child. I will not be jealous any more. I promise."
"And I will never touch anyone else ever again. The bargain was struck to save your life. I should not have hoped that it could save you twice."
Ashura sat with a straight back, hands clasped between knees. "Yasha... let us make another promise. One that will remove the burden of your thoughts, and mine."
But Yasha took Ashura's hand between both his own. "Make me this new promise on the day we wed. Tentei?"
Tenou smiled gently. "I'm glad. I would never have wanted Shuki to come between you."
"Thank you."
Ashura was smiling now, too, a little shakily, wrapping both arms around Yasha's neck. "Thank you, Tenou." Then, suddenly, the smile vanished. "Tenou..."
"What?"
"I broke our promise, too. With Kama! Why did you make him my teacher? I couldn't help myself!"
"It is Kama who rules the destiny of gods and men, and I wanted you to feel his power firsthand, Ashura. I wanted you to see him and to know. He is strongest of all except for Mahadeva, the God. Stronger than Yasha, stronger than I."
"But why did he make your father and mine fall in love like that? Why did he drive Taishakuten to slaughter all those clans?!"
"Nobody knows. Ask him if you wish, but do not expect an answer. He has moved us all at one time or another." Tenou leaned forward to take Ashura's chin on his palm, lifting the delicate face so those golden eyes were looking at him steadily. "Ashura, I wanted you to see that the past was unavoidable. It wasn't your fault. You and I and all of us are only pawns in the hands of the God."
Ashura looked down at Yasha tearfully. "Then the God is evil."
"We cannot see all, Ashura," Yasha said softly. "Love, in itself, is never evil."
"Oh, Yasha...! I am so ashamed! I let Kama love me... And you forgave! But with you-- and Shuki-- I was not thinking like that at all! Only of myself!"
"Ashura, I have said this before. My greatest wish is for you to be happy. Your childhood was terrible, you wept more than you laughed, and I want you to be happy now instead. If you are happy, you are not betraying me. Only if you are unhappy, and do not tell me, are you betraying my trust, for then I cannot protect you."
Ashura looked down, picking at the satin blankets.
"You are inexperienced, love. You are still like a child, for though your body is thousands of years old, you have only been conscious in this world for a few years. And I do not love Shuki. She forced me into a promise that I could not avoid. Were she not a pretty woman, I do not know that I could have even fulfilled that promise!"
There was an awkward pause; then Tenou arose, and bowed to them deeply. "Yasha-ou, I will have your sword retrieved for you."
"Yes. Yamato is calling to me. Tentei--"
"Yasha?"
Yasha shook some ragged hair out of his eye, noting ruefully that both he and Ashura had been thoroughly trimmed by Yamato's blade. "Shukidevi said something to me. Is she Ashura's sister?"
"...No."
"But she is yours."
"Yes. Shashi was not her mother. Hannyara was. When my arm-- was hurt-- my father took her, in case another heir was needed."
"I see..."
Tenou sighed. "I should explain this. When I lost Ashura, my mother, and Kendappa-ou all at the same time, I nearly lost my will to live. Since then, I have never found another like Kendappa to love, and often I feel that I never shall. I do not know if I will leave an heir to Heaven's throne... So I helped you with Shuki for this reason also. Her father was my father. Yasha, your child will be the grandchild of Taishakuten, and the heir to Heaven."