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Think out of the box!

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I stared after her, feeling more than annoyed. Who did she think she was? She was my fiancée! How dare she flirt with some pathetic butter vendor in the middle of the marketplace? And comparing his behavior to mine, finding mine lacking! LACKING!

Yes, I was furious. (A/N: And yes, he doesn't seem to notice that their meeting happened because of his own deed)

The thought brought me up short. Why would I be furious? It wasn't as if I was actually going to be married to her, if things went my way. I would be free to enter the world of commerce. She would be free to flirt as much as she wanted.

But that caused me some turmoil, too. The Sora I knew three years ago and so many more was not interested in boys, flirting, parties, or anything fitting for a noble lady. She didn't care about her appearances, perhaps because she was not much to look at back then.

I stopped. I couldn't say that about now, though. She was beautiful. Perhaps she *did* change. It was entirely possible. After all, she had gone from a broomstick witch to a captivating enchantress.

I sighed and stared up into the heavens. Did God hate me for some reason? Last I remembered, meetings with Sora weren't this complicated. Just loud.

Hauling the basket, I caught up with Sora, who ignored me. I looked at her. She seemed triumphant. Again.

Her cheeks were flushed and her eyes seemed to be sparkling with happiness. I watched as the gentle sunlight filtered through her hair, causing it to look as though it were glowing with some ethereal fire.

When I found myself staring at her with the dull admiration of a slack-jawed dunce (although I am NEVER slack-jawed), I made a mental note to slap myself silly when I would get the occasion to. I understood that she was pretty, beautiful even, but that wasn't supposed to render me senseless! My senses were always around me, though sometimes I wished that they weren't.

Life as a mindless vegetable must be pretty fun.

I sighed again and kept in pace with her. We walked in silence for a while in what I hoped was in the direction of the fruit vending area of the market.

A light suddenly flashed on my eyes, blinding me for a moment and I looked around, really looked around for the very first time, mostly because I wanted to scald the fool who blinded me momentarily but also out of curiosity. After all, a marketplace was the breeding ground of commerce, the kingdom that I will rule one day.

The thought of all that money lying in wait gets me uncharacteristically giddy sometimes.

There was a stall where a girl sat, selling a mirror to another fellow. The idiots must have been rotating their cheap mirrors, causing the sun to reflect its light. Hmph. They were young. No reason to see them dance on the gallows. Next to the shop was another one where wind chimes tinkled on the breeze. Some leaves were blowing on the wind and I watched them fly past, shooting into a meadow to the west. The sun was shining brightly there and a large willow tree swayed in the silent zephyr.

I closed my eyes and felt the breeze sweep gently past my face. The cool touch of the wind seemed to caress my soul and my irrational anger at Sora's flirting seemed to vanish, leaving behind it a gentle peace that I was quite unfamiliar with—particularly whenever I was with the Countess. No, peace tended to stay away whenever she and I were at least forty feet within each other.

But this was peace, and I liked that. Surprising, though. I normally thrived on conflict and adventure. I decided that my enjoyment of this peace was merely an effect of the mountain air. I've heard that too much is bad for the mind. (A/N: Or not.)

When I opened my eyes, I saw the Countess staring at me. "What are you doing?" she asked me, the scathing tone in her voice barely audible. She seemed a little flustered, for some reason, and her cheeks were rather pink. I thought briefly how becoming a look it was for her.

Not that I haven't seen her cheeks flushed before. There were far too many times when I have seen her cheeks flushed with inestimable anger, but that's aside the point. The point, I suppose, is simply that I have only noticed the beauty of it now.

I wondered whether I had to hurry home and wash my eyes. Such a sight must not be that brilliant.

I smiled at her, deciding to forget about giving her a nasty retort.

For the moment, at least.

I took her hand, ignoring her startled (and rather obscene—who knew that sweet, little Sora would have that sort of language under her possession?) curse and pulling her toward the meadow. If, by some (hopefully) slim chance, our plotting failed and Sora and I would have to get married, I would like to explore the place I would add to the growing list of land in my possession. I already own a large percentage of the lowlands, although my father has no idea of it. (Gambling gods, I will sacrifice you a lamb the next time I see an altar—only if it wouldn't be the wedding type.)

"Where are you taking me, Yamato?" she growled.

I grinned and pointed to the meadow. "Just over there, Countess. I'd like to see what's over there. Be a good hostess and show me around."

"Damn you, Ishida," she muttered. "We're supposed to be planning, not sightseeing."

"Actually," I interjected, "we're supposed to be replacing your ruined foodstuffs. The planning was just something we picked up along the way for a free price. No need for you to even consider haggling, Countess. The best quality of plotting has the highest price." I flashed her a charming smile. "Come with me over there, Sora. I just want to go to that willow tree for a while to rest. This basket is getting heavy."

"Little man getting tired?" she taunted.

I arched my eyebrow, continuing to pull her to the meadow. I was nearly a head taller than she was (Sora is tall, for a noble lady) and we Ishidas were known for our height and, of course, our good lookss. (A/N: OK, so TK wasn't exactly tall at first, but in 02, didn't you see that growth spurt thing going on?) I looked at the willow tree. It was beautiful…

And once again, the sharp retort in my mind was replaced by a certain serenity that I was beginning to feel had a nasty sense of humor. It seemed to be bent on cutting my tongue whenever I was set on setting the Countess on fire.

She was quite the fire hazard, wasn't she?

"Think whatever you like, Sora," I replied in a resigned tone.

"That's exactly what I do, wouldn't you know?" she laughed. "Why else do you believe I'm not one of the nagging simpletons we call noblewomen?"

I shrugged, still feeling mopey about the missed opportunity to inflame her. "Perhaps it's the color of your hair. I've heard that people with that color of hair have the stubbornness of an ox. Anyway, I've never seen its color before. It's a pretty color, though rather unusual, in a special way." I then blanched. Was my mouth just going on without anyone driving its reins? Did my mind take a rest stop and get left behind?

Damn willow tree.

I felt the Countess looking at me and I kept looking toward the meadow, ignoring the willow tree.

Hurriedly, I added, "Or maybe because you don't have the propriety to be demure and patient. You are intolerant and much too obdurate, so you learn nothing of comportment and decorum."

Sora then looked away huffily. "You are a churlish fop."

"I know that," I laughed. "You'll have to suffer the consequences, Sora. We all have our little faults, but we must keep them all well-hidden. Can't have them blaring out into the world, you see."

"Yours, however," she replied, "aren't so little. They aren't well-hidden, either."

We reached the willow tree and I stared at it for a moment before ducking underneath its leafy hair and into the little cave formed by its drooping branches. What was so special about it that I would lose my desire to argue with Sora whenever I stared at it? Not that I desired arguing with her. It might have been nice to simply have a nice friendly little chat with her unmarred by any bickering, for once.

I winced. The willow tree was talking to me again. All right. The first thing that I would do if I ever became the lord of this region would be to have this cursed tree cut off and tossed into the river where Sora had lost her basket after it had been flayed and charred for a few days.

I looked around. The willow leaves were blowing gently in the wind, filling the little cave with the sound of dancing branches. The grass here was much darker, although it was just as soft and springy as the ones outside. The trunk of the tree was old and gnarled, but its bark was smooth and strong.

And just as quickly, I forgot about my future itinerary for when the absurdity of my getting married to Sora would happen. (A/N: Did that make sense?)

I walked over to the trunk and laid my hand on it. A smile came to my face. "We have a tree just like this at home," I murmured. "Only it isn't as healthy as this one. It must be the mountain air, am I right?"

The tree we had at home was also populated with flesh-eating squirrels and giant rats, so I decided that this tree was much better.

I glanced at Sora, who shrugged nonchalantly. She was still standing among the drooping leaves, letting a bit of sunlight filter through. "I guess so," she muttered. "It's been here for so long now." She seemed strange.

I shrugged that off. Sora was strange for such a long time that it seemed rather normal now.

I sat down at the foot of the tree trunk, laying the basket beside me and resting my head upon the trunk. "Sit with me, Sora. While I'm resting, we can begin plotting our grand modus operandi. Any ideas?"

Sora reluctantly sat down a little away from me in a distinctly unladylike fashion. I didn't expect any less from her. "This was supposed to be my plan. Bribery through physical laboring for my father. He won't have to hire new maids if I do the marketing instead."

I wasn't able to hold in my laughter. It seemed to break through its reins and begin terrorizing the fields to the north. (A/N: Huh? Horse?) I tend to mouth off whenever things strike me as amazing intelligent or equally stupid. I'm like that sometimes. (But only sometimes!) "That's your brilliant idea?" I laughed. "I'm sorry, Countess, but that won't derail your father from marrying us, no matter how much money he will be saving."

Sora glared at me and crossed her arms over her chest, looking away irritably. "It was all that I could come up with, okay? It was that or suicide." She gave me a look. "And I won't kill myself for a moron like you."

"You could have run away," I suggested. I could have been spared from the heavy mantle of marriage. I would've thrown the mantle aside to the dogs—maybe they'd like getting married instead. But if they didn't, nothing would give me more pleasure than to see the cloak of doom in tatters among the dung piles.

"You could have, too," she snapped. "But you didn't either. I guess that both of us are too selfish to leave our rich lifestyles to settle as some beggar in the city. It's money over happiness this time."

I sighed, noting the truth in her words. Running away had occurred to me many times during the trip and there were many opportunities for me to do so (the horse wouldn't have told anybody), but I never took any of them. Money held too much of my attention and devotion.

"It would do us no good to say that we do not want to marry each other, either," Sora remarked. "Our parents are too determined to combine our houses that they won't listen to us. No matter how loud we will cry, they still won't hand us the empty bottle."

"That sounds wise, Sora," I murmured. "Although, we aren't babies anymore, so crying isn't the answer."

"Why are they marrying us, anyway?" Sora exploded. "It's not like each of our families is poor. We both come from very well-off homes, so what is the need in combining our two houses in particular?"

I had been wondering that, too, so I had a pretty good answer for her. (What other type of answers can I give?) "Countess, what I think is the reason for our marriage is the strategic division of land. The lands of my family are the nearest ones to yours, and it would be rather hard for one to travel all the way across the kingdom simply to be home for a while before leaving again on business," I commented, my father in mind.

"I have a friend, Mimi," Sora objected. "She was married to the House of Kido last year, and their lands are on the opposite ends of the borders."

The name sounded familiar. "I've met her before…Mimi? From Tachikawa? Isn't she Jyou's wife?"

Sora nodded.

"Well, then," I said, leaning back in satisfaction. "There's no evidence to be gained there. Mimi and Jyou are madly in love with each other, if you didn't know. My family and I visited them last winter and it was all the servants could do to pry them apart."

"Mimi?" Sora gaped at me. Funny. Normally, when people gape at me, I think that they look rather foolish, but apparently, Sora's hidden nobility shone out whenever she would have made a fool of herself. Mine, unfortunately, tended to hide at those times.

"Haven't you visited her recently?" I inquired. "After all, she is your friend."

She didn't appear to be listening. A large smile grew on the Countess' face. "Mimi is in love with Jyou?" She then laughed, sounding admittedly charming. Which was strange, since Sora being charming was unthinkable.

At least, to me.

But then, I confess that to my ears she sounded delightful when she laughed. Now, to the question of why she laughed.

"It is very difficult to see keep them away from each other," I told her, moving slightly forward to pick up a rather pretty stone. It was a small pebble, smooth and round but unusually shiny. Perfect for shooting off parapets to unsuspecting passersby below. "What is so funny? They seem very happy with things."

Sora closed her eyes and rested against the large tree trunk. "I am glad that my friend is content in her marriage, but somehow, I cannot imagine Mimi like that. She is too proper and well-bred, although there are many instances when she is rather…boisterous."

"My companion, Jyou, is also very mannerly and refined. At least, much more courteous than I could ever be, I admit." I knew the Countess would agree with me here. "I freely declare that I am most probably an unusual dignitary in my habit of putting people higher than me in position down."

"Agreed."

"It was very much a surprise for me to see him so relaxed and crazed about his wife." I remembered my last visit. "Whenever we actually managed to tear them apart, he would seem so hazy and absent-minded."

Sora's lips turned up in a gentle smile. "I met him when I attended her wedding. I cannot imagine him like that, either. What could have possibly changed his attitude and outlook on things?"

I leaned back on the willow trunk, slipping the stone into my pocket. It wouldn't be filching, anyway. If things when wrong, this would all be mine. If things would go my way, however, I could repay whoever I had offended by tossing the stone back to the ground, easing the anger of the stone gods.

"Love, perhaps." I glanced at her.

She opened her eyes and looked at me. I returned her gaze steadily. We were like that for some time, and this gave me much time to consider what I had just said and reaction that came along with it.

Could I possibly love the shrewish Sora? I highly doubted it. She trusted me as far as she could throw me and I was as smitten with her as I am smitten with the gunk that settles around my horse's hooves whenever we trudge through muddy land.

Which I was not, by the way. I just wanted you to know.

But if, perchance, we failed in our planning to overthrow a wedding? Would I manage to live with the spitfire Countess without either committing suicide or going insane within the first few months we would live together?

The answer right now was leaning toward the negative. She and I were too alike in our pride, although I admit, pride isn't very much fun unless there were people around who hadn't a bone in their back. Apparently, Sora and I were oozing liquidized bones through our skin.

But she was beautiful. I freely admitted it now. Sora was very far from the cantankerous little girl she once was. At least, in the physical sense. I could live with that. But she still retained her haughty volatility and her irrepressible sense of independence. She also carried along with her the hatred of me which seemed to be stuck to her side, therefore making it difficult to get on her good side (things there were a little crowded, what with her abhorrence taking up all the space) and possibly love her.

And me. What about me? How had I changed in the past years? I remember that I was still as proud as I was back then, only maybe more now. I looked down on people, and I still do. That was what got me on the rocks with Sora, when I thought about it. If I hadn't been so snotty back then, maybe this marriage would have been easier to deal with.

If it would happen at all. I have a feeling that if Sora and I hit off when we were young, Fate wouldn't have tossed us together. Fate seems to have a sadistic sense of humor when it comes to my relations with Sora.

I was known to be quite the handsome dignitary, only Sora didn't care for looks. I knew that very well. Strangely enough, I wanted to know what she did care about.

I wanted to know what she wanted to have in a partner, though I knew I wouldn't change myself for anything. but if we were married? If we weren't able to come up with anything? How would I live with her?

I pictured it for a moment.

So, for example, I didn't run away to go and get filthy rich. We would probably live in my estates, although we would return to the mountains every now and then—I knew Sora would want to. She's very persuasive sometimes (either that, or people tended to do what she said in order to avoid bearing the full brunt of her lovely—yet very strident—voice.), so we would probably drop by every now and then. But how would life be in our married household?

Well, it certainly wouldn't be peaceful and quiet, that I was certain. Sora and I, once bonded by matrimony, would either spend weeks ignoring each other and nursing our separate damaged prides or strangling each other on sight. Whether we would eventually settle down and live 'peacefully' into our old age or not, I was positive that the first few weeks of our wedding would keep me on my toes.

I smiled slightly at the thought. Life with Sora definitely wouldn't be boring. And if there was one thing I hated, it was boring. She was a beautiful girl, I was a handsome guy. We'd make gorgeous little children I could rear to rule my future empire.

And Sora was intelligent. She and I were nearly alike in so many ways. I knew that I could always depend on her to hold up her part of the argument and maybe even cause me to drop mine. She was like that, in many ways.

Maybe things weren't so bad, after all.

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Anything's possible!