Chapter 11

Embracing Destiny

Disclaimer: I don't own this series or any other series. I am just floating an idea. I am making no money, nor plan to, off this venture. If you think of suing me over this, then grow up.

I would like to first personally thank all of those reviewing my stories. I enjoy reading your comments, and try to correct the grammatical errors I miss with my final read-through as well as my spell checkers. The suggestions you all make will help make this story better for everyone to enjoy, as well as allow my to fix some plot holes I may unintentionally leave. If you find any, let me know, and I will correct them and repost the chapters.

I find that if I let thinks sit for a while in my head; I can play them out farther. Plus by trying and keeping my chapters between 2500 and 3000+ words, it helps keep me from making the story slide out of control, turning a diamond to a pile of shit.

Please feel free to review, and make comments. If you find a spelling or wordage mistake, feel free to let me know. Thank you.

Also, please check out my other stories. I try to keep a constant level of dedication to all of them.

Special thanks to Howard Russell for the main conflict idea and the pre-reading.

Words done in bold like this are the spoken words of the Hina sword.

Words like this are for the sword's inner monologue.

The two warriors sat on the roof in lotus positions facing each other, the Hina Sword resting on their knees. Motoko had spent an hour teaching Keitaro how to enter the dreamscape. It had been an easy prospect, seeing as how Keitaro did not enjoy how the sword normally would have to transfer information to him—and the pain was another motivator, as every time he failed, Motoko would punch him with the butt of the sword.

But even having the knowledge and practicing in the dreamscape, it still felt to both as if it would not be enough to defeat Tsuruko.

Of course, both were assuming that another challenge would be the answer to reinstating Motoko and releasing her from the marriage. For all they knew, Motoko would have to stay married to him and return to the school, or she would perhaps join the Urashima clan and become a member of their forgotten school.

The truth was, neither side had any idea what Tsuruko would bring tomorrow. She was a wild card that both feared, yet both knew they would have to face. Motoko had fortified herself: steeling her mind with the knowledge that they would be prepared in three days—thanks to Keitaro's help and the new moves they were learning from the Hina Sword—what they might not have been able to accomplish in three years. With his immortality, it was all but assured that Keitaro could defeat her. He and Motoko had sparred often enough in the dreamscape for her to have that faith.

It was just harder for her to have that faith in herself.

Maybe that was why she was unable to think beyond the possible battle. Beyond the battle were possibilities she feared more than her own sister.

This included the greatest possibility of them all: what would she do if she won?

Is he really someone I want to spend the rest of my life with?

That's the question I keep asking myself. I know he would be a wonderful father simply by the way he treats Su. I know he can be a wonderful person, now that he isn't tripping at the wrong time and the wrong place. I know he's a man of many possibilities by how he is mastering techniques left and right, almost as quickly as I do.

But the question still remains: if we defeat my sister tomorrow, will I still want to be married to Keitaro Urashima?

I'm not even certain what my choices will be when we face my sister again. Will divorce be an option? Can my sister make it disappear like we were never married? If we lose, what will she request: children?

Would that be so horrible? I know some of my fan club might prefer the former notion of the marriage never existing, except in our memories.

I, myself, am quite disgusted with my treatment of Keitaro. I allowed my own fears, of what had happened to my sister, to taint my honor in how I reacted to him.

I mean, this is the man whom I assaulted because his two loser friends tried to pick my friends up. This is the man who I attacked while I was undressing inside the laundry room. This was the man who I attacked after he convinced me my power didn't come from my clothes and that wearing a dress didn't make me weak. This is the man who found me after I thought everyone hated me and I felt pity that I couldn't make a decent woman.

This in the man who told me he wanted me to remain the same after our forced marriage, and who made certain I didn't try to take my own life again.

Weird how things work out, isn't it.

I'm married to a guy who, a year ago, I wanted to kill simply because he was male. Now I'm married to him, training with him to defeat my sister, and even contemplating having his children.

Obviously I'm dreaming and Su has "experimented" with the water again.

But no. Even I am forced to admit this is no dream. This world is real, this path is real, and now I must decide what to do about it.

Would it be so bad to be married?

I asked him that question the night before our duel, and he said, "No, it wouldn't be so bad." He never knew how much that line in his letter had meant to me. He didn't want me as a play doll, as some trophy that he could display and use at his leisure. He wanted me the way I was: an insecure woman afraid of her own femininity and constantly lording over him to ensure that he wasn't taking advantage of others.

Maybe I am lucky to be married to him. I did somehow win the guy every girl at Hinatasou—minus Haruka, but if I ever tell this to Keitaro, I'll include her just to mess with him—has the hots for and wants to have as her own. I won't admit that to my sister. She forced me into something neither of us was ready for, and I may never be able to forgive her for that. She took away my choice.

Well, technically I wagered my choice, as did Keitaro, on the fight. I was stunned at how well he held up throughout it. At first, I figured he'd act like he did when Shinobu told him about the cockroach, but he held my arm throughout the ceremony, made certain I wasn't alone when he went to confront my sister, held me throughout the train ride back, and even made certain I understood that I was not to be a slave to him.

My love for him grew throughout that day, and nearly destroyed my sense of self when he told me he loved me for the way I was, not the robot I became.

But if offered the choice, would I still choose to leave him? He said he would stay with me as long as I needed him. But after given the option, assuming I am given the option, would I release him so that he could go back to Naru? Would Naru take him back? Would he want to go back?

The kisses…the kisses we have managed to share make my insides quake with feelings I have rarely felt, outside what I have seen in movies and the stories I write. I would be lying if I said I didn't want to try and go farther with him. After all, we are married and married couples at least do that once on the honeymoon, assuming love existed there to begin with. Even couples married by arrangement are expected to do that on their wedding night.

But I can't say I'm too disappointed. That first night, Naru needed to be near the man she loved, even if she couldn't admit it to anyone other than herself. And to wake up with Su there had definitely been a shock. The second night, well, I had been glad she had shown up. I will admit I was afraid that maybe Keitaro would want that. Granted I wasn't about to admit to maybe wanting it just as much, if not more. And I thought it might be a bad idea if we did do that and then divorced in the next few days.

But now, the last night before the fight, I find myself wondering about it again.

But Su is between us, sleeping with more peace than she ever did with either of us alone. As long as she feels safe, neither Keitaro nor I feel we are being remiss in our marital duties.

Besides, we need to defeat Tsuruko tomorrow, or whenever she challenges us.

We will win back our freedom.

And, should I get to keep my husband and should he choose to stay with me…

Well, Su will just have to make do with Shinobu, Kanako, or even Naru that night.

I will be busy staking my claim to the man I love.

I can't believe I'm that perverted!

Tsuruko looked at the fire inside her bedroom, watching the flames dance about the logs. The night wasn't really cold enough to need the fire, but it gave her comfort, and that was what she needed.

She had spent the day studying the family scrolls, talking with the clan elders. They all said the same thing: that she had done the right thing.

Then why do I feel so God-damned awful?

She threw back a shot of some vile liquid her husband occasionally brought back from his business trips overseas. He wouldn't enjoy what she was doing, but knew enough to leave business of the clan to her. He never pretended to understand why she had to do some things, but understood her enough to know when to stay out of them. He had told her he would support her, no matter what.

Right now, he could only do it through a phone call and a bottle of liquor.

Tomorrow, I meet them tomorrow. But what do I tell them? It's not like I can reveal the reason behind this…this…this façade. I mean, I know how my sister looked at him when they fought me here. I could see that she had opened her heart to the love she had long suppressed for the manager. He protected her when she broke down, he ensured that she did not try to take her life or even give up on herself. He cares for her too.

I can only hope love grows from that.

Pouring herself another shot, she looked towards the fire again. She had truly hoped that Motoko would defeat her. That the very fact that Urashima had helped her and was there would spur the girl onwards to truly show her skills: to release the self-made binds that held her back.

But Motoko had still shown indecision: still held back, fearful that she would fail. Keitaro had shown more determination than her own sister, and had fought injured, outclassed, and drained from his own ordeal with the cursed sword. I so wanted to declare that her defeating the demon sword was enough to claim victory. She defeated something that had beaten me. But if the prophecy holds true…

No! I cannot doubt myself now. I have cast my lot, and now I must reap what I have sown.

She slammed the shot back and quickly poured a refill, repeating the procedure until the quick motions began to take their toll on her head.

It really didn't remove the pain, but it removed the pain of betrayal from the forefront of her mind. It wasn't easy to knowingly betray a family member who looked upon you as the perfection of their craft: as the single thing that they spent every waking moment to aspire to. But that is exactly what she had done to Motoko, to Keitaro, and even to that Naru girl. She betrayed three trusts for a prophecy that everyone believed in.

But it would never make it any easier.

She had almost broken down when Motoko had surrendered and admitted what was going on. She had even tried to say Motoko had proven herself by banishing the demon, had not the elders signaled her that she couldn't. She was scared that Keitaro's purity of heart might not last and Motoko would fall apart and become a subservient bride, or that her sister might take her own life should Keitaro not be able to show her she was needed and loved without being the "perfect little traditional wife".

But so far, the words she heard had suggested that they were progressing nicely. Naru had bowed out and was allowing things to progress after a rocky first night. Keitaro was apparently training hard to master his now cured sword, and Motoko was also returning to her warrior spirit.

In all, things were shaping up for the happy couple.

Even if it will be a bit longer before I can expect nieces and nephews.

Shaking her head to try and delay the debilitating effects of the liquor she was downing, she tried to bring up her feelings about what was occurring. Keitaro and Motoko were married, the Hina Sword was a tool of good as it was meant to be, and the two were improving their skills.

So far, all the subplots of the prophecy were coming true.

Heaven help her if it was, in fact, some wet dream by her ancestors. Because those two would raze the school and every member of the two clans, should it be wrong.

"Do not worry, child, things will work out for the best. Have faith."

Tsuruko turned towards a small old woman standing beside the fire, her own bottle of liquor nearly empty, testifying to the elderly woman's fortitude. "Maybe so, Elder Urashima, but it still feels wrong of us to force them this way."

The former owner of Hinatasou just smirked. "Even my grandson needs his ass kicked into gear every once in a while. We can only hope the lines of destiny are with us. Just remember to smack those old council fogies around if they interfere. That damn fog of theirs is making everything smell like muscle cream."

Tsuruko made her usual laugh before leaning her head back and passing out.

Grandma Hina just smiled before throwing another log on the fire. "Damn Aoyama's, they never could hold their liquor. Now the Otohime's, there's a family line that could drink a Norse God under the table. Hmm, maybe I should look into getting my grandchild a second wife."

A laugh soon followed that made the still awake council of the Aoyama clan shiver with fear.

"Hello, Keitaro."

The man in question quickly turned around. He found himself in a field of fog, stars shining above him in the sky, facing a weird man wearing an ancient samurai outfit. He recognized the man. "You're Keiichi Hitomo, aren't you? The maker of the Hina Sword?"

"Yes, I am the real person, not the soulless representation that the sword has. I am the founder of the sword style you now practice, as well as partial founder, if not in name then in spirit and some teachings, of the Urashima style of fighting."

Keitaro just stood there with his mouth open, before beginning to cough. Apparently a flying bug was also part of the scenery and had flown down his throat.

Keiichi just stood there laughing. "You should really get used to shocks like that, boy; otherwise you will never be prepared for what lies ahead of you."

Keitaro finally spit the dream bug into the fog, before trying to catch his breath and look up straight. "What do you mean, 'what lies ahead'? I know we have to face Tsuruko again—assuming she knows a way around her banishment of her sister—and I would be proud to teach Motoko the kendo version of the Urashima style, but I assume you mean something bigger."

Keiichi smiled. "I'm glad to see the time with Hina has improved your observation skills, young master. Yes, there is 'something bigger' coming. Larger than this small feud between you and Tsuruko, and even larger than your battle to get into Toudai. The trials you have faced up until now will pale in comparison to what lies ahead. Defeating Tsuruko is just the first step in what awaits you. Just know that you can succeed, as long as you work together with your wife. Of course, if your grandmother has anything to say about it, I'm certain another woman or ten may be added to that equation."

Keitaro's mouth fell open again. But as a new dream bug dived for it, the young Urashima fell onto his butt, causing the bug to pelt him in the forehead and knock him onto his back.

Keiichi just shook his head, raising his hand to rub his temples. The fate of so many rests on his shoulders.

They are all so fucked!

If I messed anything up, then let me know including typos.

Any suggestions on how I should continue the story or improve it would also be accepted.

Also, if you have any suggestions for how this should go, let me know. My own imagination, while vast, always enjoys a new thought. Also, catch me if you don't think I am making the characters true to form, or a way to make them better.