Hello everyone, hope everyone is having a fun summer. I apologize for the late update but this chapter underwent countless rewrites and revisions to get to where it is today. Travel and work got in the way too, haha. All joking a side, I wanted the best result out of myself and the best reading experience for the readers. As per usual, see below for replies to reviews. :D
Without further ado, hope it's good. Enjoy!
Chapter 18: The Southern Flower
Ran hurries down the glazed corridors as quickly as her kimono allows. A memento of Tschiyo's youth wrapped around her slender frame, rippling with pink splashes of peonies from her sleeves.
It was beautiful, and twice asked about wearing such fine silk. Thrice about it possibly skirting the outer boundaries of proper attire for a healer. The older woman had only met her questions with a sigh, all nostalgia and awe washed away.
"Kami, fret less. You are a young lady. Do dress as such at least for this occasion."
Perhaps Tschiyo-san was right. Mulling over small concerns now is a fruitless endeavor. The day had come, and its likely he would care.
For months, they had gone about their duties. Sporadic encounters throughout the residence with each other, polite exchanges of words and smiles - at least from her end. His replies were been short…diplomatic. Words defanged of their usual hostility and scorn.
Ran smiles; the same way she had smiled watching him practice at the edge of the garden she tended under the nightly silver. Mitsunari had neither reproached her nor told her to leave. Despite the sad reminder that he had not even so much as glanced at her, a faint pink plays on her cheeks as she rounds the corner.
She had been working in her chambers, shoji ajar to invite the spring breeze, when the filtered sunlight suddenly grew dark. His footsteps were too quiet, too quick and too calculated, that she had been caught unaware. The parchment of medicinal herbs in hand and the coarse twine between slender fingers frozen at the sight of his arrival. It was a brusque message and not once had he glanced upon her, but the entire day Ran felt…weightless.
She climbs down the stairs, approaching the stables as he requested. A hand re-affixing the glittering kanzashi received from him over a year ago. Perhaps he will look upon her today? Perhaps today she can finally speak the words lost months ago…
"Mitsunari-dono," waiting for him to finish harnessing the saddle before bowing, "you asked of me to be here."
The General regards her for a moment but immediately turns away as soon she meets his eyes. His expression grim as ever but she looks on with a beaming smile, and radiant eyes.
He clears his throat, dry from silence. "There is a place I wish for you to see."
Equines hooves beat hard against moist earth.
He isn't going to deny she looked different. He isn't going to deny she looked decent or perhaps "desirable" in the eyes of men. Neither is he going to express his opinion regarding her bright smiles. In fact, he does not even mind her arms wound tighter around him than usual.
But with each passing moment…
"Where are we headed?"
…she is….
"Do we draw near our destination?"
…unquestionably, undeniably…
"May I request we return early?"
…irritating with her wretched inquiry.
"Soon, you will see," comes his clipped reply between thin lips, drawing his horse north east towards farmlands ahead.
Patches of rice fields blurring by as they continue onwards the dirt path snaking up a hill.
"This place," she gasps, eyes glazed with sentiment turning towards him, "is the village. My home!"
About damn time. He had half a mind she would remain oblivious until they arrived at the village square.
"Can I please see the elders? I have been away for so long, Mitsunari-dono," an insistent tug against the lapels of his coat.
His expression wrinkles. Women and their impatience.
"There will be ample time later," he tells her, slowing his warhorse from a gallop to trot as they reach the summit.
The hill no longer blocking her view, Ran sees an approaching a plateau, a cliff of some sort, overlooking the entire village under a bright blue sky. Farmers below, the size of gnats lacing through the manicured fields, and kites from little ones drifting lazily in the spring breeze.
"I have never been here before," she whispers, her eyes glued to the scenery as he helps her down.
Mitsunari smirks at the sight of her mouth gone ajar from the view- like a frog's first time out of the well. But this isn't why she's here. He had found this cliff useful for survey and scouting prior to setting out for the night when they had first met, but today it serves an entirely different purpose.
He gestures with his o-dachi to her far left. "Look there," he motions.
Ran turns over and the words are snatched from her throat.
Red, lavender, yellow, pink, purple- all colors imaginable fluttering in the gentle breeze. There must be hundreds of them.
She walks over with hands over her mouth, trying to find words that would do justice to the entire field of them bathing under the warm sun.
Mitsunari crosses his arms.
He catches her whisper of how beautiful they are. Her arms reach out, alighting delicate petals. She turns over to him with the same smile from day one of their encounter.
"They're beautiful!" She repeats, louder this time, twirling on her heels, arms outstretched as if to dance with them in the wind. He stands there, tension on his weapon loosening and he isn't sure why. Perhaps it's the mild weather he has never experienced, having been from the North. The sun was warmer, out longer. Perhaps it's the sight of her, dizzy from her bout of foolish joy, landing amidst the dancing flowers.
He exhales nasally. Whichever it may be, there is no doubt she belongs here. In spring, in peace, in a time he hopes will be for her, everlasting.
"Satisfied?" He asks from afar.
"Thank you Mitsunari-dono," she beams at him with gratitude, closing her eyes with the same smile he will always find too bright for such a dark, cold world, "this is such a beautiful place. Thank you for bringing me here."
She inhales the sweet air.
Mitsunari turns to face the village. Generations of labor, infrastructure and laws nestled in one place- a silent affirmation there is no better place for her to be than here.
"You may stay here," he mutters.
"Eh?" Her smile drops. She must have heard wrong.
He clears his throat, features hardening as he spits out the words.
"Then stay here," he scowls. "You are free to go."
Her nervous laughter, as she shakes her head, loosening strands of ebony to frame her face. "Forgive me for misunderstanding-"
Mitsunari turns to face his horse to avoid sparing another glance.
"Your expertise is no longer required," he announces solemnly. "All honors and privileges will be granted for your loyalty and servitude. A caravan of fifty thousand ryo will arrive here to you at dawn."
It is more wealth than 10 samurai could accumulate in a lifetime. A moment of silence, as she rises off the ground and swallows the lump in her throat.
"No," with a firmness she did not recognize, "I have to return with- "
"You are no longer needed!" His striking words and glare, an icy javelin into her heart.
"Please!" She pleads, hands thrown to her sides. "I've given your soldiers medicine for the future battle! I won't go to the fields by myself. I won't be in your way-"
All the words she desperately needs him to hear, fractured by a sob.
"Mitsunari-dono," trying to reign in her voice, "please…please, don't leave me here."
His gaze remains fixed on the serene community, ensconced between green valleys and flowing rivers. There is no better place than here…
"You will stay here," he insists with grave finality, "a great war is pending. There is no safer place."
Her expression wrinkles. Safe? When was it ever safe? She is no fool to the dangers of the Ieyasu residence becoming a hotspot for clashing armies. Of course by that logic, everyone would have either fled to Osaka Castle of the Tokugawa stronghold or vacated to the country side. But not one soul had left; even Tschiyo-san remained at the grounds. Unless…
Slender fingers claw into the fringes of fine silk. "I refuse to-"
"You are Lord Hideyoshi's daughter!" He booms. Had that fool not told her? Was she hard of hearing or an imbecile?
Again, a moment of silence that feels like years before they speak.
"Is that it?" Her voice so bitter he could taste it. "Because I am the daughter of Toyotomi Hideyoshi?"
He deigns to reply. Lord Hideyoshi would protect his family the same way he strived to protect his country. Mitsunari was sure and he would see that through until his last breath. That is what Hideyoshi-sama would do.
"He cannot be my father," she grits through her teeth, "I could never have such a power hungry, cruel, murderous tyrant for a father!"
The flash of steel is so fast it dizzies her vision. "Don't you dare sully Lord Hideyoshi's name! Princess or not, you know nothing of Lord Hideyoshi's dreams for the nation or plans for you!"
Without blinking at the drawn sword, she approaches him deliberately.
First step.
"When," she laughs bitterly, "did I become a princess?"
He stands motionless, steel in outstretched arm.
Second step.
"All my life, I have been a healer…grew up as a peasant…was born a woman."
Another step.
She matches his grim glare with her glassy gaze. The razor's edge but an arm's reach from her chest, matched only by the sharpness of his glower, yet she stands unfazed by the danger of his anger, the malice of his steel.
"Mitsunari-dono," summoning courage she should have had moons ago, "to you I have only my heart to give."
"It can beat for you."
Next step. His eyes grow wide. She would not…
"It can die for you."
Her eyes slam shut on the last step.
Pain, if it exists, does not come and it prompts her to look.
Mitsunari slams his sword into the sheath with eyes so livid- they almost seemed red.
"My allegiance as vassal and retainer is to Lord Hideyoshi. You are his daughter. His blood and flesh. Princess Toyotomi," he spat, every word a venomous dagger in her heart. "Do not think to test me of my propriety and integrity. You waste my time, an immutable testament to your foolishness and immaturity!"
Mitsunari hops on his horse.
"Please don't," her whisper so fragile like the glass in her eyes, she isn't sure he hears. But he does. He always did.
He tells her to remain here, reflecting on her absurd ways before sending his stallion into full gallop. Dirt and dust swirling into loose coils, cloaking his leave.
"Doshite…" It's so hollow Ran is unsure whether she spoke. She had hoped for the blade, knowing a far worse fate awaited her.
The sun continues to shine, the hundreds of irises continue to dance, the clouds resume their drift, but she…
Her heart, her mind and even her knees desert her as she collapses on the cold earth.
Oh, mercy. A studied mind without answer! The glass in her eyes shatter into liquid crystal.
She had been the flower, delicate and fragile; sent away like the very one from his chambers long ago.
Oh, kami. A wearied heart begging forbearance! Her frame closes in on itself upon a final, fatal realization discovered far too late.
She should have been the constant and distant North Star.
#mitsuloser There's no telling how I would feel if I were in her shoes. Please don't cry! (TT^TT) Let me know how it went.
Gekkou No Netsu:thank you! I hope it continues to bring you joy and more hours of giddy bouncing.
Salome Maranya B: you are the sweetest. I had a great time and I am so glad you noted those hints! There is an immense satisfaction when readers pick up on those details because a lot of time and re-writing goes into that.
XionNight: My thoughts exactly, but he is a LOSER after all:P
mrstoy: thanks, I hope you continue to read. Let me know if there is anything to improve :)
Itsuki: I'm glad bought you a lot of laughter. It was fun, next time maybe I'll institute diagonal acrostic poetry.
Konoha'sYellowFlash: I hope all is going well! It's been years and I'm so happy you're still reading.
Shiori Kudo: yes...pleasant princess... or is peasant princess...?
Megohime of Mutsu: Affirmative, still alive, maybe not kicking, but still writing =D
CoolCat0720: Noooo please don't die. I updated :)
hannathebanana: hope you like this chapter.
FrostWingedButterfly: you are the second person to ask about him. Having no idea about this character, I decided to google while drinking some water. I lost my water in a coughing fit when I found out who he was. Long story short, I'll write about him, maybe not now, but eventually. Any character who makes me lose my water is good enough for me to write about!