As he opens the door, she rolls over...
Pretends to sleep as he looks her over.
She lies and says she's in love with him, can't find a better man...
She dreams in color, she dreams in red, can't find a better man...
Talkin' to herself, there's no one else who needs to know...
She tells herself, oh...
Memories back when she was bold and strong
And waiting for the world to come along...
Swears she knew it, now she swears he's gone.
She lies and says she's in love with him, can't find a better man...
She dreams in color, she dreams in red, can't find a better man...
- Better Man, Pearl Jam (live version = awesome)
As a politician's daughter, she understood from a young age that she was going to be a pawn in a larger game, a small piece in a complicated puzzle. Had she been born a male, perhaps she would have had a chance at inheriting the titles or moving into a similar office. Unfortunately, much to her father's chagrin and obvious disappointment, she was born a girl, weaker and incapable of creating the dynasty he so desperately craved.
Without maternal influence or support, she had spent her formative years constantly preparing for life as a politician's spouse. Under the ever-watchful eye of the senior Hino, she perfected her manners, learned the appropriate places to entertain, the correct labels to buy, and engaged in carefully pre-selected and approved activities. Her only source of respite from this bleak existence came from her volunteer work at the local shrine. Her father had surprisingly agreed her charity work was an excellent extracurricular activity…sure to add points to his approval rating.
When it was time for her to marry, she knew it could have been much worse. Kaidou, for all his weaknesses, was at least handsome and kind and did not require much of her. Although obsessed with his own ambition and completely subservient to her father, her husband remembered to dutifully present her with flowers, Casablanca lilies, her favorite, on special dates and anniversaries. She even learned to bear the wifely duties with a semblance of grace and poise, as with all things in her life.
She knew she was lucky…fortunate…
And yet…
The dreams would wake her out of a deep sleep…sweating, impossibly aroused, and unable to return to slumber. Images assailed her senses – a passionate young woman with amethyst eyes like her own, always in the embrace of the same man. She watched jealously as the girl was brought to ecstasy over and over again… Creeping to the main foyer, she would start a large fire and look for him, the man from her dreams. The tousled blonde hair, the ardent blue eyes – she had never met him, but she knew him. He was familiar, but she could not place his countenance.
Where are you? She longed to ask the ghostly image.
Why have you left me to this life? The question hung silently to the imaginary spectre.
Why won't you come and rescue me…?
She would repeat the questions, night after night, but never received the answers she was looking for.