Yikes, I really went into the wilds, didn't I? I didn't mean to disappear for so long. To be honest, I sort of didn't expect it to get so much traction and had planned on it to end a different way-so I added a new subplot and ran into the need to do more plotting and it caused me to go on an unintended hiatus. Some other reasons I disappeared are:

I graduated college with an Associates in Applied Science and re-entered for a Bachelor's in English.

I placed in the 'Honorable Mention' place of the contest I entered (not as awesome as it sounds since it's ranked Honorable Mention, Silver Honorable Mention, Semi-Finalists, Finalists, and then 3rd to 1st place.) Out of the 250 that didn't make it to 1st, 2nd or 3rd place (not counting those rejected) -I was 196.

I started 2 more contest entries, participated and won NaNoWriMo 2018, prepped for 2019.

Unfortunately, it come the time when I have to start making some money in order to help with the bills and projects around the house (fix the roof, redo the bathroom floor and replace the shower/tub combo etc.). I will always post my free fanfics on Wattpad and here on Fanfic, but I've gotten a little desperate and opened up a tip jar on KO-FI

If you like what I've done so far and would like to help support me so I could go on to do other projects like this one-please think about supporting me through Ko-Fi, I don't like doing things like this…but a mother's gotta do what a mother's gotta do. Hubbys bread winning only goes so far, and when I get a job it will seriously eat into my writing time—both for original projects and for my fanfics.

I've also decided to expand my reach—One I am done with Winter Peony and "Through Her Eyes" *Companion book to Rosa & Thief, I'm going to put away Overwatch for a good long while and focus on other fandoms like RWBY, Legend of Zelda, Yu Yu Hakusho, Pokemon and more.

I've also thought about opening up commissions for one-shots through Ko-fi—unless specified these would be solely the requesters and wouldn't be up on my sites for anyone else to read. But for now, it's not an option. If you would enjoy this service, please do tell me.

Anyway, here is the link for the ko-fi and I hope that you all look forward to the updates which will becoming every Friday for now until I complete the story (Hopefully)

/fantasieseacape

The two women continued to talk into the night until Jun stifled a yawn, covering her mouth with her hand and stretching to relieve the taught feeling in her muscles. The sake container had been emptied during their discussions. Jun had not spoken much to Ryoko, despite being Hanzo's betrothed, and had taken the opportunity to make up for it. Politics, the families of the Spiral, Hanzo and Genji's upbringing, desires and plans for the upcoming wedding.

"I believe it is time we retire," Ryoko yawned in reply and chuckled as a servant shuffled in to clean the table. "You have had a long day, and I'm sure you're ready for some much-needed rest."

"Indeed," Jun slowly got to her feet, stretching her back and groaned. "I never knew how stiff and tired I could get. I feel as though I could sleep for two days straight."

"I would not think less of you for it," Ryoko got to her feet and stretched as well, "Sleep as long as you need. None of my guard will let what happened here today be told outside the family. And as long as there isn't any pressing matters, we should be left alone as far as the spiral is concerned." She waved the woman away as she was offered a glass of water, "I am going to have Shuzu interrogated first thing tomorrow morning for names of those he hired without my knowledge. It will be a test," She smiled as the servant opened the sliding door to the hallway. "If he gives up the names willingly and without any attempt at bargaining or demands—then I will lessen the time he will be locked away in the storeroom, and he may refresh himself with a bath, food and drink. But he will be watched, very closely." Ryoko gestured for Jun to follow her out into the hall.

"What if he does not comply?" Jun asked as she kept in step with the elder woman, "He has quite the high opinion of himself, and he proven himself to be the kind that doesn't give up easily."

"If I were the type to gamble," Ryoko smirked as they turned a corner and continued toward the bedrooms, "I would wager that he will try to command the guard while I am not present, as he had done with all his terrible little plans that caused this whole mess." She scoffed, her nose wrinkling in disgust at the thought, "He will find it impossible, with the orders I gave—the way the guard and servants have seen and heard of what I've done to him, the thoughts of what I will do to him circling about in whispers behind closed doors," She chuckled at the thought, a wicked smile spreading across her thin lips. "They know he is not to be trusted any longer. Not even for the measliest demands or requests."

"And you trust in them," Jun asked as Ryoko paused by a door that was opening by servants waiting inside. "To not do as he says? He's proven that he can't be trusted, and that he can fool your guard enough to follow through with orders without checking with you first?" Ryoko tilted her head slightly, her smile slowly melting away into a soft frown. "I do not doubt your power, Ryoko," Jun's tone was hard, absolute. "But he was able to puppeteer your servants and guard while your back was turned. How can you be sure they won't rally with him and start a coupe?"

"The men and women who listened faithfully to him where not of my house. My guard and servants have served the Shimada clan for generations, they don't move without my say so. When alone they are even brave enough to mock him at times." Ryoko explained as a woman inside the dark room muttered something about a stupid man and another unseen servant chuckled warmly, "But I was too liberal with Shuzu. I let him control some funds. Similar to a child's allowance, and with some money he's managed to smuggle away he was able to fund this whole debacle against your clan with sell swords and mercenaries that hold no loyalties but to those with the fattest purse." Her smile returned slowly. "And Shuzu has squandered every coin I allowed him to hold."

"I see," Jun returned the smile, "I take it that while we were being tended to that you had your guard turn out the sell swords?" Ryoko nodded once as a candle was lit inside the room to cast a dim light in what was revealed to be Ryoko's personal room. "That will help me sleep easier tonight."

Ryoko's eyes softened as she looked down to the matt under her bare feet, her smile fading into a sad frown. She sighed a deep, sorrowful sigh and closed her eyes. "I would hope it would help us all sleep easy tonight but knowing my sons the way a mother does I know they will sleep little if at all tonight, or the nights to come. Genji is most likely lying in his futon, trying his best to piece everything together. He is so much softer, so much more innocent than Hanzo," Her delicate brows creased, and her eyes clenched tightly, "I wonder if he is crying?"

"If it would help ease your mind, I may look in on Genji and see how he is doing?" Jun offered, thinking of Genji lying in bed, trying to cry silently pained her heart. He was younger than her, and even she was having a hard time handling everything that had come to pass, she couldn't imagine what he was thinking.

"No, I will send a servant to check," Ryoko's smile did not seem the warm, confident grin that Jun had come to recognize, but a painful tug on her heart told her she had seen the same smile before—on her own mother—when she was touched at something Jun had done or said as a child. "You should go to Hanzo and keep his anger in check as best as you can. As I said I know my sons. And I know that Hanzo is a proud and not only has his pride been wounded but he nearly lost you more than once in the past few days. He may grow too angry and seek to punish or taunt Shuzu in my absence. Go to him and calm him if you can. If he proves to provoked to listen, send someone to wake me and I will deal with him."

"Yes," Jun agreed, a seed of worry being planted in the back of her mind. She could easily see Hanzo sneaking his way to the to the storehouse and dismissing the guard to extract his own punishment on his father in the dark of night. The more she thought of this image the seed of doubt grew until she looked over her shoulder toward the end of the corner of the next hall that would lead to Hanzo's part of the estate.

"Go on then." Ryoko stepped inside her room and turned to face Jun. "But practice some restraint." When Jun looked at Ryoko with a confused blink the elder woman chuckled warmly. "I know the fires of young passion," She raised a brow and her smile reminded Jun of a fox to clever for its own wellbeing. "But it would not bode well to postpone the wedding because of an unplanned birth. Distract him how you must, but don't sew a seed we are not yet ready to nurture."

Jun tried to resist the blush fighting its way to her necks as she lowered her eyes to the floor as the doors started to slide but Ryoko stopped it just before it closed. "And one last thing hatchling," Ryoko's voice was firm and commanding, Jun's head immediately snapped up to look her in the eye. "If you find the temptation too much to resist, make your first mark small enough that it may be explained easily enough."

The door closed before Jun could ask what she meant, and she got the feeling that if Ryoko had wanted her to understand without question she would have told her plainly. Ryoko was not the kind of woman who liked to be misunderstood. Jun slowly turned away and began walking down the hall toward Hanzo's section of the estate, but to get there she had to pass the garden that connected the two sections. The right wall gave way to an open concept, the wrap around walkway cool with the breeze blowing in like some god blowing gently on the earth. The moon was full but hanging low over the garden wall, separating the Shimada's world from the outside.

The light spilled into the garden, giving it a serene but lonely air as Jun paused to look out among the trees and bushes that still had leaves, despite the frozen ground and snow littered about almost lovingly, like white blankets. Jun could see her breath as she slowly exhaled, the steam billowing out from her mouth like a dragon breathing fire. A Dragon. She thought to herself as she exhaled again, watching as the steam fade away.

She moved along the walkway, watching the panoramic scene stretch as she moved, undisturbed and tranquil until her eyes found a stark white building with a heavy wooden door. She scowled openly at the sight of it, the two guards keeping watch not speaking to one another as they stood on opposite sides of the small storehouse, glancing around the garden.

None of my guards will let what happened here today be told outside the family. Ryoko's words replayed in her mind. If you find the temptation too much to resist, make your first mark small enough that it may be explained easily enough.

She paused when she came to where the main houses ended and Hanzo's estate began, there was a walkway made of rounded white stones set into the ground that lead to the sizeable house that made up Hanzo's rooms. Halfway to the smaller house laid Shuzu's temporary prison. Jun was beginning to think that she understood Ryoko's last words, as a feeling of fire warmed her gut. It was anger. Hatred. Lust for revenge. She stepped off the walkway and onto the first stone, her steps measured and rigid in the cold until she reached the center of the path. The path split here, the longer going to Hanzo's home while the shorter led to the front of the storeroom.

The guard on the left noticed Jun first and snapped his fingers to alert the other. Jun could see a third guard poke their head around the backside of the building and whispers in the silence told her there were more unseen. She didn't offer any explanation, and she only hesitated before the split path for a moment—finally deciding to look upon her enemy, she stepped onto the diverging path. The guards didn't question her as she approached, they didn't try to stop her when she peeked into the small cut out in the door that made a window with small iron bars inlaid to keep anything from escaping through the hole.

The room was only dimly lit, slits in the top of the building serving as windows allowing the moonlight to sneak inside and command puppets made of shadows. Inside was Shuzu, stripped down to a bare, plain kimono asleep on a pile of straw that looked poorly heaped. She could see him shivering in the cold without a blanket or any means to keep warm, not even a candle to give him the illusion of heat.,

She put her hand to the door, feeling the icy wood under her fingertips as they blindly found the handle, the jolt of the metal bar made her pull her hand away for only a second before she grasped the handle and pulled, slowly opening the door. Shuzu never stirred as she stepped inside and pulled the door closed behind her. Though it was sheltered from the new fallen snow and wind, it did little to warm Jun as she stepped further inside, her footfalls silent and tender as she neared Shuzu until she was standing beside him.

While he was sleeping, he almost looked too innocent to have coldly slaughtered her family, but as Jun knelt down, she could see the lines beginning to show in his face.

She saw the lines by his eyes as the marks of the condescending looks, he had given, the smile line on his cheek from the sneers and chuckles he must have had to himself as he plotted and watched her family perish. The longer she looked at him, the shadows that stretched and framed his face, she began to see the monster under the skin. The heat in her gut rose, it scalded her insides until she found herself gritting her teeth and clenching her fists.

Her ears stung with the slight draft from the window, with her hair cut so short she was left without the measly layer of protection and it made her anger rise more, to the point she too was shivering. Not from cold, but pure fury. I wish I was a dragon. She thought heatedly, I would tear him apart and then roast him alive before I ate him like the animal he is.

She realized as she watched him shiver and his eyes peeled open sleepily, that she wished that she had brought a knife with her, but all she had was her own two hands. He had started to roll over onto his back when Jun found the words to speak.

"Showing your stomach to even a hatchling is not wise." Jun said flatly, half closing her eyes as he scrambled to sit up and back away from her, bellowing in fright at the sight of her. "Hello, Shuzu."

"I am lo-lor-lord Shimada to you, orphan!" Shuzu growled, getting to his feet with a little difficulty as Jun watched him with only mild interest as he ran to the door and called for the guards—who kept quiet. "Get in here, if Ryoko finds out something has happened to me, then she will have your throats rather than asses, quickly, someone remove her!"

"It would not be wise to wake everyone in the house, Shuzu. Wouldn't want to invoke the wrath of your lady wife and angered son lose your head tonight." Jun warned pointedly, glaring up at him as he turned to stare open-mouthed at her. She lowered her gaze to the worn spot in the hay where he had been sleeping.

"I'm not here to murder you, although every bone in my body is telling me I should." She looked back up at him, trying to keep her composure as she spoke. Taming the rage inside into a controlled flame. "To avenge my parents is very high on my list of aspirations," She got to her feet slowly, dusting the dirt and hay away until she was satisfied and walked to the door slowly.

"Ryoko has bestowed on me, my first lesson as a Shimada woman. She said, 'Dragons start off as small hatchlings, but grow quickly. They are hard to get rid of, harder to kill and never let a wrong go unpunished for long.' This hatchling remembers Shuzu, know your punishment is coming and that I hold the uttermost contempt for you." She walked past him and then glared hatefully at him. "Get back in your bed and try your best to rest. Ryoko plans to visit you tomorrow and you don't want to be falling asleep while you explain yourself to her in full, now would you?" She copied Ryoko's sly, confident smirk as he backed away from the door obediently.

Jun felt a surge of power inside her, she liked making him afraid. She relished in that horrified stare he gave her, his eyes wide with fear and panic. Like an animal trapped in a cage to await its fate at the hands of someone much more powerful. She opened the door and stepped through, leaving it open and stepping away, to test him—see how he would react. He slunk backward to the hay pile before collapsing on top of it, shivering much more severely than when he was asleep.

She put her back to the door and walked away, following the path back to the split and turned, heading toward Hanzo's house. The servants nodded silent greetings to her as they opened doors and let her find her own way to Hanzo's room. She slid the door open to see Hanzo was lying in bed, his face angry and contorted. Jun had seen Hanzo look angry. He often looked angry while awake or thinking, but this was different. There was unadulterated pain mixed with his anger, his dreams were tormented, and he saw no way out. His dark brows knit together as he groaned in his sleep, shifting in his futon until he had rolled onto his side on the far-right side. She could hear him grinding his teeth.

Jun nodded to the servant at the end of the hall before stepping inside, making her way to the futon before slipping under the blankets that Hanzo had pulled over him and cuddling up to him, her body melting against his. His body jerked in response to the cold before rolling over and wrapping Jun up in his arms. She watched after tucking herself against him as his expression slowly changed.

His jaw relaxed and the tenseness in his brow melted away as he let out a relaxed sigh and his breathing became steady. The warmth from his body and the soothing sounds of his sleeping breath lulled Jun into relaxing herself and slipping into sleep.