Chapter 5 – Blossoms Opening

Makito woke feeling better than he knew he had any right to. He wondered if Tsubasa had come home and whipped up some potion for him to take, because he felt almost completely healed from his battle with the dark magician.

"Onii-san?" his younger brother called to him. Makito grinned at the worried tone and sat up.

"Kai, what's for breakfast?" he asked and started to get out of bed.

"Wait, wait!" Kai protested. "You're still injured!" Makito just laughed and grabbed his clothes, standing easily and with little pain.

"Where's Sakura?" he asked eagerly, heading out the door of his bedroom and into the hallway.

"Who?" Kai's confused tone and puzzled face made him freeze in place. Surely he hadn't dreamed that she had been there? Yet, if she had come, then surely she had been let into the house by the family.

He darted down the hallway and into the kitchen. His parent's looked up in shock at his abrupt entrance.

"Aniki-kun!" his mother cried out. "What are you doing up!"

"Mother, did you let Sakura in yesterday?" He stared into her eyes hoping desperately for a look of comprehension, a smile of recognition, anything. Instead, she gave him a puzzled frown.

"Who's Sakura?" his father asked, just as confused as she was. With a feeling of unreality, Makito sank down into one of the chairs and felt the elation he had woken with dissipating.

"I must have dreamed it," he choked out, feeling his depression rushing back in again.

"Dreamed what?" Isamu demanded, looking back and forth between his wife and son.

"Is that her name, Aniki?" his mother was watching him very closely and he nodded.

"I thought that she was there yesterday, that we spoke, but none of you let her in. She couldn't have been there. I was dreaming." The words sounded strange in his ears, like someone else was speaking. "I'm tired." He rose from the table and went back up to bed, feeling lost and very sad.

Sakura was just finishing the watering when she felt a hand descend upon her shoulder. She turned, thinking it was Makito, only to see his father Isamu, standing there.

"You are Sakura?" he asked her and she nodded helplessly. He was studying her with calm eyes, apparently unfazed to find a strange woman in a yellow kimono watering his son's garden. "I am Ozu Isamu, Makito's father, but you know that already don't you?" Again she found herself nodding, feeling strangely intimidated by this man.

"He's better today?" She hadn't meant to ask, but she couldn't keep herself from doing so. She was immediately ashamed of herself. What was this inability of hers to put him away from her?

"He's fine." The answer brought a feeling of almost lightheaded giddiness, but the feeling was erased completely by his next words. "You are in love with him, aren't you?" Even though it was phrased as a question, it was really more of a statement. She shook her head violently, pulling back from him in dismay.

"I can't! It's not possible! It's not allowed" she blurted out, feeling a wave of panic rising in her. He blinked, surprised now, and she used the moment to vanish and flee back to her tree. It was a terrible breach of the rules to do such a thing in full view of a human, but she couldn't have stood there for even a moment more without spilling her secrets out, which would have been the bigger breach of all.

Isamu stood in the garden for a long moment, looking around and she was certain that he was somehow searching for her. It was impossible, of course, as she was invisible inside her tree. Even so, there was a moment where it seemed to her that he saw her, all huddled up inside the trunk, miserable and frightened. Finally he turned and left, walking back up the path to the house.

Sakura felt completely lost.

Makito was lying in his bed, trying to sleep when he heard the footsteps in the hall. His bedroom door opened and he sighed as his father came into view. Gone for the majority of his childhood, they were only starting to get to know one another again. It made for moments of awkwardness as they tried to relate to each other. Makito hoped this wasn't going to be one of those moments.

"You weren't dreaming," his father announced and Makito sat up bolt upright in the bed.

"What?"

"I went down to your farm; she was there, watering the vegetables."

Makito launched himself from the bed, ready to race to the farm at top speed, but his father stopped him with a hand on his chest.

"She's gone, now." He froze and looked at the expression on his father's face; there was sorrow and something akin to pity on his face.

"What happened? What did you say to her?" He felt as though someone was squeezing his heart in a fist.

"Makito, she's a tree kami." At first, the words didn't make any sense to him. They seemed to be coming to him through a buzz of static. Finally, understanding came crashing down on him. The way that she just seemed to appear from nowhere, the kimonos and geta, the way she had with plants, her strange reticence, it suddenly all made sense to him. Desolation flooded through him. The kami of the Earth had no hearts; it wasn't possible for them to fall in love.

"But, I love her," he whispered, and then crumpled to his knees, his face buried in his hands. His father held him as he gave in to his hopeless grief and despair.

Miyuki stood outside the bedroom door, quietly listening to her husband and son. She had long suspected that the girl was a kami, she had wondered if she were a fox-spirit, but a tree spirit, made far more sense. Makito's magic was nature based, his affinity was for plants and trees, they responded to him as if he were one of them.

Had he been anyone else it was quite possible that the poor girl would never have fallen in love with her son, but as it was, there may be more hope than either of the two men suspected. Still, it was something that Makito would have to discover for himself.

Sakura wished that it were possible for a kami to weep. She could feel the sorrow in her struggling for release, but had no outlet for it. She wrapped herself tightly inside her tree, taking comfort from the birds that perched high in her branches, from the deep places where her roots dug down, and from the sunlight as it warmed her leaves.

She was her tree and her tree was her, yet at the same time they were also separate things. Lately, as she had become ever more concerned with Makito, she had felt the separation rather acutely. She had been experiencing emotions that weren't supposed to be possible for one of her kind and it had affected her bond with her tree.

She heard someone in the garden and tucked herself even deeper down, suddenly uneasy again. She had never felt so jittery and scared in the garden before, but Makito's father had spooked her badly.

Somehow he had seen her, even hidden within her tree. He felt different to her in that moment, as though there were something about him that she ought to recognize. Her emotions were in such turmoil though that she couldn't think straight.

A hand touched the bark of her tree and she heard Makito's voice calling to her. Uncoiling slowly from the heart of the tree she found herself moving towards him before she had realized what she was doing. She held herself back from the last stage, staying within the tree, but pressed against the place where his hand rested, letting the warmth of it soak into her.

"Sakura, my father was sorry to scare you today," he sighed and she realized with shock that he was speaking to her. Somehow, he knew that she was there, inside the tree. "Please come out and talk to me." There was such entreaty in his voice that, as much as she told herself that she shouldn't, she simply could not refuse him.

Feeling shy and out of her depth, Sakura stepped slowly from her tree. She drifted outward and then settled on the earth, geta clacking lightly on the path.

"Makito," she murmured and his eyes lit up at the sight of her. They stared at each other in silence, neither one knowing quite what to say, just looking their fill for once.

"Sakura, why didn't you tell me?" His words held an anguished note that she understood all to well.

"I'm so sorry, Makito, I never meant any harm," she tried to explain, hands twisting together in her agitation.

"I know that," he told her and he reached out to gently disentangle her hands, taking them in his own. "But how am I to work here in the garden, knowing that you are here?"

The strength and warmth of him, the nearness, the scent, all conspired to pull her against him and she burrowed deep into his embrace, seeking the same reassurance from it that she received from her tree. Humans touched like this she knew, but did it feel so safe to them as well?

"I don't know," she sighed. He wrapped her up in his arms, his cheek resting on the top of her head and she settled against his chest, feeling the beat of his heart against her cheek. Despite the fact that she knew that she had no heart, she felt as though the pain in her chest was eased, just being near to him.

"How did this happen?" he asked in a resigned tone and she felt a surge of aggravation.

"It happened because you don't take care of yourself!" she scolded, pulling back to glare at him. His pulled a face and she shook her head at him. "Don't try to disagree! You work so hard out here, every day you are doing something! You are here from sun up to sun down, in every kind of weather! If I hadn't brought you tea, you would have frozen!" It occurred to her that the shaking of his shoulder was him trying to suppress his laughter. "Don't laugh! It's true! You do everything for everyone and take no care for yourself!"

"Just like a woman to blame the man!" he chortled and she instantly sobered at his words.

"I'm not human, Makito-san," she reminded him and he fell silent, his eyes growing sad again. She hated to see that look in his eyes and wanted to do anything to stop his pain, but she was at a loss. She wasn't even certain what was happening to her, that she was so concerned for him.

"I know." He groaned and squeezed his eyes closed. "Which brings us back to the original question: What do I do now?" He opened his eyes again finally and she realized that there was moisture gathering in the corner of each eye. He was fighting back tears and the sight of it was killing her. She had made Makito cry. There was no pit deep enough to contain her misery over that.

"I wish I knew," she whispered, feeling as though all her good intentions had brought him nothing but pain. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have come out where you could see me. It was very wrong of me. I wish it had never happened."

"I don't," he replied and she was struck silent by his response. "Even if you can't love me back, Sakura-chan, just knowing you has changed my life. I wouldn't give back a moment of the time we have spent together. Loving you may hurt me, but I am more alive now than I have ever been and I don't want to lose that feeling."

She stared at him in shock. His face was earnest and serious, his eyes filled with intensity and passion. He meant every word and it occurred to her that she didn't regret their time together either. A slow realization came over her. She could feel his emotions radiating from him and they seemed to resonate with her own.

"Makito, does being in love mean that you hurt when your loved one hurts? Does it mean missing them all the time they are gone? Is it when you cannot bear to make them unhappy?" she asked and he watched her as she spoke, hope dawning in his eyes. His slow nod of agreement confirmed something in her and she shook her head in bafflement.

"What are you saying?" he asked, hope fighting disbelief in him.

"That though a kami may have no heart, still somehow I have fallen in love with you," she told him, her voice shaky and her hands trembling.

He slipped his hand behind her head, tangling his fingers in her hair, and leaned down. She was unsure of what he was doing until his mouth touched hers.

The world went still, or maybe it was just her, she wasn't sure. Her chest was tight, she was dizzy, and his mouth on hers was burning hot. She was certain that she was going to die in his arms, so intense were the sensations. She wrapped her arms tightly around him, as her knees were so weak she could hardly stand. The kiss turned everything inside her to fire and feelings. There was nothing in all of the universe but the two of them, rapidly fusing into one being.

She hadn't even guessed that there could be so much power in a simple kiss. All those decades of watching young lovers trysting beneath the moon and she hadn't understood. He pulled her even more tightly against her, her feet left the ground as he lifted her up. She wasn't certain what it was that had started the sudden aching need in her, but she knew that only he had the cure for it.

They ended up, somehow, in a tangle of limbs on the ground, hands and mouths exploring each other, bodies moving to a rhythm and flow that was different than any she had known before. He was pulling away her kimono and she was tugging at his shirt. She had seen from a distance the behavior of humans, known what they did together, but nothing had prepared her for the touch of his hand on her skin, the hardness of his muscles, the need that spiraled up between them.

There was a brief pain but it was gone a moment later, the desire washing it away to a disregarded memory. She could feel him moving inside her, a wonderful, terrible, pressure was building up behind her eyes, until finally she was blinded by an explosion inside of her. Makito's hoarse exhalation, and the sudden surge of life coming into her, left her shaken.

They lay there in the darkness of the garden, wrapped in each other's arms, her kimonos spread out beneath them and trembled. Clinging to each other, in wonderment and not a little fear, she felt something on her face.

Makito reached out and drew his thumb across her cheek. She saw something glimmering in the moonlight and it took her a moment to recognize it.

A tear.

Her face went ashen and Makito could feel her stiffening beneath him. He had a moment of cold horror as he suddenly became aware of what they had done. In the moment it had seemed so right, so natural an expression of their feelings for each other. But the sight of the tears on her cheeks brought reality crashing down on him.

"She's a kami, Makito; it cannot be between you two. She can't feel human emotions, she can't cry, or love, it's alien to her nature. If she did feel these things, well, she wouldn't be a kami anymore, would she?" His father's words from earlier had returned to haunt him now, too late. She looked so stricken and panicked, that he pulled her tight against him.

"Sa-chan," he soothed, stroking her face with his hand. She slowly calmed down, but her face was still rather pale.

"An-chan," she whispered back to him and he kissed her again at the endearment. Somehow, kissing her triggered the feelings all over again and they were quickly roused and desperate for each other. He was so hungry for her touch, her kiss, that everything else lost focus for him. He forgot that he was outside at night, that while the garden was dark, it wasn't all that far from the road and there was a chance that they could be seen there, making love beneath the cherry tree.

He forgot everything but the silk of her skin, the heat of her body, the way it felt to plunge inside of her, to feel her moving beneath him, to hear her soft cries in the dark. Nothing else mattered, nothing else was real and when they collapsed, still wrapped around each other, nothing could overcome the joy in his heart.

Dawn was just starting to creep above the world, as he leaned on his elbow, one hand supporting his head and the other tracing the curve of her body. He wasn't certain when the exact moment had been, but during the night, he had determined that no power in heaven or earth could part her from him.

"Sakura," he began. She made a little enquiring noise, but was curled up tightly against him, sharing body heat, but also not wanting to be too far from him. "Would you marry me?" She stilled completely and drew back to look him in the face.

"What?" She sounded confused by the question.

"Would you marry me?" he asked again. "It would make me very happy, if you would say "yes"," he added.

"An-chan, if it makes you happy, then of course." He kissed her all over her face and hugged her tightly, joyful with her answer. "But I don't know what it means." There was a moment as he stared at her in shock and then he dissolved into laughter.

"It means that I want you with me for all of my life," he told her and she went from puzzlement to soft and tender smiles.

"That's good, because you are stuck with me," she told him with another soft kiss. "I can't get back into my tree anymore, so I will need somewhere to live."

His father looked like he could have been pushed over by a feather. His mother was grinning ear to ear. Houka was bouncing around the kitchen in joy and Kai just looked bemused.

"So we are getting married," he finished and Houka wagged a finger at him.

"And you thought I was getting married too fast that time, Onii-chan!" she teased.

"Nonsense, we have known each other for a year, at least," he retorted, trying to appear dignified, rather than just gleefully ecstatic. Sakura was tucked beneath his arm, looking decidedly rumpled and pink cheeked and also very desirable. He wanted this conversation to be over with, so he could get her upstairs. He wanted to do everything they had done before again, but this time in a bed.

"But she is a tree kami!" his father protested, rather faintly.

"Hush dear, and you are a mere mortal?" his mother asked with an arched brow. Isamu blinked and his mouth opened and then shut again. Sakura, who had not said a word up to this point, looked at him in surprise.

"Father is a sky kami," he murmured to her by way of explanation and Sakura's look of utter shock made him pause. "Didn't you know?" He pointed to the plant on the windowsill, concentrated for a moment and then watched her face as it the plant suddenly bloomed.

She was grinning and she grabbed him hard around the waist.

"If only you had told me! I would have married you months ago!" she cried and his family burst out laughing at her indignant expression.

"It's not something that I tell people normally," he protested and she poked him sharply. "Most people don't understand and it's not like you told me you were a tree spirit!"

"But I did, silly," she laughed. "You asked me who I was and I told you! I am Ki Sakura!"

"So you did," he acknowledged sheepishly. "So, you did."