Dedicated to WindKitsuneofDarkness for issuing me this challenge: "I once pledged my loyalty to you, and that vow holds true even now." Many thanks for editing it as well.

Disclaimer: Samurai Warriors is owned by Koei.

One year has passed. A year of joy and sorrow, of triumph and defeat, of endings and of new beginnings.

After all the battles, the bloodshed, and all the lives so meaninglessly lost, it is over, and the land resides in peace once more. Now, no one burns the rice fields and no one is hungry. Men go home each night to their wives. Trade continues to grow and flourish. Japan prospers.

Thirteen days after your death at the hands of Saika Magoichi, I rode to Yamazaki and there defeated Toyotomi Hideyoshi. Upon doing so, the other lords called for truces and submitted to me. Thus I became the Taiko.

But it is that title which should not be mine. It is you, Lord Nobunaga, who should reign as supreme ruler of the land. For all that has been triumphed and won, you are no longer by my side to guide me. To lead me.

There is nothing more I want in this world than to be able to serve you once more. Each time I contemplate a sakura blossom in all its frail and gentle beauty, each time I hear the rippling melody of an elegantly-plucked koto, each time I look out at the streets of Edo and watch them bustling with life, joy and vigour, I wonder what you would say if you could see them.

I once pledged my loyalty to you, Lord Nobunaga, and that vow holds true even now.

There was a time when I pledged myself to the one man whom I knew would be able to end the chaos and unify our war-torn country, and I swore to serve him to whatever end would meet me. To give my life for him, should he ever require it. To bring back peace to the land, no matter the cost.

Yet, in the end, it is I who wakes up to a new dawn each day, when it is I who should have died. And in doing so, I have failed you utterly.

But until I draw my last breath, I will continue to uphold that vow. I will continue to protect the dream you set out to accomplish, and to safeguard this new world which you have created, and its people who owe their very existence to you.

You have left behind a legacy, Lord Nobunaga. A legacy of harmony and security. A legacy of tranquility and happiness. And though you have departed this world, that legacy, the legacy of the man I continue to live for each day, will never be forgotten.

Taiko: Supreme Ruler of Japan in the Emperor's name. That's the definition in Yoshikawa Eiji's novel, anyway.

My first SW fic is, very fittingly, about Mitsuhide (my favourite character)...Reviews always appreciated :)

And to WindKitsuneofDarkness: Just make sure you sound formal, then add in some flowery language/elegant sentence structure. And it doesn't hurt to be a little dramatic as well. XD