*A flower blooms once*

*On this night I will show you*

*I am your flower*

Chapter 8 – Hanayo's Flowerbed

(Celestia's PoV)

After Hogeki and Hanayo finished their conversation, and apparently settled on a way to resolve the problem they were facing, Hogeki told Celestia and Luna that the issue would be resolved with a duel. The winner between Hogeki and Aketoki would determine who would marry Hanayo. After she accepted the terms, Hogeki left, declaring he would wait for Aketoki at the location he disclosed to Hanayo in the morning.

Once Hogeki left, Hanayo requested Celestia to return Aketoki his swords, saying they were priceless heirlooms of his family and that he had to have them back if he was to duel Hogeki in the morning. Celestia agreed, under the condition that he not be allowed to unsheathe them at all during his time in the palace or in the city. Hanayo accepted, and both swords were handed over to her.

Hanayo also requested that she be allowed to have her Naginata once again, because besides her Koto which she still carried, her Naginata was the only thing she possessed from her family. Celestia agreed to allow her to carry it, but under the conditions that a sheath be placed over the blade and she follow the same conditions Aketoki must.

Finally she made her most important request of Celestia and Luna. "I wish to see Aketoki please, I wish to tell him of the conditions of his duel… and because I deeply miss him." She said. "The last time I saw him, we had just finished a fight for our lives. And prior to that, we were separated… looking for each other for three long weeks."

"Very well, guards escort Miss Hanayo down to Aketoki's cell." Celestia said. "They are both allowed to wander around the palace but they must remain under watch at all times when outside the cell. Follow The Doctor's instructions when concerning wherever those two go, and make sure they are not allowed to go anywhere outside of the palace or where they do not belong."

Celestia turned to The Doctor at this. "Doctor I know I have been asking much of you over the last two days, but will you please chaperone those two for the remainder of the day." She asked. "None of my guards speak their language and I do not want them to feel like prisoners, being confined to Aketoki's cell."

The Doctor smiled and said he would follow them around. "Derpy, you honestly don't have to stay here just to keep me company." He said to his wife as Hanayo got up on her rear hooves to carry both her Naginata and Aketoki's swords. "Why don't you go home and check up on our daughters, I'm sure Dinky is giving Sparkler a headache. I promise to be home some time tomorrow okay dear?"

"Okay Doctor, see you tomorrow." Derpy said before she gave him a short nuzzle on his cheek. "Don't be too late Doctor."

(Hanayo's PoV)

Hanayo watched as the grey winged female showed signs of affection for the chestnut translator, before leaving the room in very happy spirits. As she watched the two showing their affections for each other again, she felt a familiar pang of sadness. Despite how different their two cultures were, she could see the familiar feelings of romance between those two.

It made her long to be with Aketoki even more now.

"Alright follow me Hanayo, and I'll take you to see Aketoki." The translator said to her as the female left.

She nodded and followed him, and was immediately followed by six guards, each armed with spears or lances. They walked out of the throne room, down a hallway, toward a door, and through that door onto a large staircase. They descended the staircase and the smell became less familiar, as she could feel a sense of cold, wet air fill her nostrils. She recognized that this must be some kind of dungeon, or prison, because there were bars lining the rooms she passed by.

Some of them were mostly empty, holding nothing but boxes and crates, each of which smelled like they were containing food of some kind. "Thinking about stuff?" The translator asked her as he walked down the stairs.

"Yes I am… I am thinking of many things." She said, thinking about how Aketoki was down here all alone with no one to talk to. "May I ask you a question translator?"

"Obviously you just did but by all means ask another!" He said cheerfully, which thoroughly confused her about why he was acting like this.

"Well… about you and that grey winged female… are you both in a relationship of some kind?" She asked.

"Of course, she's my wife!" He said. "Married a couple of years ago, we've had a filly and adopted another since then, and have been happy all this time."

"Your wife, did you have to prove yourself to her father to win her, or did you have to prove yourself to her to win her heart?" She asked, wanting to know a little about their culture in terms of that aspect of life. "What about honor, did you have to prove yourself in battle to win her affection?"

"Nope, I never had to do anything like that." He said happily. "Of course I had to go through a trial to convince myself I loved her, but that's not a story for now. She loved me before then and I had to get myself to admit I loved her as well. But all I had to do was ask her to marry me, and she instantly accepted. We've known each other for a while, so it was easy to pop the question to her."

"What about her father, and your Daimyo?" She asked. "Did you not have to seek both of their approval of the marriage, and wasn't her father angered that you both went through without going through the marriage rituals?"

"Nope, nothing of the sorts." He said. "In all honesty I never met her father, so I really had no idea what to do about that. Still, even if he knew I'm sure he would approve of our marriage. We've been happily married for the past few years, and we have a nice family. There's no way he could disapprove of me I believe!"

-He won her heart… without fighting… married without her father's approval?- She thought to herself. –They don't need to seek her father's consent to marriage… what kind of kingdom is this…?"

Such concepts were beyond her, having grown up with the fact that if her father didn't want her to marry Aketoki, the only way she could be with him was by becoming a Ronin with him. She wanted to believe in such 'perfect' ideals, but as long as Hogeki was following her, and as long as he and Aketoki were alive, she would always be torn between the two worlds. So while they continued to walk down this staircase in what appeared to be a jail of some kind, she had time to think about her life and future.

She had to choose between two paths in her road, and on one side was her whole world, her love Aketoki. She had chosen this path but now this duel that was fast approaching was revealing two paths. One path lead to happiness but full of struggles, and the other led to a life of comfort but deep loneliness. It was either Aketoki wins the duel and she would happily stand at his side, or Hogeki wins and she either admit he was worthy of her, or she kills herself to stay free of him.

Being with Aketoki means that she would lose her clan name, but she did not mind that, she was fully prepared to live her life on the run as a Ronin with Aketoki if that was the case. Yet if Aketoki won the duel than she could finally be free of her old life, and forget the war that was raging in her homeland, and start over with the only Samurai she cared about.

If she could be with Aketoki, then she could easily start a new clan with him, or help rebuild his own clan's name of Nimaji from scratch. She didn't even care about losing her dowry from being a daughter of the Kusaji Clan, if this kingdom was anything to go by, there wasn't any sort of poverty to be found. She was able to walk almost three weeks without any sign of bandits, or be harassed for being alone.

What she really wanted in life now, was to be able to put down her Naginata, and assume the life and role of a housewife, not that she hated being an Onna-bugeisha. Yet there were no wars here in this strange land, it was so peaceful, and there was plenty of everything wherever she went. Merchants had food to sell and give for free, there was land as far as she could see, where one could settle down and live however they wanted, and there was clearly work for any who wanted to work.

Yet in contrast to it, on the other side her world involved rituals, family ties, and a loveless life. If she married Hogeki, she would have all the advantages of being married to a powerful clan. She could watch as her son became a great samurai, maybe he'll even become a great warlord someday. Yet she hated the thought of becoming a tool, or a means to an end, for her father's rise in his political career. She barely knew Hogeki on a personal level, and the thought of being married to him, bearing his offspring, and carrying his clan's name above all things sickened her more than thought of growing old alone.

"Hey wake up, we're almost there!" The translator said, causing her to snap out of her thoughts and look up to see a large wooden door guarded by four heavily armed and armored guards, each of whom bore a shield and much longer spear than the others she had seen.

The door looked a little damaged on one side with several black marks, apparently remnants from the explosions of the ninja's weapons. However despite the damage done that forced it open, the door still seemed to fit perfectly into place, the only thing she wondered was why there was no visible lock on the door. –How do they expect a door like that to keep any from attempting to escape?- She thought as the translator walked up to the four guards and spoke to them. –Did Hogeki really need to send his ninja to break Aketoki out; he could have broken out on his own even without his swords. What kind of security do they have here to protect their royalty? Do they know nothing of tactics?-

The guards nodded and turned to face the door, and then at the same time their horns all lit up as they used their powers. The door glowed with a mixture of colors, and she heard several clicking from around the room. To her amazement, moments later the door opened all on its own.

However her amazement was short lived as she regained her senses and watched the translator enter the room, but he blocked the doorway, preventing her from entering. "One second, I just want to talk to him for a moment." He said, and only took a step forward so he could be visibly entered. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm prepared for whatever punishment your ruler has for me." She heard a voice say inside the cell.

"Oh don't worry about that, but I do have somepony who wants to see you!" He said cheerfully, before turning to face her with a smile. "Now you can go inside and see him, I'll be waiting out here just in case you or Aketoki want to leave and go somewhere in the palace."

She nodded and waited for him to step out of the way, before taking a few tentative steps forward into the cell. She only had to look around once before she finally found the one samurai she wanted to be with. Aketoki Nimaji, last remaining member and head of the Nimaji Clan. He was currently sitting on a stool, looking at a picture of a Flower that she had given him years ago when they were still children. His armor was sitting on top of a bed that looked like it had once been attached to the wall, but now was lying on the floor.

At her entrance he slowly turned to see who his 'visitor' was, and opened his eyes widely in surprise, but also joy. "Hanayo-Chan?" He said, and she could hear the joy and happiness in his words.

She wanted to crumble her appearance that she had maintained for all these years, all this time as a warrior whose duty is to protect her family, friends, relatives, home, ad livelihood during dangerous times. She wanted nothing more than to drop what she was carrying, run over to Aketoki and have him hold her. To cry in his embrace and let him comfort her, let him say sweet words and calm her fears and worries of the future that was still uncertain. She wanted to forget about Hogeki, her father, her unknown future, everything just for a small moment of comfort.

Yet she was not a peasant farmer's wife, she had to maintain her standards and appearance in front of Aketoki, even if she were a long way away from any other samurai. So the first thing she did was take her Naginata and laid it next to the wall, then she carried Aketoki's swords to him and presented them before him as respectfully as she could. "Aketoki-Chan… I believe these belong to you." She said, holding them before him with her hooves.

A moment passed before he took them, and she watched him pick the swords up and placed them I their proper position, at his side where they could be reached at a moment's notice. "Thank you… Hanayo-Chan." He said. "It has been a while since I've felt their weight at my side, and I sorely missed them. They are all I have left from back then."

"That's not true Aketoki-Chan…" She said, causing him to look up at her. "You've always had one thing from Takasaki that never left you and has always been at your side, even if you were fighting in the war, you and I were separated for three weeks, and your swords were taken from you temporarily while imprisoned."

She gave a small smile as she placed her hoof on his cheek. "You always had me… and my love for you."

He gave a small smile as he nodded and touched her cheek with his own hoof. "Indeed I did… and you always had mine." He said.

Hanayo could sense through the tender touch that Aketoki too wanted to hold her right then and there. Yet he restrained himself, because they were still not yet married, and until they were he was still a Ronin Samurai and she an Onna-bugeisha.

She hated their positions for ruining this small moment; it should have been a reunion full of tears of joy
in each other's comforting embrace.

/watch?v=mtP0Nn40-xY

(###This song is important for this part… please type this in to truly feel the feels here###)

"The rulers of this kingdom, have they determined my fate… is this my last…" He said, not wanting to ask the question.

"No, at least for the crimes you've committed here in their kingdom." She said. "Hogeki arrived soon after I was allowed in, and I pleaded with the two leaders to spare your life. It took all I had to convince them, but eventually Hogeki's words were cast into doubt. What you did here according to them is unknown, for they have no laws set down for what you did. However there is one matter that you must now decide…"

She became worried at this, knowing how he would take the news. "I challenged Hogeki to a duel between you two… the prize will be me." She said. "The one who wins will claim me as their wife, and the loser will lose his life. Tomorrow morning you must face him…"

She knew how Aketoki would react, he was after all a Samurai, and his reaction did not surprise her in any way. "Very well then, tomorrow morning we will finally settle this matter once and for all." He said confidently. "I'm tired of running from one I do not fear, and now that he is alone and has no more tricks to use to his advantage it will be an even fight!"

"Just promise me one thing Aketoki…" She said, causing him to look at her again. "Please… come back alive. I don't care if you kill him… or if he flees in disgrace or anything like that… just come and claim me as your wife tomorrow…"

He nodded with a smile and said the words that restored her courage in her beloved Aketoki. "That's the only outcome I will accept."

(Aketoki's PoV, Ten Hours Later)

Aketoki walked outside of the palace under heavy guard with Hanayo to watch the sunset with her in the gardens. Throughout the day he and she enjoyed touring the palace, witnessing the wonders that Celestia's Kingdom had to offer her. First they visited her library and looked at all the books, even if they couldn't read a single word in them. Of course the translator was able to describe what each book was about, and he learned that the kingdom Equestria was ruled by the two ponies known as Alicorns. He knew them both by name now, one of them was Princess Celestia, and the other was Princess Luna.

They also learned that the two of them were much older than they imagined. Celestia was apparently older than her kingdom was, and she had ruled it for over one thousand years. He wondered how any could live that long, but guessed that this strange land had mysteries yet to be understood, and just assumed that this was how it was.

They learned that the two of them controlled both the sun and moon. This above all astonished Aketoki and Hanayo, for they had always believed that the sun and moon moved on their own. The translator informed them that this was partially true, and said that they only controlled one sun and one moon. He didn't explain the details but he said that there are a lot of things they wouldn't understand right now.

The next place they visited was the throne room, where the two Princesses were taking care of their royal issues of the kingdom. They did this because Aketoki wanted to apologize for all the problems he has caused, and offered to serve any punishment they deemed fit. They said that he has to worry about his own problems for now and to prepare for his duel in the morning.

After a fair amount of walking they were welcomed to join them for dinner before the changing of the day and night. They were treated to a scrumptious meal, even if it lacked meat, and enjoyed the strange music that was played for them. It was soothing to listen to, even for them. Finally as the sun and moon were about to set and rise, Aketoki and Hanayo went outside to watch it happen before going to bed. The gardens smelled wonderful and looked like they had been tended to by the greatest gardeners that could be found, there were beautiful flowers everywhere.

"Look Aketoki the moon's rising!" Hanayo said as the sun began setting, releasing the beautiful changes of colors that arrive with twilight.

Moments later the moon rose, and as it raised a full moon shone down on all of them. "It's beautiful Hanayo…" He said.

"It's not just that you two… I think something's come out to view the night with all of us." The Translator said, walking in front of them and pointing at a group of flowers near a tree.

They both looked and watched as one by one, silver-white flowers started blooming as the moonlight touched their buds. "Moonflowers…" Hanayo whispered. "They have moonflowers here as well?"

Aketoki nodded as he and Hanayo walked closer to admire them, and decided now it was time to keep his promise to Hanayo that he made all those months ago. He walked over to the translator while Hanayo was admiring the flowers and whispered, "Translator may I ask if you know the marriage rights of our culture?"

The translator nodded with a smile. "If you want to start by all means…"

Aketoki nodded as he walked over to Hanayo and picked one of the moon flowers to hold up to her and looked to the translator to indicate he was about to begin. "Hanayo… do you remember the promise we made back then…" He asked her.

She nodded in understanding, but clearly she didn't know why he was picking up a flower to hold. "Yes I do… we promised to one day be married under the full moon near… the…" She said before her voice trailed off as comprehension dawned.

When she understood what he was saying she reached with one hoof and without breaking eye contact, picked one of the moon flowers for herself. Apparently the translator was talking to the guards, asking them to witness their marriage for them, but neither she nor Aketoki understood a word they said.

"Those flowers aren't to be picked!" A guard said, but neither Aketoki nor Hanayo were listening clearly.

"These two are about to be married captain, under the circumstances I think Celestia's and Luna's garden can spare two flowers." The translator said. "And if not I'll pay for new flowers to be planted there myself!"

"Hanayo… I ask if you will become my wife this night… as Leader of the Nimaji Clan I offer you all the honors and privileges you can have as my wife…" He said, wanting to keep this as simple as he could, because without a proper monk and ceremonial sake, or even a light meal to celebrate, this was all he could offer her. "What do you say, Hanayo Kusaji…"

The tears in her eyes told her response, yet she spoke up because it was part of the marriage right. "As daughter of the Kusaji, and the only representative for my clan around… I offer to become your wife… and grant you all the privileges I can give you." She said tearfully. "I am yours… yours to use as you see fit… betray… love… hurt…do as you wish because all that I am, is yours… Aketoki Nimaji."

"Will you take on my name… my clan name… and become… a Nimaji?" He asked, this was his only requirement for her becoming his wife.

"From this day forth… call me… Hanayo… Nimaji!" She said tearfully.

Aketoki sniffed his flower at the same time Hanayo sniffed hers, forgetting the scent for the joy he was feeling. Then he leaned forward and finally, after all this time of waiting and keeping to their traditions, finally kissed the Onna-bugeisha who was destined to become his wife!

The translator was busy reciting some lines for them, but that honestly didn't matter anymore. "And may you be blessed with eternal happiness…" He said under his breath.

(Hanayo's PoV, five minutes later)

They returned to their cell, Hanayo now holding close to Aketoki Nimaji, her husband. –Hanayo Nimaji… finaly… but why… why now? - She thought as her happiness showered her in waves. –Oh well… it doesn't matter… he promised to win tomorrow, so it won't matter… it won't matter now… because we're together…-

As they entered the cell, she turned to the translator and asked the only favor she wanted.

"You want me to do that?" He asked. "Why?"

"I just want you to do it… please… just this one night."

He nodded and said he'd do it, and ten minutes after she and Aketoki were sealed, she watched through the hole in the door as all the guards left to go upstairs with the translator. They were alone.

She turned to watch Aketoki repositioning the blanket on the bed, moving their armor to one side of the room with his back turned to her. So without his noticing she reached to the cloth that kept her Kimono tied together and undid it, pulling it free of the knot she had tied it into. Then she slipped her hooves out of the sleeves and separated the kimono so that it hung loosely on her. "It's time for bed Hanayo-Chan." He said as he turned to blow out the candle that was their source of light at night in the cell.

That was when he noticed her. "Yes it is… Aketoki-Chan…" She said quietly, stepping forward and using one hoof to anchor a sleeve to the floor, so that when she moved, her kimono fell off her.

Aketoki nodded and blew out the candle and watched her move closer to him than she ever had before.

(Luna's PoV, Outside in the Gardens)

"What a lovely night this is… with a beautiful full moon if we say so our self." She said as she walked out into the garden to enjoy the night air again, though with twenty guards stationed and in the company of Hawk and Owl.

She turned to head toward the moonflowers she was admiring last night when she noticed a pair of red roses shaking gently in a rose bush. She was eyeing two roses with curious eyes, because there was no wind this night, and wondered why they were doing that.

Then the roses gave one gentle shake, and both fell off the rose bush, leaving their stems behind.

"Well… that's odd…" She said, eyeing the roses with curiosity.