The first night with Ashi had been the hardest. She refused to sleep and sometimes refused to even stop looking at Jack. She was afraid he'd just be...gone.
Jack had stayed up with her, keeping himself busy with running his hand in her hair and talking quietly to her now and again until the sun began to creak over the horizon. Jack blinked a few times, glancing at the window and sighing. "Well, it's morning." Ashi glanced over to the window too, her eyes darkened.
Jack stopped running his hand through her hair, a soft sigh escaped him. "Ashi, you should get some sleep." He whispered to her softly. She only shook her head. "I'm fine." Though, her voice showed nothing but not being fine. It was hoarse and tired like.
Jack frowned, watching her for a long moment before kissing her forehead. Ashi sat up a bit in his lap, stretching her body and letting out a tired little grunt.
"Could we take a bath together?" She murmured quietly.
Jack's face flushed, his eyes widening as he let out a tiny stutter. "A-A bath?" He murmured quietly.
Ashi watched him, a small little smile appearing on her lips. "You're still so flustered about bodies, huh?" She giggled quietly. She seemed happier now at talk like this.
Jack couldn't help but smile. After the long night of Ashi being nearly paranoid of him leaving or vise versa, it was nice to see her smile and giggle.
"I mean- like I said before...Woman's bodies-a-and ...Men's...are...different a-and.."
"So?" Ashi tilted her head.
"It's...p-privacy! I don't know." He stuttered.
Ashi blinked. "...Jack. You do realize that...when we first met, when I was in all black...that wasn't...- It was just...soot." She murmured. "I was naked...that...entire time." She muttered quietly. She looked up at Jack, who's face had paled so badly one could think he was dead. "Y-...you...e-...everyone was..."
Jack put a hand on his face, running it down his lips as he let out a heavy sigh. Ashi couldn't get enough of this, and was laughing loudly. She even snorted, which made her cover her own face now.
The two starred at each other with a hand covering each of their faces, before the both of them started to laugh.
After a few moments of laughter, the laughs died down and left the two just starring fondly at each other. "So, since you now know you've seen me naked at least five times- Can we please take a bath together?" She asked quietly. Jack paused, before letting out a long sigh. "Fine- but I'm still going to look away." He murmured.
Ashi rolled her eyes, she sat at the edge of the bed, but then hesitated. Her smile moved to a frown as she sighed. Jack got up. "I'll help you, it's okay." He murmured, picking her up and allowing her to wrap her arms around her neck.
He carried her to the bathroom, reaching down and turning the water on. Jack set her on top of the counter, looking into her eyes as he gave her a smile.
But he noticed how her eyes trailed down. "...Ashi, what's wrong?" He murmured. Ashi sighed, "I just... I'm not used to being like this." She tried to explain. "T-this weak...This...helpless." She growled out, shaking her head. Jack frowned, running a hand in her hair. "...It will get better." He whispered quietly. "I'm going to help you." He promised quietly. Ashi slowly shook her head. He gently grabbed her cheeks, "I love you." He whispered, tilting her head to make her look at him.
Ashi smiled sadly. "I love you too." She whispered back, closing her eyes and leaning in when Jack did the same. The two kissed quietly. Jack brushed his lips along hers, and Ashi parted her lips to allow him to slightly deepen it. The only reason they stopped was when Jack felt water at his feet.
"Oh no!" He gasped, running to the bath and shutting it off. The water had overflowed. Ashi, who was safe on top of the counter, let out a small laugh as Jack hurried to grab enough towels to soak up the water.
He glared at her, his eyes slightly playful as he shook his head.
"You distracted me!" Ashi could only giggle. "Perhaps that was the intention." She mused to him.
Jack walked to her, kissing her forehead. Ashi smiled, and began to slid her robe off. Jack watched for a second, the robe began to slide up her shoulders and right before it slid off her chest he turned away. "S-sorry." He whispered, just taking off his gi with his back turned to her.
Ashi scoffed softly, "You could look if you wanted. I am...your wife after all." She teased. Jack grunted quietly. "I-i'm...uh, there's...a time and a place for that." He slid off the rest of his gi, taking everything off.
Ashi paused in taking off her robe, simply to just look at him from behind. She blushed, just glancing away and taking off her robe.
She gasped when she was suddenly picked up. "J-jack-" She blinked when she noticed his eyes were completely shut. He walked /very slowly/ to the bath, and gently kicked it to make sure it was there.
Ashi was so close to laughing again, watching him blindly look for the bath. "...J-jack. You can...lower me down." She laughed a bit.
Jack nodded, slowly putting her into the bath. He cracked his eyes open a bit more and climbed into the bath. He made sure to look away from Ashi.
She scoffed quietly, grabbing the cup and filling it with water. Ashi spilled the water on her hair, wetting it and running her hand through it to get it out of her face. Jack was still looking away, he had dunked his head in the water to get it wet once he took the pin off. Ashi had to admit she enjoyed seeing Jack's hair down like that.
She moved closet to him, nearly straddling him. Jack tensed, gasping out. "A-ash-" He trailed off when she began to scrub his hair with shampoo. She tilted her head a bit, watching him as he continued to look away; his face now blushing even more.
Ashi smiled some, and that smile only got bigger when Jack began to scrub her hair with the shampoo now. They both sat in silence as they began to scrub each others hair. She looked into his eyes. Jack finally looked at her, his eyes looking into hers. He was trying so hard not to look down, which made Ashi giggle again.
"You're trying so hard not to look at me." She whispered.
Ashi slowly leaned in, her chest pressing against his. He tensed, letting out a shaky breath. "I am yours, you know. You can look." Jack frowned, slowly shaking his head. "N-not now, Ashi." He whispered. Ashi blinked, starring at him in loss for second before slowly looking down and nodding. "Okay. I'm...sorry." Jack looked down to her face.
"No... It's not you Ashi. I just..." He trailed off. Ashi kissed his chin. "It's okay. I understand." She said softly. Jack smiled a bit. "I want it to be special." He said, kissing her forehead and grabbing the cup of water. Ashi tilted her head back to allow him to wash out all the shampoo from her hair. After herself, she took the cup and did the same thing to Jack.
Jack leaned back into the bath, his hand was on Ashi's waist as she looked up at him, her eyes shifting down from his head to his chest. Jack grunted, "What are you doing?"
"Just because you won't look at me doesn't mean I can't look at you." She whispered to him, grinning a bit as Jack scoffed quietly.
She pulled away after a moment, grabbing a rag and scrubbing her body.
"Ashi, I...was wondering something." He murmured. Ashi looked up from the rag, blinking. "Yes, Jack?"
"Did you know that... Aku was your father?" Ashi blinked, slowly shaking her head. "No," She said, handing him the rag. "The cult I was in was called the Daughters of Aku. So... I didn't really think I was actually his daughter." She said quietly, looking up at Jack and frowning. "..And you still love me?" She murmured, "I know...Aku isn't in me anymore. But that doesn't change the fact that I am his daughter." She whispered.
Jack shook his head, "Remember what I said to you? You are not your mother, you are not your father...you are good." He whispered. Ashi smiled at him. "I am good." She repeated softly.
Jack smiled, he leaned in and kissed her forehead. "Alright. Let's get out of this bath, and we're going to talk a walk." He whispered. Ashi frowned, "We?" She murmured. Jack nodded. "I'm going to help you get your strength back." He promised to her.
Once the two had gotten out of the bath and gotten some clothes on, Jack carried Ashi back to the cherry blossom tree he loved to sit at. He set her down on the ground and gently grabbed her hands. "Are you ready?" He asked softly. Ashi slowly nodded, she gripped his hands and pulled herself up. "A-augh!" She grunted, her legs felt like jelly, and it was almost impossible to keep standing.
"There you go, you're doing amazing, Ashi." He whispered, taking one step back. Ashi quickly took the stop to follow him, but collapsed in his arms. She breathed out shakily. "I-i guess I was more Aku then I ever knew about." She breathed out shakily, gripping tightly onto Jack's gi.
Jack held her steady, taking in most of her weight. "You're doing amazing, Ashi. Just keep it up."
Ashi tried standing up on her own, but she shook her head. "I-it's too much right now." She whispered, leaning on Jack again and resting her head on his chest. He rubbed her back, allowing her to put her weight onto him again. Jack slowly sat down against the tree, looking down at her with worry. "Are you okay?" He asked.
Ashi nodded, "Yes. I'll be fine. I'm okay." She said quietly. "It's...strange. everything just feels like jelly when I try to walk..." She whispered.
Jack frowned, "You'll get stronger." He promised quietly.
Ashi had a small coughing fit, before nodding. "I hope so. I don't want to be like this for the rest of my life. I want to be a good wife to you."
Jack scoffed, "How many times do I have to tell you, you are." He murmured, "Just because you can't walk doesn't mean I'm going to stop loving you." He whispered, "I couldn't...live without you, Ashi." He nestled his head against her neck, holding her close.
"You mean so much to me, so much I bowed down to the Gods and begged them to bring you back to me." He whispered. "Those few days felt like an eternity, I couldn't stop thinking about you..." He sighed quietly.
"Oh, Jack..." Ashi leaned on him, kissing his lips. "You did it. I'm here now...And I'm not going to disappear again." She murmured.
The two stayed beside that tree, looking up at the sky as the sun shown through.
"Ashi, when you are well... my mother wanted to throw a tiny celebration in honor of you coming back." He said softly, "...She mentioned it being a ...girl's thing." He made some sort of face, as if he was honestly confused about what that meant. Ashi, didn't exactly know either. She laughed a bit. "Perhaps she just wants to spend time with me. The last we did that was when she got me ready for the wedding." She explained in a quiet voice.
"But before that, I'm going to help you get steady on these legs again." He explained to her, patting her leg gently as she leaned against him.
The two eventually got up and went back to Jack's room. In his room was two plates with bread on them, and two bowls of chicken broth. Jack hummed softly, he set Ashi down on the bed and she sat infront of one of the trays. She was able to use her arms fine, it was mainly her lower half where she felt weak in. She dipped the bread in the broth, and took a bite out of it. She hummed happily, taking another bite. Jack couldn't help but watch.
"Someone was hungry." He teased softly, in which Ashi nodded. "Yes. I haven't eaten that much lately." She teased quietly, taking another bite of her bread.
Jack took a sip of his soup, his gaze resting on her. "Are you actually going to sleep tonight?" He asked, Ashi paused, before shaking her head. "I'm not tired." Jack rolled his eyes. "...I'm sure." He whispered back, though he knew that was a lie. "You need to sleep, Ash-" "I said I wasn't tired, Jack. I've dealt with a lot worse than not sleeping, I'm /fine/." She insisted, taking a rather harsh bite of her bread as she glared off.
Jack decided to not press it anymore, his gaze just shifting back to his food.
The Gods were right, Ashi seemed to be a bit paranoid too. Even with all the reassurance he has given her, that still hasn't stopped her from thinking that everything could go away again.
Lost in his thoughts, Jack didn't notice Ashi finish her food, her gaze was now on him, looking at him up and down and, when their eyes met, starring into his eyes. He gave her a soft smile. In all honesty, he was just happy to have her back. But he knew eventually he was going to have to figure out a way to make her better mentally. Her legs were not just the problem anymore. It seemed like he was in for another sleepless night, but he was ready.
He was willing to do anything for Ashi.