Chapter 5

(A/N: Since none of you tried to guess the source of Danny's techniques last chapter, I will reveal them later in this one.)

Special Note to Amethyst Ocean: No, Sam was not naked. Her kimono was just torn open at the beginning, and she got a new one when Jazz took her. BTW, thanks for telling me about the song "Butterfly" by Aqua. It really is a match for the plot. In a way.

Danny woke up just as the sun was rising. He started to move but quickly remembered that Sam was cuddling against his chest, so he decided to just wait and watch her sleep. Finally, after about 15 minutes, Sam slowly opened her eyes.

"I liked sleeping in here," said Sam, smiling at Danny, "Do you think we might make it a permanent arrangement?"

"I'd like that," said Danny, smiling back at her. But deep in his heart, he knew it wasn't a permanent arrangement. In a month, a ship would come to retrieve her, and with the new isolationist policies that the council was pushing the Empress to pass, he would never see her again.

Rising from the bed and stretching, Danny said to Sam, "I'd like you to stay indoors, today." "But Danny," Sam started to say, but her stopped her with, "No 'buts,' Sam. After last night, you need rest. If you must go out, I want you to have either Tucker or Jazz accompany you at all times."

Groaning, Sam said, "Okay Danny, fair enough." Realizing that he was late, Danny tied off his kimono and promptly left. Sam lay back down on the futon and thought about last night. She smiled at the thought of how her parents would have reacted if they'd seen her sharing a bed with a "barbarian soldier," as they no doubt would have called Danny.

Suddenly, Sam realized that thinking about Danny made her stomach feel kind of sick, but in a good way, as if there were little butterflies in it. Then, she realized what this meant: Samantha Manson, the young British noblewoman who at one time couldn't remember what it was like to be happy, was falling in love.

Danny's thoughts were on Sam at the moment. Normally that wouldn't be a problem, but when a fellow samurai is about to strike you with a wooden sword in a place you don't want to be struck, it's a BIG problem.

Quickly snapping back to reality and parrying the blow, Danny disabled his sparring partner, Katsumoto, with relative ease. After Danny helped him up, Katsumoto said, "You seem distracted today, Daniro-San. What's wrong?"

Sighing, Danny replied, "I don't know, Katsumoto-San. I can't get Sam out of my thoughts." "That gaijin woman?" asked Katsumoto, a little shocked. "Yes," replied Danny.

Unfortunately, their stimulating conversation was interrupted by the arrival of Tucker, who said to Danny, "I almost didn't want to believe it, but the shogun is come to Kyoto from Edo!" At this, Danny frowned visibly. The shogun, the commander-in-chief of the Empress' armies, was an undeserving snake named Masutatsu Varada. He claimed to be a friend of his father's, but Danny knew the truth: Varada hated Fenton Jakku for marrying his love interest, Kafuman Maddi, Danny's mother, and was always trying to use his connections to separate them and take Maddi for himself.

Stalking back to his house, Danny found his father by the door, trying to untangle his fishing lines. "Father," said Danny, bowing. Turning, Jakku bowed his head in reply and said, "Danny, m'boy, what's up?" "Masutatsu Varada is in the city," Danny replied, trying to hide the venom in his voice. Fortunately for him, his dad wasn't too smart. "My old buddy, Varada is coming? Well I've gotta go visit him!" said a cheery Jakku as he stood up.

Now, to a Westerner, Fenton Jakku wasn't much taller than a normal adult man. To an Asian, however, he was massive. At six feet, 3 inches tall, he towered over most other Japanese and was two and a half, maybe three times as wide as many of them. An Ainu, one of the wild men who lived on the Northern island of Hokkaido, his skin was pale and his eyes bright.

Danny sat down, leaning against a tree, and thought about the bewitchingly beautiful girl he had spent the night with. Suddenly, he realized that thinking of Sam brought a kind of indescribable bliss to his soul, one that surpassed any pleasure his flesh could feel. It was then that it hit him: Fenton Daniro, samurai warrior, was falling in love.

(A/N: Next chapter: We meet Vlad's equivalent in this world.)

TO BE CONTINUED.