After a huge ordeal of calming down Dr. Belair, Yoshitsune, the hotel manager (despite my insistence that I knew it was an accident, I more or less have a free room for life there…talk about amazing customer service), then talking to the firefighters, I finally make it to the studio. Dr. Belair did not want to leave me alone, neither did Hanzo or Yoshitsune, but I knew if they were late we might lose the slot, so I convinced them to go and let me catch up.

I walk through the front door. I see Dr. Belair instantly, and he runs right to my side.

"Ma bichette, I've been so worried about you. How are you doing?"

I give him a hug. I'm doing the best ever. "I'm good Dr. Belair, how's everything here?"

Dr. Belair smiles then shakes his finger at me. "I already said to call me Christophe. Please, Dr. Belair just sounds too formal."

So many years of being formal, what's changed now?

I smile. "Okay Christophe, I can do that."

He takes my hand. "Well, as long as you're sure you're alright, lets get you miked up and start filming." He looks over towards Yoshitsune and Hanzo, who are at their Genpei war post. "They may be our friends, but our soldiers are going to win this fight and be the deadliest warriors!"

I laugh. Who knows, I think there's a good chance we will be.

I look at Hanzo before heading to my post. He's standing at the Genpei war weapons table, holding his katana in different stances. A more than worthy adversary…my competitiveness may be back but I wouldn't mind surrendering to him.

I walk over to their post. Yoshitsune appears lost in thought over their papers, preparing to share knowledge. Yoshitsune looks up from his notes and smiles. "So glad you're here, and in such high spirits to! Are you ready?"

I nod. "To the victor, the spoils!"

Yoshitsune chuckles. "No matter the outcome, I think we shall all step away as winners."

My competitiveness slips. It's hard to stay in the spirit when such kindness surrounds us.

Yoshitsune seems to sense this and says, "Don't worry, this is going to be one hell of a fight!"

I clap my hands. "Yes, yes indeed!" No doubt these two would have made amazing Genpei warriors.

Yoshitsune points towards Hanzo. "Kazemasa can't wait to demonstrate, he's been practicing since we arrived." The familiar glitter returns to his eyes. "I think he could use a break before we start filming."

I slowly smile. I bet he could.

I walk over to the weapons table. Hanzo is holding his katana over his head when he sees me. He puts his katana down on the table and hides his hands in his kimono sleeves. He turns and faces me.

"Your form is amazing."

He blushes. He untucks his left hand and smoothes it through his hair before tucking it back. He looks off to the side and then back at me.

Why does he seem nervous?

He looks down at his sleeves. Slowly, he untucks both hands and holds them out to me.

I look. Nestled in his hands is a sprig of cherry blossoms.

I put my hand over my mouth. They're beautiful.

I pick them up and deeply inhale their scent. Their scent washes over me. I close my eyes, and suddenly, I'm back under the cherry blossom trees. Swaying softly to the music, safe in Hanzo's arms, the two of us getting lost in a dance. I slowly brush the sprig down my cheek. Flowers in the air, stars in the sky…

"You like them then."

I open my eyes and smile. "Oh Hanzo, I love them!"

I leap forward and hug him. Unlike last time, he lets me do it. I feel one arm around my back and another caressing the back of my head. I hug him tight.

The embrace ends and he looks at me. "I don't like upsetting you, you know."

I feel my face fall. "I know, I shouldn't have said that. I'm sorry."

He smiles. "There's nothing to apologize for, I just wanted to make sure you know the truth."

I shake my head. "That may be the truth, but I still owe you an apology. Shoot, the very least I owe you is an apology Hanzo."

He cups his hand under my chin and raises my head up slightly so our eyes meet. "I've been thinking, and I think I don't want you calling me Hanzo anymore."

I know I look confused. "Why is that? Don't you like it?"

Now it's his turn to shake his head. "It's what strangers and acquaintances call me. I would like you to call me Kazemasa."

I'm still confused. "I thought only Yoshitsune calls you that."

"It's what those close to me call me." He says.

Once again, I can't help but blush.

Before I can reply, a stage hand comes up. "Sorry to interrupt, but we need to get your mike on miss. We'll be starting the weapons tests soon."

Hanzo (I mean Kazemasa) drops his hand away. The stage hand looks at the both of us. "And uh, this show usually has plenty of banter, so if you two could resume the quips you threw around last time, that'd be great."

Kazemasa raises an eyebrow while the stage hand and I put my mike on. "A good warrior respects his enemy; to do anything less would be a fatal mistake."

The stage hand snorts then points to the cherry blossoms. "Is that what those are for? To show respect? Give me a break! You're trying to get her to let her guard down."

I look at the blossoms. No, that's not why. At least, I hope that's not why.

I consider asking when I see Kazemasa walking swiftly towards the stage hand, his face stern and his eyes piercing. "This lady is a genius when it comes to French military history, and may know more about warfare than I do."

With every word, he takes a step forward. Each step is met with the stage hand taking a step backwards and seems to shrink away. "It would take more than flowers to throw her off her game, wouldn't you say?" Kazemasa stops, crosses his arms and waits for a response.

My heart is all a flutter. He thinks I'm a genius? Wow! And to think I could doubt him in the slightest over his intention with these flowers.

The stage hand cowers a bit, then straightens up and smirks. "Sure, if you say so. Now let's rock and roll."

He walks away. Kazemasa faces me. "My apologies, he was being rude."

I laugh. "You intimidated the wrong person," I set down the flowers and put my hands on my hips. "Hit me with your best shot sweetheart, you and all your Genpei samurai are going down!"

"If it's on you, then I have no problem with that." Says a wily voice.

Wait, I recognize that voice, but how could-

Kazemasa is looking behind me, and then dips his head and groans. "What are you guys doing here?"

I turn around. Sure enough, it's Kazemasa's friends from Hanami. They're standing shoulder to shoulder, each one in a Genpei war uniform and wearing an intimidating look as well (except Enya, who looks more like a snake seducing its prey).

Enya breaks formation and walks up to me. "So our little cherry blossom turns out to be beautiful and lethal, more like a fireball lily." He grabs my shoulders, spins me around so I'm facing Kazemasa again, and then holds me close with his arms around my waist and chest. The arm across my chest moves slightly upwards and the back of his hand starts stroking my cheek. "Beauty that holds such power is one of the most perilous things in the world, and to think it could also hold the title of Deadliest Warrior? What's a ninja to do?"

This man is truly something else, and what the hell is he during here? Furthermore, why am I allowing this?

I'm about to elbow him when my brain registers something he just said. "Ninja?"

"That's right baby, ninja. Sounds so much sexier than samurai, doesn't it?" He continues stroking my cheek, and I look at Kazemasa in pure confusion.

Kazemasa, who had just been glaring at Enya, sees my look and his eyes grow wide. Suddenly, flames surge through them and he grabs Enya by the shoulder with such force that I stumble back as a surprised Enya releases me.

I gasp, surprised myself. What is going on?

Kazemasa is hissing at Enya in Japanese, still pulling him by the shoulder as he walks away. I begin to follow when Hyosuke breaks formation and stops me. "Ignore them; they butt heads all the time."

I can do anything but ignore them. "I don't understand. This episode has nothing to do with ninjas, and even if it did, why call Kazemasa one? And why would being called a ninja make him that upset?" I point, Kazemasa has stopped but he's still scolding Enya, who seems to be arguing back. I look back at Hyosuke, who looks surprised. "Finally, what are you guys doing here?!"

Hyosuke now has a mischievous look on his face, and his friends are now grouped up behind him instead of in line. They all have a look of intrigue on their faces.

I look from face to face, waiting for an answer. When I don't get one, I break the silence.

"What?"

Hyosuke smiles. "You called him Kazemasa."

I frown. "I did, but that has nothing to do with what I just asked you. " I feel myself growing annoyed. "Shall I repeat myself?"

Hyosuke laughs, and so does everyone else. "Not necessary. You don't understand, we're all amused because you're the first person outside of us or his family to call him that."

What? I can't possibly be!

Now the guys have transformed into a bundle of excitement and teasing.

"I never thought I'd see the day!" "Imagine, our little Kazemasa!" "What a charmer!" "Oh he's got it bad!"

I bite my lower lip. Oh geez…

Benkei gets closer to me. "How do you feel about Kazemasa?"

Sohma nods and moves next to Benkei. "Yes, give us details! Apparently we missed out on a lot by not being here the first day."

I can feel myself blushing, but then I realize something: Kazemasa and I haven't discussed this; all I can do is speculate. I know I've fallen hard for him, but the truth of the matter is I barely know him and I don't really know how he feels about me. This is painfully obvious the more I hear from these guys, who know him so much better than I do.

I feel disheartened. The guys are clearly waiting for an answer, but they aren't going to get one from me. "I'm more interested in hearing why you're all here, are you going to answer me or not?"

They all groan. Hyuga lets out a "Wa wa wa wa…" and Hyosuke waves them off. "Ah, you're right, what business of that is ours?"

The others start to walk away towards the Genpei war post, but Hyosuke stays behind.

"Sorry if we got a bit carried away, but this really is a first. It's a big deal to see Kazemasa warm up to anyone, let alone a woman."

I keep hearing stuff like this, and I don't know what to do with it. Why can't I just have time to process all of this? Oh, that's right, because I've had two near death experiences in three days. If I believed in luck at all, I'd be plagued with bad luck; it's been this way my whole life. Sure, I've risen above and haven't succumbed to it, but it still happens. Why me?

Hyosuke looks concerned. "Are you alright?"

I know I must have had a far off, blurry look in my eyes. "Yeah, sure, I'm fine."

He nods, then motions towards the Genpei war post. "To answer your question, we're all here because the producers asked Yoshitsune if he knew any martial arts experts who'd like to appear for a segment. The segment involves filming a ninja ambush, no holds bar. Ninja ambushes would happen in the Genpei war." He turns his right hand into a fist, pounds it twice on his left shoulder, and then extends his hand towards me while uncurling his fingers from a fist into a peace sign. "And who could ambush Yoshitsune and Kazemasa better than yours truly and the others?"

Ninja ambush, eh? "So this show is involving ninjas." I look over at Kazemasa, who has stopped lashing into Enya and is talking to Yoshitsune while the others seem to be planning the moves for their ambush. "Why did Kazemasa get so mad at the mention of them then?"

For a split second, Hyosuke looks uneasy. I must have imagined it though because no sooner have I thought that when he shrugs. "Could be any number of things, though I'm inclined to believe it's because he gets annoyed when people lump samurais and ninjas together; there's a difference you know."

I did not know that; I have so much to learn from my own episode.

"HYOSUKE-SAN!"

We both look over. Yoshitsune is calling Hyosuke and motioning for him to join them. Hyosuke gives me a quick hug then runs in their direction. I'm surprised by the hug, but it's sweet. He seems so much more good natured than the others, I wonder what they were like when they were training together.

I head back to my post. Christophe pats my back as I stand next to him. "The producers have a good segment lined up for them ma bichette, I'll have to dazzle with my sword demonstration on the equestrian fields." He looks at me and smiles. "Or perhaps you could pick up a sword and they can film us in hand to hand combat."

My eyes go wide. Surely he's joking. "You're kidding Christophe! I've never even picked up any of our weapons before." I point to the weapons table. "Shoot, this is my first time being close to any of them outside of a museum!"

Christophe looks at the table, then back at me. "Something tells me you'll be an excellent swordsman."

He's not joking.

He walks to the table, picks up a sword (the weapons team sure made fine replicas) then walks back and hands it to me. It's heavy, but I don't drop it. I hold it in front of me the way Kazemasa held his katana that first day. I then point the blade upwards and move it up width-wise so it slowly covers my face. I turn it to the side so it looks like it's now splitting my face in two. Sword still up, I look over at Christophe, who's studying me carefully.

I bring it down slowly, then hand it back to him. "I am no warrior Christophe. I've worked hard this past decade and I am a wealth of knowledge, but with little experience to back it up."

Christophe looks surprised. The words surprise me as well, but as I hear them, I know they're true.

"I've immersed myself in my studies and books my whole life, so hungry for knowledge that I thought would eventually fill a void in my life; a void I've had for as long as I can remember. I see now that I've been feeding a bottomless pit. I don't know what I'm missing, but I need to figure it out."

Christophe is studying me, rubbing his chin and looking a little sad. He puts his arm around me. "I thought this day might come soon. We should have a talk soon ma bichette, I don't want you feeling this way."

I guess Christophe went through this too. Maybe this is a normal feeling, like you've hit the wall right before becoming a doctor.

My thoughts are interrupted by loud whooping. I look towards the test zone the guys were at. Yoshitsune and Kazemasa are standing in the middle of the stage area, weapons up and breathing hard. The others are flayed around them, fallen in defeat. The host and on site doctor are cheering, clearly impressed by what they'd just seen. I leave Christophe's reassuring touch and walk over to the test site. I missed it. My chance to see Kazemasa's skill and I missed it.

"CUT!"

I walk onto the test site. The fallen ninjas rise up, and the host walks over to the instant replay zone to watch the footage (in slow motion, I assume). Kazemasa and Yoshitsune have put their weapons away and seem to have regained composure. Yoshitsune walks towards the host, and Kazemasa walks towards me.

I cross my arms and pout. "I missed it!"

Okay, maybe a little childish, but I really wanted to see his skill.

He grins. "Too bad, it was a fine demonstration."

Was that pride? Heh, kinda sweet to hear a little bragging out of him.

"Don't worry, you'll see it when the episode airs, although I'm sure after editing it'll look better than it actually was."

Back to normal. "Good point, I'll see it later."

He adjusts his katana holder. "Anyway, I was hoping we could talk before we move onto the equestrian fields."

"That's next? They're moving quickly today. I wonder where those fields are anyway, supposed to be pretty secluded." I do a double take. Wait, he wants to talk?

"Sure, what's on your mind?"

Indeed, what is on his mind? The same things on mine? The things I apparently don't have the strength to say?

He looks off to the side, then back at me. "Listen, I was thinking after the episode finishes today-"

"ALLRIGHT EVERYONE, ROUND UP FOR THE FIELDS!"

Oh hell.

We both look towards the voice.

"Chikusho…" Kazemasa mutters.

I look back at him. I twirl a lock of hair around my finger, and I feel my eyes slip into a dreamy trance. He sounds so sexy when he speaks Japanese.

"Nice…What does that mean?"

Kazemasa's eyes go wide. "Never mind, no one should speak that way in front of a lady. Excuse my crassness."

A bubbly, overly feminine giggle spouts forth from my lips. "Say it again."

His cheeks go rosy. "I will not."

I continue to twirl my hair, and then I raise an eyebrow. An impish grin spreads across my face. "Then say something else."

The crimson on his cheeks stays, deepening slightly, but a mischievous look crosses his face.

"Watashi wa tako desu." He says, stifling back a laugh.

I don't know what that means, but I could listen to him say that all day.

"Yes…say something else." I ask, feeling a delicious heat course over my body.

Suddenly, his eyes go serious. I'm a bit taken aback by this but I'm enjoying the moment too much; I don't want him to stop. "Please?"

His lips go into a firm line. "Hajimete ata tokikara sukidata."

Again, I don't know what he's said, but it's clear these words carry some heft. His eyes race, waiting for a response but knowing he's not going to get one. He looks me up and down; the severity of his look is so strong that it pulls me out of dreamland.

My hair drops off my finger. "Kazemasa?"

The severity stays, but wisps of longing and confusion flit through his eyes.

"I'm sorry. I thought it'd come out differently, but that's the only way I can manage to say it."

With that, he turns and leaves. Surprised, I watch him walk away. What did I do? Weren't we having fun?

For all my linguistic capabilities, I have no idea what he just said; the way he said it I'm lead to believe it wasn't anything good. Japanese never made it to my list, but it's certainly at the top now.