Yuka bent to the table right beside the bed and cupped her hand around the candle burning there to illuminate the room. Out of habit she glanced out of the corner of her eye at the man she had spent so many years helping without ever having once spoken to him. Even in sleep he seemed a stern sort of man, his features seemed like they were given more to serious frowns than to laughter... but given the previous king's predelection for levity (and the bankruptcy it led to) perhaps he was what Tai needed. Yuka had only his reputation and what other people who knew him had said about him to frame a judge of him with, and that made her uneasy. She liked to form her own impressions. Taiki had told her often about him, how he was a virtuous man who saw deeply into people and situations.

:To give him credit, what few retainers managed to escape the purge Asen set on them are fanatically loyal to him, so I guess there must be something good about him.:

Yuka's own feelings about him were mixed. If it hadn't been for him she would never have met Taiki, and Yuka felt that her life and her ability to see ethical and moral actions had been improved by that. Certainly Taiki had become her true heart-friend, she wasn't in love with the kirin but she did love him and was loyal to him like no other. On the other hand however, if the man had not been outfoxed by his rival and gotten into the situation, (no matter that it was not his fault) Tai would be a better place. Kaname would not have spent these many long years in a state of wistful mourning, the people would most likely not have suffered as greatly, and she herself would not have had to deal with the royal nonsense day in and day out.

:When he wakes up, I may have to hit him,: Yuka decided. :I don't care whether this mess is not his fault really, he's the cause of it and I'm tired and cranky from dealing with it!:

She already knew that she probably wouldn't do anything of the sort, but she did know one thing... when that man was well enough to sit on his throne again Yuka was buggering the hell out of the palace!

:Ah, freedom...: Yuka thought wistfully.

As much as Taiki wanted his king to wake up because he missed him, Yuka wanted him to wake up for another reason. She wanted out of there! She had been cooped up in the palace dealing with coups, and diplomats, merchant princes, and corrupt officials and all manner of things (plus all of the lessons in court ettequite she'd had to master secretly to keep up the appearance of a royal consort) for the last five decades. The palace was large but Yuka knew every inch of it by then and it simply was not big enough for her. She wanted the world. She wanted the freedom to go and see all of the places she had had dealngs with over the years. She wanted a break from the endless stress of court and the political manuverings.

:I need a vacation!: she thought, not for the first time.

She had it all planned out too, in her head. She was going to see the seaside, visit an onsen, watch a play, go shopping, go tour the port-cities she'd ordered constructed, take a ride on a skyway and that was only in Tai. She wanted to visit Youko, whom she had kept up a very lively correspondence with. She'd advised the queen to use fashion to boost her kingdoms economy by creating Houses that sold names and held shows to display thier work for every season, and now Kei was the Paris, the Milan, of this world and quite wealthy because of it. Yuka wanted to go shopping for fashinable clothes rather than the court uniform she had to wear everyday. Sure it was an exuisite peice of cloth art, made even more beautiful by her and Taiki's combined tatses, but after fifty years of it it was as boring as a school uniform for her. And of course she wanted to visit En for the wonderful libraries and bookshops they had there. Yuka was a bookworm from before she'd crossed over to that world, and she still loved to read. And there was also the port in Han, which she had heard wonderful things about, she'd heard that there were all manner curiosities there and she wanted to see them for herself. And then there was Ren, which Kaname had told her about from his previous visit. It was supposed that there were wonderful beaches there and Yuka had always wanted to try surfing.

:There's so many things I want to do and see and try!: Yuka thought with impatient excitement. :I wish this guy would hurry up and wake up so I can get out of here and live a real life for a change!:

Yuka looked over at him, sleeping as soundly as ever. The king of Tai was an immortal, so regardless of how much time had passed, as long as he remained in his position as king nad Taiki did not get sick, then he would remain unchanged. By extension, when Yuka had been married to him (even by proxy) and Taiki had put her name on his family register, she too had been listed among the ranks of the immortals.

Raising her head, Yuka looked into a nearby mirror at her own face. Physically, she remained unchanged from the day she had been married to him, but even Youko commented that she looked different.

"You were always so cool towards people, really aloof and hard to get to know. Sometimes I got the feeling you looked down on all of us. Even though everyone excluded you, you sometimes gave off the aura of someone to whom the petty concerns of the students weren't of great importance. Well, now it's like all that stand-offish self-possession you had has just gotten worse."

Yuka wasn't sure that Youko had been complimenting her. In fact she was sure that her friend had been trying to give her helpful criticsm.

:But it's not exactly as though I've got a whole lot of choice in the way I act,: Yuka thought with a small frown. :I'm in a different position from a rightful ruler, I'm not a ruler at all. The only thing I'm here to do is to try to prop up the throne and stabilize the kingdom so Taiki doesn't have to die. I'm surrounded by enemies I can't do anything about, and if they don't have at least a little bit of warriness about me then I won't be able to get anything done.:

In her case, she wasn't out to be loved, she needed more to be feared and respected. A cool and aloof manner, when combined with the right leverage, made her opponents just wary enough of crossing her thus bringing down her wrath on them to make the situation manageable. She relied on the image she'd created of a cold, aloof and dangerous woman to cross in order to keep her enemies and her allies in line.

:If I had never gotten invoved,: Yuka looked at the mirror, which reflected back the image of a well-polished woman rather than the sixteen year old she had been when she'd crossed over. :Would I have fallen in love? Would I have been happily married to some warm-hearted idiot and had many children to dote on? Would we have shared meals together and made a house into a home? Would I have gotten to be a tiger-mama to the children about their grades and fussed at him about his job? Would I be old and happy right now, content that I'd lived a full life?:

She'd made her choice, and she in no way regretted it. There were times, after a particularly effective political manuver or when an economic campaign bore fruit and made more jobs and helped the economy, when Yuka was glad she'd done it. But there was no denying that it had been lonely. Even with Taiki beside her, there was a part of him that was always away with his king. And besides that, she didn't see him that way. Because of her position as a married woman Yuka could not even flirt mildly with anyone. After all even if it had been out of necessity, she had given her promise of fidelity to him and she was not the sort to go back on her word.

:That doesn't mean that it's not lonely for me sometimes...: Yuka thought wistfully.

"Hurry and wake up," She whispered over at him, moving to blow out the candle. "We're all waiting, and none of us can move on until you do."

She was just about to blow out the candle when she swore she saw a movement.

:Surely it was just a trick of the light,: she told herself, even as she bent over to see more closely, her breath hitching with supressed hope. :The candles play all sorts of tricks with the flickers of light and shadow.:

It happened again, his fingers moved!

:They twitched, I'm sure I saw them!: she thought excitedly.

She watched Gyousou like a cat at a mousehole, waiting for more signs that he might actually finally be waking up. The next movement came after so long a wait that she'd almost given up, and it was larger. His whole arm moved and his breathing pattern changed! Elated, Yuka spun and shook Kaname by the shoulder.

"Hey! Hey wake up!" she said in an excited whisper. She wasn't quite sure why she was whispering, for something like this she felt like she should wake the whole palace. "Kaname, wake up!"

"Wha-?" he asked, blinking sleepily over at her. "What's wrong?"

"Look," Yuka said, leaning closer to the sleeping king. "His breathing has changed, and I think I saw him move!"

Kaname leaned close searching his features with frantic hope, desperate for him to at last wake up. Yuka felt sort of bad for waking him and telling him so soon, what if she was wrong? She'd have gotten his hopes up for nothing. It had happened in the past after all, but usually it was due to his own hopes rather than her prompting. But a moment later the king did it again, he stirred fully that time, his eyelids fluttered and he took in a sharp breath, like a person preparing to wake. He even shook his head! Yuka and Kaname exchanged twin looks of delight. Kaname daringly reached forward and gently poked at his shoulder, as if afraid he might hurt his leige

"Gyousou-sama? Gyousou-sama?" he said, his voice high pitched with hope and urgency. "Are you awake? Can you hear me, Gyousou-sama?"

"Mmh," the king grumbled, his voice rusty from disuse.

"Should I get a bucket of cold water?" Yuka asked teasingly.

"Yuka! You should do no such thing!" Taiki replied to her teasing, falling for it as he always did. He turned back to his king.

"Gyousou-sama, please wake up."

For the first time in all the time since she'd met him, Gyousou's eyes at last flickered awake. They were a strange color, sort of a deep brownish red color, and though he'd been asleep for decades, his eyes focused quickly and with a few flickering glances took in everything he could see.

"Gyousou-sama!" Taiki cried falling on his chest and weeping with relief.

:I should leave them to thier tearful reunion,: she thought. :Poor Taiki's been through a lot, and he's been waiting so long for this moment. I should leave them to enjoy it in peace.:

Yuka slid the door aside and stepped out onto the pathway between the imperial suite and the kings private gardens, giving the two of them some privacy. Yuka figured she might go back to her rooms and get some sleep for it was late that night (or early that morning actually) and she anticipated that tomorrow was going to be a busy day. She was stopped by Taiki calling for her.

"Yuka!" he called out.

Curious, Yuka poked her head back into the room and Taiki beckoned her over. She gingerly walked back into the room, feeling very much like a fifth wheel on a moment beween king and kirin.

"This is Yuka," Kaname said with a happiness and cheer that Yuka had never seen on his face before.

Taiki's eyes were more animated, his posture was not so slumped, it seemed like even his breath came easier to him. Yuka looked over at him fondly, pleased to see her dear friend in such high spirits for once. There had been some few times when they had been able to laugh over something in the decades between the time they'd taken the throne and now, but those moments had been far between. Mostly, keeping the kingdom together was a grim, serious business.

"She stayed with me and helped me all this time," Kaname said enthusatically.

For the first time Yuka met eyes with the man she'd been supposedly married to all this time. Even from several paces away, she finally got what all of his retainers meant when they talked about his aura. He did have a great force of personality, his gaze carried both a sharpness and a weight to it that was like its own gravity. Yuka felt her own pride rise to the surface to meet it. Her spine straightened and her posture took on the same aura of self-possession she had whenever she was faced with a room full of hostile diplomats or disrespectful ministers, the cultivated aura of someone who would not brook any disrespect to her person and they should back down if they knew what was good for them. Without even intending to she locked gazes with him, his force of personality that reached out at her and pushed her back, she pushed back against. He seemd surprised and his eyes sharpened, Yuka too, narrowed her gaze at him without consciously realizing it. Kaname seemed startled by it and Yuka suddenly remembered herself as her attention was caught by Taiki, looking between them.

:That's right, technically I am a guest here in his palce and all of this stuff has been done without his knowledge or consent. I should play nice, at least until I can pack up and leave,: Yuka reminded herself. :There's no point into getting into a contest of wills with this man after all, he's not invading my turf, rather I have invaded his!:

"I'm glad to meet Kaname's king," Yuka said with a polite bow at him. "Please treat me kindly in the future."

"Thank you for your hard work," he replied automatically.

The sheer prosaicness of such routine phases during that particular moment and in that particular situation, startled a small, fleeting smile of amusement at the incongruity of it onto her face. A second later it was echoed on the strangers face, and Yuka saw the kindness that Taiki had so often described to her on it. She was surprised by the relief she felt. She had worried for all of the time she had played her role as consort, propping up the throne so that her friend would not face shitsudo, that the man he loved and idolized was less than he remembered. It would take a person every bit as strong and stronger to finally bring Tai to its proper order.

"Well," Yuka said into the small silence that followed. "It has been a long day for me, and it will likely be an even longer one tomorrow."

"We should announce the good news!" Taiki said enthusiastically. "All of the province lords are here for New Years, we should tell everyone that the king is awake, then those nasty governors from the north will start behaving themselves."

"That's precisely what we should not do," Yuka said in urgent alarm, seizing Taiki's wrist to prevent him from running off to rouse the house.

Could he not see all the ways that that was a very bad idea?! The man was drained to the dregs and wouldn't be able to lift a pen let alone a sword to defend himself for at least another day or two, no matter how fast a healer his immortality made him. In the meantime, he was litterally surrounded by enemies in his own palace, for the shuukou had gathered for the New Years ceremonies and feast. Counting Taiki they had just over half of the kingdom as allies, but those damn northern shuukou had used much of the extra money from selling thier gems on the black market to outfit thier armies with weapons and armor. Even if thier land-forces could not march through the frozen passes of winter, thier air forces were not anything to sneeze at. The situation was already precarious as it was, adding the possiblity of real, official retribution into the mix was setting a match to a powder keg. If they were going to take them on, they needed to be at thier best. They couldn't do that unless the king could actually defend himself.

"But why?" he asked, cocking his head to one side.

Yuka sighed a little with an empathic look on her face and said

"The lords of the north have firmly entrenched themselves in thier territories. Right now they are arrogant, confident in thier safety from anyone being able to take any real action against them."

"But what about those economic sanctions-?" taiki argued.

"It's a political and economic war," Yuka corrected gently. "By nature it's not a violent one. So far, I've been able to keep the peole of Tai mostly out of harms way, but that is *only* because those shuukou think they have all of the time in the world. They believe they are immune from retribution because our powers to act against them are limited, thus they've become arrogant. If they suddenly discover that their time is up they will become desperate men. Desperate men take action, no matter how foolish. They still have armies, and many of our own provincial armies and the palace guard are spread out dealing with the youma. If they should band together and attack, the few reserves we've been able to raise will not be enough to hold them off for long. Aside of that, we've gotten the economy and the youma problem stabilized but barely, we litterally cannot afford a civil war. No, the thing to do for right now is to continue playing the board as we have been. I have a few surprises for those men tomorrow that will take thier mind off any inquiries into his majesty's health. We should wait until he's fully recovered before we take any action or make any announcements."

"Gyousou-sama is in fine health! He's an immortal!" Taiki protested hotly, injured on his master's behalf.

Yuka graced him with a dry, flat look, then reached over and picked the king's arm up between her thumb and forefinger by the wrist and dropped it. Gyousou hadn't even had the strength to take his wrist out of her grasp and he glared ineffectually at her.

"You see?" she replied to Taiki with a raised brow. "That Chyoukoku sapped him of all of his strength. Given his immortality it will probably not take long, hopefully it will not take long, but he does need some small time to rebuild his reserves and gather his strength. And besides all of that, you and I have been mired in the sitation for years so we take for granted the complexity of it, but he's going to need some time to get a handle on matters. He can be debreifed or whatever the military term for it is, as he recovers his strength. For now, I am tired and I'm going to get some sleep, I'll need to be my best for the morning."

With a purposely graceful bow, Yuka rose and left them, seeking her own rest. For the first time in a very long time she slept deeply, relieved to know that the wait was over and the end of her trials was at last in sight.