Chapter 5: Reflection

"I wonder where he could have come from," Izayoi thought to herself as she lay in bed, her eyes staring up at the ceiling in deep concentration. She had been trying for the last hour to get some sleep, but her mind would simply not allow her to rest. She could not stop thinking about the young man who had been staring at her in Kasumi. He had looked so strange and yet so beautiful. "And those eyes…" Izayoi thought to herself dreamily, "They seemed to be looking right into me…, into my soul." As stunned as Izayoi was by her own train of thoughts, she simply could not help herself. She knew that she was very intrigued by this man and wondered as to who he could be. She reasoned that he must have been a foreigner, since she had never seen him in town before. "I certainly would have remembered seeing him before," she thought to herself. Izayoi then proceeded to roll over, trying once more to get some sleep. But once again, the image of the beautiful stranger filled her mind, causing Izayoi to sigh in frustration at herself. "I should not be having such thoughts," she scolded herself mentally. "For goodness sakes, I do not even know his name! Besides, such thoughts are inappropriate, foolish, and wasteful." Izayoi cringed slightly as she realized who she was beginning to think like.

For as long as she could remember, her father had been a very stern man. Even for a middle-aged man, Lord Matsumoto's stoic and commanding demeanor was enough to make anyone feel intimidated by him. No one could refuse him anything or even think to deny him any respect. And if there was one other thing that could be said about Lord Matsumoto, it was his strong belief that emotions were a weakness, as well as useless. Therefore, one should avoid expressing them, especially in the presence of others; he felt that one must deal with their own personal problems and emotions as quickly and privately as possible. As a result of this, Izayoi had developed a very deep sense of privacy over the years and rarely spoke openly with her father, or anyone else, about anything personal. Quite frankly, she and Lord Matsumoto hardly spoke as it was, except about trivial matters. Although she loved and respected her father dearly, Izayoi could not deny the fact that her relationship with her father was lacking in certain ways.

"I truly wish that I could speak with father more freely," she thought longingly. "I truly want to be able to tell him every thought that's in my head. But I know that he would hate it if he saw the real, imperfect me. And he certainly would never allow me to speak the truth anyway, or even listen for that matter."

The realization of this soon brought about the all too familiar feelings of hurt and resentment in Izayoi. Her face took on a melancholy expression as she thought, "Is it wrong for me to desire more out of my life? Sometimes, I feel so trapped; as though my whole life has been arranged for me and as though everyone is watching me; I'm always expected to be perfect, since that is what I was raised for. To be the perfect woman. The perfect bride." At this thought, Izayoi's breath caught in her throat, fisting her hands tightly as she realized that her thoughts had taken her into the dreaded subject of marriage. It wasn't that she did not desire to get married; Izayoi merely wished that she could marry for love rather than for money, title, or convenience. But in her heart, Izayoi greatly feared that this was exactly what would happen; she would merely be a prized possession being handed over to whoever could pay the highest price. Nothing more. And since she was now eighteen years of age, marriage could not be avoided much longer. Soon, her father would begin to urge her to find a suitable husband. Or rather he would strive to find her a suitable husband; someone that he deemed good enough for her. Izayoi scoffed slightly at this thought; the very idea that any man would ever be deemed good enough for her in the eyes of Lord Matsumoto seemed to her both unlikely and absurd.

Eventually, sleep seemed to finally catch up with Izayoi as she felt her body tire and her eyelids grow heavy. She rolled over once more and closed her eyes, allowing the sleep to claim her. As her breathing became more slow and relaxed, she let out a small sigh as she slowly drifted off into a comfortable and deep sleep.

The moment that Izayoi looked around at her surroundings, she knew that she had to be dreaming. She was alone and she was standing at the entrance of a forest and it was now daylight outside, the sun bright and its' rays beaming down into the openings of the tall, majestic trees. She soon recognized it as the forest surrounding Kasumi Town and was quickly overcome with a desire to go inside. The moment she set foot inside, she suddenly took off running down the path, feeling more and more exhilarated and excited as she ran further in. It slowly dawned on her that she appeared to know where to go, yet had no idea to where exactly she was headed.

Then, as soon as she came upon a large boulder towards the right side of the path, she abruptly stopped, as though she had almost missed something. Then, despite her mind telling her not to wander off the path, she did so anyway, making her way towards the left side and walking straight on. She continued on this way until eventually, she came upon an area filled with tall, thick bushes and small trees lined in various places. One area in particular seemed quite unusual; it looked as though the bushes had formed a big wall that seemed to stretch pretty far. Something inside Izayoi urged her to get a closer look near them. As soon as she was standing right in front of the bushes, she became aware of the faint scent of flowers. Yet she could not spot a single flower anywhere around her, leading Izayoi to believe that there was something on the other side of these bushes. At first glance, they appeared to be thick and completely impassable. But as she made her way through them, Izayoi realized that they were not so thick and the further she went in, the stronger the scent of flowers became. Eventually, she made her way out of the bushes completely, her eyes becoming momentarily blinded by the bright sunlight inside. As soon as her eyes had adjusted to the bright light, she opened them and stood in silent awe of what had been hidden inside.

A large and beautiful clearing stood before her, covered with hundreds of wildflowers and elegant trees, both big and small. No matter where she looked, the flowers seemed to cover every inch of the trees, the grass, and even the surrounding bushes. But what was most amazing was the large spring that was also situated in the clearing. The water was clear and blue, with the sunlight beaming down on it, making the water sparkle; it looked as though hundreds of diamonds were floating inside. Izayoi immediately made her way towards the edge of the water, with the intention of soaking her feet in the spring. As she removed her shoes, Izayoi savored the scent of the flowers, as well as the beauty and majesty of her surroundings. Then, she stepped into the water, allowing the cool, pure water to soothe her feet. Then, she glanced down into the water, expecting to see her reflection. She gasped in shock and astonishment as she saw what looked back at her. There before her, the image of a little girl, a young Izayoi, looked back at her with a relieved and hopeful smile.

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Izayoi immediately woke up with a start, her heart racing, and her breaths coming in rapidly. For a moment, she felt disoriented, not sure if she was still dreaming or not. Also, the dream was still fresh in her mind and she desperately wanted to understand its' meaning and quickly. But as soon as she was calm and collected enough, sleep overtook her once more and she was soon fast asleep again. Just before drifting off again, she silently wished that she would return to the dream she had been having. Perhaps then she could learn what its' purpose had been. But instead, she merely returned to a very deep, dreamless sleep.

AN: Hello again, readers! I'm sorry that it's taken a while for me to upload new chapters. I'm glad you guys are enjoying my story and I hope you will continue reading and reviewing. Thank you!