XV: Ju Go

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Ryuu's face lights up as Kazuhiko takes a few toddling steps towards him before the babe loses his balance and falls on his bottom in the grass.  Our son opens his mouth to wail, but the moment that Moriko crawls over to him and stares up at him with bottomless blue eyes, the scream becomes a laugh.  He flaps his arms as his sister sits across from him and echoes his indecipherable babble.

"They grow up so fast," I whisper to my husband, leaning into his side.  "I cannot believe that it has been nine months since they were born."

He runs a hand down my back, resting his chin against the top of my head.  "I cannot believe that they are both starting to learn how to walk."

Melancholy stirs in my heart as I watch the two babes talk to each other in what Emi calls 'baby language'.  "I wish that Rika and Tadashi were here to see this.  They would be both be so proud."

Ryuu pulls me closer.  His silence tells me that he is feeling their loss just as deeply as I am even after all this time.

The four of us remain in the gardens until the sun begins to move below the horizon and the babes begin to rub their eyes sleepily.  My husband helps me up before scooping up Moriko and feathering her face with gentle kisses.  She waves her fists and lets out a screeching laugh.

Kazuhiko, by comparison, has used the fabric of my kimono to pull himself to his feet, and his amber eyes gaze up at me with a pleading look.  I pick him up, propping him on one hip.  My son nestles his head against my shoulder, eyes staring at his sister from where she is now sitting on Ryuu's hip.

All is quiet in the house, Emi having been called away in the very early hours of the morning.  In fact, I believe her to still be gone, but a flash of color around the corner tells me differently.  The color has caught Ryuu's attention as well, and his brow furrows as he look towards me.

"Emi," I call as I start down the hallway, "is everything all right?"

The grim look on her face and the unsheathed katana across her knees tells me that it is not.  The glimpse of that weapon brings back memories of the night that Taro sent men to take us from the house.  However, the shinobi is not sitting in front of the entrance; rather, her body is planted in front of one of the empty bedrooms.

"Are you expecting trouble?" Ryuu asks, his free hand drifting towards the dagger sheathed at his hip.

Emi closes her eyes for a moment before meeting both of our eyes.  "Yori had her babe tonight."

I shift Kazuhiko slightly.  "That is wonderful news, but it does not explain why you are sitting in the hall with such a solemn look upon your face and a weapon on your knee."

"She had a little girl," she continues, eyes boring into mine.  "Taro was away during the birthing and had yet to return when I left the fortress.  Yori refused to let me leave her there."

"Is it because she had a girl and not a boy?  Is she worried about what Taro will do to her?" I question, realizing that the older woman must be the reason why Emi is sitting in front of the door.

She shakes her head slightly.  "It is not the fact that the babe is female; Taro has seen value in having a daughter.  No, I am afraid that the child has a deformity, one that will likely decrease her worth in the eyes of her father.  Yori is worried that he will kill her without hesitation."

Carefully I hand our son off to Ryuu, who searches my face for a moment before nodding and disappearing back down the hall.  I reach a hand out to Emi, who sheathes her katana and rises from her position.

"What kind of deformity?" I ask.

The shinobi bites her lip.  "Her right foot is curled, and I fear that she will likely never walk normally.  And Yori says that Taro will see that as a barrier to him marrying her off in an advantageous match.  I only agreed to bring her here because I was afraid that she would try to follow me without help."

"Was the birth difficult?"

"Yes," Emi says simply.  "She is quite weak especially considering the fact that she walked here.  That is part of why I believe she feared remaining at the fortress because Yori knew that she would not be able to prevent Taro from taking the child from her if he chose to."

Ryuu returns, katana strapped about his waist and a sheathed dagger in his hand.  He gives me the dagger as he looks towards Emi.  "I will remain out here while the two of you check in on Yori.  I hate to start something else with Taro, but if his own wife fears what he will do to his daughter, I will do whatever I can to prevent him from hurting either one of them."

I kiss his cheek before following Emi into the darkened room.  Yori is a dark lump on the futon, my eyes barely able to make out the slow steady pattern of her chest moving under the blanket.  I tuck the dagger into my kimono and walk a little closer while the shinobi lights a candle on a table near the futon.

The older woman looks exhausted in the faint light, her face tear-streaked and faint lines of red across the bridge of her cheekbones.  I point to them silently, and Emi whispers, "She'll have bruises from the straining soon.  Those streaks are blood pooling under the skin."

She reaches around me and carefully picks up a small bundle tucked in the crook of Yori's arm.  I lift the corner of the blanket to look at the babe's face, who is peacefully sleeping, not concerned with her fate.

Gently, Emi returns the babe to Yori and runs a light hand across the older woman's forehead.  "It was a tough birth, Sakura.  I was surprised that there was not more wrong with the babe, and I was thankful that both of them made it through the ordeal."

"Emi," Yori whispers hoarsely, "has Taro come yet?"

"No, he has not," she answers, keeping her hand against her forehead.  "Do you feel all right?"

She barely nods, arms tightening slightly around the babe.  "I merely am worried for Amaya.  Taro wanted a boy to carry on his name, but he had plans for a girl as well.  I fear that with her foot, he will think that she is a burden rather than an asset."

"What kind of plans?" I ask, knowing that it likely had to do with marriage as Emi had mentioned the possibility before.

Yori struggles to sit up before the shinobi assists her.  Once she is settled, she opens her mouth to answer before a conversation in the hall interrupts us.  Taro has arrived.

We can hear the low rumble of the men's voices outside the room but cannot make out any of the words being exchanged.  Yori's wide eyes are fastened on the door, and she gathers her daughter closer to her chest.

Emi glances towards me, hand upon the hilt of her katana, and at the look in her eyes, my finger latch around the dagger hidden in my kimono.

After what seems like an eternity, the door opens to reveal a strangely-calm Taro, his gaze sweeping across the room casually.  Out of the corner of my eye, I can see that Emi's mouth is moving in silent words.

"You keep interesting company, dear wife," he says, a wry smile caressing his lips as he takes a step towards the futon.  "Traitors, a shinobi, all of them liars.  Why have I found you here rather than back in our rooms?"

"Emi delivered our babe," Yori answers, the only sign that she is afraid being the slight quiver in her voice.  "Without her, you would likely be without a wife or an heir."

Taro barely spares another look towards Emi, eyes fixated on the child that his wife is holding.  "An heir?  Does that mean that you have given me a son?"

"No.  We have a daughter, Taro."

Rather than the anger that I expect to see, surprised joy spreads across his face.  He reaches out for the little bundle, pulling back the blanket to gaze down at his child's face, much like I had done earlier.  Seeming satisfied, Taro takes a seat next to his wife to unwrap the rest of the covering.

Emi takes a breath next to me, her entire body tense as she keeps her eyes on Yori, whose lips have started to tremble as her husband's analyzing look sweeps down the length of Amaya's body.  The moment that he spots the curled foot, the joy drops away from his face.

"What have you done?" he asks, turning towards Emi as fury overtakes his features.  "What sort of evil have you brought upon my family that my daughter is a fugu?"

The shinobi does not reply, her gaze steady as she raises her hands in front of her with palms facing upward.  The gesture only seems to ignite Taro's anger even more as he rises to stand over her.

"Answer me before I make your blood tell the tale," he hisses.

Emi calmly wipes spit off her cheek.  "I had nothing to do with what has happened to your daughter.  Despite what you seem to think, her foot will not impair her as it would someone who was not born with such.  Rather, she will likely walk just as normally as any other person with only a slight limp to show that there is something different about her."

Her answer only seems to stoke his anger against her.  "No man will want her with such an obvious outward flaw.  You have destroyed her future."

"The only one who will destroy her future will be you if you believe that no one will be able to look beyond the physical.  And the more you make her believe that she is worthless, the more likely she will be to end up destroying your scheming anyway."

Taro slaps her across the face before picking up little Amaya.  Yori starts to weep as he walks towards the door.  When he opens it, Ryuu is standing there, katana held loosely in his hand.

"Give your wife the babe, Taro, and be content that you even have a child," my husband says.  "Enough blood has been shed for your cause; must your own coat your hands as well?"

"Get out of my way, Ryuu," he snarls.  "I spared your life before, but if you do not move now, I will not hesitate to tear you to pieces.  You will not find peace in the afterlife."

A low chuckle rumbles out of Ryuu's chest.  "I would have more peace than you, Taro.  Now return your child to Yori and promise her that you will never harm a hair on the babe's head."

As the two men stare each other down, it strikes me that Taro looks very much like a child throwing a fit.  He must consider whatever plans he has set in place for his daughter to hinge upon how she looks, and now that he finds that she is less than perfect, he must be watching those plans start to crumble before his eyes.

What startles us all out of the standoff is not someone stabbing the other or even another threat being thrown out.  Rather, it is the small cry of the babe resting in Taro's arms.

At the sudden sound, he looks down at her, all emotion draining away from his face.  Yori continues to weep from the futon as Emi gently runs her hands down the older woman's arms.

I can hardly believe that change that comes over Taro as he continues to stare down at his daughter.  A mixture of begrudging joy and pride settles into the lines of his features, and with a deep sigh, he turns back towards his wife.

I exchange a look with Ryuu, whose confusion mirrors my own.  What about the babe had changed Taro's mind?

Carefully, he settles Amaya back into Yori's arms before smoothing his wife's hair.  Bending down, he whispers something in her ear, something that none of the rest of us can hear.

When he straightens, Taro looks towards Emi and says, "I expect you to return to your clan of shinobi once my wife has recovered, and if I ever see you back here again, I will kill you."

The shinobi's lips lift in a slight smile, but she nods silently.

Then, without another word, he brushes past the rest of us and disappears down the hall.  Emi is helping Yori settle Amaya in to nurse when Ryuu pulls me out the door.

"What happened?" I ask, knowing that he was the closest one at the time.

Ryuu shrugs, the corner of his mouth lifting.  "As best as I can tell, when he looked into the babe's face, he found himself staring back at him."

A slight laugh escapes me at the thought.  "We will not let him corrupt her innocence though, will we?  Bad enough that anger has soiled Taro; it would be a shame if it infected his daughter as well."

He wraps his arms around me, bending his head slightly to rest his cheek against mine.  "I believe that Yori will have more control over what happens with her daughter than we ever will.  All we can do is support her in her ventures."

"I love you," I whisper.  "Did you know that?"

I can feel his smile.  "I know that, Sakura.  And somehow, I think that love is what is going to make everything right in the end.  Not hate, not war, but pure unadulterated love."

And I turn my head and seal his words with a kiss.  The future is not yet known, yet somehow, in the darkness of night, I am no longer afraid to continue forward.

Because even the darkness flees from the light in the end.

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