To end a painful evening (D5 LE Closed - Amaya's)

[Ide Amaya]

"I don't know," she answers simply. "He seems to like my company. He refuses to be left behind and has accompanied me everywhere I went today." She moves over to the bedding, kneeling and so very gently placing him down. "Between the storm and the weasels that some of the other egg hunters retaliated against, I guess he's all alone now."

[Seppun Hideo]

"I see." Hideo paused, looking thoughtful before looking to Amaya with a smile. "I suppose then we have a pet."

[Ide Amaya]

Having assured that the little weasel appeared to be fast asleep, she turned towards the handsome Imperial with the ghost of smile at the corners of her mouth. "I suppose we do."

The firepot cast only a little light, but Amaya moved to open the smoke hole, letting in the Lord Moon's full light. She went to Hideo's side, and lowered herself down next to him, though it was more like collapsing than the tidy way she usually arranged herself when sitting.

[Seppun Hideo]

Hideo lowered himself, his arm round her waist as he picked the cup of sake up and offered it.

"I only have the one cup, so you can have the first drink."

[Ide Amaya]

"I have a cup," she gestured in the direction of where her sakura kimono was drying. The one she was wearing must be the same one under the silk drape when he'd first paid visit to Amaya, on the second night of the ma-ai. Her breathing was deep and slowed.

[Seppun Hideo]

"I can get it in a moment. For now you are my focus. Drink, I'm here for you my dear Amaya' he offered the cup again.

[Ide Amaya]

She accepted the cup and drank deeply of the sake he'd poured, perhaps too deeply, for she coughed afterwards. She stared into the cup as if seeking something difficult to find, both hands wrapped around it. A tear spilled over and coursed down her cheek.

[Seppun Hideo]

Hideo brought a hand up to gently wipe the tea away, pulling her into a gentle hug. "It's ok Amaya, I understand how you feel."

[Ide Amaya]

More tears came, tumbling silently down her cheeks. She held herself stiffly, enough that her face did not touch his silk robe, so that she would not wet it with her tears. "I don't understand how this happened."

[Seppun Hideo]

Hideo placed a gentle kiss on Amayas cheek, stroking her hair gently. "I'm sure it is of no comfort to you right now, but she fell defending all the samurai here. She went into that and died an honourable death, as all samurai would do."

[Ide Amaya]

Mounting frustration bubbles inside her and she struggles to contain the conflicting emotions. She feels useless, hopeless, and wracked with guilt. In her mind she sees an image of the bold samurai, drenched in her own blood, and her face slides away in a gout of blood so dark it's almost black. Where the blood splatters to the ground a miasma, thick and dark, begins to rise...

She forces the thought away, shaking, breathing panicked. With some difficulty she says, "I feel like a child playing make believe that I am grown."

[Seppun Hideo]

Hideo had remained in silence, just allowing the girl to speak at her own pace. Just gently stroking her arm. When she finally did speak again, he shook his head. "You are not a warrior Amaya, not in the same way that she was. Your place is on the courty battleground, facing opponents with words and protecting your clan with smiles instead of swords. It is as important, and as vital to your clan, as any combat that your sisters in the Otaku will face, and I would be certain that your kin in the Ide have faced that could not be stopped by steel."

He gives Amaya a squeeze.

"It will never seem as important, but without you and the Ide your kin would have struggled with many basic resources."

[Ide Amaya]

"Things like the nine-times-damned Onyx Champion?" She wants to snarl the words, but her ire is not with Hideo, and he doesn't deserve harsh words. That, and her mood is lashing as wildly as a snake who's tail has been sliced, releasing her Moto side would only invite confusion and dishonour herself.

[Seppun Hideo]

Hideo remained calm, shaking his head. "You, nor your kin, should have to deal with that. I understand how you feel Amaya, but you are not any weaker or any less of a woman, an adult or a samurai for not being a bushi. I'm not a bushi either, would you think less of me for not wielding a blade into battle?"

[Ide Amaya]

"You misunderstand me, Hideo-San. Pour me another cup of sake, and I shall endeavour to explain." She holds out his cup.