I would do anything for love...(D8, EM, Expecting, Closed)

[Doji Fukawa]

Fukawa stroking Takahiro.
What happened to a stern voice being used to control the young? she wondered.


"It gave me no great joy to do that, Matsu-san." Fukawa says.

Just a little one

"But I could tell you were getting frustrated with the conversation. I was concerned your words were drifting to where we would have to start demanding apologies or duels, and what would that accomplish?"

She shakes her head.

"The greatest difficulty I've had dealing with the Unicorn is convincing them why Courtesy and Sincerity are important, not just Honesty. My words were certainly Honesty stripped of Courtesy, and I apologize again for the hurt they may have caused you, Matsu-san."

[Matsu Kogo]

Kogo nirs, slightly mollified by the apology. "You do not know me and I do not know you. Trust has not been established,so I can understand your concern. The Matsu are not known for....diplomacy. " She pauses, taking the tea from the servant's hands and bringing it to the table, offering it to Fukawa. Kogo smiles for s brief moment. "Yes, they certainly take honesty to an unprecedented level. It is refreshing but will likely cause problems in the future. "

[Doji Fukawa]

Fukawa set Takahiro down as tea was brought in. Takahiro responded by whining for treats.

"No Takahiro, these are not for you." she responded, not letting him develop the bad habit of begging at the table.


"Perhaps we should change that, Matsu-san." she offered. "Would you be willing to tell me the tale of Matsu Kogo and I would then tell you the tale of Doji Fukawa?"

[Matsu Kogo]

Kogo clicks her tongue at the young dog, who settles a bit. She nods. "I would be willing to share some of my story. What would interest you most?"

[Doji Fukawa]

When you decided murder was awesome? Your favorite ways to disembowel? Fukawa thought.

"You spoke of traveling with your parents. I myself am not well traveled and would be interested in hearing your stories about that." she reveals.

[Matsu Kogo]

That's....an interesting choice. Unfortunately, not a fruitful one. "Unfortunately, Doji-san, I was quite young at the time of my family's travels and have little memory of them. I remember some sites, a sense of adventures and newness and occasionally wishing for the horse to stop moving so I could sleep. It is not a thrilling story by any means." She pauses. "Akil-san had spoken to me of the gardens of the Crane lands. I have not, nor am likely to see such a thing at any time soon. Would you be willing to speak of your home and its surroundings?"

[Doji Fukawa]

Fukawa could picture the Matsu in the Fantastic Gardens of the Crane...with a bloody katana in one hand, and a lit torch in another. It gave her a chill, which she tried to chase away with the tea.

"I think the heart of it is really the Fantastic Gardens of the Doji, which rest upon the plateau at Kyuden Doji." she says. "They were originally Lady Doji's personal flower gardens, but since her time have been expanded and include sand gardens, stone gardens, story gardens, and water gardens. It's about 30 li of bonsai trees, flower bushes, trickling streams, and more, all working together to creat the illusion of careless perfection."

[Matsu Kogo]

Kogo notes the chill, but is unsure of its cause. "They sound beautiful. I imagine it must require extensive time and cultivation to create this illusion." Time that I suspect the Lion do not have, with their drilling.

[Doji Fukawa]

"You have a talent for understatement, Matsu-san." Fukawa replies. "They are the result of generations of gardeners dedicating their entire lives to their art. You have seen flowers, Matsu-san, but the amount of dedication poured into these gardens means that the flowers their are absolute perfection. You can feel an almost spiritual connection to them, and know that they are the definition of what they are distilled into something you could touch."

[Matsu Kogo]

Kogo senses the possibility of an insult in her statement, but lets it slide. "It sounds like it would be quite lovely to walk through. What other purposes do the gardens serve?"

[Doji Fukawa]

Fukawa actually felt sorry for the Matsu at that. To be unable to appreciate beauty for beauty's 'sake was as crippling as if she was missing an arm. She would listen to Akil's music, and respond with pretty,or beautiful and maybe preface those with a very. No deeper understanding or appreciate of that was she capable of. Even the Yasuki was capable of understanding it, when rendered into sake. Akil was very fortunate in her opinion. Marrying this simple implement of war would have done nothing but remind him of what he had lost.

Fukawa sips her tea.

"Ah, well sometimes, new breeds are nurtured there as well." she admits. "But I don't want to spend all day talking of the Gardens. What about Matsu-san's favorite place in Lion lands?"

[Matsu Kogo]

Kogo sips her tea as well. "That sounds pleasing. And I do not mind Doji-san. It is just a new idea for me to imagine. I suspect the Lion would not see the value in such effort for beauty. Surely, Shiro Matsu is not known for its adornments of any kind, but rather for its austereness."

She pauses. "Perhaps that is why I am curious to know of the gardens. There is nothing to serve as its equivalent in Lion lands."

She thinks for a moment. "I suspect the lands outside Shiro Matsu are what I know best. There are vast plains, where the sky seems about to swallow the earth. The blue stretches for miles, more than one can imagine. When one is running through the grass and smelling the freshness of it all and feeling the sun on one's face....It is like breathing again, for the first time. It is as if the world has stopped and you are allowed to take the moment in your hand, and cup it. It shines and then it vanishes." She sips her tea again.

[Doji Fukawa]

She certainly was a strange Matsu mused the Crane. More troubling was the fact that so far the Lion wouldn't admit to so much as a bonsai tree in all of Lion lands. Were they actually putting every zeni into war?

"It is important to have such places where you can reflect, be they a warm summer grassy field, or a stone garden in the Winter." Fukawa offers.

She stroked her puppy.

"I would like to get to know you better, Matsu-san, but I do need to get Takahiro ready for tonight." she says. "Perhaps we can exchange correspondence?"

[Matsu Kogo]

Kogo nods. "That would be....agreeable, Doji-san. And I understand." She clicks her tongue and Noburu moves aside from the tent flap and little Kabu comes running in. "I suspect this one would benefit from more of my time as well." She looks to the Doji. "Thank you for coming today. It has been....educational."






/ooc I just have no idea what the Lion have for gardens at all. But Shiro Matsu's soooo austere from descriptions. Kogo probably has a funny idea about things.

[Doji Fukawa]

Fukawa rose and bowed.

"I will have the book sent to your quarters, Matsu-san. If you don't have the time to finish it before the miai is over, simply have it sent via messenger." she says. "Carry the Fortunes."