Morning Has Broken (D9, EM, Dong-Ha's)

[Iuchi Dong-Ha]

"That would be interesting, though... could that offend the spirits of the forest kogitsune-chan?" he teased her as if he expected her to live in rapport with the spirits.

Uh.. overprotective

He shivered under her touch, almost reaching for her hand before deciding against it. "Mhmhm, especially if you have to move here, among all the strangers." A soft sigh escaped from his lips as Dong-Ha looked down into Tomoe's eyes. "If only neh..." He wanted to share his life with her so badly. Slowly, red crept on the man's cheeks.

[Usagi Tomoe]

"I am not sure, as I'm not a shugenja, but... I would imagine with the proper offerings and entreatments of the kami, they would not mind. At least that is how I've come to understand it from my studies, especially as the Phoenix often use the trees from the Isawa Mori for their ofuda, and I heard that they always did it with the greatest respect for the kami there."

She couldn't help but to echo his wistful sigh. "If only... but there's still today and tomorrow, neh? So it's not completely over yet. I will miss you if it doesn't come to pass... but know that you will always have a dear friend in me, ishi-ouji, regardless of what happens."

[Iuchi Dong-Ha]

"So, the Isawa Mori is similar to the Shinomen, then?" He had never heard of Isawa Mori and thought it had some significance as she had brought it up. "Rampant with spirits and snake-people?"

"Thank you." he sighed happily. "Maybe the Fortunes will be kind to us. Heavens knows we could both use some..." She had lost her mother, Dong-Ha his siblings. Neither of them had had the easiest time growing up. "I am no prince, though." the young Iuchi added chuckling. "Just a simple young man, smitten with a girl so pretty she could be a spirit."

[Usagi Tomoe]

"It's... much smaller, but said to be strong with the power of the kami. So different from the Shinomen Mori. But there are plenty of the mystical forests in the Empire," she said with a teasing chuckle.

"Jaa... where you see a simple young man, others might see a handsome man from a faraway place, with mystical powers we don't fully understand," Tomoe gave his knee a friendly squeeze, before returning her hand to her soon empty bowl. "But yes... I hope the Fortunes will be kind. Benten-kami, Hotei-kami and Musubi-no-kami. And well... all the other ones too," she grinned. "Myself, I'm not the seductive beauty of the Scorpion, or the pristine elegance of the Crane - all said to be the epitome of feminine beauty in the Empire. I'm just a girl who's spent more of her life around books than others would like to."

[Iuchi Dong-Ha]

"So... are there any normal forests not full of fox spirits?" he asked, chuckling softly as he did so. "I mean, I guess you'd know your kin?" Dong-Ha eyed her as he was trying to see if she was actually hiding a tail under her hanfu. The long hem and pleats made the mission impossible, but at least he had given himself an excuse to ogle her.

"Now, Tomoe-san forgets something when she speaks of bugs and birds." he smirked softly. "The only beauty that truly counts." Dong-Ha reached to touch her chin, lifting it so that she could not escape his dark brown eyes. "The beauty of the soul - the she has a plenty. Your kindness and your wisdom make you far more fetching than the dandiest Crane." This declaration would have likely worked better if Dong-Ha had not blushed furiously by the end.

[Usagi Tomoe]

"Now, fox spirits are in the Kitsune Mori," she replied to his chuckle with a soft giggle of her own. "And they are skilled at hiding when they want. Or what they want." Perhaps she caught him looking, but she reward him with a brief wink to show she didn't mind.

And Dong-Ha was far from the only one blushing at the end of his declaration. Tomoe felt like she must be at least as red as her clothes.

"You're right... it is the beauty of the soul that counts," her eyes met his, then shyly fluttered as she cast her eyes down for a moment. "Perhaps that is why I am drawn to you? Because while you see yourself as a simple young man, I see someone who is kind, patient and wise too. But also handsome on the outside too," she looked up again with the final words to meet the gaze of his dark eyes.

[Iuchi Dong-Ha]

"Uh... Uhh..." letting his hand drop, Dong-Ha stammered. He looked down, ashamed."I don't think I am any of that. Well, I try to be kind, but... I just think that you are not fair with yourself."

"Sorry.."

[Usagi Tomoe]

"And now you are not being fair on yourself," she retorted with a smirk and grasped for his dropping hand. "I know it can be hard, to come to terms with one's own worth and virtues. It's always easier to find flaws with oneself, than it is to find the virtues."

She held his hand tightly as she continued. "But that is why we seek companionship, no? To help us find these virtues, to learn to accept and love ourselves the same way our companions accept and love us?"

[Iuchi Dong-Ha]

"I don't thing I am particularly virtuous, Tomoe." He looked at her, sighing. "I just haven't done anything... really. Unless you count getting here alive." Yet, he grasped her hand tightly, seeking comfort from the touch.

"Wise as usual." he huffed softly. "You are right, of course. And this is why I want you." How could someone so young have such wisdom in her heart, Dong-Ha pondered. "Damn this is a depressing topic..." he added, muttering. "Not you, or us, but if..." She'd knew what he meant. "Mind distracting me?"

[Usagi Tomoe]

She nodded a little. It was a depressing topic... she wanted nothing more than this miai to finally be over, to no longer have to deal with the uncertainity of where life would take her, but she also didn't want it to end yet. Because when it ended, she'd probably be without him.

There was something she wanted to give to him, but... it probably wouldn't distract his thoughts from the reality at hand. Well, there was always the way her mother would do it.

"Long ago, there lived a young fisherman named Urashima Taro. After a long day Urashima was walking home along the beach and came across a group of children, laughing, and playing by the shore. As he drew nearer he realized they were screaming, and throwing stones. Urashima hurried forward and found that the children had surrounded a defenseless turtle. He scolded the children and they scurried away down the beach, leaving him alone with the poor tormented creature. The turtle was grateful to have been saved, and so she spoke to Urashima.　

“Thank you for rescuing me from the cruelty of those children. Please allow me to return the favour.”

Urashima humbly thanked the turtle for her kind words, but insisted that anyone would have done the same, and continued home to his family.

The next day, Urashima set out to sea. Once he was far from shore, he heard a voice, though no one was around to have spoken. Urashima looked down into the waves and was surprised to see a giant sea turtle. The turtle bowed his head and spoke again,

“Urashima Taro, in gratitude for your kindness, the emperor of the sea asks you to join him in his palace.”

He explained to Urashima that the small turtle he saved, had actually been Otohime, daughter of the emperor of the sea.

Holding tight to the giant turtle’s shell, Urashima swam down to the magical palace of the emperor of the sea. He rejoiced with the emperor and Princess Otohime, who showered him with sake and elegant sweets, beautiful dancing and enchanting music. Urashima was so absorbed with the wonders of the sea palace that he thought rarely of his family and the home he had left above the waves.

One day Urashima Taro decided it was time to return to the world he had left behind. Though the princess was sad to see him go she agreed and handed him a beautiful jeweled box.

“You have been such a kind and wonderful guest, Urashima. Please take this tamate bako. This will protect you from harm, but, whatever you do, never open this box."

Urashima swam home on the shell of the giant turtle, and crawled from the sea up the beach of his home. He rejoiced in the feel of sun on his skin and the fresh air in his lungs. He hurried home, eager to see his parents, but along the way, he found strange, new places. Roads had been built where before there had been none, and where once there were homes, they no longer stood. Confused, Urashima asked passersby for directions. Those he asked, only knew the family name of Urashima as the legend of a fisherman, long ago lost at sea.

Poor Urashima realized that he had been feasting in the palace of the emperor for 300 years.

With all of his friends and family long dead, and no home left to return to, Urashima made his way back to the beach. He sat in the sand and wept for his lost loved ones. Feeling lonely, desperate and overcome with greif, he opened the jeweled box, though he knew he should not. A cloud of white smoke burst from the box, and washed over Urashima’s face. When he looked at his reflection in the sea, he found that he had suddenly become an old man.

From the far off waves of the sea, Urashima Taro heard the voice of Princess Otohime, carried towards him.

“I told you not to open the box Urashima, it held your old age.”"

[Iuchi Dong-Ha]

No kiss... Dong-Ha looked bit sullen, though he visibly cheered up as she got on with her story. "So... so much for the reward. Otomohime kept the man at her palace for 300 years, knowing that everyone he knew would die... she sounds cruel and callous, not considering the man's life." he paused to moisten his lips with the milk. "As generous as the offering was, I feel that the lesson here is to trust spirits, even if they seem being." he tilted his head, waiting to hear if he'd been correct.

[Usagi Tomoe]

"Hm, it is said that spirits do not really share the same sort of thinking as humans do," she said with a thoughtful nod. "Perhaps she thought he would stay with her forever and ever." Dong-Ha would have to come to his own conclusion on the story.

Tomoe finished the few bits left in her bowl.

"It is opposite from most of the stories of spirits I've heard growing up though, as among the Fox, it is popular to speak of fox-spirits who abandoned their lives as spirits of Chikushudo to become mortals, to live with a worthy human. I don't think I've ever heard of a fox-spirit that has lured a human to their realm."

[Iuchi Dong-Ha]

"Perhaps, though that too, would have deprived the poor man from his loved ones..." he muttered with a contemplative frown on his face. "I mean, either way, the actions feel callous, even if the intentions were good."

"Then again, if they did... perhaps they would not allow the person to return? Perhaps some of the people who go missing are taken by the spirits instead?" he suggested with a smirk, his thoughts quite not there. Suddenly, being spirited away didn't feel such a bad idea. At least, not if you were on friendly terms with your captor.

[Usagi Tomoe]

"Perhaps," she replied with a coy smirk.

At least his mind seemed to be distracted now. "You don't seem like you'd mind it too terribly."

[Iuchi Dong-Ha]

"Uhh... no. I mean, err... I was thinking that if you were a fox spirit and then you came to me and er.. er..." Dong-Ha tried to explain the line of thought his subconscious had taken. "And how'd we.. and then we'd and and... stuff."