Love and War

As the days of the war drag on our men do not lose hope. It may not be possible for them to when they hear about or see the way we are fighting alongside them. I am still amazed at how much like dancing fighting feels most of the time, and after spending a rare quiet day, both sides agreeing to a respite, choreographing with Masamune and Hideyoshi we discovered a new, lethal way for the three of us to fight together.

Kenshin must know what I did to Mitsuhide, maybe he can sense the change in powers now that I have taken the fragments of the fox's power he put in this stream of reality. Whatever the case, it has been four months and I haven't seen a glimpse or heard a whisper of him on the battlefield.

When the snow fell for a week solid, I kept our men warm with my flames, and we hoped that the freezing temperature would help lower the enemy numbers, but when we met them on the fields they seemed just as strong as us and just as resolute to win.

The snow had not yet melted when on a particularly still night I slipped out of our tent to take a walk in the moonlight. On that walk I noticed another pair of footprints, one that I somehow knew weren't one of my men's, my suspicions only confirmed when I found a perimeter guard stabbed to death and leaned up against a tree.

"I heard the whispers that your appearance had changed." The voice that seemed to echo all around me sent shivers down my spine.

"Show yourself green eyed snake." I peer into the shadows trying to find him.

"No. I think it would be best for my health to stay concealed from such a powerful spirit vessel." His voice is so calm, the way it sounded when he captured me, when he defiled me. All the memories fill my mind and ignite the flames in my hands that begin to illuminate the area. "Oh, is someone excited by the sound of my voice?"

I reach for Nobunaga's katana and pull it out as I speak in the same steady rage I did when I killed Mitsuhide. "I will never forgive what you did to me and I will never stop hunting for you and your brother until you are both dead."

He hummed low. "You should really reconsider forgiving me. I spared you so much pain." His voice turns from humored to bitter. "I don't enjoy making people scream a fraction of the amount my brother does. I told you, I helped you, to get your screams out before he could hear them. He would never have given you back to Nobunaga if he had heard your beautiful screams. You're welcome."

I spat at his last words before spinning towards the rustling I hear only to find a sparrow with a kunai buried in it's chest and wheezing out it's last breaths.

As we ate our morning meal I told Hideyoshi everything that happened. "We should increase the perimeter guards around the base camps, and they should be in pairs of two or more." He nods in agreement as he chews his food. I don't really eat much since receiving the gift of the phoenix so when I finish I rest back on my elbows and stare at the roof of our tent. "Hide, is there a town anywhere near here?"

"The nearest town is two days ride, and is really just a…" he shifts, and straightens his back as the color leaves his face. Really? Is this the time for him to be bashful or ashamed with me?

"A brothel." I state. We've been married four months, and there are moments, like this one, when I can read him as clearly as I can read a book. This is the brothel, the one he was sold to when his parents died.

He relaxes when he sees the tender understanding of my experession. "Why are you asking?" He wonders after swallowing his last bite.

I sit up so we can see each other better. "Kenshin never struck me as someone who would avoid the battlefield this long, no matter how many members of his council urged him to. Not being on the field must be either driving him into madness, or he's being so distracted by something he loves more that he doesn't care."

Hideyoshi's eyes searched mine. "What does he love more than battle?"

I can feel my brand throbbing and reach to press it. "Making someone scream for him."

He comes over to me and wraps me in his arms. "You think he's there… making someone…" I rest my head to his chest and nod yes as he strokes my hair until I looked up to him and he kisses me tenderly, trying to comfort me with his lips and his hands as one pulls my face closer to him and the other wrapping around my waist as I bring my legs around his.

Four months of comforting embraces as we've fought together and mourned together is about to break it's streak, and we waist no time consoling each other now with mouths and hands. Our clothes are quickly separated before he lays me down on the futon, and brings us together fully. When we've both met release we lay next to each other, running our hands through the other's hair. "I wish we could go together." I whisper.

He sighs before speaking in a way that reminds me of the sacrifices leaders must make with it's sombre and resolute undertones. "Missing you from the frontlines will be hard enough for our men to adjust to. One of us has to stay here to hold this line while the other goes to possibly end the war."

I raise my head to meet his eyes that are full of unwavering commitment to the end of all of this fighting. My voice reveals how much I respect him. "Thank you for letting me be the one to check this suspicion out. If I am right, and he's there…"

He smiles as he pushes some of my white hair behind my ear. "We will finally have some peace."

Not a lot of discussion was needed after speaking with Mitsunari. Planning our surveillance and infiltration was quick with his help. It was decided that I would not be traveling by myself, or that my old guards would suffice. Despite my insistence that they should also stay back, that if something were to happen to them on this mission I would never forgive myself, Masamune and Mitsunari decided they would go with me as far as they could. I can see my husband's conflicting emotions he tries to hide in those golden eyes of his, but the wind in him is turbulent as he struggles with being grateful for their willingness to help me, and worried that they could be gravely injured if they were to get caught in the crossfires of Kenshin and I's powers. The shadow of Nobunaga's demise, the temple fire, it haunts both of us every day.

Hideyoshi walked me from the council's tent to my horse, tightly gripping my hand. He very quickly pushed me until I was firmly pressed between him and my horses hind leg. "I love you." He whispers as his forehead rests to mine. "The old me would be telling you to be careful, not too reckless…" He swallows hard before continuing. "I trust you Rina. I trust your gut on this. I just wish I could be there to watch you get your vengeance and… I'm going to miss our dance on the battlefield, and in our bed." His lips slide from my cheek to my ear and down to my neck.

I close my eyes and smile with a pleased huff. "I love you too." His lips press to mine as he pulls me closer to him by the small of my back. I reach the sides of his face and when we break from each other I keep his face close as our golden eyes meet. "Please be careful," he begins to chuckle as I continue, "and don't do anything too reckless. I expect to come back from this mission to my husband and to end this war."

His smile is so bright as his eyes fall to my belly button. "And soon after we will welcome a beautiful, black haired, red eyed, willful Oda boy."

I pull my face back with a bent eyebrow. My voice is bright as I slightly smile. "Is that what you think of while you fight?"

He sheepishly smiles. "It is." he admits, seeming somewhat embarrassed before I pull him to another kiss. I love that when he fights he is thinking about the same thing I am.

"Oh, um, my apologies…" Mitsunari speaks in his somehow scholarly tone despite his obliviousness to the tender moment. "We should probably get going so we can sneak in by tomorrow evening."

We both laugh as our lips separate. My voice is steady and sure. "I love you. I will come back."

His tone matches mine. "I love you. I will be here when you return." I know he watched as we left until he could no longer see me because when I looked back to catch the last glimpse of him he was still standing there next to his horse.

If only I wasn't the only one who didn't tire when we traveled… I could get there that much faster, but the men and the horses must rest, and so we do. I quickly eat my small meal and while they rest at night I find a good spot to guard them and watch for any green eyed snakes who may or may not be following me.

At some point during the night, when I am certain there is no one else near, that Nagao Harukage is not watching and waiting in the shadows, my mind drifts to Nobunaga as I look up at a night sky with no moonlight, only stars light the sky. "I know that you are with me. I just wish I could touch you." As the early Spring wind rushes by me I think I hear something that sounds like "I'm here." But it must be my mind playing a trick on me.

Once the men were awake and ready we continued to make our way to the small town of only three buildings; a brothel, and two inns that guests of the brothel can stay at. When we get closer we decide to leave the horses back and walk.

When the first enemy guard is spotted Mitsunari swiftly takes care of him, and as the dead man falls to the ground the amethyst eyed angel of Azuchi smirks at me, looking almost aroused by the shedding of blood. "I'd say your hunch about Kenshin's whereabouts are correct." His eyes are wide and breath ragged as we continue to make our way towards the brothel, and he continues to claim the lives of Kenshin's guards until we get close enough to see the buildings. Along the way I turned to Masamune with curiosity. "How did I not know he was this skilled and why didn't you have me train with him?"

He chuckles as we watched Mitsunari slice through a man with an excited look about him. "He used to be a hired assassin, it's what he was raised to do, it's the only thing he knew before Nobunaga, who saw how quickly his mind worked out the different paths and their potential outcomes. His set of skills in assassination haven't been used much, I imagine this feels like riding a horse after years of walking for him. In battle he mostly sticks to the gun or the bow, I didn't know for sure until now that he still had this in him."

We reach our destination before dark, and so we wait in hiding for the sun to go down. While we wait, Mitsunari seems to settle a bit from his excitement enough to think of something other than killing. "How long will you have the phoenix's powers?"

I blink a couple times at the sudden question. "As long as I need it I suppose… Why?"

He shrugs his shoulders. "It's been nearly five months. I wonder about the long term effects of so much exposure to something like that."

My mind begins to race with thoughts of my child. How big has he gotten? I only have a few more months to finish this or I risk losing him too.

"If we've been spotted by any of Kenshin's men, he knows you are here." Masamune continues as his eye meets mine. "I hate to say this, but it would be best if you went alone from here. The less of us there are to draw attention and get caught the more likely you are to get as close as you need to…" He looks worried and my words don't help.

"Kenshin already knows that I am close." Both of them look stunned while I continue in a calm manner. "I can sense him from here. Which makes sense why we haven't been met with more of his men, if I had to guess, he sent them all off to the battlefield so that him and I can end this once and for all, just the two of us."

"Rina—" Mitsunari's voice is full of concern. "There are a lot of ways he could be tricking you… You don't have the upper hand of surprise—"

I smile reassuringly. "If I learned anything from Nobunaga, it's to not let all of the things that could go wrong stop me from doing what can be done if it can bring one closer to their goal."

I wish that Nobunaga was here with me, I wish we were walking through the brush and into this fight together, I wish I had his hand to squeeze when the screaming from inside the brothel hits my ears and ice runs through my veins when I think I recognize that scream as one of my younger sisters. When I grip his katana the ice melts, as if it really is him I am holding onto for a moment. "For you." I whisper.

I wish Hideyoshi could be here with me, but knowing he believes in me, it's enough wind for me to fly on. We may not be fighting on the same battle, but we are fighting the same war. "For you." I whisper again before pushing the door to the brothel open.