Note/s: This chapter marks the end for the first act of this fic. There are three acts in total, but this first one is the longest. The last two should have fewer chapters. I apologize for my inconsistency in updating fics, but so many things in life demand much of my time and attention. With that said, thank you for sticking with me and forgive any errors and typos you may find. I'll rectify them when I can, and the same goes with the previous chapters (before I get started with the next act).

"You may rise."

Her forehead still pressed to the tatami, Ashi tried to will away the nervous energy coursing through her. Her face, hidden from view, crumpled for a fleeting moment before putting on a serene expression. She sat back up on her heels slowly, conscious that she was at the very center of the prestigious hall. Before her, on the raised dais, sat the two most powerful figures of the country.

The emperor and empress.

Jack's parents.

"I trust you are feeling well?" The empress spoke from a beautifully painted fan concealing her mouth. Her tone, like her gaze, was neutral and suggested an aristocratic aloofness. The length of her multilayered robes was spread around her. The silk of vibrant yuzu color shimmered under the lamplights bouncing on the gold washed walls.

Beside her, the emperor matched her palette with his hitatare dyed in a deeper hue, evoking a bleeding sunset. It was worn under his stately blue kamishimo with the imperial seal emblazoned on both sides of his chest. He held up a white shaku beneath his mustache, his eyes studying the young geisha before him with regal indifference.

Even with their faces partially hidden, Ashi could still make out the resemblance Jack gained from them, such as the chiseled lines and angles of his father and the fair coloring of his mother.

She opened her mouth, her words coming out fluidly. "Yes, your majesty. I am greatly honored to be in your presence and extended your concern and hospitality."

"I'm relieved to hear that." said the empress, her eyes crinkling from a smile Ashi could not see. "Everyone was quite worried when you first arrived here...oh! Pardon, this is your second time in the palace, is it not?"

Ashi nodded respectfully. "Yes, your majesty."

"We must apologize for not having met with you then." This time, it was the emperor who spoke, his voice aged with authority. "Our duties had kept us away."

"It is of no consequence, your majesty." assured Ashi, keeping up with the show of deference. "No excuses are necessary for the responsibilities one must uphold."

"I could not agree more…" said the emperor. "But I am thankful that we now have this opportunity."

"Yes," The empress murmured her agreement. "I've been looking forward to meeting the young woman our son is oh-so fond of."

Ah, there it is. Ashi thought. The crux of the matter. The egg drop porridge she was made to consume earlier suddenly churned in her stomach, making her queasy. Ashi tamped it down from her thoughts. She would not show weakness. This unexpected meeting might have thrown her off initially but now, she was ready for anything.

"Our beloved handsome son seems to enjoy your company." the empress started. "He's even stayed at your family's residence if I'm not mistaken. Quite unusual of him."

Ashi wanted to roll her eyes. The empress certainly did not waste time.

"Yes, your majesty. My family has been most fortunate in his friendship." She replied, selecting her words carefully.

"Yes." The empress said, her tone lilted with suspicious enthusiasm. "How can someone not consider themselves blessed to be in his esteemed company? He is a hero after all! Right, dear?"

The emperor nodded.

"He's truly wonderful." The empress went on. "The people adore him. Not only for his deeds but for his character. He's strong, courageous, selfless...and oh! Handsome! Right, dear?"

The emperor nodded again.

"Among all of them, it's the women who love him the most. He's never short of admirers and has had to refuse hundreds of them. He would have none of them." The empress giggled at the thought. "Right, dear?"

The emperor nodded again, which seemed to be the only thing he was capable of.

"What woman could resist such a fine handsome man? Why, he outranks anyone, even my husband in his youth."

This time, the emperor did not nod.

"Noble women, and princesses from far and wide have poured inside our gates hoping for an introduction."

Ashi knew where this conversation was heading. Even a deaf man could piece it together. And though she had no designs on becoming Jack's wife, it did not lessen the insult of being considered unworthy in their eyes simply because of her low rank. But this was to be expected from arrogant highborns, who found pleasure in putting others in their place.

The empress prattled on with endless praise for her son, the word handsome cropping up at least twenty more times, until she was finally short of breath.

"...Yes. Any woman would be fortunate indeed to capture the affections of such an accomplished man! So noble! So kind! So handsome! Marriage to him would be prosperous. Wouldn't you agree?"

"Yes, your majesty." Ashi smiled broadly, not willing to give them the satisfaction. "Whoever marries him will be blessed indeed! I'll wish them nothing but happiness should the time come."

That seemed to startle the empress, the fan trembling in her hand. "Oh…" She said, her high spirits now dissipating. "...That's very odd. There's a rumor...that he made an offer of marriage. That it was to you?"

It did Ashi's pride good to see the empress so shaken at the possibility she might have been mistaken. The emperor's eyes looked equally concerned.

Ashi wiped her smile clean and arranged her features to one of humility.

"Your majesty is not mistaken. He did ask for my hand in marriage." This elicited a sharp gasp from both rulers but Ashi pressed on.

"But I could not accept it. I am not worthy to hold such a position of honor. Though his highness undoubtedly means well in his heart, I harbor no illusions of becoming his bride. He deserves someone more suitable and I am mortified at how shameless I, a person of low birth, must have appeared."

With that, Ashi bowed her head.

Surely now, this would quell whatever fears they had of a commoner trying to usurp her way into—

"What do you mean you can't marry him?!"

Ashi blinked, and when she lifted her head up, she found that the empress had dragged herself out from the cushions, crawling closer until her hands gripped the edge of the dais. Unlike Ashi, the emperor did not seem bothered by his wife's ungainly display. The fan was no longer obscuring the empress' face, so Ashi could fully see the tremble of her painted lips along with the rest of her vividly distressed features.

"What's wrong with my son? Don't you think he's handsome? Isn't he a good person? Don't you like him?"

It took a while for Ashi to find her voice again.

"Um...yes, your majesty...I"—

"See!" The empress threw her hands up to the ceiling as though Ashi had proven her point. The sleeves of her robes swung wildly despite the weighty layers. "You do like him! And how could you not? He's handsome! His face is a fine product of his lineage! He has my father's nose, which was raved about by scholars. I can show you the scrolls if you'd like!"

Ashi almost choked in surprise when the emperor joined in as well.

"...He's intelligent." he said, trying to add substance to his son's handsome exterior. He held Ashi's gaze as he lowered his shaku, showing off a shaky smile. "Why, when he was a young boy, the instructors all praised him for his gift in"—

"If you ask me, he's too handsome! Which is almost a flaw, which he has little to begin with. Also, his"—

"—arithmetic and logic. He already possessed problem-solving skills considered advanced for his age. Why, I remember the time he"—

"—has such a charming laugh! Very pleasant to listen to. It would drive a woman to tears if one's partner had a dreadful"—

"—Momotaro! And everyone was very impressed with his dramatic flair. And then, there was also a time when"—

The emperor and empress continued to talk loudly over the other in rapid succession but Ashi was no longer listening. Instead, she stared blankly into imagined nothingness, sifting through her thoughts. In her mother's teachings, the emperor and empress were symbols of oppression, that one wave of their hand and word of their mouth could bring about untold suffering.

Well, in some way, that much was true...

"So Miss Ashi…" The empress regained the young geisha's attention, once again seated in a regal upright position. "I find no reason why you'd refuse such an advantageous match."

Ashi felt the beads of cold sweat forming on the back of her neck. She swallowed, her mouth suddenly gone dry. She tried to ignore the intensity of their expectant gazes as she forced her limp tongue to move.

"...As I said...I am honored but I cannot"—

"Oh but you must!" Both of them cried out in desperate unison, before launching into another verbal attack.

"Please consider!" begged the empress, "I've never seen him show so much interest in anyone else before!"

"He's always mooning about, thinking of you." added the emperor. "Everyone can attest to this."

"Yes! He also cries at night in his sleep when he doesn't get to see you."

The emperor, who was about to say something, turned to his wife incredulously. "I…wouldn't go that far, dear."

"Shush!" The empress whispered to him, a useless endeavor as Ashi could still hear them. "I'm trying to make him sound sensitive and endearing."

"Should we bring up his calligraphy?"

"You and I both know a chicken could do better."

"...Well, perhaps a different tactic. If we have her envision the wedding, she'll"—

"Yes! We'd invite all our friends and allies. In fact, we should start sending the invitations if we want to have the wedding set in autumn. And that's the soonest."

"You're moving too far ahead, dear...We should ascertain a prosperous date with the stars first. Every marriage needs a good start."

"Oh my, I didn't think of that. Miss Ashi, may we ask what year you were"— Her question died with a high-pitched shriek.

The couple, so engrossed in their own conversation, failed to notice that the geisha had fainted.

After his meeting with Sato, Jack found that his thoughts were too restless despite his weariness. So in the spur of the moment as he unhitched his horse, he decided to ride out his frustrations to the hilltops that sprawled around the kingdom.

It had been a long time since Jack rode with such abandon, racing the wind at breakneck speed that could throw off even a seasoned rider. His faithful horse was not pleased with his careless treatment, rearing and kicking when Jack finally regained his senses and came to a halt. It took a longer time necessary to calm the steed down.

Out of guilt, he decided to walk with his horse, leading him by the reins as they traversed back to the palace at a slow pace to earn its forgiveness. The sky had turned into a canvas of deep blue by the time they entered the rear gates to the palace. Jack led his horse to the stable. As he kneaded the tenseness out of the animal's muscles, Jack brooded over his own situation.

Sato was right. They needed to wait to improve the circumstances of their investigation.

Unfortunately, waiting did not come easy for Jack. He had already spent decades doing just that, wandering aimlessly with hopelessness...

He stilled, realizing the dark turn of his thoughts. With a sigh, he forced himself to remember that he was now back in his own time. Aku was gone and the future was freed from his tyranny. There was nothing left of him anymore.

No, that was not completely true.

Ashi was here.

"Your highness." A stable boy appeared, ending Jack's reverie. "You're back! Let me take care of the horse for you."

Jack smiled at the young boy's enthusiasm. "It's fine. I'll see to his needs. I've been hard on him and need to make amends."

The horse agreed, nickering at Jack's shoulder.

"Huh." The youth perched a hip against a stall door with a completely baffled expression. "I was sure you'd be too anxious to bother."

Jack raised an eyebrow in amusement. "Why on earth for?"

"On account of that geisha being here."

…

…

"...Pardon?"

Ashi looked up at the stars peeking through the sky. As a child, she had memorized every constellation that was named. No matter the phase of the moon, she could pinpoint every single dot with ease. Stars were constant. Never changing.

Something she wished she could say about her mission.

What was she supposed to do? The emperor and empress had, more or less, ordered her to marry their son. Ashi, having realized there was no way of talking them out of it, took the coward's way out and feigned unconsciousness.

It bought her some time at least. Though she had not accounted that they would put her in Jack's residential quarters. Their transparency certainly could rival glass.

When they left her to recuperate, Ashi went to sit outside the engawa, trying to collect herself in the solitude of the night.

She had already snooped inside Jack's humble dwelling and found nothing of interest. Because why should anything come easy for her! She inwardly seethed.

It had been days since she last saw him, she realized. Since she turned down his proposal. Ashi stared at her own hand, remembering how he had held it and how the line of his mouth trembled after his declaration and the way his eyes lit up with hope.

Her rejection had wounded him deeply.

But what was she supposed to do? Her aim had been to become his mistress, a lover to whom he would confide in, with the added benefit of discretion from prying eyes. After all, political men had lovers, often homed into lavish accommodations. However, becoming a wife—and to a prince nonetheless—was not included in her training.

She prayed that her messages would finally be given a reply because she was no longer confident on how to proceed. Perhaps she could steer Jack away from the topic of nuptials and simply seduce him and keep him happy. Then, when it came time to kill him—

Ashi's thoughts ceased. Her hand immediately clutched to her chest, expecting to find a blade there from the jolt of sudden pain she was experiencing. But there was only smooth silk and the absence of blood. Her hand lingered over her left breast in confusion, the throbbing feeling still there like talons taking hold. She wondered if this was some strange affliction. But before she could ponder further, a rustling sound caught her attention. Two beady eyes like black sesame seeds stared up at her as the moon outlined its sleek and compact silhouette.

A raven.

Just as Ashi reached out to it, it made a deep rumbling sound and shortly after, extended its neck and retched. A heart-shaped walnut flew out of its beak, bouncing against the floor wood. When Ashi seized the moist shell, the messenger bird had already flown. She weighed the hollowness of the object in her hand, the true burden of which made her throat constrict. She finally had a reply.

All she had to do was read the coded message within. Her heart beat wildly with trepidation. But just as her fingernail lined with the crack to break it open, the pronounced sound of heavy footfalls stopped her. She hastily stuffed the locked message inside her robe, just as Jack came running towards her like a flying arrow. The teeth of his geta scraped against the stone path, and he all but vaulted towards the engawa.

Ashi could only blink as the prince rammed his head through one of the shoji panels.

He popped his head free and immediately crawled over to her.

"Ashi…" Her name was spoken no less than a whisper as his chest heaved with labored breath. His unbound hair was askew, falling all over his face and his body radiated with excess heat. It reminded Ashi of their first meeting, where he had appeared before her in such a state, smelling of horse and perspiration. The memory was oddly stirring.

Jack made a feeble attempt to mend his appearance, pushing his hair back and smoothening the front of his gi, grimacing as he did. When he finished his efforts, he surprised her once more as he bowed down before her like a felled bird.

"I am so sorry!"

Ashi, who had yet to say a word, was left even more speechless as Jack continued on a rant.

"My parents had no right! Please, allow me to make apologies on their behalf. If they have slighted you in any way by word or deed, let me shoulder all blame!"

"Jack…" Ashi finally spoke. "It's fine. Please get up. There's nothing to apologize for. Your parents only wanted to speak to me."

A pitiful groan from Jack.

"That's what I was afraid of."

Ashi waited until he pushed himself upright to a seated position before continuing. "They were very welcoming and greatly discussed and complimented you."

Another pitiful groan.

"Even worse." He said, his face flushed with embarrassment. But he did not dwell on it too long, as something dawned on him that made him snap forward like a crazed dog. "You fainted!" He shouted, with enough volume to pull alarm bells out of commission. "Are you ill?! Do you need me to call the physician or"—

"I'm fine, Jack!" Ashi pushed back with her own irate voice. "Stop trying to turn me deaf. It was just a dizzy spell."

"But Ashi, you can't just neglect your health."

"I'm feeling better. Honestly. I just lacked sleep. Your parents were ever so gracious to have brought me here ." She said derisively, her gaze sweeping over to the hole on the shoji he made. "Your quarters didn't have much...but the shunga I found was amusing."

"What?!" Jack's pallor turned bloodless, his face contorted in shocked confusion. "I don't—I've never in my life…! Those were planted…!"

Ashi threw her head back and laughed. "I'm teasing."

Jack sighed with relief. "That's a cruel jest to a man."

"Perhaps not as cruel as what I had to endure. I had to sit and listen to your parents exalt your virtues all afternoon."

Jack grimaced. "What exactly did they say…?" Despite his question, he looked as though he'd rather not hear the answer.

Ashi's smile was a wince as she dealt the blow anyway.

"That you are handsome and that there is no reason for me not to marry you."

He gaped, eyeing her incredulously before burying his face into his hands, hunching over like a man praying on his knees.

Ashi stared at the top of his head unsurely, waiting for him to regain composure.

"Ashi…" He said, his voice muffled by his palms still cradling his face. "I. Am. So. Sorry."

"Jack, it's all right…"

"No, it's not!" He declared furiously, lifting himself up again, his skin glowing red. "Pay them no heed! Ignore anything they told you!"

Ashi tilted her head to one side in amusement, blinking at him.

"So you do not wish to marry me then?"

"Of course I want to marry you!" He cried impassionately, but his outburst quickly died out like an extinguished candle. With a heavy sigh, his gaze turned somber as he spoke again.

"Ashi…ever since I've met you...rather, since you've met me...I feel as though I've done nothing but impose myself on you. I haven't been fair to you. I fear I may have forced you to act upon my own feelings.

"I am not implying you to be insincere but...just as a leaf gets caught in the storm wind or carried by the stream, perhaps I have overwhelmed you. I...only desire your happiness. But if the thought of marriage seems daunting, then I will speak no more of it."

He turned his head away, suddenly unable to meet her eye.

Just as well, as Ashi found herself too stunned to formulate a reply. She felt a strange throb inside her ribcage that somehow made it difficult to breathe.

Keeping his profile to her, Jack softly added, "I want you to know...before I rode my horse to your home, no, before you were even born here, my feelings for you had already taken root from another lifetime and it only followed me back into this one."

"Your lover from the future?" She could not help but ask.

This prompted him to look at her again, his soft eyes complemented by a tiny smile.

"Ashi, it is you. It sounds mad. You think me mad...but I did not seek you out to be a replacement of sorts. You may not hold the memories in my possession, but I swear, it is you."

Although he spoke quietly, his conviction frightened Ashi. It rose from his aura like a falcon taking wing as it dove towards her, and she could not help but be captivated.

Jack released a sigh. "There I go again, overwhelming you. My apologies."

"You know…" said Ashi, finding herself flustered, "if your letters read the same way as your spoken word, it would actually be impressive."

"You don't like my letters?"

"They drag on and on!" She was grateful to steer the conversation into something else, even if it was just to lodge a complaint. "If you wanted to bore me, then you've succeeded greatly. Is that how you court people write?"

Jack rubbed his chin in thought. "I never realized. Nobody has ever complained."

"Oh? So you've been writing to other ladies as well?"

"Of course not! I meant generally speaking!" Jack insisted. "But I suppose the tedium reflects my age. I am already in my seventy-sixth year after all."

Ashi stared at him incredulously.

"I know." There was a beat. "I'm hideous."

His unexpected deadpan answer caused Ashi to break into a fit of laughter. She folded down, pressing her fists into her stomach as tears formed in the corners of her eyes. Jack crept closer, his own laughter joining in.

"No wonder you won't have me. People will talk, wondering why such a lovely young lady would consent to marrying a decrepit old man."

"No!" Ashi giggled. "Stop it!" She leaned over to him, the sleeves of their robes brushing together. She did not realize her cheek was pressed to his shoulder until the last ring of laughter faded in the air. They were then left with only the acute awareness of their proximity as they sat close together, side to side and hip to hip.

Jack cleared his throat.

"It's late." He said, pushing his arms forward to a stretch. "I think we should continue our conversation in the morning."

As he made to disengage and slide down from the engawa, Ashi grasped the fabric of his sleeve and tugged until she regained his attention.

"It's not true." She found herself saying, tilting her head to stare into his eyes.

Jack wrinkled his brow in confusion. "What is?"

"Earlier, what you said...I am not a leaf. I am a jade mountain that holds steadfast in the gale. I am a rock that parts the stream with no intention of drifting away."

Before Jack could speak, Ashi pressed her fingertips to his lips.

"So you see, my prince." She whispered caressingly. "I am quite anchored."

His eyes turned crescent, shards of moonlight glistening in their depths. His mouth parted slightly and she could feel every burst of breath escaping and realized she wanted to capture it for her own. When she withdrew her hand, Jack met her intentions halfway, slanting his face as her own drew closer.

The brush of his lips broke a hidden seal, and she felt herself succumb to his touch. He collected her into an embrace, one that was made intoxicating, by the humming of their blood and shared breath.

"Ashi…" Jack's words trembled as his mouth intermittently sought hers. "Please...marry me."

Later, in privacy, Ashi would decipher the contents of the secret dispatch. A strip of paper, the width of her little finger, instructing her to accept the proposal.

But she would have already agreed to marry him by the time her eyes even touched the words on paper.