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[Khaliq]

---

Makoto stepped from the fishing trawler. His shoulders ached from weeks of hard work, but he felt fufilled. It was work he had never done before. It gave him greater appreciation for the food he ate.

He waved to his ship mates and turned to the docks, to find his beloved waiting for him. "Rei-chan!"

"Makoto-san!"

He took the Zento beauty in his arms, the scent of tea and spice clinging to her. He kissed her cheek, longing for more. The weeks at sea had been too long.

Her voice was musical and light as she spoke of his letter, his poetry. She spent her time fishing while he was gone, something he found rather amusing. She had clientelle, that paid large sums of gold for the small decorative fish she could catch, even though they weren't any good to eat.

They chit-chatted for a while, mostly about nothing. He could feel the tension, something she wasn't saying. Finally after a few pointed questions, her smile faded.

"I have left the Blue Lotus clan. I do not feel comfortable there any more"

He paused as she explained the situation, over and over, trying to understand the depth of it all. "So, these mercinaries attacked Yew, so Stonegate and the Lotus joined in...for no reason, even though Yew was an ally of the Lotus?"
Rei nodded. "Hai. That is the truth."

Makoto shook his head. "If they like to fight so much, why not DEFEND our ally?"

Rei's shoulders drooped. "Because Stonegate was helping the Blackmarshes."

He stood. "Against our ALLY." Rei simply nodded.

Makoto tore the recruit insignia from his jacket and dropped it into the barrel. If the water would not wash the stain of dishonor from it, the Iron Lotus could still rust satisfactorily.

[Rei Ukiyo]

---

Rei watched Makoto-san's impassioned response with watering eyes. These same emotions had broiled within her over the weeks of his absence as she had listened to the news of the Lotus Clan's battles alongside Stonegate against their own allies. All this, on top of the betrayal by her former betrothed, had caused her to distance herself even more from the Blue Lotus Clan. The more the story began to unfold, the more she found that she regretted the reading.

Her own decision to leave the clan had taken many weeks of thought. She did not feel comfortable harming her own people during training, how was she to take part in the heat of true battle? The thought of actually ending another living being's life churned her stomach. So when Bishimi-san had announced that they would be spreading their warring influence into Isamu-jima, the isle of her birth and home, her fate had been sealed. At the end of the meeting she stood and honestly announced her intentions and reasons, having decided that would be the honorable way to proceed. Her honesty brought ire upon herself from both those she had no quarrel with and from the empress. With sadness she had handed over her uniform and belt, to be put to better use by someone with the stomach for war and bloodshed. She offered her service to the city, still, as a cook or even a healer and had hastily departed when the clan went to train in the dojo.

She had felt out of place for these past weeks and had avoided the teahouse, mostly to avoid the chance of seeing Bishimi-san and stirring up any still painful memories. She could not understand why he seemed so happy to the rest of the world, when to her he had acted so sad and resigned to a miserable future just to make the empress happy. The more stories she heard of him, though, the more she came to understand that he truly was happy to be marrying the werewolf woman of Stonegate. She had wondered for weeks if he even cared that his happiness had been bought at the cost of her own.

In the face of so much raw emotion, she had decided to take it upon herself as an independent woman to arrange her own marriage. It was her right at her age to do what she pleased with her life and she did not wish to resign herself to waiting for the next "Bishimi" to break her heart. She would do as her parents had done before her. She had never seen them fight or argue, they had had what appeared to be a respectful and loving relationship.

Makoto-san had entered her life at a time when she had felt truly alone and rejected. Like her, he was a wanderer with a damaged spirit. The connection they bridge with each other was amazing. She had never felt as deeply understood as she did talking with him. They had both lost their families to fate. He impressed her at every turn with his nobility of heart. Every mannerism of his character bespoke honor, from his choice of words to his proposal that they marry. He would make a good husband, one that would uphold his duty and not abandon her.

They had spent many weeks in Nujel'm getting to know each other better. The island was so far removed from the rest of the mainland that the two Tokunese felt as if they were in their own private world. In time, they had indeed grown to feel more for each other. For this, Rei was blissfully thankful. Makoto-san was truly everything she had mistakenly thought her former betrothed to be. During their time in Nujel'm she came to know that the gods had rewarded her for her faith in them by sending Makoto-san to her in her time of need. She would be everything to him. Friend, dutiful wife, mother of his children. She rest assured knowing that he would return her affection equally, it was in his samurai nature. He would live in honor of her, and she him. She would follow him anywhere.

As she stood watching him throw his badge into the water in anger, she knew that she would hold true to her word. He wanted to serve someone new, someone more honorable than the empress, because he did not have the land anymore to restore his own clan. Rei was reminded of another, an old friend who once ruled these islands and who might want their service. The same man she had been considering asking to join their hands in marriage. Makoto-san was in agreement as she told him of the former emperor.

With a last look at the tea house, she felt a wistful sadness. She would miss Edda-chan the most. She had been the one who understood Rei's pain more than any of the others, it seemed.