Bed of Roses; Part Four (Fin)

     “It was nice.” Ayame finally responded. Miroku smiled at how simple the answer was. Of course it was nice, could it have been anything else? He took another drink and nodded.
    “Tell me about it.” He said. He had rarely had the opportunity to talk to others about how life was supposed to be. Every now and then he could coax a few stories from someone he had bedded, but in most cases they didn’t want to discuss personal details. He understood, his company wasn’t usually kept for conversation.

    Ayame did what he asked. She told him of her sister. Of her home and the family traditions they had. He smirked when she talked about the rebellious stages in her life. She was a fiery little woman, but always the obedient one. She always did what he had asked of her, and he knew it wasn’t out of love, because she held none in her heart for him. Probably something to do with honor and the traditions her family had instilled in her. Another lesson he must have missed due to his upbringing.
    He asked of her plans for her future. She wanted to do something grand, see The Empire, become renown. He could do that. Miroku was a Yogo, and as such he was free to travel between the boarders of the clans. Only the Yogo and the Kuni were allowed the privilege, and, of course, the royal guards. All for the same reason too, to keep the people of The Empire safe. “I can take you.” He said confidently. When Ayame responded with exuberance Miroku felt his stomach flutter. She wanted to be with him.
    “We could travel for a few years, I’ll show you lands you never dreamed of before. We will prevent The Darkness from resurfacing in The Empire, and go down in history. Stories our children’s children will tell.” They could have children, he knew she wanted them and for some reason that made him want them.
    He asked for more stories and she freely gave them. She talked a long time and Miroku listened. He was getting lost in her childhood of family and friends, of unconditional love and kindness, drinking up those memories and placing himself in her life. Together they could make the same memories and raise children. They could grow old together and see their family blossom. Share secrets and never part.
    Something was stirring inside him, a feeling he had rarely glimpsed before, a warmness blanketing him in comfort and bringing a smile to his face. He set his long since empty cup on the saucer and peered out the window at the dark sky wishing it to never become light again. If they could live this night for eternity he would be a happy man, but as sure as the sun would rise, so too would his isolation from these feelings of joy and… dare he even consider it? Love. In this dream he loved her, and the curse was nothing but a distant memory. A nightmare that held no baring in his life. In this dream he wasn’t alone, and his children would never know what it meant to be a Yogo.
    Miroku let out a long and silent breath. Things like that would never come to pass. Even if they did have children he knew the life they would live, one much similar to his own. Devoid of the love and devotion Ayame was filling his head with. They would carry the name, the blood, and like him, forever be guarded from others in order to protect everyone from a tainted love. The time for pretending was past. Dreams of happily-ever-after were for children and those who die young, and Miroku wasn’t either. It had been an enjoyable evening, the opium, the sake, and the escape from a life of loneliness even if it wasn’t what he had originally had in mind. Ayame had given him something more tonight but it couldn’t continue after the morning came, he was still a Yogo and still cursed. She didn’t deserve a fate like that. He knew he was right in that aspect and an overwhelming sadness spread through him as if the deep blue darkness lurking outside the window had poured into his soul. It was best if wishes were left to children and tonight ended soon.
    “Ayame.” He spoke up, keeping his forlorn gaze directed outside. “You truly are a lovely woman.” Silence answered him. He didn’t exactly expect anything more, but in all honesty, he couldn’t say what he expected. He didn’t feel a compliment in kind was in order, nor did he think an acknowledgement was due. Miroku never liked pleasantries for the sake of being polite. He just wanted to tell her something true, honest, and reflective of the rarity of tonight before things returned to how they were before. Tonight she had just enjoyed his presence and shared her life, no one had gotten close enough to share before, and no one enjoyed the presence of a Yogo. He chewed on his tongue, rolling his thoughts around and mulling over them for several minutes. Ayame not saying a word the whole time. It was for the best, he told himself finally shrugging and standing.

     Ayame was in the middle of retelling a humorous tale dealing with a frog and kimono when Miroku spoke up. “Ayame, you truly are a lovely woman.” He was looking out the window and didn’t turn towards her at all. She watched him in silence, shocked from his sudden decision to say something and also shocked at the choice of words. In all the time they’ve known each other, which granted it had only been a few months, he had never said something kind without insulting her in the same breath. This time though… this time it was a genuine compliment. There didn’t seem to be a hidden agenda, he wasn’t asking her to bed as normally she would expect. He just… said something nice.
    Half wanting him to repeat the act, and half unsure of how to respond, she waited. She glanced out the window he had been looking through as if the answers would be there. Much to her complete lack of surprise, they weren’t. Only the night sky swallowing up the walls beneath it, a darkness you could stare into and never see every layer of. Ayame wondered what Miroku saw in the endless blackness. Where his mind really was to have summoned an aspect of himself she hadn’t ever seen. He surely wasn’t there with her at the moment otherwise he would have looked at her when he said it. He would have smiled with the words and maybe rose to embrace her, at least that is what any man should have done in this situation. It would have been odd, sure, but no more odd than saying what he did.
    Miroku shrugged and stood up. Ayame watched intently. Perhaps this was it, this was where he held her hand and told her she was the only one for him. This was where he apologized for those other women. This is where she got lost in his eyes, and he smiled that handsome smile and she just knew things were going to be better between them. Instead he turned his back on her and began disrobing. Ayame quickly adverted her gaze. “You’re welcome to share the bed, as I offered before.” He said quietly. She then heard the shuffling of covers and chanced a glance in his direction. He lay in bed, his back towards her and plenty of room for her to sleep if she chose to.
    Ayame pondered over the last few minutes and how strange it all had been. Then again, the whole night had been one big unexpected event leading into the next. From the start of it all, how polite he was in that letter, how calm and perfected he was at the tea ceremony, and his general interest in her life, it was a part of him she didn’t believe he possessed. He had even seemed joyous when speaking of sharing a life together, of traveling and… children. How did she miss that? He wanted to have a family with her, and it had just seemed so normal at the time. They had shared a moment when they had both forgotten who he was and it actually made her… happy.
    She had been certain before that she hated him, but now things were confusing, foggy in her head. Perhaps it was time to rest, she really couldn’t make heads or tails of the situation, only that tonight would be one she would remember for a long, long time. She crept into bed next to her betrothed, and watched the candlelight dance. The warmth of the flames soothing her to sleep, and perhaps it was the way he smelled too…