We wasted eighteen hours debating the consequences of our union while Okugawa lay upon his futon in a stupor. He would not awaken without the help of an antidote I had developed. It would not cure him, but it would extend his life. And this was the nearest thing to a compromise we could come to.

“You have a partial antidote. Couldn’t you improve it?”

“Furi, you may not think I care to preserve a life with you, but I do. I have spent every spare moment of my past trying to develop a complete antidote. All my efforts have failed. I don’t think it can be done.”

“But you haven’t given up,” She said, her pitch rising.

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“No. But to be honest, I believe further pursuit of a cure would waste valuable time and distract us from what is most important.”

She gasped in disbelief, “What could be more important than saving your life?”

“Furi, you are an immortal. I will only die once. Time only, keeps us apart. We will always return to one another. Your parents do the same. Besides,” I added hesitantly, “an extraordinary child’s life is at stake.”

“But we might grow our space for happiness. We might raise a child together.”

“We all fall to the demands of nature, Furi.”

“Nature is cruel.”

“Not cruel. Stark. Remorseless in its demands. But beautiful in its extremes.”

“If our roles were reversed, would you be so ready to take my life?”

I conceded the point. “I don’t know whether I would be able to do it at all. And I won’t force you,” I set my jaw. “But this is no trifling thing for me. I will use everything in my power—every seduction—to turn you to me.”