Breeze paces back and forth lightly in front of the consultation hall. “She’s married,” she says, her worry and confliction growing more evident with each step. “Why would she do that? We should have said something to stop her.”

“I’m sure she feels this for the best. For herself and the people,” Shomei replies in a reassuring tone.

Vicious keeps his arms crossed in silent thought before looking up with certainty. “We can ask if he would at least allow us to escort her to the Temple. She has a right to see it before it completely falls under water,” he says decisively.

“Lay off with the Temple crap already,” Breeze says, stopping in her tracks and turning an irritated glare toward him. “You know very well they’ll see her as Akiko, and it’ll make her even more mad. You keep pushing her away and she’ll give up entirely.”

“She has a point Vicious,” Shomei adds softly, not wanting to start an argument. “A deity can’t always be ready and willing to follow the Temple so strictly. Maybe it is the reason the gods have sent her how she is.”

“Don’t tell me you’re siding with them now?” Vicious protests in disbelief, looking at Shomei with disappointment.

Shomei shakes her head as she responds. “I’m only saying that it may be time for a change after all these years. It is what she’s asking for after all.”

Keiji crosses his arms lightly as he speaks. “Either way, there’s nothing we can do at this moment other than wait patiently for her to make decisions on her own.”

Breeze frowns worriedly. “Right,” she says dejectedly as she sighed. “Though it’s easier said than done.” She turns quickly as the door opened slightly and a servant walked out with his head down in respect, holding back his excitement of the day’s events.

“His majesty and the Empress will see you now,” says the servant in a lighthearted tone, hurrying to fully open the heavy doors in order to let them all in, shutting it behind the others as he remained outside.

Breeze looks back at the door with caution then directs her focus forward, seeing Soujirou dressed just as he normally would, and Kaori no longer in her wedding dress, but rather the clothes she had worn upon arriving to the palace. “Huh?”

Soujirou looks at them all with the usual kindness in his eyes. “Before we speak I want to assure you that anything said here will not leave this room unless I deem it so,” he says with a soft and reassuring tone. “What we are about to discuss is an arrangement that our dear empress and I have agreed upon.”

“And that is?” Keiji asks with slight suspicion in his eyes.

Kaori steps forward, paying no mind as Soujirou looked at her with regard meant to not only reflect the love he felt for her but also as means to encourage her to speak with conviction. “Right. I would like to find the souls you told me about before,” she says with wavering confidence.

Breeze’s eyes widen with surprise in response. “Eh? What, really?!” She looks at Soujirou optimistically, excitement and hopefulness in her query. “You’ll allow her to stay with us?”

“Our marriage is not yet official, so I have no right to stop her. Even if it were, I don’t think I would. All I can do is support her decisions just as you do,” Soujirou says with a reassuring smile.

“What do you mean not yet official?” Vicious asks with skepticism.

“I wanted to go with Keiji and the others as soon as he told me about the souls, but realizing that if I were to do so, so brazenly without thought, the risk of their lives would be that much greater. If I married things could be a lot easier for everyone and in return, when it’s all over or if I decide it’s no longer in my best interest to continue on with the duties of a goddess, I will come back here to be officially wed.”

“You do not believe a true marriage could happen overnight, do you?” Soujirou asks with a bit of a laugh.

Keiji smiles broadly then bows respectfully. “On behalf of the Yaban; I extend my thanks to you, Your Highness.”

“My only request is you keep her safe at all costs. She has declined my armies in aiding you directly at your side in favor of prioritizing the innocent citizens of all of Noroc, so I only have you to trust. Please return her safely to me,” replies Soujirou with a simple nod.

“Of course,” Keiji says, still smiling with gratitude and appreciation.

Kaori turns to Soujirou and bows a little. “Thank you for your cooperation.”

Soujirou places a hand on Kaori’s cheek lightly as she looked back up at him. “I will always be here to support you with everything that I am,” he says quietly. “I await the day we can be reunited once more. With you I am sure the empire will have a beautiful future.”

Kaori blushes as she turned away. “I would like to go as soon as possible,” she mumbles lightly as she tried to avoid looking directly at him out of apprehension.

“Understood,” Soujirou says kindly. “There’s one more thing you and I need to settle, and you may be off.” He looks at Keiji and the others with a faint smile, as if he were hurt to have Kaori so willing to leave. “I assume you have things to prepare before you leave?”

“Yes Your Highness,” Keiji bows lightly and starts leaving with the others behind him, Breeze clapping happily while they closed the door behind them.

Kaori turns to Soujirou and smiles weakly. “I really do appreciate your help.”

Soujirou nods once and steps closer toward her, gently taking her hands in his. “Will you ever grow to love me Kaori?” he asks softly, his doubt echoing in his tone of voice.

She looks down worriedly, hesitant to speak. “I think anything can be possible given enough time,” she says almost as if it were an attempt to convince herself.

“My love for you will never die... Know that on your journey.”

“I’ll remember.”

“In the meantime, I hope you will think of me often during your journey.” He places a tender touch on Kaori’s chin, gently guiding her to look up toward him as he smiled down at her adoringly and kisses Kaori’s cheek gently.

❀

Breeze jumps up in excitement as they waited outside the palace entrance. “oh!! I’m so excited!!!” she says happily. “She’s making such amazing decisions!”

“You call this the right choice?” Vicious mumbles to himself.

Breeze shoots Vicious a sharp glare. “Of course I do!” She waves him off carelessly. “Besides aren’t you staying here? We came to the end of our agreement.”

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Vicious shakes his head and looks at Breeze with determination. “Do you really think I could leave her now? Especially after confirming what she is? I will continue to fulfill my duties as a Temple follower and a shrine warrior at all costs.”

“Then no back talking. You stay with us you’re under our order. If you don’t like it then suck it up or go home, got it?” She says trying to come across as serious but only resulting in a childish demeanor.

“Nothing will stop me from being at her side,” Vicious says bitterly.

Shomei sighs at Vicious’s blind stubbornness, and nods in agreement. “I will be here in anyway needed in order to help keep her safe, but I can only speak for myself,” she says quietly, turning her attention to Kaori as she had started running up toward them all.

Kaori stops running just a few feet away from them, slightly out of breath. “I’m sorry, was everyone waiting long?”

Breeze smiles happily. “Not at all, let’s get going though before he changes his mind, okay?” She says quickly pulling Kaori by the arm with little influence.

❀

Tai looks down as he felt the ship slowly start to move then back up at the sky as he stood on the deck. His expression remains serious as he stared out at the bright blue sky, not bothering to turn around as he heard the door open behind him a few moments later. He completely ignores the footsteps behind him even as they stopped, until he hear Kaori speaking softly.

“A bit rude of you to not come to my wedding,” she says quietly. “Even after I invited you personally.”

He turns seeing Kaori almost in disbelief that she was there before his expression quickly returned to its agitated state as usual. He starts walking past her, only to stop abruptly with his back toward her as she spoke.

“I didn’t marry him,” she says with more force that she wanted to.

He looks down distantly, his expression hard to understand as Kaori’s words lingered between them in the calm atmosphere.

“At least not really anyway. I agreed to a ceremony in exchange for protection from the people and from the Temple. I also requested that he allow me to stay with you all until the souls are found and Aduro is no more. Afterwards... I’ll go back to the Palace where I’ll officially become his wife.” She turns and looks at Tai with worry in her eyes, wanting to know his genuine reaction.

“Good for you,” he says coldly.

She steps forward toward him, looking uncertain. “I wanted you to hear what I had to say at the wedding ceremony. It’s why I wanted you there... I didn’t tell the others what really drove me to this decision, though.”

His eyes narrow as he heard Kaori and turns to look at her directly, silently awaiting her reasoning.

“I wanted to make an attempt to stop them from hating you. You shouldn’t be defined by your past no matter what you’ve done. I want them to see that if I can trust you then they could as well... You’re not a bad person.” She looks down a little and nods to herself in silent confirmation. “I’m sorry I can’t do much other than that for you, but I hope it’ll be a step in the right direction.”

His expression softens faintly, barely noticeable as he looked at her directly, the wind brushing across them as they stood in a heavy silence. “Is it what you wanted?” he asks in a steady tone.

She nods, her hair blowing across her face lightly, and her eyes looking at peace though distant and deep in thought.

“Are you sure?”

“Yes.”

He shakes his head with a tired sigh and takes a single step toward her before stopping, as if a thought had interrupted him. “You’re even more stupid than I thought. It’s a waste of your time to do anything on my account. Remember that,” he says with disappointment toward her. “And as for needing protection; you’re just as safe with us if not more. Now you’re engaged for no good reason.”

She looks up at him with determination after a while. “You don’t know that,” she replies somewhat flippantly despite her expression.

He looks at her, nearly amused at her actions. “Idiot,” he mumbles as he walked to her side and looked out at the sky.

She smiles a little and looks out in the same direction as him. “Hm...” She looks surprised as she felt the warmth of Tai’s hand rest lightly on her head. “Uh-,” she moves away and shakes her head as she looked at him, her eyes full of worry. “It hurts doesn’t it?”

He looks at his hand, feeling the sting of the pain lingering from touching her.

“If I hurt you, then you shouldn’t be touching me again,” she says with such genuine concern reflected in her eyes that it seemed to take Tai off guard for a moment.

He raises his eyes to look at her, looking at a loss for words.

She smiles reassuringly. “It’s just not fair to put you through that...” She turns as she heard the door behind them open and Keiji walked out calmly.

“Good afternoon,” Keiji says with a smile.

Tai looks at Keiji with a strange look of hesitance and uncertainty on his face.

“Excuse me for interrupting, but, Miss Kaori, Breeze is a bit eager to have you return with us and would like to speak with you. In the meantime, I would very much enjoy a conversation with Tai,” Keiji says with a smile.

Kaori nods understandably. “Okay.” She hurries inside the ship quickly, leaving Keiji alone with Tai in a heavy silence.

“How could I have let this happen...” Tai says quietly.

“Let what happen?” Keiji asks knowingly, his eyes gazing out at the sky distantly with his calm appearance unchanging.

“This is all going in the wrong direction, my presence here was a bad idea,” he says suddenly, shaking his head as he started to walk away from Keiji, stopping once Keiji spoke seriously.

“Do you believe running away will help us?”

“What if I really...” He stops and shakes his head, ending the thought before it could come out into words. “I won’t have her life on my hands. I refuse to let history repeat itself,” he replies quietly as he looked down, his back toward Keiji.

“History only repeats itself if you don’t learn from the past. I truly believe you’ve learned well enough. In any case we need you here to assist us in finding the hidden souls and navigating through the caverns,” he says with a reassuring smile as he turned and looked at Tai.

He looks over his shoulder at Keiji, unblinking as if trying to tell him something.

“I know it’s hard for you, should you feel responsible for her life, but I urge you not to leave us,” he implores. “Not only does she need your assistance, but I personally feel that we are all stronger together. Even a man who cannot greet death has his limits in strength.”

He lowers his gaze once more in thought before nodding lightly in compliance with Keiji’s thinly veiled warning.

❀

Breeze hugs Kaori tightly as they stood with Shomei just down the hall from her room. “I’m so happy you’re here!!” she says with a pleased smile. “Tell me everything you two were talking about,” she says adds as she nudged Kaori and Shomei into the room after moving away lightly.

Kaori walks into the room with the other two, the lamps lighting up as soon as they entered. “You mean with the Emperor right?” she asks for clarity, gauging whether or not Breeze knew about her talk with Tai on the deck moments before.

“Of course!” Breeze urges the other two to sit down on the bed while she dragged up her treasure chest in front of them and sat down on it lightly, crossing one leg over the other. “You really married a guy just to stay with us?”

“Well, something like that.” She smiles with tenderness and warmth in her eyes. “I wanted to make an effort to keep Yaban safe and start the path toward peace. I thought an opportunity like this would be a good start.”

Breeze clasps her hands together near her heart. “Really?”

Kaori nods once in agreement. “I was thinking a lot before, whether I like it or not, I do have responsibilities and though I can’t do much, I’ll do what I can while I can in a way that I feel comfortable with.”

“Oh Kaori,” Breeze smiles, with a touched expression.

Shomei smiles at Kaori knowingly. “Doing something such as working hard to protect an entire race is one of the greatest things you can do Kaori. It truly furthers the fact that you are a goddess. You have a genuine heart and should feel very proud of yourself for it.”

Kaori looks down nervously. “You genuinely think so?”

Breeze nods in agreement with a reassuring expression. “Absolutely! I mean you’ve even got Tai to behave lately. I haven’t seen him willing to follow orders like this since forever!” she says with an impressed tone. “He rarely even stayed on the ship before you got here, come to think of it.”

Kaori stares at her hands lightly as she thought of Tai then looks up and smiles at Breeze. “I’m glad to hear it.”

“I’m just so happy we could stay together. But it’ll be sad when you eventually have to leave us,” Breeze adds thoughtfully with a hint of sadness as she looked up with a small pout.

“I want you all to visit the palace often. I’m sure the emperor wouldn’t mind that. After all, you all will help stop this in the end, right?” Kaori asks with a reassuring tone.

“Right,” Breeze affirms with a warm smile, her overall energy giving Kaori a sense of reassurance and comfort.

Shomei smiles kindly at Kaori with a nod. “Whatever you need on this path rest assure we’re here for you, okay?”