Takuma sat outside the doctor's house, shaking and biting his thumbnail in horror and confusion of what he had just done. He had never meant to hurt Satuya... The door slid open and the doctor came out, sitting next to him.
"I know you didn't mean it, Takuma."
"But I did it... How is he?"
"Sleeping for now. Alive."
He sighed of relief as Natomi ran up. Takuma looked at him but turned away as Natomi looked at his father.
"Doctor, what happened?"
"That sword caused Takuma to hurt Satuya."
"How is he?"
"He's asleep for now but I'm sure he'll be quite confused when he wakes up. What would you like for me to tell him?"
Takuma looked up at Natomi from the floor as Natomi looked at him. He got up and walked away as Natomi sat down beside the doctor and put his head in his hands.
"This got out of hand. How in the world did Satuya get in with him? I thought you made it where he couldn't get in?"
"I left the window open since I couldn't circulate the air through the door. Somehow he climbed in through there... It's my fault just as much as Satuya's curiosity is."
"Who would have thought that Satuya was smart enough to climb through the window?"
"Tsume was the same way; I should have known." The doctor said with a roll of his eyes. He pat Natomi on the back. "I'll deal with Satuya. You need to deal with Takuma. He feels horrible for what's happened."
"Yeah..."
He stood up and went to find Takuma.

********************

When Natomi walked in to talk to Takuma, he found him struggling to move the large wooden chest-of-drawers that was by the wall.
"What are you doing?"
"I'm getting something."
"Like what? Takuma, you know we have to talk about this."
"It was the sword. That's all there is to it. The sword made me say things I never would have said... It made me hurt that little boy and not care. There are no words that I can say to make it up to him."
"So you're rearranging the furniture?"
"I'm looking for something..."
"What, exactly?"
Takuma looked at him. "Tsume's pendent."
Natomi lifted an eyebrow. "Tsume's pendent? The one I gave you as a peace offering from Tsume?"
"Yeah. I threw it away from me."
Natomi frowned as Takuma got on the floor and reached behind the dresser and seemed to finally get what he was after. He pulled out the jade necklace and smiled, wiping off the dust that had gotten on it. He got off the floor and held it out to Natomi.
"Give this to him. Tell him I'm sorry."
Natomi grabbed the necklace and sighed. "Between the two of you... I don't know who's more idiotic: you or Tsume."
"Tsume didn't try to kill his own children."
"Takuma, the sword made you do that, not you yourself. Everyone in this clan knows that you love Satuya as if he were your own son. Hurting him, as we've seen, is like hurting yourself and you would never do it... unless in these circumstances where something made you."
"Still..."
"Then you finally understand how Tsume felt about you." Takuma looked at him. "The feelings you feel are the same ones that Tsume felt when he heard that you had been punished for helping him. Do you now understand?"
"Yeah... but there's no way to apologize for my conduct to him."
"Of course there is." Takuma blinked in confusion as Natomi smiled. "Going on a journey to clear your head would be a perfect excuse to see Tsume."
"R-really?"
"There's one thing you must do though: you have to give this pendent to Satuya. You need to explain yourself to him. He's just a child, so he understands and accepts 'I'm sorry' better than adults do."
"Even a child knows when they have been abused, Natomi..."
Natomi put his hands on his shoulders and made him look at him.
"Takuma, Satuya loves you very much. You're the only father he knows. If you tell the truth and let him know that the sword caused your unkind words and harsh deed, he will understand. Children understand simplicity."
Takuma nodded, still not convinced that Satuya would forgive him.

*********************

The next day, Natomi and Takuma packed for the journey to Laota as Inoue walked in.
"Oh, are you going to scout or something?" she asked.
"No, we're going to help Takuma clear his head from the effects of that sword. We'll also be visiting some friends." Natomi said with a wink.
Inoue smiled. "I see... Well tell your 'friends' hello for me."
"Of course."
Takuma walked in and sighed, adjusting his pack on his back.
"Did you do it?" Natomi asked.
"Satuya is still unconscious so... I'll do it when I get back. I promise." He said as Natomi gave him a look.
Natomi sighed and stuffed two loaves of bread in a satchel along with water skins and wine skins.
"Go get the horses so that I can start loading them up with the supplies."
He nodded and went to get them as Inoue stood next to her father.
"It's been a while since he's seen Tsume. Do you think he'll forgive him?"
"That's why we're going. He wants to formally apologize to him for the way he acted. What happened with Satuya made Takuma understand Tsume a little better."
"Well good for him. He needs to see him..."
"Yeah..."
Takuma brought the horses up and Natomi began to put the satchels on them. When they finished, they both got on and headed out of the village.

*********************

"I've never been to Laota. What's it like?" Takuma asked.
"It's not as modern as the Kayoshi but that's because it's more agriculturally based rather than military. There are lots of rice paddies that surround the roadways and many shops and a small marketplace. The Laota do have ninja, it's just that it's not a priority and so the whole town isn't based off of it. There is a training grounds in the back of the village but that's about it."
"I see. Poor Tsume."
"Yeah and you can't become a ninja if you're not a native Laota member. They are a refugee village and so they don't know why you sought sanctuary with them. You could have murdered someone because you like to kill people and so you can't join any military factions they have."
"So... what do you think Tsume would be doing?"
"Probably running a shop or working in the rice paddies. Knowing him, he'd try anything to keep him busy."
"Yeah. He's not good at staying still for too long."
The two talked discursively about past times with Tsume and set up camp for the night later that evening. The next day, they set out again to Laota, talking about some missions that they may have to go on when they got to the road to go into Laota and Natomi stopped.
"What is it?"
Natomi just stared and got down off his horse, walking slowly toward the entrance of Laota. Takuma did the same and walked behind Natomi. They both stared at the village that was in complete disarray. Half of it was burning or burnt to the ground and the other half looked abandoned. The rice paddies were all pulled up and mucky and it smelled of smoke and blood.
"What the hell..." Takuma said, looking around at the destruction. "What happened here?"
"I don't know... We need to find someone to tell us what happened." Natomi said, looking around frantically to see if he could find someone.
When they didn't see anyone, he got on his horse and galloped at full speed into the small town to see if he could find any survivors. Lucky, there were still some people and he jumped off of his horse and turned an old man around.
"Excuse me, jii-jii, but what happened here? Why does this place look like it's been war torn?"
"Oh, there was a raid upon our precious village some months ago. The whole royal army raided the city, looking for slaves to work for them in the palace as well as working elsewhere. When we refused to give up our people for the emperor, the general ordered the small band to start setting fire to the houses and he drove us out by force, stuffing people into carriages left and right. Soon, most of the Laota Clan was heading towards the Imperial City to do his bidding, whether inside or outside of the palace. Emperor Okonome is a very powerful man..."
"Do you know a young man by the name of Tsume Benitone? He wasn't a native Laota, but he was staying here from the Kayoshi Clan." Takuma asked.
"Tsume? Tsume... oh, you mean, young Isshin."
"Isshin?" Natomi and Takuma said together.
"Yes. We encourage those who cannot go back to their former lives for whatever reason to leave their former lives behind. Sometimes leaving a name leaves the life. He chose to take up a different name in order to move on. That young man... He fought so very hard for all of us but in the end, he was taken as well."
"What about his daughter?" Natomi said, holding the man by the shoulders. "His daughter!"
"Well that's why he fought so hard as well. They tried to take the little girl but he wouldn't have it. It was his dead body or both of them and since he was so good at fighting, they decided to take them both. He's in the Imperial City... Doing what, only the gods know."
In the end, Natomi shared his bread with the last little bit of people who had come to get their belongings and move away for a little while until the land healed itself and then it was just Takuma and Natomi in the former village of Laota.
Natomi went to his knees and grabbed at the earth.
"How could this have happened? How could the mighty Laota Clan be overtaken by the emperor? And from what was described, it wasn't even the whole army..."
"But we serve the emperor too, Natomi. His word is everything... even though we do steal from him from time to time."
"But to desecrate a whole village?"
"We will avenge the Laota and we will also save Tsume and Kisola." Natomi looked up. "I came here to make my amends with Tsume. I will make amends so that I can get the forgiveness that I need to give the forgiveness he needs."
"I'm sure Yukorite will want to avenge the Laota... We must look into this a little more though because he could be doing this to certain types of villages. Let's get back and tell Master what's happened."
They made a resolve and got on their horses, heading back to Kayoshi to deliver the news.