Your fingers were firmly intertwined as you stopped at the foot of the small river. Fields of colourful flowers stretched their heads towards the sunlight that fell on the clearing between the crowns of the trees.

It was quiet, peaceful. A place where you could have lived.

"Do you want to rest?", Jin leaned his head over your shoulder.

Taking a deep breath, you close your eyes and smile. Sighing, you let your temple fall against his cheek. It felt soft, although the hairs of your beard were a little scratchy.

"You haven't shaved for a long time.", you realised as a light breeze caressed through your (H/C) hair.

He chuckled softly.

"Do you mind?", teasingly he rubbed his cheek against yours.

You laughed, pushing him away with one hand only for him to press his cheek against yours again.

"A samurai without a beard would be like one not wearing a katana.", your fingertips playing along his chin. "Lord Sakai."

His left hand came to rest on your side and pulled you closer. A tinge of regret appeared in the brown of his eyes. Along with guilt.

"I'm sorry.", he hesitantly turned his head, thought about it for a moment and then decided to breathe a kiss to the top of your hair anyways.

You huffed gently.

"Are you?", your hand found his chin to grab it and keep him close.

As you turned to face him, he couldn't hold your gaze and had to look away. A few seconds of silence passed while his hand still rested on your side, his thumb travelling up and down your body.

"I wish I could be a better person.", he finally admitted. "But I'm glad they are not here."

You chuckled. Then a thoughtful expression made the smile fade and your heart sink.

"Would I be a bad daughter if I said I'm relieved as well?", your hands came to rest on his shoulders as you stepped so close that your chest nestled against his.

A faint shimmer of red grew across his cheeks. And yet, Jin's hands came to rest on your sides to keep you close. Your heartbeats pounded into one another, found a pace that suited both and began to beat by the same rhythm.

"You're not sad?", he asked and kissed your cheek.

A sigh rolled off your lips.

"I am. But I've also been on this journey all my life. Ever since that night they all disappeared.", you breathed a kiss to the tip of his round nose. "And maybe... I got used to having a travel companion."

One of his bushy eyebrows rose while the hint of a sarcastic smirk tugged at the corner of his plump lips. A thin shimmer of saliva made the rosy flesh shimmer in the light of day.

All of a sudden you found yourself longing for his taste once more. It was odd to admit but after the night at the inn you felt like Jin had become your favourite treat to taste.

Almost like honey that melted on your tongue, mingling with the juices of fruits from a place long gone. He felt like a memory you had chased so many years.

As if, finally, after what felt like an eternity, you had found something to fill the hole inside your chest with.

Jin Sakai, a samurai, nephew to the most powerful lord of Tsushima.

And yet. To you he was just a man. And this very man was everything you had wanted. Everything you had thought unimportant up to the very moment you had met.

Confusion made you frown. But it wasn't him who made your thoughts spin. It was your own feelings.

"Did I... fall for you..?", you asked, your voice nothing but a gentle whisper in the wind.

The brown of Jin's eyes shimmer like liquid honey, gold and the bark of a young, healthy tree that was to cast a gigantic shadow across the land.

Now he truly smiled, something hiding beneath the expression he gifted you.

Hope.

"Did you..?", his eyes traveled along the curve of your bottom lip. "I... truly hope so."

He had to swallow hard while his hands only grabbed you tighter. Almost as if he feared to get the answer he did not want to hear.

He didn't want to let you go. Couldn't. Wouldn't.

The beating of your heart was up in your throat while at the same time you couldn't help but hold onto his shoulders.

He felt tense and yet so calm.

"Maybe I'm relieved that no one's here because I want to spent more nights with you under the stars.", you finally admitted with a soft huff. "Maybe... I want to sit on Nobu's back and hold onto you a little longer. Maybe..."

Suddenly Jin cut your words off by sealing your lips with his. Arms wrapped around your body, pulling you so close that the only sound that managed to escape you was a soft gasp of surprise.

He tasted so familiar yet new. Like the answer to a longing you didn't know needed to be satisfied. In this second he was the answer to all the questions that no one had ever cared for.

Fears and rotten memories from dark days and even darker nights faded as a soft veil of stars came to lay over your soul.

Jin Sakai, a samurai.

For you he was just a man. And for you he would be just a man.

His lips against yours were as soft as you remembered them the first time you two had shared a kiss. Yet they were as demanding as they were that night at the inn.

Heat exploded inside your head as your hands rose to bury themselves in the thick strands of his raven black hair.

A low groan crawled up his throat to squeeze through his lips and sneak into your mouth. You took it in, tasted it with everything you had.

There were many things in this life worth forgetting.

He wasn't one of them.