Wrapped in silence, Jin stared at the ceiling. His breathing was calm, he seemed to have less pain. Or knew how to hide them skilfully.

Just as silently as he was, you tended to the last wounds and then bandaged everything up again. Whenever you touched his pale skin, you flinched slightly. He was cold but sweating.

Your eyes travelled to his face. There was no emotion to be seen, only a thoughtful glint in the brown of his eyes.

"You... should have allowed me an... honourable death.", he said suddenly, his voice tired.

Every breath rattled in his lungs. You paused. With a sigh, you sat up straight, put both hands on your knees and looked at him.

For the first time in a long time, he returned your gaze. Cloudy brown met determined (E/C).

"If I hadn't found you on the beach, the process would have been long and painful.", you smiled wanly at the memory of the many samurai who had fought a hopeless battle for survival.

"The samurai... who was alive...", he looked around the room as if he was looking for something. "Why... not him?"

Your gaze wandered out of the window. The sky had darkened. The clouds had turned from grey to black. It would rain soon, and a thunderstorm might be approaching.

Finally, you shook your head.

"He could no longer be saved. My skills are trained but I don't perform miracles."

His eyes narrowed.

"How did he...?"

You exhaled deeply and closed your eyes.

"I poisoned him.", you said.

A shadow flashed across Jin's face.

"You did...?!", he angrily tried to sit up, but he was so weak that you simply pushed him back onto the futon.

"I know that your honour demands a different path. But he only suffered. I promise he wasn't in pain."

"You... murdered him!"

You thought for a moment.

"Yes. However... When is death a punishment and when is it redemption?", you asked, memories weighing heavily on your conscience. "I have seen things. Diseases. Wars. Crime. At a certain point, a quick, painless end is mercy."

"Only in life... do we find honour...", he pressed out between clenched teeth. "In battle... we... fall as warriors."

"What if life is endless suffering? People have to endure so much. Endure themselves. Why is it bad if they want to rest?"

Something on his face changed. He seemed to be thinking. His anger was quelled for a moment before he turned away from you in disgust and looked out of the window.

Silence fell again.

This time he didn't want to think about your words. Instead, he closed his eyes and rested. You took this as a sign that it was time to leave.

The mind could also become agitated and only make the illnesses worse. His wounds would heal more slowly or poison him if he was under stress.

Carefully, you bandaged the last wound, gathered everything together and stood up with your head down to leave.

You stopped at the door one last time and glanced back over your shoulder.

"If there are problems or you need something, don't be too proud to call me.", you said with a gentle bow. "If there is only honour to be found in life, then see this as a second chance, Lord Sakai. Live."

He did not answer. Instead, his eyes remained firmly closed, his face turned towards the window.

As you pushed the door shut, you couldn't understand why he couldn't be happy. Even though your life had never stood for anything big, you could understand what it was like to be trapped by something.

For you it had been the Mongols. For him, it was a pledge to honour.

"Everything for honour.", you murmured to yourself, repeating the words Khotun Kahn had exchanged with the captain so many times.

His laughter had been so shattering that the planks of the ship had trembled. For him, a code of honour was only an obstacle. It made it difficult for those who adhered to it to win a war.

War never changes.

In the end, it didn't matter how it was won, all that mattered was that one emerged victorious.

Survival.

After all those years trapped on a ship, you couldn't imagine why Jin preferred a long, agonising death to this world.

A sigh tightened your chest. Bloody water sloshed over your hands as you poured the bowl into the ground outside the house.

Something moved in the corner of your eye but you were too preoccupied with your thoughts to realise that Yuriko had reappeared. With a mild smile, she crouched down next to you.

"I'm sure you can't understand why he thinks the way he does.", her voice was motherly, patiently willing to explain everything so that you could understand. "These men are raised to serve a duty above all. They were taught that sacrificing themselves for the greater good is the most precious part they can do."

You frowned.

"If they all die to serve the bigger cause, what's left of it in the end?", you asked.

Red threads stretched between colourful flowers. Thunder sounded above the leaves. The forest rustled as if answering Mother Nature.

Yuriko raised her eyes. Dreamy memories were reflected in her eyes. She smiled as if she had seen the most beautiful thing the human spirit could ever experience.

"Japan.", she breathed. "It will continue. Not for me. Not for him. But for all those who come after us. For all those who stand beside us and don't fall before their time has come."

You let your gaze wander thoughtfully through the garden.

Apart from the house, there was nothing in this place that had been created by human hands. The trees, the colourful foliage and the stones as well as the animals and the earth. Everything was as it should be.

And for some reason you understood what she meant. And somehow not.

"What if there are no more Japanese?", your chest was heavy at the thought. "Then Japan will no longer be Japan but just an island."

She laughed quietly to herself.

"Then the spirits of nature will still utter Japanese. The foxes will still be called kitsune. And the sea will still carry the remains of our ships. We will remain Japanese. In one way... or another."