^^ Tiān-Kōng ^^

--- Tama Arashi-Kumo ---

Lee-Ting giggled, and I frowned at her, shushing her wordlessly.

The woman turned her eyes back to her son, and then narrowed them slowly.

He sighed, and bowed, kissing her knuckles. "I'm sorry, Ma."

She sniffed once derisively, and smacked his skull again, lighter this time, then pointed at a large spool of course silk, handing him the cord she'd knotted with all of Ting's measurements.

He blinked at it, evidently understanding the mess of knots. "What's with these numbers?... ah, they're a kids, I was confused!" He chuckled, and she flicked his ear. He skipped over to the spool. "Sorry, sorry, I'ma workin', Ma."

She glared at him.

He sighed. "I apologize, Mother. You know how I feel about talking all proper in the City."

"Men are jealous or spiteful of you because of it." I stated.

He turned to look at me, and my eyes bore into his own, causing him to freeze in place.

"Never Forget what you are. The people will not forget. Wear your insufficiencies and differences like armor, and they can never be used to hurt you." I said simply.

He snorted. "That's easy for you to say-"

His mother slapped his head heartily, and I smiled. "You don't know me, so I'll forgive that." I shrugged.

He frowned. "And who are you, wise-guy? How come you think you know about people hating you for how you talk?" He asked disrespectfully.

I held up a hand when his mother went to hit him again. "You don't know? Interesting. I am Prince Tama Arashi-Kumo of the Great Jade Empire, Born to Lady Kumo." I took a slow step towards him as he knelt.

"I spent the first seven years of my life in an Archery Tower, with only one person for positive company, shunned because I was born Cursed, and only kept alive because my mother was the second wife of the Great Jade Emperor." I knelt to his level, sitting on my heels.

"I didn't meet my mother until I was four. I was beaten, stoned, bullied, and hated from the moment I opened my eyes to this world, because those eyes were the color of mourning, I summoned storms when I cried, and my hands were the size of my chest." I flexed said hands, sparking the air as everyone held their breath.

"But You, you live in a wonderful house, with a loving family, and your one fault is that you have an cultured accent and Japanese features that people taunt you about, and you get into fights about it, which you then not only win, but walk away from. Oh Yes, indeed. Woe is you." I grinned viciously.

I stood and stepped away. "My apologies for the interruption of your work, Lady Kobayashi. I meant no disrespect to you or your family."

She shook her head. "Couldn't have said it Better myself, Prince."

The boy stood, when she smacked him with her hand gently, and got to work cutting the cloths to the right size.

After a few minutes, he glanced at me. "Sorry. Guess I seem kinda pathetic to you, getting bent outta shape about somethin' as simple as an accent."

"Only a little. You also won that fight, so more silly than pathetic." I said honestly.

He snorted. "Yeah, I guess so. He's got the same as me, so it was more of a tie, to be honest."

"Honesty is good." I nodded.

"And who's this? Your daughter?" He asked, smiling at Ting.

She answered in Chinese. "I am his apprentice. I am a Mage, and he is gonna teach me lots of magic." She said seriously.

He blinked. "Oh. Okay. Cool. I'm Fei-Long Kobayashi. Oh, and did you see the dragon outside? I though I was hallucinating, but he's just chilling out there."

"Yes. That is Lord Sora. He can take you into the clouds! Flying is even better than being on a Ship, but it's a close call." She nodded.

He blinked slowly again. "The dragon has a name? Wait, dragons can be Lords?"

"All Imperials are Lords and Ladies of the Great Jade Empire. And yes, almost all dragons have names, and titles." I answered in Japanese, which he was clearly fluent in.

"Oh... cool. Alright, well, I've got the fitting clothes, mother. I'll be outside, yeah?" He asked.

"Why is he leaving?" Ting asked.

"You have to be naked for this next part, Ting. I'll be outside as well." I nodded.

She hummed. "Oh. Alright. But what if I need your advice?"

"You'll need my advice in a few minutes, I'm sure, but you'll be dressed, by then. You're just getting fitted, for now, nothing for you to do expect what Lady Kobayashi tells you to." I nodded.

I left swiftly, and sat next to Sora.

"Hmmmmm." Sora said suddenly, eying me.

"What? He had it coming!" I frowned.

"Hmmmmm."

"He was being a little shit."

"Mm-hmmm..."

"I don't have to justify myself!" I snapped.

"Mmmmm.... hmmmm...."

"... you're infuriatingly good at manipulating me."

He grinned suddenly. "And you're incredibly easy to manipulate. Anyway, I smell something interesting from that clearing." He pointed his nose at a garden. "I'll stay here and look after Lee-Ting, you go investigate."

I chuckled and pet his nose. "Aye, cap'n." I said dryly, and walked into the garden he'd pointed at.

Two guards crossed spears, as I stepped into a crossroads.

"Oh, I'd no idea this was a restricted area. Forgive the intrusion." I nodded.

"Let him in." Tiān-Kōng's voice came from the interior, blocked from view by a thick bush.

They stood aside, and I entered, humming in interest at the Spanish roses. "Spanish Roses... I've only ever read about those." I said, rounding the corner.

I instantly turned back around. "Oh! I'm so sorry, I didn't meant to-"

"It's alright. I'm not shy with my body. It's only flesh. And besides, we're to be married. Get used to it." She shrugged one porcelain shoulder, adorned with a multicolored depiction of a Chinese Imperial Dragon.

I sighed and sat next to her, looking at the roses pointedly. "Very detailed tattoo, however. I'm impressed."

"Thank you, it took almost a month to complete, with my work and duties as Princess." She smiled.

"May I ask why you're laying in a garden... naked?"

"I like the feel of the sun on my skin... and there's no one to stop me." She smirked.

I chuckled. "You are quite nearly the most interesting woman I've ever known."

She raised both eyebrows, surprised. "Only nearly?"

"Yes." I nodded.

She hummed softly. "Who's this other, more interesting than me?"

"Before I came here, I was courting only one woman. Only one woman in all of Japan was good enough for me, and we courted, for 12 long years. I was ordered to cut off my courtship with her three days ago." I said simply.

She blanched her features, shock and anger battling for supremacy. Then she finally sighed. "I... I'm sorry, I didn't know. I heard you weren't married... I guess it makes sense that you would have a woman you loved..."

I nodded. "But my country comes first, and she respects that. She wouldn't have wanted to be empress anyway."

She hummed. "Why's that?"

"As Empress, she would have to give up her shop. As Lady Yoko Tanjo, it's perfectly respectable for her, as the youngest daughter of the Royal Tanjo Smithing Clan, a time-honored and incredibly skilled Clan of Blacksmiths who've served the Throne for almost 500 years, to make and sell magical amulets." I nodded again, feeling not unlike a small dog, and then laid in the grass, looking up at the sky.

She hummed. "I won't be like that, as Empress. Sitting by your throne and watching you rule."

"Oh I do hope not. I can't stand cowards. I like your fire. Good, for a Second in Command. You will be Fire to my Ice. Such pairings are always good for Empires." I nodded.

She nodded slowly. "So you're looking for a Partner?"

"Isn't that what a marriage is? Regardless if it's arranged and unwanted, this marriage is about unification, and as such, we are partners, from marriage until eternity." I sighed.

"You have an odd way of saying 'let's make this work!' It almost sounds like 'nothing we can do about this, so let's just figure it out...' when you say it like that." She raised an eyebrow.

"That's exactly what I meant. The Treaty is already signed, the Marriage is started, we're on this road, whether we like it or not." I smiled.

"So if you had a choice, what would you do?"

"I would do this." I gestured between us.

"But you said you didn't want-"

"I don't. But this is the best chance our countries have at holding at bay our enemies. Therefore, it is the choice I will take." I frowned.

"Okay, and if there was a different way? Someone more qualified?"

"I would like to return to my Tower, and my painting, and my lover, and never pick up a weapon again." I shrugged.

"You paint?"

"Yes. What else besides war and art are hands like this meant for?" I fluttered my long fingers at her.

"If you were a woman, I'd say personal pleasure, but as a man, I guess you're screwed." She smirked.

I raised an eyebrow, and she flinched. "Not that I would consider- not with a woman, I meant like, personally, like-"

"I don't care that you like women." I shrugged, gazing up at the clouds.

"... wow. You are at once the most rude man I've ever met, and the sweetest. It's an interesting mix." She frowned.

"I'll never bore you, though, that much I do promise." I smirked.

"Hmph... so you really don't care?"

"No. In fact, it makes this much easier. I can have Yoko as a Concubine, and she can continue her shop, and you can have the women in my 'Harem'. I'll have to have one, for appearances, but I'm thoroughly uninterested in women who aren't her."

She blushed slowly, and laid next to me. "Partners in Crime already, huh?"

"What crime?" I asked, letting my hair down.

"Well, it's rather unnatural-"

"It isn't, actually. In Japan alone, there are some animal 230 species that engage in homosexual coitus for the purpose of stress-relief, practice, or simply comfort. There's nothing more natural than seeking out those familiar to you, I.e., The same sex, for pleasure and comfort." I shut down her argument.

"And if homosexuality is a crime, here, I'm changing that, and damn your traditions to the pits of fire if they have a problem with it." I added on, grumbling saucily.

She laughed. "So you do have a bit of fire in you after all, hmm?"

"Perhaps. And you've got a bit of Ice. We're all unbalanced. But I think, at the least, we can be friends. And you'll need to learn to kiss me in public. Often, and romantically." I smirked.

She frowned. "Ewww... well, you're very pretty, so it's not 'ew', so much as 'but you have a dick...' you know?"

"You're not kissing the dick, you're kissing my lips and cheeks. My dick is none of your concern." I said dryly.

She blinked. "Hmmm... true... alright. Practice round?"

I shrugged, and she mounted my hips, pressing me to the grass, and then grabbed my jaw, moving in to kiss me, just as one of the guards cleared his throat.

She looked up, unaffected by her nakedness, or her being on top of me. "Yes?"

"I hate to interrupt your bonding with your intended, but... The Emperor wants a word, Princess... immediately."

She sighed. "Okay, quick, give me a hickey." She slapped my chest.

I realized her intentions, and quickly gave her a few love-bites on the neck and shoulder, and she returned the favor professionally.

She nodded and stood, pulling on her robe, and leaving her hair in disarray. "You will tell him, when asked, that you found us, mostly naked in the garden, but that my virginity is intact, though my lips are tainted. Understood?" She asked the guard.

He bowed, smiling. "Of course, that is the truth, Mistress."

"Good. Lead on, Dan-Sen." she marched off without a backward look.

"How Sweet She Is,
That Opal Maiden,
With Lips Of Bliss,
Such Tender Skin."

She turned and grinned. "I'll tell my father that one."

"I'll write it for you." I pulled some parchment from my shirt, and a bottle of ink and a brush, and quickly wrote it down, purposely splashing a bit of the ink out of place, like it was done in haste.

She took it, and smiled. "And a Poet, as well... you're not meant for this hell we call Court."

"And yet here I am." I smirked, and bowed, walking away, purposely knocking askew my robe and sword-belt.

"And yet here you are." She laughed and shook her head, leaving by the other exit, the one I'd entered through.

I made sure to straighten my clothes as I passed the guards by the entrance, and they caught clear sight of it.

I returned to the cottage, and Sora smirked, smelling her on me, just as the door opened, and I was waved in by the Lady Kobayashi.

I gazed in awe at the change, as Lee-Ting stood in front of me, dressed in a Chinese Man's tunic and pants, colored gold and red.

"I like the change, and you've definitely done amazing, here... but what about a more monochromatic scheme? Whites, mostly. It is, in the eyes of the Chinese Court, the current representation of Japan. She is a Japanese Mage, and I want people to recognize her as my apprentice." I nodded.

The lady nodded, and held up a second outfit, the same as the first, but pure-white, with silver hemming, creases, and buttons.

"Perfect. Please help her dress in that, and I will bring you payment for the other clothes very soon. Do you have a preference?" I asked.

She smiled. "I have had my eyes on a nice new Spindle..."

I smiled back. "Consider it yours. Point me towards it, and I shall acquire it."

She nodded, and wrote down the shop that sold the spindle, while I examined Lee-Ting's outfit, praising her often.