Across The Years (CITRUS)

Nineteen - A Little Peek

Mei's POV

I like riding most early in the morning. You can see the dew on the morning grass, the sun is just coming up and it seems like the whole world is slowly coming to life. I also like it, as I see few people around and sometimes I like the solitude. It helps me think and clear my head. With the wedding and its corresponding plans, I need time to think. It is Wednesday, June 2nd, 1869 and it's before 6 in the morning. I'm heading home from another one of my morning rides. It had rained the night before and the morning and the air had an even fresher smell than normal.

I've been thinking about Yuzu this morning and my excitement that she is attending the party on Saturday evening. Normally I would have spent time at the party with Hiroshi, but he's already indicated that he has business to catch up on and cannot attend.

I look forward to not only seeing Yuzu perform but to spend more time with her and get to know her more. The more I know about her, the more mysterious she seems to become. The more mysterious she seems to become, the more I want to know about her.

As I rode my horse slowly through the woods back to home I soon came across Yuzu's cabin. I could have taken several ways home, but I find myself going past Yuzu's most often.

I rode past and wonder what's she was doing. Is she still asleep or getting ready for her day. Such a silly thing to wonder about. Today, my curiosity got the best of me. I quieted my horse as I approached the cabin then put the horse where it couldn't be seen from any of the windows.

Feeling nervous and giddy, I dismounted and slowly approached her bedroom window. I know what I was doing was wrong, but I just had to know something. The cabin itself had heavy woolen curtains and I may be able to see nothing if they are drawn. Creeping, I slowly made it to her bedroom window.

The closer I got to the window, the more I could feel my heart beating in my chest. Fortunately, the curtains were just ever so slightly apart. Peering in, it took me a second for me to be able to see.

There she was, still dressed in her night-shirt. Beautiful was the word that immediately sprung into my mind. Feeling guilty and thrilled at the same time I spied Yuzu pulling a dress out of the dresser and hold it up.

I knew she could spot me at any time, but still, I kept watching. Maybe that was part of why I was doing this; the risk of being discovered. I can't remember feeling more alive than I did at that moment.

A second later, she turned towards the door and slipped out of her night-shirt, revealing her pale graceful naked form to me. My heart jumped nearly out of my chest and my eyes as well. 

After disrobing, she stretched for a moment and let her hair fall down across her back. She reminded me of an ancient Greek statue of Aphrodite I saw at the museum once. I couldn't take my eyes off her.

Then I saw it. She had a tattoo. As if I wasn't already dumbstruck, that did so rather nicely. I've never heard of a woman having a tattoo before. The only ones I've seen were the crude ones that the sailors by the docks have. Then they were usually a naked girl or something nautical.

But hers was nothing like those at all. As her own body, it was a work of art. On the back of her right shoulder appeared to be a bunch of red roses. The flowers were drawn intricately with the most stunning detail. The vivid red of the petals and the greens of the leaves looked so real.

Then I saw a second one. It was on her left shoulder and appeared to be a ruby red heart that was broken in half. Like the other one, it was more like a painting than a simple tattoo.

Where does one get a tattoo like this, was just one of the hundreds of questions that surged through my mind. Again I find out more and she only becomes more mysterious. Her body was like a sensual, graceful, irresistible canvas for the most exquisite works of art.