The Samurai That I Loved

第37章

The hour was between four and five in the morn. The lanterns lining the streets had not yet been lit, nor had the sun began its ascent. Frigid snow steadily fell onto the ground and rooftops and all was silent except for the occasional fluttering of birds above. The winds blew bitterly in icy gusts through the city from the seaside.

Shojiro laid awake in the room he shared with Eliza-chan. She was still asleep, nestled against his chest, her fingers wrapped around his own while his free hand covered his eyes. His heart was hammering inside his chest and he was working pointlessly on controlling his breathing. Anxiety was flooding through him profusely at the knowledge that once she was gone, his world was about to be decimated.

He would lose her, he would lose his position, he would lose his honor, his village. Maybe even his life. Everything was about to come crashing down and all he could do was let it happen. Eliza-chan would never know about the penalty of his crime, nor would she ever find out about Chiyo-chan. She would never even find out if he died or not...

Some things were better left unsaid. He wanted her to only remember and cherish this brief time they were able to share with each other. He had never meant to fall in love with her. He still couldn't believe how quickly she had transformed his world and himself, but it had happened. If he did indeed die, he would be at peace with the inner knowledge that he lived in truth with himself.

He conjured up every minute, every memory he had of this beautiful girl in his arms. The sound of her voice when she sang atop his horse at the beginning of the journey, the delightful humor when she had chased after him down the road for nearly half a mile, or when she had snuck into the baths and he had first seen her enchanting body. He thought of her laughter, her smiles, her anguished looks of betrayal, her cries and her beautiful moans when he was deep inside of her...

Taking a ragged breath, he rubbed his hand down his face before sitting up and gently moving her aside. Once he had donned his black kimono and sharpened his katana blade, sheathed his hidden tantō knife and swept his ebony hair into a top knot, he turned to wake Eliza.

He leaned down, brushing a light kiss to the top of her forehead. She hummed in her sleep and turned over at the same time her eyes blinked open. Gazing up at him, her pleasant expression faltered and she said quietly,

"It's time isn't it?"

Unable to bear the sadness in her eyes, Shojiro lowered his gaze to her hands, reaching out to caress them tenderly as he answered back,

"Hai, little hana."

Nodding once, Eliza stood to her feet and donned her old traveling kinegashi. Shojiro watched her until she turned back to face him. Wordlessly, he reached for her, pulling her into his arms and holding her close for several minutes. She sniffled against his shoulder, and his hand came up to hold her head.

"Do not cry. If you cry, I will be most unhappy."

Eliza huffed a breath and lifted her chin to look into his eyes. Raising her hand, she traced her fingers over his eyes and down his nose before sweeping them over his lips.

"But I do love giving you a hard time." She murmured back with a faint smile. He caught her hand and kissed it.

"Come...we go." He whispered, clearing his throat and leading her to the sliding door.

Once outside of the Inn, they silently made their way to the port. Shojiro kept his hand latched with Eliza's while his footsteps were quick and light. He moved with a predatorial gate, his eyes scanning over every corner and sparse individual they passed. After countless turns, the port finally became visible up ahead.

Upon his initial scouting of the city, Shojiro had learned which ships were disembarking to Nagasaki from the port. Once she was able to reach Nagasaki, there would be only one Dutch ship leaving for Hong Kong in a week's time. Learning which vessel was scheduled to leave in less than an hour, he led Eliza towards a shadowed alley across the expanse of the port and ship's gangway.

Halting abruptly, he pivoted and clasped Eliza's shoulders. She gazed back at him while suppressing her shaking emotions. He simply stared down at her silently for a moment as if memorizing her face for his memories. Then all at once, he cupped her face and covered her mouth with his own. Kissing her and caressing her face, he whispered between their mingled breaths,

"No more sneaking into countries, Eliza-chan, yes?"

She smiled through her tears as she answered shakily, "Oh my goodness, that's what you have to say to me before never seeing me again?"

"No. It's this." He replied, easing back and extracting something from his robe. Placing the mysterious object into Eliza's hand, he whispered, "One last gift. There is a knife hidden inside, wear it always and stay invisible until you reach Hong Kong."

Eliza looked down at the object in her hands to discover it was a jewel-encrusted blue and scarlet broach that had a tiny necklace chain attached to it. The jewels laced into the broach were designed to look like a tiny red rose. She clasped it close to her chest as she buried her face into his robes.

"It's beautiful. I will treasure it always, my love."

Shojiro lifted her chin with his hand and pressed a gentle kiss to her lips as he smiled down at her with all the love and warmth within himself to give. The struggle to remove his hand from her was excruciating...

He kissed her once more and pressed his forehead against hers, willing himself wretchedly to let her go.

"Eliza-chan. My heart is yours. I'll never...never forget you." He murmured with anguish inside his voice. Eliza gasped from her tears and shakily grabbed him once more in a close embrace. All at once, he was pushing her away as he said sharply,

"Go. Go now."

"I love you, Shojiro-san." She wept as she turned away and began to run with her cloak covering her face and hair. The wind whipped through her garments, making them span around her as her boots carried her further and further away from the samurai that she loved more than life itself. She clutched the necklace to her heart, struggling to breathe and move through the pain that was flooding through her, wrenching her heart into twisted knots of grief.

Goodbye, Japan...Goodbye, my love.

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Hello, lovely readers 🌾🍂 We are far from the end of our tale, but I just thought I might pop in to say hi and see how you're liking the story so far ^-^

Thanks for reading! ♡