The Day of Thunder

The sound of the stream echoed through this part of the forest, a quiet burbling. Depending on the imagination of the listener, one might hear it as conversation, or music, or something entirely different. Hikaru, of course, tried to find the music in it.

Slowly, he raised his flute to his lips.

Hikaru was not the best flautist in the Empire; far from it. But he practiced regularly, always seeking to be worthy of the name Doji. The long clear notes mingled pleasantly with the burbling, a little mysterious, but with a sense of wonder, not unease.

Even as he played, his pale eyes were alert, glancing around as though expecting something. Or perhaps someone.

Nothing like a meeting next to a river with a reputation of making you forget. Satsuki had hoped for chances to speak with Hikaru privately when they traveled, but then they had been joined by Genji and his cousin, and then Lady Makime - whom instilled an aura of disciplined in the small party. She hated that she had even taken to sleeping in early and rising before dawn now because of it.

Carrying her guqin on her shoulder, Satsuki followed the sound of the flute until she found the spot by the river that Hikaru had found. "I think you've improved a lot since the first time I heard you play," she said with a small giggle as she approached.

Part of Hikaru had appreciated the discipline; he kept to a fairly rigorous schedule himself, after all. But another part of him ached for some time with Satsuki where he didn't have to think about... so many other things.

As Satsuki approached, a gust of wind seemed to tug at Hikaru's hair, sending his white lock fluttering, tugging in Satsuki's direction. He turned a moment later. Pale eyes widened, but he held the note until its completion moments later.

Smiling gently, he lowered the flute. "Have I? To my ear, it is hard to say. I suppose I've had a lot of time to practice in..." Hikaru paused, blinking. "Five years. Have we really known each other that long?" He took a slow step closer; if nothing else, it seemed rude to make her close all the distance between them!

"Yeah, five years," she sighed a little. Not because of thoughts of how time flies, or that they were getting older, "it's been busy those five years. And with so much to do, the both of us." Hikaru had been so dedicated to the Crane and Doji, and Satsuki had been traveling with her father over the Empire.

As they had both closed the distance, she was already looking around for a place for them to sit. "I brought my guqin at least! Just hoping I'm not too out of practice with it."

"Yes." Hikaru said, sighing. The worry lines in his handsome features stood out a little more.

At her next statement, Hikaru smiled. "Let us play together and see, then. Although I would be quite surprised if you were." He, too, cast a quick glance around. The forest was not especially equipped for sitting. However, there was a fallen log, thick and moss-covered, and only at a bit of an angle that would do reasonably well. With a smooth motion, Hikaru pulled off his outermost layer, laying it out atop the log.

"It's not the most comfortable seat we've shared." Hikaru said, still smiling gently. "But it has a certain charm. And rather less oversight than we've had of late."

She chuckled with amusement at the makeshift seat and nodded. "Yeah... no cousins or honorable Lady Makime hanging around." And no Crane or her father either around to interrupt.

It was strange to think that this might be the most alone she had been with Hikaru in... quite some time!

Sitting down, Satsuki removed the covering from the instrument and adjusted it in her lap. "Thanks for the idea of meeting out here. I feel like there's been so many people today, this is very nice. But you probably thought of that already when you suggested this, right?"

Looking down at his flute, held in front of him, Hikaru chuckled softly. "I very much respect Lady Makime. And yet, I cannot help but think, it is nice to be able to spread my cloak over this log for us, and not be told that I should have laid it straighter, or that the placement of this log leaves us open for ambush."

"I did." Hikaru said, his voice soft, but confident. He turned his head, looking at Satsuki. "There has been very little time without people, lately. Or danger. Or any number of things. I..." Hikaru paused, frowning, "I thought that if we wanted any time, we had best make it ourselves."

His lock of white hair seemed to drift in the breeze, landing on her shoulder.

The shimmering eyes flickered to the lock of white hair that touched her own and her smile grew. So much she wanted to say, that she hadn't had time to...

"Some would say that destiny is what we make ourselves," she mused, eyes demuring away as she tested the strings of her instrument. Satsuki held an elegance of sorts to all her movements, but only a fool would think her soft because of it. Her hands and fingers had callouses from practice with weapons and instruments alike, even if she wasn't a warrior. "How have you been, Hikaru? Now that I can ask you in private."

"Destiny..." Hikaru echoed. Gently, he shook his head; his white lock was not deterred, remaining gently entwined with hers. "That has been very much on my mind lately. I suppose whatever it's nature, we must continue on our paths..." He trailed off, his eyes closing.

"Tired." Hikaru's eyes remained closed as he answered, but a smile touched his lips, just for a moment. After a moment, they opened again, and he looked back at Satsuki. "Well enough, despite that. But some days, it feels like I'm carrying the weight of everything. The corruption, and Lady Doji..." He took a deep breath. As concerning as his words were, he actually looked more relaxed than he had when travelling. Satsuki was the only person to whom he could unburden himself, if only briefly.

"And you, Satsuki?" The smile returned. "How are you? And your family?" Hikaru held his flute a little higher, but did not yet bring it to his lips. There was more he wanted to say, after all.

She listened, nodding gently to show she understood his concerns and how they weighed on him. The Crane were not really fine after that Winter Court, no matter what the courtiers said, and she knew and understood why. And Hikaru was so dedicated to her aunt, and the rest of the clan. "Just remember that you don't have to carry all that burden on yourself, hm?" Satsuki chided him warmly with a small nudge to his side.

Having tested the instrument, she adjusted a few of the strings to tune it properly. "I'm... tired too. Tired and worried. Not only for my family, but everyone too, hearing terrible stories of what's happening in the land," she sighed with a grimness to her tone. "Dad is concerned too, and I suppose that worries me more. And mom is doing everything she can to help our people, along with my brothers."

And she really really missed them too.

It had taken more than a few nudges before Hikaru was trained out of his instinctive reaction to pull away when Satsuki nudged him. Fortunately (?), she nudged him a lot. "I'll remember." He promised, smiling warmly. He almost nudged her back, even. But not quite.

Hikaru had already warmed up; now, it was just a matter of not cooling down. His fingers danced along the holes of his flute, but he still did not lift it to his lips. He stopped, shifting to face Satsuki more as she spoke. "Yes." He said, his voice soft. His hand closer to her lifted, hesitated, clenched, relaxed.

Finally, it found her shoulder, and then rubbed down her back. "We are all tired and worried." Hikaru said, his voice gentle. "It is strange, but I feel a little better knowing that we are all tired and worried together. Even when we're apart."

His hand stroked along her back again. "I was glad to meet your family. They impressed me." Hikaru said.

"Yeah," she smiled bashfully as she felt the hand on her shoulder. Damnit, Hikaru was the only one who could manage to get her acting all girlish and bashful and... probably why she'd act out a lot to make him be the one flushing red! So she couldn't help herself when she leaned into the touch and against him. Inappropriately so, some would say!

"I'm glad you got to meet them." While she didn't say it out loud, it was obvious in her voice that she loved her family dearly. "Dad isn't too intimidating for you?" Satsuki managed to tease with a playful grin.

Finally the strings on the guqin sounded right.

Anyone else who tried to touch Hikaru would have gotten, at best, a cold frown. Instead, he found himself swallowing as Satsuki leaned against him. He stiffened uncertainly, torn between what he was taught and what, well, what felt right. Finally, flushing (a point for Satsuki!), he let his arm settle around her, squeezing her form against his just a little.

"No... yes..." Hikaru laughed ever so slightly, perhaps only noticeably because Satsuki leaned against him. "I don't know. Lord Togashi's wisdom and foresight are both legendary. So while we spoke, I tried not to think about us..." He took a breath, "... what we've done..." Not that they'd done, well, nevermind, but he was definitely thinking about it now...

Hikaru cleared his throat. "It seems that we are ready. What shall we play?" His face definitely still red, even as he did his best to ignore it.

Her fingers covered her impish smile as she giggled again. "It's not like we've done anything, Hikaru, and certainly not anything wrong," she teased again, glad to have scored that point this time.

"But yeah, let's play something, mhm? Maybe something positive, to lighten the situation we're all in?"

"Well... no..." Hikaru mostly conceded. On the other hand, even a Doji knew that if something was at least a little wrong, that also made it hotter...

He pursed his lips, his expression serious as he considered very intently. Then he smiled. "Do you know this one?" The glint in Hikaru's eyes showed that he knew she would.

Lifting his flute to his lips, he played a few notes. It was an old Ayakashi song, one that Satsuki's mother almost certainly knew.

Her eyes did light up in recognition of the familiar melody, as she had heard not only her mother play that particular song, but also many of the other Ayakashi who had joined the Dragon and brought their many songs and stories with them.

"I most certainly know it," she said calmly in a quiet voice, so as to not interrupt his playing. Satsuki's fingers found their way across the strings of the guqin as she began to play along to accompany the flute.

As she played, she looked over to Hikaru with a curious smile, wondering where he had learned this particular song.

Hikaru saw her curious smile; even as he played, the corners of his lips turned up, just a little, his pale eyes bright. If he saw the question in her smile, well, he certainly couldn't answer while playing the flute.

It was written as a duet, the two instruments complementing each other nicely. As he played, Hikaru closed his eyes for a few measures, blinking as he opened them again, but his playing did not falter.

When the last note was played, Hikaru lowered the flute from his lips with a soft sigh. He looked at Satsuki, but did not speak.

The story of two lovers, told in music. One as cold as ice, the other as hot as fire, yet still drawn to one another across social constraints, barriers, and even time. Or so her mother had said about the melody, and why it was intended for two instruments to play together - and because instruments could transcend voices and lyrics to reach everyone.

Like Hikaru, Satsuki closed her eyes for some of the measures, just enjoying the peace of the scene and feeling the music.

With the last note, she hesitated to place her palm on the still-vibrating strings to quiet them, letting the hum hang in the air for a moment as she looked at Hikaru.

"... You play very well," she murmured at first. "Where did you learn that melody?"

"So do you." Hikaru said, his voice soft.

He looked down at his flute. "It was when I was last in Dragon lands. As I traveled, I sought out the music of your mother's people. I wanted to learn something..." He frowned. "I wanted to... to show..." He grimaced, shaking his head. There was tension visible in the handsome lines of his face as he struggled with expressing himself verbally.

Finally, Hikaru looked at Satsuki, his expression softening once more. "I hope you enjoyed it." He said.

Satsuki watched Hikaru stumble for the words that she wanted to say, and hear. The words both of them felt too difficult to express easily even after having known each other for some years now.

"I did," she replied, smiling at him regardless. "Thank you. So many different backgrounds have come together among the Saru, you'll hear a lot of different songs and melodies there. I'm impressed by your dedication to specifically find something Ayakashi-related." Which was probably the more plentiful people among the Dragon as the tribe had mostly divided between the Imperials and the Dragon.

"I really like... that you would do that for me. It means a lot." Damnit, she wasn't able to quite say what she wanted to either.