[Day 15, Mid-Afternoon] It's Not the End of the World, It's Just the End of the Day (Expecting)

[Shiba Ryusei]

Ryusei had a few things to pack, to be sure, but not all that many. The gifts he'd brought had been given out, so it was mostly packing up his wardrobe, his armor, his Go sets, and banging off a few letters to precede him home.

Which was good, because what he really wanted was to talk with Yuna.

Well.

He wanted to do more than talk, but embracing her in such a public venue- even the relative privacy of the Phoenix House was, after all, public- holding her close, it would be... a disaster, to say the least.

So he had the servants set out one last pot of tea and gestured for her to have a seat.

He was using her name though. Nobody was going to stop that.

"My apologies, Yuna-san, but I'll be writing some letters while we talk."

[Agasha Yuna]

Yuna took a seat and gladly accepted a cup of tea.

"Of course. I do not want to delay you when there is urgency for you to be ready to leave. But I am glad to be here."

"I have my own letters to write." She was still a bit sad her family had not written back to her, after her first letter. But it was what it was.

"I spoke to Togashi-ue. He agrees that arrangements can be made for me to come to Phoenix lands soon. I need to return home to my family. Travel with the Dragon. But then arrangement can be made. Our marriage is important to the bond between our clans. And there is an opportunity for my presence sooner than required, as yet a Dragon, to help reinforce the Dragon's commitment to the alliance between the clans."

[Shiba Ryusei]

He looked up. Grinned. Gestured to his letters.

"Half of these are invitations, you know."

He exhaled.

"And... shameful as it might seem to some, sooner suits me more than later. Whenever you arrive, you will be welcome at our home."

A brief pause. And then he chuckled.

"Hell of a Winter Court, wasn't it?"

[Agasha Yuna]

She smiled. Invitations!

"Thank you. I feel sure I will at least have a chance to meet your family and see your home. But I want to be extremely dutiful to anything asked of me. I want to make a good impression. Not only on your family, but the Shiba. The Phoenix."

Shiba-ue was clearly not happy. Had she contributed to her unhappiness? She thought her words had been reasonable and appropriate. But she couldn't be sure.

"It has been quite an event. Life-changing. I can't help but wish it had ended with an Emperor or Empress or even Regent in place. But hopefully all can still be resolved. I am coming to think that Heaven is testing or refining the candidates by this process. Heaven's will may be that the court ended without resolution."

"You know Shiba-ue far better than I possibly could. Do you have any sense of what will happen next?"

[Shiba Ryusei]

"Well. We will go home. Shiba-ue will inform the Elemental Council of how affairs stood. She is a firm believer in the law, and that is why she took the step she did- she saw no law and order, just a hundred different ideas being proposed, most without regard to due process. But she is also glad to have secured sound arrangements with every Great Clan and two Minor Clans, and I believe, once the initial shock wears off, that feelers will be extended to see what can be done."

He'd talked matters over with Eiji not so long ago, so the topic was very fresh in his mind.

"What the backers of some candidates seemed to forget was that if matters were really as obvious as they claimed, it wouldn't have even been a discussion. In that sense, Shiba-ue has done them all a service. And as far as you are concerned..."

He arched an eyebrow.

"When asking her to approve the match, I hardly needed to point out your very real skill and aptitude. So continue as you have, and you'll do fine. You're even trained by the Asako, so it's unlikely our internal political culture will give you any trouble."

His voice softened even as his words hardened.

"And if anyone makes you feel unwelcome, again, tell them to talk to me. it'll be a short conversation."

[Agasha Yuna]

She nodded.

"I felt troubled by the debate also. No process will work unless all the candidates agree to it. I thought we would be asked to debate topics important to the candidates that differentiate between them. I researched educational initiatives. The history. The impact."

"But the... how to decide? I had not researched that. It always seemed to me that Heaven would make its will clear. But that may require us to provide the opportunity. Soshi-san's suggestion of something like the tournament of the kami was a sound example of how to give Heaven a chance to show its will, as happens with all duels."

"But I agree that it doesn't feel quite right for a mix of courtier, shugenja, and bushi. I though Miya-sama's comment at the end that we may need to re-visit the tournament of the kami. The kami were not all bushi."

"I think there would have been strong support for a regent, given it was now the last day without a plan to resolve. Perhaps one of us should have suggested re-opening that vote. I don't know."

"I ... I must apologize for Mirumoto-san's entirely inappropriate suggestion. I don't know what to say. I was entirely caught off guard by it. That was certainly nothing the Dragon had discussed prior. In all the conversations I have been a part of, our goal was peace. Enlightenment is not aided by the distraction of war."

[Shiba Ryusei]

"I think Mirumoto-san might have advanced the idea simply to have it shouted down..."

Ryusei chuckled.

"Present it as poorly as possible to insure that it becomes unthinkable. Or perhaps he's truly insane and thought it a good idea. Either way, it was the only idea advanced anyone bothered to refute."

[Agasha Yuna]

"True. It is a Dragon way of teaching. Stating what cannot be the right answer to wake the student up from nervous silence."

"I know I felt more comfortable speaking - no, impelled to speak - after his words."

"It is good that it was soundly refuted. Maybe that will help in the days to come."

"All the Daimyo swore that there would not be conflict of arms until the succession was decided. That should be enough. At first, I had the terrible thought that all treaties, all agreements, all that had happened at the winter court was undone by the Phoenix exiting. It is such an unprecedented event. But that does not seem to be the case. All stands. There just can be no more formal agreements or decisions."

[Shiba Ryusei]

"Until a case can be made to Shiba-ue that the will of the Heavens will hold sway instead of a cacophony of chattering samurai."

He chuckled and shook his head.

"I... wasn't worried on that score. All treaties that have gone before the Court are binding. I'll be sorry to miss the Devil Chase, and I hate to be parted from you, but... we'll have the rest of our lives to make up for that second bit. With the idea of war to determine the succession vigorously discredited and the Emerald Legions ready to move to enforce the peace if need be... I think we have soime breathing room."

[Agasha Yuna]

She nodded.

"In truth, I think this will cause us to be together sooner, if not actually married sooner. Had I just gone home, the marriage likely would have been months and months away, and I would have been in Dragon lands all that time."

"There is a new opportunity to emphasize alliance and peaceful intent with a gesture like sending me early. 'Wisdom comes in finding the opportunities that dilemmas provide.'"

"The marriage itself may take the same amount of time to arrange. But I do think Shiba-ue is quite admirable in her commitment to the law. She will honor the deals made. The timing is probably just a question of priority and logistics. All else that needs more urgent attention."

"But there are factions looking for any excuse for war. That's probably just something to accept. And there is something else troubling. The earthquake, the granary fire, the assassination attempt... I am not sure all the forces trying to cause harm have been found. Though at least Hantei Ningi is dealt with, though I hear the victory was costly indeed."

[Shiba Ryusei]

"I never even mot Yogo-san- all of my dealings have been with Soshi Eiji-sama. But his sacrifice might have saved us from much worse. So to that end, I'll pray for him. Hopefully Emm-O will look on him with favor. As far as war..."

He chuckled.

"Mirumoto-san might have been the one to speak of it, but I know lady Matsu thinks of it as an opportunity. Luckily, Akodo-ue is more... rational. And the oaths sworn before the Empress still have weight. Of course..."

He reached for another piece of paper.

"If you come to us early, you'll need guest quarters- I'll write to mother. The letter should get there before I do."

It was going to happen!

"The wait will be... a bit of a trial, but as you say... shorter, perhaps, than it might have been."

[Agasha Yuna]

She nodded.

"I can't wait to see your home and meet your parents. And siblings."

Time for a lighter topic.

"Did you see I joined the hunt? And got a small bird and a large one! It was all the clever falcon's doing. It was so fun. I had no idea I'd enjoy hunting so much."

She thought back to that relaxing moment before court. She'd been so relaxed. Just enjoying the moment.

"And I heard you went out with a group. Probably got something much bigger!"

[Shiba Ryusei]

"Soshi-sama found a Hart. Kitsu Sayomi-sama dropped it with one shot."

He grinned.

"I provided moral support. I would say your small bird is a great accomplishment. I'll have to see about getting you an osprey... they're, uh. Very large, but they take fish like nothing else."

[Agasha Yuna]

"Oh! A fish hunting bird would be such a joy!"

She smiled picturing it.

This osprey could be a friend and pet and fish-hunter. Perhaps a guardian, too.

"How big are they?" She set her hands just a little bit bigger than the size of this morning's falcon. "Like, this big?"

"At least, if its focus is fish, it won't trouble the sandpipers, who surely consider the island theirs, and deserve all good things."

A normal falcon might have frightened smaller birds, she guessed, based on absolutely no prior study of the subject, but a new growing determination to read books and scrolls about birds in general.

[Shiba Ryusei]

He chuckled.

"Bigger."

He held his hands about two feet apart.

"About so long."

And then he spread his arms.

"Wingspan about like so. I think you'd let it perch on a staff rather than your arm.Well. I certainly would, anyway. Powerful birds, too, very strong- an eagle will skim the surface to snag a fish. Sometimes they have a bit of an ungainly swim until they can reach a place to haul out their catch. An osprey will plunge into the water and fly right back out again."

[Agasha Yuna]

"Oooh!" She was already picturing a walking stick with an osprey perch built into it.

"And it dives right into the water? Like a pearl diver? Magnificent."

All that yummy seafood, too.

"I fear my chef may wish to enter Otomo Mariko-sama's service, or return to Otosan Uchi. But perhaps he can give me a bit of training so I can make you lovely beautiful meals, and hostess in ways that show off the best fish of the region."

[Shiba Ryusei]

"Yuna... I think you can do anything you set your mind to, if you're given the time. And whatever you do, I'll love it, because you're doing it."

He sighed and grinned.

"Which is to say... mother and Mai-chan will have to be the judge of any results of such culinary training. Father hates everything, and I'm hardly unbiased."

He handed the "letter" he'd been working on across the table to her.

Spring sunlight warms me
In a kindly Dragon's smile
All days of my life.

"I fear you're marrying a rather bad poet, but I intend to keep trying."

[Agasha Yuna]

Her eyes widened.

The letter had been for her!

That certainly made her smile, and then ever brighter as she read the poem.

"Oh, Ryusei! I love your poems. I love you. In winter, spring, summer, and fall. On easy days and hard ones. No matter where I am, at your side or apart. I love you. I will always love you."

Oh, how she wanted to hug him.

[Shiba Ryusei]

He basked in those words for a moment- as he began a letter to Ikoma Ryota to thank him for the hospitality of the Ikoma.

"It's...a big help. Everything's unsettled, I'm sure half the damn court is looking for some way to pin the whole mess on Shiba-ue, but... I think of that first time at the temple. That first time speaking to Seppun Tomaru-sama. That first letter. And it's... This is where we had to be, for things to be right. I don't know everything, Yuna, but I know this- I'll love you until the stars burn out. And it's... freeing. I'm not a diviner, but... I know this is meant to be. And if one thing still goes right, there's a hope for all the rest, you know?"

[Agasha Yuna]

She smiled at him.

"I am so glad we met, and for every moment since. Benten-o-kami has clearly touched us both. I should stop by the temple later and truly thank her for that."

"It is proof that the Fortunes are watching and intervene. Heaven will see this all through. You and I are on the path we were meant to be. Together."

"Hope is a powerful armor against the bumps on the road of life. And, as you said, real boats rock. The imperial court is rocking. But it is still afloat and traveling towards its destination. I believe that. I look forward to seeing it all play out."