Akemi River

Titania stared at the water as it flowed freely never standing still. Sometimes, she wished she could be much like the water able to move but time had already stoppes for her. Titania's life would never move. Still, she stayed content with it. Titania watched as things developed and change. She watched once broken things blossom into something beautiful. The thing she. loved the most was that she would always be with her brother. He saved her life and she loved him always. There were also things she didn't like about her time standing still. She watched as people died and her dear friends and family all faded away. The only thing she had left was her brother because she became afraid to make friends. She knew eventually they would die because none of them would live as long as her. Titania got lost in thought and didn't notice the man looking at her.

Kyuzo could of thought that was his sister standing there due to his last memories of her being in the cruel winter cold screaming his name. Shaking his head and looking down silently did his Sensei appear within his head, the time he stayed over at his place for a couple of days or more. "Kyuzo-san, I really have enjoyed this time with you. It seems all my students love you too." Kyuzo looked to his Sensei who had light blue eyes and long white hair which was clipped back by pins. Both student and sensei were in kimono's and looked traditional. "Also, I want to say something. I guess you noticed but your mother and father had lost their connection." Kyuzo looked to Sensei silently before looking away, the words of his sensei continued. "It seemed like she didn't want to be apart of such a controlling family, this is why she did the things she did." Sensei looked down as Kyuzo looked at his face. Those words hurt and back when he was a child he felt that something was wrong, he also knew that Rinkage wasn't loved either. "Your mother loved you both very much, she did not think that your father would of gone far like he had done. He was doing what his family wanted him too." Kyuzo figured as much since his family tried to control him sometime ago, but since his family has fallen there was nothing left for them. Kyuzo closed his eyes while his thoughts ceased. The lady before him remained silent and since she looked to be in thought did he look to the water as well.

It would take a moment before Titania's thoughts would fade away. She knew that thinking about it would not solve her problems nor would it bring the death to life. If she hadn't been arguing with her mother on that day. It was the stupidest thing she had ever faught with her mother over. Titania was stubborn and wouldn't listen when she said they had to leave. She disn't want to leave her home but she never knew that her stubborness would get them all killed. If she had just went without question. They tried to leave before the angry people did something. Her parents could feel something was going to happen but Titania didn't. By the time she realized though it was too late. Her family was dead all except her and her brother. They managed to escape with one of the servants. However, the people faked their deaths so that nobody would know. These were the thoughts the came to her everytime she thought about her family. When she thought about death. It was something she never got over but she had never told her brother. Titania started to see her eyes get blurry with tears at the thought but she quickly wiped them away. This brought her back to reality and that's when she saw the man out of the corner of her eye. He seemed to just be standing there. She turned her head to look though and she just stared. Her face returning to the normal emotionless expression.

Kyuzo lowered his eyes as if weighed down by some kind of weights and finally did they close did he glance up and noticed that he was being stared at. Never did he move and his hands remained in the long sleeves of his kimono. "Listen to me son! We have to stay with the family!" the loud shouts came from his father who was pulling Kyuzo away from his mother and sister. "Stay with the family?! We left them behind just now!" the sad boy who was once Kyuzo yelled at his father in confusion. "Why did you do that! I want to be with them!" Kyuzo remembered his voice shaking when he was a boy and tears poured from his eyes but his father continued to pull him along against his will. Kyuzo remembered seeing his father walking in a slow pace and his shoulders shook while his hair of black covered his face. Confusion never left Kyuzo's body that day when he was young but now it was all gone. Kyuzo looked to the lady with a lonely face which was clearly open and never showing anything, however he bowed silently in her direction for this was his greeting. While he bowed did he clearly remember his father's back and feet while the boy was pulled in a harsh way. The sound of snow being stepped on and the sobs from a heart broken child. The pain still remained in his heart like a broken record but he had to understand she was in a better place. They all were...

Titania kept watching the man she never cared whether it made people uncomfortable or not. It was her way of figuring out whether she liked the people around her or not. As she stared, she notices the man was having thoughts of his own and they seemed painful like hers. She remember what her brother had said to her a couple days before. He said she should make friends because he wouldn't be around all the time. It hHer brother seemed to have different thoughts than she did but that didn't matter to her. It would take her a minute to think it over whether she would do anythinh or not. Titania then watched as he bowed to her. He didn't seem to bad and Titania didn't know whether she would regret it or not. She did it anyway, "Hello." She said her voice soft and shy.

"I apologize for not saying anything sooner. It is a pleasure, Kyuzo Mamoru." Kyuzo had said this while he was still bowing toward the lady infront of him. Women and men were to be treated equal or so his sensei says much like himself would say a good time or so ago. Kyuzo was back home and had came to terms with everything now, things would happen even if you did not want them to or not. Lifting his head did he allow himself to place a smirk over his features which was his way of being friendly. Most people are unsure or shy when meeting someone they do not know and he knew this.

Titania blinked. This was odd she had thought that people were rude and disrespectful. Maybe, that only applied to most. "Oh. Uhhh. I'm Sorry. I don't talk often. My name is Titania Antiope." She could tell her face was probably red by now. It made her nervous to speak to people and she was afraid she sounded like an idiot. Her face still made the emotionless expression but she couldn't control the color of her face. As the man smiled, so did she. Well, she tried anyway.

Kyuzo took up on her name and he smirked again little bigger than the last he had shown. "It is good to know you, Titania. The water is very pretty." he shifted his eyes to look toward the water again and it seemed he was trying to make conversation due to him trying to open up with her. It was clear that she was finding this rather new due to her reaction or maybe that is him thinking on her being uncomfortable. Either way, he was going to be nice to her since everyone deserves a bit of kindness every now and again.

Titania smiled and turned to the water. "Yeah. It's very lovely. Brings back memories." Titania seemed to be just speaking anything that came to her mind and she didn't notice. Then, she turned back toward Kyuzo. "Also, it's nice to meet you." She kept a smile on her face. Even though this was odd for her, she told herself she would try for her brother.

Kyuzo nodded some as he continued to look outward. "It use to be my favorite pass time to watch the water move freely. I also like to watch the moon when it comes out. Nature is just filled with beauty." the oil paintings he learned back at his sensei's house were a sure reminder that beauty was everywhere and he found that he like to paint pictures for it seemed to wash his worries away for a time. Kyuzo glanced to the sky and another smirk came over his features. "It is good to think about things that make you happy."

Titania kept that smile but it seemed to soften as Kyuzo spoke about nature. "It is very beautiful. I also love to watch the water move. However, I have never watched the moon rise." She knew this may sound odd but it was true. Titania had only ever noticed the things on the ground because they were just like her. Always stuck in the same place. The flowers always had their roots stuck in the ground so they could not move. Titania felt much like a flower but her roots were stuck to the Earth she walked upon. She wouldnever be able to feel the freedom of the things in the sky. Birds could sore freely and go anywhere they wished. Her smiled then turned to one that was soft but had some sadness in it. "I wouldn't say it brought allgood thoughts."

Kyuzo glanced to her and looked to the side some as his lips pressed together but then he blinked and he reached into his sleeve for he had a small picture with him. The picture he had painted a few days ago when he was still at his sensei's house with his students. One night was a perfect night to oil paint a cresent moon in the sky and the air and clouds were in a perfect balance. Kyuzo painted it for he had never seen anything like it but since he already saw it well he did not need it anymore. "That is sad to know you had not seen the moon so you can keep this painting I have done." handing her the picture when he was close enough did he allow a small smile to come to his face.

Titania looked surprised at the paintinv that was just handed to her. As she took it, she couldn't help but let her eyes move over it. It was almost as if she was a child seeing something amazing for the first time. This made her smile, "Are you sure?" Titania asked a slight bit nervous. She had never been given anything before besides from her family. This painting was certainly beautiful. Maybe, one day she would be able to look up and see if for herself.

Kyuzo smirked as he nodded before looking outward to the water. "Hai, that way you can look at it when you really want to see the moon. I have tons more art back home." in truth he had so much art that he had done back with his sensei. A perfect sunset, a ocean view from a cottage, anything that showed beauty that nature held. Most of the paints he did were simply copying after someone else but that picture he had given to her was something he made without copying it from someone else.

Titania smiled at the painting, "It's beautiful. Thank You. You know this is actually the first thing I have ever gotton from someone outside my family." It seemed that Titania either said nothing or anything that comes to mind. Even though she had just met this man Titania thought she could say anything. Maybe it was just that she trusted people really easy afyter she got past that layer if hatred. O well, she never thought a second idea about it. "It's been a long time since I have spoken to someone like this. My definition of long may be different from yours though. " Titania gave of a sort of laugh.

Kyuzo softly smiled some to what she had said. "You are welcome. I'll keep painting different moons for you. I quite enjoy giving people art." of course he would not ask for money of any kind for just seeing people smile was enough for him. Kyuzo looked over the water of the river and well he began to thinking about painting it, that was easier said than done due to him not having his paints with him. Shaking his head to himself he may as well paint something like this later.

Titania's smile seemed to brighten when Kyuzo said he could paint her more moons. Well, if she wasn't going to look at it herself then she might as well look at it through the eyes of another. Titania had been watching Kyuzo as well as looking at the painting. She noticed he looked at the water a lot. It brought up questions. She would start by asking one and see where that got her. "What do you see when you look at the water? You don't have to answer but I'll certainly tell you what I think." Titania stared at the water and she knew exactly what she would answer even iff Kyuzo didn't

"Gomen, I just like to look at the water. No, maybe it is deeper than that. My sister from what I was told moved somewhere far away in which water seperated us." Sensei spoke of Rinkage's life for his sister lived a normal life and died as a happy elder women with a man that she loved. Kyuzo so deeply wanted to go out and find that stone, find children she gave birth to, just something that had close connection to her. Sensei told him all that he could about her life and was not sure if she had children or not but chances are high that she did, they were just all grown up now probably. Kyuzo sighed silently with his features changing to one of complete abandon for he really wanted to know.

Titania looked at the man's face as he spoke. To be separated from loved ones was a feeling Titania fully understood. If she had evdr been separated from Lyonus she wouldn't know what to do with herself. "What i see when I look at the water is it's freedom to move. I wish for my life to move and flow as the river does but it never will. I am always stuck in the same place everyday." She sort of looked at the river with a longing. This was one reason she would never come here with her brother. Titania would never want him to regret his descision because even though she felt this longing she wanted to be with her brother even more. They were everything to eachother and would always be together.

"My sister is out there and she died out there with a man who she loved very much. I wish I could of met him. I wish I could of met her and played with her like the old days. I just want to know if she was happy and had children. That would be it, that is all I ask for." Kyuzo softly lowered his eyes as he looked down and glancing back up he looked to the side away from Titania silently. To be with family the only remains of family was pretty much it for him, his sister was gone much like his parents, and the rest of his controlling family went under and lost everything. Kyuzo simply looked down before easing himself down to sit on the ground and as he sat did he pull out white paper and began folding it.

"Well I'm sure with determination and belief then you will find out. The only family I have left is my brother. The rest if my family died by the hands of their people. Sometimes, I wonder what it's like to die. I know for a fact I won't die because if natural causes but I don't want the determination to know what that's like." She started out speaking in a more reasuring voice that turned a little bit sad and then turned into a slight laugh at the end. Titania watched as Kyuzo sat in the grass so not to close to him but not very far away from him did she decided to sit in her knees. As she did, she watched him pull out a piece of paper and start doing something to it.

Kyuzo smirked to her words and he knew that she was right for he is bound to find the answers he is looking for, it would just take a little time. Perhaps, those students with his Sensei dropped off a bit of their impaitence on him while he was last time there. Kyuzo remembered how Mori had done it from long ago and was able to make a paper crane which his sister loved more than anything when she was little. Softly he showed Titania and as he did so did a wonderful smile grace over his features for it was soft and comforting.

Titania watched as the paper was folded and folded. She didn't know what he was doing. When he was done, he showed her. "It's amazing. She said as she looked at it. So, what do you call it?" Titania knew it would probably be an odd question but she hadn't seen many things. She had never paid attention to other people or was ever around them long enough to see many new things. Titania didn't know everything her brother did because unlike him she was always afraud to talk to people.

"It is a paper crane. This was my sister's favorite animal when she was little and well she liked things like this." Kyuzo looked to it as if it was some kind of wonderful treasure for the memories which came with it was enough to make him smile purely. "Nii-san! What's that?" Rinkage in a warm looking kimono and scarf pointed with gloves over her small hands, her brown hair was covered in a warm wool hat. "Nani? Oh! That is a bird. It is called a crane." Kyuzo spoke as he walked around with his sister. A store of posters caught his sister's attention for she was pointing at a wonderful drawing of a crane in a river. "Cranie?" his sister cutely replied and he laughed while nodding. "Yeah. That bird will be called cranie." Rinkage brightly smiled as she jumped up and down in a happy manner in the snow. All those thoughts were enough to bring faint tears to his eyes and he silently wiped them away.

""A crane?" she sort of whispered to herself. Kyuzo seemed to be in thought. She didn't want to interupt him or anything so she repeated to herself so she woukd remember. She kept her eyes on him because Titania tried to read people by watching their movements and learning more about them. She was basically like a scientist trying to find the solution to a problem. What made her blink was that he started to wipe his eyes. She didn't know what to do in this situation. "I'm Sorry.," This was what she said even if it waan't her fault that something happened or even if it made no scence she woukld still say it, "Well, her choice in animal is beautiful." Titania then lightly smiled at him.

Kyuzo smiled some to Titania's words and was grateful to her understanding and so he sighed to himself before looking at her. "Arigatou. If you want I can teach you how to do this. That way you can make something for your sibling. What animal do they like?" he asked this while getting small sheets of papers out from his sleeves. Kyuzo heard of the term practice makes perfect and he surely did this on his own time and now he was better at it.