The Reality of Love

Copyright 2021 by Kat Thomas

All rights reserved.

Cover design by Canva Kat Thomas

Book design by Kat Thomas

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This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Due to many thefts of online work This copyright notice will be there on every online posting from now on. I will also say I will take action on any person or company who posts my work without permission.

She stood in the hall as Nobunaga had made his announcement. She was in shock, disbelief, and every other emotion rolled through her. They all accepted their fates with barely anything. The five men stood there and looked at him with a nod, and then they were on their ways. She hurt. Everything hurt in that moment.

She watched as his flickered her way for a second and then steadied themselves back on Nobunaga. She saw his acceptance of the ruling. It was, after all, exactly what he had expected in life. They all had. This wasn’t how it was supposed to be. Her heart was breaking, and there was nothing she could do about it.

“Problem fireball?” Nobunaga asked as she also headed out of the room.

“I hate you.” Was all she could ground out and she went off to her rooms. She packed a small bag of the things she would need. She waited till it was dark and then slipped out of the castle doors. The path was lit by the moon, and soon she was past the front gates. It would take a few days to walk to Honno Ji, but she would do it.

Sasuke had been keeping her informed of the next wormhole, but she had been working on it too. Though her math was wrong, she was close to figuring something out when she noticed a small pattern. Tiny tears appeared all the time from the wormhole. All she had to do was wait for one of them, and she could slip through and leave this hell and return home.

She walked on and on remembering things she didn’t want too. Two weeks ago, amidst everything going on, she had confessed to him, she loved him. He had reciprocated the feelings, and they had spent their nights together since that fateful day. He didn’t fight for her when the announcement had been made. He nodded and moved on. How was she supposed to get over that? She had fallen in love with a man who had to do what he was told and marrying her was out of the question. She wouldn’t be his concubine; they both knew that. She wanted to be home. To forget and move on. The next real wormhole would happen in a few months Sasuke had warned after they missed the first one right after they had arrived here. She knew the next tear should happen this week though. That was where she was headed. She would slip the tear and go home. She had no reason to stay any longer. He was going to be someone else’s husband and lover. Silently she sent a prayer that he could find happiness into the world and continued in her way.

The third day of walking, she was tired but still continued she remembered the way from when Masamune had brought her to Azuchi. She knew she was headed in the right direction. She was surprised though no one had come for her. She was not that surprised that she wasn’t missed too much. It wasn’t like she was important here. She was nothing more than a toy to amuse them. It stung. She would miss them until her dying day, and they hadn’t even noticed she was gone from the castle. The tears fell down over her cheeks without her, even realizing they were pouring out of her. She wanted to be home.

The days were long, but out of the tree-line, she saw the temple appear. It was the day she knew the tear would appear, and she could be home again. She wanted nothing more than to sit and cry in her small apartment and then continue on like this was nothing more than a bad dream. She sat on the edge of the forest and waited.

She heard the hoofbeats before she could see the horses. There were a few. She wondered if it was another attack on the temple, but she saw the men on the horses dressed in their amour. They had come for her. They did notice she was missing. She looked and saw his white hair blowing in the breeze, and her heart soared for a second. She heard the crack from the sky as he turned and locked eyes with her as if he knew where she had been the entire time. He looked away for second and back to Nobunaga, who was also with the men on horseback.

The second crack came. She knew the time was coming quickly. She forced herself to stand and look around for the sign of where it would open up. They all looked at her as she saw the shift in the reality she was in. The men waved, but she walked in another direction. They began to move closer to her as she turned with tears in her eyes as she saw the five women standing with the horses. Their wives. It had already happened. The tears streamed down her face as she heard him yell out to her, “Don’t! I love you, princess.”

The first real confession of love from him the last words she would hear from him as well. She knew the third crack was coming. She felt it. She turned and looked at them as they stopped for a second in their running towards her, and she took another step, and the tiny tear appeared. She looked back, “I love you too.”

She stepped into the tear, and blackness took over again.

The feeling of weightlessness was there, and it seemed as if peace surrounded her for a few moments in the vast bleakness she knew was coming. This time she held her eyes open, and she knew there was nothing around her. Nothing at all. She could feel the mist surrounding her, and she knew she would be home soon. The feeling was that of pain and happiness. She could move on. She would never forget him. She couldn’t. He had stolen her heart with his teasing ways. The kindness he only seemed to have for her. The simple life they could have had together would always be a dream. The pain in her heart would fade; she knew already. It was better this way. She would let him go so he could do what he had to, to serve his lord. Love be damned. Duty would always be his first goal.

She knew it had to be this way. She knew life would never be the same as she would be forced to follow in their footsteps. Nobunaga would order her marriage as well, sooner or later. They would both be married to other people. They would have to watch each other be that way. Love be damned it wasn’t meant to be. Fate had other things in store for them. She hated fate. It wasn’t like she was supposed to be here in the first place. Five hundred years before her birth, and she was finally going home. She was happy to be on her way, she would deal with the rest later.

Maybe she could find love again. Someone who could love her for who and what she was. Not being a pawn. She was being to feel the tug back to a solid world again. It would be soon over. A dream and nothing more than that. He would reside in her memory forever.

Life was going to be back to normal. She saw the opening in the tear. It was small. She moved closer to it, and then she could feel everything again. It had seemed quicker this time than the one before. She smiled as she was getting used to the idea she was becoming a seasoned time traveler. The hole was still there, and she was going to pass through it. She looked and found herself not near the ground but higher in the sky. She hoped this was not going to be the end. As she passed through the crack, she noticed the lack of lights again. She shook her head, not knowing where she was as she knew she was falling. As she plummeted towards the ground at full speed, she knew impact was coming, but she was confused as she went back to look around. She was not by the temple. She was in a forest that she didn’t know. She looked around again as she hit the water. A lake, she thought. She was able to swim towards the edge even in the darkness with the moonlight guiding her way.

She pulled herself out with her bag, still attached and looked around. This was not familiar to her, but someone would tell her where she was.

She didn’t see the man standing near a corpse of trees. He had watched with wide eyes as she fell from the sky into the lake. He silently approached her as she looked around.

“Welcome to Sakamoto.” He said softly.

She whipped around to look at the man who had said that. She was in shock. She looked at him and knew exactly who it was. She hadn’t gone anywhere. “You!” Was the only words that came out before she collapsed from everything. The pain took over, the tiredness took over, the confusion as well. She hit the dirt before him before he could react.

“Come, my dear, you know who I am, but I am afraid I have no idea who you are.” He said as he hauled her into his arms and carried her back to the castle. He somehow knew everything had changed, and his world just became much more interesting.