Moonlight

In the following days the piece and quiet slowly returned to the castle. Most of the villagers had returned home. Only a few were left. The families whose house were destroyed during the occupation were allowed to stay in the castle while their houses were being repaired. The castle itself regained her old charm. There were no longer too many people with too little space. The gardens were gardens again. The only proof of the hundreds of people living in the castle were some brown and barren sport on the lawns. Nobunaga ordered to continue to strengthen the castle wall. Something most of the people in the castle were occupied with at the moment. It had taken the maids a few days to properly clean Harumi's quarters and to return all her furniture and stuff so she had to use Nobunaga's room for the time being. Not that she had minded that. Secretly she found it very pleasant and reassuring to sleep next to him. She had missed him for almost a whole month. She was happy that he was back. She was even happier when Nobunaga told her that she would get a more active role in governing the castle. She would become one of Nobunaga's advisors. Since she didn't have an office in her own quarters some of the staff had put a special desk for her in Nobunaga's office so they could work alongside each other. Although all the war planning and stuff had been very stressful, looking back at it Harumi also liked some aspects of it. Like the planning and option analyzing. Plus, literally everything was better than flower arranging or embroidery every day. She had been scared that she would just be tossed aside and didn't get to do something meaningful. Luckily Nobunaga had seen her merit and had taken action to give Harumi a more noble task.

Harumi and Nobunaga both leaned against opposite sides of the door frame in Harumi's main quarters looking out over the garden. Nobunaga had come over to play Go but the board lay between them untouched. Nobunaga was drinking some sake while Harumi sipped from her cup filled with tea. They looked out over the sereen garden shrouded in twilight. The moon had just come into view over the tops of the trees surrounding the castle. Literally everything in this era was completely different than the 21st century. Only the moon was still the same. When Harumi was still in her own time he sometimes imagined to be transported to another era and wondered what kind of things she would miss the most. Her smartphone, internet, TV, computers, trains and such were always in the top of her lists. Now that she was actually transported to another century she noticed that she hardly missed those things. The things she missed most were the things she had always taken for granted like running water, that a boiler heats for you, plumbing, lights that run on electricity, sneakers and some small things that made her life so easy in her own era. But the one thing she missed the most and would give everything in the world for was her family and friends. Would her parents be looking at this same moon at the moment and think about her? Would they miss her? Would they still be searching for her?

In the last couple of moths whenever Harumi started to thing about her family she shoved the feelings down. She didn't want to feel it because she was afraid that she would just collapse under all the grief.

"Nohime, what's wrong?" Nobunaga asked in a concerned tone. Harumi hadn't even noticed that she had started crying.

"Oh no nothing." She said in a meekly voice while she tried to rub her face dry. Unfortunately to no avail, her tears didn't stop.

"I'te not nothing." Nobunaga said while he gently grabbed her and pulled her towards him. When Harumi was close enough he protectively closed his arms around her. Harumi grasped his kimono while her forehead rested against his broad chest while she cried. Nobunaga let her cry while he slowly caressed her back. After a while Harumi finally calmed down a bit. She let go of Nobunaga's kimono and looked up to his face. He looked at her with a pained expression. Nobunaga left like the last minutes had been the most painful moments of his life. Breaking every bone in his body hundred times over wouldn't nearly be as painful as the immense grief and sadness he left at that moment. The cries of his wife sounded like something that pained her so much and how hard he would try, he could never take that pain away from her. He looked down at her wet face. She was truly the most beautiful woman he had ever seen in his life. Slowly he moved one arm from her back to her face and cupped her cheek. With his rough and manly fingers he wiped the last tears away while Harumi studied his face from up close. Nobunaga was so handsome. At first glance he looked very manly and mighty. Up close Harumi could see that his face was actually really pretty and all the features complimented each other to give him an angel like face. His eyes had this beautiful dark hazel colour with specs of gold in them. How could it be that she had never noticed this before? True, she had never been this close to Nobunaga's face and had never really payed any attention to it. From the first moment she had seen him she had thought that he was very beautiful but now that she was so close to him she left like there was a whole new world of beauty opening up for her.

Harumi felt like time had stopped moving. She was drowning in the beautiful eyes before her. Her mind went completely blank while Nobunaga held her in a protective embrace. She felt as if her body had become a feather, swooped up by the lightest gush of air, taking her high up in the skies above the clouds. Nobunaga's eyes became bigger and bigger. Before she knew it their noses lightly brushed against each others and a moment later she felt his warm and soft lips against hers. His chin felt slightly rough against her soft cheeks what caused her get lost in the moment. Her body naturally responded to his. She closed her eyes and cupped one of his cheeks. Her mind slowly drifted away. She had never felt this feeling before. She felt like her whole life had been leading up to this moment and every moment for the rest of her life would never be this beautiful and perfect ever again. Then, as if her brain tried to free her from her trance, images of her family popped in her head. She could not have these kinds of feelings towards Nobunaga! One way or another she had to get back to her own time and with getting close to him it would only make things difficult for her and Nobunaga. In a flash she opened her eyes and pushed him away.

Harumi had pushed him with more strength than she had ment to and since he wasn't expecting it Nobunaga hit his head hard against the door frame.

"What was that?" He asked annoyed while he rubbed the back of his head. Harumi had slightly moved away from him and covered her mouth while her face was a deep Burgundy red.

"We shouldn't have done that." She whispered trough her fingers.

"Why not?" Nobunaga asked irritated. "We are husband and wife, or am I wrong?"

"No, your right, but..." Harumi tried to explain herself but she had no idea how.

"I have been very patient with you and have respected you. Since we got married I haven't laid with another woman." Nobunaga continued. "I am a healthy man and need to relieve myself but out of respect for you I've withheld myself from making advances towards you or other women."

"Thank you, but we just can't" Harumi said in a small voice, to ashamed to look Nobunaga in the eye.

"I could just take you right here and now if I so pleases." Nobunaga said while he got angrier. He pushed Harumi down and hovered over her. She tried to push him away but Nobunaga was a thousand times stronger than her. He kissed her neck while he pulled on the neckline of her kimono in the hopes of opening her dress.

"No, let go of me!" Harumi yelled while she tried to push him away with all her might. She wiggled under him in the hopes of getting away from him. Images flashed trough her head from the time Nobunaga had taken her with him to the battle field and her virginity was almost taken by an enemy soldier. She screamed hysterical and punched him even harder while she started to cry again. In an instant Nobunaga ceased his advances and looked at her with concern. His long hair cascaded down his face making a curtain around both their heads. Still crying Harumi shoved him again. This time he gave in and sat up straight. Harumi directly moved away from him while restoring the neckline of her kimono again. Although she was crying, the big difference between this incident and the battlefield was that then she was scared, now she was just mad.

"On our first night you said you would never touch me." She snarled at him. Nobunaga looked at her defeated.

"I think I should go for now." He said apologetic.

"Yes, I think you should!" Harumi said angrily while her eyes stared daggers at him. Like a puppy who just got beaten Nobunaga went to his feet and left Harumi's quarters.