Kushiami was unaware of how long she may have tarried in that ever-foreboding darkness, dead but alive at the same, caught between the brink of the living and the departed. In the void of black, she could hear the whispers of the spirits calling to her from their harrowed tombs, lulling her unto her own final resting place, yet she resisted their charming melodies of hereafter and rebuked the final embrace of death, but it was a struggle. The wraiths, they latched onto her ankles and tugged her forward to their realm, the stench of carrion rotting upon a barren field choking Asuka and tainting the air heavy with death. [i]"Leave me be, spirits of the lost, that you must!"[/i] She called to the aberrations ferrying her to her end in desperation. [i]My time to depart is naught! I must return home, indeed I should!"[/i] Were they deaf? Did they not hear her pleas? Could the dead not understand the strife of the living, having once dwelled in their world? Still they carried Asuka through the darkness, forbidding to let go until....something chased them away, a light, brighter than the sun, the stars, and the moon in the heavens above, so...welcoming to the fallen ronin, as if the light embraced her in warmth. There was a presence within the gleaming warmth which Asuka could feel looming close to her, its comforting hand resting upon the samurai's head as it whispered, [i]"Your time has not come yet, samurai. Return to the living, for your companions need you....."[/i]

Suddenly, the light grew brighter, but something felt off, a familiar pain had returned to Asuka's abdomen, sharp, but not as agonizing as before. Her eyes fluttered open softly, and she looked forward to behold....Hanami had healed her. "Mi....Miko-dono....." Her voice was hoarse and quiet, the small stings of her wounds jarring her a little. "You've saved me....that you have......I thank thee with much.....gratitude...." Death would've had her had it not been for this maiden. Asuka owed everything to Hanami. Her head fell to the side, her vision blurry for a moment but slowly refocusing. There was someone else lying next to her. [i]Hime-dono![/i] Was she hurt? It didn't look so, scratches merely compared to Asuka's wounds, but the samurai was indeed worried for the Princess' well-being. But if Hanami could heal such a turmoil as Asuka had endured, then surely the Princess was in safe hands. Asuka merely returned her gaze to the sky, noticing how a canopy of green seemed to have appeared. Were they not in Kyoto anymore?