Takumi's Gift Bride

Takumi played a large role in wiping out the rebel army that attacked the royal city. As a reward he was given the hand of Arya in marriage. Arya didn't like this, and she is in love with another man.

            Arya woke up. She turned thirteen this morning, and she dreamt of the worst day of her life. She said to herself, “This is a bad omen.”

            “Hey Jack, how are you doing today?” she asked him when she went to see him on her thirteenth birthday. 

            “Happy Birthday!  I am doing fine, how are you holding up?” 

            “I am doing good, like I have told you before, Takumi doesn’t even seem to think I exist.  But I really need to talk to you about something. Well actually I was wanting to talk to your mother, about girl things.  My mother won’t see me, but not for the reasons you think.  She is ashamed of what happened to me, and she blames herself.”

            Jack knew what was going on with her, but he knew that her mother would gladly see her for this.  “Arya, you should go see your mother, I am sure she will do something to help you!”       

            “Well, I didn’t exactly tell you the whole truth about the situation.  My father has banned her from seeing me also, and me from her.” 

            “I will go get my mother then.”

            Tria was talking with Koashi when Jack entered the room with Arya, Koashi’s eyes went big at the sight of her daughter.  Arya looked happy to see her mother, but Koashi looked nervous at the sight of her daughter.  “Hello mother, how have you been these past few years?”

            “Fine, I have missed you though.  I wish I could see you more often, but your father has forbidden me to do so. If he finds out I have seen you, he will punish me.” 

            “It is fine mother, is he suppose to meet you here? If so, I will leave.” 

            “No, he has business to attend today..” 

            “Good, because I wish to talk with you about something.  I was going to talk with Tria about it, but since you are here I wish to talk with you.” 

            “Okay, let us go into the other room.”  Her mother ushered her into the main room.

            Koashi closed the door behind her, then said, “you know how much trouble I can get in if your father catches me talking to you!” 

            “Captain Kachii will be fine with it!”  I almost told her that I knew he wasn’t my father, but then I thought better of it.

            “When your father hurts me, I cannot heal myself, even if I am the most powerful healer in the world. Isn‘t that the worst? My healing powers can heal the sickest of people, and people a breath away from death. I cannot heal myself though.” 

            “Do not worry about that mother, I will be able to heal you.” 

            Koashi looked at Arya for a moment. “You have healing powers?”  Koashi looked happy at the news that her daughter had healing powers.  Arya stayed silent for a moment, then asked her mother a few things about womanhood.  After a few hours of talking Koashi said, “I must be going now, your father is expecting me to be home soon.” 

            “Good bye mother, it was lovely talking to you.”

            Jack was sitting in the room with his mother when Koashi and Arya walked out of the room they had gone in to talk.  Jack went to Arya’s side, and said his farewell to Koashi.  Jack then grabbed Arya and hugged her tightly.  Tria said, “Oh, look at the time, I need to start dinner.”  That left Jack and Arya alone.  Jack gently kissed Arya on the lips, and she returned the kiss.

            A couple hours later, Arya was walking back to her house in he best mood she had been in since she had last seen her mother and Jack three years ago.  Takumi still didn’t acknowledge the fact that she existed, which was just fine with her.  She was halfway home when she sensed something different about today.  She could feel her body changing somehow.  

            When she got home, she knew there was something different about her.  As soon as she walked through the door, Takumi looked up at her, and lust filled his eyes.  She knew that look, because she saw it in his eyes every time he had a woman over, a look she also saw in Jack’s eyes earlier tonight.  He was alone, but she knew that wouldn’t last.  She started toward her chamber, and he stopped her.

            “You look beautiful!  I am so glad the empress decided to give you to me as a prize for my accomplishment five years ago.  Now that your older, I suppose it is time to officially make you my wife, in every way possible.” 

            She knew what he was talking about, and thankfully she also found out that her uncle threatened him, so he would not touch her in any way.  She looked at him then said, “Well, it’s about time you realize I exist!  A little too late I suppose, because I am not an innocent little girl anymore.  However, you are not to touch me at all.  I know what my uncle said, and trust me, I have no problem at all telling him anything about what goes on in my life. Or perhaps I will take things into my own hands.” 

            “But you are my wife, and I should treat you so.”  he came a little closer.

            “Listen Takumi, things will happen the way I want them to.  Either you do things my way, or I tell my uncle to punish you.”  Arya said with a little bit of ice in her voice.

            “Fine, I will do things your way. I will soon take care of your uncle, then I can do what I want with you.”

            “Going after the family of the empress now are we? I wish you luck with that, not only is he more powerful than you could ever dream to be. He is also the loved brother of your leader.”

            The next day, Arya went to visit her uncle since he was in town.  “Hello Arya, it is so good to see my favorite niece!  Has your husband been behaving himself?” 

            “He has not touched me at all, actually, until yesterday it was like he thought I didn’t exist. Kind of strange though, a husband not wanting to go near his wife.” 

            “What happened yesterday?” 

            “Well, it all started on my way home from Jack’s house.  I felt something change in me, and when I got home he noticed me.  He wanted to take me to bed, I could see it in his eyes, but I threatened him with you.” 

            “Did you now?  You know what, you are a lot like me in many ways.” 

            “More than you know uncle.  I have something serious to ask you. And I want the truth.”

            “Okay, I will do my best to answer your questions.” 

            “Just one question really.  Did you and my mother ever have a relationship?”  The look in his eyes told her all she needed to know.  He almost choked on his ale.

            “Arya, I do not see how that is important.” 

            “Well, I believe that you are actually my father and not my uncle.  Isn’t it the law of nature that a child gets their parents magical abilities?” 

            “Yes, that is how the law usually works, but it failed on you.” 

            “Will you promise not to tell Kachii what I am about to tell you?” 

            “I promise not to tell my brother anything. So if you please my dear.” 

            “Well, I do have power. But I have chosen not to tell him.  This is why I believe that you are my father.  I have lightning magic along with healing powers.  I have gotten quite good at my magic abilities, but I need someone to train me. You are the only lightning magic user that I trust. So would you please help me out a little?” 

            “You really have my kind of magic?  If you do I will train you as much as I can.  I am afraid that what I originally thought when you were born is true.  My belief is that I am your father, and always have been. Personally, I am very glad that you did not tell your father about this.  Do you want to start your training now?” 

            “Yes, I would love to start my training. And I think he already knows deep down. That is why he has never treated me with love.” 

            “Okay, show me what you can do so far.”  She showed him some of the magical things she has been able to teach herself.  “You have been practicing a lot haven’t you?” 

            “I have been practicing since I was four years old.”

            “How have you managed to keep this a secret so long?” 

            “You know I have always been advanced for my age, I have also been much smarter than I let on.  Even at the age of four I knew not to tell my father because of reasons I had yet to comprehend.  Anyways, shall we get on with the training?” 

            “Yes, we should. And I have am so proud that you have blue lightning like me.”  They trained for hours, and by the time she started toward home, it was dark.  She decided to head the other way, toward Jack’s house instead of her own.

            Jack was about to go to bed when there was a knock on the door.  He opened the door to Arya. “What are you doing here?  You should be at home, it is dark outside.”

            “I know, I just wanted to see you is all.”

            “Come in, you can stay the night here if you want to.  You look different tonight, what is it that’s different about you?” 

            “I have a lot to tell you,” she said as she walked past him to the fireplace.  “First thing I have to tell you is that I found out who my real father is.  You can’t tell anyone anything that I tell you tonight!  Promise me that you won’t.” 

            “I will not tell a single soul, you have my word.”  She kissed him on the cheek. 

            “As it turns out, Kachii is not my father, Trys is.  Didn’t you ever wonder where I got my blue lightning from?” 

            “Yes, but I thought that maybe the law of nature didn’t apply to you, since you’re the granddaughter of a powerful ancient god and goddess.” 

            “The law still applies, anyway, I talked to him about it today.  He confirmed that he is my father, and he trained me a little with my lightning magic.  So, how are your ice powers?” 

            “They are getting better day by day.  It would be better to have my father here to train me, but he is off somewhere fighting against the empire.” 

            “Well, what shall we do now?” 

            “Well, seeing how you can’t go home now because it is dark, how about some dinner here?  Won’t your husband miss you?” 

            “No, he probably has some woman over and doesn’t even notice I am not there.” 

            “Are you serious?”  Jack said while looking amused.

            “Yes, he doesn’t even realize I exist, so not coming home will not matter anymore.  Plus he is not allowed to touch me, or my uncle Trys, actually I should call him my father, will kill him.” 

            “Am I allowed to touch you?” he winked at her. 

            “Yes you are, but Trys still might not like it.”  Jack got up and walked to the kitchen.

             “What would you like to eat my love?” 

            “I would love some rice and chicken.” 

            “Rice and chicken it is then.”  After they finished their meal, they sat by the fire and fell asleep on the floor after a while.

            The next morning she woke up and Jack was gone.  She looked outside and realized it was almost noon.  She had agreed to meet her uncle at noon to train some more.  She left for the meeting place they had chosen, and ran into her father in the middle of town.  “Hello father, it is nice to see you after all this time.” 

            “I just spoke to your husband, you didn’t return home last night.  You know what can happen if your aunt finds out. Even worse than any punishment your husband or I could come up with.”

            “I know very well the laws of the place.  I do not have to explain myself to you Captain Kachii. If you will excuse me, I have someplace to be now.”  She started to leave, but he grabbed her arm. 

            “Where were you last night?” 

            “I was at one of my friends houses.  We were doing crafts, and by the time we were done, it was dark.  You know the law about a woman being out after dark.  I stayed the night there, I was going to explain all this to my husband when I got home.” 

            “I also found out you spoke to your mother.” 

            “What did you do to my mother?”  she could feel the magic surging through her veins. She had to concentrate to keep the magic at bay.

            “Nothing she can’t heal.” 

            Arya almost used her lightning magic on her father, but decided against it.  “I would like to see my mother more often.  I need her help.” 

            “You can find that out from your friends.  You are no longer part of her life.”  He seemed really angry for some reason. 

            “Why are you so against me seeing my own mother?  I need her to train me, I have inherited her healing powers.  I have known this for eight years now.”  He looked even more infuriated.

            “You have known you have power for eight years now, and just now tell me about it?” His face had gotten even redder by this point.

             “Yes well, I wanted to be a powerful healer by the time I told you about it.  I always wanted you to be proud of me, and I thought that if I told you after I became powerful, you would be really proud of me.” 

            “I guess I can’t scorn you for that, but it is still wrong of you to keep these things from your own father.  Do you have any signs of water magic?  You can see your mother, but only to train in the healing power.” 

            “No, and if you do not mind, I would like to get home now.” 

            “Yes, go home to your husband and apologize for your adolescent behavior.” 

            “Okay, but I just hope you know that I am still a child.  Good day father.”

            Trys had been waiting for nearly an hour before Arya showed up.  When she did, she looked somewhat angry.  “What took you so long Arya?” 

            “I slept away from my home last night, and I ran into my father on my way to meet you.  He wanted to talk.” 

            “Okay, so lets get to your training then.”  They trained all day, and when they headed for town, it was dark.

            “Will you walk me home uncle Trys?” 

            “Yes, I would not leave you to walk alone. It is dark and you could be imprisoned for it. You know, I am very lucky to have you as a daughter.” 

            When they got to her house, Arya noticed her father was there.  Fortunately Trys noticed too, so he walked Arya inside.  “Thank you for spending the day with me Arya, I enjoyed our talk about floral arrangements for the palace dining room.”  He looked at his brother, “Oh Kachii, how are you on this fine day?” 

            “No time for small chat, Arya was suppose to return home to her husband after our talk in the courtyard.” 

            “I am sorry dear brother, that was my fault.  I saw her walking alone and walked around with her all day.  We had some very lovely discussions about random things about the palace.  Well I need to get home now, I will see you later.”  Arya went back to her chamber.

            Takumi followed her down the hallway into her chamber.  “Where were you last night?” he asked her. 

            “Wow, you noticed I was gone did you?  I was at a friends house.  Now I would like to get to bed, it has been a long day, and I am exhausted.” 

            “I am not leaving this room tonight.” 

            “Very well, I will leave this chamber then.”  She walked back out into the main room, and her father was still sitting there.  Takumi followed and hit her on the face.  He cut open her jaw, but them her jaw healed itself.  He stood there amazed, and so did her father.  “How dare you hit me!  You deserve to die for that!” 

            Just then, Trys walked back into the house.  “I dropped my knife on the floor, sorry to intrude, but if you do not mind, what am I intruding on?” 

            Arya glanced at her father, then back at her uncle.  “Well, Uncle Trys, you missed Takumi hitting me.”  Pure hatred now formed on his face as he looked at Takumi.  Takumi cowered in fear.

            “What did I tell you about touching my niece?  You are going to pay for your actions.”  He shot Takumi with a blaze of lightning.  Takumi was knocked out, and Kachii did nothing to stop his brother.