As he watched her move, he breathed slowly. She brought the boken up, in through his nose, and slashed to the left, and out through his mouth. Her feet moved across the floor of the dojo like so many butterflies over a field. As he rose from his kneeling position he fought to control his heartbeat. She spun on the ball of her foot and blocked his sudden attack. She looked up at him quizzically and he simply smiled in return, stepping back for another attack. They sparred for an hour, merely watching each other. When they were both glistening with sweat and nearly breathless, Tsukune cleared his throat in the doorway.
'How long have you been watching?' demanded Moira, sliding the wooden blade into her belt. Tsukune tilted his head raising one eyebrow. His height and stalky build standing out among those others, much shorter and thinner, whom were using the dojo to practice.
'If you did not notice, than what does it matter?' he asked. 'If you are both finished, I have a bath warmed for you.' Musashi nodded stepping up behind Moira, and placed his hand on the small of her back. As she stepped ahead, Musashi paused in the doorway to share a gentle touch with Tsukune who wrinkled his nose. 'You both smell terrible. Go to the bath, I will rejoin with you shortly.' He reached out and brushed a piece of hair out of his mate's face before departing.
Moira watched this exchange with fondness. Watching them speak volumes to each other using only their eyes always astonished her. The two men had been boys together in this dojo and grew up sharing everything. Though Musashi was high born and Tsukune was only his vassal, they were as brothers in all things. She thought back to the day they found her as she and Musashi walked to the bath house.
She was on a ship with her mother and father, who was the captain, and they were on their way back to Europe. She and her mother had traveled overland to arrive at the territory where her father was stationed but they were fraught with disaster at every junction so her mother demanded to make the return voyage with her husband and as he doted on her as much as he could, he relented despite the reprimand he could receive. Unfortunately, the sea held no more luck for them and a typhoon sent them far off course and shattered their vessel on a shallow reef. Moira remembered choking on the strangely warm ocean water and struggling to stay above the roiling surface. The rain beating down and the waves tossing her violently, she decided to lay her life in the hands of god and gave up her struggle.
When she awoke she was rocking as if on horseback. She was warm and dry but her head hurt tremendously. When she heard voices speaking a language she had never heard, she slowly opened her eyes. She was being held gently by a man who seemed from the Far East. He looked down at her and smiled saying something softly. She decided he was an angel and she was safe so she went back to sleep.
In the years that followed she learned the language, and the customs. She also learned the traditions of the man who was her master, becoming proficient in all weapons, empty handed combat, and political strategy. Yumi, the women who seemed as a mother to all of the students at the dojo, was thrilled to have a 'daughter' and taught her calligraphy, and the proper way to prepare tea and sake for her master and other traditional womanly things such as cooking, cleaning and keeping house. Moira thrived in her new life, it almost was heaven on earth. The only drawback to her new life was unfortunately for her, being a foreigner was a crime punishable by public execution so she was forced to stay secreted away on her master's estate.
'Moira,' her master's voice pulled her out of her reverie. 'Is everything alright?' She smiled away his concern and nodded, kneeling to slide open the entry to the bathhouse. Once inside they slipped of their wooden shoes and left them in the entryway. She moved over to the raised baths and pulled the cover off of one to test the temperature finding it hot and steaming, exactly what her aching muscles needed. She scooped a bucket out and placed it next to the stool Musashi had pulled out, before replacing the lid.
'Thank you for sparing with me today Master,' she said. 'Every time we cross blades I learn a new lesson.' She reached out and worked the knot of her master's obi as she spoke. He hummed in acknowledgement watching her bright red hair fall over her green eyes, obscuring her vision. She made as if to move it but he was faster, catching the lock in his fingers for a moment before he pulled it behind her ear. She glanced up to find him gazing at her intently. Her breath caught in her throat as she recognized his look. It was the same way she watched him whenever she thought he wouldn't notice, full of deep longing. She slid her hands underneath his kimono and over his shoulders letting the simple garment fall to the floor in a pile, this simple contact much more intimate than anything they had shared before. He reached out and pulled her close. As he worked on her obi she closed her eyes, laid her head on his chest and listened to his heartbeat. It was steadily picking up pace and she knew hers would soon match its rhythm. He worked the wide band loose and slipped it down over her hips.