*If you have not read my story, "Nakanaori", or it's first two sequels, you may not understand
everything that is happening.*

Act I: It Is Hard

     Ten months have passed since the death of the original emperor. The throne had already
seen four successors. The fourth one has finally held the rule for around nine months now. 
     A person, oblivious to her surroundings in the greater world, plays with her young child
in a good sized garden.
     "You like those, Fumi?" the woman asks.
     The infant giggles as the woman brushes a Tsutsuji flower above his nose.
     "We are going to go with Hitoshi-san on a little hike today," the woman tells her son.
"Would you like that?"
     The child laughs playfully and grabs the flower out of the woman's hands and makes a
toy out of it. The woman turns momentarily away from the child and stares up at the sky.
     "I still wish you were with me."
     She turns back to the child, picks him up, and leaves the garden heading back into a
small isolated house.
     After a little while, an older man walks into the house.
     "Hello?" the man greets. "I'm back from town."
     "Did you get all the things I asked for?" the woman from before asks.
     "Yes, I did," the man answers.
     "Thanks, Hitoshi-san."
     The man sets a bag down on a table and sits in a chair next to it. The child is crawling
along the floor by Hitoshi's feet, and he happily picks the child up and holds it above his head.
     "Look at you, you get bigger everyday," the man says to the child.
     "Doesn't he?" the woman comes out from another room and agrees.
     Hitoshi sets him down on his lap and comments, "He looks a lot like his father."
     "Yeah, I know," the woman says half depressingly. "He's just another little miracle."
     She walks over and places her hand on the child's head, "Just like his father."
     The woman turns away and starts putting the groceries that are in the bag away.
     Hitoshi says to her, "Akari, why don't you ever come to town? It would give you a
chance to meet other people and know what is going on in the world."
     "I have all the people I need right here," Akari answers as she ignores him whilst putting
the groceries away.
     "I know, but..." Hitoshi stammers. "Are you just going to stay in this place all alone?"
     Akari stops and looks at Hitoshi, "But I'm not alone."
     "For now," Hitoshi responds and Akari goes to back to work. "But what about Fumiaki?
You know he'll need some kind of a father figure growing up."
     "That's what he has you for," Akari replies brushing off the question.
     "I'm getting old," the man states. "You know that I won't always be around."
     "You're around now," Akari replies still ignoring the actual question.
     "Akari," the man says. "Akari!"
     Hitoshi sets Fumi on the ground and walks over to Akari to get to pay attention to him.
     "Listen to me, I know this has been rough on you, but there are more people out there.
More friends, more people to take care of you, and possibly someone just as special to you as
Naitsuu was."
     Akari pulls herself away, "I'm not ready."
     "It's okay," Hitoshi continues. "I just want you to consider moving on with your life. You
won't be able to stay up here away from everyone else forever. Fumiaki is going to need to leave
her to start school eventually."
     "Look, Fumi is my problem, not yours," Akari turns on the old man. "I know you think
he's going to end up a Prince of the Kintei just like his father and grandfather were, but I won't
allow it."
     Akari abruptly turns away and hurriedly finishes packing things away.
     "Just because the fates of those two weren't the happiest, does not mean things can not
be different for Fumiaki."
     "I told you, Fumi is my problem not yours."
     "He's not a problem," Hitoshi states and Akari stops for a moment. "He's a beautiful
child, the son and grandson of legendary men, who has a destiny he will not be able to escape.
One way or another he is going to face what he has already been ordained to do, but he would be
better off if he were properly taught, and if he grew up in a home that has everything he needs."
     Akari starts walking away, "But he doesn't need it now."
     Hitoshi turns to look at Fumi playing on the floor, "Young one, I pray that you will get
the best. If only your mother knew what insanity has grasped the throne this time. The world that
she wants for you will not exist as long as Tsujimoto is on the throne."

     "Don't speak to me about anything involving anyone's future, okay?"
     "Yes, ma'am."
     Akari, Hitoshi, and Fumi walk up a slightly inclined path along the side of a mountain.
     "I can't believe how many times I've been up through this mountain and there are still so
many things I have not found," Akari comments.
     "Yeah, this has a lot of interesting places for various things to hide in," Hitoshi adds.
     "But whatever I don't find, I am sure Fumi will," Akari says. "Isn't tat right, Fumi?"
     The child giggles at Akari's remarks towards him as though he understands.
     "I bet Naitsuu found almost everything on this mountain," Akari continues now with a
sad tone. "He always came up here a lot."
     "Really?" Hitoshi questions.
     "He was a man of nature," she informs. "I know he would have had the imperial palace
built again on Earth, not on that icy colony, Europa."
     "Is that why you were so willing to move back here?" Hitoshi asks.
     Akari takes a moment to think. She begins remembering her dream. The one where
Naitsuu spoke to her. Telling her to get away from the icy wastelands of Europa.
     "Maybe a little bit."
     The group continues their hike.
     "There is so much beauty out here," she states. "Why would I want to go into the city
with all this out here?"
     "The city has it's wonders too, you know," Hitoshi answers.
     "What wonders?" Akari says skeptically. "Poverty and prostitution?"
     "No."
     "You want my son to grow up in that world?"
     "I thought you didn't want to talk about anyone's future," Hitoshi catches Akari off
guard.
     "Well, now that we are on it, answer me."
     "There is more, much more," Hitoshi replies. "The boy will need some other kind of
social interaction. And the schools, at least in the less poverty-stricken areas, will be good for
him."
     "He doesn't need school," Akari retorts. "I'll teach him all he needs to know about the
world."
     "You aren't qualified to teach him everything," Hitoshi responds.
     "How are you going to convince me otherwise?" Akari asks in an unbelieving tone.
     "Come with me, just once," Hitoshi answers. "Come with me to the city and see if it is as
terrible as you thought."
     "But I don't want to."
     "For the boy then, please."
     Akari looks at her son and his questionable future, "Fine, I will go."
     "Good, now let's just focus on enjoying the rest of this trip."
     They continue walking, Akari holding on to Fumi, and they pause by a familiar area.
     "Why don't we stop and eat lunch here," Akari suggests.
     "Are you sure you are okay with it?" Hitoshi questions.
     "I am fine," Akari answers. "The Hachimonguu shrine always helps to clear your mind."
     "Well, if you say so."
     The three settle down near the shrine that no more than a year ago had been where many
memories had been created between Akari and her departed friends.
     The group finishes their meal, and soon Fumi has fallen asleep on the blanket they had
laid out. Hitoshi sits quietly, meditating, and Akari looks over the shrine.
     She says to herself, "Naitsuu and Keiji are gone, I do not know what happened to
Aritsune. The people I helped to put this shrine back together are nearly gone to me now."
     Hitoshi overhears and says, "No, they are never gone."
     Akari gives a short chuckle, "Yeah, I know how it goes. They will always be with you."
     "Isn't it true?" he asks.
     "I don't know," Akari responds. "I don't know much of anything anymore."
     "What is there that you could not know?" Hitoshi questions.
     "Everything."
     "Surely you know something."
     "I'm lost," Akari replies. "I had always had Naitsuu. Even from the youngest years. He
had known what to do, but now that he's gone..."
     Akari lifts her head up staring into the blue sky, "...I just don't know what to do
anymore."
     Tears begin to grow in her eyes. She wipes them away and continues, "Sometimes, I just
don't think I can take it. I want it to end, just anything to end. But..."
     She turns her head towards the sleeping child next to her, "...I always have to force
myself to carry on for this child. He is such a burden. I love him dearly, because he is my son,
and because he is the closest thing to having Naitsuu in my life still. But he is still something
more I must carry."
     "You don't have to be alone," Hitoshi mentions. "I mean, I have been here for you."
     "Yes, you have," she struggles through the tears. "And I am grateful for it, but these last
months have been so terrible. When a woman carries her child it should be a happy time. One
full of warm emotions and comfort. But instead I was hiding, practically alone."
     "But you were still happy when Fumiaki was born, weren't you?" Hitoshi questions.
     "Yes, very much," she states. "He has been the only light in my life as it is now. Still, I
just wish I had someone to really help me."
     They stay quiet for a short period. Suddenly Akari speaks up, "I want Naitsuu."
     Akari, on her knees, leans over sobbing into her hands. Hitoshi chooses the moment to
get up and begin packing for the hike back to their house. Once packed, He picks up Fumi and
helps the recovering Akari to her feet. She takes Fumi from him, and the three begin walking
home.