THE PROBLEM WITH MIXING TIMELINES [CLOSED]

[wavesoakedlegs]

WHO: Akechi Mitsuhide (wavesoakedlegs) & Gracia (kagayakashi)
WHAT: A lonely daughter finds her long-lost father in a mixed-up world... except he's not quite the right one.
WHERE: A wet and windy Yamazaki (with your usual random lava pools and such).
WARNING(S): There is a serious lack of happy within? 8'D

~

[Somehow, he was back at the foot of the mountain. The same mountain where Hideyoshi had won the land, and Lord Motochika had died.]

[Mitsuhide pulled his cloak rightly around him and stared down the slopes. It was currently rather quiet, save for the sound of the wind blowing the trees and the rain hitting the ground. He knew better than to believe it would remain that way. Already the former samurai had been forced to fight several groups of the strange snake-demons that had appeared when everything changed, and there were bound to be more. A lot more. They had looked to him to be scouting parties, which could only mean that somewhere out there was an army.]

[Alone, he would surely perish if he got caught by them. Mitsuhide was one man, and a rather broken one at that; there was nobody to turn to right now, either. Those who were once his allies now saw him as the enemy, the traitor who had killed their Lord.]

[He turned about, and retreated to a small cave in the mountainside. A temporary place in which he could escape the rain, get some rest and think about his next move.]

Comments

[kagayakashi]

[ His words are all too real and all too painful. The blow pulls her away from him and against the damp cave wall. The cut is swift and out of the blue, cutting her heart open, leaving her vulnerable. Gracia's breathing becomes difficult to sustain, given his reply. Her vision is hazy. Her head is spinning. Her mouth feels dry. Could it be that she was mistaken? That he was telling her the truth? Perhaps this twisted, chaotic world was playing a trick on her? Showing her a man who, on every aspect imaginable, was just like her Father, but in reality, was not? ]

Tenkai...

[ Her tears fall unrestrained. She tries to regain her composure, but honestly speaking, she didn't care for such things right now. Her hands cover her face as she sobs. It becomes clear that despite her effort to accept him as he has presented himself to be, she cannot because her heart is set in the right place. This man - he was Akechi Mitsuhide. He was her Father. There was no mistaking that gut feeling. ]

[ When she speaks again, her disjointed words are muffled against her palms and come out like an incoherent babble. ]

No. No, no no! Father is Father, there is no one, no Tenkai, nobody else but you! [ She rubs at her eyes, and when she looks at him again, her tearful gaze is filled with such pain... ] I'm your daughter, I really am. What kind of magic is making you forget me? Why are you saying these things, I - I'm Gracia! I'm your Tama. [ She shakes her head violently. ] Please, Father, I -

[ It doesn't make any sense. How could it be? She'd have a better time believing the idea of a Father from a different time if she wasn't so convinced that this Mitsuhide was the same one she arrived with in the first place. For indeed, the last memory of her Japan was that she was with Motochika and Mitsuhide. So what happened? Why now, why this facade? ]

[ Her tears have yet to cease when she begins speaking again. ] We were at Yamazaki. Do you remember that? It - it was raining, then. Back home, you had just told me that you trusted me...! Trusted my strength, enough to give me a plan that would help you win against the enemy! And we were going to win! You, me, and Motochika! We would finally make your dream for peace a reality! Father...

[ She inhales deeply yet shakily. ]

Don't you see? I'm...I'm really -

[ Gracia whispers. ]

Take it back. That I'm not your daughter. Please...

[ She can't bear to hear it from him again. She'd rather die than to hear him say she didn't belong to him. To be alone in a dark world such a this was one thing, but to be alone because Mitsuhide refused her, was something entirely different that Gracia would prefer not to think about. ]

[wavesoakedlegs]

[For one long moment, Mitsuhide stares. His mouth opens and closes again; he inhales, exhales... and then sinks to the floor, back finding the cave wall. The hand he has clasping the torch is very obviously shaking.]

[The samurai remembers Yamazaki very clearly, though certain things stick out more than others. Rain, yes, and mud. The cries of the enemy at the defeat of Motochika. Blood on Motochika's clothing, blood on Mitsuhide's hands as he kneeled at his friend's side and took him into his arms, willing him to survive. That will failing him, unable to give life back to the dead.]

[The tossing aside of his own name and title.]

I lost that battle. Hideyoshi won. He...

[Mitsuhide bites his lip briefly, and looks up at Gracia.]

Kuroda Kanbei's attack stopped Lord Motochika. It... it ended up silencing him. I couldn't bear to go on without him at my side.

[His gaze drops. For a long, long moment, Mitsuhide is silent, lost in thought. This is too much to take in all at once. Too many emotions fill his chest; they make it hard to breath evenly. When he finally finds his voice again, it is quiet; barely more than a whisper.]

You speak of a world I do not know. I am sorry, I am more sorry than you can know, but I am not the same man who raised you. I don't understand what is going on here, my Lady, nor can I possibly guess at what kind of magic is causing everything.

[Mitsuhide's eyes close.]

Forgive me... right now, I do not know what to do.