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Actions change our course, influence our futures, but intentions define us, empower us. Without intent, we are nothing.
A single tear escaped her closed eyes and slipped down her cheek. He didn’t love her enough for his soul to be forever changed, but she was afraid her soul had already been rewritten in his flames.
“Whatever you ask of me.” He drew her closer and captured her hand in his, lifting it. Eyes lowered, he pressed his lips to her knuckles. “Whatever you desire, whatever you need. Command me, little miko.”
She saw the man who had chained her heart in bonds she couldn’t escape, who had awoken passion in her she’d never felt before, who had nurtured strength she hadn’t known she possessed. She needed him. She couldn’t bear the thought of losing him.
His eyes burned through her. “You won’t lose me, Emi.”
“Shiro …” His eyes turned to hers, sorrow and longing twining in their depths. “I don’t want to lose this. You are my fire, Emi. You are my warmth. Before you, the flames within me were cold as ice.”
“He is my other half,” Uzume replied simply. “He completes me. To tire of him would be to tire of life itself.”
“Purity is born of pure intent, of faith and confidence in one’s choices. When one acts with conviction, his ki will be pure and powerful, and that, kamigakari, is the source of all strength.”
To find true makoto no kokoro, you don’t need to be in harmony with a kami. You need to be in harmony with yourself.
“That I’ve never been as absolutely certain about anything as I am about loving you.”
“Now that I’ve finally found you, why must I lose you?” His torment cut through her, rending her heart. “Every instinct I possess demands that I protect you, that I save you. But I can’t. I can’t stop this.”
“I wish I could live forever so I would never have to leave you. I wish we could spend a thousand years on that beach without a single worry about anything.” She touched his face, turning his gaze back to hers. “If I am your fire, then you are my light.”
“Emi.” Her name was half moan, half growl. He leaned down again, bracing himself on his elbows on either side of her head. His mouth caught hers again, hungry and edged with desperation. “Will you … Emi, will you give yourself to me?”
“I would have kept you forever, little miko.” His words were soft, almost soundless. “I would have taken you with me wherever the tides of time carried us, and I would have loved you until the very end.”
