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Summer was approaching and that meant the heat was coming. There was one place you wanted to go before it got too hot to comfortably travel. You had planned it out weeks ago through letters with leyasu and he begrudgingly agreed to help.
It was time to bring your secret project to Nobunaga's attention. He had just placed down his brush on his lacquered desk after writing a missive to his southern allies.
"Nobunaga, have you finished work?" you walked up to him hopefully as a vassal came into the room to collect the missive. The vassal left and Nobunaga turned to you, his eyes softening.
"Just now" he replied. At his answer, you sidled up next to him and sat down. He showed his classic smirk. "I know that look, what do you need?". Your mouth slightly opened in offense.
You playfully hit his arm. "You make it sound like I'm always asking for something" your voice went higher as you aired out your grievances. He chuckled at your pout before pulling you onto his lap, leaning in and delivering a kiss to your soft lips with a satisfying smack. You gasped but he trailed his palm sensually down the path of your spine.
You pulled back with a start and narrowed your eyes at him. "Wait, don't distract me" you told him. "I want to ask you something" you stated confidently
"Go ahead then" he suggested while removing his hand from your back and tenderly taking your hand into his own.
You took a deep breath before broaching the trip you wanted to take. "There's somewhere I want to take you, but we'll be gone for at least two weeks so if you are busy and can't spare any time to go then that's okay".
Nobunaga brought his hand to his chin and thought for a moment as you fidgeted with trepidation. He used that same hand to then cup your cheek, gently caressing with his thumb.
“I can tell this means a lot to you. My schedule is full for the next week but after that, I'm all yours. That monkey can see to the rest” Nobunaga asserted before dragging his thumb down to your mouth to tease your lips, in which you let out an ardent sigh.
Remembering your objective, you snapped back to reality. “Will that be okay though?” You questioned unsurely not wanting to completely get your hopes up.
“I already gave my assent. Only a fool would voice their disagreement” he commanded. As much as you loved his lordly tone, in private moments like this, it always made you giggle.
“Thank you” you tipped your head and blessed him with a grateful cheek kiss. You lent back and looked him in the eye, he was watching you. “Oh, I forgot to say, I'm keeping the location a secret” you admitted excitedly.
“Only my woman would be bold enough to keep things from me” he smiled dangerously and you could clearly see the heat in his carmine eyes. His hands then gripped your waist in impatience. “Now, enough of this. I've waited as you asked, now let me show you what happens when you order a devil to wait” his breath felt feverish on your skin.
With a shiver of anticipation, you nodded your consent. He then lunged for your lips, his patience long fried. Never letting go, he pulled you up and led you to your prepared futon before pushing you down onto its plush sheets, cushioning your fall with his hands prior to letting his lips wander across your neck.
A week went by and just as Nobunaga promised, yiu set off to your mystery destination, if only a mystery to Nobunaga. Hideyoshi had seen you both off and vowed to protect Azuchi with his life and limbs.
You had already been travelling for one day, when Nobunaga voiced his findings. “This is the route to Edo” he declared. You breathed out a disappointing sigh, not wanting him to figure it out so soon. Adjusting your grip on the reins of Nobunaga's favourite steed, you cocked your head to the side to look at Nobunaga who was resting his head on your shoulder.
“You're correct but that isn't our final destination” you chuckled, glad it was still somewhat a secret. Nobunaga had seemed pleased with himself but now he widened his eyes.
“We should stop at that inn to rest the horse and you need rest as well for expertly directing us” he suggested while pointing a calloused finger to the thatched roofed building uphead, loudly advertising their establishment with a huge sign.
“Thanks. That is a good idea” you agreed, glad that he didn't pry you for information on where else you could possibly be taking him. Urging the horse into a canter, you couldn't help but smile widely with excitement, imagining yourself already there at the location with Nobunaga.
After four days of nonstop chatter, affectionate kisses and not so innocent touches, your horse trotted into the beginnings of the town which surrounded Edo castle. A few townspeople whispered to each other upon recognising Nobunaga.
Nobunaga ignored the mix of nervous and shocked eyes and instead spoke to you. “We are staying with Ieyasu?” he inquired with a confession expression.
“For the time being” you answered, manoeuvring through the streets. “It was actually Ieyasu who suggested it but then he tried to pretend he never said anything, you know how he is” you laughed thinking about your friend's contrarianism.
“When did you have the opportunity to communicate with Ieyasu?” he asked intriguingly as the castle gate came into view in the distance.
"I sent him a letter asking for directions tips. My original route had us going around multiple mountains which would have taken longer, until leyasu proposed what he did" you confessed to your secret correspondences.
"You did all this right under my nose, not many can do that. I commend you" Nobunaga praised before wrapping his arms around your waist, pressing a smooch to the side of your neck.
Leaning in to his sweet attention to your neck, you grinned proudly at finally keeping a secret from your lover. Your horse then stopped in front of the main gate, two young vassals rushed to open it to allow you both entry.
Ieyasu was waiting at the entrance of the castle to greet you both. "Welcome. I hope I don't get a headache from agreeing to this" leyasu complained and feigned rubbing his temple.
You smiled sheepishly at leyasu as Nobunaga dismounted and held his hand out for you. "The castle town seems lively. Well done" he expressed. leyasu instructed a few vassals to collect your belongings and deliver them to your rooms.
"I don't need praise, my full agenda has yet to come to fruition but thanks" leyasu said, his frown lessening. "A banquet is being held tonight in your honour, though I thoroughly understand if you want to rest after your arduous journey. I'll go ahead and cancel it" he explained hopefully.
It was obvious leyasu wasn't keen on attending and was just following formality. One look at Nobunaga's eyes and you could tell he wanted to tease leyasu and you weren't going to deny him anything on this trip. Looking back to leyasu, you opened your mouth to say "Thanks for having us, we'll be there" which was immediately met with a subdued groan from leyasu.
You rested in your room with Nobunaga before the banquet. It was an entertaining night primarily due to Masamune who it turns out had surprised leyasu with a visit days ago much to the latter's chagrin. After an exhausting long journey, you fell into bed upon your return from the banquet and slept heavily within Nobunaga's loving arms.
It was early morning when you rose from the sheets. Another day of travel was ahead but you were elated because you were finally going to the place you wanted to show to Nobunaga.
Setting out at the crack of dawn, you were over half way there when you stopped at an inn along the way to rest for the night. Ieyasu was kind enough to set up a reservation there for you both. It was tiring to travel so much in a week but the anticipation was making it hard for you to sleep.
The next morning you were both back on the road, taking it slow for the sake of the horse who had walked for days. Ieyasu had taught you some shortcuts so you were ahead of schedule, if you weren’t sitting on this horse, you would be bouncing with joy.
Finally, you could see a vibrant red between the trees, that was the reason why you travelled all this way. You were so ready to hurry up and get there that you managed to dismount by yourself and asked Nobunaga to close his eyes, which he did with a slight simper.
“Careful, watch your step” you warned as you led him by the hand through the wall of trees. You pushed away a drooping branch and that's when the full panorama of the hidden field came into view, you gasped at the beauty.
Walking to the middle with a firm grip on his hand, you suddenly stopped and let go of him. “Okay. You can open your eyes now” your voice was dripping with excitement that he could practically hear it.
His eyelids fluttered open, the first thing he saw was your cheeks flushed with happiness. Then he looked away and voiced a quiet gasp of his own upon seeing thousands of crimson spider lilies in full bloom blanketing the ground he walked on. They went on as far as the eye could see.
“Surprise!” you shouted. He turned to look at you, his expression the definition of surprised. His mouth then turned up into a touched smile.
You then reached out and grabbed his hand again and pulled him down to the ground, you both sat surrounded by fragrant flowers. “I have another surprise” you stated as you reached into your satchel and pulled out a tiered bento box. “I prepared us a picnic” you said in an almost singsong voice.
As you spread out the box layers between you both, Nobunaga was entranced with watching you, you looked so happy, he wasn't sure he'd ever seen you so cheerful. It felt like you were about to have your own little private banquet.
It was relaxing to eat in such a scenic place. He lifted a pickled vegetable to his mouth and savoured the flavour before placing his chopsticks down. “When did you prepare this?” He motioned to the food, waiting for you to answer.
“Before we left the inn, I asked the kitchen staff if I could whip up a few snacks” you admitted before reaching for another manjū. Nobunaga reached out for your other hand, cradling it in his own.
“You're getting too good at keeping secrets” he half joked but you were pleased with your improvement. You decided to lift your chopsticks up to Nobunaga's mouth, you were glad when he obediently let you guide the manjū onto his tongue.
After eating, you walked around, practically skipping at Nobunaga's side as you told him how you came to know of this place. He was stunned when you revealed that in your time, the spider lilies still grew here and it had become a tourist attraction.
He could soon tell you had something on your mind but you started to speak before he could ask you about it. “Actually… the picnic wasn't the last surprise” you divulged, leading him back to where you tied up your horse.
You then both walked back to your patch of serenity in the midst of nature. Sitting yourself opposite him, avoiding his curious gaze, you placed down the bundle you had just fetched from the back of the horse.
“I wondered what you had packed in there, as you never once opened it” Nobunaga admitted while your hands moved to untie the knot and peel back the cloth to reveal what was inside.
He was not expecting to see his birthday present you had given him early in your relationship to make an appearance in this field, far away from his room. The haori brought him to silence as you laid your hands on the fabric and smoothed it out. Nobunaga couldn't help but touch the silky material as well.
You spoke up. “I know you remember when I gave you this, along with my vow to embroider a new spider lily for every year we lived together” you stated, still brushing your hands over the haori.
“I remember very well” he expressed, lifting his gaze to you at the same time you looked at him. “You delayed filling it in on my recent birthday, I thought it was unusual but was intrigued by your decision” he told honestly.
You smiled bashfully. “Well, I thought it would mean something more if I did it here” you exposed, showing him a smile full of love.
He unexpectedly leaned towards you, overwhelmed by the amount of love for him he could see in your eyes. He pressed his lips to yours and you let him. Softly and slowly, your mouths moved together. “I love you” he breathed into the kiss.
Putting your arms around his shoulders, you enjoyed the emotions he was imbuing into your lips. “I love you too” you pulled back to repeat.
“Thank you, I'm proud of everything you've done to lead up to this moment” he said, holding you close. You filed those words away into your heart for not many have heard this extent of gratitude from your lover.
“You're welcome” you whispered before pulling away. “Okay okay, I haven't embroidered it yet” you said, reaching for the needle and scarlet thread needed to fulfil your promise. Nobunaga let you go so he could subdue the emotions he felt.
You both sat there silently, you concentrating on making it perfect which was much easier with all these examples around you and Nobunaga watching you work intently as the wind tousled your hair.
After relaxing together within the flowers, the sun started to set so you stayed the night at a nearby inn before heading back to Ieyasu's castle in the morning. It was already night when you arrived so you thanked him for the shortcuts before cuddling up to Nobunaga in bed.
In the morning, you visited Edo castles surrounding town with Nobunaga, tasting regional meals, buying souvenirs to commemorate your trip and before long it was time to start the lengthy journey home to your own castle, accompanied by memories that would last you a lifetime.