Jashi Week 2020 - Day 1: 20s
Dutifully, Ashi awoke when the first rays of dawn penetrated her closed eyes, ignoring her body’s cries to remain in the calm embrace of sleep. She sat up and stretched, pausing as her gaze moved to the window, her eyes wide with fright as she saw the falling snow and the white landscape beneath it, the first snow of winter.
A spear lunging from nowhere, catching them off guard.
A simple dodge, resulting in the death of another.
A soaring dagger pinning the third to a tree, indifferently removed from the corpse as if the loss meant nothing.
A fall as the fourth was thrown off the cliff with the same concern one gave an annoying insect buzzing around their head.
A suicidal run as the fifth hastily approached a trap.
A desperate attempt to preserve her own life as she fought an unbeatable foe.
Ashi fell back into bed, pressing her shaking body against the warmth of her sleeping husband. Instinctively, Jack wrapped his arms around her, pulling her close as he continued to doze. The vivid memories began to fade, and she regained control of her traitorous mind, allowing herself to relax.
Over 20 years since that day, but still the trauma remained no matter how she tried to fight it, to override the associations with happier instances of Jack romancing her or her children eager to play in such a stark white world. They always found the snow fascinating and beautiful, untainted by the stain of blood or the harsh realization that all the training, the abuse, the neglect, the torment that was their lives was for nothing, and worse, that their noble cause was all deception and lies. Ashi continually prayed that her dear sisters found peace in the afterlife, the same peace she found with what was once her mortal enemy.
She pulled back from her savior’s embrace, smiling as her fingers ever so carefully brushed the wayward strands from his contented face. “Rest, rest, now you may rest. Hero, you will be triumphant. I will promote the good that is you, Samurai. I will defend you. As long as there is breath in my body, I will lift you up. Long live the glory of Samurai Jack. Long live the glory of Emperor Shinjiro.”
Jack lazily smiled, and to Ashi’s surprise, spoke. “You are very wise, and very confused. You are the true hero, not me.”
“Wh—what? No, you don’t know what you’re saying. You wield the great sword. You killed Aku and ended his evil reign.”
“That I did,” he agreed as he sat up, amused by her confounded expression. “But it is because of you that we are here.” He extended his arm, motioning to the walls that made up the sleeping area of the Emperor’s quarters in the ancient castle of the Land of the Rising Sun. “You are the one who opened a time portal to send us back to the past when none existed. You gave me the chance to fulfill my promise to defend my homeland and protect my people, and for that, I can never thank you enough.”
She blushed and lowered her eyes, humbled by her hero’s declaration. Jack smiled and lowered his head, eager to steal a kiss from her, but the door flew open and a rush of feet ran across the floor. “Mama, Mama, it’s snowing!” Their five year old daughter jumped into her parents’ bed, eagerly pointing at the window. “I wanna build a snowman!”
“Alright, Ami, let’s build a snowman, but you have to eat breakfast first.”
She cheered and left the room as quickly as she entered, much to her father’s amusement. “Will you be alright out there?” Jack asked with a hint of worry, taking his wife’s hand in his.
“Yes,” Ashi confirmed with a nod, feeling confident. “She’ll keep me distracted, the children always do.”
