Ishiyo wiped her eyes and cheeks with her sleeves, "I am sorry foh putting you in such a situation Daigotsu-san." She could not meet his eyes, "Just a few moments like this...and I will have myself back undeh control. A few moments." Her voice was low.

"You... never need apologize to me." He kept his voice low, watching her, his ears almost deafened by the beating in his chest. "Take all the time you need. None will know outside of me." He bowed his hesd as he spoke, damning propriety itself in his mind.

"As long as I live, only we will share this moment in this garden, and it will fade, as the snowflake melts in ones hand, yet memory remains."

"Even in the blizzard that comes." Ishiyo adds and looks up to him, she presses her hands to her chest, to nervous to trust them free. "There will be otheh moments of happiness. Perhaps othehs I will feel...as I feel now with you, but I will always remembeh these moments of ouh's."

She lowers her hands, "Should we continue ouh walk? Both of us have energy we should expend before it engulfs us."

He could not answer verbally. His own defenses were struggling agaimst the hurricane of emotions that threatened to break the levees. He stood taller, looking down to her face. Nodding his head, he extended an arm down the path, taking a few deep breaths to regain some semblance of composure.

"The air here, helps on think." He finally broke his silence, finally stopping the shakiness in his voice. He had not expected to feel anything, or anyone to feel anything towards him.

The past few days were proving that a folly of thought.

"Yes..." Ishiyo nodded, she had slowed to walk alongside him again, "Well. When it is like this and not the heavy ai-eh of the forest."

Her position inched as close as she dared to the Daigotsu. She kept her eyes downcast on the path ahead, a sad smile on her face.

"Too true. That air is oppressive, seemingly holding one back." He nodded, suddenly aware of how close she was, which only made his grin turn fuller. "Tell me. When you are not being a dashing heroine of space, what do you enjoy in your free time? We have discussed family, our enjoyment of exercise and art. But... what would you look forward to, in those moments when you are not away leading your squadron in kills?"

"Well I watch Inu-tai..." Ishiyo chuckles, "And...I have a new appreciation for dancing." She raises a hand to hide her face and the blush.

"Other than that...well I do not know...I obsessed over being a pilot foh so long I forgot to do much else. Now that my first touh is oveh, as I prepare foh the next I suppose I will be asking a lot more of that question. Even more so when the betrothal agreement is inked."

He chuckled with her. "I am fond of the Starlight Miko Crusaders, myself." Ryuu added, nodding with her. "A new appreciation? A lovely thing to share." There was that grin, wicked and full of joy.

He listened as she went on, blinking once. "Whoever is your spouse... I know they would be honored to discover the answers to that question with you."

Ishiyo smiled and looked at him, "Of course...and I would be honored to discuss it with them." Her blush returned, "What about you Daigotsu-san, you spoke of hunting...and afteh the otheh day I do have some appreciation of it now." She looked down, her mind drifting back to the pride she had felt at her first animal kill...eager to show it to him and then...she had been unable to bare the weight of her own success.

"Even with what happened, I can not lose my enjoyment for sport. The test of skill, especially against something dangerous. That may be the most Spider thing about me." He nodded, smiling widely as she mentioned dance.

"I play the flute a little. I enjoy music in all its forms. I am a much better intrumentalist rather than a singer, but even that I enjoy."

"Oh...I have no formal training in singing...but I guess my voice sounds pleasant enough," Ishiyo smiled, "Perhaps I might ask you to play the flute sometime while I practice my dancing?" Her voice was teasing, but nervous. She felt a pang of fear and want when she thought of where that might end.

"I... would like that." He nodded, noting the nervousness in her voice. His own held the same. "I am no prodigy or maestro, but it is pleasing to play." He tried to sound reassuring. That her fears would be comforted, her honor safe with him.

"I do not know if formal training has ever beenna requirement."

"The Crane believe in excellence," Ishiyo sighed, "It is a burden at times, when you just want to do something foh fun." She smiled back at him, "Perhaps I will try my hand at singing regardless. If Daigotsu-san wishes to indulge me." Her blush returned and she looked away again.

What he wanted to say was that as long as he was able, he would indulge her whims, her desires, her thoughts. All that was said, was a smile, then a bow. "As you wish, Daidoji-san." He couldn't help but admire her, then a moment allowed for her to enjoy the blush privately.

"That is something my mother often said. Especially when her family visited once, during a diplomatic excursion. To keep oneself to the highest of standards."

"Was it you-eh motheh who taught you to play the flute?" Ishiyo asked, her eyes back on him. "My fatheh found me too willful of a child to teach music to." She laughed softly.

"She was. She instilled a deep love of the arts early in my life. In all our lives. My sister. She has an incredible talent with the biwa. And such a voice for singing. Even now as a Spider, my mother still retains the gifts of Lady Doji." He met her eyes, watching her closely.

"A strong will is not a negative. To be in such command of yourself is to truly know oneself."

Ishiyo blushed again, "Yes...well I was too enamored with spacecraft and the like foh much else." She kept her eyes on him and smiled, "I begin to wish I had taken the time for a few arts. It is one thing to admire and anotheh to create." Her hands were at her chest again, safely held back.

'All are important though. Without those who admire and appreciate, why bother creating. It is a cycle." Ryuu punctuated his words with a tilt of his head upwards, looking to the sky as they walked, though stealing glances from the corner of his eye.

"And that enamoration has paid off. Your skill and talent shines through you."

Ishiyo's smile grows more melancholic, "Why botheh Daigotsu-san? Because art is an expression of the soul. One should make it because deep inside something longs to burst out and express itself upon papeh, or in song, or in stone, or any of the myriad otheh ways. That one might share that expression is a boon, but not the primary reason one makes it."

"At least that is my feeling on the matteh."

"Your feeling is not wrong." Ryuu agreed, letting out a soft sigh. "I suppose for myself, it is my wish to use it to share my feelings with others. I am... aware... that I can make others at unease. Music. Dance. Oratory. It at least makes that go away." He looked away, up towards the taller fungi.

"A more even footing, as it were."