FicWad

ETERNAL DREAMS:
YUKIMURA AND MAKIE
By
Gregory P. Wong

To 23rd century scientists of "temporal mechanics"--in laymen's terms, time travel--there existed a little known phenomenon called "temporal shift resonance flux."
What it meant, simply, was that in rare cases, people directly involved in time travel would experience some direct temporal displacement anomalies. It was hypothesized that entirely new timelines could be created, not going quite the way they should have. George Washington might die before crossing the Delaware, the alien Arcone and Gryth might not be friendly, or even a person might be erased because his ancestors never met.
In general, these occurrences were rare and minor.
In some cases, not.
For a group of people, it was a case of the latter.

"Did the fever break well enough?" Yukimura asked his wife apprehensively.
"Yeah, she'll be fine," Makie Sanada whispered tiredly. "The nanites got everything squared away. Close though... her body's still weak."
Yes, that little body was. Their daughter, Kaedi, was only eight months old, and the fever had hit pretty hard. The medicinal nanobots were good, sure, but they could do some damage to an infant's body. Well, it hadn't happened here. Thank God.
"It's okay... you did good, Makie," he said delicately to her.
"Thanks, Yuki," he heard his wife reply. She crept up closer and wrapped him in her arms. "God, I was so scared," she whispered.
"I was too, believe you me," he admitted, holding his wife.
Little Kaedi would be all right. Sleep was needed. Sleep to recover.
He looked down at the petite woman in his arms. Makie Omori Sanada. Or, depending on who you asked, a Japanese girl formerly known only as Kunoichi.
Well, not exactly a /girl/. She was twenty-two years old now, two years past the Sraida confrontation. Young woman, yes.
Wife and mommy, she was. Also a business partner of sorts. He and Makie ran a dojo that catered to just about any species wanting to learn martial arts. Not a bad way to use their skills.
Heh. That was him, again. He was thinking about-relatively-inane things to keep his mind from dwelling on what could have happened.
This was getting weird. Maybe it was time to think about something that also mattered, really.
Like how lucky he was to be married to Makie.
"Makie... God. It's after crises like this that I just think 'Wow. I love you so much.'"

Ol' Yuki. Such a great guy. Really. Great as in perfect. She loved him so much.
And to think at one point she didn't want to be married to him. That was a really screwy story that didn't need repeating. Then again, that story ended with her getting married to him.
"Yuki, I love you too. With all my heart... even when you get all mushy on me."
She felt her husband squeeze tighter and give a little nervous laugh.
Oh, she was going on Kunoichi on Yukimura again. Humor was her defense mechanism.
Well, not "Kunoichi", since they were the same person. She didn't have to stop being that peskily upbeat female ninja to love Yuki. Another long story.
It was getting bright.
Huh?
She looked at her PAD on the nightstand. "PAD, what time is it?"
"It is 0317, ma'am."
Three in the morning? What the hell? The sun didn't rise for at least--
Wait... that light was the wrong color. It wasn't orange... it was white. White like--
Oh no...
And then there was a flash of white.

/Flash/!
Yukimura Sanada felt pain send its claws into his right thigh. He collapsed to the floor of Ueda Castle's tower.
No, he couldn't die here! Lord Shingen's dreams still lay unfulfilled!
But the shadow...
He levered his body back up using his spear. Hattori couldn't... couldn't...
In the dimness of the torch-lit room, he could vaguely see shadows bounding across the walls. There...
It was hopeless. If this were a battlefield, Hattori would have had no chance. But in this dimly lit room, well...
And, damnation, where was Kunoichi? This was a job for a ninja.
He felt his knees buckle. Blast! The Tokugawan agent would wear him down and finish him with a simple strike. He had to hold out!

"What in friggin' hell just happened?" Yukimura said aloud.
Bright flash... and now this? Where was this, anyway!?
Plus, being only in pajama bottoms wasn't making him feel completely secure and comfortable.
And then he saw a red-armored, black-haired man stumble. Damn, the lighting was bad but he could just make out-
Hell no!
Another Yukimura Sanada! Or, at any rate, a guy who looked like him. There was no way he could mess up IDing his own face! But how in hell was there a guy who looked like him? It was imposs-
And then he saw a black blur.
Dear Lord... it couldn't be!
Hanzo Hattori! That was impossible! The ninja was in the wrong century.
Wait a second...
He'd traveled through time. Sure, without knowing it, but... that had to be it! Something must be screwy
He saw the ninja lord stand over the beaten form of whoever that was.
Okay, things were really confused right now... but no ninja was assassinating anyone tonight.
"HATTORI!" he yelled. He hoped it was Hattori. Yes, the ninja was holding a kusarigama, but that wasn't exactly an uncommon weapon.
The ninja's head jerked up. He felt eyes looking over his face.
"What devilry is this?" he heard a voice wisp in Japanese. Yes, that was Hattori's voice.
"23rd century magic, I think," he declared to the ninja.
Or, technology, anyway. And he was going to have a word to the UNT researchers who explicitly told him there wasn't going to be any adverse consequences from bouncing from century to century. Jesus.
Hattori rose from the other man--he was having this feeling that it was a Yukimura--and turned towards him.
Uh-oh...

Uh, okay, this was weird.
She didn't want to think how whoever made a perfect replica of Ueda Castle's interior. Really weird. Cripes, were those real torches on the wall? The fire department would be having about three cows and a goat right now.
/Thump/!
Uh, what was that? Was that a thump?
Hmm... it came from one of the corridors to her right. Wait... yeah, she recognized this place! It was one of the larger halls. But this was weird, at this time the guards stood down and-
What the hell was she thinking? This wasn't no Ueda Castle, just some really weird replica. How she got here was probably super strange and depressing. Meh.
Plus, she was dressed only in underwear and a night robe. The indignity of this!
Oh, well, standing here doing nothing wouldn't solve any problems. First on checklist: check out the thump. Right.
At least she still have her ninjitsu skills to take her through. Plus, her psionics were fully unlocked, meaning she was not just any ninja, but an uber-ninja.
She melded into the shadows of the flickering torches and moved towards the corridor.
Then she felt a twinge in her head. Huh? That only happened when she felt other minds and--
"Yah!" she cried as a form was hurled into the main room. She took a quick look at the body. Purple shorts, a form-fitting sleeveless blouse, funny hat, purple sash--
/Funny hat/!?
Okay, why was there a girl lying on the ground with a hat that looked identical to the one she had hung up in her room?
And, er, why was this girl covered in bloody cuts?
She looked into the corridor...
...And backed away very, very quickly.
A large, mean-looking man with a horned hat and a reeeally big spear came stalking out. Uh... Tadakatsu Honda?
Okay, what was going on? This was completely--
Wait.
Temporal distortion. A little voice was telling her that is was temporal distortion. Said voice also told her that this wasn't some really elaborate replica of Ueda, but the real thing. Which meant that Honda was the real thing, too, which meant ickiness to the extreme.
"Humph. Another one," growled Honda... in Japanese "I was hoping that Yukimura would only have one kunoichi. Well, you're next, so Hanzo's job will be easier."
Hanzo? /Yukimura/?
Oh, God. This was that point in time. The rescue at Ueda! Hattori was coming here to kill Yukimura, but she-or at least a UNT-issue cyborg version of her-had beat the Iga ninja off Yukimura.
Holy crap, this history was really screwed up... but it made sense! Honda intercepted "her" while Hattori took on Yukimura. Damn! Honda was in a brightly lit, open room, and Yukimura was in a dark little one. Which meant both Kunoichi and-the current?-Yuki would get beaten. Probably killed.
Well, a monkey wrench was tossed in. Her.
She ducked under Honda's swing and somersaulted away, towards the other figure. She took a look. Yep, that was definitely "her". The injured Kunoichi moaned and struggled to get up.
Now, where was it... there! She snatched up two daggers from near the other her's hands.
"Well, let's dance," she said and grinned at Honda.

What... what was happening?
Yukimura looked up, dimly, and saw something impossible.
Hattori was most likely using all his skills, but the ninja had yet to land a hit on the other man. He had never seen someone avoid death from the Mikawa agent at close range for this long!
Yet, this other man was doing it... and unarmed as well.
The other man ducked under a high roundhouse kick, shot up, and latched a hand onto Hattori's throat. Then--
Impossible! No one could hurl a man--even a smallish man like Hattori--thirty feet with both hands, let alone /one/!
But that man had done it.
In amazement he watched the stranger run towards him. He could just make out the face...
Hurling Hattori wasn't impossible... This was impossible!
How could this person be /him/!?
"It's a long story, and, uh, it can wait. Mind if I borrow this?"
Before he could even understand what was going on, let alone give permission, the other-him snatched up his jumonji-yari.
Then the other-him charged at Hattori.

What in the world was this? First Honda somehow knew that she would be coming here to save Lord Yukimura, and now this!
What sort of magic or whatever made another her--one that seemed better at fighting, to boot--at exactly the right moment?
Honda would be no match in the right situation, but out in the open, revealed, she really didn't have a chance. No way she was going to stand up to Honda.
But, er, the other her wasn't standing up to Honda, she was thrashing him.
This other Kunoichi moved faster than lightning, and had ridiculous strength. Sure, she was no weakling--no kunoichi was--but this ninja was actually stopping Honda's attacks. This other person was a girl, Honda wasn't, but the other-her didn't seem to care.
And what ridiculous garb to fight in, too!
Honda whirled backwards as the other Kunoichi slammed a strong kick to the warrior's chin.
The spear clattered to the floor. Honda looked horrified.
"Im... impossible!" gabbled the defeated Tokugawan. "A mere ninja is no match for me!"
"No normal ninja, sure," the other ninja said smugly. "But you know what? I'm no regular ninja chick. I'm Makie Sanada, Kunoichi version two-point-oh. Now, uh, I'd like to off you, but you'd make a mess on this floor. How 'bout you beat it, and I won't go turkey-carving on you."
Huh? "Version?" "Makie Sanada?" And what were turkeys?
Now Honda looked sullen. "Foolish woman. This means nothing! Ieyasu Tokugawa will destroy the Sanadas and Toyotomis!"
Er...
"Yeah, okay. Shut up and get your butt out of here. You're pissing me off," she heard the other Kunoichi say demurely. "For such a supposedly insane warrior, you kinda sucked. Buh-bye."
With a look of contempt, Honda climbed back to his feet and hurried off. Hmm... he should be able to get out of the castle. Yeah, probably would.
But, uh, she had quite a few questions to ask this "Makie Sanada" woman.
Namely...
"Why do you look like me, and how did you get the name 'Sanada'?"

Ooh-kay, not the question she expected. Well, the first one, yes, but not the one about her new surname.
"Well Mak--I mean /Kunoichi/--we'd better find Yuki--Lord Yukimura--before I get to that. You'll probably need a place to sit down, too."

Yukimura slammed the haft of the cross-blade spear into the Iga ninja's face. Hattori stumbled backwards, stunned.
This was frankly amazing. Damn, he'd have been peeing himself if someone told him he was going to take on a ninja in a dark room. Come on, the ninja lived and killed in shadow.
But he was beating Hattori.
Quite easily, too.
It had to be that little stint he, Makie and the fourteen others had gone through those years ago. It had to be!
Hattori grunted and /moved/.
Hmm...
He brought up his spear and knocked away the flurry of shuriken. No sweat.
There came a weird shimmering sort of sound, and Hattori disappeared. That--
He stabbed backwards with the butt of spear and connected with something soft.
By the sound of expelled air, it was probably Hattori's stomach. Right on the dot.
He turned around and backhanded the ninja, propelling the smaller man another ten feet.
Hattori was wheezing on his knees not too far off. Then the ninja jerked his head up quite angrily.
"The end is approaching, samurai," Hattori whispered in that eerie voice "The inevitable will not be impeded!"
"Whatever you say, ninja. You know, I find it interesting that Tokugawa finds the conquest of the Sanada to be inevitable and yet still needs to send off a ninja to /assassinate/, uh, me."
"Fool."
Yeah, fool. Whatever. You're not going to beat me, you know. Run back off to Mikawa and tell your lord about this abortion of an assassination."
Damn, he swore he could feel hate radiating from the beaten ninja. Then Hattori leaped to his feet, kusarigama in tow, and fled.
He also swore he heard "/what a blunder/," come from Hattori's direction.
Humph.
He looked back at the semi-dazed Yukimura on the floor. The other's armor was a bit bloody here and there, and his eyes looked glazed, but he'd be all right. He knelt down next to the other Sanada.
"I thank you," the other Yukimura said tiredly. "I... I am simply amazed that I was saved at all, let alone saved by you."
"You're welcome. Speaking of being saved, I, er, recognize this place. Unless I'm really mistaken, Mak--I mean Kunoichi--was supposed to fend of that ninja. I wonder where she was the whole--
And then it hit him, thinking about Kunoichi. He'd been so engrossed about defending Yukimura Two here that he hadn't realized it.
/He had not seen his wife anywhere/.
Makie... Where could she be.
Another jolt.
What about Kaedi? She was still weak, and without mom and dad there, she would die.
Dear Lord, what could he do?
Then he heard the door to the chamber open.
He turned to look.

Kunoichi gasped as she saw two Lord Yukimuras.
What in the world was going on!? This was beyond strange... it was downright insane.
"Yuki!" the other her cried out and rushed into the arms of the strangely dressed man.
"Yuki"? Huh? What did that mean? Could it mean... Yuki/mura/?
But... but...
"Oh, you're hurt," she heard the other her say quietly. Hmm? Oh. In the dim light, she saw a slightly bleeding line on the other man's bare chest. The other her tore a scrap from that strange looking robe and pressed it to the injury.
She frowned a bit.
Well, she wasn't an expert at this, by far, but by the way "Makie Sanada" was dabbing at the wound she could see that there was a lot of affection between the two.
"Thanks, sweetie," the new man said. By the way he said it, it showed that there wasn't just affection, but love.
"Ah, never mention it, Yuki," said the other her with a giggle.
This was getting uncomfortable. Who was this other man? Couldn't be some Lord Yukimura, since that other woman had admitted to be a kunoichi, and...
Then she saw the face of the man.

Er... it really looked like the "real" Kunoichi and Yukimura were several hundred steps behind what was going on.
Makie scratched her head. She'd been a gradeschool teacher back in the 20th century, and she could tell stories fairly well.
"I think you two need to know what's going on," she said, and looked at Yuki. Her husband just nodded. "Well, let's just say there's something called, uh, time-travel..."

What an... an... utterly impossible story!
But the proof was right before his eyes!
Yukimura Sanada wiped a hand over his eyes. The story was dubious at best, yet he felt compelled to believe it. Something... something about it.
But what really left him nonplussed was that "Makie" and Yukimura were /married/. Ninja's didn't do that.
Well, most ninjas, since Makie was quite obviously a ninja and the wife of the other Yukimura.
"So, I was supposed to save Lord Yukimura from Hanzo, but the thing that's messed up was that Tadakatsu was there to stop me?" Kunoichi asked.
"That about sums it up. Honda's a monster, and I didn't think you'd have survived that encounter," answered Makie. "And Hattori was about to make mincemeat out of Yukimura over there. Lucky my Yuki was there."
Yes, very lucky.
This whole "Sraida" business, was confusing at least, but he could grasp some of the concepts. How strange.
He had to ask them something, though.
"You... you two," he said. The other Yukimura and Kunoichi looked at him. "You two really... love each other?"
Silence.

Not the oddest of questions. Expected, actually. Yukimura looked at the other him, who was currently holding the other Kunoichi's hand.
"Yes, we love each other dearly. It's so damned hard to even describe it." He shrugged. "I don't know. Just leave it at that I love her more than life itself. I even proved it."
He felt Makie hug him. Damn, she had been so frightened when that had happened, when he had basically saved the universe as everyone knew it.
Yes, this love they shared... even death couldn't touch it.
It was so nice to be reunited with his wife again. It was at least keeping him from worrying about Kaedi for the moment.
"And you two even have a daughter." The other Yukimura said. It wasn't a question.
"And we love her."
He watched the other him look at Kunoichi. It was a questioning look.
He heard Makie clear her throat. "You two. I'm not going to say too much more-space-time continuum and temporal distortion and all that good stuff-but... I don't know. Kunoichi aren't supposed to have anything to do with their masters, and I agree. But... you can't be Kunoichi forever. There /might/, you know, be a day when Japan will be peaceful. Then, well, the rest is up to you."
He felt his throat get a little dry at that. What would the siege of Osaka bring in this timeline? He loved his wife... could this Yukimura get to experience it? Could-
/FLASH/!

Yikes! The two others had just disappeared.
Kunoichi looked at Yukimura.
"We can't," Lord Yukimura said simply.
"I know. But, you know, like that Makie said... I won't have to be your bodyguard forever."
Had she just said /that/!? Ninja's weren't supposed to get involved like that.
But only if the ninja was still needed as a bodyguard.
"No," she heard Yukimura say simply.
It was quite for a few moments.
"There will be a time though... when you can cease being my shadow. Perhaps then..."
She had to do this.
She knelt down next to Yukimura and leaned forward.
Ahh!
It was wonderful. So very... heavenly. Yukimura answered her kiss.
And then they broke away. She felt Lord Yukimura take her hands in his.
"There will be a time," Yukimura said fiercely. "We've hid these feelings for too long, ever since we met each other. This is one reason why I will fight to bring peace to this land."
She stood up. Yes... she knew Lord Yukimura could do it.
But, until then, she would just have keep being his shadow.
Until the land was united... and then that shadow could become someone else.

Makie rubbed along the edges of her husband's wound. Just a cut really. Some antibacterial ointment and lots of love, and it would be all done.
She thought for a moment. What would happen to those two back in that wacky timeline? At least she and Yuki had gotten them thinking about things like "true feelings."
Well, she had this feeling it would be all right in the end.
She finished applying the gel to the cut. She felt a strong arm wrap around her.
Yuki... she loved him so much, and she knew he loved her just as much.
Their daughter slept peacefully in her crib.
The future was a wonderful thing, really. What could the next day bring? The next month? The next year? Did it really matter?
Not really. Not with her beloved Yukimura there for her to draw strength from.
She returned Yuki's embrace, and smiled. Sraida, weird time-shifts, the life of being a parent... nah, nothing would be too much for her and her husband to overcome.
That was what love did.
Whatever curveball life threw, she would be batting it out of the park.