Sweet dreams are made of these, who am I to disagree? Some of them want to use you...some of them want to get used by you...some of them want to abuse you...some of them want to be abused...

It had been like a breath of cold, bracing winter air when at long last Alma had graced the tavern with her tweed-clad presence once more. Despite Sakura's deepest fear that the woman would now have naught to do with her since her gentle snub, Alma had welcomed her with open arms, renewing her offer. This time though it was renewed with a pull and a demand much greater.

The petite blonde mystery would have none of Sakura's regular patron-offerings, how could she? Nothing common would have ever pleased her and what would satisfy noblemen the woman snubbed as if it were fit for little more than slaves. No, she would not become Sakura's patron...and no offer to become her danna, not yet... Instead it would be her making the demands, setting the parameters for how Things were to Be.

Devotion, complete, utter...was the word she had whispered in the geisha's delicate earlobe, those grey eyes gazing over wirerims like tigers eager to escape their cage and show the other woman all the tender cruelties they were capable of inflicting. Once more, somewhere between breath and suffocation, Sakura had demurred again...though now she offered a tentitive step foward. She would taste this offered fruit, she would give her devotion in slow, slow amounts...cautious with this virgin heart of hers in the woman's iron clawed grasp.

It had been enough, and the pact was sealed with a breathless kiss, so deep just watching the cleaving of the pair could have singed an onlooker witht he hot flames that licked between the two. Sakura had even dared to lift those precious glasses from her mistress's face, all the better to feel the velvet brush of cheek against her nose.

Promises exchanged, one to come soon to Alma's residence as soon as time allowed, the other to await impatiently, the pair parted ways once more and Sakura was left licking the burningly bitter taste of gin from her lips with a hunger that startled even herself.

...I wish I could comfort you, if love is our defense...it's alright, I could comfort you...If you let me...I could love you to death...

Sakura returned to the Inn early the next morning as the sun had just begun its slow kiss to the horizon. She wandered from her late, late night...dark smudges under her onyx eyes and fatigue writ in every line of her graceful body, her kimono rumpled, its silk creased with lines, her hair down, pulled back in a hasty braid and twisted into a lover's knot at the base of her neck. Though she kept her secrects locked safe within her heart her apperance betrayed them all far too well.

Depsite the disgustingly early hour the Inn was still occupied, either with early risers or late night owls, a handful of patrons all about their own business, most notable were Skyler and Lucy, currently having a heated argument over a piano in the corner that Skyler had taken the whim to attempt to set fire to. The familiar face of Brian Ravenlock greeted the retrun of the giesha from behind the bar, a raised brow noting her entrance and appearence. She made her way toward the bar, sparing a weary glance for Skylar and his current childish hissy fit as she slipped into a seat, praying for a bartender to be on duty to bring her tea. Prayers that would not go unaswered as Brian approached, tea in hand, anticipating the weary geisha's needs.

"Sakura-san, ohaiyo. Hajimemashite?"

Sakura offered a tired smile for Brian as she rubbed gently at her temples.

"Ohayo gozaimasu, Brian-san..."

Unseen and unoticed, so still had she sat for so long, the woman Natalia lingered in her corner ignored by and large by the other patrons in the inn, and not even noticed by Sakura as she sat at the bar. She unfolded from her place there in the corner, click-clack of metronome-like pace announced by her elegant pumps as they carried her across the room.
Lucy Ravenlock: "Of course, but I'd love to see your face when I mail Jewell's head in a bag for you. Maybe then she could give you head like that? And you could keep her in your bedroom, and never get this ratty?"

At the bar Sakura scooped up the tea gratefully, a warm smile gracing her features as she raised it to her lips.

"Oh, Arigato!"

"You are most welcome. A long night, Sakura-san?"

Sakura nodded as she sipped the steaming liquid slowly.

"Yes... Very long. Mistress Alma requested my company for the evening. I did not know she kept such late hours."

"Ah you didnt? I'm sorry to hear that."

With a long glance over one shoulder tired eyes watched the slow click of heels that commpanied Natalia's prowl, Sakura's features kept their secrets as she turned back to her hot tea and to her conversation with Brian.

"It's alright...I think perhaps she might offer to be my danna...thought I don't know...perhaps she has something else in mind."

Brian seemed suprsingly non-plussed.

"Your Danna? Her? I am sorry, but do not put much stock into that, my dear."

"No?" A small frown tugged at soft lips as black brows knit together, "Why do you say that, Brian-san?"

"Sakura-san, I am sorry to say. But she.. Well you are not the only beautiful young lady she has taken interest in, and I am sure you will not be the last. I am afraid she is not Danna material or so to speak. Besides, why would you need a Danna?"

Sakura smiled gently into her tea before taking a sip, dark eyes flicking up at Brian over the rim of her cup.

"A danna doesn't need to be faithful, Brian-san, everyone has many loves."

"Oh I know that Sakura-san. Very well, I know more than others concerning your trade, and custom. But I wonder why you would even need one, especially here."

"And here, to have a danna would give me great freedom, and more power then I have ever had over myself. To have all my needs taken care of, to be financially free..."

"And you are right.. We all have many loves. But, why not free yourself? Can you not work? Or have you no talents, other than that of the geisha?"

"I am free, Brian-san. More free than I have ever been. I am finally making my own choices."

She had laughed softly at his question, tilting dark head to one side.
As she spoke with Brian, Sakura had no way of knowing that she was soon to get more than a simple look at the approaching dark-skinned woman in her navy pantsuit. Fingers slid lightly, easily, smoothly atop kimono perched so precariously atop slender shoulders. Breath was --absent against the girl's ear, though perhaps the slight brush of lips or teeth was not. Cougar flicker-flashed dark-eyed look to the Moor Cat as she insinuated herself all up into the geisha's space, interjecting words so obviously meant for her.

"You have returned. I had very nearly given up the waiting, duckling."

"I have trained for nothing else since I was five...what do you think? This is my art, my love, my life Brian-san...I would choose no other profession -

She turned, breaking off as soft fingers curled over her slim shoulder and her heart constricted in her chest as if it had been swallowed whole by the python that velvet voice conjured up. Dark, almodine eyes rose from fingers to face, a small, taut smile reflected in their tired depths.

"I'm sorry...?"

At the sudden interruption Brian had bowed out hurredly, leaving Sakura alone to her own defenses against Natalia, murmuring his reply.

"Ah I understand, Sakura-san. I wish you the best, then."

It was of no never mind to Natalia, however.

"That woman..." She continued right on along, trailing the cool touch of fingers smoothly over Sakura's throat from her shoulder. Velveteen soft. Bonds of empathy already reaching around her, stroking her psyche like a lover's not-there embrace, noodling their way through emotion and memory, bubbling them up to the surface in the geisha.

" ...last night. The one who took you to your mistress' ministrations..."

Sakura stiffened as she was stroked by the woman who had never paid her any mind previously, and without her leave though she is better behaved then to move. She felt invaded, touched deep within and it quickened her breath as she dropped her gaze.

"What of her, miss?"

"I would know her name, duckling. That... striking, tall woman you left with."

And an invasion was a good enough word for what was happening. Empathy rolled across the smaller woman there in her arms beneath the touch of cool fingers and painted lips. Memory itself was not exactly tapped -- not exactly -- but emotion? Ah, the sweet taste of what was raised under Alma's care the previous night. That was a tasty treat, in itself; her question repeated.

"What was her name?"

Despite her tense dance of words last night with her mistress's other lover, Sakura could not bring herself to deliver her name into the hands of this woman she has watched skimming through the tavern for so many nights, combing the herd, cutting out her favored ones with honeyed words and simpering smiles. Jet eyes flick up to meet the Rose's gaze evenly, daringly.

"Her name is hers alone to share."

Sakura canted her head dangerously, her demenor decivingly demure, controlling the roil of emotions the woman stirred in her as anyone else would stir a stew, bringing juicy tidbits to the surface of her thoughts. Blossom lips tightened.

"You have a fondness for names, miss."

It could have been an accusation, save for its careful tone, a mere observation. It drew a rather melodious little laughter from the Rose, then, fingers slipping smoothly across silken kimono and silken skin alike. From throat to a long, slow dance down the front of her chest.

"I do. And if I told you mine was Natalia? Would that soften your barricade to my knowledge?"

Sakura inhaled sharply as smooth fingers slipped down tender throat and against warm flesh framed by silk collar. Within, the touch stirred all manner of intimate feelings shared in the past long hours. She shuddered, a deep, subterrenan vibration bespeaking delicious goings-on within.

"I know your name already, miss..."

She breathed airily, returning her dark gaze, although it is not so invincible a wall that lies behind those eyes now, the rock crumbling like ash with the touch, faltering. Natalia took the rim of the geisha's ear between lips and teeth; a gentle tug made as velveteen touch continued down her torso, wrapping the seated girl in her arms more fully, even as the same happened with her little tendrils of emotion, feeding the Rose with those heady and wanton emotions of memory.

"Know my name, do you? And I know your mistress' name as well. There are only two pieces of the puzzle missing, then, little bird... your name, and the name of that woman from last night. I do so hate an unfinished puzzle... don't you?"

"Ah...!"

The geisha gasped, dark eyes closing to slits as her delicate hands grabbed hold of Natalia's arms in a death grip, her heart throbbing, beating at her chest like a bird caught in a cage. Memories swirl, hazy, out of focus....hands, lips, tounges...soft caresses and ones harsher than the cruelest punishments... She quivered, clutched against the woman.

"Unh..."

Sakura gritted pearl teeth, and tried to push the woman away, unsucessfully...and there it is, the flash of anger, heat of embarassment and sting of regret...Magenta's face swirling before her sight, beautiful face furious in its contorted expression. With effort she drew a deep breath.

"If you know my Mistress's name then you know better then to harm me..." The words were a whisper, a desprate card played by a desprate player.

A flickerflash of dark eyes to the window. So soon.. and she had just begun. Sakura's words, however, enticed the Rose to stay just a moment longer and far more forward measures to take. It was only just now that the first truly sexual contact occured with a hand now craddling around the gentle curve of her breast beneath the kimono.

"On the contrary, duckling... I know the name, and it means nothing to me. Ah, but to meet her at long last, after how I've been told so many times that I remind the person of her?"

Her head craned down, painted lips parting to smooth her satin tongue once across the pulse thrumming in Sakura's throat.

"I suppose that angering your mistress would be a most efficient way of meeting her. Perhaps I should send her back a quivering mound of orgasmic flesh, mm? Do you think that would inspire her to seek me out? Is your mistress jealous, duckling?"

Sakura's low moan was nearly inaudable as the woman's hand cupped the gentle curve of an unbound breast, so soft, and succulent as a ripe plum...and that heated tounge sliding across bare flesh... Her grip tightened as she struggled to control herself, head swiming as lightening bolts of electric pleasure coursed through her veins. Gathering her last shred of wit she shoved, hard, against the Rose.

"Unnh! Stop!"

The contact was broken, though perhaps it was hard to decide if it was because of her push, or in spite of it. Melodious little laughter, again, and the Rose straitened her blazer. Empathic tendrils vanished quite abruptly, leaving memories of emotions to rest.

"We will meet again, duckling. When I've more time."

Sakura gathered her kimono together, a hand cupping over the violated breast as she glared at the woman, bright tears standing out on dark lashes like diamonds against coal, the distaste writ clear on her exquisite face.

"Ah, but if I learn the striking woman's name first before you tell me? Perhaps I will send you in a package back to your mistress, bound and quivering like some kind of all-too-happy holiday treat." She brushed her shoulders off, "And if you see that striking woman again.. the one who led you away to those delicious endeavours last night... do tell her that Natalia would speak with her? Mm? There's a good girl."

And then she turned, metronome click-clack of heels carried her away from the geisha. Sakura turned her face away, slender shoulders trembling, breath ragged, unable to speak or retort, left defenseless.
For her part, Sakura most likely didn't know just how close she came to being very throughally violated. Tongue slid lightly across the row of her teeth again, but the time could not be denied. The Rose exited; stage left.
As soon as the door swung shut behind the woman Sakura lowered her head slowly to the bar, and began to sob softly.

She paused for a long moment before begining, collecting her thoughts, gathering memories to her like fish from the sea, casting the net back as far and deep as it will go.

"I am from a land called Japan...a small, anceint nation built upon a chain of large islands the curves like a scythe in the sea... I was born to poor parents, rice farmers, who had many children but could not afford to feed us all, though they loved us dearly. I cannot recall how many brothers and sisters I had...I was only five when my parents sold me, gave me to a man who promised to take me into the city, into tokyo and deliver me to the okiya, the geisha house, that was willing to buy me."

Dark eyes are distant as she speaks, seeing far away, a land of jagged snowcapped mountains and beautiful tranquil rice paddies, tile-topped cities that span for as far as the eye can see.

"I was upset, but I did not understand...they needed the money to care for the rest of the children, and the man said I was beautiful and would earn a good living and have a good life as a geisha....and so I went, and was bought as soon as we set foot in Tokyo. The okiya I went to was small...there were three other girls there like me, all a bit older than I, and two full geisha. Our 'mother' the owner of the okiya ruled our lives and everything in them...as a child I was pretty much a slave to the household...working, cleaning, cooking...and going to school. School became my life, my escape."

"There at the geisha school I learned to dance, to sing... to play music and recite poetry. I was refined, made into a gentle, well mannered lady, molded by the careful hands of my teachers. When I reached fifteen a full geisha chose me as her younger sister and mentored me in even finer arts...conversation, humor, the nuances of men and women...how to pour sake and make tea. My Onesa, or big sister, taught me many, many things...and I became her maiko, or apprentice geisha."

She sighed with a small smile, gaze wistfull.

"We attended tea houses and parties...entertained fine gentlemen as I learned my trade. I danced at the playhouse often, and sang. Eventually my onesa felt I was ready to become a full geisha. My virginity was auctioned off to the highest bidder among them fine gentlmen I had entertained. The man who won the bidding paid a high sum for it...and freed me from debt to my okiya. I gave myself to him, and became a full geisha. "

The corners of her mouth tightened a bit at this, but she does not flinch. This was her world.

"I became highly sought after... all my evenings were full of patrons, tea houses and parties...I led a good life...the life of an artist...creating a secret, beautiful world for these men and women to indulge in, to escape inside away from their lives. Until the day I was kidnapped...but I have told you this story already. ::She shakes her head:: The world I came from was beautiful....but cruel. As geisha I can never marry, I could never love anyone or anything too much for I could not posess it. The most freedom I could wish for was to procure a danna, a patron who would keep me as his mistress and cover all my needs or to become the mother of the okiya when I got older..."

She smiled sadly and glanced at her friend.

"I came from a world where tradition and secrets were everything, and where one's life was determined from birth to death already. Here I am free...but I loved my art and I will continue to practice it and bring beauty to patrons...perhaps even find a danna...but here I will also love, and do as I please."

Wyheree took her friend's hand in her own.

"The world from which you came.. it is so very different than mine - so much so that I am afraid I must seem ignorant to you."

Sakura frowned and squeezed her friend's hand, covering it with her other.

"No! I would never think such a thing of you! I have learned about many different worlds since coming here...and I find none better than the rest or superior in anyway. Each is diffrent, and each is lovely and dangerous in their own rights."

"I have learned much as well. I am curious - who would protect the geishas in times of trouble?"

"Protect us? Well we had chaperones...older gentlemen and eunichs sometimes. Servants of the okiyas...but generally we were unaccosted. Such a thing was not done...it would be like marring a painting or smashing a vase. Geisha are the objects of all desire but the outlets of none. There was simply no reason to harm us."

Sakura's gentle innocence was met with thinly veiled concern by her friend.

"Here, I fear there are those who would not have any qualms harming you.

Sakura nodded gravely.

"So I am learning my lady....so I am learning."

"Is there a..." She searched for the right word, "Title - a name for a protector?"

Sakura yawned softly. The evening's long hours and this morning's excitment have finally begun to weigh heavily on the young woman's shoulders. She smiled at her friend.

"Yes....kanshisha."

"Then I would be honored to be your kanshisha, Lady Sakura."

Sakura bowed deeply, a warm smiling singing in those jet eyes.

"And I would be honored to have you as such, my lady...thank you."

She rises slowly, stiffly.

"Now...I think perhaps sleep is in order...the next evening is not far off at all."

Giving her friend a last embrace, and at long last leaving the bar, Sakura made her way up the stairs towards her room and eagerly awaited bed, well earned rest making her eyelids heavy and limbs numb with fatigue.