"I'll have to remember that you like it, then," Jason replied as she worked her fingers through his hair. "I was thinking about growing it out a bit, but it's more practical to keep it short. Less air resistance that way." Longer hair acted like a drag, it cost him more effort to get to the same speed. That's why he normally kept it cut short.

"Never buzz it down in military style. I may have to hurt you if that happens." She said and grinned, kissing him hard and then moving to roll them over. If touching her hips was as far as he was going to go, she was going to have to show him up once or twice. She nipped his lower lip and slid her hands up his shirt. She'd done this previously, touched his chest, but in this intimacy it was completely different. It was sweet in a way. "I think... You should take this off."

Jason let her roll them over as they kissed. He liked how agressive she was being, and it surprised him. He thought she would be more hesitant.

"I won't buzz it that short," he promised. "Not if you don't want me to." He held her close to him as she laid on top of him. "You want me to take my shirt off?"

"I didn't say your pants. Just your shirt. I can't feel how warm you are with it on. Is that alright? You don't have to if you don't want to." She whispered, and touched his arm, trailing her finger down it calmly. She pulled her hair back into a ponytail so it wasn't blocking her vision so much and she kissed him lightly. "And I will never want your hair that short. I hate the military style of cut hair." She bit her lip, blushing as she was amazed she was being so forward.

"I think I'll leave the shirt on," Jason said softly, kissing her. "If I take it off, I might not be able to stop myself from going even further." And he was pretty sure it would be a bad idea to take it further. After all, she was a princess and he was just a regular person.

She nodded and rested her forehead on his shoulder and moved to lay down against him. She cuddled into him, decidedly not even going to push that matter any further. She pulled away from him slowly and sighed. "We have to kill people." She said, her mind immediately going back to the task at hand. She lowered her head into her hands and bit her lip, breathing deeply. "I can't do this. I can't do anymore of this fighting..." She whispered and glanced over at the door and stood. She stood by the window and looked at the children playing, her body leaning heavily on her arms.

"M'am?" She looked down at the girl.

"Yes?"

"Would you come play with us in the riv--"

"Naia! No, we don't bother the Princess. Especially not in times of war." Her mother said and Tomiko held out a hand to the girl as she walked out of the shack.

"I would love to play with you and your friends." She said and smiled. "Come on." She said, the entire conversation she was sure her boyfriend could hear. Is that what they were? She took a deep breath and ran to the river to play with the children. This time she took a bucket for the next morning.

"Everything will be alright," Jason murmured to her as he held her. "I won't try to justify it, but I know that things will be better once everything is over." He let her slip out of his arms so she could stand up and go to the window. He heard the conversation, but he couldn't understand most of it. He only caught a few words because he'd heard them so many times. Getting up himself, he went to the doorway to watch. He would join if she asked, but for now, he would just keep an eye on things.

She created a sprinkler effect for the children, and other fun water things but when she heard voices she stopped. "Shh, go to Jason." She whispered and shooed them onwards. She then, put the water back into the river with a snap of her fingers. "Who's there?" She called and she heard men laughing.

"It's just a girl! No worries!"

"Who is there?!" She asked again, this time getting mad. Jason would be there any second, she was sure of it.

"We're the enemy, shouldn't you run back to your village people?"

She finally saw them up close. "You're... Japanese. Why are you trying to take the territory?"

"For the Princess. And the castle. Good money." One man said and stepped to the river. They weren't wielders, just soldiers. She glared. She couldn't show them how powerful she was. "So... why don't you come play with us for a little while?"

"Uhmmm, no!" She said, turning and running.

Jason saw her chasing the children out of the river, and his attention sharpened. Something was wrong. He stepped out of the doorway to let the children into the shack, so they would at least be somewhere relatively safe. Then he turned and went to Tomiko. Within moments, he was by her side.

"What's going on?" he asked. He knew she would understand, if nothing else.

"They're at the river, they heard us playing." She said and grabbed his hand and pulled him back. "Just wait." She said and threw the river up, into a wall. They couldn't see her now so they could continue to believe 100 wielders were doing this. "They want me and the castle... I'm the target, not the land..." She whispered and sighed. "I should have left."

"I know how much the territory means to you," Jason said. "Even if you had known, you wouldn't have left. They would have just done the same thing to force you back." He squeezed her hand gently. "We'll defend the village again tonight until my sister gets here, and then we can decide what to do. We can get through this."

"Don't touch me! You don't want me to touch you so while I'm using all my energy for the moment to hold a solid water wall in place, don't touch me!" She said and pulled away from him and called about a gallon of water to her and into her bucket. "For tomorrow" She explained as they entered the shack. "It's fine guys, your safe, go to your families and don't go to the river." They all ran out of the shack and she leaned out the window. "Spread it around to stay quiet."

"Alright, easy," Jason said, taking his hand back. "I won't touch you, then." He thought she liked being in contact with him, but maybe he was wrong. "In a while I have to leave to meet my sister, do you think you can hold your own long enough for us to get back?" He wasn't asking if she had the power, because he knew she did. He was asking if she had the endurance.

She nodded, not wanting to reply to him verbally. She wanted to be mad at him for having the backbone to say 'no' to her. But that wasn't very nice. She took a deep breath and bit her lip. She wasn't used to dealing with boys, with men of any sort. She didn't know how to do this correctly. "Be careful." She whispered and lowered the river so as not to get the high without him there to ground her. "Please come back safe." She added and glanced over at him and gave a weak smile.

"I'll do my best," Jason promised. "You be careful too, alright?" He didn't want anything to happen to her, but at the same time, he couldn't help it. He had to go and get his sister from the airport if she was going to make it there in time to help them, and he knew he couldn't bring Tomiko with him. It would take too much of his energy to transport the extra person, and she was needed in the village. "I don't have to leave for a while, though."

"Then go ensure those kids safety... Or something." She hated him right then, he seemed to care so little about her even though he should... Right? They were each others first kisses. What they had was supposed to be magical... But instead... He was able to keep his resilience against her when she was so very near breaking her own. How could he do it? It had to be that she wasn't as amazing to him as she thought she was. Which yes, may be vain... But overall... She just wanted him. She wanted him to be so happy with her... That wasn't happening too soon.

Jason heard the chill in her voice and stopped. She seemed upset over something, and he couldn't figure out what it was. She'd been so happy a little while ago...

"Tomiko, what's going on?" he asked. "Why are you so angry at me? I haven't done anything wrong, have I?" At least, he was pretty sure he hadn't. He'd been trying to help her and make her happy. What had he done that had pissed her off?

"I'm... I'm not Jason. I'm 17, I don't know quite what I want right now, alright?" She moved to sit on the cot and dipped her fingers in the bucket of water, and felt it heating up. She pulled out and groaned. She was angry at something. It wasn't Jason really... "I just... I want your restraint." She whispered and looked at him, shaking her head. "I know I preach about not going too far, but you won't even let it go NEAR too far, or far at all! I don't know how you do it... And I hate it. But that's just me."

"That's what this is about?" Jason asked, a bit baffled. He thought restraint was a good thing, unless the definition had changed without him noticing. He sat down next to her and slowly put an arm around her waist, gradually pulling her closer until she was leaning on him. "I guess I just don't want to take the chance of making the same mistake my sister did. She let things go too far, and look what happened."

"She was on a power high, right? Well, I didn't hate how you acted last night, but I don't like how we respond to each other when I'm not riding high. I want a relationship, not another friendship." She said and leaned against him. "I've had soldiers coming in and out of my home for 8 months. You don't think I'm tired of friendships? How could I not be? I'm sick of them, I want someone to hold and touch that isn't my pillow! I want you to respond without me having to tell you too." She said and groaned. "I'm a terrible person wanting so much, but it's the truth. It's what I personally feel is necessary for me to feel... like I'm older than 13. I'm almost 18 now, I just... I want to take risks."

"Now I'm confused," Jason said. "I didn't think you wanted to get too serious while there's still a war going on. I mean, there's plenty of time for that afterwards, isn't there?" It made perfect sense to him. Why would they go beyond touching and kissing when they were still in so much danger? It wasn't that he didn't want it, god knows he did, but it just wasn't the right time or place.

"I don't! I said I wanted your restraint! I want to be able to want to say no. I don't want to think about this war though, That's why I want your attention." She sighed, pulling her knees to her chest. "The decisions I'm making about this war should be for someone who has more power, and more want of control. And who is old enough to make these decisions..." She said quietly and sighed. "I want you to do stuff with me because when you touch me that world out there disappears. It's the best part of my day."

"And what happens when you're distracted and the village starts going up in smoke again?" Jason pointed out gently. "I don't want that to happen, and I'm pretty sure you don't, either. That was one of the first things they beat into me in basic training a while back, don't get distracted." Tilting her head up a little, he gave her a soft kiss. "And I'd say we're both pretty well distracted at the moment."

"But I'm not distracted enough that I can hear the river flowing still. Noone has messed with it, stepped on it or over it... I still hear that, I still have that in my mind. You haven't distracted me enough..." She said and sighed. "But that's a good thing, I suppose we're not paying the best attention." She said and closed her eyes, kissing his cheek and yawned a little, moving to rest against him. "I feel out of shape with no training this morning... It's not a good feeling."

Jason wrapped his arms around her and held her close.

"You won't go soft skipping one day," he assured her. "Especially not after doing what you did last night. I'd call lifting the entire river enough training to last days." That, and running from Tokyo, but they didn't have to tally that one up yet, he still had two more runs to make.