#hell's paradise

“why did you decide to marry me?”

your husband entertains your inquiry with a quiet chuff, endeared by such an innocent curiosity. “what brought this on?”

“just…” you cling tighter to him then, seeking shelter from your own looming insecurities. your finger traces over the shallow roadmaps of his battle scars to sooth yourself. “will you tell me?”

shion hums in thought, letting it linger in the air like a weightless down feather. his hand reaches for your own, interrupting your tender touches to his skin to lace your fingers together, a harmonious lattice of both fragility and strength.

“i took you as my wife because you’re the most beautiful woman i’ve ever met.”

you watch as his calloused trained fingers enclose around your much smaller hand, thankful that his eyes can’t perceive the expression you’re making, almost pitiful… doubting even.

“but…” you chew on your lower lip, still kiss-swollen. “you’ve never actually… seen me. not really. why would you think that i’m—“

shion uses his grip on your hand to tug you even closer, an effortless strength that brings you into him, a loving demand for your attention.

“why wouldn’t i think that you’re beautiful?” it’s like he knows you have a better view of his face now, because he smiles, a tender thing that compliments his fair features. his eyes remain shut, but you can almost see them sparkle anyway. “you assume that because i can’t see with my eyes that i’m unable to evaluate one’s beauty?”

you know as well as anyone that shion perceives things that others cannot, a deeper sort of sense to a person’s being that the naked eye can’t begin to acknowledge. be it something that was born from the loss of his vision, or a training element learned from his rōnin status, it's impressive how much shion can 'see' without a proper visual field.

but you’d be lying if you said you never wondered if that was enough for the ways of his heart, that not knowing your true physical appearance holds no weight to a man robbed of his sight.

“there are other ways to observe such things,” he continues, somehow sensing your rapt attention from behind his eyes that stay guarded with the fan of his eyelashes, framed with those ever-present scars.

“your hair, for example.” shion abandons your hand in favor of weaving through the strands once again, thoughtfully twirling some of it around his index finger.

“it smells of lavender and honey, like an untouched wildflower field in the peak warmth of summertime.” shion lifts the twisted section of hair up to his nose, inhaling slightly. “it puts me at ease.”

you look at your husband as he speaks, watching the curl of his mouth as his fondness begins to drip out like a calming flow of water. the heat begins to radiate over your cheeks.

“i can also sense it through touch.” his palm rests over your cheek momentarily, warm and comforting, as if he’s brought the very hearth of his love right to your already burning skin. it slides to the back of your neck, following an invisible trail over the plane of your back.

shion pauses along the way to regard specific parts of your body; the curve of your waist, the shallow dip of your spine at your lower back, and the crescent of your hipbone, places he was touching only moments ago with a much different fervor.

the entire time, you’re basking in the breathlessness of your body’s reaction to his touch, the gooseflesh it leaves in it’s wake. you can feel yourself subconsciously drawing closer to him with every inch of exploration.

his fingers grip into the back of your thigh appreciatively, steadily pulling upward to drape your leg across his midsection. even though he’s beneath you, shion makes it feel like he’s crowding you somehow, brushing the tip of his nose over your cupid’s bow until your soft giggle fills the small space left between your lips.

“and that laugh,” he says with such a fondness that it nearly breaks your heart. “you have a beautiful laugh, my love. the cadence of it melts away every ache of a long day. i can’t say i’ve heard any song that compares to it.”

somehow, in a matter of seconds, your husband reduces the question of his assessment of you down to nothing but utter certainty, a bashfulness permeating your already feverish complexion.

and all the while he didn’t make you feel silly for asking in the first place.

“besides…” shion softly smiles, finally opening his eyes to reveal the palest milky white, like winter frost against a pane of glass. “i’m sure this face is less than pleasant to look at.”

you immediately balk in offense, pushing yourself off of your husband’s chest to point a finger that he can’t rightfully see. “you listen here! I happen to think you’re quite handsome! i feel incredibly lucky to have—“

shion’s sudden bright laugher cuts you off, willing his eyes to close once again. “see that? beauty is in the eye of the beholder, as the saying goes.”

you deflect his very obvious pun and pout, something he also can’t see, but perhaps he can feel it somehow judging by the way his expression shifts in acknowledgement.

“i’ll have you know that practically every woman in the town expressed disappointment upon hearing about our marriage announcement.”

shion’s eyebrows raise at that, giving you a look of genuine surprise. “now why would they do that?”

you can’t help but sigh at his apparent denseness for his own good looks, for the fact that all the single women — even some of the married ones — secretly pined over shion yamada asaemon for years before he met you, hoping to be right here in your place.

as observant as he is, that fact seems to escape him to this very day.

“all I want to know is…” you reach for your husband’s face, a soft caress of your fingertips that only mildly catches him off guard, letting your touch trace the outlines of the marred flesh around his pretty eyes. “are you happy that you married me?”

shion pauses, if only for a second, before he responds with a tender touch around your wrist, allowing his lips to find the delicate palm of your hand and placing a kiss directly to its center.

his thumb brushes over your skin soothingly, finding your other hand still resting against his sturdy chest to curl his fingers around it. you can feel him looking at you, somehow, even in the complete absence of sight itself.

“please don’t ever doubt that you’ve made me the happiest man alive.”

there’s a sudden sting of tears along your lash line, so much warmth and reassurance blooming over your heart at his reverent declaration. “really? you mean that?”

shion closes the space and presses his lips to yours, ones that remind you of the sakura petals that often drift onto the engawa just outside this room. you instantly melt into it, a gentle kiss laden with promise, for as long as you both continue to draw breath.

your husband finally pulls back just enough to speak against your mouth.

“since the moment i laid my eyes on you.”

you can’t fight the reaction this time, letting another airy giggle dance around his senses. “i suppose i should be grateful that i married a man with a sense of humor.”

shion almost looks proud to receive your praises, curling his arms around you protectively, like you might suddenly disappear if he were to let go.

“and i’m grateful that i married such a beautiful woman that will laugh at my jokes.”

you smile then, brushing your nose against the slope of his own in appreciation of all that shion is and remains to be. calm and kind, passionate and honest, oh so handsome and decidedly quite humorous.

“always.”