Still liking this.  Great imagery in this one, too.  :)

Author's Response: Thank you! I'm glad you're liking it.

love this tale and how in japan the story is told backwards, a la "memento" ;) hope you update soon!! thanx

Author's Response: I guess I really need to go watch Memento, because you're the second person who has compared it to this story. I'm told the movie was very good, so I'll take this as a complement and be happy. Thanks for the review!

Great chapter!

Author's Response: Thanks!

I had to walk away from the screen for a minute after reading the historical section of this chapter. in order to allow the chills to subside.

>>I am coming Takeshi.

Her eyes rose unconsciously to the stars, wanting to witness their beauty one last time before death took her. In the corner of her eye, Kaede saw Orochi’s head start its inexorable dive. She closed her eyes and hope that the pain would not last very long.

It was then that she heard the battle cry.>>

Exquisite.

The rest of the chapter is wonderful, too. I love the history in the story, and in your author's responses.

Author's Response: I'm too much of a history-buff to not get into the historic part of this story, both within the fic and in my responses to feedback. I'm glad it's not driving people nuts. I have been a little surprised that most of the comments have dealt with the Kaede/Takeshi time line because this is a Spuffy site, but I'm definitely not complaining. I love my OCs too and I'm glad others seem to like them as well. Thanks for the review!

Again, the Kyoto imagery is very monochromatic and etheral, and again I'll say... hauntingly beautiful. Knowing that it's that setting that holds the angst in this story just makes it so much more bittersweet and inviting.

Your imagery of Kaede is very clever too. A vision of delicate grace wrapped around a strength of steel and harbouring the self confidence of a great war general. It's very interesting now to draw sociological comparisons between the two slayers. One born into a society where tradition, honour and female subjugation are paramount and the other, a 21st century gal full of liberation, sass and willfulness. Both finding their way despite...

Orochi has me in two minds. One part of me wants to laugh out loud at the imagery created in my head. In my head, Oroch has the lower body of the monster from the deep from an old black and white B-Movie, the body of Jabba the Hutt's bigger brother and eight Medusaesque heads all with wild mesmerising eyes and wild flailing hair. *bows head in embarrassment*. The other part of me though, feels the malevolence and indestructability that is the downfall of all who encounter him and I feel helpless for Kaede.

The current day events are, as I'd expect at this stage of the story and as I think you intended anyway, pretty predictable. But, it's still fun to follow Buffy and Spike as their realisation grows! Transporting Buffy to this ethereal world so that there is a meeting of Slayers and Vampires is a great idea, and I'm so looking forward to checking out how each pair react to each other and to what they learn there!

Two things I noticed (tell me you don't need me to do this and I'll stop, honest):

fixing he watcher with an angry glare. should read, 'fixing her watcher with an angry glare'.

The other thing is really me being picky with grammar. The sentence, She watched Giles untie their vampiric prisoner with an impassive face. reads as though it'd Spike's impassive face. I think it should read, 'She watched Giles, his face impassive, as he untied their vampiric prisoner'. (not sure I'd used the vampiric adjective there either?).

Such powerful imagery in this chapter. It's clear you love the setting. Thanks again for another lovely chapter. Don't suppose there's going to be a clip of 'Ripperman' meeting 'Ichiro-san', too, is there? *winks*

Author's Response: Well, I can claim no responsibility for Orochi's design. That I got from the myths. ;-) I'm glad you're liking the settings though, because they're so much fun to write. As for freelance betaing, I totally welcome it. It's good for the fic and my ego. (Oh, but if you keep bringing up Ripperman, I might have to abandon this story in favor of writing crack!fic. Fair warning.) Thanks for leaving a review!

Great update! I'd wndered if the two slayers would meet up smehow.

Your Buffy 's voice is just right in this this, and the plot is drawing me farther into the story!

Author's Response: It's kind of silly how much writing Buffy stresses me out. Oh well. I'm glad you're liking my take on her anyway. Thanks for reviewing!