Jack got to his feet and stretched. Taking a small jug from beneath the window, he poured a little water on to his bonsai tree. He had done this every morning as Uekiya had instructed. The old gardener would be pleased, he thought. He hadn’t managed to kill it yet.

As Jack tended to the bonsai, he spotted tiny pink flower buds emerging. The same as those in his vision. Sakura blossom.

The blossom meant it was already spring.

Jack couldn’t believe it. He had been training at the Niten Ichi Ryū for over three months. He had been in Japan almost nine months. He had not set foot on English soil in nearly three years! His life was so different from what it once had been. He was no longer a child dreaming of being a pilot like his father. He was a boy training to be a samurai warrior!

Every morning he rose before dawn to meditate for half a stick of time. Then he joined the others for the same bland breakfast of rice and a few pickled vegetables. What he would give for some English bacon and fried eggs!

Then they embarked upon their lessons for the day. Two long sessions, one in the morning, and one in the afternoon. Some days it was kenjutsu and Zen; others it was kyujutsu and taijutsu. Following training, he would gather with the students in the Chō-no-ma for dinner, the sensei all seated at the head table, like a row of esoteric warrior gods looking over their charges.

After dinner, they would be expected to practise by themselves, perfecting the skills they had learnt. Learn today so that you may live tomorrow was the mantra that was constantly drilled into them.

Yet, despite the regimented routine and rigorous discipline of this life, Jack had to admit that he was more at peace with himself than he had been for a long while. The routine was a comfort in itself. He was not a free wheel spinning without purpose or direction. He was learning how to defend himself, to live by the code of bushido, and to become a true samurai.

He could now wield a bokken with power and accuracy and had mastered the first three attacks – the only ones you will ever need, Sensei Hosokawa had said.

He could shoot an arrow, although he had only hit the target a couple of times, unlike Akiko who had taken to kyujutsu like she had been born with a bow in her hand.

He could now kick, punch, block and throw. Admittedly, he only knew the very basic techniques, but he was no longer powerless. The next time he met with Dragon Eye, he would not be the helpless little boy who failed to save his father. He would be a samurai warrior!