When Keiko chooses duty over love, she wonders if the code of the samurai is worth the heartache.
Leaving Edo to save the life of a man she once loved, Keiko must give up everything she has worked for. She vows one day to return, but she has learned the hard lesson that the gods have a dark sense of humor. The city of Kobe seems a world away from Edo, a place where she could disappear, become whoever she wants to be, and leave the way of the samurai behind her. But the code of bushido is not so easily discarded. Even as Keiko makes new friends, new allies, and explores new dreams, her duty calls to her. Torn between a life of joy and a life of honor, Keiko knows that she can never truly have both.