Deeply and truly, he loves you, though he is a creature born of shadows in a time before time itself and his concept of love is something beyond your understanding as a mere mortal.
When he sees you, he is overwhelmed with the desire to consume you; to swallow you down and make you a piece of him, hoarded away in a secret place where only he can have you. But humans are strange, fragile things with fleeting lives. When they die, they are dead, and consuming you would be depriving himself of you even as he assures that you belong to no other.
So Aku adapts. He changes. He can shift his shape so he shifts his technique. He will not devour you, but he will do the next best thing and keep you close, under his eye and thumb and body. You are his and he loves you and you are not one with him but at least he can possess you.
He feeds you his flesh, fragile thing that you are; gives you his blood from which to drink, shares his strength with you because you are weak but you are his and he will share his everything with you. Even as you cry and scream and spit out flesh and stomach acid, he watches fondly as he makes you drink. Because you are his but he is yours too, little weak thing that you are, weakness of his own, and all he is is yours and belongs to you.
Ashi bowed her head even lower, fighting back the tears that threatened to break loose. Aku had given her a chance to finally see the world, and she had ruined it.She would once more be locked away in the darkness forever. There was no way her father would let her out now. Sniffling, she obediently stepped into the demon’s hand, refusing to meet his eyes.
“My sisters,” she whimpered. “Will they still be allowed outside?” Ashi remembered that sometimes her mother punished all of them for the mistakes of one; she hoped Aku wouldn’t do the same.
“Yes. So long as they do not wander into danger,” answered Aku. He could see Ashi was familiar with the concept of group punishment. Aku had very effectively used such punishments on entire families and communities in the past but it was not what he had in mind for his daughters. He could see no value in pitting parts of himself against one another.
With Ashi settled on his palm, the demon lord rose above the trees. From here he could see the citadel rising into the sky in the distance. But as he began to make his way toward it, he noticed that Ashi’s skin looked a bit pale and her cheeks a bit sunken. Gently, he tilted her face up with a tip of his finger.
“You look tired, Daughter,” he said with some concern. “And your eyes leak tears. Do you feel unwell?”
Samurai Jack AU : Everything’s the same, except instead of Aku shouting “How dare you talk back to your father!” in response to Ashi’s defiance, his only response is this…
Or he makes this face when she tells him he’s not her father.
“My Lord!” The High Priestess instantly fell to her knees, her staff clattering beside her. “I am honored to be graced by Your divine presence once more! For what reason have you blessed Your lowly servant with this gift?”
The priestess quickly looked up in surprise (though the expression was obscured by her mask). Ashi had been with Aku the entire time?! Well, it was good she was alive. But the woman could feel her Master’s stern gaze burning into her. She had displeased him. With a visible shudder, she once again pressed her face to the floor.
“Please, forgive me my Lord!” she cried. “I had thought You were aware of their existence – that once the Samurai was dead, You would once again grace us with Your presence.”
Silently, she agreed to His terms; though in her mind, she was in distress. Her actions hadn’t pleased Aku. She had made him angry. The priestess would be sure to subject herself to corporal punishment later.
“Your mercy knows no bounds my God. I will be sure to reflect upon Your wisdom and correct my actions accordingly. Do You desire that I summon the children now?”
As the High Priestess cried out, Aku’s eyes widened out of their narrowed gaze. So she truly had believed that her master saw all and knew all as did an omniscient god and that was why she had made no effort to contact him. It had been as simple as that. To learn that such a small misunderstanding could have brought about his downfall in another timeline was disconcerting.
Of course, Aku was not one to admit a fault and was content to let the High Priestess go on believing the fault was entirely hers. He spared her any more stern looks and averted his gaze.
The Shogun of Sorrow 