Too cute for my toes

He still couldn't decide if she was ignorant to the way things were or toying with him, but now for reasons unknown he felt compelled to defend his way of life. "Balance, he said for the third time. "The plant needs water, it gets water and thrives. The animal dies, its body feeds the grass, then the grass feeds the animals and then the animals die and feed the grass. Everything is connected in this way." He drew a circle in the air with his paw. "Wolves are the same. They are born, they grow up, they multiple, and they die. Marriage is just a part of the cycle."

Aku frowned as he considered the...woman? Spirit? Whatever she was. He'd started out determined not to share information but now he wasn't sure that was necessary. "Many marry for love, it's not a foreign concept to me. And some," he said slowly, "Give the chance of that up because it is better for everyone. If your leg is stuck and you risk starvation if you cannot move, is it not better to cut it off? That is an extreme example, but sometimes sacrifices are necessary." He went off on a tangent for a second, his gaze flicking to hers. "You keep saying 'one' and 'monogamy' and these are not things I've said. No matter." He reined it in. "I agreed to marry to bring peace to our peoples, who fight."

There was no real issue with kissing this woman beyond the danger of her bewitching him. He had lied a little in an attempt to get away from whatever foul designs she, as a naturally nefarious creature, may have had in store for him. As for his reasons for having kissed no one, that had more to do with his nerves than any real injunction. Was there a threat from such a thing? Possibly, but there were no rules forbidding him from taking another wife someday. The only reason he couldn't now was because Akna had left things broken. Everything was complicated and vast and he wasn't about to try to explain all the ties that bound him to this one disdain-filled spirit. But he would certainly try to explain some. "You ask why and that answer is simple: I do it for my family, who are counting on me to make things right."