Chapter Text
Morning light brought with it the scent of petrichor, blowing through the still-open balcony door and filling the room with a spring-like freshness. Ei lay in the bed, appearing deathly still to any who might not be aware of the nature of her physical form.
Sara had long since awoken, restless sleep cut shorter still by the storm outside. Donning her clothes but leaving her mask by the bed, she had left the room as quietly as she could and traversed the halls of Tenshukaku towards the kitchen. Leisurely cooking was not something Sara often had time for often, the Kujou Estate had its own cooks and when she was stationed at a barracks, she rarely had time to cook for herself while overseeing troops.
It was the Shogun, once, who had asked if Sara had any skill in the kitchen. How many years ago was it, now? Likely before Sara was even a General. They had crossed paths in the courtyard of the Tenshukaku, and as if on a whim (or perhaps driven by hunger after a long meeting), the Almighty Shogun had looked Sara up and down and requested something to eat, if the woman knew how.
(Ei would never admit it had been her in control that day, driven by the resemblance Sara shared to another Tengu, from long ago. It felt almost cruel, to have leaned on the woman for something so outside of her control, but she had wanted to share a meal with her nonetheless.)
But Sara had obliged. The only ‘dish’ she had mastered was a sweetened Tamagoyaki that her brothers both enjoyed, and that was hardly fit for a god. Nevertheless, hands shaking the entire time while the Shogun waited in the other room, Sara had made eggs for the Archon of her nation. To her surprise, the Shogun had been pleased- it was then that Sara learned of her sweet tooth- and ever since, Sara had practiced that same recipe until she could make it blindfolded.
It was one of her fondest memories.
And so she stood over the stove, the rectangular pan held steady in one hand and a pair of chopsticks in the other as she coaxed the egg into the proper shape and added a sweet filling between the layers. To say that acts of service were Sara’s love language would be an understatement, it was all she knew how to do. For Ei, she would do anything. Stand guard over her, lead an army into battle for her… even cook a sickeningly sweet egg.
Unfortunately, however, what Ei needed most at the moment was to not wake up alone in that bedroom.
Ei woke up alone.
She rose slowly, hair spilling from the loose braid she kept it in as she surveyed the room with a growing feeling of panic. Sara wasn’t there. Had she left her? Had last night been a dream? A pain induced hallucination? Was she still somehow within Makoto’s Plane of Euthymia? Had she ever left?
The phantom ache of a spear cut sent spasms through her form, one hand moving to her side on reflex to apply pressure to a wound that was not there. Had she need for breath, she would likely be approaching hyperventilation.
The room looked so familiar, despite how long it had been since she left it. She had been eager to return, Yae teasing her about her insistence that they finish their talk after she ‘got some rest’. They both knew she meant ‘checked on Sara’. But… her sense of time was reeling as she tried to come back to a present that she felt to be the past.
A polished red mask stared at her from the bedside table, and after a moment Ei willed her stiff limbs to move. She took it carefully in hand, gripping it as if it were the one anchor holding her down in this riptide of emotion. The carved edges dug into her hands from the force of her grip, the discomfort proving its reality within her confused mind.
“Oh, Makoto,” She whispered, pressing the mask against her forehead. The hazy reflection of her own face in the polished surface made her stomach twist. The face of her sister. But also the face of the one she had been fighting for so long. “Look at me now. You finally got through to me, but now I don’t even know where to begin.”
“I believe, with the abolishment of the Sakoku Decree.”
Ei’s head snapped up, startled to see Sara standing in the doorway with a small dish. When had the door opened? Had her senses truly dulled so much in her panic?
Or was she just so used to the woman coming and going from her room that the sound, even after all these years, was barely noticeable to her.
“Where did you go?” Ei began to rise from the bed but a stern look from Sara ended that movement as quickly as it began. “You were gone.” She hated how vulnerable the complaint left her, but if the General noticed, she did not comment.
“I was down the hallway, cooking for you,” Sara offered Ei the small plate, perching herself on the side of the bed as Ei watched her intently. “From what I could gather from last night, it’s been a while since you ate.”
Ei nodded slowly, carefully taking up the chopsticks Sara had placed on the plate to try a bit of the egg. The taste was achingly familiar, bordering on nostalgic despite Ei having had it just a few days ago from Sara’s point of view. Everything felt surreal, both so close and so distant at the same time.
Whenever Ei had gotten lost in her own head she had looked to Sara to take the lead somewhat, her loyal General guiding her back to reality with her down to earth outlook. This, it seemed, was no exception.
“The Sakoku Decree, yes,” She nodded after a moment. “Inazuma will not find its eternity by locking itself away from the world.”
“So you’ve come to a decision, then?” The question was not without weight, however light Sara’s tone was.
Ei set aside her plate, reaching to touch between Sara’s shoulder blades, where her wings would erupt when the woman was feeling particularly relaxed or emotional. Her General glanced back at her, allowing herself to be guided into lying down with her head in Ei’s lap. The two stared at each other for some time, bright purple eyes meeting molten gold.
Had Makoto ever felt like this? She always spoke of dreams. Of moments. Of eternity being undying but ephemeral, fleeting and without form but somehow such a constant pillar. For how many years, how many duels, had some tiny part of Ei longed to just leave. To go back and lie with Sara under the sakura trees, or under the blankets of her chambers in the Tenshukaku. For how long had Sara been that eternal dream that Makoto spoke of so freely. As if accepting her sister’s truth was not the single most difficult decision she had ever made. As if the cost of undoing her old beliefs would not likely haunt her for years to come. And this woman, this Tengu, so devout and foolish that she’d face down a Harbinger with no regard for her own safety… how long had she been living proof that her sister was correct?
Concern painted Sara’s features as she awaited a response. Ei seemed to notice, trailing her fingers along the woman’s forehead as if trying to smooth away the frown.
“Yes,” She said finally, a smile breaking across her features. It was faint, and more than a little sad, but it shone like the morning sun through the window. Sara found herself mirroring it as she looked up at her Archon. “Yes, I think I have my answer.”