Chapter Text
“Don’t cry,” Ayura had told her. Her hand, softer then, held Tetora’s tightly.
The boy she liked made fun of her boobs, so she broke his nose. He called her ugly and shouted that no one would want a savage woman.
“I’m not crying,” Tetora said, as she wiped away her tears, “I’m too good for him anyway.”
It was always Tetora who found herself heart broken, and Ayura would always be there, swordhands more and more calloused, telling her, “don’t cry, Tetora.”
“I’m not a child anymore, you know,” Tetora would say, “I don’t cry over boys anymore.”
Ayura would nod, and continue to hold her hand.
Ayura was there when Tetora lost her first lover. A city guard who used to send her flowers and pieces of cheap jewelry, who treated her like a lady and admired her strength, who followed them around like a puppy. He overdosed on Nadai.
“Don’t cry,” she said, wiping away Tetora’s tears.
“I’m not crying,” Tetora answered, through gritted teeth, clutching the hair ribbon he had given to her.
When the blade ran through her abondomen, Tetora thought, It’s over. All she could hope for was for Ayura to get here in time, for her to take Lady Lili and Yona and run. The man raised his sword at Lili and Yona, but Tetora couldn’t move. She couldn’t do anything.
And as her vision blurred, she remembered Ayura’s calloused hands, holding her own. Ah, was she crying again? She could hear Ayura’s voice, telling her, “don’t cry.”
She thought, I wish I could see Ayura right now.
Tetora woke up to the sound of quiet sobbing. It was her lady.
“Hey, I’m okay,” she smiled, raising her hand to wipe away Lady Lili’s tears, “don’t cry.”
Aya aya, was this what she looked like to Ayura all the time?
Her hand was clasped tightly in calloused ones, Ayura’s. Ayura, whose eyes were red.
“I’m not crying,” said their young lady, wiping away her tears.
Her eyes met with Ayura’s. Together, they smiled.