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The tengu general was in front of the Sacred Sakura again. The forest had provided no answer to what she sought.
Her thoughts and emotions were in disarray and she hoped for some clarity to them. They were notions that, for Sara, she had never dwelled upon until now and she was completely lost.
She had not been one to deepen relationships apart from what came from duty and loyalty. There was no one the general could turn to because of this very fact. She had few she called a friend, and the traveler was on missions away from Inazumian lands.
She took a deep breath, then another.
Clearing her mind as best she could, Sara kept the question she sought an answer to only. The general did not know when she started to seek guidance from the Sacred Sakura, but it had never led her astray. She felt some connection to the tree, it felt warm and welcoming.
'When I open my eyes, the falling petals shall guide my path..'
Why was her heart fluttering like the wings of a hummingbird? Her chest tightening and felt hard to breathe.. was it the expectation for this answer?
Sara opened her eyes, her amber gaze seeing a pair of sakura petals mingling, falling at their leisure and moving away from her. A gentle breeze pushed them forwards, guiding her gaze back toward the shrine behind her.
"So you're here Sara." Came a quiet melodious voice that Sara could recognize anywhere.
Her body froze, an electric tension coursing through all her muscles and rigidly moving to look at the owner of the voice, as the petals continued their course and landed at the feet of her Excellency, the Almighty Narukami Ogosho.
The Raiden Shogun.
Ei.
The tengu turned to look at her archon fully, with what she hoped was a normal demeanor. How she felt on the inside.. was anything but. If her archon noticed, she did not comment.
"Yo-Your Excellency.."
The archon regarded her with an inquisitive look, void of that stern almost emotionless one Sara had come to get used to since before she became her general. It was something that the tengu would get to see more recently, and when it was just them. It unsettled her but it also started to make her chest warm when such gaze met her own.
"Do you need something of me?" Sara asked, willing her body to relax as she went down the stairs and came closer to her archon. It was automatic, asking if her Shogun needed her, familiar.
“Yes, actually.” Ei began. “I was looking for you and Miko mentioned having seen you walking toward the Sacred Sakura.”
“My apologies, your excellency. It slipped my mind to let you know my whereabouts.” Sara quickly said, dipping her head to show her feelings. It had been inconsiderate of her, what if it had been an emergency? Sara was her general .
What Sara did not expect was the soft feeling of dainty fingers gently pressing under her chin to bring her amber gaze back to meet Ei’s amethyst ones that were glowing softly with electro energy and something else Sara could not decipher. “No apology is needed. I’m glad to have found you here.”
She was rendered speechless. Their closeness did nothing to help Sara regain her capability to speak, yet her archon continued without pause.
“I actually wanted to ask you if you’d like to accompany me to enjoy some sweets. If you are not busy on your day off.”
Sara had not noticed the Shogun carrying something in her free hand, and the absence of the fingers under her chin was like a bucket of cold water. The Raiden Shogun showed her the dango sweets she had on an exquisite plate, but what caught her attention was her archon wanting to spend more time with her.
“Of course your excellency. I would be content to accompany you.”
The chuckle that escaped her archon’s lips was melodical. “You don’t need to be so formal. Call me Ei.”
“Yes.. Ei.” It felt so foreign but right to say her archon’s true name. Sara couldn’t help but feel her cheeks burn. “I’d like to eat sweets with you.”
“I’m glad.” Ei said with a smile. Moving toward a space where they would sit under a sakura tree and enjoy the sweets.
“Why did you not invite Lady Guuji?” Sara could not help but ask, she was aware that they were friends for centuries, and the Shogun had a deeper connection.
“You interest me Sara,” The archon replied simply. “I wish to get to know more of you.”
Sara did not reply right away, she was processing what was happening so rapidly. They were spending more time together recently, alas it had always been work-related with the dealings with Watatsumi Island. However, Ei wished to know her , not just her general.
She remembered the sakura petals that fell at her archon’s feet just moments before. The Sacred Sakura had never led her astray before.
The tengu hurried her steps and fell right beside Ei, it felt different but not uncomfortable. She even liked it if she dared to think about it.
“I also wish the same Ei.”