Chapter Text
Yae was waiting for Ei before the Sacred Sakura, trying not to let the worry that was gnawing at the pit of her belly show as thunder shook the skies above her head. Her shrine maidens didn’t need to see her panicking- no one did. With Ei gone, she was the one everyone looked to. She could not afford to show weakness. Panic did not suit her. She was supposed to be unruffled, cool, slick.
She was not supposed to be scared.
Oh, but she was.
She wondered what had happened- why this was happening now, of all times, thousands of years after the Archon War. She’d heard whispers of defeated gods rising from across the sea, but those gods had not been dead, only chained.
Orobashi was dead. He had died by Ei’s hand. He could not be brought back. It was impossible.
Of course, she had heard the rumors- that some radicals on Watatsumi island sought to revive their dead god. Nonsense, she had thought. Dead things were dead- a consciousness could be saved, but a body could not be, and she was certain no one had bothered to save Orobashi’s mind before Ei had sliced him into ribbons.
Well, apparently she had been wrong because the entire western side of Inazuma had been plunged into hysteria as a fallen god rose from the dead.
Supposedly, anyways. She and Ei had certainly felt…something awaken in the dead of night, but… Well, it was just impossible!
Yae shivered and adjusted her sleeves. Ei would be fine. She had promised she would come back, hadn’t she? She would. She would come back- she had to. If she didn’t, Yae would march over to Yashiori island herself and beat the Archon senseless with her sandal as retribution and then drag her back by the ear. It sounded like a brilliant plan, didn’t it?
Yae sat down on the steps that led up to the shrine, ignoring the pouring, icy rain that pelted her body and soaked her hair. She kept her gaze trained on the darkened sky and waited, just as she had waited for her mentor all those years ago.
Her mentor who had never returned, even after she had promised she would.
Dawn comes and, with it, sudden calm.
Yae stood, hands clasped in front of her as she spotted the faintest outline of a purple-clothed figure ascending the mountain steps. In her lover’s hands, there was some kind of bundle and Yae sighed. It had better not be a head- it was Yae’s self-appointed job to bring her lover the various skulls of all different types of creatures. If Ei had brought her a head, she would find it quite disgusting. What would she even do with a head?
Yae got tired of waiting and started walking down the stairs to meet her lover- she had waited far too long in the past forty-eight hours. Far, far too long.
“What is that?” she demanded. Not ‘I love you’ or ‘I was worried’- no, that would be too easy, too simple. Let Ei work for it- after all, Yae IS a little upset. She was forced to wait in the rain all night and she can see with her own eyes now that her lover is unharmed.
If anything, Ei actually looks rejuvenated and, oddly enough, a bit nervous.
Oh, it had better not be a head.
Yae put her hands on her hips as she waited for Ei to explain- it is Ei, anyways, she can tell. The Shogun is incapable of worry and that was what shone in Ei’s violet eyes. Oh, what had this girl done now?
Ei shifted the bundle in her arms and cleared her throat. “Maybe we should go inside, Miko. I…believe we have some things to talk about.”
“Ei,” she said, lowering her voice in warning. “What is that?”
“Let’s go inside,” Ei repeated, glancing around. She would not meet Yae’s eyes- why? What the hell was that thing? “I promise I will explain in just a moment- I would just like some privacy right now.”
Yae hesitated, but gave in after a few seconds. “Alright, come on then,” she said, exasperated. “I assume the battle went well?”
“Oh, there wasn’t a fight,” Ei said awkwardly.
Yae pauses, glancing back at the Archon. “Ei…”
“Miko, please,” Ei pleaded. “Let’s go inside.”
Yae glared at her lover but they retreated back to the shrine and into Yae’s quarters. Her rooms had gone unused in recent months since Ei had returned and there was no point in staying away from the Shogun now. They were neat and pristine, unused and a little dusty. Ei paid the room no mind, however, as she sat down on the bed.
She had yet to set down the bundle in her arms.
“Explain,” Yae ordered, crossing her arms and glaring at the Archon with as much annoyance as she could muster.
“Listen-” Ei began and Yae internally groaned. “We’re married.”
“We are,” Yae said flatly.
“And, naturally, the next step after marriage for a lot of people is to have a baby!”
“Ei,” Yae said, willing the muscles in her jaw not to twitch.
“Miko,” Ei whined. “Oh, just look at how cute he is, please! Come on, we would be great moms, Miko, please.”
Ei finally turned the bundle, pulling the fabric back to reveal a small, sleeping face framed by pale purple, almost gray hair. Yae rubbed her temples. “Oh my gods, whose toddler did you steal?”
Ei glared at her, clutching the child closer to her chest. “No one’s. I found it.”
“Ei, please don’t tell me that’s what I think it is,” Yae said sharply.
Ei pouted and Yae resisted the urge to throttle her. “Miko~”
“Ei, that is a bad idea,” she said, pointing at the child. “A very bad idea!”
“It’ll be fine,” Ei said, stroking the child’s face. “Won’t it?” she cooed, pressing a quick kiss to its forehead.
“Ei!”
“Miko! Listen, I have it all figured out. This little guy is going to be our son!”
“EI, THAT IS A REINCARNATED GOD THAT PROBABLY WANTS YOU DEAD.”
“Is not,” Ei said, making a face at her. “It’s our baby.”
“Oh Archons,” Yae said, sinking to the floor.
“Look, he looks like our love child. He has purple hair like me and a tail just like you.. Well, it isn’t really furry, but it’s a tail and I haven’t got a tail, so he must’ve gotten it from you-”
“You’re serious about this,” Yae said flatly. “What the fuck.”
“I can’t kill him, Yae,” Ei said, cradling the child. “I felt bad when I did it the first time and I really, really can’t do it again. Please, Miko, c’mon, we’ll be great moms. It isn’t like we could hand him over to Watatsumi, either. They’d plot another revolution.”
“What happens when he gets his memories back and decides to try to murder you?” she demanded.
Ei just stared at her blankly. “We’ll…cross that bridge when we get there?”
“Oh my fucking god.”
Ei smiled charmingly. “Hey~”
Yae bared her teeth at the Archon.
“Oh, Miko,” Ei begged. “PLEASE!!”
“Fine,” she snapped. “Fine, let’s keep him. When everything goes to shit, guess who’s cleaning it up? Not me! Nope, this will be on you, my darling Ei.”
“Yay!” Ei cheered, jumping to her feet. She passed the child- their child?- to Yae and then wrapped her arms around them. “I’m going to be a mom!”
Yae shook her head, scowled, and looked down at their son. Up close, she could see a splattering of pale pink scales on his cheeks that reminded her of freckles. Jeez, paired with the purple hair, this really was their love child, wasn’t it? No wonder Ei had fallen in love.
She dared to push a lock of hair back from their child’s face and sighed, defeated. He was really cute... “Alright, Ei, let’s take him home- you have him soaked. No more rainstorms! Look at what you did, he’s shivering! Poor thing, I’m sorry your mother is an asshole.”
“Sorry,” Ei said sheepishly, but she was still bouncing with excitement. Yae heard a rumble of thunder from outside the room. “We have a baby.”
Yae raised a brow. “It would seem so.”
Ei giggled. “We have a baby!”
Yae rolled her eyes. She probably would not have a moment’s peace for the rest of her eternal life between the two of them now- how fun.
Their child yawned, squirming in her arms, and she held him tighter as she followed Ei out of the room. Her wife was all but dancing away and she couldn’t stop the small chuckle from escaping her lips.
If this made Ei happy, then it made her happy, too. She would do anything to keep that bright smile on her lover’s face- anything at all.
Even if it meant adopting a child she had no idea what to do with.
“Come on, Miko!” Ei called, waving her over to the mountain path.
“I’m coming, I’m coming,” she said, smiling.
She started down the path, her Archon at her side, and their child in her arms.