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Kame's eyes welled up with tears as she looked at Asa. She was being sent away from the Ooku. Her dreams of working in the Inner Chambers lost along with her new-found friend, Asa.
"Kame—"
"Why?" Kame interrupted Asa, "Why are you sending me away?!"
Asa stared into her eyes for a few silent moments, "I..." She didn't know how to explain it, but she knew that this had to happen.
Angrily wiping away the tears that rolled down her cheeks, Kame grabbed her bag of things. She brushed past Asa, who watched the ground in silence. Asa's hands clenched around two combs that she hid under the layers of lavender robes.
"Wait!"
Kame stopped and turned to look at Asa. Her face wet from tears and her eyebrows furrowed in anger.
Asa's hands shook as she tentatively took out the two combs. She handed the black one to Kame and said in a small voice, "This was... your grandmother's, right?"
Kame's black eyes widened as she trapped Asa in a tight hug, "Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you!!" She exclaimed over and over again. She took the comb in her hands, "How did you find it?" She was now beaming with joy.
With a gentle smile, Asa responded, "One of the guards found it in the well. I thought I would return it."
Kame continued to thank Asa and hug her tightly before she noticed the other comb held tightly in Asa's hands, "What's that?" She asked.
Asa looked down at the comb with soft eyes, "This is mine... I..." She hesitated, "I wanted to give it to you." She slowly extended her hand, her cheeks flushing a light pink.
Kame's eyes widened once more, "Asa!" She exclaimed as she took the comb into her own hands. She looked up at Asa with a knowing smile, "Is this your precious thing?"
With a gentle gaze, Asa took the comb and fixed it in Kame's short black hair. When she finished, she looked into Kame's dark eyes, "Something similar to that." Her cheeks still light pink and flushed.
Kame gleefully smiled back at Asa, she handed her grandmother's comb to Asa, "Here, then you should keep this!"
It was Asa's eyes that widened this time. Then Kame added, "That way, we'll remember each other!"
"Thank you," Asa looked down at the black comb in her pale hands.
Kame hugged her one last time before a guard in pink told her it was time to leave. With a big wave, Kame left the Ooku while Asa watched silently. She held the comb tightly to her chest, she will always remember Asa. She will not dry out.