Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

"I've seen things... wonderful things... that go far beyond what this cold world could ever offer to me." Sariatu said, holding her sword out in defense against her two younger sisters.

"That 'wonderful' world holds nothing special, nothing but pain and suffering..." her one sister, Suzume, retorted. She was frustrated with Sariatu, how she let love blind her from the hell that lies below.

"Why would you want to live there? There is nothing there for any of us. Up here we have everything and more, why bother with it?" Sariatu's other sister, Shizu, asked, arms folded  under her feathered cape.

Sariatu looked between her two sisters, anger evident on her face.

"You two are as blind as father..." She whispered.

"It is you who is blind, Sister." Suzume lashed out, charging quickly towards Sariatu, their swords clashing together. Shizu, too frustrated to even bother, decided to stay out of the fight. As far as she was concerned, Sariatu's betrayal was enough to consider her dead.

"I trusted you!" Suzume yelled and her and Sariatu fought, swords clashing roughly as each of them dodged and blocked the others attack.

"I looked up to you, you were my mentor and guide with everything I did..." She continued, pushing hard against her older sisters sword.

Sariatu grunted, looking at her sister, looking into the mask that hid her sisters real face, hid the real emotion that she felt.

"You were the best, you were the brightest light that we had..." Suzume whispered... Sariatu swore she could feel her sisters stance weakening, each blow her sister pit against her becoming more and more shaky.

"W-we  always fought better together... as a family..." Suzume got quieter with each word. Sariatu stared at her sister, confused.

"We need you, Father needs you...  I-I NEED YOU!" Suzume released her sword, letting it fall to the ground with a clank. Sariatu lowerd her sword, keeping a somewhat guarded stance.

Suzume shook her head, pulling off her mask while she did it. She continued to stare down at the ground while Sariatu continued to stare at her with a confused but slightly concerned look.

"W-Why must you l-leave your family?" Suzume whispered quietly, slowly lifting her face to look towards Sariatu.

 Sariatu stared in shock, looking upon the face of her younger sister. Her sisters rarely removed their masks, preferring to hide themselves behind them. For the first time in a long time, Sariatu came face to face with one of her sisters, face to face with the dark, nighttime blue eyes that the twins shared. But, the thing that surprised Sariatu the most was the build up of tears on her sisters eyelids. Her and her sisters were forbidden to express emotion, or any feelings towards others, so this level of emotion was almost foreign to Sariatu.

"U-up here, we can c-continue to be a f-family..." Suzume whispered, voice cracking from the tears she was holding back. Suzume stepped closer to Sariatu, and Sariatu's stance got more rigid.

"U-up here w-we could..." Suzume was cut short by Sariatu.

"There is NOTHING that I want up here!" Sariatu yelled, lunging forward with her sword out. Suzume was quick to dodge, rolling onto the ground and picking up her own sword with it.

"I am tired of this life, tired of the cold" Sariatu continued, her sword clashing against her Sisters.

"And I'm am tired. Of. Constantly. Killing. EVERYONE!" Each blow Sariatu gave pushed her sister harder and harder until her final blow. Suzume was slow with her block, and Sariatu's sword came down onto her waist, slicing straight through her leather armor and leaving a deep gash on her smooth, blueish-grey skin.

Suzume yelped out in pain, her hand coming down to press against the wound on her side. She fell to her knees in pain, trying to stop the blood that has already began to form around her fingers.

Sariatu stepped back in shock, but watched on. Shizu, who had been quietly watching her sisters fight, finally stepped in, pulling out her sword and swinging it in front of Suzume to block any possible attacks on Sariatu's end.

"You have done enough. First you betray your own family, now you hurt us." Shizu yelled out. Sariatu continued to look at Suzume, hunched over in pain. Sariatu swore she heard a sob escape her younger sisters lips.

"You want out so badly? Then GO! Leave this place! But be warned... this won't be the end..." Shizu growled, bringing her sword out in front of her in a fighting stance.

Sariatu continued to stare for a few moments, looking at her sisters. Shizu was still as a statue, allowing for her seriousness to be visible even without having to get a look at her face. Suzume has since raised her head, and Sariatu could see a few light tear tracks glowing on her cheeks from the light of the moon.

With one final glance, Sariatu ran. She ran as fast as she could, leaving behind the last thing from her old life. Despite what she may show, she really did care about her sisters. She didn't want to leave them behind, she wanted them to come with her, to find a new life... But... Sometimes... people won't change... and there's nothing that can be done about that...

Chapter Text

 The sound of the nighttime bell could be heard over Kubo's story, signaling his time to head home. Kubo moved quickly, collecting his things and making his way through the groaning crowd of people.

"Sorry guys, I've gotta go. But feel free to come back again tomorrow!" Kubo yelled out as he rushed quickly to the bridge out of the village.

As he ran, he worried about the state his mother could be in. More often than not, he can find her in the same place he left her earlier in the morning, but there have been times that he found her collapsed onto her side. These nights always seemed to be the worse, the nights that things were more foggy than usual for her. Those were the nights where he felt totally useless, like he couldn't do anything for her. The nights that he so desperately wished his father was still alive, to ask him for guidance. It almost always drove him to tears.

He continued his way up the hill towards his sea-side cave home, taking a sharp turn towards the entrance. When he took the turn he was expecting to find his Mother sitting there by the entrance, just like he left her. But when he saw her, he noticed she was standing and staring around with rapidly moving and anxious eyes.

"Hello, Mo-" Kubo started, but his mother was quick to cut him off

"Have you seen my son?" She asked him as she rushed over toward him.

"Your what?" Kubo asked, hoping he had just heard her wrong.

"My son... he was supposed to be back by now!" She said, her voice rushed with worry.

"Mother, I'm right here..." He said, carefully taking one of her hands in his.

"Huh?" Kubo's mother started, really focusing on Kubo's appearance now. She began to look him over, stopping on his eyes.

"But my son... he... he has both of his eyes..." She said. Kubo felt his heart sink into his stomach. She... She can't recognize him at all. He was at a complete loss of words, honestly. The only thing he could think to do right now was to play along with her...

"I-I think there might have been a boy coming up this hill from behind me, I can wait for him with you if you'd like..." Kubo asked, staring into his mothers distant eyes. She didn't respond and Kubo carefully guided her back into their cave home, sitting her down right by their firepit. He began prepping some rice to eat for dinner, igniting the flame below the pot and bringing some water to a boil.

Kubo watched his mother intently as she continued to stare out the cave opening, waiting for something that will never come.

There were plenty of nights where his mother has forgotten his name, forgotten pieces of her stories and so on. there was even a time where she forgot who she was and how she got there. But Kubo was able to quickly jog her memories. This, though... This was new.

Kubo continued to think on and prep dinner, pulling a few bowls out and placing them by their usual eating spot. As he was grabbing some chopsticks and cups for tea, he could hear the final nighttime bell from the village go off in the distance. Suddenly, his mother gasped. She was up on her feet shortly after, quickly scrambling towards the cave entrance while muttering something under her breath.

"Wait!" Kubo yelled, quickly standing up and following after his mother.

"I've got to find him... Kubo!" Mother yelled out.

"Mother! I'm right here! Please!" Kubo yelled out while he grabbed his mothers wrist to hold her back.

"No I've gotta go..." Mother fought against Kubo's grasp on her wrist. Kubo could feel her growing weaker, though.

"Mother..." Kubo said, voice low.

His mother continued to get weaker.

"Mother, please... I'm right here..." Kubo said quietly as his mother stopped fighting against his hold on her wrist. He stepped around her to stand in front of her. She looked down at him, confused.

Silence fell over the two of them as his mother analyzed him up and down.

"Kubo?" She asked, head tilting slightly to the side.

"Yes, Mother. I'm here..." He said, smiling up at her while he held her hand gingerly in his own.

"Oh... Kubo..." She fell to her knees and Kubo was quick and ready to help steady her. Though any attempts to steady her were cut short as she threw her arms around him. He was shocked for second, but quickly snaked his arms around her and leaned into the hug.

"Kubo... please... p-please don't do that again." She said, her body shaking lightly. Kubo smiled sadly and hugged his mother a little tighter.

"I-I won't mother... I'm sorry..." He whispered.

He continued to hug his mother for a few more moments before he released her. She sat up a bit, looking towards him. Kubo's eyes scanned over her face and his smile lowered into a frown. Her face was streaked with small tear trails, and her eyes were wet and glassy. He looked up at her worriedly, and reached a hand up to wipe the tears off of her face.

"I'm s-sorry... I just..." She said, reaching her hand up to wipe at her own eyes.

Kubo chuckled quietly and a small smile spread on his face. He stood her up and the two moved to sit down by the fire, finishing up dinner preparations and settling in for a warm night and some family time.