Work Text:
Years after the mongol conquest,, Sitara or rather Fatima, who she got used to be referred as, had started to forget about who she cared for. The memories of her beloved Tus family were altered, while her true mother’s were mere fragments. If at first seeing others wearing fabrics similar to the real Fatima comforted her, now it did nothing, cause neither Sitara knows if there is resemblance.
Doing her job, smiling, and saying kind words.
It was fake .
It was a loop .
But there was nothing she could do.
That day was no different, except for the meeting with Sira, wich she hadn’t seen in a while, at two o’clock they found each other near the goats fence.
“How are you doing?”
–“Quite well, I now understand better your traditions”
“Your mongolian has gotten better too I noticed”
By now it was clear to them both that Sira’s giggles could no longer be shushed. So he confessed:
“You know imperial brother Chagatai has returned from his mission”
–”... so?”
“In few days you’ll see, many persians like have been captured, maybe you’ll acquire some other friends”
That much was said and that few was spoken ,although she was quite diffident the idea of meeting other persians after so much time brought her comfort.
A few weeks after, the prisoners arrived.
Sitara assisted as the people, still confused, walked up to their assigned tent, she was surprised by the amount of captured men, so she informed herself, turned out that the Mongol empire needed to acquire more foreign knowledge.
So, curious about their story, in her few spare hours she’d spend her time socializing with the new arrivals, she had spoken with almost all of them by now. Most of them were in other regions as a study journey from different cities in Persia.
But it was the second-last she met who caught her attention, a familiar, tired, face with a familiar name: Muhammad, about her age, maybe a few years older.
And before revealing either of her names Sitara asked the young men:
“Have you ever seen the stars in Tus?”
And as his eyes lit up they both realised who they found.
After a long long talk, that to them both felt like bare minutes, the question rose up: “what to do now?”
But knowledge had brought them till there and was going to guide them till the end.