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The sun was just starting to rise on Tuliyollal; bathing the streets in a warm hue of red and orange. It was along this path that Koana, Vow of Reason, walked. His bespectacled eyes surveyed his people, many of whom offered him a smile and quick bow in passing. He was searching for someone in particular, however, and had a good idea of where to find her. Entering the Exultation pavilion, he could see the towering monuments of Morrow's Measure, the legacy of Gulool Ja Ja's journey to foster peace amongst the people of Tural immortalized in stone. Sure enough, he saw a tall Xbr'aal woman sitting cross legged in front of the seventh pillar depicting their father fighting the tural vidraal Skyruin Valigarmanda.
"I suspected I would find you here, Lamaty'i," he called out.
His sister straightened up with a start."Koana! I was just taking a moment to say hello to Papa and the others…" Wuk Lamat said, scooting over to offer more room. The Hhetsarro took her invitation, sitting at the Vow of Resolve's side. The "others" she referred to were lists of names chiseled on the bases of this and the other seven effigies. It had been one of their first decrees as the new Dawnservants to memorialize those who had been lost in the Alexandrian attacks exactly one year ago. Even now he could see flowers and trinkets decorating the pillars, gifts left by those who wished to remember.
"They look so pretty now. Papa would love to know his people keep visiting…" his sister said with a small sniffle, always one to bare her heart so openly.
"Yes. Father's deeds have shaped the land in ways that shall never be forgotten. Our nation, likewise, has grown with the eyes of the star now upon her," the Vow of Reason agreed, hands idly clasped on his lap. Wuk Lamat turned to face him, her peridot eyes shimmering with barely contained tears.
"I miss him, Koana…" she whispered. There was a tight pressure in the Hhetsarro's chest, his own grief wanting to burst free like a bullet from his revolver, and he leaned forward to embrace his sibling in an effort to steady himself.
"Me too, sister, me too."
"I keep thinking about what might have happened if I had raised my axe sooner against Zoraal Ja in that fight. Perhaps I could have blocked a swing. Thrown him off balance so Papa could find an opening. Something!" she growled with guilt and struck the ground with an angry fist.
"You cannot carry the weight of his death on your shoulders alone, Lamaty'i. I was the one after all who told you to wait. All my logic and analysis of the situation was so confident that Zoraal Ja's capability to fight still was lacking compared to Father." His face burned with shame and anger and held on tighter. "I should have noted the new technology on his body, realized the purpose of the regulator. When he rose from the floor fully restored, I froze for what felt like seconds and in that time a fatal blow was struck."
The Vows shared their mourning in silence for a time, bodies shaking with labored breath and shoulders dampened by crying. It felt cathartic to Koana to shed a few tears and he realized how much he had thrown himself into the work of governance to keep these emotions at bay.
"Thank you, brother. I think this is exactly what Papa would have wanted when he asked us to carry on his hopes," Wuk Lamat said, regaining her composure. "You're right, neither of us should take on this burden alone and I think he would be happy to see what we have accomplished together."
"I-I feel that way too!" Koana agreed. Their vigil returned back to the stone monument, the Vow of Reason committing each name inscribed there to memory. His proposed relief fund had met with great success in the year since its inception and it would be time soon to review its beneficiaries. While it would be easy to rely on budgets and numbers to make those decisions, these were people who had given their lives in the name of their nation and that was a variable cold logic could not hope to calculate.
"I've kept on wondering if we should add his name here," the Vow of Resolve wearily mused, resting her chin on her knees.
Koana's ears flicked. "Whose name?" he asked.
"Zoraal Ja's."
He stared at his sister in shock, here they had just been mourning their slain patriarch and she would evoke the one whose hands were stained with his blood?!
"I've hated him a lot for what he did. When I traveled with the Warrior of Light to Alexandria I had no desire for a truce. Papa was ready to slay his child to protect Tuliyollal and I let that resolve guide the swing of my axe. But did we not, when all is said and done, lose two members of our family in that conflict? As I've helped raise Gulool Ja, I've see his father's hope preserved in him as well in spite of all the terrible things he did. I don't know if either Tuliyollal or Alexandria will or should forgive our brother for his atrocities, but isn't there some part of him which should be remembered? The part we knew growing up before he walked that path of madness?"
The Vow of Reason pondered his sister's words, all the political and personal implications they carried, and his conclusion surprised him. "I don't know."
The Xbr'aal chuckled softly, sadly. "Well I suppose I should feel some relief the question stumps even my genius brother. I just assumed it was because I'm an idiot who thinks with her muscles and not her head."
"Hey now…I won't have anybody speaking ill about my sister, herself included!" Koana said wryly and affectionately bumped her shoulder. This brought a smile to her muzzle and Koana was reminded about how happy that made him. The sun was now fully up, the promise of a new day, and other citizens were starting to arrive with their tributes. Wuk Lamat stood to greet them, dusting off her legs and offering her brother a hand.
After the Vows spoke with their people and began the trip back to Vollok Shoonsa, Koana reached into his pocket and took out a small, tarnished ring. "I have something for you, sister."
"Oh?" the taller feline's tail swished with excitement and took the small piece of jewelry with a curious tilt of her head. "What's this?"
"Remember when we were children and you wanted to go on a treasure hunt?"
Wuk Lamat scrunched up her face in thought before brightening up. "Oh! Yes! You wrote clues for me!…although I don't think I got very far?"
Koana laughed good-naturedly. "No, but we were also very young and, honestly, I could have helped you. Anyroad, the final clue was at Morrow's Measure and this was the prize. Your champion from Eorzea somehow found it awhile back and returned it to me. I figured it would be another good memory for us to think about in honor of the monuments' renovations?" he asked with a self-conscious tap of his glasses.
"Aww! Koana…" the Vow of Resolve swept him up in a big hug before sliding it up one of her braids. "I'll keep it forever! Thank you!"
Patting down his rumpled clothes, Koana turned to hide his smile and began rushing towards the Dawnthrone, his sister in happy pursuit.
What would today hold in preserving their father's hopes? The Hhetsarro was eager to find out!