Sakura

As Himari finally came to, Sakura watched her from beside the bed, arms crossed in disapproval. Night had long since fallen since the duel, and Chikao had been kind enough to provide a room in the local inn for Himari to recover in.

Misao had also been kind enough to inform Sakura of what happened. She thanked them, of course, then bid them to find himself something to eat while she waited for this very moment. “Sakura..?” Himari’s voice was strained and weak. “Why are you here? Where is here?”

“Here,” Sakura said very calmly, tamping down her frustration, “is an inn in the middle of Shippai Mura. I. am here because you are hurt, and I have some ability to do something about that. And you. Are in trouble.”

Himari blinked in surprise. “Trouble? What’s wrong? Are we in danger?”

“We are fine. Chikao-san will be coming up to talk to you soon now that you have woken up. You are in trouble with me, though. Because I seem to recall that you were going to be careful, and now I am seeing you here laid out, beaten half to death!” She growled briefly, before she continued.

“You didn’t… curse Misao-san, did you?” Himari asked with a cough.

“No. I cannot actually do that. But I hoped that threatening such might encourage a modicum of caution! And yet look at you!”

Himari tried to sit up, but Sakura pressed her hand against his shoulder. “No, no,” her anger flashed into concern. “You are hurt, Himari-chan. You need to rest. And to listen. Was there no other way to try to persuade these people than to fight until you could not stand anymore?”

At her bidding, Himari relaxed, staring up at the ceiling. “No. I dare say that this was the wrong way to go about things. Made even worse by the fact that I failed.” Sakura rested her hand on Himari’s head, carefully checking for temperature before seeming satisfied. “I promise, the next group we try to work towards recruiting, I will find different tactics.”

“Well that’s fucking swell.” A voice from the door behind her made Sakura nearly jump out of her skin. As she turned, the large, portly man who had so injured her lover stood leaning against the door frame. “I’m glad to hear that I could beat some sense into ya, Sato-sama. I was a bit worried that you’d wake up and I’d have to knock you out again because you’d claimed you’d never surrendered.”

“Well, you did a thorough job of proving that I’d never had a chance.” Himari turned to look at him, again trying to sit up. “Will you at least let me get to traveling condition before we leave? Judging by the fact that I can’t feel my left leg, I’m guessing it may be a few days before I’m fit.”

“It would have been at least a month if I didn’t step in,” Sakura grumbled, but she noted that she was being ignored on that particular front. She pushed against Himari’s shoulder, but Himari resisted.

“Please,” Chikao lifted a hand. “Rest, lay back. Your Kitsune friend is right that you need time to recover. And I’m certainly not going to tell you when you can or can’t go, Sato-sama.”

“You’re kind to say that,” Himari finally gave up trying to fight against Sakura’s hand, just flopping to the ground. “But I intend to follow the spirit of our agreement. I lost, so we will leave without bothering your people any more than we have to.”

“That’s mighty kind of ye,” he chuckled. “But I’m afraid it ain’t quite that simple.” Himari and Sakura both tensed briefly before Chikao continued. “Y’see, you’ve done this damned annoying thing where all my soldiers are talking about the girl who wouldn’t give up against old Akihiro Chikao. And suddenly, they’re talking like maybe working with you is the sort of thing that might help them get somewhere a bit better in life.” He let out the biggest grunt of annoyance that Sakura had ever heard. “And even worse, I’m kinda inclined to agree with them.”

Himari’s eyes widened. Sakura felt a small flicker in their shared connection. A warmness that almost made Sakura forget that she was supposed to be mad at the Samurai. “So wait,” she hesitated, before she continued. “Do you mean you’re willing to fight?”

“Willing?” He laughed cheerfully in response. “Girl, you show that kinda toughness all the time, and these soldiers will ride with you to the ends of the earth! You just gotta promise me one thing.”

Himari was stunned, and Sakura decided to speak for her. “And what is that one thing?” She didn’t mean to sound suspicious, but things seemed too good to be true at that moment.

“Never pull a stunt like that duel again,” he said very seriously. “If you hadn’t earned my respect, I mighta just killed ya and been done with it. I’m here because you’ve given my people some hope that they haven’t felt in a long time. So you better do something good with it.” He turned to walk away, but Himari cleared her throat.

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“Thank you. I don’t know if I deserve the honor you’ve bestowed me, but I’ll make sure that I become someone who does. We’ll remove the Usurper, and we’ll make sure the Empire is better off for it.” She threw out a weak smile that did little to convince Sakura.

Fortunately, Chikao seemed amused, if not inspired. “Glad to hear it. Now get some rest. We can plan when you aren’t one foot in the grave.”

Once Chikao had left, Sakura stared at Himari in silence for several long minutes. Before she finally killed the silence. “What is your plan?”

“Hm?” Himari tilted her head. “What do you mean?”

“The way you talked to Chikao-san, it sounded as if you had a plan for how to do all these lofty things that you want to do. So how are you going to do it? What’s your master stroke that will take your hated Usurper down and avenge your Emperor and Father?”

Himari’s mouth sat agape for a moment. She reached to take Sakura’s hand and gave it a comforting squeeze. “I’m not sure yet. Our only plan right now is to gather allies and protect any remaining Ichiya that we can find.”

Sakura stood with a start, anger painted over her face. “So then you’ll do what?! As soon as you have half an excuse, you’ll go charging the capital? And then when you find out that the Usurper was stronger than you thought she was and you can’t just brute force your way to victory or get your way through obstinance, what will you do then?! What if she’s better than Chikao-san? He already almost killed you. You can’t keep going just assuming that things will work out!”

Himari was quiet while she raged. She brought her hands together, and even after Sakura was done, left to just pant in the wake of her rant, Himari didn’t say anything. When she finally spoke, it was with an oddly cautious tone, as if she was contemplating every word as she said it. “I have gone my entire life knowing that it was going to be my job to protect the Emperor. Sakura-chan, I have been making this up as I go along since before you had to leave Maiko-san and I. I admit, even though I was worried about protecting the Emperor, I was excited to already have something that would put me more on my father’s level. And then I got there, and it was too late, and…” her breath hitched. “I caught sight of my father in his last moments of life. And I felt every dream I’d ever had as a child shatter.

“I think that was why I was truly so angry at Maiko-san. I don’t care that she is working for Goro Masashi. I was upset to know that she had been lying to me, but even more I didn’t know how to handle losing my father before I felt I had truly proved myself to him. And look where acting like this has gotten me.” She chuckled, then let out a cough of pain. “What I’m saying is I recognize that I need to be better. I’m sorry that it took me a rather roundabout route to get to that conclusion.”

Sakura stared at Himari, then let out a sigh. She moved to lay next to her, gently resting against her shoulder and wrapping an arm around her stomach. “I just worry,” she said quietly. “You can’t keep just moving forward without looking where you’re going. I could have lost you today. And I don’t want you to die, especially not after we just came together as a couple. I like you, you silly Idiot, and I’d like to have you around for as long as your life will let you. So please, don’t rush so hard into things? For my sake?”

Himari’s lips quirk into a weak smile. “You like having me around? Why? Is it all the horrible stress I put on you on a daily basis? Or my apparent utter lack of care for my own well being.”

The Kitsune sat up and stared down at Himari for several moments. She leaned down and placed the smallest of kisses on the woman’s lips. “I care because I see how much you do. I see your passion for people and life. Yes, those things you describe are weaknesses. But they are also strengths, silly. I love that you want to protect and not destroy. I love that you will take time to listen, even if sometimes we have to beat you over the head with it. And yes, I love that when you believe in something, you will fight an unwinnable fight to try and achieve your goals. So don’t be in such a hurry to become a completely different person. Just… try to recognize your limits?”

“Fiiine,” she sighs dramatically. “But in exchange, I demand more kisses. You stole my first one, you know, and I need you to take some more responsibility for that.”

Sakura let out a giggle, but before she could kiss her lover again, the sound of a clearing throat distracted her from the door. She turned, and there indeed was Misao standing in the door frame, the stupidest of grins on their face. “Well,” they said. “I was going to come in to discuss strategy with Himari-san, but it seems like you two are discussing something very different.”

Sakura squinted. She regretted that Himari desperately needed the one pillow in the room, because she desperately wanted to throw it at him. “And now you are here to, what, spy on us having a moment instead?”

“No no, I truly did not mean to interrupt the love birds. But I do want to check in. How long until Himari-san can travel? We should plan to get moving as soon as we can.”

Sakura looked at Himari briefly, considering her with a tap of her chin. “Four days, I think. After that, we should be able to get moving. Her leg will slow us down some, but if Chikao-san can supply a horse or two, we can brace it and make better time.”

“Very good. And ladies?” They smirked. “Don’t keep each other up all night again, alright?” They stepped out the door before Sakura could rebut.

Himari giggled at the whole situation, reaching to touch Sakura’s face. “You don’t like them, do you?”

“They seem nice, but they always act like they know everything. And I don’t like how smarmy they can be!” Sakura let out a big breath as she crossed her arms.

“Maybe so,” Himari giggled, “But they’re very reliable. And seem to have a good head for making plans, this little blunder aside. If you can’t like them, at least try to be nicer to them?”

Sakura lifted her head up briefly in defiance, then let out a sigh as she laid next to Himari again. “Fine, I will be nicer. In exchange, you have to focus on getting better.”

“Very well,” Himari agreed, sealing that promise with a kiss.