I decided to wake Venora up in a very special way. The sun had just set as I snuck out of the room we had rented, and my footsteps were quieted on the soft floors. It only took a moment to reach my destination as I had seen the vendor the night previous. Smiling, gold passed to the merchant and I snuck my way back beside her.
Licking my lips, I brought the flute up and began to play.
It was, I believe, the cherry blossoms that she liked most.
We’d left for Tokuno two days after my wounds had healed. Left family and friends and just… walked. I had promised her an indepth look at my homeland. Ever since I told her of how the moon rising looked, cresting the forests. The songs of the cranes as they swoop across the gently lapping waters at the shoreline. Or… of how the wind will dance around with cherry blossoms and surround you with their sweet calming scent.
Arms and armor we left behind, save for our twin Katanas. I, clad in a kimono of sunset red. Venora in her own, newly obtained kimono of robin egg blue. She had yet to become acustomed to traditional Tokuno clothing, and for the first day stumbled a bit. But with my hand in hers, by the next, one could swear she had grown up in the palace of the Empress herself.