Dark Hamon

Inheritance

Jotaro was in the main living area as the student gave him instructions and supplies to care for Aria's wounds while Aria was in a back room with all the women in the village. They had all pulled together for a couple of days not only to meticulously wash all of the stains out of the men's clothes but to make a new set of clothes for Aria. They could hear the fluttering behind the wall as the final fitting was completed. Jotaro straightened when the door creaked open. An old woman walked out with a grin as she motioned Aria to come out.

Jotaro took a sharp breath. Aria's hair was loosely wrapped with a dark purple scarf. Stylized vines and flowers were embroidered into the fabric and danced around the edge of the head covering. Golden jasmine glimmered and flowed into light green leaves. The very outer rim was trimmed with a geometric motif made of silver and lavender thread. Her hair glowed softly in the dawn light. He smiled with pride when he saw the sparkle of her earrings that she hadn't taken off once since the day he gave them to her.

He followed the stream of fabric as it led to her exposed collar bone and a v-neck shirt. On the hem of the neckline was more embroidery identical to her scarf's. Its silken fabric shone crystal blue in the light, and the sleeves were split in the middle, leaving her arms partially exposed and surrounded by gold, red, blue, and green embroidery with dark violet trim. The shirt went down to just below her knees, and from there, loose pants flowed around her legs. They were made with the same blue material, save for the bottom where the embroidery motif of the shirt was repeated. Finally, a thin strip of dark violet fabric ended it all. He bit the inside of his lip to keep from weeping at the sight of the ethereal vision before him. She took the edges of the shirt and held them out from her body.

"So," she said sheepishly, "what do you all think?"

"Très belle," Polnareff exclaimed as he made a couple of tiny claps.

"Truly amazing craftsmanship, and what a wonderful woman to model it!" Joseph said both to Aria and the women who surrounded her.

"It really is a wonderful creation," Kakyoin added.

She looked at Jotaro expectantly. His smile twitched, and he approached slowly, fearing that if he moved too quickly, it might all melt away and the dream would end. He extended his hands and held both hers. He melted into the sparkling eyes fixed on him in anticipation. His right hand lifted and settled on her cheek.

"You're beautiful," he whispered unevenly as his throat gripped at the rising emotion.

He shifted his hand to the back of her head and pulled her closer. He closed his eyes and tenderly pressed his lips to her forehead. He stroked her hair with his thumb and watched her rose eyes bloom. He wrapped his arm around her shoulders and turned to face the women.

"You did an excellent job. Thank you." He laughed through his nose when he saw them clap their hands and squeal in excitement.

As they were about to depart, Aria unzipped her bag and gave them the only thing she thought would be enough to repay their favor. They gasped as they saw the amber wood of a new lyre. They shook their heads and hands in protest, for this was such a beautiful instrument. They couldn't possibly take such a gift, but she didn't waver.

"Please, take it," she urged in strongly accented Punjabi. "What you've done for me these past few days is worth more than anything I can give. You healed me. You fed me. You sheltered me. You made me clothes from the most exquisite material you have, and your hands labored for hours over the most finely done embroidery I've ever seen in my life- not to mention the amount of thought you put behind it to include my family's most precious heirloom." She motioned to her headscarf. "You truly paid respect to something which has been passed down my line for generations with the work you've done.