In Nine Days

Chapter 10 - Wildflowers

Day Five

Maybe the best thing to do had been to keep her mouth shut, and just let Tzuyu brood, the way she always did. Sana should have just ignored it, and went on with her business, just as she did. She should have not let her temper get in the way, and should have not her emotions get the worst of her.

She should have kept in control.

She should have not have gotten angry. Or hurt.

She should have just quit that stupid bet while she still could.

But what happened has happened.

And there was no turning back now.

That morning, Sana had woken up early at a time when the sun was still far away from rising, and the coldness was like a blanket that would freeze you up if you kept in it for long. She had woken up, and gotten dressed, and gotten out, out of the place that was choking her up, suffocating her in a way that it hadn't before. She got out, and went to the one place that she had always gone to whenever she felt too lonely, or whenever things in her life were at odds with the concept of something called happiness.

She was lonely.

She wasn't happy.

And she had no one to blame but herself.

And Tzuyu, Sana. And Tzuyu.

She couldn't really think about that yet, because she didn't want to think about her.

Sighing, Sana wrapped the heavy blanket around herself, and stared on in almost-contentment at the fields surrounding her place.

Her place, which was the cemetery.

It should have freaked her out, to stay like this in the dark, where people had died, and bodies were buried—with only their spirits and souls left, either mourning or restless, or happy or relaxed. Not that she had seen one, of course. But the idea was there. Still, the truth was, she wasn't really scared of it. Ever since her parents had died, two years ago, on a freak accident that most civilians should not have experienced, she had been coming to this place whenever she could find the time—and that time was found almost always, despite her busy schedule. Despite her strange way of life.

This was the one place that always, always calmed her.

So she stayed there, until the sun rose and what a beautiful sunrise it was. She stayed there, even when she saw her own ex-captain venture there, to visit his own precious people, as she knew he did every day. Because she saw the look on his face, and saw that it was something that she should not be seeing, she had kept herself hidden, and had turned her back on him—as she did every time she encountered him in this place, because he was a grieving man, and a grieving man was always, always entitled to his privacy.

When she had turned back around, he was gone—probably off to a mission, or off to train. She knew he knew she was there, but like before, no words were exchanged. She respected his privacy, and so did he. Maybe someday, they would speak and acknowledge but not now, not yet.

She stayed there, until the wind warmed, and the blanket was already useless.

And pretty soon, she finally felt her heart calm down. Her hurt mellow.

It always, always worked.

"Sana?"

The voice was familiar. The footsteps were light, and not what she expected of a woman her built.