Before the Battle

For you

Home at last.

I wondered how long it had been since I'd slept in my own bed. And when I stepped into my apartment, it felt strange and unfamiliar after the weeks I'd spent on the road.

"Here," Maya said, pulling me out of my reverie and throwing my suitcase on the floor, which she wouldn't let me carry up to the third floor, apparently because I wasn't even capable of such a simple task.

However, the several-day journey from the North Island back to Kashima had been tiring and I felt that I was not at my best, even though the wound on my chest had left only an unpleasant scar.

"Thank you," I smiled at the young doctor.

"Shira and Kioshi should be here soon, but until then I'll stay with you. Are you feeling well? It's been a long journey and you shouldn't overexert yourself."

Everyone around me continued to treat me like an invalid, especially Shira.

"I'm fine, really," I assured her for the hundredth time today. "You don't need to carry my bags, help me up the stairs, check my every move. I'm fine."

"I know it's annoying, but the injury was extensive and you shouldn't..."

"Enough," I interrupted. "I don't want to hear any more about all the things I'm not supposed to do. And I'm begging you to say something to Shira, because he..."

He was afraid to touch me. Literally. And it was starting to bother me.

"You should be thanking him for looking after you, not complaining all the time. You don't know how he felt, you didn't see how desperate and scared he was when he thought you were going to die in his arms. It's normal for him to worry about you now."

Maya had been standing up for Shira lately, and it seemed to me that their experience together during my rescue had brought them even closer. But the way they joined forces against me was annoying, even though I knew it was out of fear for my well-being.

"He told me he had a gift for me," I remembered what Shira had mentioned during our long walk through the beauty of the North Island.

"Really?" said Maya with her insatiable curiosity. "A gift? Something better than crumpled paper with letters on it?"

"They weren't letters, they were characters," I corrected her, remembering with regret the paper with my name and Shira's on it that I'd lost during our escape from the burning ship. "It's something he says he wants me to have."

Her eyes lit up like an excited teenager, "A ring!"

"A ring? Why would he give me a ring?" I didn't understand. "We can't get married."

In the deeply conservative Empire, no union other than man and woman was officially recognised, and even if it were, I didn't think Shira in particular would be interested in something like that.

"Okay, but he could still give you a ring. As a symbol of your undying love and all that."

I tried to imagine Shira putting a ring on my finger and had to laugh, "No, that's definitely not his style".

"What else could it be?"

"I don't know, but I guess I'll find out soon enough."

Shira and Kioshi arrived a few minutes later with the rest of the things. I watched them chatting and could see that Shira was in a good mood too. He seemed happy to see us home again and I hoped we would celebrate our return. Ideally just the two of us.

Maya smiled and then walked over to Shira. "Keep an eye on him," she instructed him, rather unnecessarily in my opinion.

"Count on it," he nodded, then reached over and hugged the girl.