The Dragon Queen // (Under Revision)

If We Never Get There

They had been walking all night. On the horizon, the pinkish honey glow of dawn crept over the edge of the sky, swallowing up the stars one by one. A stiff wind blew over the downside of the final hill the travelers trekked now, slowing their progress.

Tsuyoi Arakawa, the Seventh Dragon Queen, and her Dragon Spirit, Natsukashii, led the procession of eleven, a mask of power and determination fixed over her features. A mask, perhaps, was the only thing keeping her from folding in herself where she stood. Or maybe it was the shinobi boy beside her, holding her hand firmly.

With every step she took, she was unraveling herself further and further apart. With every step she took, she was preparing herself for one of the hardest things she'd ever have to do—return to the life she'd tried to leave behind. The life she couldn't even clearly remember.

The crisp wind stirred her hair over her shoulder. She brushed it away with her fingers and lifted her chin. She'd face this challenge head-on. And she would remember doing it.

If we never get there...I'll never really know. There'll be unanswered questions.

If we just turned left instead of right...Chizu won't stop me.

But this pain in my stomach will. She winced. The sensation she could only describe as a compass needle spun around inside her, telling her where to go.

If we never get there, I'll never beat this darkness inside me. She remembered Yowai. The way she was going, she'd have to fight another dark alternate version of herself in no time.

If we never get there, I'll lose this fight I'm fighting on the inside. And I refuse to lose to anything. Even to myself.

Naruto squeezed her hand; he must have been listening in on her thoughts again. That's the way to be! And although you don't realize it yet, that's the Tsuyoi I know and love.

Tsuyoi felt blush spring to her cheeks despite the cold. O-oh really? She shot back. He gifted her with one of his giant grins. She smiled back, feeling warm around her middle.

If we never get there...at least I'd get to spend more time with him.

////////

Dawn was descending upon the capital of Liodito, Muranomachi. The Council Room Building, which stood at the apex of the city's business district, stood solitary among the sleepy buildings surrounding it like a fortress wall. On the front steps of the Council Room, a tall, stately young man paced in the frigid cold. Another man, slightly along in years, sat, wrapping a thick woolen shawl tighter around his shoulders.

"Hideyoshi," the second man called out. "Is it really necessary to be out here in this cold? The Dragon Queen shouldn't arrive for an hour or two more, and I do not wish to get sick."

"My apologies, Oganesson, but I couldn't sleep." Hideyoshi replied, rubbing his hands together. "I can't wait to see Tsuyoi again...It's been so long..."

Oganesson sighed. "Tsuyoi won't be the same little girl you used to know and fight when you two were kids. No doubt she'll be high-bearing and snooty like Lady Hayate was when she returned."

Hideyoshi whirled on Oganesson. "Don't speak nonchalantly about the Dragon Queens! You remember how Lady Sixth ended the war! And you know what she meant to my brother."

"Calm down, orokana," Oganesson muttered. "Your obsession with the Dragon Queens is unnerving. Are you that big of a perv?"

Hideyoshi exhaled heavily. "You just don't get it, do you? This is the final chapter of the legacy that my brother left for me. I've been waiting for this opportunity for ten years."

Oganesson raised a brow incredulously. "You still want to be her yojimbo? I thought that was just a silly childhood fantasy, a result of you losing your friend at a young age. Haven't you grown out of it? No one know what happens to the Queens or the yojimbo, you know."

"I've read every book in the Archive on the Queens, even some handwritten accounts." Hideyoshi mused, eyes fixed on the encroaching dawn. "But all of them ended the day before the left on the Journey. It's a mystery indeed. But one I intend to solve."

"My friend, Hideyoshi," Oganesson said, standing. "You know Jotaro is probably dead, don't you? He promised to write, but no one has seen or heard of him for ten years now. You have taken over his role as the Master Of the Golem Guild, even though you're still pretty young. You're successful."

"What are you trying to say?" Hideyoshi stared him down.

"You should let this go."

The two men gazed at one another, sizing the other up. "I will uphold my brother's legacy," Hideyoshi said finally, slow and cold. "Even if that means I die."

Oganesson stared a moment longer, then looked away shaking his head. "You're foolish. Freeze if you want, but I'm going inside."

Oganesson left Hideyoshi on the front steps. The youth ran his hands through his short-cropped hair. He pictured Tsuyoi in his mind when he saw her last. She was being led away by people taller than they, and her small, rough hand was outstretched towards him.

The look on her face was a mix of pain and anger. Actually, looking back, she always had had that look on her face. What made it different was the fear. There was fear of the future inscribed on her features like a golem user had used a chistle on them. She had looked at him, straight in the eye.

"Ulineun dasi mannal ttaekkaji."

Until we meet again.

It was a moment he would never forget.

Jotaro had left him that day, to follow the Sixth Dragon Queen in the mountains, never to be seen again. But Tsuyoi was coming back. Now's my time to prove my worth as a Lioditan. To prove myself to the love of my life. To make up for what was lost.

Hideyoshi fixed his eyes on the dawn once more.

I'll wait for you, Tsuyoi. I'll wait no matter how long as it takes.

And if you never got here, I'd leave everything behind to come find you.