One in the Same

Chapter Nineteen

   The children ran around as Cat sat talking with Yui. They had grown significantly closers since Saito's news, and Cat was loving it to be honest. She reminded her a lot of her own mother. At least what she remembered of her. Yui was much more threatening of course. Cat didn't blame her though. She was just telling Cat how Saito was fairing when Kawa came running up.
   "Cata-chan! Cata-chan!"
   "Kawa ttenani?" She asked as she caught him gently by the waist.
   "Ichi ka ga ido ni ochita! Kanojo wa nanika o kowashita node wanai ka to omoimasu."
   Both Cat and Yui followed after him to go help.

   It was as Kawa had said. Ichika was laid out with all of the hens gathered around her. She was telling them to leave her be, she was fine, just a fall. But Cat could see the tears in her face. Ichika was one of the elders of the village. She had said on many occasions she was too old for what was going on around her. Cat had told her she was but the Seven had a plan. Ichika had told her, more or less, to fuck her Seven. Ichika was old. That's all there was. But as Cat looked at her now, she didn't look old. She looked younger than Mae. And she looked scared.
   As Cat approached her, Hina backed up as if Cat was going to strike her again. Even as Yui scolded her, she paid no mind. She didn't even notice Mae clinging to Kawa sobbing for Sobo. Cat took her head in her lap and stroked her cheek. Ichika blinked up and smiled. As the tear fell, Cat brushed it away. "Aki ni naru to wa omoi mo shimasendeshita. Shikashi, watashi wa koko ni imasu."
   Cat chuckled gently and nodded. "Hora."
   Ichika swallowed hard and nodded, keeping her eyes closed. Cat didn't even know she was doing it, but she was tapping her heart beat with her finger against her shoulder as she cradled her. "Anata no Sebun wa shinimashita ka?"
   "Hai," Cat said shakily with a nod. "They say," she said in English to her now. "That he is kind. And gentle if your life has been good. They say he is dark and evil if you have been. They say he will wrap you in light that is so warm you feel as if you are in your own bed." The tapping slowed and she began to rock her gently. "They say he will give you a kiss when it is time." Slower and slower still. "They say-"
   Ichika smiled widely and looked right over her head, but not at Cat. "Kare wa... Otto no yō ni miemasu." She closed her eyes and Cat's finger froze in mid air.

   She took the tea cup Saito handed her but she immediately sat it back on the table. Yui and her husband shared a look. Botan reached up and rubbed her back.
   "How many have you killed?" Saito asked gently. "On the battlefield?"
   "Hundreds." Cat replied dryly. "Maybe more."
   "I am thinking...this is your first experience with a peaceful death."
   The wound gushed out and he screamed loudly. Cat wrapped her arms around him and pulled him back at arrows rained down over them. She pressed on a different wound and looked behind her and the next wave came. Another man screaming as he clung to her hand in the tent. Another praying to the Seven. Another another another.
   She knew death. She had been with many and more of her men when that god came. Some had bled on her, some had vomited, some had things come from the opposite end. But Saito was right. That was war. It was expected. This...this was the first woman in the village that had shown her a shred of kindness. This was the old woman whom all the children called Grandmother. She had been married. But was never able to bear children. So instead she shared her wisdom with anyone would listen. She had outlived her husband. Her siblings, her parents, her whole family. She even outlived the Great War time, can you believe it. And all she had done was tripped. Of all the ways death could have come to her, that's how he chose.
   Saito sighed heavily. "Kanojo no ie ni tsureteitte kure, musuko yo." He said laying a hand on Botan's shoulder. "Kanojo wa tsuitachi o sugoshimashita."

   As soon as they got home, Botan took her and bathed her at the falls. She leaned her head into his touch but that's just about all she did.
   "Where go, Cata?" He asked as he helped her dress once they got back to the house.
   "You have marriages?"
   "Hai?"
   "Could we be married?"
   Botan stopped and looked at her confused. She looked back at him then projected the memory of Ichika telling her about her husband. He blinked and nodded in understanding. "Is complicated."
   "How?"
   "I would need to ask father for permission."
   "I know he would give it."
   "No," he replied with a chuckle shaking his head. "Your father."
   "We would need to go to Ireland, then."
   "Yes. And I cannot leave."
   She gently pulled away and looked back at him. "Why not?" She asked confused.
   "They need me here, Cata."
   Cat looked down at the ground and nodded then dropped the subject.