Knotted Kite Strings by lost_marble

"You held a warm stone out..."

Chapter Five

"Over the ramparts you tossed

the scent of your skin and some foreign flowers

tied to a brick

sweet as a song

the years have been short but the days go slowly by..."

(Present)

...I breathed again, deeply.

And I caught the scent again, her scent...but this time, I smelled her tears on the breeze.

This snapped me to attention, and I finally moved into action, catching the plummeting stone before it reached the hard, brown earth.

I looked down at the stone in my hand, the flower and paper still securely bound to it by two strings....

One a deep blue, like her eyes, one shining gold, like mine.

They had twisted together, the two forming one binding.

She had cried at cutting them off.

Did she still...? For the first time in recent memory, I was afraid. Afraid what her feelings towards me might be, after so long. Could it really even be her, after so many years?

A sakura flower. Her flower--Gome's, from so long ago.

Seeing again in my mind's eye a field of yellow blossoms, overlooked by a tree bearing flowers so like these, an ache formed in my throat, a vestige of the emotions that I had thought I had buried under layers of ice, along with my heart and memories.

Apparently not.

Rather than prompt any more of this lovely introspection, I transferred my gaze to the slip of paper, slowly daring to hope.

She had been so far in the distance that I had not seen the detail on the paper as she was attaching it to the rock. I had only known that it was brightly-colored, with some sort of a pattern. Now, I was finally able to examine it at close range.

There, in my hands, was an old, faded edge of paper--edges torn. On it, I could see the faint brushmarks, painted by my own hand so long ago to look like scales.

So...

Frozen heart in my throat, I unfolded the piece of my past, revealing what was written there.

I remember. Do you?

I strained my sharp eyes toward the castle wall. Wild black heir blowing still about her head, she was still watching me, tense. Blue eyes narrowed against the wind, her arms crossed to keep her warm. Motionless. Waiting to see my reaction. She had bared her past, left herself open to me, a stranger that she had only seen from a distance as I fought my brother for the tatsuiga. Recognition had not hit her till now: after all, who would connect the (relatively) emotional, youthful, fun-loving youth that I had been with the cold, intimidating taiyoukai who had garnered a reputation for his utter I lack /I of outward emotion?

In that moment, I made a decision. A conscious choice. For the first time in years...

I smiled.

"...two loose kites falling from the sky

drawn to the ground and an end to flight."

the end! of this part, anyway. If you'd like to read more of this series, I'd love to write more. But I need to know...do you think it would be better to leave it where it lies? Review or email to let me know your opinion!

A gigantic "Thanks" to those who reviewed, and for putting up with the world's longest case of writers' block. It was a long haul, but I made it! Hope it was worth the wait, dears!