Takumi looked up at the sky, a frown etching itself on his face when he saw how late it was. The sun had already nearly set so he didn't have a lot of time. He glanced at Oboro whose bangs plastered themselves to her face from the sheer amount of perspiration she'd gone through that day. "It's a bit too late to head back to Shirasagi. Camp Fu's the closest to us." He had all sorts of camps set up in the woods. They'd been out on a training mission that day, just the two of them. She wasn't part of the Snow Wings, but she demanded the same sort of training they got.

  "Damn, that's unfortunate. After the paces you put me through today, I was really looking forward to a hot bath." She sighed and he gave her an apologetic look.

  "Sorry about that. I guess we just got a little too caught up." He was no slouch with a naginata yet she still learned a lot from him. He thought she was better, though... The way she moved and wielded it was unparalleled. Not even Hinoka was quite as good as she was. Oboro really did put her all into everything she did. she would have been welcomed into the Snow Wings, but she always rebuffed Takumi's offers. He wasn't sure why, but she did. She had no problems with being on a kinshi or a pegasus, but she just refused to join them.

  "Yeah, I guess we did." They mounted up their pegasi and flew for a little while, the pink and lavender sun outlining them as they cut through the air. Eventually, though, they landed at a small lean-to that was almost impossible to tell from the rest of the woods around them. It was big enough for two, at least, so Oboro wouldn't be left out in the night. He sniffed and could smell rain on the horizon. "It's gonna rain tonight, possibly into tomorrow morning. So we'll have a soggy ride back." He hadn't sensed rain until now, so he felt bad for dragging her out here.

  She sighed but sat back. "Nothing to cry over." She shrugged. He gathered some wood from his nearby stash and piled it into the firepit. An orb formed between his hands and he sat it on the branches. Instantly, it leaped into flame and warmed the surrounding area that had already begun to chill due to the setting sun. It was still technically winter, but it was only three weeks until...

  He sighed and buried his face in his hands. He just had to remind himself of that, didn't he? He felt Oboro rest a hand on his shoulder and he shifted to look at her. "Maybe you'll get lucky and she'll come back this year, Takumi. The Dawn Dragon might smile on you and she'll return." Her voice was barely a whisper, just loud enough for him to hear. His shoulders dropped and he shook his head.

  "It's been eleven years, Oboro; there's no way Cami-nee is coming back." Cami had been captured by Garon eleven years ago. She was basically his twin. They were less than a year apart and, with that and their looks, they'd basically been twins. He remembered that night far, far too clearly. Garon had called for a peaceful meeting between him and King Sumeragi, but it had all been a farce. Hinoka, Ryoma, Cami, and Takumi had all been there with him. Hinoka had dashed into a nearby shop, escaping the hail of arrows that had rained down and taken their father. Cami and Takumi, being so young, had frozen at the sight. Royma had picked up Takumi and followed Hinoka, leaving Cami behind to be taken. Even now, that memory haunted him to that day. If he hadn't been there, she wouldn't have been taken. Ryoma wouldn't have had to make a choice... Their family wouldn't have been broken—

  "Takumi-sama, snap out of it." Oboro shook his shoulder and he was brought back to the moonlit night in front of them. Oh. Right. He was there. Not in that horrible night any longer. There was just no way it was happening. She would never come back to Hoshido. She wouldn't even remember them should she come back. She had only been about five... There was no way she could remember.

  "Plus, with what Xander's told Ryoma, it really doesn't seem likely that she'll ever be released from Nohr." He still didn't quite understand the connection the two princes had. Xander managed to smuggle out notes to Ryoma about how Cami was doing and what Garon was up to. Well, to the best of his abilities at least. It hadn't been discovered yet which was good. Xander kept them as updated as possible. Plus, there were the memory spells that had apparently been used on her to wipe her mind clean of any associations with Hoshido. His own memories were fading of her as if dew from the morn. It had been so very long since she'd last been in Hoshido.

  "We should probably try to get some sleep, Takumi-sama." He couldn't deny it. He was tired. He put the fire out and they crawled into the lean-to, snuggled together as they so often were at night.

  ?

  They started off normal.

  Garon and his archers filled the alley. Sumeragi’s voice cut through the night, order Ryoma to protect his siblings. Ryoma ordered all of them into a nearby shop, but Takumi held tight to Cami’s hand, tugging at it. He begged her to move, but she wouldn’t budge.

  Then he felt Ryoma’s arms wrap around his waist as his feet left the ground.

  Takumi screamed at the top of his lungs as his hand was wrenched away from Cami’s. His lungs burned at his protests and he struggled against Ryoma’s arms, but he couldn’t free himself. He saw Sumeragi’s body, filled with arrows, his eyes fixed on them. Blood seemed onto the ground and he heard his father say something, but he couldn’t remember what the words were. His eyes remained fixed on Takumi before they glazed over, a twisted mockery of the power and warmth they’d held just hours before.

  From behind the shop’s window, he heard Cami’s terrified screams.

  “Akucha! Akucha!” She writhed in Garon’s grip, but even her extraordinary strength didn’t work against the monster of a man. She reached for him and he reached back, but Ryoma and Hinoka held him fast.

  A moment later, his father’s twisted corpse lay alone in the silent alley. Those brown eyes remained fixed on Takumi and his siblings, though they were the last thing his remembered.

  Then they got worse.

  A little girl with white hair, styled in a hime cut, clutched a doll with all her might, staring into a pond. “Cami-nee?” Takumi approached, his legs shaking, steps uncertain. She continued staring into the water until he got close enough to touch her. Her blue eyes turned to his amber one, boring into them. The fires of the hells themselves blazed and he took a step back, feeling his heart freeze in his chest. He struggled for breath, stepping back as she advanced on him.

  “It’s all your fault! If you hadn’t been there, Yoniicha wouldn’t have had to abandon me! I’d still be safe and happy in Hoshido if it weren’t for you!” She pointed a finger at him and he gripped his shirt above his heart, his eyes rounder than the moon.

  Why…? Why was this…?

  “C-Cami—” His voice wavered and the ghost of his sister disappeared when he bumped into something.

  Turning around, Sumeragi and Ikona towered over him. The both folded their arms, their faces twisted like oni noh masks, a thousand times more terrifying than Oboro’s own demon face. Their shadows stretched further than he could see, creating a palpable blanket over him. He sunk to his knees, burying his face in his hands.

  “You’ll never amount to anything. The Seiwa name means nothing to you. All you care about are plants and animals, not the people nearest you. No matter what you you say or do, they mean nothing to you.” Sumeragi’s voiced rumbled, reverberating down to the last hair follicle in his head. Tears rained down his face and his forehead touched the ground until a hand yanked him into the air.

  Sumeragi had disappeared and he looked point blank at one of Ikona’s massive eyes. “Maybe if I hadn’t had you before Sakura, I’d still be alive.” Her other hand raised and pointed straight at his throat. “You could have at least chosen a more effective method when you tried to do us all a favor.” Pain seared across his throat and he tried to scream, but nothing came out. A blade of flame cut deep into his windpipe and flailed, suffocating.

  His desperation only increased as the flesh melted off Ikona’s finger and face, leaving nothing until a skeletal visage remained.

  “WHY DID WE BOTH DIE FOR YOU?!”

  ?

  A scream erupted from Takumi’s throat, though it cut off when he felt the tips of Oboro’s fingers pressing into his scalp. She massaged the skin with as light but deep a touch as she could manage. He sat there for several minutes, panting as he flushed fresh air into his lungs from the suffocation. He kept as much of his concentration on Oboro’s movements as he could, clinging to her tightly with one hand.

  Eventually, though, he opened his eyes and she breathed a sigh of relief. “Oh thank the gods you’re awake; I was so worried when you started saying your parents’ names—”

  “It was that one. Again.” He didn’t even need to tell her. By now, she knew all his recurring nightmares. She just gave a small nod and he closed his eyes once again, resting against her. Tears streamed down his cheeks, landing on the hand that gripped his shirt above his heart.

  ?

  A few days had passed and Takumi sat outside, breaths quick and shallow. He gripped the Fuujin Yumi tightly, eyes darting around. There was no way. No way she could find him here and now. Maybe he'd finally managed to out do her. He was also so good at escaping, so maybe, just maybe—

  A thunk in a nearby tree betrayed his thoughts. An arrow sat just a few centimeters from his shoulder. Damn it. She had gotten him again. He came down from the tree and landed in front of a white-clad woman with black hair. "Damn, kaasan, I thought I Had you that time." Their little training exercises were pretty sporadic now, but he had spent so much time outside as a child. He had learned to outsmart even the smartest of security guards in his single digits when he needed to get outside. But Eirne was on a whole nother level. She always had been. Really, nothing escaped her eyes and ears.

  "You're excellent, Takumi; there's no denying it. You're really excellent at what you do, but compared to my upbringing, you're still a novice." His stepmother smiled at him and he gave a fragile one in return. He still didn't know all that much about her history. All she said was that he would never know her backstory until the time was right. What that time was, he couldn't be sure. It just undercut what little confidence he had to be so easily picked out in his natural element. Almost nobody could get past him in the wilds. The only exception was Eirene.

  She wrapped her arms around him and he rested his head against her shoulder. "Honestly, you almost had me that time, Takumi; you're growing into a fine young warrior. Those damn soldiers won't be able to find you no matter how hard they look for you." He wished he could agree with that, but he was still so lacking. He could pick apart each and every move he'd made and how it had led to him being found. Even with his moccasins on, he had still left tracks that she could have followed, he had breathed too heavily, he had left too many traces... All little things that he could have avoided if he'd simply thought about it.

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  "I'll never be able to match you, kaasan." He shook his head. He couldn't remember what Sumeragi and Ikona had been like as warriors. He had simply been too little to even be allowed out on the range to see his parents fight. Though Ikona had been on bedrest ever since giving birth to Sakura... He barely remembered her passing the Fuujin Yumi down to him. It stung and sucked. It did so badly. He missed his birth parents so horribly, but he was old enough he couldn't even really remember them. His heart hurt so much.

  "The only way you'd be able to match me is if you grew up in war from literally the second you were born and I wouldn't want that for you. Or anybody. It's terrible. That much fighting should never be done. You entered the battlefield around ten; even that was far, far too young, but your skills...and stubbornness...were too much to ignore." The black-haired woman kissed his head and he sighed, leaning against her. He felt like he should've joined the war effort sooner if anything. But he had built the Snow Wings from the time he'd entered war, so that was fine. They were the best unit in Hoshido...

  "I still feel like I should be doing more. The war will be back on pretty soon... I shouldn't be sitting around and doing nothing; I should be straightening up the Snow Wings." He had been slacking on his duties for the past week or so because he had been going crazy. He needed to get away. But he knew he shouldn't have. They needed him just as much as he needed them. They were made up of outcasts, people thrown away and berated for people being 'too smart.' He hated it. He hated it so much.

  "Everyone needs breaks, Takumi honey. One week isn't going to make or break the war."

  "You don't know that! A week can mean a lot for people as sharp as the Snow Wings!" He felt his anger start to rise, but he sighed and pushed it down. Yeah. He shouldn't be angry at her. The Snow Wings were in good hands under Hinoka's tutelage for a week. He had seen major differences in them within a week's span in the past. It very well might make or break the war. He knew it. They had changed the tide in battle more than once.

  Eirene kissed his head and rubbed his back. "Would you like to stay with me tonight, Takumi? I know you're older now but..."

  He rested his head against her shoulder and nodded. "Yeah. I'd like that." He shouldn't be giving into such weakness. He knew he shouldn't. But, sometimes...he just needed a little bit of extra comfort.

  "Let's go now." She squeezed his shoulder and they walked off together, heading back toward the palace.

  ☆

  A few weeks passed. It was the 28th of sangetsu and, for once, he had been right. The cherry blossoms had bloomed a little bit earlier than normal that year, but considering it'd been a pretty mild winter, it made sense. It was so close to Cami's birthday. Yet another year come and gone without any sight of his twin sister. He missed her so dearly. He barely had any memories of her since he'd been so young when she'd been taken. He wondered how things were going for her. Nohr... It was such a terrible place filled with such terrible people.

  He sat in a grove in the city, though he was hidden from view due to being up in the cherry tree. He would've woven them into a flower crown for Sakura, but they would've been crushed by the force of weaving them. He didn't want to kill the flowers. They deserved to exist just as any other life form did. Well. Aside from Garon. That man had caused such untold danger and destruction that it was unreal. The war efforts had been going on for at least five years now consistently. He refused to give up no matter what. He wanted Hoshido to go down and nothing would stop him.

  However, he lost his footing in the tree as a tangle of dark, disturbing spells hit him and he fell on the ground. "Akucha! Watch out! You're going to hurt somebody if you fall out of the tree like that!" Wait, that nickname.

  He quickly scrambled to his feet and blinked when he realised he was looking at. She had grown immensely. The familiar silver hair had been pulled into a side ponytail and her blue eyes held an unfamiliar look of annoyance. "W-What did you just call me?" No way. There was no way this was happening. It could be. She was in Nohr, being held as a captive. She wouldn't have been allowed to walk into Hoshido like this.

  The girl blinked, her face screwing up. "I'm...not sure. What did I call you?" He squinted at her a bit, trying to figure out exactly what was going on with all of those spells. It was a dark, tangled morass. A lot had been done to her. So much he couldn't pick apart the individual spells that clung to her. "Why are you looking at me like I have a second head?"

  "Sorry; you just...look very similar to somebody I knew growing up. What's your name?" He doubted she'd remember at all. Whatever had been done to her was terrible and it would take someone beyond even his knowledge to handle. It would probably just be easiest to have her sit on the Hoshidan throne with as many spells had been riddled through her body, mind, and heart. He couldn't believe everything that had happened to her.

  "Camaeo Naess, princess of Nohr. I'm still surprised you Hoshidans are allowing me to walk with my sword." Her hand rested on a sword by her side. Takumi frowned as he tried to examine the magical properties. It was ugly, dark, and disturbing. That was no normal sword... But he couldn't pin down exactly what it was either.

  "I'm Seiwa Takumi. Though... Do you notice anything strange about our conversation?" She wasn't speaking either Common or Nohrian; she was speaking Hoshidan. She was apparently still fluent in the language despite having been held in Nohr for over a decade.

  Cami stopped and stared at him as if head grown a second head. "What...What is this magic? What have you done to me?! I knew you Hoshidans were up to no good!" She went to draw the sword, but her hand stopped. It visibly trembled and she looked at Takumi. he could sense the indecision, confusion, and fear rolling off of her even without reading her soul or anything like that. He knew her well enough. She had always been so afraid when they'd been growing up. "How am I speaking fluent Hoshidan...? I'm a princess of Nohr. And I hesitate to attack you." Her voice wavered and his heart broke. It took every ounce of self-control he had to not wrap her in his arms and comfort her.

  "I think you should speak to the queen." That was all he could say. Eirene would handle things a lot better than he could. Cami looked at him then nodded slowly. He raised a hand as Rinkah and Suzukaze came up behind her. "Take her to kaasan." She would know how to handle her own daughter more than he did. The pair nodded then headed off into the city, coming up behind Cami.

  That...wasn't the sort of reunion he had expected if she had ever come home. Something had clearly happened to her memories. He wasn't sure what tangled, messy, morass of magic had been applied to her in order to make her so thoroughly brainwashed. She truly believed she was a princess of Nohr. She didn't seem to remember Hoshido or her siblings at all, but that magic hadn't been absolute. She had still used her childhood nickname for him. Maybe, just maybe Eirene would be able to free her daughter from Garon's clutches...

  ?

  Night had fallen and Takumi sat in his room, tweaking his yumi that wasn't the divine weapon he had been entrusted with. Oboro sat on the other side of the table, working on some kimono or whatever project she currently had her sights set on. He still wished she would live a peaceful life. She had the skills to make it as a seamstress instead of being his vassal. But she refused to take it. She said she would be entirely lost without him.

  He was surprised when he heard a soft knock come on the doorframe. "Who is it?" he asked. His tone was calm and neutral, no point in lashing out at what was probably a servant bringing him dinner or checking on him.

  "Akucha, can I come in?" He froze when he heard Cami's voice. However, it lacked the harder edge that it'd had much earlier in the day when they'd been reunited. It sounded much more like the soft, unsure, shy little girl he'd known as his twin sister. He got up and opened the door, blinking when Cami buried herself in his arms. Her body heaved as she suddenly started sobbing. "Akucha! Akucha! I'm sorry! I'm sorry about earlier! I'm sorry you had to see what happened to me all those terrible years ago!" Her voice was broken up by her sobs. He was completely uncertain how to handle any of this. It was all so sudden.

  But he smiled and rubbed her back, then kissed her head. "It's okay, Cami-nee. Please, come in." He patted her head then closed the door behind them, walking her over to the table where he and Oboro were sitting. She settled down next to him, sniffling. He offered her a handkerchief and she took it, wiping her eyes and face. "All I've wanted this entire time you've been gone is for you to come back. I know we're practically strangers now, but I've missed you so much since we were kids. I still consider you my twin sister." He paused. "So Eirene figured out how to undo all of that terrible magic?" That was his biggest concern. She seemed to have regained what few memories of Hoshido she would have. And her mentioning 'that awful night' meant she remembered Sumeragi dying. Gods, that had to be unpleasant.

  She nodded, wiping the handkerchief under her eyes again. "Kaasa put me on the throne and it got rid of all the ugly memory manipulation Garon ordered on me... He tried so hard to suppress my memories of Hoshido, but he never fully succeeded. And I remembered times that Iago had really put me through a lot." She frowned, picking at the kimono she wore. It was a beautiful light pink color that matched the current cherry blossoms that had bloomed outside.

  Takumi frowned. "What's wrong?" Kimono covered everything but she was clearly uncomfortable with it. It was strange to notice her being so uncomfortable.

  "I...I wish they hadn't let me go in some ways... Remembering all of this was so terrible. Seeing your face as Garon carried me away... Watching Mutosa die... I think I would've rather lived in blissful ignorance and kept being tortured than this."

  Takumi frowned again. "Tortured?" What had Garon done to her? It was hard to see anything underneath all of the long sleeves and body-length part of the kimono. But if she had scarring from something Garon had done to her... He was going to absolutely lose it. Cami was the sweetest little girl on the planet. How could somebody torture a sweet, innocent child like Cami quite literally? (Assuming that was what she meant.)

  Cami didn't reply, all but confirming what he feared. He wrapped his arms around her and held her close, his heart flaring in anger. How could anybody treat anybody so cruelly? Well. He could treat people pretty cruelly, but he always regretted it. It was the easiest way to keep people away from him so he wouldn't have to be hurt again, though. He always punished himself for whatever he did. He understood the pain he put others through entirely. He completely did. He never let his awful remarks pass by without his own doling out of punishment to himself. "I'm so sorry, Cami-nee..."

  "I don't want to go back to Nohr...but I'm going to be expected to. I don't know what to do, Akucha... I just don't know..." Cami started sobbing and he held her close. His heart absolutely broke for her. What had Garon done to her? Memory manipulation? Torture? Then again, now the darkness he sensed on her... It made sense now. He had sensed the awfulness Garon had put her through and all of the dark magics used on her. He didn't sense it now. It had all been cleared up by her sitting on the White Throne.

  "We can worry about that later... For now, why don't you stay with me and Oboro tonight? You don't have to suffer alone any longer." He would always be by her side as long as she was willing. He never wanted to let her go again. He was her little brother, sure, but he would protect her to the absolute best of his ability from now on. Even Garon would have to face him down personally if he wanted to hurt her again.

  ?

  Numb.

  That was the only word to describe how Takumi felt.

  Well. He completely lacked any and all feeling now.

  Gone.

  Eirene was gone.

  Cami had only known her mother a scant few days before she had been killed by Garon... And Takumi knew that she had known her death was coming. She always knew what was coming. There was no way she wouldn't have foreseen her own death. Why... Why would she allow this to happen? He didn't understand. She could prevent so much, yet she allowed it all to happen. Why? Why would she allow herself to die?

  As the man droned on about the last rites, Takumi held his twin sister as she wept. Even though they hadn't had much time together, Eirene had made sure that Cami knew she was loved here unlike she had been in Nohr. Well, from everything Cami had said, the four remaining princes and princesses loved her as their own, but Garon hadn't loved her at all. She had just been a pawn in whatever sick game he played. He had seen Sumeragi in the plaza when that damnable sword exploded. Cami had Yato now but...a sword was small consolation when the man she considered her father had been the one to kill the mother she had lacked for so long.

  All of this... All of this was so horrible. What was Garon's plan? He didn't understand at all... All he could do was support Cami through everything to the best of his ability. He had to be strong for her even though he felt empty and hollow without the one last adult figure in his life to guide him... After this, they would go to war. Cami would have to decide to take what path she wanted then...