Silence devoured her lips, hungrily tore at her thoughts, and eased into her gait as she glided across the near-silent crunch of sand between her toes. The territory her sister had found, tenderly cultivated, and breathed life into the remaking of the Fujiwara Dynasty had been breathtaking. Even coated in the world of thinly laid snow and a light dusting of the colder season, Aika had found the world she—they—had found to be inviting.

A touch of paradise were the words that had come to mind as she wandered in the early morning of the day. Different than what she was used to, and yet, familiar all the same. An uncanny feeling she grappled with as her slender legs now guided her toward the softer sound of oscillating waves.

It was, perhaps, fate, once again—fruitful and understanding of the time that lapsed between siblings—that brought her in her sister’s direction. Soaked to the ankles and carrying a hare between her teeth, Aika offered the softest smile as her gliding step turned into an even trot.

Izumi! She called out between the cut of distance.

The memories that held her arrival were murky at best, and though the emotions that tugged at her heart were like coals raked across the bareness of skin, Aika held those feelings off to the side. They had no place here, not in the presence of her sibling or the life she was trying to build.

She would wait until more of her fragmented thoughts came to her, wait until their mysteries revealed themselves, and then process them before she’d decide to voice them.

Only one today? She asked through a gentle kindness housed in the softness of her voice. Aika had noticed the draining cache, not yet a problem she spied on, but one that made her question how harsh the winter season might have been for her sister before she arrived.

A thought that undoubtedly made her heart clench for the unforgiving nature of a harsh and lonely winter.