Hours passed, Hana could hear the sound of a bell tolling, jerking awake with the blink of some eyes, eyelashes fluttering as her pink eyes searched, analyzing every corner for some semblance of reason. The Master rubbed away the muck, standing upright as he cracked her bones, the hammock rocking from side to side as she pushed her finger against a knuckle, strutting through the darkened halls as the night's chill fused with the warming temperature of her inherited Temple.
'I wonder if this is how it would've been if I ever had children. Tiring, having to deal with such volatile creatures... but even so, despite their troubling problems, I can't find it within myself to condemn them.'
She peeked around the corner, her shadow lingering between the square-shaped entrance, noticing out her peripheral; their familiar bodies slumped together. Ace's arm over her nape, bringing her closer, Kima's face buried in his chest, Saiai watched with careful breaths, pondering how far this love of theirs would go on. Maybe, despite how fractured their souls were, they could piece it back together, with the help of the other. Both desiring a sense of peace, Hana turned away with a newfound smile on her lips.
'I shouldn't awake them.'
The Master reached where she first met the hovering duo, the porch on the peak of Everest, those twin lanterns settled atop the railings surrounding the miniature gateway. Affixing her bottom to rest against it, her breath turned visible, a long sigh exiting her lips, brushing but one snowy strand of hers behind her ears, as she longingly looked off to admire the full moon.
"He's just like me, ain't he?"
That familiar tone didn't belong to his cords, for she turned his head to recognize his soul, that darkened cloak, however misty from this spirit shape, moving with the flow of the winter weather's guidance. That suit she remembered like the morning sun's rays, shining so brightly onto her face, with black lines that glow green with just his overwhelming presence keeping them alight.
"Respect does not become you, Augustus. Hearing you speak in such a tone sends a quiver down my spine."
Hana turned away after recognizing his face, that short hair the same shade as hers, moving in tandem with the robe she donned, one hand kept atop his head, standing now beside her seated position, admiring the snow as it gradually descended upon this forsaken land.
"I hate it as much as you do, Master..." This duo no matter how short their time together, gazed off as the vastness of this environment reflected in their eyes. Mountains so tall they could pierce God's domain, she hadn't realized that familiar warmth was his, the student she helped prosper to learn the truth of Life, for as the sun started to peek from over the horizon, he beckoned to her yet again.
"Hana," She turned at the sound, lips clapping as her head tilted, contacting their eyes together, the sun's rays shining against his outfit's back, that smile belonging to another with the same face as his... the last words she heard on this fateful morning were, "Take care of 'em for me, 'kay?"
And so, on the morning of May the 8th, there was silent mourning, for a lonely teardrop called it's falling from the corner of an eye, but even so, she did not weep. For what more could someone like her do but live on by that promise, no matter how difficult it may be, how powerful she may be, there was always that constant within her life. Men continuously forced her to learn, not about herself, but of the importance others held, for as she reappeared over their slumbering figures, her fingers held the blanket, like a babe in her arms. This sensation unlike anything she'd ever held before, a bottom pressing a pulled-up chair, arms nestled neatly into a lap, Hana's smile, even as her eyes went droopy, never faded.
For while everyone else had vanished, she remained. That was all she could do; those words, on that day, not only held meaning to the Reaper's son but, to her as well.
'Even if you have to gnaw your way through... live.'
She couldn't help but chuckle at that discovered memory, lids shielding the vibrancy of her orbs, she drifted off into a deserved slumber, for while the day continued, and the play of the morning replaced the night's curtain, Hana uttered but one last phrase as she fell...
"You're more powerful than even me... Augustus... Rivera."
Asleep.
Eventually, the lovebirds would awaken, spotting her slumped-over body, snoring soundly as she watched over them with just her presence, Ace threw the blankets aside to stand upright. Sliding his feet into comfy slippers, he leaned closer, before turning away with that same smile his father wore like a proud suit on the day of his wedding. Kim couldn't shake this feeling, though, for as she sat at the edge, reclipping her bra with her arms behind her, she noticed the oddest thing about their Master's face. A streak, only signature to that of a tear, had streamed down from her right cheek to curve over her chin.
A normal reaction, but even so, despite that assumption, Kim couldn't help but ponder what someone as elegant and benevolent as Hana Saiai, would cry about.
"What a saddening thought."
That was all she thought before she vanished around the corner, leaving only Hana with those burdening tears, forever alone in this warm Temple she called... her humble abode.
To Be Continued.