Chapter Text
In the end, Kokomi had spent another night awake, this time tending to Sara's wounds and fever.
Right after the shrine maidens had managed to clean her up and dress her into something warm and clean, she'd fainted – understandably so, Kokomi could say now that she'd actually examined her conditions.
She had a raging fever, so the first thing they'd done was to hook her up to an IV and give her as many painkillers, antibiotics and antipyretics as she could take.
Her state worsened before it improved; before the medicines had started taking effect, her fever rose and she finally got a glimpse of just how hazed the woman had been – she spoke to herself, told someone to leave because 'they shouldn't be inside', moaned to a higher being, begged to know why she'd done what she'd done.
Kokomi duly remained by her side, trying to soothe her fever with her vision and a wet towel. She had had no choice. Sara had awoken once while she was in the next room over and she'd personally gotten up to come and look.
The priestess lay down in the futon right beside the tengu, her fever finally lower. She watched the physiological solution slowly drip through the IV, all in the low light of a lantern nearby, then wondered, again, just what the woman had gone through to turn up at her door like this.
She could take a wild guess – she pursed her lips as the name of Kujou Takayuki all too easily surfaced in her mind.
She turned around, looking at Sara. Now that the fever had dropped, she rested peacefully. Her chest heaved slowly, leisurely, and her face was relaxed, free of the usual frown that made her eyes so sharp.
Kokomi sighed.
That was not how she'd expected the day to go. She was exhausted, but yet again, sleep wouldn't come to her. She turned on her side, facing Sara again, then decided against it and turned the other way. Ah, but what if Sara woke up and needed something?
In the middle of her tossing and turning, Sara stirred and woke up, roused by the noise.
"Kokomi...?" She called hoarsely, much to the priestess' mortification.
"Sara – I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to wake you." She sighed, then threw her blanket off of herself and knelt closer to the other woman. She rinsed the towel before laying it down on her forehead again, trying to find something to keep her hands occupied.
Sara frowned, rising to stand on her elbows, "Where am I?"
She wondered, her throat still hurting. She tried to clear it but winced when the pain worsened.
She should go make some more tea.
"You're on Watatsumi island. Sangonomiya shrine." Kokomi answered, lifting the blanket back up over her chest. She needed to stay warm.
Sara closed her eyes, clearly tired, then she opened them again, "So you're real?"
Kokomi let her mind wander for a moment before pulling it back to the ground.
"I am...?" She answered, still uncertain.
"Okay."
"Okay." She didn't go to lie back down, even though she should have.
Sara noticed the bandages around her arms, then the one on her nose. That one stung, and she scrunched her face up unpleasantly. Kokomi giggled.
"You're really the real one?" Sara asked, again, almost pleading.
Kokomi tilted her head, now a bit worried other than curious, "I am."
For show, she squeezed her hand.
Sara hummed.
"I'm sorry for barging in unannounced." She finally spoke, almost lucid, which took Kokomi by surprise.
"I did say you could come back to visit whenever." She tried to lighten up the atmosphere, and, remarkably, earned a small smile from the tengu. Her heart did a flip.
"It's alright that you can't accept my apologies." Sara started, then cringed around her sore throat, "I came because – I wanted you to know. I needed to get it off my chest. I guess it's a bit selfish."
Kokomi shook her head, "No, I think it was very brave. I'm not sure I'd have the same courage."
After a second of quiet, her curiosity won and she continued talking.
"If I may ask – why the change of heart? We'd both agreed to put things behind us, because we both had our causes."
Sara stared emptily at the ceiling for a moment.
"She knew. All this time, that she was being lied to, but she didn't do anything. That’s something I can neither defend nor stand by."
Kokomi observed her in silence, letting the words properly sink in. Then she giggled, hysterically. Sara looked at her pitifully, still apologetic.
"I see. I understand." She finally said, somberly, "I don't blame you, Sara. They would've appointed another general." And maybe they would have been inept enough to finally warrant the Raiden Shogun’s Musou no Hitotachi itself, Kokomi grimaced.
"I know. This is about my guilt, in the end – still a selfish matter." Kokomi grabbed her hand again, squeezing it. Sara squeezed back this time, understanding the words left unsaid, "...but... I don't want to wallow in it forever. I want to find a place where I'm happy. I want to fly. I want to taste the sweet things. But I had to apologize first."
Kokomi sighed, feeling all the fatigue finally crash onto her shoulders.
"I'm sorry, too." she whispered, but trusted Sara's fine hearing to pick up her words, "For everything."
Sara nodded, and they waited in silence for a moment.
"Would it be alright for me to stay around for a couple days?" Sara asked timidly, earning an outright frown.
"Sara. You've had a fever to the point of hallucinations. You are in no shape to go anywhere." The woman looked down at herself for a moment, contemplating her own conditions.
"But if you do not want me to stay, I can-" she tried, instead, much to Kokomi's annoyance. Her eyebrow twitched, and the tick alone was enough to shush her, "...I'll stay until I have recovered."
Kokomi exhaled, "Good."
She hovered for a moment, eyes closed. She listened to the small noises in the room, Sara's breathing, the wavering of the lantern.
After a second, Sara sat up with a groan. She let out her wings again, slowly going through the feathers. Kokomi watched her curiously as she stumbled slightly the closest she inched towards her own back – the tengu slowly untangled the feathers, which, although clean, had been left in disarray.
The priestess carefully reached out, in the woman’s clear sight, and waited until she received a nod to quickly fix the last of her feathers that she couldn’t reach. They felt fresh to the touch, and soft.
Satisfied, Sara lay back down, her wings disappearing and leaving behind a couple of those same feathers. Kokomi resisted the urge to pick one up to examine it.
"You should go to sleep." Sara finally shook her a bit, prompting her to slowly shuffle back to her futon with a tired groan.
"I'll get Gorou to bring some cake tomorrow." She whispered surely, earning a surprised but hopeful stare from Sara.
"Can I fly?" Kokomi hummed, frowning in deep concentration.
"No, you'll get cold. We'll see when your conditions improve." Sara let out a displeased noise, but made no attempt to fight her. For a second, Kokomi thought they’d be finally going to sleep, but the tengu spoke one last time.
“Kokomi? I know I’m not a really good conversationalist, and sometimes I struggle to understand feelings – both mine and others’… but should you ever need someone to talk to, I’ll always be there. I know this might sound weird. I’m not even sure if I can call us friends, I don’t know if you see me that way. But you have helped me in more ways than you can imagine and I want to do the same for you.” Kokomi listened carefully as Sara awkwardly yet genuinely stumbled through her small confession. As the woman’s golden eyes timidly glanced at her in search of an answer, she finally realized that she had indeed heard her right, and that Kujou Sara would be the end of her.
“Thank you, Sara.” She paused, trying to find the rest of her words, “You’ve also done more than you think for me. I’m glad you feel the same.”
The tengu averted her eyes, looking up at the ceiling for a second, “Friends?”
“Friends. Goodnight, Sara.” Kokomi closed her eyes, the faint answer reaching her ears. Fresh in her mind, and to be preserved forever, the image of Kujou Sara, smiling to herself and relaxing into her bed as if her words had managed to finally lift the weight of the world from her shoulders.