User blog:Carol of the bells/Days of Ruin --- Zen's exile, part 58: End

Days of Ruin --- Zen's exile, part 58: End
 It was dark, she realized. Her eyes were closed, but she could not tell if she was waking up or going to sleep. She was lying on something soft and pleasant. Her fingers subconsciously wrapped around the bed sheets and—

 Zen froze. Bed sheets? She was lying on a bed?

 Alarmed, her eyes snapped open. Instead of seeing a blue sky, her eyes were met with a plain white ceiling. She had a feeling she was not in an inn. She sat up, slowly, cautiously, and surveyed her surroundings. A simple realization settled upon her. She was in the infirmary of the Samui mansion.

 This was her home.

 A sudden torrent of emotions washed over her. Relief, fear, joy, apprehension. It was all too much. She quickly pressed her hand to her mouth as vomit threatened to force itself from her throat. She tried to still her breathing. She remembered it all—Maxwell, her fallen allies, the hospital. It was all over. She was home.

 So why wasn’t she happy?

 She heard a groan, and turned to see that someone was lying in the next bed. Her mouth moved without her realizing it.

 “….Ko?”

 As if in response to his name, Ko opened his eyes. He blinked, staring up at the ceiling before turning to look at Zen.

 She swallowed. How many times had she run from him? How many times had those eyes tried to kill her?

 Without a word, Ko sat up, swinging his legs over the edge of the bed. His bare feet carried him silently as he walked to the window and stared down at the snowy wilderness. Zen saw that a bandage was wrapped tightly around his torso. Had he been wounded?

 “A lot has happened,” He murmured.

 “Yes.” Zen’s hands fiddled with the bed sheets, as if treasuring the long lost feeling. “Where…” She hesitated, “Where is father?”

 He turned to look at her with saddened eyes.

 That was the most human he had looked in ten years, and it almost startled her.

 Ko told Zen all that had happened, about how he had remembered he was the one responsible for their mother’s death. He told her about how their father had died that same night.

<p class="MsoNormal"> As he spoke, Zen felt another mixture of emotions. She felt glad that the monster that raised them to be perfect fighting machines wasn’t really their father. She felt sad that she never had a chance to grieve their real father’s death. She felt relieved that she wasn’t the one who had killed mother.

<p class="MsoNormal"> “Zen,” Ko spoke slowly, unsure about the way he spoke. “…I’m sorry.”

<p class="MsoNormal"> She gripped the sheets tightly in her hands. “You’re sorry? Do…do you have any idea what it was like?!” Her trembling voice quickly rose to a shout. She threw off the blanket and stomped over to him, fists clenched in anger. “I was alone. I was running from you!” Tears formed on the edges of her eyes. “How can you expect me to forgive you?! I have every right to hate you! I should despise you! I…I should, but…!” A sob broke from her mouth before she finally began to weep. “I’m just glad it’s over…” She relented to her feelings, leaning forward and embraced her brother tightly.

<p class="MsoNormal"> Ko went ridged at first. Then, he slowly returned the gesture. There was a time he had loved Zen as his sister. He knew this.

<p class="MsoNormal"> Maybe it was time to learn that again.

<p class="MsoNormal"> “Thank you….Zen….”

<p class="MsoNormal"> Suddenly, the door burst open and several sets of footsteps rushed in before Zen felt herself enveloped in another hug from behind.

<p class="MsoNormal"> “You’re back,” Riku exclaimed, “I’m so glad!”

<p class="MsoNormal"> “Riku,” Kaine warned, “She’s still tired. Be careful.” Contradictory to his words, he pulled Zen into his own embrace.

<p class="MsoNormal"> Haku gave a chuckle as he ruffled her hair. Ritz stood next to him, arms crossed, but a small smile on his face none the less.

<p class="MsoNormal"> There, in that room, the siblings stood together, laughed together, cried together. Later, they would mourn the death of their father, but they would do it together. After ten years, Zen felt human again. The Samui family was beginning to heal.

<p class="MsoNormal">

<p class="MsoNormal"> ***

<p class="MsoNormal"> Zen inspected her reflection in the mirror, studying the tattoo on her right shoulder. It was the Samui family crest printed in black ink. A crow, beak pointed upward while it’s wings were spread wide. A member of the main line of the Samui family would receive it when they proved their worth. There were stories about what its true purpose was, but they would never find out; Hisagi had died before he could pass on any of his knowledge to Ko, including the contents of the gate within the basement.

<p class="MsoNormal"> Though he knew little about the process, Ko had inherited his own tattoo when he was thirteen. It came from a vat of ink in a special room that was filled with other artifacts of the family. He had given Zen the tattoo after she had finished recovering—and after she had told them of her plans to pursue the other fallen gods. Hisagi had told him it was an emblem that granted strength, and Ko thought this would be useful to Zen.

<p class="MsoNormal"> Zen didn’t know how much of her family lore she believed. She wished her father was alive to tell them. But for now, she would accept what she knew.

<p class="MsoNormal"> She retrieved her belongings from her room before heading downstairs where her brothers where waiting to send her off.

<p class="MsoNormal"> “I don’t understand why we can’t go with you,” Riku murmured unhappily.

<p class="MsoNormal"> “Do you want the other families to take over the house?” Haku asked. Riku shook his head ruefully. “Well, then, there you go.”

<p class="MsoNormal"> “Come home and visit every once in a while, okay?” Ritz instructed.

<p class="MsoNormal"> “I will,” Zen nodded.

<p class="MsoNormal"> She exchanged an embrace with all of her brothers—except Ko. He wasn’t there.

<p class="MsoNormal"> “I can’t believe he’s not even going to see you off,” Haku muttered, looking up the stairs. “Where is he, anyway.”

<p class="MsoNormal"> Zen waved him off. “It is fine, Haku. I know he has….a lot to ponder right now. Give him time.” She hefted her pack over her shoulders and opened the door. She smiled at her family. “Thank you.”

<p class="MsoNormal"> They said their goodbye’s, and Zen stepped out into the snowy wilderness. It was hauntingly familiar, leaving the house on her own. She shivered a little, both from the cold and the unpleasant memory. She almost felt like if she turned around, she would see Ko watching her from the window…

<p class="MsoNormal"> She turned around.

<p class="MsoNormal"> There was Ko, in the window.

<p class="MsoNormal"> They stared at each other for a while.

<p class="MsoNormal"> Slowly, Ko’s hand lifted itself and gave a small, single wave.

<p class="MsoNormal"> Zen smiled.

<p class="MsoNormal">

<p class="MsoNormal"> “Thank you, Ko.”