Lin Feng and Pakura reached Suna just as the first rays of the rising sun graced the dunes, dyeing them a beautiful red.

The city itself sparkled like a gem in the heart of the desert, its glass structures scattering the light in a diffuse corona.

As the platform of sand neared the village, they saw warning signals going up on the watchtowers and soon, a sentry contacted them through a long-distance communication wind jutsu.

It worked by condensing wind around a chakra string and shooting it at the target who would then speak into the wind column, thereby transmitting their voice. It was similar to string telephones made by children by attaching two cups by a string and speaking into both ends.

Pakura reported their status and several passcodes before they were cleared to enter the city.

If they wanted, they could have just skipped the check and nobody would have said anything after all, a floating sand platform was pretty distinctive. But acquiescing to the formalities was another part of their public relations campaign to humanise Lin Feng to the subjects of Suna.

They descended on the roof of Pakura’s… their apartment.

Despite building the entire city, Lin Feng had forgotten to set aside a construction for his own living quarters. Normally, it wouldn’t matter as he didn’t need to sleep much and he could just build himself a home at any time but he needed a fixed abode to house his experimental apparatus and he had to live with Pakura under the same roof for the purpose of studying their bond. Thus, after employing Pakura, he had shifted to her assigned apartment and added a basement to it for his lab while he occupied the guest room whenever he required sleep.

De-activating the security seals, the two of them opened the roof hatch and entered the living room, carrying the scrolls with Hiramekarei and the Executioner’s blade sealed into them.

Exhausted by his battle with Samehada, Lin Feng flopped down on the sofa and put his feet up on the table while Pakura deposited their spoils of war into the rune-secured locker in Lin Feng’s room.

She returned to the living room and extracted two bottles of chilled water from the refrigerator, a box with cooling and air circulation seals that worked by cooling the air in the box and expelling the heated air through a vent that opened outside the room via a channel in the wall.

De-seeding two dates, she crushed them with her chakra and stirred one each into the bottles and tossed one to Lin Feng while she sank into a seat opposite to him and chugged her own beverage.

Lin Feng grunted and snatched the bottle out of the air without even looking and took a swig and sighed as the cool and sweet liquid moistened his parched throat.

He raised his head to look at Pakura and said, “Can you inform the council that I won’t be available. I don’t know about you but I’m exhausted. I need at least eight hours of shuteye to recuperate my soul to functional levels.”

She took another swig before replying, “Sure. After they got rid of me, they don’t have the face to order me to complete any matter for them… so, I’m quite idle except for managing your propaganda. I think I’ll take the day off too. Go sleep… I’ll wake you in time for dinner.”

He shrugged, “I don’t really need to eat that often… but it doesn’t hurt that your cooking is great. You weren’t joking when you said it was your hobby.”

She grinned, “Thanks. Don’t go falling for me now… after all, they say that the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach. Ha-ha. You’d be good at cooking too if you had to be self-reliant for all your meals.”

He chuckled as he drained the last vestiges of his beverage waving to her as he walked to his room.

“Good night… morning.”

He chuckled again as he shut the door behind him and blearily walked to his bed and flopped into it without even undressing.

He was asleep even before his head touched the pillow.

---

---

“Mama… mama!”

“What is it sweetie?”

“Today’s my birthday!”

“I know dear.”

“What present did you get me?”

“Be patient sweetie, you’ll get to know tonight. It’ll be a surprise!”

“But… but I want to know now.”

“Patience my dear, your Papa will be home tonight. He picked it out for you and wants to be there when you open it.”

“Papa! Papa will be there?”

“It’s rare that he gets time off his diplomatic assignments as an interlocutor for the Daimyo… What with the war looming... Anyway… He worked extra hard to be there for his lovely daughter’s birthday. So, be patient. Hmm?”

“Okay! Yay… Ha-ha.”

“Don’t run about in the house sweetie… you’ll fall.”

---

“I’m home! Now where is my precious little rose of the desert?”

“Papa!”

“Oof! My little rose is getting heavy, soon I won’t be able to carry you anymore.”

“Hmph! I’m a big girl now… I don’t need to be carried. I’m eleven. That’s more than the fingers on my hands.”

“Yes. Yes. You are all grown up now. Papa’s sad.”

“Ha-ha. Stop it. Ha-ha. Don’t tickle.”

“Come on dear. Stop teasing your daughter and wash up. Dinner’s ready.”

“Ha-ha. Come here love. Give me a kiss.”

“Not in front of the ki...”

*sfx*

“Ha-ha.”

“How embarrassing.”

“Papa. Papa. Me too.”

*sfx*

“Ha-ha. Let’s go wash our hands, rose. Mama’s waiting.”

---

“Pass the salt, rose.”

---

“Close your eyes, sweetie and make a wish as you blow out the candles. It’s sure to come true.”

“Okay.”

*haah**fuu*

*Whumf*

*Boom*

---

---

*Boom*

*Thud*

*Knock*

*Knock*

*Knock*

“Wake up, sleepyhead. Dinner’s ready!”

Lin Feng stood up from where he had rolled off his bed, disoriented. He couldn’t remember the images from the dream but the words seemed to stick in his mind.

His brain felt like it was stuffed with cotton and he mechanically washed his face and walked out to the dining room and took his seat at the table in a daze.

Pakura placed a steaming bowl of soup in front of him and he brought a spoonful of it to his mouth. Blowing on it to cool it down, he partook of it. It was slightly bland for his tastes.

Still addled from his lucid dream, he blurted out, “Pass the salt, rose.”

The crashing sound of cutlery from the kitchen startled him to full wakefulness and he turned around to see Pakura looking at him with unadulterated shock in her eyes.

She had covered her mouth with her hands and the tray she had been holding and the dishes on it lay splattered all over the ground in front of her.

Tears flowed from her eyes and before he could bring his lagging brain up to speed, she turned around to dash away and jump out of the window.

He stayed half-seated with his hand stretched out to her as he connected the dots.

He had dreamt of her past.

And he had spoken the last words of her father and called her by the endearment he so often used.

The last words of her father before he had died… at her unwitting hands.

Oh… that could have gone better.