“How are you feeling?”

Yuki looked up from the small tree she was pruning, a smile spreading across her face when she saw who was addressing her.

“Good evening, brother. I’m fine, why do you ask?”

Sou crossed his hands behind his back as he walked past Yuki’s collection of bonsai. They were beautiful, each more intricate than the last. If you followed them from first to last you could see the improvement Yuki had made over the years. They went from plain trees in a bed of rocks to intricate settings, miniature gardens where multiple trees grew in the exact size and direction that Yuki had commanded them to. It was not something he had a skill for, but the works his sister created were gorgeous.

He would never see her create them again. Not here, anyway.

“You’re leaving tomorrow,” he said, as though that answered her question entirely.

She smiled. He would miss that smile. Neither of them had known their mother, she had died giving birth to Yuki. Sou appreciated and respected his father, but they had never been close. They had no other family, no uncles, no aunts, no cousins. Technically they were the branch family of a long disowned prince many hundreds of years prior, but throughout various centuries and wars their father was the only member of the family left. Thus Sou and Yuki had grown up with only each other. Now she was leaving to get married.

“I am leaving tomorrow,” she replied, turning back to the tree before her. “Believe it or not, I’m aware of that.”

Sou sat down beside her and crossed his legs. She was smiling.

“Are you happy?” he asked outright. “If you’re not…”

“I’m happy,” she cut him off. “Motoki seems like a lovely young man.”

Itami Motoki. Daimyo in all but name of the neighbouring Konoe province. His father, the current daimyo, was on his deathbed, and his son still unmarried. The Itami held a small but vital area of land almost surrounding the capital. Anyone coming from the north or west needed to go through the Itami first, and this included the Wada. Ryobe had offered Yuki’s hand in marriage in exchange for an alliance with the Itami, and they had agreed. She was a beautiful, refined and intelligent young woman whose lineage could be traced back to the emperors of old. Of course they had agreed.

“I’m going to miss you.”

“I’m going to miss you too, brother.”

“If you’re ever unhappy, if he or anyone ever does anything that-”

Yuki placed a hand on his and he stopped.

“Sou.” She so rarely called him that. It was always ‘brother.’ Sou was reserved for when he’d done something to displease her or she needed to tell him something of great importance. It was scary when she called him Sou. He didn’t like it. When they were younger, only perhaps 10 or 11 years old, Sou had gone hunting in a nearby river for a kappa the local kids had been gossiping about. He went alone, and although he didn’t find the kappa, he did get lost for three days before finally finding his way home, extremely hungry and dirty and without his prize. His sister had greeted him then with a slap and a single word, ‘Sou,’ before she stormed back inside, tears running down her cheeks. The look of fear and worry on her face had broken his heart. Three years later, Sou found and defeated the kappa. He gave the shell to his sister as a gift and an apology, and with a promise that he would never again go and do anything so risky or dangerous without at least consulting her first. He had never broken that promise, and didn’t intend to start now.

“Father’s sending me to deal with the Wada,” he finally said. “I won’t be able to travel with you.”

The words broke his heart as they left his mouth, but Yuki showed no sign of emotion. She simply continued pruning her tree.

“It’s okay, brother. Really.” She cut off another branch and put the clippers down to look at him. “I’m not going away forever. I’m just going to be in the next province over.” She smiled and turned so she could look at Sou better. “We both know I can’t stay here forever, I have to get married at some point, and Motoki is a good man.”

Sou nodded. It was all he could do.

“The Itami are a strong clan, and they’re allied with many other strong clans, now including our own. I’ll be safe. Don’t worry. Go and handle the Wada, make these lands even safer for both of us, okay?”

It was what he needed to hear. Ever since they were children Yuki had always known exactly not what he wanted, but what he needed to hear.

“And once you’ve done that, I think it’s time we found you a wife. I always wanted a sister…” She was smiling again.

“What, I’m not good enough for you?”

“You’re too tall and smelly and don’t look half as good in my dresses.”

“My bad. Pink never really was my colour, either.”

They both gave a small laugh. The reality was settling in.

“I’ll come and see you again before you leave,” Sou said. “I promise.”

Yuki grabbed the tree she had been pruning and handed it to Sou. “Here. This is for you. I think it’s my finest bonsai to date, wouldn’t you agree?”

He did. It was exquisite. She had been working on this particular one for quite some time. It looked somewhat… familiar. Then he realised, it was the exact same shape and size of the tree they had often climbed as children, hidden deep in the forest near the castle. The area had been their secret, the place they escaped to when they didn’t want to be found, the place they went to to get away from their father. It was the largest tree in the woods, ancient and crooked but thick and sturdy. They had spent many years climbing it, playing around it, relaxing by it. She had recreated it exactly. How?

“It’s beautiful.” It was all he could say, but her smile showed that she understood.

“Now go on, get. I need to get ready for bed and surely you have better things to be doing than hanging around here all night.”

Yuki gave him a kiss on the cheek and shoved both Sou and the bonsai out.

“Good night, Yuki.”

“Good night, brother!”