My eyes opened to see a familiar rocky ceiling above. I rubbed my eyes and sat up, pushing aside some ratty blankets. I felt as if I was hit by a bolder, my whole body ached, and I was covered with sticky sweat. Had I come down with a fever? For how long? Things were a bit hazy.

I examined the cave, and my eyes quickly focused on the princess trying her best to cook over a fire. The burnt smell wafting in the air told me how well she was doing. I slumped across our temporary cavern home and gently pushed her away from the food.

“Hey! You need to sleep!” she protested. She put her hand on my forehead but seemed satisfied with how it felt and didn’t offer any more resistance.

“I like my food with less char than this,” I replied.

She made a sound close to ‘harumph’ while crossing her arms. Ignoring her, I moved to free our breakfast from its suffering. The food was challenging to choke down, but I managed, and we soon rolled up the bedding and headed out into the world. The sun was beginning to rise, and a beautiful spectacle of colors was painted across the sky.

“Akimitsu would have loved this, huh?” she said.

“How well did you know him?” I asked. As far as I knew, she only met him at the peace talk.

“We exchanged letters for a while before we first met,” she replied with a smile. No wonder the talks went so smoothly.

“You know I am responsible for his–”

“I know, and I don’t intend to let you off easily.”

“Huh?”

“You heard me; as my new personal ninja, I intend to make you repay Akimitsu tenfold!”

Somehow, somewhere, I felt like Akimitsu was laughing at me at the very exact moment. I couldn’t be sure how energetic it was, but I was confident he was laughing.

“You know, I actually encountered….”

“No lies! We will make you into a warrior that will be remembered for her great service to the former emperor!”

It seemed that I had chosen a difficult road. I suppose it was well-earned, considering where I had started. Paying back Akimitsu was the least I could do, considering all that had happened.

“Very well, it will bring me much trouble, but I will help you… what are we doing?”

Sakura smiled.

“Fixing the whole world, of course!”

I had picked a difficult road indeed. Maybe it would have been better to stay behind, but that wasn’t an option I would have been able to be satisfied with. I sighed and shook my head. With a laugh, I followed after the princess on our new quest.