The Day of Thunder

[Jiyo Sora]

It had been twenty years since Shinsei had selected him to go into Jigoku with White Moonrise, Dawei, Yamadono, and Hantei to rescue Hisomu.

Sora sometimes thought it was why his own sleep was as untroubled as it had been in recent years- they'd seen the heart of the place. How could it tempt them?

But now, Shinsei had called upon him again.

Sora sat, looking over his armor on its stand. He'd had to wear it more often of late than he cared to admit. But now...

It carries more.

The phrase Reiko had given him to speak to Hisomu had been "words have power," and no one knew it better than the founder of the Imperial Libraries.

He looked up as Kinyoubi entered, surveying her handiwork, and he felt a sudden, unexpectedly intense surge of love for the woman who had married him, borne their children, and put up with him for all of these years, and who still somehow found time to indulge his sentimentality.

She's a marvel

Kinyoubi didn't speak as she looked over her work. They'd reached the point where they didn't actually need to say much to each other- two decades together? They knew one another well enough.

She hadn't used a brush, as such- the mixture of lacquer and bronze would have ruined one. Instead, she had used a simple wooden stylus, but her calligraphy was as perfect as it had ever been. Twenty years before, he had done most of the writing- she'd simply seen to his face and his right hand. But this time, she had insisted. And he had agreed.

So she had applied the names to the armor in a fine, neat hand.

Wise God. Fukurokujin. Phoenix Emperor. Shiba. Who Sora had damn near had a seizure in front of the first time they met. Shining Princess. Tokiwa, the Emperor's eldest daughter and heir. Firebird. Osakabe, the daughter most akin to Jiyo. Gentle Breeze.Shikibu, Yuzuru's designated heir. True Heart. Tae, no one's heir, and so eager to please. Laughing Bird. Kumori. Of all of the children of Shiba, the one who'd taken the most after Sora himself. Fast Auntie. Shinjo, who he met a moment after he met Shiba, but who he actually a conversation with sooner. Mother Phoenix. Jiyo, who he'd first seen- and admired- from a hiding spot on Seppun Hill. Drinking Buddy- Kozan- Koyama, the little god he'd known since they'd both been Hikaru tribesmen in the Spine of the World a lifetime gone by. Mother Spider. Reiko, met on Seppun HIll all of those years ago, the woman who had taught him to read, and in so doing set his life on a very different course. Monkey Queen. Saruko, once Shirayuki, his oldest friend who hadn't been born a Hikaru. Baby Dragon. Togashi Satsuki, his favorite firebug niece. One-Hand. Jin, a man both like and unlike Sora to an alarming degree, but who'd made a solid first impression turning his hand to some honest work. Songbird. Yozora, who'd tried so hard to get him to see himself as more than just a Hikaru killer. Old Man for Yamadono and Gentle Carver for Seppun Dawei. Dragon Spear. Wu, wherever he'd gotten to. Maybe he was fishing somewhere. Little Teacher. Shinsei. Who'd been in the Seppun lands about the only time Sora had felt like he even remotely understood what he was doing. Uncle Baldy. Togashi. Kinyoubi had chuckled as she had made the character.

And why not? With his son marrying our daughter, it might even fit.

Rock Squirrel. Phi, now Nozomi. He figured she'd be there too. Southern King. White Moonrise, the angry Nezumi he still considered a friend. Clever Lioness for Makime Ayano. Learning Patience for Otomo Gusai. Almost Friend for Doji Dojihime. And on, and on. Kyosei, Yuzuru, Chai, Ayumu, T'tok tch'tch, Misaki, Rei, Kotsume, the deceased Taochusu and Ch'jak'matt, all masked by alternate names. And more.

The armor almost looked textured, most of the text quite small... save for the patch over his heart. Kinyoubi had placed their family there, in larger characters.

Gold Scribe. Monkey Princess. Laughing Bells. Otter Stone. Little Badger. Quiet Song.

He felt his wife's hands on his shoulders, kneading away the stress.

He didn't want to go, but while he might have had a choice, it was really no choice at all. Every single name on his armor brought that home.

I want their future to be as safe as I can make it. I want to see my grandchildren, but it's far more important that those children grow up in a world fit to live in.

He placed his hands on Kinyoubi's and just held them. Then, finally.

"I'll leave in the morning. The letters are..." He sighed. Chuckled. "You know."

She squeezed his hands. "I know."

Probably better than he did.

He wanted to thank her for the last twenty years. For his life- for their life. For their children.
Instead, he simply sat up with his wife to await the sunrise.