Chapter Text
There was something remote in that, this soldier’s thick, choking distance. Inaba was supposed to be the mortal – so why was it so hard to reach out? Charming the wary, soothing the fearful, I always thought I was no stranger to it… but even now, and I still don’t understand.
All I can say is that when I looked –
At beautiful, invincible Inaba,
at solitary, trembling Inaba,
at woman that wants to hold me
but soldier that can’t Inaba,
– not even my sight could truly touch my dear. And that for as much as I had already lived, there were still things unknown to me.
Every night that Eirin’s student could not rest, I came and gave shelter. A lie of omission, really. I gave Inaba shelter from the past, and Inaba gave me shelter from the future.
The fact was that a brave, loving creature would die and I would go on. On and on, while this person, this infinitely detailed story, vanished past the horizon. Because of… what, a whim? Some trifling little terror I forgot long ago?
But then I feel Inaba’s warmth and hear Inaba’s laughter, and it doesn’t matter. Somehow it’s enough that she’s just happy. And as for tomorrow, the words we can’t say - they can wait.
I can do that much, can’t I?