D2EE, Closed Conversations [VERY CLOSED]

[Bokushi]

"Unless he needs to be flatly out of it," Bokushi replies. "That is, of course, the Empress's decision to make, and entirely her own. But the matter wouldn't have been mentioned if it hadn't been thought important."

He sighs.

"It may be past an issue of what anyone wants. But then, it's always past that."

[Hantei Retsuhime]

Retsuhime laughed. "You would never have said that before, just as I cannot say it now." The mirth receded from her features. "Doesn't make it untrue." A pause. "We're doing him no favors, but he's got the right to suffer with the rest of us."

[Bokushi]

"Then I will ensure he is found and brought here," Bokushi says. "As it must be."

[Hantei Retsuhime]

The Empress nodded. This had been an unwelcome wrinkle, but there was nothing else for it. They had come to the hinge of fate, and, together, they had chosen to surrender to its pull.

/scene.