Impermanent Solutions (D5, EE)

[Jihen]

"We all grieve for the passing of the Daughter of Heaven." He said with a solemn nod.

"Why do you grieve?" He asked with an inflection which sought to invite the elder man to share his feelings or memories of the Emperor.

[Seppun Tomaru]

"For Her Majesty, of course," Tomaru says. "I and my fellows, we saw more of Her than most, and more closely than almost any. We thus feel the loss more than most will."

He draws a breath that shudders ever so slightly.

"Without Her to offer clarity and insight, to offer focus, it is, well, a challenge to find meaning for an old guardsman."

[Jihen]

"What do you feel gave her that clarity and insight?" He asked.

[Seppun Tomaru]

"The Heavens' touch," Tomaru replies, no hesitation, no doubt in his voice. "And as someone who's felt the touch of the kami, sometimes forcefully, I can tell you that's a powerful thing, indeed."

[Jihen]

"Your soul can tap into that same touch Seppun-sama. It can provide to you the meaning you seek."

He looked off into the darkening sky, "It waiting there... just behind your eyes."

[Seppun Tomaru]

Tomaru's gaze follows Jihen's, and the stars begin to be reflected in his eyes as they start to appear above.

"If the Heavens care to select me to sit where my ancestors did," he says, "they will reveal it in time. And if they do not, they will reveal that in time, too. This I know.

"But though I am an old man, I am yet a man. Waiting is not always the easiest thing."

[Jihen]

"With understanding all things are one... Emperor, peasant. Old man, young man. Guard, or guarded." He replied.

"With purity of purpose... The Heavens can guide us to where we should be in the proper order of things."

He let out a soft breath through his nostrils.

"We must continue on working... As she did until her last moment."

[Seppun Tomaru]

"There is this, at least," Tomaru says. "She appears to have passed in no pain."

[Jihen]

Jihen nodded as he continued to look out to the sky.

"Even suffering... has an end."

[Seppun Tomaru]

To this, Tomaru but nods.

[Jihen]

Jihen settles into his seated posture and takes in the solemnity and peace of the ephemeral moment the two of them share...