Work Text:
Kazuha looked up, watching as the bleak clouds obscured the lilac skies. For once, he told himself that he saw his surroundings as they were–pitiful, devoid of any of the poetry he wished to paint the world with. Cold raindrops pricked the delicate surface of his skin, causing him to shudder. This rain was tainted.
This, too, was the work of the Raiden Shogun. Or, perhaps it was not. Either way, her hand was sullied by the grip of that treacherous lightning.
With a long sigh, Kazuha retreated to the unsteady cover of an old tree, relishing the freedom from the overbearing lightning. The lightning that his friend had challenged, to no avail.
He curled up into a tight ball, burying his face in the folds of the soft, worn fabric. Nearly a year has passed since that awful confrontation, yet he could not bring himself to forget. He could hardly stand to look at his friend’s faded vision without remembering the archon’s cold expression and the merciless way she executed her divine punishment.
“And for what?” Kazuha asked, his voice softer than the relentless rain. He held the cold vision close to his chest, letting out a quiet sob. “Why did you do it, friend?”
With a sad smile, he gazed out towards the once-lively harbor that had been overshadowed by storm clouds. “We could’ve gone together, could’ve become the winds that overtook the Raiden Shogun. That fight wasn’t… it wasn’t worth your life.”
“Perhaps in another life, if the time and winds will it, I may see you again. Perhaps in another life, you will not need to draw your blade against such an immovable force. In that life, I pray that you will find peace.” Kazuha’s voice was merely a whisper, quivering in such a way that his words were overshadowed by the weight of his sorrow. He let the hand holding the vision fall to the ground, sinking into the desolate mud.