“Then it’s settled.” Ruby smiled, a little too eagerly.

“Ruby…why come to me now? We’ve not spoken since the night in the Castle.” Lilith poured them both a second cup of tea and served two portions of jasmine rice, still steaming and aromatic. She continued to serve the customary welcome meal whilst the spell singer fought to find the right words.

“I needed time to think about what I was going to do with the rest of my life.” It was as close to honesty as she could get. “I’ve no ghosts of my own, so I figured following others was a good use of our time.”

“You always want to do the right thing but you don’t have to be the hero anymore.” Lilith pushed two black bowls over the table, one filled with rice, one filled with sauteed pork ribs. “We’ve done enough.”

Ruby shrugged. She took the bowls and began to pick at the food.

“I don’t know what else to be.”

The sisters ate in silence, swaddled in the black decor of Lilith’s palatial abode. Never had Ruby seen the inner sanctum of her sister’s house. Now that she was a member of the Akashiman senate, new customs obscured the old and bound them in new ways of servitude and tradition. She pictured luxurious carvings and cabinets piled with trinkets and artisan relics from Lilith’s time as a geisha in the Capitol’s okiya.

“I know how you feel.” Lilith swallowed a piece of pork and slouched, abandoning the strict doctrine of her political station. “I keep asking myself if all I’ve fought for is really what Akashima needs.”

“All that you’ve fought for, Lilith, means Akashima has a future.” Ruby was not present during the later stages of the Greater Oni War, but she had enough tall tales of her sister’s exploits to appreciate what her sacrifices meant. “Those tanto serve not only as a reminder of your contribution, but as a symbol of hope that Akashima can re-join the world.”

They looked at one another endearingly, finally letting down their guard to one another. Whatever had transpired since they last met thawed, and they appeared as mortal and full of heart as ever. Lilith even mustered a smile, a glint of fire and a smattering of a kitsune’s grin forming in the twilight. The spirit-warder plucked the flower from her hair and set it at the centre of the table.

“The sakura blossom is the only thing to stay unchanged in Akashima for a thousand years. Slowly, but surely, it’s broken free of the stagnation instilled by the shogunate. No more samurai. No more ronin. People’s voices heard and the senate acts on behalf of everyone and not just the noble houses.”

“It’s still as beautiful as it was the first time I saw it in your hair decades ago.” Ruby smiled. Though time stole triumphs and heartaches, the day Lilith descended the stairs at her debutante ball would remain forever crystalline in her mind.