The sights, the smells, the sounds...They never seemed to have changed through out the woman's absence. The village seemed as it had years prior, villagers still bustled through out busy streets, vendors still sold their wares, and just in general life seem to continue onward. In a way she was saddened that life hadn't simply stopped because she had left, but such wasn't the way of the world.

She sat cross-legged on a bench crowd-watching as she had done many years ago, Jishin had always found the activity to be rather soothing when she was dealing with troubling thoughts. In this particular case her thoughts rested on how she would be dealing with the people she once knew, how she would tell them why she had left; wondering in the back of her head if they had missed her, or would they remember her in the slightest. Huffing slightly the young woman figured they would at the very least remember her, but as far as being missed...Well...She hadn't been the most pleasurable person to be around then, not that she was a very pleasurable person to be around now. At the very least she felt in her heart that at least one person would have missed her (or so she hoped), a man who captured her heart in truest form...

For now she sought to push her thoughts away as they seemed to be doing her no good, so she stood strolling toward a street vendor seeking solace in the dango he peddled. Without speaking she pointed to the particular confection she wished for, removing payment and handing it over as the middle-aged man ogled before handing over the dumplings. Normally she would have confronted the man, stating he should keep his eyes to himself and his dumplings, but it didn't seem right to waste breath on the pervert.

Turning she began to walk away from the situation, plucking the first of the three dumplings from their stick, feeling that a walk down the streets of Kumogakure would do her soul well.

Nagare walked down the road with his hands in his pockets. He was kind of tired, having stayed up pretty late the previous night. He didn't bother bringing Horui into the mix, so he left his kekkei genkai dormant as he wandered. He hadn't had a day to himself to just look around Kumogakure for a while; it was nice to do that, take in the scenery and all. He'd resigned from Sannin a few days prior and was left with the peace and quiet of a simple villager's life. Even though he was still considered a Jounin, he hardly thought of himself as a ninja anymore. He wanted to be something else, maybe a salesman or a blacksmith or a simple traveler. Being a ninja was something that constituted violence and hardship and pain, as his past years as one had proven. As much fun as it could be, it was hard work and at this point in his life he needed time to rest, to discover more about himself and the world around. All that good, cheesy stuff.

The man came upon a scene. A familiar looking woman with long, dark hair was buying something from a man whose eyes were looking...somewhere other than hers. She noticed but didn't make a scene of it and merely left him, eating the dumplings she had bought. As she got closer, Nagare realized who it was and his face lit up. "J...Jishin!?" He wanted to sprint to her, to hug her tight, to tell her everything that had happened and how the last 5 or 6 years had been and how much he had missed her and how much he had changed. He wanted to hear all about what she had done while she was away, where she went, whether or not she had missed him or even remembered him. His heart sparked with the passion of first love, and all that it had meant to him back when he was a 17-year-old nerd who summoned bats. He had grown both physically and mentally but seeing her, such a symbol of his past, made him regress to that teenage boy who was so in-love. But rather than running to her and letting his mouth run loose, he found himself staggering, at a loss for words. He took a few steps forward and stopped. He was breathing pretty hard and his heart was pounding. How long had she been back? Maybe she hadn't tried to talk to him because she didn't want to. Maybe she really didn't remember him. He was shaking a little.

"H-hi. How've you been? was all he could manage to say.

A familiar voice beckoned the woman, forcing her to immediately stop in her tracks looking to see where his voice had come from, a feeling of unearthly nervousness and excitement rested in her belly, could it possibly be him? What would she say if it was? What could she? ... Her eyes moved in a panic, locking onto the man she had loved so many years ago, Nagare Soseiji. She swallowed hard as he walked nearer, forcing a cough as a bit of dumpling lodged in the back of her throat, and on top of this it seemed her hands had ceased functioning as the Dango slipped from betwixt her finger-tips and fell to the ground. Her chest pounded with a fierceness that it hadn't held in years, face flushed she stood staring at the man wide-eyed and unsure as to how to reply to what he asked.

So for a brief moment she simply breathed her former lover in, immediately noticing that he had grown a few inches but was as lanky as she had remembered him to be. Without thought she raised her left arm moving in to caress his cheek, to feel his skin, to make sure he was the genuine article and not some strange hallucination; but, she decided against touching the man at the last moment clenching her hand and returning it to her side, for even if he were but a figment of her mind she wished him to stay but a little longer.

She thought of telling him that she had remained true through out her absence, that she was still pure, that she wanted him to tell her the same, but once again she forced the thought away. It was already strange to just meet up after all these years, best not to add anything on to make herself look like a complete moron. Besides, what if he had not remained as true as she? The thought made her stomach turn.

The first thing Jishin managed to say to the man was simply, "I've missed you so much, so very much." unable to think of any other words for the man.

Nagare felt a hand move to his face, touching him gently. Jishin clearly remembered him, which was a good sign. He pushed the dark hair from his eyes and swept it to the right side of his face. He stabilized his breathing as best he could and brought her into a close embrace as she spoke. He hadn't hugged her in so long, but it felt nice to be close to someone again. Time didn't seem to change some things which was a reassuring enough truth to him. "I've missed you so much, so very much." He let his embrace say the words that he couldn't think of, and squeezed her a bit tighter. She still possessed the same muscular build that he was familiar with; her muscle mass was probably much more than his, despite his recent training in Bukijutsu. He finally released her and, unsure of where to put his hands, slid his arms behind his head awkwardly as if he was relaxing. "I've missed you too, Jishin."

Without much more willpower to hold back all of his experiences, Nagare spoke in a flustered rush. "S-so much has changed. I met so many people, did lots of missions...I was even a Sannin for a while. I went to Konoha to help stop a missing ninja and watched the Hokage die...and I trained the next Hokage in Kuchiyose before he became Hokage, and-and...I don't know why I'm telling you all of this. I just want you to be proud of me, I guess. I did it for you, sort of. I think." he was sweating, but not enough to be repulsive. Mostly just his palms and his forehead. His skin was turning a faint red as his temperature skyrocketed. The most pressing questions were suddenly at hand, and he had no better option but to ask her them from the get go. "...but what happened? Why were you gone so long, where were you? I was worried sick, I thought you had forgotten about me. I just, I don't know. I never seem to know anymore, not that I ever did in the first place. Are we still...?" his voice trailed off and he looked at the ground. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." The emotions seemed to change in a heartbeat, from excitement to fear to nervousness to sadness. Tears welled in his eyes but he didn't know why. He shut his eyes tight to try and hold back the waterworks and didn't dare face her. She didn't need to see him like this, especially considering it wasn't exactly her fault.

Immediately she was taken aback by the man's warm embrace, momentarily unsure of what to do her hands dangling at her sides, face flush red with a mixture of all to familiar feelings for Nagare. His grip felt wondrous, leaving her with a feeling of security as if nothing else mattered for those brief moments. It brought her back to when she was seventeen and newly in love, or whatever it was she felt. Soon she found her hands gripping the back of his shirt, her cheek pressed against his collar inhaling his scent. A scent she had missed for all the years she had been away from him. Unfortunately the embrace was all to brief as he pulled away, for a brief second she wouldn't allow it clinging tightly in hopes that the moment would continue on for a little while longer, but of course releasing it rather quickly forcing a look of slight disappointment away. It was fairly obvious he felt the same way by his embrace, though hearing him state that his feelings reciprocated hers was quite nice, so nice she allowed a brief smile to rest upon her lips, watching as he tried to seem aloof.

Immediately after their embrace Nagare seemed to being to expound upon what he had been doing in the past years, from helping the Hokage to being a Sannin, he had done well for himself since she had been gone, but what really caught her attention was that he testified to doing some of what he had accomplished for her. Or so he thought. "For me?..." Her face had become more flushed than it was before, unsure of how to comprehend his statement, had he really done such feats for her? She was unsure of what to say to him, no one had ever really done anything for her...Then the next question came, shaking her out of the momentary daze she was in, a question that she had pondered answering since she had returned home, why had she left, were they still together, had she forgotten about him? They all made her stomach turn on it's side. Seemed there was no other choice than to answer, prepared or not. Staring the man in the eyes she began, "I was confused about what I wanted from life, afraid to admit that I had feelings, thought I needed to leave, to go on a pilgrimage. In a way I left because of you, a frightened child running away from her emotions." She paused to draw him in again, wrapping her arms around him as she noticed the tears welling in his eyes, she felt horrible about what she had done, leaving her love. "I realized now that my leaving was foolish, I'm the one that's sorry." A lump began to form in the back of her throat, and a telling burn began to pierce her eyes, still she needed to continue on "All of those years, I kept you in my heart, I've kept true and pure for you, and I still very much have these feelings for you..." she was afraid to tell him that she loved him in that moment, as if the sentiment wasn't already present in her tone and body language.

Her arms still tightly wrapped around him a few brief tears rolled down her cheeks, a mixture of fear and embarrassment could be felt in her core. She had only cried in front of one other person in her life, now here she was spilling her guts in public with tears rolling down her cheeks, but still she continued on "I'm never going to leave you again." she managed to ramble out as she pressed against his shoulder again.

Jishin answered his questions as honestly as she could, and he expected nothing less of her. She said she was confused about what she desired from life and had left Kumogakure on a pilgrimage, a sort of journey to find herself. It was all so ironic, seeing as Nagare had seen her as the stable person in everything when he was an indecisive, dissociative-identity-disordered mess. She went as far as saying that she had left, in part, because of him; a childish choice, she admitted, but it didn't make him feel any better. He kind of shifted his weight to his left foot and stood with his right leg bent, uncomfortably contemplating his effect on the woman. Was it a good thing, helping her progress and change emotionally? Or was he manipulating her unconsciously? He tried to push the thoughts out of his mind, knowing full well that he did nothing but blame himself in these kinds of situations. It was a habit. But they still lingered, nonetheless. Jishin continued, apologizing for the absence and explaining that her feelings were...unchanged, and a wave of relief washed over the Soseiji. It was reassuring to know that their undying love for each other had established the relationship to somehow stay intact after over half a decade; so cliche, but somehow romantic. He could see the cover of the novel now--two star-crossed ninjas, going against their fates and their personalities, to bolster an unexpected bond...maybe he should have become a writer instead of a ninja. Less physical labor. More ryo. If he ended up successful, that was.

Another sentence from her caught Nagare's heart. "I'm never going to leave you again." He didn't respond at first, partly because he wasn't sure if she meant it, but it still made him feel good. Finally, he spoke up and released himself from their embrace gently. "I'll take your word for it." he said, playfully. He knew she wasn't the playful type but he needed a bit of a lapse from all the solemn words and crying. He used his sleeve to wipe his eyes and hers before turning to face the streets around them. "C'mon, let's go for a walk. I will give us some time to catch up." He said as he held out his opposite hand, waiting for her to take it. "You up for it?"

Her head remained buried against the man's chest as she awaited his response to her telling him that she would never leave his side, after the immediate shock of blurting the words was over she felt like a bit of a bumbling idiot, making such a scene in the middle of the village, not that there was anything she could do to change the scene at that point. Years worth of emotion had been exchanged in only a few minutes, leaving her to wish that they had met in a more private setting, but life wouldn't spare her such a convenience. He then spoke, stating that he would 'take her word for it.' which left her with a bit of a pit in her stomach, while she had meant what she had said the feeling of blurting out something resoundingly stupid still lingered within.

"Alright." She stated with a hint of sadness, though her tears had all but dried by that point leaving but reddened eyes and slight trails running down her cheeks, which were then wiped away by her love's sleeve. She couldn't help but smile slightly at the gesture, feeling a warmth within her inner-being which she had missed since her initial leave. "Yeah, a walk sounds nice. Maybe I'll get another Dango." She was still rather hungry after dropping the previous one, timidly she placed her hand in his, "Perhaps you should get something to eat as well, all skin and bones. Just like all those years ago." while it was fairly clear that she was joking about Nagare's weight there was a certain amount of motherly worry behind her statement.

Looking her love over again it seemed that physically he had changed little since she had left, still a lanky, bookish looking fellow, not that she was complaining finding him as attractive as ever. Still she wondered about his opinion on her mementos, having acquired a fair amount of body-ink throughout her travels in the world. It still felt a little strange to her, seeking a man's approval, before meeting him she couldn't think of a single person whose approval she really wished for, and to this day could only think of a handful (if that), outside of him. A strange feeling indeed, but one that wasn't that unwelcome within her soul for it seemed to show that she did indeed care for him...

As if that wasn't apparent already.

Nagare felt her hand wrap around his and they began walking at a slow pace. He was happy with how this day had played out thus far, still in a bit of a daze from this entirely unexpected encounter. The unique architecture of the buildings in Kumogakure caught Nagare's attention as the pair strode along; he looked at each one closely as they walked. They looked different to him, for whatever reason, which only reaffirmed the fact that he hadn't been hanging around Kumo's streets all that often. Jishin's voice pulled his attention back in. "Perhaps you should get something to eat as well, all skin and bones. Just like all those years ago." Nagare thought about it for a moment. It wouldn't hurt. All he had eaten for breakfast that morning was some dry, unappealing cereal and a strawberry smoothie, and that was nearly six hours ago (he had woken up fairly early that morning). Thinking back on it made him re-experience the taste of the strawberries as he wondered what he could get.

First thing that came to mind was a noodle dish that Nagare hadn't had in a long while, but chilled noodles were practically impossible to eat while walking, so he settled on his second choice. "I could go for some curry bread, right now. It's kind of hard to walk with and eat without getting the curry everywhere but I'll manage." he said with a hint of excitement. They continued down the road until they reached the next food vendor, and Nagare purchased a large, circular loaf of the fried bread. He stared at it with anticipation, bringing it to his mouth and taking a bite. The melding of the spicy curry's flavor within the crispy exterior of the bread was enchanting, but he realized that he had taken his hand out of Jishin's in the process of eating. He wanted to fix that, so he began eating a bit faster, shortening the time between bites. He swallowed another mouthful and cleared his throat as he attempted to think of something to say so she didn't think he was uninterested with her. "Have you seen any of our other old friends yet? You know, Bokuden or Yoshiro, or maybe...?" his voice trailed off, remembering Rui's death. He wasn't sure whether to tell her what had happened or not; it was all so long ago now, but if she didn't already know, she deserved to. He looked back to his curry bread and took another quiet bite.

Just as oblivious as ever. She thought to herself, stealing quick gazes toward Nagare as the two walked watching as he seemed to analyze the buildings around them, for a moment she wished to be more like him, able to press away all the thoughts that swam in her head and to be able to focus upon something like the structure of the buildings around them. Alas she could not, her thoughts for that moment sat upon the feeling of her hand in his, her calloused fingers rubbing against his. In her own naive childish way she loved him, she loved the man more than he could ever possibly know, she loved him to the point that she had to drive herself away in fear of becoming someone else and then to come back to him. The feelings brought her back to seventeen, back to being a child filled with a sense of dread and wonderment, learning what it was like to be in a relationship. "Curry bread, sounds good." She stated, obviously thinking about other matters.

When his hand left hers Jishin was jerked from thought and brought back into the external world, she was crushed for a brief moment as she watched him eat his food, wishing nothing more than to grasp at his hand again, though her external features would never tell of such a thing as she put on a coy smile watching as he ate his bread. She no longer felt like eating, overrun with such odd emotions which made her stomach turn on it's side. As far as his question  about seeing any other of her friends went, she had not. Not that there were many people that she considered friends to be able to run into. "No, I only just got back into town yesterday; I've spent most of my time seeing my clansmen since getting back. Very enjoyable." She was being fairly sarcastic, meeting with her family was by and large awkward, tense, and just generally unenjoyable.  "In fact, you're the only person I've seen." Curious she cocked an eyebrow, her next question would've been pretty obvious before she let the words from her mouth "How's everyone been?" Having no idea that one of her friends had opted for the easy way out, or that another could soon well be the next Raikage.

Nagare ate more of his curry bread as he tried to think of an easy way to explain things to Jishin. She had apparently only been in town since the day before and thus Nagare was the first person she'd seen. "Well, Bokuden is good, he's one of the few people I usually keep up with to some extent. He's a member of the ANBU and is an S-Rank ninja now, which is better than me, even. I'm really proud of him, y'know? Uh, I think you know Kenji...he's been well, he's a Sannin now; and as for Rui...he died. His body was found at the bottom of a tall mountain in the snow. It seemed to be an accident but I suspect it to be a suicide, although I'm still not sure about it. It's just odd for a kid as young and innocent as he was to just fall off of a dangerous mountain out of no where. Those are the only notable three people I can think of." There were other names floating in his mind, but he hadn't seen them probably in just as long as Jishin hadn't. Ninja in Kumogakure seemed to come and go like the breeze, some dead, some defected, some just plain fading from the face of the planet. It was sad and it left practically everyone left feeling alone. "Everyone else seems to be gone, I haven't seen them around." He suddenly remembered the Raikage, but a sinking feeling was present in his stomach. He hadn't seen nor heard from the woman in quite a while, which was unusual.

"Reika seems to be on some sort of vacation or something, I haven't seen her in a long while either. But last I checked, she was doing well. I'm sure she'd be glad to see your return." Nagare had been taking bites of his bread during pauses in speech and had now finished his morsel entirely and was full. The taste lingered in his mouth as he wiped his hands on his coat absentmindedly. He had noticed a tinge of sarcasm in her previous comment about her clan and decided to build conversation on that, in the meantime. "I just wish you could've been here through all of it, it's all so surreal. So what's your clan like? I remember you speaking about them now and again, but I've never met any of them aside from you. Considering you all eat hearts to survive, I can imagine things aren't too happy-go-lucky and lively around." he said, taking her hand back into his as he talked.

"Well, that's good for him." She remarked as Nagare spoke of his former student and friend Bokuden, though it did remind her of how long she had been gone. Last she saw of him he was a fairly exceptional chuunin, and now it seemed he had surpassed her high expectations for him. She would have to congratulate him on his accomplishments next she saw of him, something that she did not do regularly. Of course it couldn't be all good news, moments later she heard of the death of her former student, in what seemed to have been a suicide. For a very brief moment her solemn expression changed, a spark hit the back of her eyes, and a slight pain tugged at her chest. Rui had departed this world and moved onto the next. The moment passed and her normal seemingly uncaring visage returned "Unfortunate. He was a good kid.", she made a mental note to visit his grave, that was if they gave the boy a grave in the first part. She thought of asking Nagare if they had properly buried him, but decided against it trying not to bring the conversation down too terribly much.

As far as everyone else went she was somewhat apathetic, all those years ago she wasn't close to many people. Her emotional disconnect was one of the reasons she had been able to leave so easily before. Instead of giving a verbal response toward the rest of the people he spoke of she simply shrugged. She did briefly wonder about the rest of her old students but it was doubtful that he knew any of them, besides they were probably amongst the legions of others who were lost to the times.

She took his hand back in hers, thinking of how to describe the dynamic within her clan without painting them all as apathetic, self-superior, and generally dickish. "Well, there are two groups. Neither of which cares for the other...And, well, there isn't a whole lot of emotion outside of disdain within our members." She paused, still struggling to describe her people "The two sides hold such a rivalry with each other that if two parents from one give birth to a child bearing the strengths of the other the child is effectively disowned and raised by the other. As was my case." she awkwardly scratched the back of her head with her free hand, feeling that the whole clan-dynamic was a bit of a downer. Without thought she blurted out a little more about herself, thinking back to her childhood "Mother's dead and I haven't talked to my father in twelve years, even though he lives in the same compound. In short, my people are fucking assholes." though there were the exceptions, her caretaker stood out in her mind. For a moment she wanted her love to meet the woman who had truly raised her, but that would most likely never happen. Outsiders, unless under special contract, were not allowed on the compound, and clansmen rarely spoke with outsiders when out in the wild. Jishin was another exception in this matter.

Her mind lingered on her parents, then switched to his realizing that to that point she hadn't met them. For some reason she doubted that they would approve of her, not that it really mattered. "How have your folks been?" She asked, trying to get away from talking about her people.

Jishin seemed to meditate on news of Rui's death for a bit before moving on with a reply to Nagare's inquiry concerning her clan. She had a hint of scorn in her voice as she spoke, explaining the gap between the two parts of the clan and how she had effectively been disowned by her parents and raised by other clansmen. It was an unfair and terrible thought, but it was true. She said that her mother had died and her father had alienated himself from her for a literal dozen years now. Nagare nodded, thinking on about how it must have affected the young girl growing up. She was a mere child when she was left isolated like that, discarded to be raised by a new family. Pitiful. He was caught off guard when she asked a similar question as the one he'd asked, and he pondered his own family state. He was better off than her, but that was merely because he didn't know for sure. As far as close family went, his parents were dead and he was an only child aside from Horui, who was an extension of himself rather than a sibling. His distant family, cousins, aunts, uncles and etc., he truly didn't know.

"My clan is kind of spread out, and all I know are my immediate relatives...or, my mother and father, rather. They're both dead now, it's a complicated situation, but my father died last year and my mother died recently as well. I was never really close to them at all, more of an obligation that they had to attend to rather than a child to be loved. I'm not spiteful of that, I appreciate that they gave me life, if anything. I'm not the affectionate type anyhow and I've learned to be independent for the most part." Nagare explicated, looking down at his hands once in a while. They were dusted with crumbs from the curry bread, and he swiped them across his black pants to rid himself of the particles. He lifted his head again to face Jishin, giving her a quiet smile. "Not much else to explain there. I'm sorry about your family, it doesn't sound like an easy place to grow up in. Too much tension and potential conflict. You came out pretty well considering the circumstances, if you ask me." he wanted to get into depth, analyzing the family dynamic and how being raised without a set one and more of a hostile environment would affect the resulting child's behaviors, but he stopped himself before going on a tangent. It was a habit of his that he was working on. Silence hung in the air as they continued walking, his hand still firm in hers.

"Condolences." She stated simply as he spoke of his parents passing unsure of what else she could say on the matter. The story of his childhood reminded her a bit of her own, never having a bond with her own parents outside of being another mouth to feed, or that was how she remembered it to be. In reality the time she shared with her biological parents was precious, for a time they loved their daughter and that made their later admonishment of her more difficult. So instead of choosing to remember the good she simply replaced it with bad, it eased her pain a bit. "I suppose we should be counted lucky to have had a roof over our head and place to lay down for the night, many don't even have those privileges." She was obviously trying to avoid sounding bitter about their situations, though it did still slightly peak through her tone.

A semi-cold stare mirrored his smile, an expression that rarely changed for her "No one has it easy, nothing to feel sorry about." She couldn't help but feel that his statement about her turning out to be well was rather unintentionally patronizing, though she put the thought off as she had an issue with seeing signs that simply weren't there. "You turned out pretty well, too." Both of the two did come out fairly well-adjusted considering their familial situations, though it was a miracle that anyone in this crazy world was in any sense well-adjusted.

Continuing to walk she couldn't think of any topics of conversation, succumbing to her still painful lack of social skills. Then, as if a reprieve sent from the heavens above, a tom-cat darted from the top of bench and skittered across the street. Instinctively her grip tightened around his hand, and an odd series of thoughts passed through her head. She wondered if the tom-cat was lonely, if he had a family, did he have someone that loved him? Did he have a family? ...Were they a family? She wondered thinking of the relationship between Nagare and herself. She paused looking toward the man and spoke with a flickering in her eyes, just above a mumble "We, we are family." and feeling bold and emotional from not seeing the man in such a long time she continued, though quieter. "I...I love you.." The normally proud and austere Jishin felt frail for a moment, felt weak, and yet everything seemed to feel correct, she needed to express her feelings and had done so.

The landscape sprawled out ahead of them was no longer registered in Nagare's attention and all he was focused on was Jishin and what her return meant for his future. He entertained the idea of their bond growing stronger, and things changing for the better. It was idealistic and probably not exactly how things would turn out but it didn't hurt to dream. Jishin's words flowed freely as her eyes were intent on his. She expressed that she was grateful to have a roof over her head and somewhere to lay down for the night, which made Nagare remember those in the village that were stricken with poverty and practically starving. It was a much less fortunate side of the country that he didn't often think about due to the limited exposure he had with it. He wasn't ungrateful for what he had, he just didn't know what it was like not to have it. She made a few more comments, explicating that "no one has it easy" and that Nagare had "turned out pretty well, too." But Nagare's attention was somewhere else, lost in the recesses of his mind, considering the biggest illusion in humanity; security. Those homeless in the village, those ninja dying on missions, those killed by famine and murder, even those dying of natural means. No matter how secure one felt, one day they would lose it all and they would be nothing more than a skeleton under the dirt. That undeniable fact paired with the essential mystery of the unknown afterlife disturbed Nagare and left him staring down at the ground absentmindedly. The shift in outlook from optimism to impending demise was so intense that it was almost present in the air, a thick cloud around him...

A cat scurried by and brought Nagare back to reality. He watched it pass as quickly as it came and contemplated how it likely approached the immaculate "gift of life" geared toward survival. Emotion only complicated things. Nagare desperately wished to have that kind of opportunity but such a thing was beyond human capability. He was already disconnected enough from the outside world as best as he could be, and that hadn't helped at all. Jishin's voice was back, now, breathing words against the thin atmosphere. "We, we are family." followed by a much quieter, "I love you." that was barely audible. Nagare gave a nod and faced his "family" for a brief moment to assure her the same. "I love you too." He wanted to say more but couldn't find the words and instead brought up their course of action and let his eyes convey the remainder of his emotions; they were bright despite relatively low sunlight, and they shimmered with a vermilion glow was boiling against the heat of the many thoughts behind them. "So, where would you like to go? It'll be getting dark soon."