Together

“Cro, I…” Ui sobbed, struggling to stop the river of tears down the side of her face.

“I’m not your dear Cro.”

Mixed in Ui’s blurred vision, an Udari with light blue hair slowly came into focus. To Ui, that Udari, a couple of years younger than her, was incredibly beautiful, even if she’d forgotten how her smile looked. “Yula…”

“You’re a mess, Uisempuli.” Yula had sat down next to the collapsed Ui, and let her head rest on her thighs.

Ui tried to find Yula’s wounds in return. “You, too, Yula.” Ui was still crying, trying to plug the tears with her hands. “How did you find me?”

“Did you really think we were going to let you roam around by yourself?” Yula’s cold eyes were fixed on the horizon, far away from Ui’s.

“Yula, I think I saw something I shouldn’t have, from someone very dear…”

“Saw?”

“Someone else’s… dream or… memory.”

Yula nodded confidently. “I hate that part. It’s because you used the Song of Memories, isn’t it? Lacking restraint as usual…”

“You know what I’m talking about?” Ui, who had stopped crying, still rested her head on Yula’s legs.

“Yeah. I hate it. I sing it here when people get into arguments. Their memories come back to me. Sometimes their feelings and dreams, too. I can’t imagine it on such a large scale, especially with someone like you at its center…”

Ui brushed off Yula’s slightly spiteful tone. “Always working so hard, Yula.” She remembered the hardworking Yula from her childhood, and reached for her face. Yula had a few scrapes from their fight, but nothing like Ui’s. “You’re such a beautiful person…”

Yula smacked her hand away from her. “Singing that song to such a large city could’ve easily gone horribly. So it came down to luck, Uisempuli. I hate that about you, you know?”

“I know, and maybe I deserve it.”

“This is why you’re stupid, Uisempuli.” Yula shoved Ui’s head off of her legs, forcing her to sit up and lean on the mountain’s rocky wall like she was. “You’ve thought your whole life that you can do everything by yourself.”

Ui didn’t know how long she had been unconscious, but Yula’s hair made her believe the wind had been blowing on it for a long time. The familiar cold wind sliding down the mountain hit both of them as the sun barely warmed them up. Ui had done so much for that island, and for that mountain, expecting nothing in return… But in the end, she couldn’t change anything. “Have you heard about what happened to the north? I had to try something…”

“And did you ever think about asking for help, or others opinions, or anything?”

Ui looked away and started drawing with her fingers on the soil. “Who else is going to understand?”

Yula withheld her gut reaction, knowing Ui was partly right. “I can. Even if I’ll never reach you, I will know better than anyone.” Yula placed her hand on Ui’s shoulder. More than grabbing it kindly, it felt like she was just resting it there. For an Udari, Yula was cold and distant.

“Why would the mountain give me such power? I can barely handle it...” Ui leaned her head on Yula’s shoulder.

“You know Uisempuli…” Several seconds passed as they both enjoyed the mountainside view of Auremaru. “I don’t believe in such things like ‘the mountain’s power’ or anything like that. I don’t believe in coincidences either.” Ui had thought about it before. She wondered why she got such powers and to such extent, but she tried looking away, focusing on what good she could do with them, instead. “In fact you’re a terrible wielder of your powers. Painfully empathetic and unstable… But now that you do have them, I won’t allow you to waste them.”

Maybe Ui needed the scolding, or maybe she needed the shoulder of someone who had powers just like her to understand. Or maybe she needed to face down the mountain and the seas and claim her own personal victory. “I know. I appreciate that.” She felt Yula deserved a smile.

“That means you shouldn’t ignore me or the people who tried so hard to help you.” Yula pulled Ui’s ear playfully. Small tones of orange were slowly mixing in with the horizon. “Why did you leave us, Uisempuli?”

“There was no need for me here anymore… I wasn’t wanted here.” Ui sighed, closing her eyes while the wind grew colder.

Yula was angered by that answer. “Are you kidding? I had to keep the secret that you were the Lullaby. The girl that was shunned by everyone and seemed like a foreigner in her own land, was actually our greatest heroine. And I couldn’t say anything! That doesn’t mean I wanted you to go away! Did you hate this place that much?”

“No, Yula.” Ui looked at the sunset, dimming the vast sky and seas in front of them. “It hated me.” Yula’s passion was frozen by Ui’s chilling words. Yula was visibly frustrated and was unable to respond for an uncomfortably long time.

“And then you came here every year and acted like a foreigner, like you forgot I existed!”

Ui grabbed Yula’s arm with hers, bringing back the silence and the calm. “I never forgot… But I had hoped you had. Now I see how wrong I was.” She stroked Yula’s hair. “I’m sorry, Yula.”

Yula shoved Ui away. Ui understood that Yula needed some space.

“I finished it, you know? The Song of the Seas.” Ui smiled proudly, but Yula remained silent amid Ui’s mixed feelings.

“Is it enough… this late?” Yula’s voice wavered with hesitation.

“It isn’t too late…” Ui remembered her travels, thinking of possible allies in every direction. “I don’t think we’re alone anymore. I can keep the island safe from now on. Our home will never be threatened again. You can rest, Yula, you don’t have to work so hard anymore.”

Yula shoved Ui, this time harder, causing her to fall on her side. “You don’t understand, do you?” asked Yula. Ui, slowly rising, looked at her, confused. “I will learn that song with you, and we will both protect it together.”

Ui smiled. “Sure.” The skies turned dark orange as the afternoon was reaching its end. They both remained in silence looking towards the horizon. Ui felt a closeness that she’d never felt with Yula before; Ui was finally herself. She closed her eyes as she leaned closer to her.

But her calm and relaxation didn’t last long, as she felt Yula’s muscles tense reflexively, and she felt a shadow cast over her. She opened her eyes to see the source: someone floating near them, blocking the last of the sun that had been shining on them.

Ui couldn’t make out the flying figure eclipsing her vision. “Hello Princess, and… friend.” She instantly recognized her voice.

“Prishu…”

Prishu floated near them, with the wind of Auremaru sweeping her clothes. She wasn’t wearing a Royal Mage uniform anymore, and was more casually dressed.

“Princess, are you ready to become a Queen?” Ui got up, gathered all of her energy, and ran straight towards the cliff, leaping straight into Prishu’s arms, who caught her with a twirl. Ui hugged her tightly with both arms and legs. “I’ve never seen you this excited about seeing me, or about flying…” Ui closed her eyes and rubbed her head happily on Prishu’s arms. “Are you ready?” asked Prishu. Ui kept nodding in her arms.

“Wait!” Yula shouted from a distance as she ran and jumped onto Prishu as well. Prishu seemed able to carry the two Udari with her without difficulty.

Prishu slowly started floating higher. “Who is she?”

Ui smiled as she looked at both of them. “She’s… my sister.”