The days leading up the the festival were full of panic for me. Fewer and fewer people came to the gardens each day, projects finished and lovers came home. Most of the maids found their way to the quarters of their men, the noblewomen greeted their husbands in public processions. Still, there was no word from the sea of AAta and his men. Through the moon arch we watched each day, hoping for the smallest of specks to become more than that, to be those we loved on their way home.
Tsukimine was ironically the calmest, bringing her brother in for more language lessons in the garden, serving him tea as she learned more writing and taught me more words in her language. She seemed like nothing could ruffle her, that she was completely calm and she was just there for emotional support, the same
