Disclaimer: I do not own Rune Factory

Hey look guys I'm not dead O:!

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Every morning, Uzuki wakes at the very crack of dawn to Tsubute's rather loud and persistent voice urging her to hurry and rise out of bed, to continue her naginata training so as not to fall behind. She complies every time, never once begging for just a few more minutes of rest- she simply sits straight up, rubs her eyes, and begins the usual things one does as they prepare for a new day. Outside, snow is falling gently, the flakes tickling the outside of the Snowstyle Inn. Uzuki enjoys the snow; she is rather accustomed to the cold of winter, and does not hesitate to step outside even on days such as this.

After making the final adjustments of her own special hairpin she had received as a gift long ago, the naturally small yet unusually graceful Uzuki treads down the stairs and is ready to begin her daily exercising regimen. Rita comments on the temperature outside, and Turner has yet to wake up from his hangover; Uzuki simply bows and bids them farewell for the day. She says nothing more as she slips out of the building into the frigid atmosphere outside. It matters not to her; in fact, the snow has a rather calming effect on her psyche, and it manifests itself into the steady way she swings her naginata, steady and without hesitation. And with every downward arc it makes, she is reminded yet again of her brother.

Uzuki remembers the way she admired her brother so, his calming voice and his peerless skill with the sword. Back when they lived together, she could think of nothing but her desire to become like her brother someday, to maybe match his experience and his wisdom. She remembers back when she was sick with a severe fever, and the whole family was frantic- and whenever she wasn't sleeping, she would be dismally watching the other young children play about outside. The young girl, weak and sick and crying, would be comforted by a surprise visit from her brother. "Don't worry," he would say. And then that day came, the day she was presented with the bamboo naginata.

A tear starts to come to her eye, but she fights it. No one seems to be aware of her emotional turmoil, not really. She hasn't told anyone about why exactly she came to this country- all they know is that she came, and was a complete fish out of water.

Uzuki swallows, trying to maintain her steady balance. He reminds her of him. She doesn't know why- maybe it's his smile, his face complexion, the way he laughs good-naturedly at her awkward formality? She does not know, and it pains her so. She wishes she could be more to him, to mean more to him than just a friend, a villager, another foreign girl in this diverse world. She hated being a coward, hated being afraid of things that looked scary, that seemed frightening; so that maybe she could go on adventures, too, and be with him…

She would probably see him again today; he would casually amble his way to the stores, greeting Rosetta and Anette and Danny and all of the others. What would he say to her today? Her thoughts start to traipse back to a conversation they had one day, recalling him being the only one she really ever told of her missing brother, and his offer to help.

The hours wane, and her naginata swings finally cease. She wipes sweat off her brow, and she stares off into the distance. Here he comes now, back from the dungeons, his hair slightly disheveled and his face slightly red and sweaty. She trembles a little, her mind starting to drift off into her confusions again, leaving whatever Tsubute was trying to lecture her almost completely inaudible.

The snow is falling harder still, and Uzuki's feelings are burning ardently more. Stardust will summon the rainbow, she thought, remembering her brother's letter from before, the first and the last letter in so, so long, and the melancholy of it wells up inside of her again.

Oh, how he reminded her of his brother ever so; and oh, how she wished she could be with him forever, to remain with that warm spirit of his until the end of her days! But was it proper? After all, she and him were of different cultures; what would he want with her, when there were plenty of other girls native and completely familiar to his own, to which Uzuki had an extreme disadvantage in?

And so she continues to watch him, and to yet silently wish that maybe there was some hope for them, for them to be together.

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