It was a windy afternoon. The sky was quickly clearing up after the severe storm, and rays of the locked sun now flowed freely through the cracks of the remaining, broken clouds along the edge of the sky.
As she stood upon the water, Toka gazed toward the small, motionless heron toward the edge of the pond and the thick, lush grass. She noticed how while the rough wind blew her long, dark fringe wildly into the air, the feathers of the heron remained completely unruffled. She squinted lightly.
"The heron is quite still."
Toka looked over at her companion. "Yes." She picked up a hand and loosely pointed at the area in front of the bird. "Look there."
It was Mito's turn to squint. "I don't see anything." She took the loose, dark cherry strands that flew around her face and tucked them lightly behind her ear. Then she stood closer, and did the same for Toka. "You have too much hair over your face. Here, you should clip it up." She smiled, and placed one of her golden clips into the woman's dark locks. "That way I can see both your eyes," she said, gazing into the dark, teal depths of the Senju's soul.
Toka blinked, disturbing the clear reflection of the water into her eyes. "There's a water snake."
Mito carefully followed Toka's gaze, and two sets of eyes were now on the small creature swimming through the pond.
"Do you think the heron is going to eat it?"
"The snake does not look afraid," Mito answered. "Perhaps it is going to leave it alone, and only wants the company after the storm."
Toka removed her eyes from the two serene beings, and looked at the only other serene being in her presence. "Perhaps you're right." She smiled, and took Mito's hand into hers. They then turned and walked together in the opposite direction, toward home, both escaping the inevitable sight of the snake's timely death.