For everyone who doesn't want this to end - WELCOME TO THE SEQUEL: Wind Borrowed!

This sequel will continues the Star Crossed story. However, there will be some plot-line issues with Boruto as not enough of Boruto backgrounds are shown for me to figure out how to interlace with it smoothly. There's already some issues with ages and timelines but I'll try to iron those out as we go forward.

Now drum roll please - Annnnnndddddd Welcome to Naruto Fanfiction - Wind Borrowed.

Rated M. Lemon. Lime. Language. Violence. Some Gore... And now - Triggers. Angst. Depression. And whatever else might happen...

Remember - [This is a feeling / glimpse of a memory one can't quite recall.] It is not the same as actually remembering something nor is it something the conscious mind 100% understands...

And yes - this is the epilogue of Star Crossed, exactly. This is because sometimes the ending of one story is truly the start of another.

Thank you and Enjoy. Hope you continue to stick with me!

- Rain

"What if there is no death, only a change of worlds" - Chef Seattle

...


...

A star shot across the sky, blazing as brightly as the late January full moon. As it did every day, the sun breached the horizon spreading warm colors across the dark sky. It crept upwards starting yet another day.

...


...

Only one eye opened. The other could not, something was covering it. Light blinded, the single pupil adjusted quickly. The barely conscious single-eye glazed without thought.

Where were they?

A room. An unknown room.

She was laying next to a window, the only source of light in this plain and small room. The walls were unpainted. The old bed close to the ground-

A natural rhythmic crashing sound brought her eye back to the window. A light teal sky warmed her vacant mind. The color drew her in completely – the first non-plain color, a sign of day. There was nothing in the sky but that light, pale teal-green-blue. Laying down, it was all she could see though she heard the waves continue.

The water crashing sound felt better than silence. It was almost a lullaby, one she must have been listening to while she slept. Salt in the air tingled her nose. Her tongue ventured across her dry lips, it immediately awoke her mouth. Licking the salt off her lips, she achingly began to worm her way up. Pain spider-weave itself on her flesh. White bandaged under the plain hospital-like-dress restricted her movements.

She was wrapped with white and dried blood-soaked bandages. The dirty white clothes unstuck themselves from each other, pealing up from the bed as if she hadn't moved ever before. Her left forearm all the way up to her shoulder were wrapped, limiting her arm. Her right hand was wrapped, hiding her fingers. Her stomach, hips, thigh, torso and neck all felt like they were all bandaged. Tentatively feeling the eye that could not open; half her face was also in a bandage. This was why she only had one eye…

But why? There was nothing in her head but this moment. Had she been hurt? Had she never moved before this? Did she not exist before?

Or had she died? Maybe this was death. Feeling nothing, she wasn't sure. She didn't feel alive, just empty.

Looking around the room, she realized she wasn't alone. A thing sat perched on a tall rickety cabinet. Its gray soul-disturbing eyes stared at her. The black whip like tail almost curled under its chin, the blade like bone at the end of it curved like a long flat, slate-colored claw.

The creature blinked. Its bulbous face, the shape of a tulip head, held the monochromatic coloring of death. Two small holes on the front of its round egg-like face almost twitched, as if it was smelling. As if it was real.

Its head raised off its own tail. Coal skin, patched with scales and tiffs of hair, flexed turning its scales and hair into deadly looking spikes as it stretched. The size of a cat, it watched her.

"Did I die?" There was no recognition in her head for why she was here, this room, the water outside, or the salt in the air. The string-tied, easy open, gown she wore was not familiar. The bed she was laying in, foreign. And she certainly did not know what was crouched above her.

Death explained everything though. She had to be dead to feel as hollow as she felt.

"Et." The thing cocked its head. Razor sharp small claws with one long nail on each paw presented themselves as it shuffled its position a little more.

"Is this-" the other side? The second half of the question stilled in her sore throat.

The creature sat back a bit, peering at her, studying her.

"Do you know me?" She finally inquired. Nothing was in her head. Nothing was familiar. Empty as if everything was gone. All was absent.

"Et. Et. Et." The hard egg-shaped head cracked in jagged half to chirp in the back of its throat. The triangular pieces of its mouth looked neither like teeth nor lips, but they sent a deadly message.

Leaping off the cabinet, it clamored out the bedroom, somehow opening the door. Immediately a scream erupted followed by cursing. More chirps followed, a rukus of scratching, and then heavy footsteps heading her way.

The door flung open. Surprised face met surprised face, neither expecting the other.

"You are awake." The unfamiliar bearded but bald tan man spoke. He had been expecting to have to change the sleeping woman's bandages or bedpan again, but instead here the woman who had been unconscious for months was sitting up staring at him.

"Is this awake?" She asked back.

Her head cocked to the side, her bandages tightened at the movement he had not anticipated. "Am I dead?"

Her scratchy voice held no emotion. Her unbandaged green eye unfocused briefly.

"No. That pet of yours brought you here around five months ago and gave us your money which we've used for your medical expenses and boarding. We asked around but no one knew you. I assume you are from pretty far away, traveling through here and were attacked on the road?"

"Oh."

"I am Matsuoka Shuzo. I am kind of like the doctor around here. My wife is downstairs and my two sons are at the bay. That creature of yours gave us quite the scare originally, still does." He crossed his muscular arms into a natural position for him as she just stared unresponsive at him. "I assume you are in some kind of trouble, Miss-?"

Miss – Her mind waited for the rest of the sentence.

"Miss what's your name?"

A name. Her eye floated upwards, her mind searching. Name. Her name. A name. Any name? Wasn't she something? Nothing. Blinking, she tried to come up with something. But there was nothing.

Liking her lips, she tasted salt yet again. "I don't know."

"You don't remember your name?" Concern coated his tone in spades. His heavy foot steps entered the room.

Her head answered him immediately, shaking no.

"What do you remember?"

"Nothing."

He frowned. "It may return after you are a wake for a couple days. You were very injured. While your old scars were completely healed, these will take a week more before the bandages can come off."

The waves washed through the silence as she said nothing. Her one eye stayed on him, showing nothing.

Uncertain, he rubbed his bald head thinking. "Does anything feel familiar to you at all?"

She shook her head 'no'. "I don't remember anything."

"Well for now, you can stay here. That beast of yours gave us enough coin for the next few months easily. Like I said with a little time you will most likely remember. If not- well- we can figure something out. There's a work shop that posts jobs for this town and all nearby, some come with housing."

Dumbly, she nodded her head.

"Would you like something to eat? I'll have my wife, Jun, bring you up a change of clothes too. I can check you out once you've eaten. My wife will help you change-" Concern and uncertainty mixed in his gaze.

Dumbly she nodded her head, again. She'd agree to whatever they needed her to. What did it matter? It was almost like she was not actually awake, like she was not actually alive sitting here. Blank, she felt like a void of space and air.

Pale teal sky distracted her while she waited for him to return. The creature sat at her feet with his back hunched high. Its blade tail was curled on its front paws. But she didn't like to keep her gaze on him who seemed to be intently staring at her. The light blue sky was better, it's sight comforting. Could it swallow her whole, hold her, encompass her, suffocate her, and drown her?

She couldn't actually be awake, alive. Were they really sure she wasn't dead?

"Knock, knock." The door spoke with an elderly woman's voice.

Staring at it, it spoke nothing more.

"I'm coming in." It spoke again before slowly opening. An elder woman carrying a bowl and cloth grinned the moment she saw her. "So you really are awake. I am very glad. We were worried you were too far gone."

Where would she go?

"I brought you broth that should be gentle on your stomach. We'll see how you do with it and go from there." The woman's cheeks uplifted as her rouge lips curled into a kind smile.

But it was like someone else was receiving that warmth for she, sitting daftly in the small bed, felt nothing. Her uncovered eye wandered to look behind her, just to check to see if there was someone or something there that was actually receiving the woman's attention. Only the pale teal sky met her, not a cloud, a bird, a shadow - not even the sun... The briefest sense of peace and last breath slowly drifted out of her, and then she inhaled again. That momentary comfort unsettled into the mind-numbing void that existed within her.

"Here, eat." The woman had moved to directly beside her. Her kind smile continuing as if she was happy. The bowl of transparent brown broth was held perfectly steady out to her, as if it was being cared for. Resigning herself to the terrible fact that this was not death, her bandaged hands went out to take the bowl. The one with immobile fingers curled it inwards until it sat on her lap. The other, more dexterous hand, received the spoon.

"Let me-" Shaking her head no, she cut off the woman who was fawning too closely over her.

With a storm of emotions in her gaze, the elder woman stood back up and let her try to eat by herself. It wasn't that she couldn't move, it was just strange to not remember ever eating before. It was strange to feel the spoon and remember nothing like that before. The emptiness in her almost ached, hinting to the shattered soul she had to be to not know anything, to not be dead. Even not remembering anything, she felt as if she knew she shouldn't be alive. With not remembering anything, she didn't know what more to do with that feeling. A hollowness rung within her and it was slowly growing echoing out a little more with each breath she still took.

"It's chicken and herb broth. It will help your immune system and should not upset your stomach. It's a recipe that Shuzo's great-great-great grandmother has always passed down." Words filled the silence, covering up the echoes within.

Her unpatched eye checked over the smiling elder woman again before finally lifting a spoonful to her dry salty lips.

The lukewarm soup did not scald her nor bring a chill down her spin. Chicken, parsley, carrots, celery, and other flavors she could not identify but recognized within her empty mind, slowly waltzed in her mouth. They were not too bright nor too bland. It was not salty nor spicy. It did not have too much oil or fat, nor was it without depth.

This was the first thing she had ever tasted, ever eaten. And it was good.

"How do you like it? Would you like some bread?" The elder woman tried to read her bandaged face but to no avail.

"It's good." A rough voice she still didn't recognize left her throat. Taking a second spoonful she savored the liquid.

"I'll go get you some bread to go with it. And a second bowl. But remember, eat slowly- exactly like that." Setting down the cloth on the blankets that covered her legs, the elder woman turned to exit the room. Her full bright colored dress spun with her movement and swished lightly at her feet.

The creature prowled back into the room and hopped onto the foot board. Its body stretched and back hunched until it settled back down into the crouched seated position. Its tail swished lightly back and forth, the only sign the strange monster was not a statue.

"Would you like some?" She held her spoon up but the creature turned its head left and then right signaling no. As if scolding her, it clicked repetitiously before quieting back into its nearly frozen pose.

The ocean's waves filled the silence. The ocean rivaled the blankness she was drowning in. It relentlessly continued despite being unseen. Salt slightly burned her nose. The translucent broth sat still as she did not lift the spoon. A weariness clung to her lungs and the back of her head. Maybe she shouldn't have woken up?

"Is it bothering your stomach?" The elder woman re-entered, the smell of fresh bread over powered the salty air. "Here try this instead."

The woman took the soup from her and passed her a small roll instead. Grabbing a wooden chair that she hadn't even realized was in the room, the elder woman sat beside her.

"My husband tells me you have amnesia. You aren't the first patient to wake up without memories after a traumatic event, but as he probably told you - they should come back. Our other patients did." The old woman smiled, her rouge lip color curling up brightly. "Eat a bite of the roll dear. It will help."

Mutely, she brought the roll up to her mouth and bit into its soft flesh. Like the soup, it was neither too bright nor too bland. There wasn't a hard crust on it nor flakes. It was just soft, not dry, not raw dough. Silently, able to hear the ocean, she chewed slowly. And then finally she swallowed.

"Is it good?"

With a nod of her head, she let the roll back down towards her lap uninterested in biting into it again. Numb, she was uninterested in everything.

"Take another bite, dear. I have one more for you to eat too. Then I'll let you rest. You seem worn out, waking up like this must be a toll on you. But don't worry, everything will be okay." She smiled again egging her to raise the roll yet again to her mouth, the elder woman's hand even helped guide her into the action.

Biting again, she repeated the earlier process. The soft freshly made roll tasted good; she just didn't feel hungry. She actually didn't feel anything. Without memories, she didn't know how she was supposed to feel. Even if she had memories, she wondered if she could feel any different.

Jun, as the elder woman had introduced herself as, complimented her hair and eye color. She complimented how loyal the unknown cat thing was to her. She smiled and repeated that everything would be fine. But no matter how many times she paused in eating or got distracted with just sitting emptily, Jun kept prompting her to eat another bite. Bite after bite until finally the two rolls were finished.

"Would you like more broth? It would be good to get some fluids in you." Jun picked up yet another item for her to eat, the broth she hadn't finished. "Here try it again."

This time Jun did not give her the bowl to hold, but instead held out a broth filled spoon. Compliantly she accepted it, again tasting the bright, and now room temperature liquid.

"It's good isn't it?"

Nodding dumbly, she couldn't help but answer the persistent elder. "yes."

"Here, finish this then I'll leave you to sleep. Okay?"

She could only nod dumbly again. What did she know? However tiredness was creeping back within her. Maybe if she slept, she would wake up different, better, not-broken.

Bite after spoon filled bite, she ate the soup Jun fed her silently. Jun again soothed her, commenting on the small ocean side village she was in. How her husband was the local doctor and their sons fishermen. Jun commented on how she was a seamstress. That once she was better and wounds fully healed up, they would ask around the village again if she didn't remember by then.

Scraping the bottom of the bowl, Jun looked at her sadly. "This must all be very tiring to you. And it is nearly dusk. How about you sleep, and we'll just take this one day at a time, okay?"

"Okay." The teal sky had turned darker. "The sky-" She hesitated, unsure what it even was she wanted, "will be back tomorrow?"

"Yes, in the morning." Jun smiled at her child like question. But that wasn't what she had wanted to ask.

What was it?

Why couldn't she remember?

But did it matter? It didn't matter.

"Okay." She repeated, her single unbandaged eye went to the elder woman.

["Say Thank you" Happiness fluttered through her despite the reprimand "Thank you"]

"Thank you." Words she didn't feel left her. They caused the elder woman to smile, something she could not mirror or even receive.

"If you need anything - well, that cat of yours will probably get us." Jun picked up the empty dishes and quietly exited, closing the door behind her down to a crack.

Numb, she didn't feel exhausted. She didn't quite feel tired. She didn't even feel grateful but she had said thank you anyway. Why? Why say that when she felt nothing? Was saying thank you something she did before or because she knew that she was equally a stranger to these people as they were to her?

Frowning, she sat alone with that thing. Cat Jun had called it but even she with no memories knew a cat did not look like the creature that sat at the end of her bed. It, unlike Jun and her husband, knew her. Ignoring it, she turned her gaze back to the darkening window.

Darkness deepened in the night. Her fingers fiddled with the three bracelets that would not come off her right wrist. One was gold. Another was a light sandy-brown. And the last was a dried-brown-red. No matter how she spun them, turned them, slide them - they stayed on. No matter how she twisted her wrist or tried to contort her thumb, they could not be removed...

They must have been from before. But they held no hint to her, or their, origin. Like her, they now meant nothing. Like her they were now nothing. Still her fingers traced them. They, like the teal sky and the cat-thing were some sense of ground while she couldn't feel what way was up. They, if they truly never came off and had always been on her, would be some sort of constant. A nothing she could count on maybe...

As best she could she slowly laid herself back on. Bandages stretched, skin and flesh hurt. Her body protested the movement, her brain protested the pain. Finally settled, she closed her eyes, wishing she had never awoke.

And she laid there with her eyes closed.

The ocean continued even in the night, it did not stop.

Eyes closed, she laid there.

Still.

Breathing, she laid...

She didn't sleep.

Eyes flicking back open, she couldn't sleep.

She tried again.

And again.

Painfully turning. She tried, a tiredness creeping into her more deeply.

For a moment she almost, but then she didn't.

Painfully, she turned the other way.

That was no better.

Was there a secret to sleeping? Was this a sign she shouldn't have ever awoken?

Sighing she got up and slowly wandered out the door. Stairs loomed at her feet.

"You are up?" A male voice, Shuzo met her instantly as his head stuck out a nearby door. "Are you hurting?"

Yes but- "I can't sleep."

"Here, let me get something for you. Lay back in bed and I'll bring it." In his long night shirt he quickly dashed down stairs.

By the time she finally was back in bed, pain rioting against how much she had moved, he was back. "Here these pills will help you heal and sleep. Drink this so it won't upset your stomach."

"Okay." The three pills were swallowed easily. The glass of water felt heavy. She only drank a few swallows of it before giving it back to him.

"Drink a little more." He, like Jun, coxed her.

With a sigh she made it to a quarter of the glass.

He shook his head, requiring her to at least drink half.

She made it to half and then handed it back.

"If you need anything else, our door is the one on the left." He pointed form the direction he had popped out of in the hall.

"Thank you." Again she spoke the meaningless words.

With a nod, he like Jun left the door cracked open.

Again - still - she could not sleep.

The night ticked on. Painfully tossing, she tried and tried and tried. Curled up on her left - she could not sleep. On her right side, she could not stay asleep. Sitting up, she couldn't sleep. With blankets, without blankets, a pillow, no pillow. On her back. Agonizing laying on her stomach... And still she could not-

"Et?" That thing crawled towards her on the blankets above her legs. A chill from the night's air ran down her back.

"Et. Et. Et." It spoke, his bulbous head cocking to the side as its tail made a swishing motion back and forth.

"I can't sleep. He said the pills were to help me sleep, and I can't-" Something had to be wrong with her; she should have never awoken.

Its head ducked low as if it was thinking. Its fur ruffled out into spikes once, twice, a third time. Then he settled, his head raising back up. "Et!"

It gracefully leapt off the bed to the center of the room. Then it slowly turned back and stalked towards the side of her bed. Hooking his tail into the frame, he pulled the bed backwards.

Surprised she turned to watch the wall move from her as he dragged her away. She didn't want to be away from the window. The ocean's relentless waves continued. Salt on her tongue and tingling her nose made slightly less empty. The window was supposed to be teal again tomorrow-

Then her bed slid towards the wall. The window came closer. And then back away. Back and forth he slid her bed - towards the wall, away. Quietly on the floor, he slid her back and forth. He matched the same rhythm as the waves.

The waves. Her hand drifted to the bracelets that couldn't be removed. Her eyes slowly closed as she licked her lips one last time.

Towards the wall. Away. Swell. Away from the wall. Surge. Crest. Stop. Crash. Towards the wall- away, swell. Away from the wall- surge, crest. Repeat.

Dreamless, she slept.

Empty was all she was, but at least now she could sleep...

Sleep felt like a better place to be for at least the dreams, filled with nothing, matched what she felt.

...


...

"Do you mind if we pick out a name for you?" Jun's voice brought her gaze off the bracelets that constantly drew her gaze.

As their eyes met, the older woman's kind face folded into her normal gentle smile. Jun moved busily in the kitchen while she just sat at the little table. Feeling empty, she returned her gaze to the bracelets allowing the ocean to answer for her.

"Is there a name on those bracelets you stare at? Maybe we could use that." With a light tap the teapot was placed on the stove top, a few turns of her hands and Jun turned the heat on to it. Tea was was all she, now they, seemed to drink.

The ocean's continued rhythm, the constant soothing flow, drew her in. Her mind wandered as she again didn't answer. Slowly, she brushed back her hair before turning the bracelets over and over. She knew they were already plain, one the color of sand, one of gold, one like dried blood. The emptiness was all there was to her, but at least the ocean with its waves, its sound, was trying to fill it.

"Aye?" Jun pressed her again, preapring red and black tea cups with matching saucers. At a grace far above her own, the woman set out a basket of light colored, fresh bread. Steam rose from the basket while Jun's eyes drew her own single one back to the question she had already known the answer to but didn't see the point in answering...

"Um-" Her throat still hurt. It was as if she had even injured that too. Had she screamed so hard from the other injuries that she hurt it? Had something too attacked there? Clearning it, she let her mind return to the plain braclets that matched her empty head.

"No." She spun through them slowly again, "They are just plain bands."

Jun did not display the same apathcy. Instead her features filled with hope and ideas. "Well, do you want to be called something related to them? Since they could be a family heirloom or are at least something from you past?"

"No-?" Could they really be family heirlooms? Was something like this normal to have as a family heirloom? Her bandage hand went over the brown-red one, the golden one, and then the sand colored one.

The healing scars on her face protested as she frowned, "I don't remember."

"Well, how about Michi?"

She shook her head no. Her chin length dark charcoal hair shook with the motion falling into her face. She brushed it back. The skin around her injured eye hurt as she blinked slowly.

"Doesn't feel right?" The woman's warm amber eyes tried to read what the amnesia girl could not feel.

"Doesn't feel like anything." She met the woman's gaze only briefly before letting her green mix-matched eyes drift down to those bracelets that couldn't come off. Nothing felt like anything. Everything felt like nothing...

Above the bracelets and below were healing and long healed scars. The newer ones were blotchy, red, tender scaring that shown her skin had been torn up, sliced into, and shredded. The scar line she stared at started from the pad of her palm below her thumb and ran all the way down to her elbow and then up to the sleeve of the red coral pastel sundress.

"Chou?" Jun did not give up.

A slight move of her head declined that option too, her eyes briefly re-scanning the kitchen again looking for some familiarity. But there was none. This place was nice, open, inviting, and completely unknown. Foreign. More nothing.

"Rei, for your eyes?" Jun complimented, noticing how the healing girl would drift over the sight of her scars with a blank expression. How she stared at that cloudy eye of hers even though she could still use it... Maybe she could teach the young woman how to use scarves and shawls to feel better about her appearance. A unique eye patch might help her self-esteem too.

"Are people named for their eyes?" The forest green orb and cloudy gray-green one with the slice through met the older woman's gaze with a genuine question. Naturally her head tilted to the side.

Again there was no negative emotion present in the young woman's tone, but neither was there hope. Almost as if she was completely detached, and unconcerned about it too. Her question showed she had no sense of how things were - true and complete amnesia. And the young woman, who had woken up with no memories and scars, was suffering from shock along with her amnesia.

Smiling gently once again, Jun answered the blank young woman's question. "I do not know, but that is a common practice. I named my one son Naoki because of his brown eyes and brown hair when he was born- but do not let my husband know that."

Jun reminisced, her aged amber eyes catching the slightest of nods from the petite woman's head. There was still not a hint of recognition or even empathy. This time the woman was staring at her pet on the floor, watching it sleep with its spikes in all directions while it's ugly frame rose and fell with its nasal breaths.

"What about him? Should we call him Kawaii?" Jun joked, then immediately stiffened as the creature sprung up clicking in insult.

"I don't think he likes that." There was no emotion in the nameless young woman's voice as she placed both her hands in her lap turning them palms up. The creature immediately leapt in her lap, surprising her. It's spikes smoothed out and it curled back up.

Silence again returned as she continued to stare at the little monster. Jun almost spoke but finally the woman did first. "What about black?"

Jun smiled, pleased. At least that was something. "Black is a good name." She coaxed.

The young woman did not move. Her body was poised as if to pet the creature. Her finger tips moved as if she wanted to, but like so many other things even he felt foreign though obviously he was hers.

Questions existed in her head. Questions that made the emptiness almost bearable and yet so weighted. Had she raised him from birth? Did she find him? Was she given him? How long had they been together? Had he been hurt too? Did he protect her? Call her something? Stay with her? Again, none of those questions had answers. Worse, no one but she and it would know.

"Kuro." She repeated. Something to call him, even if it meant nothing.

Jun watched as a smile ghosted itself on the seated young woman- a natural expression she maybe didn't even realize she was doing.

Taking that sign as a victory, Jun continued forward. "So what about you? Anything that maybe feels right, or that you recognize a little?"

Mismatched eyes roamed up. They traced along the room stopping at the window to look outside, the table, kitchen counters, pans, stove...

"Salt." Her gaze landed firmly on the salt shaker in the kitchen.

Only briefly, did the emptiness removed as she felt a brief sense of curiosity. Why did they even need that when it coated the air so thickly? Salt could be a name for her because felt it on her every inhale. It was as constant as the creature, Kuro.

The elder woman smiled. "That is a different name to have."

Immediately that firmness in the girl's gaze evaporated replaced by a lost look. Her tongue wet her lips as her head turned to the window, away from Jun's accidental criticism. "I tasted it."

Realizing her mistake, Jun picked up the teapot and poured two cups. With a smile she carried them over to the dejected young woman. "The wind is constantly carrying it in, isn't it? And it does smell good."

Placing the tea cup down in front of the young woman and setting one in her place, she returned to the kitchen to bring the light bread. The woman let silence continue as she stared blankly.

"So you don't want to be salt?" Jun sat next to the melancholy woman.

Watching the tea without drinking, the young woman shrugged. "It doesn't matter."

"Well how about that as a family name?" Jun did not want the young woman to give in so quickly. It was if all sense of natural preference was completely absent in the scarred up woman. Maybe someone had beat it out of her... That thought twisted the elder woman's stomach.

"How about a given name next? Any ideas, it can be anything you want." Still the elder woman would not give up on the task at hand.

Emotionless, her gaze moved off the tea and scanned the room again.

"It doesn't have to be anything in here. We could pick something you like and then find names that mean that." Encouragement only made the woman feel even more wrong.

She wanted nothing. Had nothing. Liked nothing. Was nothing. But the dress she was wearing, that Jun had given her, was bright. It looked like something at least. "This dress? Like I did for Kuro?"

And then she doubted herself, what did an empty person like her know anyway? Plus, it really didn't matte-

Before the young woman could say it didn't matter, Jun immediately praised her. "That is a good idea! I am glad you like that dress. You look very good in it too." The elder woman smiled, drawing green mix-matched eyes to her face. "So names that mean red or are shades of red, aye?"

Feeling not quite so empty, the young woman nodded her head. A small sense of happiness fleetingly stirred within her. She had named the creature black, so why not herself in a shade of this dress's color.

"How about, Akane?"

"No." That felt like more nothing.

"Kokai?"

"No." Also nothing.

"Sakura?"

"No." Nothing.

"Senko?"

The woman shook her head, finally taking a sip of tea - declining that version too.

"Do you like the tea? It's jasmine." Jun paused in her name listing to also drink the freshly brewed tea.

The nameless woman stalled. As if she was asked a complicated question, she thought silently. Timidly she took another sip, and before even setting the cup down again, she took a third.

"It is okay if you do not like it. I can brew you something else as well. Teas are one of my few indulgences."

The way Jun spoke made her almost want to like the tea. But truly, "I don't know."

A hand covered her scarred one. "That's okay too. Like I said, I have a lot of teas. We can find one you like, or if nothing else maybe some you even hate. Not all of them are for everybody's tastes." As if it was a joke, the elder woman chuckled to herself.

The nameless woman didn't smile nor laugh instead she uncertainly nodded.

"So, back to names? There are so many shades of red, plus there's traditional and nontraditional names."

After a long extended pause, a muttered "Okay." finally sounded.

"What about Momo?" She received an apathetic shrug back, another decline.

"Shuiro?" "Akaneiro?"

No and no.

"Well there's Enji, Karakurenia, Nakabeni, Arazome, Ikkonzome - though can't see you wanting to be called that." Jun took another sip, thinking. "Suoko, the true red Shinshu, Ebicha, the over dyed Sohi, or Ginshu... Kokiake is pretty but more of a brown-red like this table."

"You know a lot of reds." Another genuine, non-shocked, statement came from the woman, making Jun feel like maybe somewhere in this shell of a woman still was the person who she had been before.

"Yes. I actually dye cloth on the side. I dyed the cloth for the dress you are wearing and sewed it too. I did have to stitch it in for you, but I'm sure you will nicely fill it out now that you are awake."

The young woman looked down at the dress again. Did she even deserved to be named? To exist?

"You sure you want to stick to reds? There's only a half a dozen more-"

The young scarred woman nodded. She had no other idea, nothing.

"Alright, there's Tokina, Usubeni, Hiiro-"

"Okay." She picked that one randomly. "Salt Hiiro, you can call me that."

"You know, there's probably someone looking for you. I'm sure if you go around with my husband, you'll be recognized." Jun smiled kindly, hoping that whoever recognized her would be kind. The woman's face was marred from her forehead, across her eye. And then into her other cheek - almost as if someone had tried to blind her and then stab into her mouth. Her collar bone area, arms, legs, torso - all were scarred... Maybe they could do something with cloth. Jun's mind started turning, what she could make to help this woman who gaze held no hope nor joy.

The blank eyes looked up. "Will I recognize them?" The woman, Hiiro, paused in her question. "I don't know Kuro."

"Well you can stay here for a while. Use us as practice, get to know us." The older woman offered, wondering if this woman had been abused. There had been old scars along with her new. Maybe with the help of the terrifying creature in her lap, she escaped from a family, husband, or group's torturous abuse.

Oblivious, Hiiro returned to the tea. Jasmine but still unfamiliar. What did she like? Or dislike? Anything?

Was there really someone looking for her? If there was, wouldn't she get a sense of missing them or feeling something other than the nothing that resided within her now? All she was, maybe all she had ever been, was empty.

...


...

[He towered over her. Everything about him demanded to know why she dared to not sleep when asked. Everything about him demand that his word be law. Instead she smiled so happily, "I can't sleep. Can you do that thing for me again? Pllleeeaaaasssssseeeee?"]

Rocking.

Back and forth.

Hiiro awoke from a dreamless sleep as the soothing movement continued. The hammock rocked so much easier than the bed. In fact, this had to be one of the few things she genuinely liked. The only thing better than the hammock would be if she could sleep in the ocean itself, among the actual ripples and waves.

Pitter-patter trickling amplifying as even more came down. Rapidly it danced upon the wood awning. The sound must have been what woke her. The hammock kept oscillating. Kuro perched on the rope at her feet hooked the beam with his tail, keeping the hammock's momentum. The sound of the rain filled the emptiness but to drown out the sound of the ocean. It took away the taste of salt from the air. Rolling her head, Hiiro attempted to go back to napping. If she had dreams, she did not remember. Her head held absolutely nothing. But in sleeping at least she wasn't aware of her own hollowness.

Not only did the rain continue to increase, an awakening chill crept across the shoreline. Clouds sprawled across the sky blocking out the sun. Reopening her mix-matched eyes, she watched the storm roll in. It did not phase her that she was under a lean-to outside. With the hammock rocking and Kuro next to her, she felt no desire to move. Closing her eyes again, she tried to sleep. But the chill was just a little too cold. Plus she already had napped most of the day away and certainly all the night.

"Hiiro." Jun's voice echoed across the yard.

Salt Hiiro kept her eyes closed. Maybe if she pretended to be asleep-

"Hiiro, I need your help measuring out yarn and spinning." The elder woman had decided to give the lethargic woman more to do.

Eyes still closed, she let Kuro rock her, pretending to not have heard. Maybe she could just cease to exist-

"It's easier with two people. Come on, you'll catch a chill out here." Jun did not give up. "I have a fire going inside. Tea too."

Unable to feign ignorance, Hiiro exhaled solemnly. She was going to have to leave the comfort of the hammock, but at least Kuro would go with her. Him being always at her side was an even larger comfort. Sighing, she stared briefly at the ceiling; her mind returned to blank. Slowly she started to get up. Kuro stopped the rocking.

A ripping sound brought a chill to her left side and hip. She blinked her mind trying to put two and two together. Her white bandages across her waist and hips were now seen. Even those bandages strained as she sat. Gingerly she traced the long rip that started at her bust and went all the way down to her hips.

The briefest sense of sadness murmured through her- her mind grasping between the gift Jun had given her and Kuro, as if there was something more there. And then, that feeling and thought vanished, slipping completely out of the reach. Only blankness remained with not a trace to what that thought had been...

"Tsk" A clicking sound exited her. The lavender dress now ruined. And yet another dress she no longer fit in. Worry poured through her like rain, emptying out onto the ground. Rising she didn't try to pull the seams together. Limping slightly, her normally heavy footsteps sunk into the early spring grass as she crossed the yard. Water drenched her as she didn't even try to shield herself. It didn't matter, numb on the inside, someone who ruined dresses, what was a little cold?

Unseen by her, Kuro glared at her viciously. His tail showed aggravation to her wallowing.

"Oh dear! Why didn't you use the umbrella!?" Salt shrugged at Jun's exclamation.

Again an ungraspable light, prideful feeling whipped through her and vanished just as quick – [She grinned at the shop keep, hair drenched as she delivered his cart as hired 'I never use an umbrella.']

Apathetic Hiiro glanced away, that fleeting feeling had to be too happy to be hers, too fast for her to figure out whose or what it it had been. Uncertain, she stated what could easily be seen, "I ripped your dress."

"Oh don't worry about that. I thought it was looking a little tight- I should have had you switch into the newer ones I made for you." Jun embraced her, brushing her wet short hair and wiping off her now chilled face before examining the tear. "This won't take but two seconds to fix.

"You can fix it?" Could broken things be fixed? Was she fixable? Unknowingly she waited with baited breath, too broken to even dare to hope.

"Of course. I made it. Maybe I'll add in some dark gray blocking on the sides." The woman mused to herself. "I do love that I finally have someone to wear these around the house. You look very pretty in them."

Hiiro blinked. The broken could be fixed. And she looked pretty?

[A pompous kid stared star-eyed at her, his cheeks growing rosy. 'Marry me, I demand it'.]

No- Hiiro couldn't see herself as looking pretty.

"Oh, I will show you some shawls later today too. And scarves- they will look great on you. Plus I think you would like them."

Hiiro frowned not understanding "I'll wear whatever you want me to. It doesn't matter."

Jun sighed. "Well if there's ever something you like or dislike just say it. The shawls will look good with the dresses and scarves are very fashionable. People can be cruel with their words but my clothing will keep them all stunned into silence, kay?"

Hiiro shrugged again. Her eyes returned blankly out to the ocean. It still rolled into the shore, but the rain was covering it's constant sound. Hiiro almost itched to return to the hammock. The sooner she helped Jun the sooner she could return - right? "You said you needed help?"

"Oh yes! But first cookies and tea. Come, come." Jun gestured to the dining table.

"I ripped the dress." Hiiro frowned. Shouldn't she not be eating more?

"These are special cookies. Traditional to some areas. Maybe they will help you remember something?"

"Okay." Hiiro didn't care. If the woman wanted her to eat, why not? She did not care if she did not eat too. Hunger required her feeling, and like remembering it was almost as if she could not.

The rain continued. The house felt cool and foreign. She missed hearing the ocean, feeling the salt. As if Kuro knew, he landed heavily on her shoulder. Though his weight was very heavy for her, it settled her soul.

She didn't know who she was. She felt eternally empty. But Kuro was here. Her needy temperamental cat followed her everywhere she went. Without him she truly would be suffocating, drowning in the absence.

That was something more than nothing, right?

And the bracelets. Her left hand went to feel them. That was something right? Maybe.

Or maybe, not.

Hiiro teetered with existing and not wanting to exist. That emptiness that felt like it should be something, held the questions and answers she could not seem to recall.

Despite how hard it was to breathe and the heaviness that pulled her downwards, Jun smiled and set the table. Today's tea cups and saucers were green and yellow, a complete mismatch of the clouds overhead.

...


...

["Can I come with you?" "No" "What if I just tag along?" "No" "I can help!" "No" "Let me take that for you." "…" "I can deliver this ya know?" "Fine. Don't get distracted." "I won't" "Don't talk to strangers." "Why not?" "Bring that back here!" "NOPE!" Laughter ran down the mountain side set on the task at hand.]

"You were helping mom dye again, huh?" Naoki looked up to see Hiiro slowly making her way towards them.

The covered woman didn't answer, too far to hear. The scarf, wrapped about her neck hiding up to her nose and cheeks, blew in the wind. the decorated eye patch perfectly matched the scarf's color with a stunning design, his mother's work. The long dress flowed about her feet, often kicked up as the wind rolled off the ocean front. It teased her feet, exposing his mother's dress boots. She wasn't wearing the long sleeve shawl this time, but her arms were covered in dyes - hiding the scars that proved she had survived.

Carrying their lunches, her feet slowly drug towards them. It always felt good to walk on the sand. She was purposefully lingering to feel it on her feet just a little longer. Now a little more confident she often came to the shoreline. She'd sit in the sand trying to decide between burying herself in the sand or walking straight into the waves... As if he knew her thoughts, Kuro generally did not seem to like her at the shore. He often would repeatedly pull, scratch, and wrap his tail about her hand or ankle to convince her to go back up to the house.

"So you were dying with my mother again?" Naoki repeated with a welcoming grin. "Did it go well?"

["Hey kid, you are doing a mighty fine job with those grain sacks." She beamed turning on point immediately. Dirt covered her legs from the field, her short hair was growing out but her height was rather stuck. Still, she spotted her next place or more so it spoke to her. "I am, aren't I? Do you want to hire me? I'm helpful! And I do well! Anything really. I'm a person for hire, just no-"]

A small smile floated across her lips, a brief brightness came into her unpatched eye. "Yes. She said she had an order to fill and needed help. I only ruined two colors this time."

"Going to go out with us again?" Grinning, Naoki felt bolder now.

["What the hell did I tell you about fishing! You are doing it all wrong! Again!"]

"N-not this time." She shook her head no, vigorously. "Jun just wanted me to give your lunches to you."

Rejection made the young man lose his grin, but he recovered quickly. "Ya know, practice makes perfect."

"Naoki, we need to get going." Taree started shoving out the boat without his brother.

"Finnnneeee." Naoki took the lunches from Hiiro with a wink and shoved them in the boat. Then he helped push with his brother. Looking back at her, he shouted - "Cook us something good tonight."

"I do not cook." She muttered numbly. The boat had scared her because Kuro had not been with.

She watched them paddle strongly out. Their arms stroked together in unity, a presentation of strength she felt briefly mesmerized by.

"Hiiro, I need you back here. We only have a couple more hours so these can dry."

The dress spun with her turn. Strenuously she walked up the tall steps, controlling her panting through her nose.

"I think you and I are going to have to start going on walks to town together." Jun surveyed the out of shape young woman kindly. "Shuzo is constantly telling me to get out of the house more. It would be good for us to get use to moving."

"Kuro can come too, right?" Hiiro didn't dare mention the pets he had killed last time nor the looks the others in town gave her.

"We can have a girl's day! I always wanted to have a girl's day like the other mothers did with their daughters, but my boys would have none of it." Jun placed a hand over her heart. "I even dressed Taree up and he practically disowned me! Shuzo had to threaten him that he would never go fishing with him again if he did not apologize."

The scarf over Hiiro's face moved as a smile ghosted across her lips naturally. "I am sure he apologized correctly."

"Of course he did. We raised our boys right." Pride filled the elder woman. "Now come on, we got cloth to dye and then fish to cure. Remember if anything is too heavy for you let me know and I'll get it or have Shuzo help us when he gets home - the boys will probably be out till dusk again."

"They said they will be home for supper." Hiiro relayed.

"My sons always say that. Maybe once they settle down with their own families will it be true." Jun smiled with a knowing look in her eyes. "But for now, you can keep me company. Shall we go shopping tomorrow to see the styles and drop off the dresses?"

Hiiro immediately remembered the soap shopkeeper's scolding to her. "The shopkeeper-"

"Let's not talk about that shopkeeper. I told you, what he said was wrong. Look how beautiful you are- very fashionable indeed. On our girls day we'll both dress up. Matching scarves, shawls, dresses, boots - it will be amazing. Do not think any more on what he said to you or those children about you. I really should wash his and their mouths out with his cheap soap."

[A woman held out small soaps and oils directly under her nose. Broom in hand she stopped mid-sweep. "Smell these – these are what we use to help people relax. There's lavender, lemon, orange, mint, ginger …"]

Hiiro let her green eyes drift away from the woman who was trying to console her, "I do not remember how I looked before, and some of these were old. So maybe I was always scarred? It doesn't bother me, I just don't want to bother them"

A tight smile went across the older woman's face. The thought of Hiiro being abused twisted her stomach. "Please do not think of what that shopkeeper said. Besides with your scarves, shawls, dresses, and smile people will only see you as beautiful. Especially when they learn how gentle and sweet you are."

An old hand rose to gently touch her scarf covered cheek. Hiiro said nothing for she knew her scars bothered Jun too. Who didn't they bother? Only Kuro didn't seem to mind.

"Come, let's color ourselves in dye" Jun grinned, grasping the young woman's hand to direct them across their yard to go to her little dying shed.

[Ginger... She inhaled smelling the scent still on his skin, her hands… It lingered in the air. Wet, cool, lazily, fully relaxed, she opened her eyes. There was something about ginger after-]

"Do you smell ginger?" Her head gazed at the house as if she could see through walls to the scent she suddenly noticed.

"No? I'm making orange black tea though. Perfect for a day like today." Jun studied her face while she looked for the source of the scent she could almost smell. "Do you want some ginger in it, that would be easy enough to add-"

"No." Hiiro shook her head, her short wet hair flinging droplets under the awning. "Black tea will be fine."

"Orange black tea. There's a difference in these things, Hiiro. Orange black tea." The elderly hand patted her shoulder as if she had much to learn.

...


...

[The sun had not yet rose and yet she was up. Stretching she readied herself. Who knew what the day would bring? New places. New people. New jobs. But first – training. 1,000 of each she'd do no problem. Maybe 2,000 just for fun. Then she'd head out. Her pack and bed were already picked and cleaned up. She traveled with nothing so that she could join just about anything.]

Hiiro awoke. Not just opening her eyes and wishing to go back to sleep, but awoke feeling like she should actually get up. Kuro still rocking the hammock Shuzo had placed in her room. This time he was curled by her head. Sitting up, she rolled out onto the ground hard.

"Et!" The gray head shook disapprovingly at her. Quick hammock exits were far from her forte.

"I'm okay handsome." Hiiro brushed off the night gown that bellowed out for her chest and hips. Its longs sleeves were perfectly tailored. Jun had spent hours measuring her for it and so many of her other dresses.

The emptiness stalled her briefly as her mix-matched eyes went out to the window. The teal sky tried to comfort her but to no avail. The hollowness she still felt deeply rung out. From this room, she could not see the ocean. She could not see the sand. She could only hear it, taste it, and know it was there. Hollowness echoed within her informing her that she did not feel all there. She was broken. She was-

"Et. Et. Et." Kuro started clicking having gracefully jumped down to her feet. As if he did not actually care for her, he went out her bedroom door. Surprised gasps and brief screams informed her the others were up- but they were always up before her.

Inhaling, trying to draw back that brief feeling of normalcy she almost had, Hiiro turned to the closet. A bright orange dress immediately caught her gaze. This was the dress Jun had made after they had waited until sunset for the boys to return for their cold dinner (one she almost threw out in exasperation over them). The tea they drank that day had been magnolia bark. Jun had showed her a few short stitches on this dress. The bright burnt orange dress drew her attention in prompting her to take it from its hanger.

Hiiro held her breath. She stood out at the top of the mountain, trees on all sides. She was short. Someone tall was standing on one side of her but she wasn't looking at them. Her eyes were locked on the orange sky as the sun melted into the horizon. Isn't the color beautiful. Whatever was next to her had snorted dismissively and then he tramped loudly away…

Gripping the dress, her mind couldn't remember that fleeting image, thought, moment. It felt like it had been someone else. It felt too brief for her to know any more of it. Trees – bark. Orange – sunset. Tall monstrous person – the house. Had it even been a memory of hers or something she just made up? She didn't know. It was gone. She wasn't even sure it had existed, but this dress did exist. It was in her very-own hands.

The dress went on with ease, perfectly expanding out in areas that other dresses had previously been tight. Tying the sash, Hiiro felt centered and alive. Intent on finishing her outfit, something that made the day and moon according to Jun, she scanned the rows of scarves, shawls, and patches. Some she had dyed, some Jun had dyed in new trial colors. A few had more than one color. But all were bright as if life was actually worth living, as if it could actually be good, and maybe even happy.

[Smile, she beamed out just because she could.]

A light blue green shawl kept drawing her gaze back until her hand selected it. With a smooth motion she placed it over her shoulders, allowing it to naturally cascade down her arms. Her scars had mostly healed but they were still her prominent feature. A matching silky smooth scarf went around her neck and then a light green-blue eye cover with an embroidered design. Brushing her hair with her fingers Hiiro glanced in her only mirror. Bright colors greeted her. With one last touch to the bracelets on her wrist she wandered down stairs.

"Oh wow, aren't you becoming quiet the fashionista!" Jun complimented her immediately.

"It's all yours." She picked out her favorite tea cup and followed Jun's method of morning tea.

"How do you feel about practicing embroidery today and making beaded jewelry? We could even do beaded embroidery."

"It- "It doesn't matter"-er" She replied with Jun matching her exactly. The elder woman waved the air. "I know, I know. You are very easy going, but it is nice to see hints of your own style. You've come far these last three weeks."

Hiiro paused feeling the emptiness that still kept its hold.

"Et. Et. Et." Kuro demanded she take her place at the table so that he could curl in her lap. Warmly she obliged. Maybe with Kuro and help from Jun's cloth skills, the emptiness would be filled. If nothing else, the colors seemed to allow even her to be a part of the living world.

"We could search for sea glass on the beach."

Jun laughed. "You'd dig all day in sand if I let you. Maybe we should make some more work clothes out of the scraps."

"Maybe."

"Heaven knows it's about time to start planting the garden. Hopefully you like digging in actual dirt as much as you like searching the sands."

[Her bare hands dug into the black ground, rapidly trenching out the row. A job was a job, but a job outside and helping others was even better. Dirt plastered itself under her short finger nails. Her hair was back in a high ponytail while the sun beat down upon her. She stood up shortly to wipe her forehead. Her lips had curled up in an elated grin-]

Hiiro's entire mind paused. Again that feeling of almost familiarity vanished as quickly as it had come leaving only uncertainty and emptiness in its wake. Unsure on what to feel or say, she simply eyed the elder woman with her one unpatched eye. Until there was something she could firmly remember, she didn't want to say anything about the fleeting feelings and moments that passed through her.

Maybe though, maybe - she would actually like this gardening thing. These somethings she felt from time to time were more than nothing... and maybe it and she was enough.

"Okay, I'll help with gardening too. As long as Kuro can come too." Hiiro felt her face naturally smile, as if it knew to. There was more than just existing. That was more in her than just nothing, than that hollowness, the ache of emptiness she couldn't shake.

There was more. There was Kuro, Shuzo and Jun, the bracelets she wore, dying cloth, sewing, the ocean, salt, drinking tea, delivering lunches, and now maybe gardening too.

Her eye glanced towards the ocean, as if to seek its confirmation. As if to hear it validate that she too, like it, could belong. With the salt in the air, on her tongue, she felt its reply. With its rise and swell, she heard it and yet still felt longing.

Maybe here, she could find peace despite the loss. Maybe, possibly, if Kuro was there - she too could she'd have a garden of her own and brew ginger tea as she watched the sun rise. Maybe along side the ocean, she could work hard and find the acknowledgement of herself and for herself, despite the voids.

Maybe peace, despite everything and anything, could always be found.

"Do you," Hiiro moved her gaze back to Jun slowly, "think, if I help you-" she stuttered through her words. "If there's room, do you think, I could start a little garden for me in the sand."

[Teal stared at her, with her back to the door she refused to go though part of her wanted to. He was important, he needed to be protected, nothing he said would change those absolutes.

"You..." He drew out that word, wrapping her heart up immediately. The air itself felt too heavy to breath, rejection and being a parasite to others murmured silently within her. She waited for the truth, that she was an outsider, as she always was. She waited for him to say she wasn't good enough to protect him, to help them. But that did not come. Instead, he sunk a different message into her soul "- are important."]

...


...

Again welcome to Wind Borrowed - Chapter 1

Review!? Thoughts? Knee jerk reactions? Like Hiiro? Ideas on Kuro? What about Matsuoka Shuzo and Jun?

Actually - I'm really excited for Hiiro and sad for her too. She's got a bit more than just physical scars going on there. And, I really like Jun's motherly antics. But Kuro - I don't know what to make of him yet. ^_^