Hotaru is still lying in the field of flowers.
She cries silently, awaiting her master. Utakata has still not come after two days, she is worried, scared. And even with the cerulean sky shining bright with a joyful tinge she feels as though the world is closing in around her. However, she is determined to stay where her master and her had first met.
Her mind is racing to every possibility as to why he could be not here. She wants to believe, as tears stream down her stained face, that he is okay and is coming back… but she knows that isn't the case. She can feel in her heart he is gone. The bubbles have by now all disappeared, along with his last trace. Air filters through her lungs cleanly.
She can't stop the salty tears running down her soft cheeks. She doesn't want to be weak… but her master… she needs him. A despairing wind tries to comfort her as it blows by. The wind can tell her many things, and she knows now it is telling her he is gone, and he is not coming home. Why did he leave? Did he abandon her? It seems impossible. He wouldn't do that to her. Would he? After all that time and energy he used to save her from the forbidden jutsu? No, he loved her. He did and would never hurt her that way on purpose. So something must have happened to him… something bad.
Her stomach feels like an empty carcass and her throat is dry. She doesn't dare go away, though. Because what if he does come back?
Maybe he is just lost. No, that's not it, then he could fly up in a bubble and find his way back. The only possibility is that he was ambushed. But who could in any way hurt her master…? She has always thought of him as almost immortal.
She will lay there until she dies, if that's what it takes. At least she will die staying loyal to Utakata. She won't break, she will die in this field of flowers waiting for him. She can't wear down and leave. If he is dead, his last wish will be carried out. For once, she will not quit. She will stay right there.
Waiting.