"Nee san..." Little Kasumi whispered, brushing her brothers arm as they sat high above the village, hidden beneath the shade of the tree's. They had been watching the fisherman rise and work ever since the sunrise- and since Kasumi's purple haired friend hadn't been present as she usually was, Kasumi sought the presence of her brother instead. It didn't surprise her that he would have risen early and climbed the highest he could go, overlooking the land that he would soon rule one day.

"Hmm?" Hayate murmured after a moment of silence, the morning song of the birds beside them causing Kasumi to yawn slightly and lean her head onto her brothers shoulder.

"This feels really nice." Kasumi whispered, her big eyes glancing over the blossoms that hung from the branches beside her. "Do you do this everyday?"

Hayate chuckled softly, lifting his arm to put it around Kasumi's small shoulders. He turned to meet her eyes, and the warmth that shone in them warmed Kasumi to her toes.

"Ryu showed me this spot a few weeks ago." Her brother admitted as he looked back towards the mountains in the distance. "He would climb up here and admire a world the rest had never and will never experience. I'm glad you of all people found me..." Hayate's voice trailed off, and the feeling of his fingers running through Kasumi's hair soothed her.

"How come?" She murmured, her eyes struggling to stay open as she began to doze off against his body. The sun had only begun to rise moments ago, and Kasumi had never been an early riser like the rest of her family. So the groggy feeling of sleep was inevitable. Hayate was quiet for a moment, though he never stopped caressing her hair. And when he spoke again, Kasumi was already sound asleep.

"Because there's no one else I would rather share this with."

There was a time when she could not sleep.

It went on for months at a time, until she could barely keep her eyes open. She could barely move. Could hardly breath. She lived in torment. In an inferno where she could only dream of the past. Of times when she was happy, of times when she could still muster the energy to laugh.

'Joy? What is that?' Was what she had said to Ryu one dim morning as the wind pulled at her hair and blew at the scrapes and cuts on her once perfect skin. 'All the happiness I've ever had is back at home, with my family. With the people who love me. How can I possible be happy here? Everything I've ever loved is there.'

Even then, Kasumi knew that 'there' was a place where she could never reach again. Home was a distant memory, but one she dreamed of for so long before even rest became something she couldn't afford.

There was some part of her that believed Hayate still loved her.

How could he not? Even when he turned his head away in silence as she pursued him, when he refused to meet her eyes as she called to him- Ryu's words always rang deep within Kasumi's mind.

'He made me swear I would not let you die.'

'He made me...

'swear...'

'You would not die.'

Yes.

Hayate had told the only one he could trust, the only one who was not bound by their villages laws- to protect her. To watch over her.

Because he could not do it himself without endangering both of them. Without signing both their death sentences. Without leaving their home in the hands of those who starved for power, and would love for the heir to leave it all behind for reckless emotion.

Hayate wanted Kasumi to survive.

He still loved her.

He had to. That was the only thing that kept her will to live strong.

And so there was truly a shred of a lie in her words as she spoke to Hyabusa. That she didn't know what joy was. That she couldn't find happiness in the life of a woman who was always on the run. Who was always yearning. Who could never sleep without drowning in nightmares. She had lied, just once. Because there was some joy, deep within her. Hiding behind all the pain she felt.

There was joy in the fact that Hayate may not have forgotten her. That he hadn't left her behind as he buried himself in the duties of clan leader. That the hate that sometimes shined in Ayane's beautiful eyes did not also shine in his.

That he yearned for her just as much as she yearned for him.

There was joy in that.

As small as it was.

There was hope.

But it could only keep her going for so long.

Before she gave up.