Author's note : Happy New Year! I can't believe we're in 2017... holy shit, the years pass so quickly. I feel old. I hope your New Year's Eve has been going well.

Sorry if this chapter came later, I had a little issue yesterday with my laptop... it crashed right when I was about to save the first half of my chapter. *shot* Next one will come next week, as usual.

Enjoy your reading!~

"This little bird told me when we marry
We'll have a pretty cottage"

- Evelyn Knight

Miho shook the newly captured photograph, then turned to Kinuyo, who still had a hand on Alice's head. The little girl was still asleep. She had taken this picture to immortalize that moment forever, that moment which meant one of the greatest improvements in their situation, that adorable moment between the brunette and the blonde. No one would have ever imagined them like this a week ago. The feeling took possession of the atmosphere. Dogmeat himself seemed to be looking at her curiously. The image finally appeared. The picture was a little dark compared to the others, but still very pretty. Alice, quietly asleep, was lying on Kinuyo's lap, watching her as she would look at a little sister. The dim light went very well with the ambience. The redhead smiled. She would have taken three more but had to save the film in case she couldn't find more.

"I'll prepare tonight's meal... I'll leave you together," she said. "You have spent so few moments like this one..."

"Alright," Kinuyo murmured. "I'll wake her up for dinner if she's still asleep by then."

Miho searched the closets for something interesting. She picked up some food, as usual, but put her hand on a packet of dried sweet potatoes. The last time she had eaten them, she had finished the bag in two days at the beginning of her journey, when she had found a hidden hatch with her girlfriend near an area inhabited by raiders. Miho remembered the bloody fear they had that day. She hoped she would never come across such people again. While looking, she found a box of mochi. A bag of roasted almonds. A pot of sunflower seeds. Canned herrings. Many little things that were very nice. She chose to prepare the contents of the fish tins for tonight. There were only two, but she was almost ready to reduce her own ration so that her companion and her lover could eat their fill.

When she came back, Kinuyo and Alice were outside, both playing with the dog. Miho was immensely pleased with this vision. She saw them having fun, laughing loudly, chasing Dogmeat, throwing him a stick. A presence, by her side, started to be felt ; a cold wind blew against her ears. Miho turned her head: Hosomi stood there, looking quite emotional, even a bit tense. It changed completely from her usual piercing gaze. The ghost turned her eyes to her and opened her mouth as if she was about to say something, but disappeared before she could say anything. Miho wondered why she looked almost sad. Maybe she'd see her later. The answer would come when the time would be right, no doubt. The dead girl's look had something guilty in it. Yet Kinuyo had forgiven her. Were her misdeeds still tormenting her?

She continued watching them. She focused on her beloved's body, which was waving in her movements. Despite her slight awkwardness, she remained very graceful to her eyes. Her long, almost black hair seemed to be lost in the landscape. Alice, small and quick, looked like she was dancing. Her dress floated in the air. Her blonde hair took on a grayish hue under the light. And Dogmeat, still gently brutal, jumped to catch the stick. He opened his canine mouth, almost letting his tongue hang, and closed it on the end of the wood. His tail wagged furiously; he was animated by an amused nervousness, madly joyfu, and dropping the stick at Alice's feet. She took it back and threw it again. Kinuyo rushed after him, like she was charging, and leaped on him. The dog stopped and suddenly raised his head to slap his tongue between her eyes, causing her to jump and laugh at the same time.

Miho always felt this affection and happiness in herself at the sight of her lover when she was laughing loudly, free from all negative thoughts, like a star that shines in a sky that didn't have any hope of light. Kinuyo was her firefly, that firefly that had landed near her heart on the night they had their first kiss. She was the surviving firefly, the only one still standing among its fellows that had disappeared. The only one that still shone, the one that still had a small flame of life in itself. The other two had joined the stars. Miho felt like a white butterfly, like an innocent rose petal, reflecting the heart of the sun that beat every day over their heads, and set in the evening's orange glow. A butterfly that twirled around the firefly, so deeply luminous, and which, even after losing a large part of its gleam, still illuminated it. Alice was a moth, one who came only in the shade to hope to have company. Retired during the day, animated at night. The moth which, with its beige-brownish wings, was driving away the black wind to advance towards the light.

After a conversation-driven dinner, they all went to bed in a much more positive atmosphere than before. Maho would love that. At least, Miho wouldn't bring her two enemies constantly fighting, that was already a nice point! But would they survive until then? That was the last big question.

The next day, on leaving, the ginger felt an enormous stress invading her thoughts. Despite her happiness, she felt fearful. It was no doubt because they were getting closer and closer to Kitakyushu. Wouldn't it be safer to pass through the southeast of Yamaguchi Prefecture? They would get to Kyushu by boat on the Seto Inland Sea, passing beside Shikoku, and ending up in Oita Prefecture. Or maybe they'd take a bridge to Shikoku, and then go to Kyushu. She didn't know yet how she'd get there, but she still had some time to think about it. Going to Shimonoseki would be way too dangerous. They had to change their route. It was much, much safer. She would say a few words to Kinuyo and Alice this evening.

A sign told them where they'd sleep tonight: Minatonaka. The chosen house was surrounded by foliage, yellowed by the apocalypse, but having certainly been of a magnificent green in the past. It was summer, but this golden colour of the leaves gave an autumnal aspect. Despite the radiation, the flowers were still present. It was a true hope of life. The red tiles on the roof had a very nice effect on the white walls. They entered. The interior was dusty, but it seemed quite comfortable. The heat was cut by the thickness of the walls. The air felt very cool here.

"I'm.. I'm tired," Kinuyo whispered with difficulty, dropping the bag near the sofa. "I'm g..going to sleep a little more tonight, I think..."

Miho noticed a detail that shocked her: her complexion seemed to have suddenly paled. Kinuyo was breathing quite heavily, gasping as if she was trying not to pass out, and blinked like her vision was blurred and she tried to see more clearly.

"Are you feeling alright, dear?" Miho murmured, worried.

"So... so hot... I'm not feeling..well.." she replied in a low, exhausted voice.

"Come here, lay down on the sofa for some time..."

She took her lover's hand. By the time she expected an answer, she felt all of Kinuyo's weight starting to fall on her, inert and limp as a rag doll. Miho had a start and held the brunette to prevent her from hurting herself.

"Alice, help, she's fainting!" the ginger cried, terrified.

The small blonde girl rushed to the other two. Kinuyo, on the floor, was unresponsive. Her heart was beating normally, her chest rose at regular intervals, but she had collapsed almost suddenly. Was it fatigue, stress, heat or something else? Miho let her head rest on her lap, teary-eyed. Alice stood by, still impassive. Dogmeat soon joined them. The little girl kept him from approaching. She was going to ask Miho to turn the brunette on her side as she opened her eyes again. It hadn't lasted long: she had been unconscious for... twenty, thirty seconds? Looking a little confused and as if she was taken from her sleep, she seemed to wonder why she was lying on the floor.

"Can you hear me?" Miho said, trying to hide her tears. "Are you feeling good?"

Kinuyo did not answer, still a little lost, but seemed to have heard her. Dogmeat pushed Alice and advanced to the brunette. He began to lick her face frantically. She pushed back his muzzle and turned to Miho.

"How did I end up on the ground? I was feeling so hot... and then I find myself there the second after", she whispered, quite stunned.

"You passed out", Miho replied. "You scared me so much..."

"Yet I don't feel that bad.. I'm just exhausted, and hot, even if it's less than before I blacked out..."

"Maybe you should go to bed earlier tonight," suggested Alice. "Carrying heavy loads all day long is tiring. Your body is probably giving out because you won't stop pushing yourself..."

"I still have to hold on for some time", Kinuyo whispered. "We are still... well, I'd say roughly 300, 400 kilometers away from Kumamoto. There's no way I can allow myself to stop."

"Think about your health a bit", replied the little girl. "I don't think Miho would like it if you died from exhaustion."

At the moment her girlfriend was about to reply, the ginger put a hand on her shoulder and whispered to her to say nothing. Kinuyo sighed, looking a little lost, then rose up and sat down. Dogmeat returned to Alice's side. She was going outside.

"I'll take care of the meal and Alice," Miho said. "Take some rest."

"It hurts so much when I think I can't do anything for you", the brunette muttered. "I'm not a capable person. Only the weak collapse from exhaustion..."

"You've gone through quite hard times, you know," the ginger replied. "Alice is right. Your body needs rest. Try to sleep a little. You'll eat later, it's okay. You have to stop running yourself ragged and putting so much pressure on yourself. Think a little about your own needs first..."

Kinuyo remained silent, recognizing with no doubt that she was going way too far. She laid her head on the couch and turned against the back. Miho kissed her dark brown hair and went back to see Alice. She was worried. If Kinuyo, who had quite a strong health and had no medical condition to speak of, was starting to have fainting spells, that wasn't a good sign. Something was wrong, and impossible for now to know what. She remembered Tamada and her radiation sickness. Kinuyo didn't display the same symptoms, they were entirely different... It was certainly not that bad, because if it was, everyone, even Dogmeat, would be affected. Miho remembered something. Radiation could cause something else... cancer... she hoped with all her heart that it wasn't that. She promised to look for medical journals and other information about the symptoms of a cancer beginning to reassure herself. It probably wasn't that either, but she started imagining anything that could go wrong, even to a ridiculous point.

The girl was inspecting the street. On hearing Miho approach, she turned.

"How is she?" the blonde asked.

"I told her to sleep a little, but she seems fine," the redhead whispered. "Tell me... has anyone in your family ever had a serious illness that started in the same way?"

"Not that I know," Alice replied. "This kind of disease starts slowly, not all of a sudden like that... I think you shouldn't worry too much, she's probably just worn out."

"But what if something happened to her?" Miho shivered. "I couldn't stand to lose my loved one... she's so important to me..."

"Really... don't worry. You'll see, she'll get better once she'll have rested. You don't have to be so concerned... she's strong and healthy."

Miho sighed, still not very reassured, then choose to change the topic. After all, it might not be so serious, even if she preferred to keep an eye on how it evolved, just in case...

"Do you want to eat something in particular this evening among the food we have?"

"No, not really, choose what you want," the small one said. "I'm not too picky. As long as there are no anchovies, tomatoes, cheese and onions..."

"If you were in Anzio, you would starve to death," Miho chuckled. "Right, I'll prepare our dinner."

The little girl couldn't help but smile. Miho turned away and went back inside. She glanced at the couch. Kinuyo was laying down on it, asleep. She had taken a blanket in one of the closets and had literally swaddled herself in, as if to protect herself from something. Yet there was no threat. Only her head protruded and she was curled up in an almost fetal position, turned towards the back of the couch. Her sleep didn't look very deep, but at least she was resting. The redhead spent a long time looking at her, looking at the girl she loved who was sleeping after having scared her terribly. Unconsciousness, death and sleep had something oddly similar... seen that way. She wasn't as pale as when she had passed out earlier, though.

Miho took some cans from the supplies bag, and then started warming them up. She heard some noise a little farther. Kinuyo had perhaps got up, or Alice was back. Both, actually: the little girl arrived just as the brunette got up and folded the blanket. Miho took the opportunity to bring the meal to the table.

"Are you okay? Have you rested enough?" she asked her lover.

"Yes, I feel better," she replied. "I think I was just exhausted."

"Good", said Alice. "It was quite disturbing to see you like that."

"Don't worry about me. I'm fine now", Kinuyo replied, a smile on her lips.

They sat down and wished each other good appetite, then began to eat. For tonight, they had canned omelette. The taste was not bad, though slightly less good than a real one, but it calmed their hunger. Their stomachs weren't very demanding: they just needed to feel soothed. The water refreshed them and they didn't ask for more. Dogmeat had his canned meat ration. He was lapping the sauce at their side, but sometimes threw a glance at them, although he understood very well that he would not get any piece of their food.

It was dark when Alice went to bed. Miho, although she was also tired, remained near Kinuyo, who had taken out a sheet and ink and kept on writing. She first inscribed the name of the person to whom it was addressed, then tried to write a few haiku and other types of poetry, hoping to pass the time. The brown-coloured ink flowed on the paper and drew curves, sometimes strange ones. Miho concentrated on these forms. Kinuyo's handwriting was far from being neat, it was quite sloppy, which felt quite odd because of her traditionalism and perfectionism. Yet it was understandable, even if her eyes had to do terrible gymnastics at times to decipher these quickly written hieroglyphics.

"I'm going straight to bed," murmured the redhead. "I'm so tired... You should take rest too, don't forget about it..."

"I slept during the day, so I'll come later," the brunette whispered. "Go ahead, I'll join you in bed. Goodnight, love."

"Don't stay up too late."

Miho touched her chin with her finger to make her turn her head, then kissed her gently. Kinuyo repeated the gesture several times, then the redhead went away and laid down on the bed.

Being alone in the blankets to fall asleep felt quite strange. This was going to be one of the few times she would sleep alone, even if it was only for a few minutes, tens of minutes, perhaps... even hours? She didn't know when her girlfriend would come to join her, but covered herself with the quilt and forced herself to relax. There was no problem in their couple; after all, it's true, Kinuyo had slept during the day and was therefore less tired, even after having passed out. Miho was cold. She knew her love wasn't far and was safe, but wanted to feel her body against hers, feeling her warmth hugging her like every night since they had found each other again. She curled up on herself, hoping to feel a little warmer, and tried to rest a little.

Miho didn't know if she had fallen asleep and awakened hours later, but it seemed to her that she had closed her eyes for a second or two. She could hear a sound, that of the door opening, and that of a paper that was placed on one of the night tables. Kinuyo was coming back. It was undoubtedly the sheet on which she had incessantly scribbled poetry. She felt the brunette lying down beside her and kiss her lovingly, then raised her head.

"What time is it?"

"It's been about half an hour since you went to sleep," Kinuyo replied. "I'm here now, you don't have to be scared anymore..."

Miho felt her lover hugging her, just as she wished. She was serene now. She could sleep without asking herself a ton of questions. Alice was fine, Kinuyo was fine, Dogmeat was fine. Was Maho fine? Everything was fine. There was nothing to worry about...

Hoping for a peaceful day tomorrow, Miho let herself be carried away by sleep.