"FIRE!"

The cry rang out as a shriek and it wasn't much later that an ear-deafening explosion shook the skies. The sky turned black with smoke and metal debris flew out in all possible directions. The Nobuseri chamber on the biggest airship had blown up and was flung towards the ground. Every soldier on both sides saw the destruction that had been caused. Of course, the side that would later be called the "losing side" knew what had caused the explosion; so they all cried out in victory. Kiyoshi even grinned to herself as she jumped onto a Nobuseri and easily decapitated it with a swift slice of her sword. But her joy was short-lived. A shard of metal flew straight into her back, digging itself into her flesh. Her eyes widened as a soft gasp left her rosy lips. She could feel her blood slowly begin to spread and soak her uniform. Her blood turned from feverous to frigid in an instant as gravity took hold of her and shoved her towards the ground. She couldn't feel anything but numbness... the sky started to look farther and farther away. A dull throbbing set in at her wound, but Kiyoshi was too dazed to care. "Is this how I'm going to die? Falling from the skies with a piece of metal in my back... from the destruction I caused? It's truly ironic... my name may never be remembered, but that is war's cruel trick. I am only a soldier, a subordinate... only the ones above me will truly be remembered... despite... n-not truly... doing... anything..."

With that, Kiyoshi landed in a broad river of water. She sunk to the bottom before the water forcefully pushed her back up. She lay with her face to the sky as more explosions looked like miniature fireworks. Her ears were filled only with the soft sounds of running water as it carried her away. She couldn't move from the intense pain and numbness that plagued her body. Slowly, very slowly, her eyes closed and her mind shut itself off from the world. "All I will become is a relic of war..."

Up ahead at a narrow region of the river, a little peasant girl was out collecting herbs for her family with her older brother. Hardly anyone was out in fear of the War above their heads. They were too frightened to know that their people had nothing to do with the war, so as usual, they took a little too many precautions. The little girl's sharp eyes suddenly something in the water. It was a figure drenched in water and some of its own blood. "Brother! What is that?" She cried out as she pointed at the strange figure eerily floating in the water. "Get back, Hana! It's a soldier!" Her brother shouted as he rushed forward with a samurai sword awkwardly held in his hand. The body washed up onto the shore and lay on its side, its back to the peasants. A thin hunk of metal could be seen embedded in the figure's back. "W-who is it, Michi?" Hana asked from behind a tree trunk. "I... don't know. I can't see his face."

"Why not?"

"It's covered by a hood. Come here, he's dead. He won't hurt you."

Hana gingerly came to her brother's side and easily removed the hood of the soldier. She and her brother gasped, for it was not a man, but clearly a woman; and she looked like she was holding onto life by a thread. Hana put a hand under the woman's nose and could feel the slightest push of air. "She's alive! Michi, we have to help her!" Hana said. The brother looked at his sister's pleading face then at the anguished face of the female soldier. "Alright, alright. Go alert Mother and Father for me, little one." He said after a brief while. Hana smiled and went off to do what her brother bid her to do.

Michi carefully lifted up the soldier and tried the best he could to avoid the metal in the woman's back. He began a fast-paced walk towards his village through the calm forest. He expertly dodged every obstacle in his way before coming out into the clearing that was his plain little village. He spotted his little sister and his parents rushing towards him. The sight of the wounded soldier caught everyone's attention in the village and they went to see what was going on. They had seen the War from where they were living, and a soldier that had fallen from the sky truly made them curious. Michi's parents were the village healers, and once they saw the wounded female soldier, Michi's mother went straight to work.

She ordered Michi to set the soldier down on the healing cot and to fetch bandages, water, and some special herbs. Once he had brought everything she had needed, she shooed her son out the door and began her delicate work. First she eased the metal out of the woman's back and discarded of the blood soaked shard. Then, she took off the soldier's weapons and called for Michi to take them to the nearby blacksmith for repair and cleansing. Next she removed the torn uniform and ordered Hana to take it to the village tailor to clean and repair the war attire. With soft rags and warm water, she cleansed the skin around the wound and wiped away all of the filth on the woman's skin. The healer took a needle made out of bone and slipped a thin thread of tough reed string through the hole on the bottom. She began sewing the deep wound shut with the accuracy of a true master healer. Once she completed that, she rubbed an ointment of herbs onto the sewed skin and suddenly spotted a whole new range of scars on the woman's back. "Oh my... she must have been a true warrior. A brutal one as well." The healer thought.

She went into her closet and pulled out ayukata* for the woman. She slipped on some underwear on the woman and gently fitted a sturdy sash around the woman's breasts before putting on the yukata. "Mother? May I come in?" Hana's soft voice said the door. "Yes dear. What is it?" the healer replied gently before pulling the blanket over the soldier. Hana opened the door and quietly shut it behind her. "I wanted to ask if I could help, but it looks like you're already finished." She whispered and looked down. The healer smiled lightly and said, "No, I'm not done yet. Would like to help me wash her hair?" Hana's head snapped back up and her eyes gleamed happily. "Yes!" She replied a bit too loudly. The soldier groaned softly and turned her head to the side. The healer put her finger to her lips and said, " Shh, dear. You must be very quiet if you would like to help me. Understood?" Hana covered her hand with her mouth and nodded enthusiastically. "Good. Now, go ask your father if he can bring the neck rest. And I want you to get a bowl of water, a bar of your special honey soap, and a comb." The healer said before she rose to change the bloody water that she had used to clean the soldier. Hana skipped off to bring the things her mother needed.

"Kyuzo! Kyuzo wake up!"

"Don't die on us now!"

Kyuzo groggily opened his eyes and rubbed his forehead. He put a hand to his bandaged arm and slowly got up. One of his unit members, Raiken, was grinning widely from ear to ear. "Are you doing alright?" He asked Kyuzo. "Yes. Why are you all so damn happy?"

"We won the war!"

"…What?"

"I'm serious! You can't believe it can ya?"

Kyuzo remained silent and let his unit mates cheer all they want. There would certainly be no prisoners of war and if there were, they would be killed. He would've seen Kiyoshi if she was on his side. Kiyoshi was dead, without a doubt. He turned away towards a window as tears began to fill his eyes. He never said goodbye. He buried his face into his hands and bit his lip to keep from sobbing. "I'm sorry, Kiyoshi. Please forgive me. I'm sorry if I… killed you. I'm sorry."

Note: A yukata is a traditional Japanese dress for women that can be considered the casual version of a kimono.