Chapter 2
Diana was promptly cared for, and soon came to her senses, but she remained a long time ill from the effects of the cold of that terrible night. She had been greatly frightened also by Carter's death, but she said nothing about the vision of the woman in white.
The days that followed were gray and heavy as if death was a dark cloud surrounding them. The family's business halted when she was sick so naturally, her aunt made her work hard as soon as she got well again. She returned to her calling, farming, medical practitioner, and cleaning.
One afternoon, in the winter of the following year, dressed in two cloaks over her. Diana was on her way home after delivering medicine to a payable costumer, when she sourly missed the warm weather. She cursed the cold for her fingers becoming numb even when it was under her cloak.
The winters just keep getting harder and the village's population decreased on an alarming rate and even the Tama River was frozen—although travelers often pass by them to get to the North or to the East. So the place was not all that deserted.
Perhaps, there was someone who knew something about why their country was turning into a wasteland—a place where crops spoiled overnight, where farmers cannot replant, where the oni and yokai crawled out of their dark places.
In an effort to forget the pain from the chilly air, she overtook a girl who happened to be traveling by the same road. She was a few inches shorter, slim but able to carry twice her size, she had unusual red eyes and long brown hair, she overall good-looking, thus the sight of her made Diana travel down the memory lane.
"You!" Diana called.
"Me?" she asked, in a voice as pleasant to the ear as the voice of a song-bird.
"When we were children, it was you!"
The girl tilted her head, a finger on her cheek as she puffed her cheeks. "Oh! Lady Cavendish?" She gave her a modest bow. "I am sorry about that day, I wandered off and my parents scolded me a lot."
"The moment I saw you, I knew. What is your name?"
"My name is Kagari Atsuko. You can call me Akko."
"How come I never saw you again after all these years?"
"Oh," Akko's smile wavered. "You see, I lost both of my parents, and I have been from Edo as a servant all those years. But my master's family have all have suffered due to the increasing cold. I lost my job and have nowhere to go. So I figured it would be best to just return home."
Diana knew not why she was charmed by this strange girl; and the more that she looked at her, the more beautiful she appeared to be. "I know it is not my place to ask, but are you with a beau?"
Akko laughed at the question. "Oh no, I do not have a lover. I am free as a bird. How about you Lady Cavendish? Are you betrothed?"
"Almost, but he knew I was not interested so he declined," Diana said, searching her eyes. "Would you like to work for me, Akko?"
"Oh, thank you! I would!" Akko grabbed both of her hands, and suddenly the cold she was feeling earlier vanished upon the girl's touch.
By the time Diana arrived home with Akko. She and her aunt had another fight over whether they have enough resources to hire a servant but Diana insisted that with her around, stocks of food and medicine will double.
"All Akko needed is a place to stay and not a wage," Diana added to the argument.
The promise of that managed to shut her aunt up.
"Are you sure, Diana?" Akko asked, following her to her work area.
Diana wanted to disagree, though refraining from pointing out Akko's physique. "If you were to help me, I will not exert anymore unnecessary effort."
Somehow, Diana found herself waiting for Akko's touch all day, turning the memory of it over and over again in her mind as they went through the wild to forage for scraps on the grove of the farmland. A few of the plants and wild shrubs had been dying but the ancestral trees proved to be strong and sturdy; although, they were showing signs of malnutrition from the lack of sunlight.
It was possible to find food in the winter. Some of the commoners tend to rely on that. Diana was no hunter so she relied mostly on wild roots, mushrooms, and berries. An oak tree is a good indication that acorns may be on the ground under the snow and grovel of frozen little plums might still be on their branches.
Diana and Akko were both equipped as they traveled inside the woody part of the Cavendish land. The wind was rising, yet the girls did not bend to the howling wind. Akko managed to gather more food than Diana could all alone. She also noted the fact that Akko seemed to be less adverse to the cold, enduring the iciness when her lower body was drenched in water and mud.
After their little scavenging hunt, Diana was down with a terrible cough and fever. Akko made sure to it that she received her medicine that Diana brewed beforehand.
That night, Diana and Akko shared their bedding space. Every time Diana's shoulder or fingers would brush with Akko's, warmth bloomed between them, pushing back the dark night just enough to give them room to breathe together.
"You are so warm, Akko."
Akko smiled. "I have been told to be warm a lot by my parents."
Diana knew that sharing body warmth with Akko was worth every sacrifice she did. "In summer, your body heat would be annoying, but in this age of ice, it is heaven."
She felt the arms around her neck, squeezing a little. A genuine surprise flickered across Diana's face before staring back into her bedmate. There was trust in Akko's red eyes—a trust so simple and profound and unexpected that it made a lump rise in Diana's throat.
Diana could feel the gears in her brain malfunction at the sight of Akko's beauty. Diana wet her lips before inching closer towards her and before she knew it, her lips met Akko's. The kiss pulled life into Diana like a blossom, the torrent of energy through her body. It rippled through Diana like molten ore, hot and precious.
This was even more exquisitely immediate; there was nothing between her and dizzying sensation. Here was the touch of Akko's fingers on her skin, and there the soft insistence of her mouth. Diana felt as though there were a thousand flowers blooming inside her, a sea of them, each opening their eyes to the sun, trembling to see the wide-open sky.
Diana slid into sleep so easily; her body was at ease, vulnerable.
She awoke to discover that Akko had not curled away from her despite the huge space in the room they shared. It might be because of her iron locked grip. Akko's presence was like the power of a hot bath.
The warmth of her body was comforting, for the dawn air was cool and slightly damp. As she turned onto her back, Akko burrowed her head into Diana's shoulder, and Diana blinked her eyes open, feeling suddenly, acutely aware of Akko breathing so close to her. And then Akko shifted, stretching as she awoke, and her entire body slid against Diana's side. At first, still half asleep, Akko levered herself up on one elbow and looked at her, and at that moment Diana could have reached up and pulled her back down again. But then Akko woke completely, and she blushed so deeply that the tips of her ears went pink.
She scooted away as quickly as she could, mumbling something apologetic, and almost tripped as she stumbled out of the room.
Feeling the severity of the cold just as Akko left, Diana closed her eyes. She wondered that maybe if she did not get up right away, she could slide back into those delicious moments before Akko awoke. Her whole body was tingling. What would she have done if Akko hadn't left so abruptly? She would have kissed her. The thought made her feel like a fire had erupted over her skin.
She threw off the blankets, needing to get out into the cold morning. After putting on some thicker clothes, she ran down the stairs, through the kitchen, and out the back door, running to look for Akko.
Outside, her breath misted into the air; the whole land was surrounded by fog. There was no sign of Akko. The cold air was beyond comprehensible so she begrudgingly went back in.
To her surprise, she had to do focus her sights to make sure her eyes were not lying to her. There was her aunt stirring the fire. Aunt Daryl looked up at Diana's abrupt arrival.
"Good morning." Her brows drew together. "You overslept but it seemed awfully cruel to wake you just to rouse the fires when you have dark circles under your eyes. Are you all right?"
"I'm fine." She said. "Where did Akko go?"
"I asked her to fetch more wood from the storage so we can melt the snow and have water."
"Oh."
Aunt Daryl grinned at her. "She'll be back soon enough. Akko said she knows how to cook so you take a long rest after. Would you like a cup of tea, Diana?" she asked. "You look frozen."
Diana turned red. But she accepted the earthen cup with as much dignity as she could. She lifted the warm teacup in her hands, inhaling the scent of jasmine flowers. It had been many months since she had smelled such fragrance; the jasmine, these days, was reserved for special occasions.
"Is there something to celebrate about?" Diana asked.
"The fact that we are alive," Aunt Daryl said. "I do believe that my daughters and I have not been so kind and fair to you. But you practiced gaman so much, and without your hard work, I fear that we would be dead already."
It was true. Diana had been enduring the unbearable workload with patience and dignity.
"Yet despite how many times I drill in your head that caring for others while you are unable to take care for yourself is utter rubbish. It was also my fault you almost died last year. If it weren't for Andrew's persistence to go after you, we wouldn't have found you in time."
"How did you suddenly come with this thinking?"
Aunt Daryl's brows met in a frown. "Akko and I happened to have a long discussion while you were down with a fever. The girl is surprisingly diplomatic despite her clumsiness. I did not care about you long ago, but now you have become important to me too. You have been too selfless. Gaman. I guess what I am trying to say is that. All those years ago on that summer day, you did not only lose a mother. I lost a sister. I do not want to relieve the pain when I lose you too to this sickness. So please, be careful from now on."
Diana went to bed, soon asleep, after eating breakfast and drinking her medicine. She was dreaming of her life flashing before her.
There was a sound that Diana later recognized as footsteps, and she awoke to find Akko standing beside her bed.
Confused, her body tingling into awareness, Diana whispered, "Is something wrong?"
"No," Akko said, her voice barely audible.
Diana pushed herself up, heat coursing through her. "Do you need something?"
Akko's hands flew up to cover her mouth, whether to hide embarrassment or laughter Diana wasn't sure, but a sort of half-choked sound emerged from her.
"Is it about last night?" It was not until the words were out that she realized what they were. But now, still shaking off the musty fog of sleep, she said all in a rush. "I didn't mean to upset you, Akko, and I am sorry I kissed you if I could take it back—"
"Oh, no," Akko said quickly, firmly. "No."
She came to the bed and sat down on the edge of it, and Diana felt everything sink toward her.
"Don't ever say that," Akko whispered, a catch in her throat, and now Diana was more awake than she could ever remember. Akko's breath was quickening, and as they leaned toward each other she could smell the scent of her skin. She wanted to put her nose against Akko's throat and inhale all of it, all of her. She bent her head toward the shadow of Akko's neck; her mouth brushed over the fluttering of her pulse.
Akko took Diana's hand in hers and put it on her skin, and goosebumps rose at the touch of her fingers. Diana moved her hand, tracing the shape of Akko's collarbone. She pushed the kimono back, and Akko's long brown hair brushed over her bare shoulders. And then Diana leaned toward her and they kissed again, mouth opened. She breathed her in.
Every day, she felt the link between them thickening, ripening. At first, a slender shoot, and then a vine that curled around them, were strengthening each day. Diana began to wonder if Akko might feel it, too, but Akko never said a word about what happened between them during their first night.
Diana had known that the connection between the two of them was different than what she felt with the others. A part of her—a growing part of her—wanted only to nurture the delicate bloom between them.
Sometimes that desire would subside, and Diana thought she might succeed in preventing her vision from happening, but then her feelings returned at the most unexpected moments. When Akko brewed tea for everyone, she took care to hand a cup directly to Diana. Their fingers brushed together against the hot hardened earth, and the thread between them drew tight. Diana turned away with studied casualness, trying to hide the rising color on her cheeks. She tried to remember that she did not want to fall in love with Akko, but more and more, she forgot. She forgot to avoid lingering near Akko when they paused to rest during the day. She forgot to put space between them when they sat by the fire.
Akko continued down the row of stunted carrots, working in the rich fertilizer that Diana got as payment from one of her old patients. Spring was over, it was the beginning of summer; however, it seemed that the earth has not embraced the warmth of the sun for quite some time now. It was still cold, like a mild winter but at least the snow was melting. And they had been without grain and vegetables for too long.
Yet somehow, ever since Akko helped her with the farm, the crops grew a little healthy than it should be. In no time as months came, the Cavendish had a bountiful of crops. Many travelers from around the country came to them to ask for food.
Aunt Daryl had no qualms about giving food to the needy anymore as long as they offer help in return or that they would not end up as they were before.
Diana's life turned out for the better because Akko was in it. Akko proved a very good companion. The village folks thought Akko was a wonderful person as well. When Akko would be out on an errand, Diana was not surprised her customers asked where the red-eyed girl was. She was the joy of the misery; she was the light to the dark. She would provide entertainment and encouragement to those they saved.
One night, after everyone had gone to sleep, Akko was crushing herbs by the light of a paper lamp and Diana spoke to her conversantly. "To see you there, with the light on your face, make me think of a strange thing that happened when I was of 18 springs. I saw a woman as beautiful as you are now."
Lifting her eyes from her work, Akko responded. "Tell me about her."
"I swear I saw a being as beautiful as you, though I was afraid of her. She was so white I even wonder if she bleeds. I have never been sure whether it was a dream that I saw or reality."
Akko's face froze, her jaw dropped. "P-please do not tell me."
Diana thought about it for a moment. "But, I cannot help it. She looks like you, except for her eyes were black." Then Diana told her about the terrible night in the abandoned hut, about how the snow woman had stooped above her, smiling and whispering, and about the silent death of old Carter.
Akko was about to speak in protest when a howl of icy wind came from the door out of nowhere, putting out the fire from all the lamps. She screamed, flinging down her mortar and pestle, and arose with a shriek. She seized something in her hands and ran outside, leaving Diana befuddled.
There was a new sense of intention in Akko's demeanor. It made her nervous all over, anxiety and anticipation prickling across her skin. Then with a breath of courage, she chased after her with a torch to see in the dark.
She ran past the rows of grain and toward the dark, hulking line of the grove. She passed young saplings clustering around the bases of the tallest trees like children surrounding their mother. When the path shrank to an uneven track that she could barely see in the deepening dark, she felt a part of her heart sink into place.
She could not find her.
"MOTHER!"
Diana heard a faint echo of a shout from the grove of trees and headed towards there.
"Mother!" Akko cried. "If you touch her, I swear I will vaporize you!"
Diana stood there frozen of shock. Not the cold. She was staring at her as if puzzled, and then recognition and realization dawned on her face.
Akko was not alone. A woman stood before her wrapped in snow light. Akko suddenly burned bright gold.
"You dare?" her black eyes glistened like burning firewood. Even when she screamed, her voice became thin, like a crying of wind. "I told her then that I would kill her if she ever said one word about it! If not for you, insolent child, grabbing me out here, I would have killed her at this moment! I sent you after her to simply watch over her and make sure she does not utter a word about me. Is that too much to ask from you, Atsuko?"
Dian was appalled at the revelation. Akko was an outcast from her family, a disgrace. She was an estranged creature, even among her kind. She is not a snow woman, to begin with, but a girl of fire.
It was from there that Diana was forced to swallow a hard reality. She was the child of the snow woman. The reason Akko was warm and bright like the sun was no human coincidence. She was Atsuko. The lack of the girl's presence in her life would literally lead her to freeze to death.
"Why are you protecting her?"
"I..." Akko gulped. "I could not deny it any longer. This lonely pretty girl had succeeded in doing what I had sworn no one would ever do. She had made me care. And suddenly nothing—not the conflict, not the world, nothing in the universe itself—mattered as much to me, as the poor little Cavendish girl who lost so much in this world yet strived for a better life."
"The woman from years ago..." Diana's voice shook. "T-that was you?"
"Yes, it was I—Yuki!" the snow woman snarled. "How dare you use your wicked charm to seduce my daughter? Not even my Atsuko who wields the power of the fire can stop me for I will treat you as you deserve!"
Diana sensed the woman's anticipation with a clarity she had never experienced before. Yuki stormed towards her, with the intent to kill. Beneath that, she felt the heady rush of the snow woman's power, as if her veins ran with ice. It filled her body. The same way Akko had filled all of her senses when they kissed. The fire from her torch burned out.
"NO!" Akko ran and shielded Diana from her mother's wrath with a stroke of gold—sunlight—that emanated from her palms.
Her mother melted into a bright white mist, and shuddered away, disappearing into the thin air. Never to be seen again.
Silence overtook the pale woman's hysteric cries. Diana dropped the fireless torch and wondered how her companion felt when she literally melted her own mother.
"Akko?"
The warm child spun around. She looked tired. There were shadows beneath her eyes, and there was a smudge of soot on her cheek. "I am sorry my mother tried to kill you."
Now that the moment had come, Akko felt unexpectedly shy, and all the words she had thought she might say abandoned her.
It was Diana who broke the silence. "When we met as children, you were all that I thought about when my mind wandered. When we reunited and you were away for an errand, the absence of you was all I could think about. Everyone asked me about where you were. Yet, all I could tell them was that I love you."
Akko stepped toward her and took Diana's hands in her own. Diana felt as if the whole world could hear her heart beating when Akko said, "When my mother attacked you, I acted purely on instinct. I was not sure whether I would emerge victoriously. My mother's not dead. I merely dissolve her. She will heal. It will take time, might be years, but she will; come back. Until then, I hoped so; I am free to love you too."
Then they took the last step together and kissed. Akko's mouth as warm as summer, the taste of her sweet and clear, Diana knew, at last, that she found the sun.
A/N
And done! Alright, I'll be back on updating my other unfinished works. This fic has themes similar to my previous Fair folk AU. If you happened not to read it yet, please do and if you already have, which version do you prefer?