heritage

Chapter Two: Daisy Bouquet - 1 Stem

          Sakura has never been on her own when traversing her own thoughts. Her mind has never rung empty, and she has always gained a trusted, second opinion on any idea she ever came up with. When she closes her eyes in Kakashi's arms, however, she is reminded of what she has done to herself. Reminded of it... and lost to it.

—

Sakura opens her eyes in a world with skies cracked open like a war bell. Wind rustles her hair, salt sticking to her skin and iron on her tongue. She bites the inside of her cheek, feeling her memories in every bit of the landscape. A new landscape; one that carved itself into her mind with the loss of her echo. It's obvious just how much has changed.

There are no well-structured bookcases lining the walls. In fact, Hibiki's well-organized halls have vanished completely. The doors that the echo long kept shut had also disappeared. Even her ashes were gone. There are no houseplants hidden away in every corner; no sense of greenery carefully organised and tended to. The mindscape Sakura once had is gone.

In its place stretches a long beach, a steep hill hanging over the sand and overgrown by flora. When Sakura looks past the coast she can see the tide barely coming in. Hurricane clouds swirl darkly in the distance, rumbling with thunder and sparking with lightning. A headspace sculpted in the image of one mind. Sakura's mind.

Abruptly, Sakura feels a weight in her hand. When she looks down, it's a named stone. She hardly comprehends what's carved into it before she's clutching it to her chest. Sakura breathes in deeply. Finally, she takes her first steps without Hibiki waiting to meet her.

Beach ivy sprouts in the small divots her feet leave as she walks along the beach. The sand moulds to Sakura's feet, water filling between the nooks and crannies between her toes. Sakura stops, digging her heels into the sand. She looks back out at the water.

It's an ocean of memories she's ignored for nearly a decade. Dreams and childhood events that she would now have to face. History that she could either wade into or be drowned by. Sakura just knew. No matter how fast her heart dropped to her feet, Sakura was going to have to walk into that sea.

She breathes in deeply; she sighs.

Sakura pivots on the balls of her feet and marches straight for the hill crouched over the beach. She knows where she's going as soon as she sees it. Not twenty feet away and the stone in her hand warms. Sakura bites the flesh of her cheek again.

There's a willow tree perched on those scraggly cliffs. Looming just over a set of natural water pools with the leaves on the tips of its branches just barely grazing the stone.

Sakura stops in front of the area, suddenly out of breath. Her hand spasms around the stone, the fingers on her other tracing the characters of Hibiki's name.

The willow pays no mind to Sakura's hesitance. It merely parts its branches, the stone below rising in a path headed straight for an alcove right in the heart of the tree.

Sakura knows what belongs there.

The stone in her hand warms again as if to let her know that it's alright. But Sakura can hardly believe it. She knows how well wishing for something works in your own mindscape. But eventually, she takes more steps. And a few more. Until finally her arm is outstretched with the stone clasped inside her fist. Hovering. She doesn't know how she lets go. But she does. Somehow. And when the weight of the stone finally leaves her hand, so does the weight pushing down on her lungs.

Sakura steps back, gasping. The willow closes its branches. The pools at the base of the cliff ripple once with the chime of a bell. A bell that rings with a nostalgic tone from long ago. A reminder. There is only one thing left for Sakura to do. She heaves in another breath, glancing back at the open sea. It isn't unexpected, what the breeze murmurs.