RP: Hinomaru Sunrises II [Aside] Obligations

[Andrew]

RP Date

YE 46.9

RP Location

YSS Mazu

YSS Mazu docked at Port Jiyuu​

Kaoru's Quarters​

Kaoru watched as Sorin poked at his rice with his chop sticks, she had noticed he had not actually eaten any of it. "Not liking the food? I'm sure we could get you something else." She found it hard sometimes to know what he was thinking, part of the many cultural gaps between them, despite their recent engagement. He had his moments, she was used to them but this was different, perhaps he was finally homesick? Needed to get away? The possibilities tumbled in the puzzle of things at work in her digital mind.

Sorin let out a deep breath and set his chopsticks down, "I have to go..."

Kaoru knew that he had been watching a broadcast earlier, did something happen? she wondered as she looked across the table toward him, "What happened?" The Taisa questioned.

Sorin didn't know how to verbalize how he felt in this instance, it was another example of why he wished he could share a vesper with his partner. "I have tried to not be who I am almost all of my life, When I became of age, my father started to groom me to take his place, and I ran to the frontier. I was content to allow my brother to take my place, and more content to let my nephew succeed him. " He closed his eyes for a moment before he reopened them. "Something horrible has happened, I thought it was something trivial and it has turned into something devastating. The civil war my people were fighting is no longer going to be a civil war..."

The Taisa resisted the urge to get emotional, was he leaving her? abandoning their engagement? Kaoru just years before would of lost her nerve in this situation. She stood up, still in uniform as she moved to him and sat down on his lap, "What do you mean no longer going to be a civil war? Was peace declared? Devastating...?" she looked at him with slight confusion, she understood what he said, but she didn't understand the intensity of the emotions he felt. Out of habit she stroked her fingers through his hair, and brushed at the tips of his pointed ears.

Sorin sighed quietly, and pulled her hands down from his head and ears and held them in his, "The leader of the Craethel is on the throne of my home world, if I continue to hide from who I am, I may not have a home left to speak of. I know you understand war, but you don't understand war with the Craethel. They have no desire to rule, no desire to annex, no desire to subjugate, they simply only want our extermination. I need to at least get to Tsenlan to find out how it is affecting things." He searched her eyes, as if he was looking for answers there.

"Let me talk to my mother, she has sway in the Empire. She can help," Kaoru said, grasping for the things she knew.

Sorin shook his head, "You and your mother serve the Yamatai Star Empire, if you do something to help me it could be translated into Yamatai taking a side. The Empire can't afford a second war, not to mention they keep those Norians that chose Tsenlan safe. Right now that is the only safe place I believe exists...maybe Lorenz as well. There are three more capital worlds that are still there, homes to billions."

Kaoru wanted nothing more than to just scream. She closed her eyes and pressed her forehead to his and just remained like that.

Hours Later​

Kaoru sat at her desk and stared into the volumetric window that displayed the beautiful image of Jiyuu's moons. The conversation had stopped, the tears had stopped, and yet she could not sleep. She couldn't help but to think about the senseless arguments she had with her mother before the fleets departed. Sorin believed the conversation was over, she had tried to convince herself that it was and yet she found herself considering the possible, the words from their discussion kept repeating in her mind. She found herself considering impossible things.

She knew Sorin had chosen her over even going to Tsenlan, he had put her first for what was now going on two years. They had just announced their engagement during Tsukimi to her entire clan. Her mother had her own past with his people and had refused to talk about it with her. She closed her eyes then and leaned her head against the back of the chair, trying to find the answers she sought.