Episode Six

Under a sky with the sun riding high, we walked hand in hand toward the capital.

There were few monsters in this area, and the road was well-maintained and easy to walk. I kept the pace slow, so as not to push Selene too hard.

“Tell me straight away if you want to rest. I brought food too, so say when you’re hungry.”

I adjusted the bag on my back and glanced at her. She didn’t look well exactly, but I thought she had enough in her to make it back to the capital.

“Yes, thank you. You’re so kind, Sion.”

She said it, released the hand she’d been holding, and laced her fingers back through mine. The feeling of fingers slotting into the gaps between mine set my chest stirring.

“I’m not kind. It’s just the obvious thing to do.”

I said it flatly, face turned away. Thinking back on it now, I said some rather embarrassing things a moment ago.

I was walking in silence, squinting against the heat of the sun, when Selene spoke quietly beside me.

“We still have a while before the capital, so can we talk a little?”

Selene, glancing at me sidelong, was watching me gently.

“Yes.”

“Why did you come to find me?”

Eyes aimed toward the capital, still no more than a silhouette in the distance, she murmured it.

“Why, you ask…”

A lot of reasons rose in my head, but none of them came together neatly.

“You weren’t there, and I was lonely, and it was hard. And before I knew it I’d come all this way.”

I’m not a child anymore. I already know what kind of feeling is swirling around inside my chest.

“I fell for you. I don’t know when exactly, but…”

The fingers laced through mine tightened.

“Selene, do you… like me?”

I stole a glance at her profile beside me. Our eyes met for a moment, then hers slipped away.

“Of course I do.”

“From the time we met. Always.”

Her soft voice stayed in my ears. The fingers on my other hand prickled and tingled, and I felt my heartbeat growing louder.

“Always… Then why were you so cold at home all the time?”

“Because I liked Sion too much. I thought if you saw the real me, you’d end up hating me.”

I nearly burst out laughing at the sight of her murmuring it, bashfully, looking down.

Apparently the years of bewildering behaviour that had kept me guessing had an utterly helpless reason behind it.

“What is that. I actually hated the cold Selene more, you know.”

I looked up at her trying to hide her face, and grinned. The flush spreading across her white skin was so endearing I couldn’t help thinking it.

“You’d be living with the birthday version of me all the time, you know? Wouldn’t that be a bit much for you, Sion?”

“Well… I suppose that’s fair.”

The blurry outline of Selene was coming into focus, little by little. I wanted to know more about her.

“So then, why did you make me do the witch business?”

“Putting a good face on things outside has always been a habit of mine. There’s no deep meaning to it.”

“But making Sion do it too…”

Selene’s gaze moved around, as though the words were difficult to find.

“Because I wanted everyone to know that the Sion I love is wonderful.”

“Ah…”

A deflated sound escaped me.

Now that she said it, I felt like she had always been talking about me when we were in front of Becky or the fans who called out to us.

“You could have just… said both of those things to me…”

A sigh slipped out before I could stop it.

“I didn’t want Sion to use magic, but I wanted to be with you always.”

“And I was afraid of you going somewhere else. To someone who wasn’t me.”

She continued, her voice dropping.

“I wanted to be together, but being together made Sion suffer. I didn’t… know what to do.”

“So I ended up making strange threats and saying things that made no sense.”

“I’m sorry. I’m odd, aren’t I.”

The Selene apologising without strength looks so unreliable. And yet somehow the corners of my mouth kept wanting to loosen.

The most perfect Selene in the world was apparently hopelessly clumsy, but only with me. We’d been together all this time and kept missing each other all the while.

There had been any number of walls along the way, but I think we took the long way round and finally understood each other. I may have been just as clumsy as her, in my own way.

I let out another large, audible sigh. The slow footsteps that had been so heavy had, without my noticing, begun to feel light.

“You really are completely incomprehensible and odd!”

“I thought you were a kind White Witch and then you’d suddenly go scary on me. Even when I said I didn’t want to use magic you’d make me use it anyway.”

“You did that strange supply thing too, and on your birthday you were having so much fun it made no sense.”

“But…”

I stopped for a moment and drew a small breath.

Even now I don’t know when it happened, exactly. From the day we left the village together. From the day we started being called the Witches. Or perhaps from this very moment, right now.

We’d been together so long, there was probably never any space to notice something like that.

“I forgive you, because I love you.”

I said it to her in a voice more clear and direct than usual.

“In return, treasure me always.”

Right now I feel genuinely happy.

I don’t know why. Someone as slow as me, who couldn’t understand this simple person, who couldn’t even notice her own feelings — someone like that couldn’t possibly understand something so difficult.

“I might be Selene’s, but Selene is mine too.”

“Aren’t you? White Witch.”

Large tears spilled from those golden eyes.

It took a long time to get here, but I think this day will be an important anniversary for both of us. For all the years to come. I think we’ll go on marking this day no matter how many years pass.

Holding close the warmth I hadn’t been able to feel before dawn, I walked straight ahead toward the capital, its outline just beginning to appear in the distance.

◇

The moment we pushed open the guild door, Selene and I went around bowing our heads to person after person.

Becky scolded us severely, but by the time we left she was wearing her usual gentle smile.

The matter of buying her a year’s worth of drinks… I’ll leave that in Selene’s hands.

The noise of the guild, the crowds of the capital, none of it bothers me at all right now. Suppressing the urge to keep hold of her hand and wander everywhere together, we came home.

She’d had several potions along the way, but Selene still looked worn out. I had to get her resting early tonight.

“Welcome home, Selene.”

I stepped inside ahead of her and smiled back at Selene still standing in the entrance. This is no longer a lonely place with only one person in it.

“…I’m home. I love you.”

“Love you. So much. Always… together.”

Selene’s arms came around my back and my body gave a small jump. The sound of the closed door rang out large.

“…You love me too much.”

I murmured it, rubbing her back gently.

“Doesn’t Sion love me?”

She drew back slightly, murmuring it with something a little forlorn in her face. What would her fans think if they saw this expression.

“I do love you. More than anyone, always.”

Saying it, I stretched up on my toes and touched my lips to Selene’s.

Watching her eyes go wide, I let the corners of my mouth lift, stepped out of my boots and left the entrance behind.

“Go have a bath. I can’t make anything impressive, but I’ll get food ready.”

“Once you’ve eaten, go straight to bed tonight.”

I threw my bag into my room and stretched as I headed for the kitchen.

“Thank you. Um… Sion.”

“Yes?”

I strained to hear the familiar, near-vanishing voice.

“…Sleep with me tonight. I’m lonely on my own.”

My breath nearly stopped. My face was almost certainly redder than hers.

“That’s fine.”

“…Not just tonight, if you like.”

I meant to sound offhand, but I doubt it was hidden at all. Desperately trying to hold back cheeks that kept wanting to loosen, I busied myself starting on dinner to have somewhere to put my attention.