The little room had begun to get darker, for the sun was setting outside. Nishi hadn’t come back inside since she went out after Kaioshin had awakened. He lay in bed, dozing on and off, and thinking about the past.
The door opened, and Nishi walked in. She held her apron up in her hands, obviously carrying something in it. Kaioshin turned his head to look at her going over to the table. She pulled her apron out to let half a dozen apples roll onto the table. “Want one?” She asked the prince, holding one in her hand.
Kaioshin nodded and she handed it to him. He slowly rolled it between his hands. “Does anyone else live around here?” he asked, trying to break the dreadful silence.
She sat down next to him, polishing an apple with her apron. “There’s another small farm a few miles from here. Otherwise I’m alone here.” Her voice sounded a little sad.
“I’m sorry…” Kaioshin said, thinking that she was reflecting on her lost family. “Didn’t you have a brother?”
“Yeah…he moved away. He never really got along with my parents, so when he left we never heard from him again.”
Silence fell upon them once again. Kaioshin bit into his apple a couple of times, but really wasn’t in the mood to eat it anymore. Nishi just continued to hold her apple, not even polishing it any longer. She kept her vision focused on her lap, once in a while moving her eyes to see if Kaioshin was watching. He was.
“Why so down?” Kaioshin asked, in a way not very sincere.
Nishi shook her head a few times, a tear escaping her eye. Kaioshin watched in wonder. “You know, I used to enjoy you coming to bother me. You were always acting so proud and stuff, you being the crowned prince and all.” She wiped her eyes and looked straight ahead. “When I learned that we had to move on the king’s orders, I was heartbroken. I knew that I’d probably never see you again.”
“Is that what this is all about?” Kaioshin laughed. “Why would you care enough to see me again? I never thought of you any more than to keep me occupied for a few hours.”
Nishi was hurt. She turned to face him; a plain look was on his face. “You haven’t changed at all,” she said a bit harshly.
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
She stood up for a moment. “You and that girl were perfect for each other. Both a couple of little snobs.” She threw the apple onto the bed, hitting his leg, and jogged out the door.
Kaioshin looked after her. What had he done? He honestly didn’t mean to hurt her. “I guess she’s right…I really haven’t changed all that much.”
At that moment a small pitter-patter coming from outside came to his attention. It had grown a bit darker, and water trickled down the window. Kaioshin turned his attention back to the door to see if Nishi would come back in. He noticed that her cloak was hanging over the chair, so she’d be getting soaked right about now.
He waited a few minutes, and when she didn’t come back in, he figured he had better go after her. He struggled to pick himself up and crawl off the bed. His feet touched the ground, his left ankle feeling extremely tight. He was able to hobble over to the chair and grab her cloak. He put it around him as he made his way to the door.
The door opened and he looked around for her. She wasn’t sitting near the house. Instead he saw her a few yards away, huddled under a small tree. He stepped onto the soft grass and slowly made his way to her.
Nishi’s head had been buried in her knees. She looked up to see the prince standing over her. He knelt down and wrapped the cloak around her. “You’ll catch cold if you stay out here like this,” he said, raising his voice a bit to beat the sound of the pouring rain.
She smiled and brushed a piece of her white hair out of her face. “I’m not the one who’s wearing just shorts,” she said with a small laugh. They helped each other to their feet and walked back to the house. Kaioshin almost collapsed onto one of the table’s wooden chairs, exhausted from the work his aching muscles just went through.
Nishi hung the cloak on a dowel on the wall to dry. She put the kettle on the stove to boil some water to make hot tea. She sat down across from Kaioshin and folded her hands in her lap. “Thank you,” she said.
“For what?” he responded, looking at her.
“You didn’t have to come out like that.”
“Yeah, but I would’ve had a guilty conscience if you got sick or something.”
“Really?”
“Sure…who’d look after me then?” he joked.
Nishi laughed as she stood up to tend to the boiling water.