The theme of this story is quite fitting as I struggled to get this finished on time for the wonderful @eddescuella's birthday 🙈 I'm sorry for the lateness but hopefully this more than makes up for it
📷 Photocredit for header: @12timetraveler
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Mi amor por ti es eterno
❅────────✧❅✦❅✧────────❅Kira sat on the edge of the cliff, watching as the Dakota River cut through the landscape below her feet.
It wasn't like she expected anybody to remember it was her birthday, but it would've been nice if somebody had. No, what had happened instead was all her so-called friends scattered themselves across the map, claiming it was best they all laid low after the last big mission they'd pulled off had attracted some unwanted attention from the local sheriff.
Kira rolled her eyes at the thought; she thought the job yesterday had gone well and couldn't recall seeing anybody taking chase after them. In fact, the whole thing struck Kira as odd, usually there was a calm panic, as the spoils of the heist were shared between them, with a fond farewell and a wishing of each other good luck until next time - but this time it was a quick "Meet back up at the usual spot in tomorrow and we'll sort everything out then"
That's where she had found herself now, sitting in a small clearing in one of the many overlooks just outside of Valentine.
"...Valentine" She thought to herself. She hadn't been back to the area since that night she walked into Smithfields and saw Javier chatting up the buxom redhead that Kira mistakenly thought she couldn't possibly compete with for his affections.
Kira sighed as she allowed herself to think about him for the first time in a long while. It wasn't like they'd promised to commit themselves to each other, but confusingly, they hadn't exactly made it clear where they stood with one another either - and it was this glimmer of hope that made it hard for Kira to give up on him entirely.
She was brought out of her daydream by her beloved Hungarian Halfbreed trotting over and nudging himself against her.
"I know you didn't forget Filipe" she whispered, patting his neck. Standing up and reaching into her saddle bag to grab an apple to reward his unwavering loyalty, she noticed something hidden in the saddle that wasn't there when she first arrived at the location earlier this afternoon.
She gently ran her fingers over the handle of the blade, admiring the engravings that she knew could only be the work of one man. The craftsmanship was a big clue, but seeing her favourite flowers surrounding the words…."mi amor por ti es eterno" was what really gave it away.
"¿De verdad pensaste que olvidaría tu cumpleaños mi amor?" Javier asked, leaning against a tree just behind Kira, holding a bunch of the same flowers as he watched her reaction.
Spinning around to face him, she burst into tears.
"¿Que...cuando...cómo…?" her fluency in the Spanish language failing her as she rushed towards him, throwing her arms around his neck.
Javier chuckled as he near stumbled back with the force her tiny body threw at him.
"Why do you think I asked your friends to help get you here alone?"
Kira blinked as she took his words in, "You did all this?"
"I did," he grinned, taking her hand in his, "now let's make the most of our time alone together shall we?"
❅────────✧❅✦❅✧────────❅
My Spanish is rusty at best but hopefully I've translated these correctly
Mi amor por ti es eterno - My love for you us eternal
¿De verdad pensaste que olvidaría tu cumpleaños mi amor? - Did you really think that I would forget your birthday my love?
Thanks once again to the writing queen @verai-marcel and the photoshop queen @theunholyoutlaw for the Ruby & Charles pic ❤❤
“Mr Smith, the stew is ready if you’d like to grab a bowl.”
“Thank you, Ms Grimshaw.”
“Anything new?”
“No, she hasn’t woken yet. I’ll find you when she does.”
Ruby stirs at the voices close by. She opens her eyes to blinding light and looks around, realising she’s laying in a cot inside a covered tent. More voices can be heard outside, and somewhere nearby a dog barks as a child laughs.
Ruby looks around and sees Charles Smith sitting in a chair by the entrance to the tent. He’s facing away from her, watching the back of an old woman walk away. Ruby tries to sit up, and immediately regrets it; the pain coming from her left ribcage is unbearable and she groans in agony, flopping back down on the bed. Gasping, she rips the covers from her to look down at her side. The left side of her abdomen is covered with bandages. She’s about to rip the bandage off when two big strong hands grab her wrists and pin them down to her sides.
“You… probably don’t wanna do that.” Ruby looks up into a pair of warm brown eyes. Charles is still holding her wrists down, but loosens his grip when she stops struggling. “Glad to see you’re awake and lively, though.” He chuckles at her frustration.
“Where am I and how did I get here?” Ruby looks around once more. She can smell water nearby, but it doesn’t smell like the river or the swamps.
“Clemens Point, just west of Rhodes.” Charles answers simply. “Arthur and I brought you back here after one of those men shot you,” he says, nodding at her bandaged ribcage. “The bullet went straight through, luckily.”
“Why’d you have to get involved?” Ruby demands. “I had it covered! I could’ve handled it myself… without getting injured.”
“Oh, I don’t doubt that. But you definitely would’ve caused some damage, and I think you’d rather not set your business on fire along with half the town.” Charles frowns. “You thirsty?” He asks suddenly.
Ruby realises her throat feels dryer than New Austin, and nods. Charles immediately gets up and heads out of the tent. Ruby watches him leave, frowning at his back. “She’s awake.” She hears him tell someone out of view.
Footsteps approach hurriedly, and Stevie and Kira come into view. Ruby gasps.
“Stevie? Kira? What are you two doing here?”
“I was on guard duty when Arthur and Charles brought you in,” Kira answers. “This is the Van Der Linde Gang.”
It’s as if a light flicks on in Ruby’s brain. “Oh! Of course! Javier and John were in the saloon the day the Lemoyne Raiders shot the place up trying to get to me. I didn’t realise it was them, though. I only heard him,” she nods in Charles’ direction, “shouting their names. Which also makes sense as to why you’re here.” She smirks at Stevie.
Stevie smiles slyly. “Yes, I was here for John, obviously. Kira came and got me as soon as you arrived here yesterday. But speaking of him-” She also nods her head towards the tent flaps. “He hasn’t left-”
“Wait-” Ruby cuts her off. “Did you say I arrived here yesterday?! I’ve been out of it for a whole day?!”
“Well…” Kira pulls out her gold pocket watch. “A day and a half, actually. You were bleeding pretty badly when they brought you back. Some of the gang members fixed you up, and you’d do well to leave that bandage on.” She adds, watching Ruby’s hand subconsciously move to her bandaged ribcage.
“Hey,” Stevie asks suddenly. “You thirsty?”
Ruby frowns. “Why do people keep asking me that? And yes I am, but Mr Smith went to get me something, I think..” She trails off, looking out the tent past Stevie and Kira.
The two women by the bed exchange a look that doesn’t go unnoticed by Ruby.
“What is it?” She demands.
“I’m surprised he left you,” Stevie smirks. “This is the longest he’s been away from your side since you arrived.”
Ruby narrows her eyes. “You make that sound like a good thing.”
“Actually, Ruby,” Kira quips. “It ain’t a bad thing.” She looks at Ruby warmly. “I haven’t spent much time around him, but Charles seems like a pretty decent guy. He pulls more than his fair share around camp, and Arthur seems to trust him, so I do too. Sometimes I trust Arthur’s judgement more than Javier’s.” She rolls her eyes.
“Yes,” adds Stevie. “I’ve only ever heard good things from John about him, and John don’t like just anybody.”
Ruby sighs. The movement of her ribcage expanding sends shooting pains across her whole abdomen and her face contorts in a pained grimace. Kira and Stevie immediately move over her, Stevie pinning Ruby’s arms back as her hands make their way to her wound once more.
“Fucking Lemoyne Raiders,” Ruby gasps, attempting to get up. “I’m going to fucking.. kill.. every last one of them.”
“Not in this state, you’re not,” says Kira firmly, pushing Ruby back down onto the bed. Even in her weak state, Ruby is unsurprised at Kira’s strength; as petite as she was, Ruby had seen Kira throw grown men to the ground before.
Ruby groans defeatedly. “Wait ‘til I find those bastards’ location,” she growls. “There’ll be no such thing as the Lemoyne Raiders once I’m finished with them.”
“And we’ll be right there with you,” says Stevie. “But for now, you need to get your strength back.”
Ruby looks up at her two friends, trying to find the words to thank them, but at that moment Charles re-enters the tent holding a bowl of stew and a bottle of beer.
“So, all I could find was beer, but I did bring you some stew. The camp cook, Pearson, ain’t the best cook, but it’s… edible.” Charles shrugs.
Ruby thanks Charles, attempting to sit up but struggling. Kira and Stevie scoot back and share a knowing look as Charles hurriedly sets the bottle and bowl next to the bed before placing a hand under her back.
“Need a hand?” he asks.
“Sure, thanks,” says Ruby grudgingly, annoyed at having to accept the help. She carefully wraps her arm around his shoulders as he places his other hand under her knees, gingerly shifting her so she is sitting up in bed. As he hands her the bowl of stew, Kira stands up.
“Well, I’ve gotta get back to guard duty. Stevie, you should find Roxy and let her know Ruby’s fine.” She looks at Stevie pointedly, and nods towards Ruby and Charles, raising her eyebrows before exiting. Stevie stands immediately, taking the hint.
“I’ll see what I can find out about the Raiders. I know Roxy had some trouble with them a while back.. I’m sure she’ll be eager to help. We’ll come check on you tomorrow.” She glances at Charles one last time as she leaves.
Ruby chuckles to herself at her friends’ subtleness, ignoring the pain in her side. Charles doesn’t seem to pick up on the exchange and sits down in the chair facing the bed.
“So what do you think?” Charles asks, nodding at the bowl of stew in Ruby’s hand.
“Did he.. empty a whole sack of salt into this?” She looks at the stew sceptically.
Charles chuckles. “Oh - ” He reaches into his pocket and pulls out a strip of green. “Add some oregano, it’ll help with the flavour, at least.”
Ruby takes the herb gratefully. “Thank you,” she says, mixing it into her stew and spooning it into her mouth. The oregano made the stew almost nice.
Charles watches her eat with a curious expression.
“What, never seen a girl eat before?” Ruby asks irritably.
“What happened there?” He uses his own hand to gesture towards his eye, indicating Ruby’s scar that ran straight down her left eyebrow and over her cheek. Ruby places the bowl down on the bed and ducks her head so it was out of his view, something she had come to subconsciously do after all the years of shame from it.
“Don’t look at it,” she mumbles. “Please,” she adds, her eyes lifting to meet his. Charles’ hand gently lifts her chin so her gaze is level with his.
“You still look beautiful,” he says quietly, his eyes boring into hers.
Ruby scoffs.
“A beautiful badass?” he amends, giving her a sheepish smile. .
“Much better,” Ruby says indignantly, returning to her stew. “I’ll tell you about mine if you tell me about yours.” She nods, using her eyebrows to indicate towards the slash running across his right cheek and ending at the corner of his mouth.
Charles chuckles darkly, a sound that seems to come from deep within his chest. “I don’t want to send you running for the mountains. Maybe one day,” he says, standing up. “But for now, you need to heal. Unfortunately, you are going to have another scar under those bandages, but it just makes you even scarier.” He smiles as he heads out of the tent.
Ruby hears the question under it all: maybe one day… did that mean he intended to stay around? Suddenly, she remembers something.
“Hey – Charles! Bones?”
“What?” He turns, a puzzled look on his face.
“My horse.”
“Oh, right. He’s fine – he’s out with the other horses, being taken care of. Funny, actually. We didn’t even have to lead him back with us, he just followed along behind us the whole way here.”
The sun is beginning to set over the campsite, reflecting a bright yellow glow from the water over the camp as Charles walks away towards the water. Ruby watches him, wondering who this handsome stranger was and why he was being so kind to her.
Ruby remains in Clemens Point for a few more days until she is strong enough to leave. The morning after, she woke to the smell of coffee and looked around to find a cup beside her bed along with a fresh set of clothes. Stevie came back daily to check on her (although Ruby suspected she also had ulterior motives for coming to camp), and she and Kira helped her change her clothes and bandage. Her wound from the gunshot had healed nicely in just under two days and by the end of the third, Ruby was able to sit up without the assistance of Charles, who had brought her stew every afternoon and even helped her hobble out to sit around the campfire on her third night.
The sun is setting once more on Ruby’s fourth day in Clemens Point. Just as Kira and Stevie are finishing up, Arthur Morgan comes into the tent, calling out loudly to make sure Ruby was decent.
“Mr Morgan,” smiles Ruby politely. “I never got a chance to thank you for helping me out the other day. I would say if it weren’t for you and Mr Smith, I wouldn’t have made it out of there alive, but…” she trails off, her lips pulled back in a taut smile and her eyes hard.
“I know, I know. You had it covered. Charles already told me about how you think you were gonna escape from four on one” Arthur waves her off. “Actually, I’ve got some news and I’m sure you wanna hear it. It’s about them Lemoyne Raiders.”
Arthur tells Ruby, Stevie and Kira about how he and Lenny found where the Lemoyne Raiders were camped out in an old estate house outside Saint Denis.
“Shady Belle? I know the place,” Ruby says. “Wasn’t aware it had any inhabitants.” She looks at the other two young women expectantly, leaning forward.
“We’ll scope it out,” says Kira. “Stevie and I will collect Roxy tonight and report back.”
“Okay, but-”
“We won’t hit it without you, Ruby. This is your payback,” says Stevie. “If you’re ready, we’ll do it tomorrow night.”
Ruby sighs and leans back against the wall of the tent. “I appreciate that. Thank you.” She looks at Arthur. “Looks as though my stay is almost up.” Ruby stretches her arms, showing how much her injury is allowing her to move.
Arthur chuckles. “Well, I know of at least one person who won’t be thrilled about that news.”
Ruby rolls her eyes, but they land on Charles, who’s sitting at a table across camp sharpening some arrowheads. As if she called his name, Charles looks up and meets Ruby’s gaze. His lips pull up into a small smile and he stands up and makes his way over to the small gathering in the tent.
“Well, Hosea mentioned something about wanting to find some ancient Braithwaite gold, so I’m gonna try ‘n’ find a lead on that,” says Arthur. “Take care, Miss Cortez.” He nods at Stevie and Kira and claps a hand on Charles’ shoulder on his way out.
“Yes, Javier said he wanted to try out a new fishing spot that’s great for fishing at dusk, so I best go get ready. See you tomorrow, Stevie,” Kira says as she follows Arthur.
“Alright, well. I guess that’s my cue to leave too. I’ll be back to collect you tomorrow, Rubes.” With a final glance back at Ruby and Charles, Stevie leaves.
“Hey,” Ruby smiles up at Charles.
“You wanna join me for a drink by the fire?” Charles asks.
“Sure,” she says, getting up. Charles moves forwards to help her stand up, but Ruby holds her hands out to stop him. Charles gives a wry chuckle at her stubbornness but stands back. Ruby grits her teeth but manages to stand up surprisingly quicker than she had been able to earlier that day.
“You know, it’s not a sign of weakness to ask for help,” Charles says, offering his arm for stability as they exit the tent.
“It is, and I don’t need help anyway,” says Ruby, swatting his arm away and hobbling towards the campfire.
Charles grabs two bottles of beer from a crate on a nearby table and the two of them find a seat on a log by the fire. An older man who had introduced himself on Ruby’s second day in camp as Hosea was telling a story to a few other members of camp. Ruby and Charles both sat and listened, drinking as the night grew heavier and cooler air began to set in.
At some point in the night, during her fourth bottle of beer, Ruby realised her head was spinning and her eyes began to droop. Charles had ducked off for a bathroom break and to grab more beer, leaving Ruby sitting by the fire by herself, listening to an old man everyone referred to as “Uncle” playing a harmonica.
“Heeeey pretty lady.” A young woman with short blonde curly hair and freckles splattered across her nose sways up to her and plonks herself down on the log next to Ruby. “You’re the moonshiner Charles keeps going on about, right?” She looks at Ruby through half shut eyes and smiles. “I’m Karen,” She holds out her hand.
“Hi, Karen, I’m Ruby,” Ruby says, shaking her hand. “I’ve seen you around camp while I was stuck in bed.” Ruby giggles drunkenly. “Wait – what do you mean ‘going on about me’? I’ve only met the man once before,” she says, bewildered.
“Exactly!” Karen laughs. “For a man of few words, let me tell you, I’ve heard a few times now about how you shot up the Rhodes saloon, killed a bunch of these ‘Lemoyne Raiders’, then jumped off a balcony onto your horse!”
“When you put it like that, it makes it sound so much more badass. But really, it was nothing,” laughs Ruby, waving her off.
Karen sighs. “I’ve seen the way he looks at you, Ruby. And believe me when I say that at some point, us girls here have wished he would look at us that way.”
Ruby tries to think of something to say, but the alcohol clouds her brain and her mouth feels dry. As if on cue, a gangly red-headed man with missing teeth swaggers by, telling her he found something “really interesting behind a tree just outside of camp if she wanted to check it out”, adding a wink. Karen giggles and follows him, wishing Ruby good night as she leaves.
Ruby watches the pair leave, and spots Charles heading back to the fire with two more bottles of beer. He sits down in the seat Karen had occupied a moment before, handing Ruby a bottle.
“So,” says Charles. “You’re leaving tomorrow. Are you sure you’re healed enough?”
“Of course I am,” says Ruby, jumping up from the log and doing a small jog on the spot. “If I weren’t healed could I do this?” She lifts her arms above her head and turns in a small pirouette, but her stitches pull slightly and she collapses back on the log, laughing.
“Okay, okay, I get it,” Charles laughs as he catches her, but his expression turns sombre.
“What is it?” Ruby asks
Charles sighs. “I just.. I guess I’m worried I won’t see you again,” he says quietly, looking down.
Ruby looks at him thoughtfully. A combination of alcohol, tiredness and humidity are turning her brain fuzzy, and her hand finds its way under Charles’ chin, tilting it up so his eyes meet her own.
“I know where to find you,” she murmurs, leaning forward. “You’ll see me again.”
Charles closes the distance between them, his lips meeting hers as his hand cups her cheek gently. Ruby leans closer towards him and Charles’ other hand finds her waist when a hooting laugh carries across the fire. Ruby pulls away and looks over to see Uncle watching them joyfully.
“Yes! I knew you’d do it Charles, I told John you’d do it! He doubted you’d make a move but I had faith in ya! Where is that greasy bastard, I gotta go get my money..” The old man gets up and hobbles away, muttering about ‘bets’ and ‘making moves’.
“Did they.. did they bet money on us?” Ruby asks incredulously.
“I think so?” Charles laughs.
“Well, on that note, I think I’m going to bed. I don’t think it would have been much longer ‘til you had to carry me there anyway.” She stands up.
“It wouldn’t be the first time I carried you to bed,” Charles chuckles. He stoops down and sweeps Ruby up into his arms. “And hopefully it won’t be the last.”
Ruby wraps an arm around his shoulders as he carries her back to the tent. Charles lays her down gently on the cot before leaning in to kiss her lips again, deeper this time, before pulling away.
“Good night, Ruby,” he murmurs, placing a soft kiss on her forehead.
“Good night, Charles,” Ruby smiles, sleep already taking her over.
Everett whistled happily to himself as he walked up the hill to the little shack where Verai had her moonshine business. He helped on occasion, not wanting to let her do everything alone, even though he knew she had her posse to help her too.
But they didn’t know her like he did.
As he entered the shack however, his mood dropped like an anvil.
Stevie and Ruby were sitting at the table, murmuring quietly. They both looked up at his entrance, hands on their guns. When they recognized him, they relaxed, but turned angry glares at him.
“What-”
He was interrupted by the sound of a door opening and closing to his right. Kira had just stepped out of the bedroom, wiping her hands on a bloody towel.
“She’s starting to fall asleep, finally,” she said tiredly. Looking up, she realized that Everett was there and turned an angry glare at him as well.
He didn’t need to ask. He knew Verai was behind that door, hurt, and they all blamed him. Moving towards the door, he stopped short when Kira barred his path.
“Let me through.”
“Let her rest,” Kira snarled.
Behind him, the sounds of chairs moving and the other women stalking towards him made his heart race. They were seriously going to stop him from seeing her? He took a deep breath. Verai had told him her shack was a place of peace. No fighting.
He turned slightly to see all of them: Stevie, Ruby, and Kira, all with varying amounts of disdain and anger on their faces, directed at him. He wasn’t about to fight them to see her. It wouldn’t be what she wanted.
In the tense silence, they all heard a coughing sound, and Everett’s heart clenched.
“...Rett?”
The call was soft, almost as if the sound had come through the wall like magic, but it was enough to change the atmosphere. Everett went straight to the door, and Kira stepped back to let him in.
As they watched Everett enter the room and shut the door behind him, the women let out a breath.
“You let him in?” Stevie finally said.
Kira shrugged. “Verai called for him. What was I supposed to do?”
They all stood silent for a moment.
“Well, let’s just hope for the best,” Ruby said finally.
Stevie looked back at the door and glared one final time.
“Bastard doesn’t deserve her,” she muttered.
***
“Min?”
When she didn’t answer, Everett came closer, sitting in the chair that Kira must have been sitting in to tend to Verai. He winced at all the bandages on her arms, wrapped around her shoulder and chest. He was afraid of what he’d see if he moved the blanket.
Reaching out slowly to hold her hand, he was surprised when she gripped him back, just as strong as ever.
“I’m alright,” she whispered. “Just fought a bear, that’s all.”
“WHAT?”
Verai laughed, then winced and coughed. “Don’t make me laugh, my sides hurt,” she mumbled.
Everett couldn’t stand not knowing. He carefully lifted the blanket.
With only her short drawers on, Verai looked like a mummy. Bandages covered her legs and torso. He could see the blood seeping out of a wound at her side.
“Min...”
“They blame you for not being here, you know.”
Everett placed the blanket carefully around her before looking at her face. Her eyes were droopy with tiredness, her skin ashen. A bandage was wrapped around her forehead, and a scratch on her cheek slowly oozed blood. He reached for the washcloth in the basin on the nightstand next to the bed, rinsed it in the water, and gently wiped the blood away. He ached when he saw her wince in pain at the smallest of movements.
He couldn’t say anything. He wasn’t here to protect her.
“They found me outside. Bear caught me unaware as I was coming back from my last job,” she rasped. “My fault for not being careful.”
He knew her, knew her better than anyone. “There’s something you’re not telling me.”
The corner of her lips quirked up, a telltale sign that she was hiding something. “Don’t worry about it,” she murmured, her eyes fluttering close. “Let me sleep, I’ll talk to you later.”
Everett felt the grip on his hand slowly slacken as Verai drifted to sleep. He swallowed hard before checking her breathing. Satisfied that she was sleeping soundly, he got up and quietly left the room.
The others looked up when he exited. He just nodded at them and headed out the door, unwilling to face them at the moment.
He heard them follow him outside anyway.
“Everett.”
He turned just in time for Stevie to sock him hard in the face.
“You deserve that,” she spat at him before Ruby and Kira grabbed her and held her back.
Everett could only nod in agreement. “I know,” he muttered as he felt his cheek burn with pain. He knew it’d bruise later, and he’d deserve it. Then he looked up at the three of them in turn, his eyes hardening. “She won’t tell me why she let a bear catch her off guard. You all say it’s my fault. Why?”
Kira’s eyes turned cold. “Because you left.”
Ruby, the calmer of the three at the moment, filled in the blanks. “She said she wasn’t paying attention, that she was lost in thought when the bear attacked.”
Everett felt a guilt squeeze his heart so hard it nearly stopped. The last job. He told her he hadn’t wanted to help her this time, that it was a lost cause and that she shouldn’t do it either. He had argued with her, told her that he wanted no part in it, and walked away.
He had walked away from her.
“Never again,” he growled. “I won’t leave her again.”
The three women watched as he marched back into the shack. After glancing at each other, Ruby finally spoke.
“Maybe he’ll stay this time.”
Stevie looked skeptical. “We’ll see.”
Kira looked back at the door, a thoughtful look in her eyes. “It’s up to them now.”
A very rough draft of a wip that @eddescuella and I spoke about based on her recent backstory of her amazing oc Kira Stephens.
Tagged by @theunholyoutlaw @fangirl-ramblings and @writingandsins
****
Allies hands shook as she read the letter for the umpteenth time. News of Kiras death had come as a shock to say the least. She had meant to keep in touch, to write letters. Every time she started to, something came up. An overwhelming feeling of guilt consumed Allie that she hadn't tried harder.
****
The reality didn't sink in until she saw the marker, the storm clouds overhead matching the ache in her heart. Her hand went to her mouth as she sobbed, kneeling down over the couple months old pile of dirt.
She felt the dirt beneath her hands, trying to seek some sort of closure she didn't know if she'd ever find.
"I'm so sorry I didn't keep in touch." She choked between sobs as she pulled out her knife with an engraving of a horse on the handle.
"Thank you for this...and everything you've shown me." Allie stuck the knife in the ground just beneath the marker, the rain beginning to soak the pile of dirt as thunder crashed overhead.
With tears still streaming down her face and a heavy heart, she rode away from Kira's resting place with only the memory of her beautiful smiling face in her mind.
