Lion Head Mesa adore you

attn @Makono ! backdated for her around returrn, since toulal wouldn't delay, if thats okay!

toula had left makono enough time to recover from her long travels at the urging of her mother, @Treva. not wanting to be impolite, or interrupt a time makono surely needed for rest, toula abides the advisement.
but once she had greeted Ra, and after speaking to Iset of the blessed occasion (and thanking Her, for keeping her sister safe), toula made for makono. her attendants could scarcely keep up with the growing girl as she swept through the corridors. and one had scarcely the time to announce her before toula swept in to greet the prince, voice swelling with affection as she greeted: sister!

always okay <33

makono's foul moods could be kept at bay with a visit like this.

toula needed no announcement for her arrival. how the girl had grown like a weed, holding the beauty of both her parents. the strength of it too. she loved toula as she did ashikaga.

quickly she moved to scoop up the blossoming girl.

you are growing too quickly!

toula loved makono as she did her mother and father. that makono was not her sister fully had not ever been explained in a way for toula to ever understand it, and it would have surely fallen on deaf ears should one ever try to do so now. that makono was not a part of her in any way was an impossibility, in her heart and in all ways that mattered to her.
a full-throated laugh came from her, not an unfamiliar sound within these halls. even for all of her trainings, when toula was truly amused and happy she could hide from none the greatness of her joy. none had yet to dim her light in this area... and in truth, all seemed to respect and shelter her light so that it might always remain.
toula was unaware of this, too.
she leaned into makono, breathing in the many smells. oh! she had so many questions! but first! I have a gift for you, sister—I was preparing it, all while you were away! here toula withdrew, looking to her sister with a soft, nervous smile as she worried makono might not love it as she hoped she would. would you like to see it? she asked, ears pressing slightly forward.

it was so good to see that happiness, that joy.

she hoped toula never aspired to the reaches that makono carved out among akashingo. she hoped her sister would be content with everything given to her, and that if she wished for the world she found it far from these halls.

are you not my gift? she dared to tease, nosing softly over warm furs. the scent of the palace played heavily on gold fur. unlike the musk of mereo.

show me. please.

toula gasped at makono. you did not tell me you were good with the telling of fortunes! for toula was her gift! ...well, in part. toula withdrew with a smile, and then after a tiny breath, toula began to hum. it was a self-made melody that she had practiced during each and every phase of the moon. and then, she begun to dance!
she made for makono with her body symbols of good fortune, symbols of long life, symbols of love! she swept at the earth in her dance. and by the end of it, the earth she had danced upon, in the places she had swept gracefully at, was marked in the symbol of a heart.
she was near breathless by the end of it, but she stood tall and felt joy to have shown her love in this way. she only now remembered that the woman she had thought this gift up for had been watching, and she turned to await her sisters judgment. toula supposed her sister knew this, but as she gestured to the earth, she said, with your return, you have filled my heart! I thought to show you. I hope that yours will always feel as full as mine this day,
her searching gaze hoped for her sisters approval of her gift.

she could have said a great many things full of pride in those moments. that it was her who changed Ma'at, that she had brought voice to a man, that she was crown prince.

but she would always keep her sister away from these things. she would coddle her, love her, treasure her.

send her away. far from this place into the world.

makono had not realized she had became teary eyed while her sister had twirled, marked the earth with her heart. that her cheeks had become wet with saltwater by the end of it all, when toula declared such kind things. soft things.

at once, she reached to pull toula close to her.

toula was pliant, and easily taken into the arms of her sister. she smiled against the crown princes throat, but upon the smelling of saltwater toula withdrew just so. gently, she kissed away her sisters tears in a way that spoke her love and devotion. I did not mean to make you cry, toula apologized, her voice gentle.
the truth of it was, I only ever hope to make you happy, sister! as happy as you make me, she softly spoke, her words insisting. tell me all of your travels this time! what did you see, and learn, and do? toula did not remove herself from her sisters side; she would lean her head gently against her shoulder, if permitted, for only a moment. she did not need to look up as once she had needed to, she observed!

oh, these are tears of joy, toula.

near breathless, near unwilling to let go of her sister. she was not even sure if she had been this way with ashikaga...where was she? what did she busy herself with while makono set fire to everything in her path?

i have become a warrior. it is the duty of crown prince, to know how to fight and defend. to know how one must move in battle. but she did not wish to dwell upon the heavier things that involved. i climbed the walls of mereo with soldiers! the views would have dazzled you, lotus.

a title she had once claimed, now passed along.

fade this one? <3

tears of joy. a relief, and toula found she could breathe well again.
but! her Makono! a warrior! toula breathed, should any hurt you, sister, I will heal you, always! Gods forbid! even then she prayed, and she felt the Gods must hear them, so loud were her thoughts! toula felt a new will form in her heart to learn how to protect her fierce sister from harm.
she was distracted, though, by the picture Makono then begun to paint. perhaps you could take me there someday, she imagined, eyes bright, I should so love to see these things with you! but... until then... would you share with me the most lovely of them? and she settled comfortably alongside her sister, happy to listen.

fading! <3

her sister was too pure.

somehow untouched by the constant turmoil that coiled around pharaoh and crown prince like a deadly snake. she wished to keep it that way forever. to behead every snake that might ever come to toula.

one day you will see it. the roman would appreciate the ease and honesty of her sister, she thought. but for now? of course.

carefully she pulled her sister close, sending off a fellahin to fetch some meats to consume while she revealed all the grand sights.