What Never Left

There was a time when death was something Shinobu fought with every breath. She learned to smile around it, to hide her anger beneath something soft and beautiful, even as it slowly took away the people she loved. Eventually, the distance between herself and death seemed almost nonexistent. Perhaps that was why it no longer frightened her. There was something strangely gentle in surrendering to what could never be defeated. No hatred. No struggle. No need for the smile she had worn for everyone else. Only the quiet rhythm of an old companion who had been waiting patiently all along.