Prompt: 24 May 2008; When a woman learns to walk, she's not dependent any more
Character(s): Yukina
Summary: Hobbles are worn proudly when the wearer chooses them.
Spoilers: Hints of spoilers for the Makai Tournament Arc
Notes: I am not a member of the lj community 31 Days

The ice maidens of the glacier hobbled themselves. They stayed on their perfect, pretty island, away from strangers, away from outside danger, away from change. They held no curiosity of the outside world because the elders slowly beat it down. They had been hobbled, and so they knew no path other than to hobble all others.

Hina had not been completely hobbled. She had gone adventuring, found a lover, bore his children. But she had not stopped Rui from throwing her son off the island. She had been too hobbled to fight for her son's life.

Her taint had lived on in her daughter, and Yukina had not been hobbled. She had learned from her mother's mistakes, one might almost say, and had realized that sometimes, you had to fight. She had left the glacier, like her mother had before her, and she had been captured. She hadn't fought then, and she had watched good people die before a pair of boys rescued her. But that had been necessary for her to learn.

The next time Yukina left the glacier, searching for her brother, she defended herself. She didn't actively seek fights, but when she was attacked, she did not hesitate. Not anymore.

When she saw Hiei-san, she didn't immediately know who he was. It took her some time to figure it out. But when he said goodbye before going to Makai, she knew the truth. Yukina knew how it felt to be almost hobbled, but she pretended that she still didn't know, because she had learned that you needed to break the hobbles yourself.

When Hiei-san came back, maybe he would be ready to tell her and maybe he wouldn't. She would be patient. She had learned to walk, after all, so she knew he could, too.