Shigen did not remember when his legs began to burn.
Only that he was running, and that Aoi was too light in his arms.
The forest blurred—branches snapping back, mist curling low—but he never slowed. Every instinct screamed that if he stopped, even for a breath, she would slip away the way the Yuki Clan always had: quietly, without permission.
Her blood was warm against his chest. Too warm.
"Aoi," he said, again and again, as the word itself could anchor her. "Stay with me. Just—stay."
She stirred only when the pain finally forced her back into herself.
"…Shigen," she whispered.
He felt it then. The subtle shift of her chakra. Not fading—but turning inward. Focused. Desperate. Intent.
"No," he breathed. "Not now. Not like this."
She smiled faintly, frost edging her lashes. "He's coming."
They did not have a village.
They did not have a healer.
They barely had shelter.
Shigen built a wall of earth and roots with shaking hands, sealed them inside a hollow of stone and bark, and knelt beside her as the world narrowed to breath and pain and blood.
The birth was long.
Too long.
Aoi screamed only once—when her chakra finally snapped, when Ice Release bled into instinct and froze the ground beneath her without thought or form. Frost crept along the walls. Shigen felt it bite into his skin.
But he did not let go. Finally, he was born.
Aoi held their son with trembling arms.
"He is quiet," Aio murmured, "looks peaceful."
Her face was pale. Too pale. Her breathing was shallow.
But her eyes—
Her eyes were clear.
"So quiet," she murmured. "Is there something wrong with him?"
Shigen laughed through tears. "There's nothing wrong. He's a Nara. Of course, he is quiet."
She looked at him then—really looked at him—and something passed between them that needed no words.
"His name," she said softly. "It must protect him."
Shigen nodded. "Anything."
She shifted the baby slightly, pressing a kiss to his damp hair.
"Nara Yukihiko."
Shigen swallowed. "Yuki…hiko."
"Not Yuki," she corrected gently. "Hidden. Buried where only those who know will see."
Her fingers tightened weakly in his sleeve.
"Let him hide in plain sight," she whispered. "Like you taught me. Let the snow live in the shadow."
Yukihiko whimpered, a thin cry that frosted the air.
"Snow Shadow," Aoi breathed. "That is what he is."
Her strength was going.
They both knew it now.
"Aoi—"
She shook her head, a small, final motion. "Listen to me."
Shigen leaned close, forehead touching hers.
"Raise him with joy," she said. "With laughter. With warmth. Do not let him grow up fearing what he is."
Her breath hitched.
"The Yuki taught their children that ice was a curse," she continued. "That their blood was evil. Promise me—promise me he will never believe that."
"I promise," Shigen said, voice breaking. "I swear it."
"If he becomes strong," she went on, eyes already distant, "strong enough to walk freely in the Land of Water… then bring him back."
Shigen stiffened.
"To the old Yuki homeland," she said. "Find my house. Under my bed, there is something… something that belongs to him."
Her lips curved faintly. "It will only open to Ice Release."
Tears slid down Shigen's face and splashed onto the frozen ground.
"And me?" she whispered.
He couldn't answer.
"I will freeze my body," Aoi said calmly. "So it won't decay. So… one day… You can bring him back. Let him see who his mother was."
Her hand found Yukihiko's tiny fingers.
"Tell him," she said softly, "that his mother loved spring."
Her chakra flared once—gentle, precise, utterly controlled.
Ice spread over her skin like glass, preserving every line of her face, every softness, every unfinished breath. It did not look violent.
It looked peaceful.
But something magically happened.
Before Aoi was completely sealed in ice, she sent her remaining chakra into Yukihiko.
Shigen was shocked by what he saw, but did not move.
He held them both until the frost settled and the silence became absolute.
Then, very carefully, he wrapped Yukihiko against his chest.
The hunter-nin were still out there.
The Yuki were still being hunted.
The world had not stopped turning.
But for the first time, Shigen understood exactly what he was carrying.
Not just a child.
A promise.
A name.
A future hidden in shadow—
with ice beneath it.
And somewhere, far behind them, a frozen woman waited in the hope that one day…
They would come home.
June 9, Year 33, Nara Yukihiko was born
End of Act 1