Kaguya hummed to herself as she walked down the hallway.

On a tray, she carried the results of an hour of work: A steaming cup of tea, an egg over rice, some leftover chicken that she'd warmed up, and half a dozen slices of persimmon, arranged on a saucer as artfully as she could manage. It wasn't a lot, but it had taken quite a bit of reluctant coaching from Eirin to even get her that far.

There were continents younger than Kaguya, but it was maybe the fourth time she'd cooked in her life. After her previous attempt, Reisen had needed to work very hard to get the smell of her ill-advised radish-and-carp stir fry out of everybody's clothes.

Carefully balancing the tray, Kaguya turned a corner and made her way into Reisen's bedroom… or what passed for it, at least. The other rabbits didn't respect many firm boundaries, so it was something of a communal sleeping chamber. A dozen rabbits lay scattered around, napping on the floor. A few early risers watched with idle curiosity as she crossed the room to approach Reisen's futon.

"Inaba." She waited a few seconds, but Reisen didn't even stir. "Inaaaaabaaaaa…"

It took a few more calls and a light prod with her foot before Reisen stirred. Her eyes drifted open, and she squinted up, blinking the sleep from them. "Princess…? What is it?"

"Well, since you had such a busy day yesterday..." Kaguya knelt down to present the tray to her. "I thought that it would be nice to bring you breakfast in bed."

Reisen didn't bother to hide her surprise. She pushed herself up on an elbow, staring at the food like she was trying to figure out if this was some kind of joke. "Busy...? All I did yesterday was fix a fence and grind herbs."

"That's still a lot more than I did, isn't it?"

Reisen didn't argue, but she didn't look convinced, either. When Kaguya didn't relent after a few more seconds, she sat up. She wasn't all that subtle as she gave the rice a cautious inspection with the tip of a chopstick. It was going to take a few years for Kaguya to live down the stir fry, it seemed. "It looks… nice."

"Eirin gave me some pointers. I did all of the work, though! Or, well, most of the work. Oh, but don't let me keep you. Please, go right ahead."

Reisen nodded, confusion still apparent on her face, and took a dainty bite of rice. Kaguya settled in to watch across from her.

"How is it?"

"The rice tastes… different?"

"Does it? Hmm, it might be the molasses."

"People don't usually put molasses on rice," Reisen said, in a carefully neutral voice.

"But molasses goes well with everything. Does it still taste good, though?"

"Well... actually, yes."

"Good! Because I'm cooking breakfast every day from now on."

Reisen sputtered in surprise, and came dangerously close to spraying rice out her nose. "Y-you, um." She coughed a few times as she recovered. "You will?"

"I will!"

"Er." Reisen dabbed at her mouth with a napkin. "You really don't need to do that, Princess. I'm up in the morning anyway. I don't mind handling it."

"That's exactly why I want to do it, though. You've always working hard, Inaba. It's okay if I help out a little, isn't it? And it will be fun! Tomorrow Eirin's going to show me how to make omelets."

"So, er, what's with the sudden interest in making breakfast?"

"Oh! Well, hmm. Do you remember what we talked about a few months ago, about how you're more like Tewi than a moon rabbit at this point? After you said that, I was thinking… I haven't been on the moon in centuries. And life on Earth is a lot more fun. Am I still a Lunarian?"

"Er."

"I'm not even sure if I still count as a princess, come to think of it. If you're a princess, you have to be a princess of something, don't you?"

This was obviously going a bit too fast for Reisen. "I feel like Master would let you know if you weren't. I'm not sure what that has to do with making me breakfast, though."

"Hmm, if I had to put it into words… Inaba, starting today, let's be earthlings together."

"Earthlings."

"Earthlings! You're an earth rabbit now, right? I'd like to be an earth human." With every word she said, Reisen just looked more and more baffled. Kaguya tried to stifle her amusement, but within a few seconds, the urge was just too powerful. She feigned a polite cough to cover a giggle. "On the moon, rabbits do all the work and the Lunarians relax. That doesn't seem very fair, does it?"

"No, but—"

"Well, there you go, then. I know that I'm inexperienced and not very good with my hands, but I'd like to try helping out from now on. Please be patient with me, okay?"

Reisen spent a few seconds staring in silence, looking overwhelmed by the whirlwind of change that had practically run over her. "And you're really sure about all of that?"

"I am!"

"Er, well." Reisen sighed, but a smile tugged at her lips. "If that's what you want, then I'll try to honor it, Prince—"

"Ah!" Again, Kaguya cut Reisen off—this time, by reaching over and giving her a reproachful little tap on the lips. "And no 'Princess,' of course. Inaba, I'm serious. Starting today, I'd like you to consider me your equal."

"Um. Lady Kaguya, then?" Kaguya only glowered at that, and Reisen had to try again. She glanced aside, and took a few seconds to summon her courage before clearing her throat. "Do you really just want me to call you 'Kaguya'?"

"Oh, exactly! It sounds cute when you say it, too. Can you do it again?"

"Kaguya...?" Reisen looked at her almost desperately, but Kaguya didn't give her permission to stop just yet. Reisen's flush was threatening to spread all the way to her ears, but she steadied her voice and stated, "Kaguya."

"Ah, good!"

Reisen's composure finally crumbled. Her ears wilted and she glanced aside, rubbing a burning cheek. "It isn't fair for you to ask me to do that when you've never called me the right name, you know."

"Your name...? Oh, I'm not sure what you mean, Inaba." The joke only made Reisen pout further. Even Kaguya had to cave in. After a pitying sigh, she said, "Oh, okay then. Reisen."

Reisen obviously hadn't been expecting that. Now, on top of the blush, tears were welling in her eyes. "After a few decades, I was starting to wonder if you'd actually forgotten it..."

"Has it been that long…? Well, even if you're an earth rabbit now, it's pretty easy to tell you apart from the others." Kaguya realized that she was smiling widely, herself, without her usual practiced control over her expression. It felt nice. Maybe this, too, was part of being an earthling. "This is kind of selfish of me, but could I make one more request? As your equal, of course."

"Oh, um, sure, Princ—er. Kaguya."

Kaguya dipped her head in a grateful nod and reached over the tray. She took Reisen's hands and interlaced their fingers. Kaguya's own fingers were slender and delicate, while Reisen's had a bit of roughness to them, the product of regular manual labor. It was a very nice contrast, but one that she'd have plenty of time to explore later. "Reisen," she said, "could I please have a kiss?"