The long awaited confrontation.

TWO HOURS LATER

Kaguya walked out of the store, feeling content with her purchases.

The tailor had been more than willing to help with everything she required, assisting Kaguya in picking out her clothes and then customizing them for her needs.

While Kaguya understood that she had to live like a mortal for a while, and so knew that practical clothes would be necessary, she was pleasantly surprised by how elegant the final result ended up being.

A simple sleeveless dress with a pair of white pants underneath, made from fabric that had been hardened to resist damage without making it too stiff.

In addition, she now owned two pairs of boots, one meant for everyday use and another that was thicker, for times when she might need to wade through rougher terrain.

Naomi had even embroidered the outfit with the traditional magatana symbol of the Ōtsutsuki Clan, free of charge.

She had gotten a few copies of the same outfit, and left the rest of her money as payment.

Now she just needed to find Osamu again.

That should be easy enough, they had agreed to meet up in the town's center.

So Kaguya made her way there, and found an empty bench to sit down on while she waited for him to finish his errands.

But it only took a few minutes before someone bothered her.

"Excuse me?" A man's voice called out.

Kaguya looked to the side, seeing a large human with messy brown hair looking at her, the only thing remarkable about it was his satchel filled with little books.

"Yes?" She answered coldly.

"You look new here, would I be correct that you are not from this town?" He asked, smiling down at her.

"I am." She admitted.

"That's great! Would you mind if we chatted for a bit?" The man questioned.

"I do not wish to speak with you." She replied bluntly.

The man faltered, blinking slowly, before he laughed.

"Ah, well, sorry for bothering you then, miss." He said, still smiling. "But if you wish to hear about the wisdom and compassion of The Watcher Behind The Stars, please come visit our shrine, we would be happy to have you."

It took all her self-control not to react.

So this was what he meant when he mentioned his people?

Had she been found out?

No, unlikely, or else he would have already killed her.

The man turned away, but she stopped him with a question of her own.

"Stop." She demanded. "Tell me more about this... Watcher."

He looked back at her in surprise, before grinning.

"Why of course!" He walked over and sat down next to her. "Our Great Watcher is a benevolent being, one who seeks to guide us towards prosperity and peace."

Peace...

A foolish dream, it always was.

Humans were violent creatures by nature, they only remained peaceful if forced to do so.

And even then, they would repay such kindness with cruelty and betrayal.

"Ah, I can tell you are a skeptic." The man said, noticing her expression of disdain. "Many people are, in fact, most are."

He pulled a book from his satchel, holding it out to her.

"But The Watcher's teachings are simple, here is the abridged version, free of charge." He explained. "Sadly, I'm not much of a scholar, so I'm not very good at debating, but the priests can answer any questions you may have."

She eyed it, this could be useful.

"Do you have the full version?" She asked him.

He seemed even more pleased, what a simple person, easily satisfied with the slightest amount of interest in his words.

"No, but that bookstore right there sells them." He pointed at a shop on the other side of the plaza. "The shrine is subsidizing all purchases related to our faith, so everything will be 90% off."

The man then pulled out his purse and grabbed a few bills before holding them out towards her.

"Here, consider my thanks for listening to me." He told her earnestly.

Kaguya narrowed her eyes slightly, before she reached out and grabbed it.

Then she got up, grabbing her bag and walking away.

"Ah, thank you!" The man called out from behind her.

This was... suspicious, what was The Watcher's game?

Was he as foolish as he seemed? Osamu had told her this was a small trading town, hardly of any note, in Osamu's words, 'These sorts of towns are common, small and relying on the heavy traffic of ships passing through.'

And yet, it had a shrine to The Watcher, was his reach so total in this country that even the lesser towns had such buildings?

Or was it a coincidence? After all, he could not have planned for her to use her Kāma on his puppet.

Or could he?

Was this all part of his plan?

Either way, she would investigate.

Kaguya stepped into the bookstore, not needing to search very hard to find what she needed.

Right there, in full display, were multiple books labeled under the genre of 'The Order's Books.'

The variety was better than expected, front and center was the largest tome, which simply read 'Tome of The Watcher' on its cover.

There were other titles, like 'Children of The Stars: An Overview', 'Our Greatest Gift: Understanding The Human Body', or 'Guide To Understanding Your Neighbors'

She picked them all up.

If the Watcher's people recommended these books, then perhaps they had value.

***

Kaguya sat down again, opening one of the books.

She decided to start with the smaller ones, as they seemed more specialized.

The first was 'Guide To Understanding Your Neighbors.' an oddly worded title.

Opening the first page, it read: 'Understanding people might be hard, their actions can seem confusing and contradictory, their motivations sometimes alien, it almost impossible to fully understand a person, but with enough effort, we can bridge the gap between us and others. This book can not give you all the answers, but it will provide you with the tools necessary to find them yourself.'

That... was not what she expected, were these people not preaching a religion?

She turned the page.

'The first step in understanding someone is empathy, while many think empathy is simply caring for others, it is far more than that. To be empathetic means you can put yourself in the other person's shoes, imagine what they are going through, and why they might do what they do.'

She did not know how to feel about this book.

She had no desire to care about humans, or to understand them, but...

Still, perhaps it would help her survive in this world until she regained her rightful place.

So she kept reading.

***

2 HOURS LATER

"Yo, Kaguya!" Osamu called out as he approached. "Sorry I took so long, ran into an old friend."

Kaguya blinked as she returned to reality, realizing that she had completely lost track of time as she read the books.

She quickly closed it and stuffed it inside her bag, along with the rest of the pile.

"It is fine." She replied coldly. "It gave me time to get my clothes tailored."

He glanced over her new outfit.

"That looks nice." Osamu complimented. "Did you buy anything else?"

She paused for a moment.

"...Yes, I bought a few books on how to... blend in." Kaguya told him.

Osamu hummed thoughtfully.

"Good idea, if you interacted with someone for more than 5 minutes they would realize there's something strange about you." He said bluntly. "But anyways, we should probably head back before it gets dark."

She nodded, standing up from the bench.

They walked side by side, exiting the town and heading towards the forest again.

Kaguya remained silent, glancing at Osamu occasionally.

"Anything on your mind?" He asked, not looking back at her.

There was much on her mind, but right now, she wanted to test something.

The book had talked about how the best way to understand someone was to simply speak to them, and she wanted to see if this was true.

"Would you consider yourself an empathetic person?" She questioned him.

Osamu glanced over his shoulder at her, before focusing his eyes forward again.

"I would say so, yes." He replied. "Not my strongest trait, but I try to be."

"What do you mean when you say 'not your strongest trait'?" She continued.

"Well, I consider myself to be fairly self-aware, when it comes to my own personality, what drives me and all that." He began explaining. "I know I'm arrogant, and a bit of a narcissist, not surprising for someone like me. So sometimes I make decisions for others based on what I believe is best for them, even if they don't want it."

Kaguya frowned slightly.

"Of course, it usually works out, or I would stop doing it, but that doesn't change the fact that I still do it." Osamu shrugged. "It's hypocritical, I don't like it when others do it, but still keep doing it myself."

She didn't reply to that.

Her understanding of human nature came from a very... different perspective.

"And you do not desire to change this?" She asked him.

The book had talked about this, the first step of change was recognizing you had a problem.

"Nah, I'm great." He said easily. "Like I said, I know myself quite well, and I quite enjoy being me. Wouldn't want to change."

Arrogance, certainly, but he did admit to his hypocrisy.

"I see..." Kaguya muttered as they entered the treeline.

It seems the book was right, just by asking and talking, she had learned quite a bit about Osamu's personality.

Maybe, once she was better at hiding herself, she would visit more settlements.

This feeling of curiosity... it was new.

***

4 DAYS LATER

Kaguya twisted out of the way as Osamu lunged forward, grabbing onto his arm and flipping him over her shoulder.

Osamu used the momentum to land on his feet, twisting around to face her again.

And with a series of hand seals that she copied, they both released a torrent of water from their mouths, canceling each other's Jutsu.

When the water faded, he was gone.

She quickly activated her Byakugan and scanned the area, spotting him rushing through the earth below.

With a quick burst of Chakra to her legs, she kicked off and flipped backwards as the ground beneath her exploded into a shower of dirt, Osamu shooting upwards in a spin.

He didn't hesitate, launching small fireballs from his mouth that streaked towards her with deadly accuracy.

Kaguya focused and stomped, the earth rising up to shield her from the attack.

Then she felt a pulse of something within her coils, the chakra flaring erratically and making her wince in pain.

A Genjutsu, of Osamu's own invention.

One she had not figured out how to counter, it disrupted the Chakra within her body, making it difficult to perform any techniques for a few moments.

Which was more than enough time for him to follow up.

She saw Osamu land on the ground with her Byakugan, she saw the Chakra gather in his legs and his hand, the familiar round sphere forming, Rasengan, he called it when she had asked.

And then he burst forwards at high speed, using his Rasengan to break the wall, he was met with a Bone Spear aimed at his head, thankfully, his Genjutsu was much less effective at interfering with her natural abilities.

Osamu leaned backwards slightly, letting it pass over his face without stopping his momentum.

Kaguya twisted her body to the side as he tried to kick her in the chest, his foot missing by millimeters.

But it did hit her bone spear, and with a burst of chakra, it was sent flying out of her grasp, leaving her in close range with an opponent that was stronger and faster than her.

And an opponent that had a spinning ball of destruction in his hand.

Osamu shot forward and she jumped back, but he still managed to grab hold of her right wrist.

He pulled her towards him and tried to slam the Rasengan into her stomach.

Kaguya reacted quickly, her ribs extending outwards and forming a layer of bone over her stomach, which absorbed most of the impact when Osamu's Jutsu hit.

The shockwave still launched her backwards and through a tree.

She flipped as she flew back and landed on her feet, sliding until she stabilized herself.

Osamu did not chase after her, instead standing where he was, hands already moving in preparation for another Jutsu.

Kaguya grit her teeth, another loss, she recognized those hand seals, she wouldn't be able to defend against that technique.

She could have copied him, but he was already in the middle of using it, so there was little point in that, she would not be fast enough.

"I surrender." She called out loudly enough for him to hear.

Osamu let out a sigh, and the Chakra gathering around him dissipated, before he approached her with a smile.

"Nice job, you're really getting good at this." He complimented. "Compared to your first attempts at fighting, it's like night and day."

Kaguya frowned slightly as she took a few deep breaths to center herself.

"Do not patronize me, Osamu." She told him coldly. "You would have defeated me just now had I not surrendered."

He shrugged.

"Well, yeah, but I'm a lot better than you, so that's to be expected." Osamu said bluntly. "But still, compared to how bad you were when we first started sparring? It's impressive."

It was impressive, but it also filled her with regret, she had not been trained in combat when she was with the Ōtsutsuki.

After she ate the God Tree's fruit, it didn't matter, nothing could harm her anyway.

If she had learned how to fight from the start, maybe her children would not have defeated her.

She quickly buried those thoughts, pushing them away into the corner of her mind.

"I suppose it is an improvement." She agreed reluctantly.

Osamu smiled at that.

"Exactly, now for the annoying part..." He said with a sigh. "Analyzing what went wrong."

Kaguya scowled slightly.

"I let you set the momentum, once I made that earth wall, I had no good way to regain the initiative." She began explaining.

Osamu nodded and motioned for her to continue.

"When you used your Genjutsu, I became even more vulnerable to attack." She went on. "I should have retreated immediately instead of trying to fight you in close range."

He tapped his chin in thought for a few seconds.

"Mostly correct, but the retreat is not something I would recommend, I was in the middle of a Body Flicker, and those are easy to chain together, if you tried to run, I would have caught up." Osamu told her. "Instead, what you should have done was stop me from continuing my offensive."

Her eyes narrowed.

"How?" She questioned.

"Easy, lotsa bones." He replied easily.

Kaguya blinked slowly.

"Expand on that." She ordered.

"Well, you formed one bone spear to stab me, but if you summoned one, you can summon a dozen at once." Osamu explained. "You know my Jutsu fairly well at this point, so you need to start thinking about the counters."

She crossed her arms as she thought about it.

"If you had turned yourself into a porcupine..." He started saying.

Kaguya scowled at him, but he ignored it and continued.

"...then I would have had to either abandon the attack, or risk getting skewered." He finished. "In the meantime, you could have sunk into the ground or prepared another Jutsu."

She frowned, glancing away as she considered it.

It made sense.

She could have made a small wall of bone spikes, she had the Chakra for it, and in doing so, would have regained control of the fight.

"I... will try to remember that for next time." Kaguya told him slowly.

Osamu grinned.

"Good! That's how you improve, you analyze your mistakes, think of ways to fix them, and then apply it in practice." He said enthusiastically. "Anyways, enough of that, I'm going to meditate for a few hours, if you want, you can join me."

Kaguya shook her head.

"I wish to rest, we have been at this for hours." She replied bluntly.

That didn't dim his good mood in the slightest, he simply waved goodbye as he left.

She still had books to read.

***

3 DAYS LATER

Kaguya stared silently at Osamu as he set up the campfire for the night.

She was suspicious.

Very suspicious.

She had finished reading the book called 'Children of The Stars', it was a history book, talking about the rise of The Watcher's faith, as well as how it spread across the continent over the years.

What started her suspicions were the mentions of the Watcher's ability to see far and wide, there were accountings of him saving entire villages from attacks by enemy countries, most of the time, a so-called Star-Eater would appear and slaughter the invaders.

But if a few instances, he took a more personal approach.

In one such case, he had crushed a squad of enemies, a giant hand appearing out of a star filled void, the buildings and people nearby were left untouched.

It implied that The Watcher had some ability to remotely observe events.

That in at itself was not unusual, she could do the same with her Byakugan.

What made her suspicious, however, were the mentions of his messengers, usually, crows.

Specifically, the Crow Clan.

And she remembered what Osamu had told her when she asked why he spent so much time meditating.

'I want to learn Senjutsu, the art of using natural energy to enhance yourself.'

She had asked what it was, and he had explained it quite simply, achieve a strong body and a focused mind, and then absorb Nature Chakra until it matches your own.

He had demonstrated his 'Incomplete Version' of this technique, and black feathers had sprouted all over his body.

He had explained that absorbing the Chakra itself was a simple process, but balancing it with one's own Chakra could take years.

'Very few people have ever managed to perfect this technique, the fact that you need to have a contract with a Summoning Clan just to start training is difficult enough, then it needs to be a Clan that knows Senjutsu, and finally, their Sage needs to agree to teach you.'

Kaguya had asked which one he was learning from, and he had answered: The Crow Clan.

At the time, she had thought nothing of it, but now?

Now, Osamu was most likely being taught by The Watcher's messengers.

She had spent the last few hours going through every interaction they had in her mind, searching for any hint that she might have missed.

He seemed sincere in his desire to help her learn, and had offered advice on anything she wanted.

But it seems that Osamu may be her enemy.

She felt her fists clench, nails digging into her skin painfully.

Of course, she had almost repeated her past mistakes again.

She had forgotten that humans were untrustworthy.

"Osamu." She said quietly, her voice cold.

"Yeah?" He replied easily, seemingly relaxed as he threw their diner onto the hot pan.

Her Byakugan activated, and she observed him carefully, his chakra was calm and steady.

"What is your relationship with The Watcher?" She asked bluntly.

Depending on his answer, she might have to flee, there was no way she could beat him in a fight.

But he didn't tense up, instead raising an eyebrow.

"Oh, I am The Watcher." He revealed calmly, before flipping the meat cooking over the fire. "Guess you finally got suspicious."

What?

"..." Kaguya stared at him silently for a few moments, trying to find the right words. "...What?"

"Anyways, dinner will be ready soon." He added carelessly, ignoring her question. "Go fetch the plates."

She got up angrily, her eyes glowing dangerously.

"That is not important!" Kaguya scowled at him. "You-"

"Are you seriously going to turn down a perfectly good meal?" Osamu asked her incredulously. "Just because you're feeling confused or angry doesn't mean you should let good food go to waste."

She froze for a moment, feeling even greater anger build up inside of her.

"Idiot! This is not about food!" She shouted out furiously. "You deceived me!"

Osamu nodded easily as he continued cooking.

"Oh yeah, definitely." He agreed readily. "That whole act where I pretended I didn't know who you were? Totally fake, sorry for not being upfront about it."

Kaguya scowled at him with hatred in her eyes.

"Is this a game to you?!" She questioned. "Did you enjoy humiliating me? Pretending that you were not the reason I am stuck like this?"

He paused for a moment, looking up at her with an annoyed expression on his face.

"No, Kaguya, none of this was done to humiliate you." Osamu told her bluntly. "I did it because I wanted to understand you better."

"Understand me?" She repeated angrily. "What is the point of that? We are enemies, there is nothing to understand!"

Her fists clenched tighter, nails digging deeper into her palms.

Osamu, no, The Watcher's expression turned cold as he stared back at her.

"Are we?" He asked, tone completely serious. "Are we really?"

"Of course!" She shouted.

"Alright then."

And without any warning, the space around suddenly twisted and distorted.

After a split second, she appeared somewhere else.

It was a bedroom, plain but clean, with a large window overlooking a forest.

And on a bed, there was a woman, one who Kaguya recognized immediately.

Naomi, the tailor, sleeping peacefully in her bed.

The Watcher stood next to it, staring down at the woman with a calm expression.

"What is the meaning of this?" She hissed out at him.

He ignored her question, instead, he raised his hand, a blade forming within it.

She felt confused for a moment, but quickly realized what he intended to do.

Kaguya rushed forward, bone bursting from her skin as she slammed it into the blade, knocking it aside.

"What are you doing?" She asked, voice dripping with venom. "You-"

She stopped herself, speechless at the sudden turn this conversation took.

The Watcher glanced back at her, his expression neutral and unreadable.

"Why did you stop me?" He asked simply. "She helped you, and we are enemies, are we not? If that is the case, then she is a traitor."

Kaguya opened her mouth to speak, only for nothing to come out.

"Actually, shouldn't you be happy? I'm killing a human." The Watcher continued. "That's what you want, right? Humanity gone from the world?"

Her mind was racing, thoughts and emotions swirling around in her head.

"..."

She didn't say anything, simply glaring at him silently.

"Is it because you don't have your full power back yet?" He asked her. "Too risky to attack humanity before you're ready?"

Kaguya clenched her fists tightly, nails digging into her palms painfully.

"In that case..." The Watcher spoke in a calm voice as he raised his hand again, and in his palm, appeared something she knew all too well.

Her Kāma.

It shot forward, fast enough that even with her Sharingan, she could not dodge it.

It struck her shoulder, a sharp pain running through her body as it burned itself into her skin.

She stumbled backwards, feeling her Chakra surge within her as it began its work.

And then... the world became sharper, clearer.

Everything seemed slower, more precise and detailed.

The feeling of power was incredible, her Byakugan expanded, stretching across the land, covering this entire town and beyond.

The bone spikes that had erupted from her wrist turned black, the All-Killing Ash Bones.

And on her forehead, the Sharingan morphed, concentric rings forming inside it.

Rinne Sharingan.

"There you go." The Watcher said. "Now you can kill her without any trouble."

Kaguya's eyes snapped towards him, narrowing dangerously.

"...No." She answered quietly.

"Oh?" He raised an eyebrow. "Why not?"

She stood there for several moments, trying to come up with some kind of answer.

"Because... I don't want to." Kaguya replied finally.

The Watcher nodded slowly, before looking back down at Naomi.

"I see." He said simply. "But didn't you want to kill all humans? Slurp them up like a bunch of juicy noodles?"

Her fists clenched even tighter, feeling angry and frustrated.

"Yes, but she was kind to me, so..." Kaguya trailed off, not knowing how to finish that sentence.

She didn't have the God Tree anymore, so...

So what?

"So what? You will spare her? Maybe the kid that asked you if you were ok as well?" He asked mockingly. "And the man who gave you money for free? The store owner that sold you books?"

This arrogant fool, he did not get to dictate who she killed or not.

"Yes." She told him. "Yes, I will spare them."

This was her world, she decided who deserved to live, and who deserved to die.

The Watcher stared at her for a few moments, before he gestured had the door, it opened by itself.

"Then go on, her older brother and his daughter are sleeping in the next room over, right there." He motioned towards another door. "Feel free to kill them, if you wish."

She didn't move, just glaring back at him silently.

"Ah, I guess not, that would be cruel." The Watcher continued. "Sparing an innocent woman while leaving her family to die, now that's heartless."

Kaguya frowned slightly.

That was also true, if she killed Naomi's family, that would be pointlessly cruel.

"I suppose you could start with someone else then." And again, the world twisted around her, before she found herself in another bedroom.

This one was occupied by a small girl, no older than 10, sleeping peacefully in her bed.

"How about this one?" He asked. "We are in the Land of Wind right now, I can guarantee you this girl is not related to anyone that helped you, so no reason to spare her."

Kaguya clenched her jaw tightly, she did not know why she felt so hesitant, but at this point, she really wanted to kill the Watcher.

"You-" She started to say, but was interrupted again.

"She is an orphan too, grew up on the streets until the people of Rōran took her in a couple weeks ago." The Watcher interrupted her. "They might feel a bit angry and sad that she just died like that, but no one will be truly devastated if you killed her."

"Stop." She demanded coldly. "Enough of your nonsense."

He tilted his head to the side.

"What nonsense?" The Watcher questioned. "You wanted to kill humanity, correct? You were planning to do it before we fought."

"That was..." Kaguya trailed off again, not sure how to answer that.

"It's so easy when you're not staring them in the face, isn't it?" He asked her. "Killing someone is simple when you just don't think about it, just use the Infinite Tsukuyomi, problem solved."

He walked forward, until he was standing right next to the little girl.

He sat down on the edge of her bed and gently brushed some hair out of her face.

She seemed to mumble something in her sleep, rolling over slightly as she snuggled into her blanket.

"I learned a hard lesson early in my life as a god."

He glanced at her over his shoulder, looking completely serious.

"Things are different when you're face to face with them." He said quietly. "I used to hear about tragedies happening, terrible things that happened to people far away from me, I would always feel little, a bit of pity, a bit of anger when it was caused by another human, but ultimately, I had no power to change things."

The Watcher turned back to the girl, sighing heavily.

"But then... I gained power, my followers became numerous, my Divine Power grew more potent..." He continued. "And suddenly, those tragedies were not so distant, and I had more than enough power to stop them."

Kaguya watched silently, not saying anything.

"It's so easy to distance yourself, hate, love, apathy, all those emotions are simpler when you have the luxury of detachment." The Watcher stood up. "So, could you kill her? Not by using the Infinite Tsukuyomi, but personally, watching as she cries out desperately, begging for mercy."

Kaguya remained silent as he spoke, unable to find any words to say.

"You said we were enemies." He told her. "But remember what I asked of you? To help me defend this world?"

"Yes." She muttered quietly. "I remember."

"We only fought because you threatened them, my people." The Watcher gestured to the child sleeping next to him. "So tell me, are we still enemies?"

She stared at the child, trying to muster up some anger, hatred, anything that she could use to justify doing such a thing.

"Can you do it?" He questioned again. "Can you do the same to her friends, little kids with too much energy and adults who are trying to give them a better life than they had?"

"... they are thieves..." Kaguya whispered weakly.

"No." The Watcher shook his head. "Ignoring the fact that the first people to receive Chakra received it as a gift from Hagoromo Ōtsutsuki, these people didn't steal anything, they inherited it from their parents."

He got up from the bed, walking towards her until they were standing face to face.

"Kaguya, for you, it has been only years since humanity's betrayal of your trust, but for everyone else?" The Watcher looked down at her with a frown. "For them, it's ancient history, old stories passed down through generations, most of them have no idea who you even are."

The room twisted again, and they were back in the forest, next to the fire.

He sat down again, resuming his work on cooking their food.

"So, I ask again, are we enemies?" The Watcher questioned. "Do you still want to kill everyone? Even the kind, the innocent, the children?"

Kaguya stayed silent, trying to get her thoughts in order.

"..." She felt lost, confused and conflicted. "I... no."

She hated humans, yes, but there was a reason she had tried peaceful methods first before resorting to violence.

She hated humans, but once upon a time, she loved them.

"No." Kaguya repeated. "We are not."

"Alright then." He smiled at her, as if the past few minutes had never happened. "We still need plates though, and I hunted the game, so it's only fair that you handle the rest."

And just like that, the familiar annoyance was back.

She glared at Osamu, or The Watcher, or whoever he was now.

But this time, she was back to full power, so with a flex of her will, the plates were ripped out of his bag and flew over to them.

Hers landed in her outstretched hand, while Osamu's slammed into his face.

It shattered into pieces, while he remained unharmed and unbothered.

"Rude." He said bluntly.

"I do not care." Kaguya replied coldly. "Now give me my food."

Osamu huffed before his plate assembled itself, without a hint of Chakra being used.

They ate silently, but not uncomfortably, both lost in their own thoughts.

It felt strange to her, that after everything, they simply went back to how things were before.

But maybe that was better, she would figure out what she wanted to do in the future later, for now, eating was more important.