There was no reason for Noriko to still be so self-conscious, here or anywhere else. They were all trying to find the same calmness, whatever way they could, and it was not strange to her. Li Hua met her eye, her own slitted with a small smile touching them, without turning her head. They had been apart too long and Noriko allowed to second-guess herself. With no words, just a minute nod, Li Hua rose again for Noriko to follow without disturbing the others into the privacy of the yellow hall. The lights above flickered, but the energy here didn't have the residual tension of the gym or the straining frustration of the other meditators.
"Better?" she offered, sitting in the middle of the hall with her legs crossed again and welcoming Noriko to join her. "Maybe you don't see the goal yet," she guessed when the girl sat and reached for her to lean against her chest, hands careful and light but one over her eyes and the other over her exposed ear, dark and warm and the steady, unnaturally slow beat of Li Hua's heart against her cheek. The posture they could work on, the resonance of the mantra and the clarity of mind could all wait. "What are your thoughts?" Li Hua asked.