Irene began rebuilding herself alongside the spring flowers.
Her first, pathetic attempts at truly wielding a sword came as the snow melted and the floodplains filled. Each morning, she had to bring in more dirt and rock so that she wasn't practicing up to her ankles in mud.
At least, she bothered her father and brother to help her bring in the dirt and rocks because even that was quite difficult for her then.
She then went to the next phase of her rebuilding.
As the rains stopped, the lilacs in her mother's garden were starting to grow leaves, and the flowers began to bud; she at least had her full range of motion back. It was important to be flexible while sword fighting. It gave better posture and made sure that you were engaging all parts of your body equally.
She had been noticing that with her lack of flexibility, her back would ache. Her legs always did because they were overcompensating. It was only in spring that they stopped.
