Chi no Uta

Soberly, the sakura rustled upon their steeples high overhead. They blushed so faintly in the morning's sun...
'Nee,' said Kaoru-dono, a pretty grin dancing brightly upon her lips. 'Kyou, ano sakura wa kirei desu, ne?'
The delicate little flowers painted the skyline in a deep, crimson hue. Such a hue flitted piercingly within my memory. Katsute, yuki mo akai o rakka deshita...

And she lay gasping in my arms. Dying. Her blood stained my hands...stained the snow... Sore wa umi deshita. A sea of blood, deep crimson. An awful, deep, deep, crimson... My heart choked in my chest; her skin was so cold against my own. Samukatta... samukatta...

And I smiled warmly. 'Ee,' I said. 'Ee, ano sakura wa totemo kirei desu.'

She clasped my hand within hers.

Owari

Chi no Uta Japanese Translations-

'Chi no Uta'- Literally, this title means, 'Blood's Song' in English, chi being blood, and uta being song. The participle 'no' connects both nouns.

'Sakura'- Sakura, in this case, is a flower of sorts. It literally means, 'cherry tree blossom' in the way that I have used it.

'Nee,' said Kaoru-dono, a pretty grin dancing brightly upon her lips. 'Kyou, ano sakura wa kirei desu, ne?'- In the English language, this dialogue is, 'Say,' said Miss Kaoru, a pretty grin dancing brightly upon her lips. 'The sakura are beautiful today, aren't they?'

'Katsute, yuki mo akai o rakka deshita.'- Literally, this sentence means in English, 'Once, the snow fell red as well.'

'Sore wa umi deshita.'- Basically, the sentence, 'Sore wa umi deshita,' means, 'It was a sea.'

'Samukatta...samukatta...'- 'Samui' is an i-adjective in the Japanese language meaning, 'cold'. When you remove the 'i' from the end of an i- adjective and add 'katta', it becomes past-tense. This phrase literally means, following the previous sentences, 'She was cold...she was cold...', although it is only an i-adjective.

'Ee,' I said. 'Ee, ano sakura wa totemo kirei desu.'- This is Kenshin's response to Kaoru's previous question. In English, this would be, 'Yes,' I said. 'Yes, the sakura are very beautiful.'