Note: I love xxxHOLiC and I really wish that more people would write for this fandom. I'm working on a longer story, but for now, I only have this short drabble to offer. Enjoy.

Disclaimer: I wish I owned Doumeki and all the rest of CLAMP's wonderful creations, but I'm not that lucky.

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The Gods Play

In old, twisted arms,
Gods play with radiant light –
Their joy is hidden.

When he was five years old, his grandfather led him out to an ancient tree that had stood on their family's lands since before their family had a name. The old man pointed at the high branches and asked:

"What do you see there, Shizuka?"

The child saw the sunbeams spilling over the worn limbs and the new buds that were growing on them. His sharp eyes singled out a solitary bird fluttering amidst the sighing boughs and a few motes of earth's dust floated in the light, twinkling. There was a rustle and the sound of wind whispering around himself, his grandfather, the tree and its buds, and the lonely bird.

"It's just a tree being a tree. That's all I see there, grandfather," he answered, puzzled.

The elder breathed deeply, tasting the air. It was cool and soothing. "Then that is all you ever will see, my boy." He smiled at Shizuka, but it was wistful. "There are gods playing in the tree's branches this morning and it is quite beautiful to behold."

Shizuka was startled and looked again, but he only saw the bird and the motes and the light. He didn't let his disappointment show, though he knew his grandfather sensed it.

"Don't be sad, Shizuka. The tree is lovely enough by itself to fill the heart, don't you think? You would never have known that you were missing the gods' playing if I hadn't made you aware of it." He knelt beside his solemn grandson and laid a thin arm across his shoulders. "Your father was never able to see them, either."

Shizuka cast his eyes to the very tips of the tree's branches, up towards the clouds. "Even if I can't see them, they're always there, aren't they? The way the tree is swaying… Is that their doing?"

His grandfather was pleased by this response and smiled at him. "It is."

"So if I watch the tree and how it moves, I can see how they're making the tree be itself?"

Shizuka felt his grandfather's laugh of pure delight echo deep inside his heart.

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Fin.