Tokyo, Japan
Irina assembled a number of students, such included Nagisa. Nagisa, Kaede, and others were surprised that they were called to there.
For Kaede, she was surprised to see the teacher there. As for the result, she soon asked:
"Ms. Irina, why are we here?"
"Well, we don't have business to teach today, so the best is, to tell some story."
Yup. Irina taught her students outside classroom, because she wanted to tell something interesting. Perhaps, a lesson, special one.
…
…
"Ms. Irina, where are you from? Are you from Croatia?"
Karma. Karma broke the silence by asking her identity. Based on Karma's knowledge, Irina's family name is very popular in Croatia.
Yet, Irina answered:
"No. It is somewhere, far away … most Croats do have this family name, but I am not Croat, nor even feeling Croatian. But it was true that I was born there."
Karma was surprised when his teacher claimed herself wasn't a Croat. So where was she born? Nagisa also got confusion from it. Kaede asked too: "So, where are you from exactly? You said you were born in Croatia … but not feeling Croatian. Why?"
Irina Jelavić, the teacher herself, only stated quietly, in something that she bore in her memoir.
"Well, I have printed a folk song and written in Japanese and Latin text. I would love to take you a short time to sing before we go back to work."
She then gave every students these piece of papers, all were the lyrics of some song. And for Nagisa, it was perhaps something he realized …
…
#####
Dubrovnik, Croatia
There, a man walking on the old street to see the damage left behind due to the Yugoslav War in the past. The building, where he sheltered Irina in his early day of escaping from the conflict, seemed to have influenced him a lot.
"So long for a memoir. Where are you, sister?"
In there, he was glad to meet the community of Croatian Serbs in an old building, where he bowed the head to the statue of Josip Runjanin, a famous Croatian Serb who was responsible for the birth of Croatian anthem. Due to ethnic conflict between Croats and Serbs in the past, it was not a surprise that he had to cover himself with an American passport instead, since he was later naturalized as an American, despite modern day Croatia and Serbia didn't hold conflict anymore.
In there, he met those kids there.
"Здраво децо. Како си?" (Hello children. How are you?)
"Веома је добро, господине. Али, неки од мојих пријатеља ме дискриминирају." (It's very good, sir. But, some of my friends discriminate me.) A little girl, five years old, cried in front of him. The man understood that, the Serbs in Croatia had yet to receive fair treatment.
Croatia and Serbia had a bloody war in the past and on the view point of Croats, the Serbs are its enemy. Serbs were the largest minority to exist in Croatia, but after the war, they had been reduced significantly. On the same time, Serbianization of Croatian minority in Serbia also led to conflict, and most of Croats in Serbia had now become almost losing identity, virtually by following Eastern Orthodoxy in contrast to Roman Catholicism of Croats.
Dubrovnik used to be an important center of Serbian minority in Croatia, where they started an ethnic movement. Now, it was no more and the last Serbian private cultural center was about to be closed.
The man there soon revealed himself:
"Зовем се Жељко. Ја сам из Сједињених Држава, али и дете Србије, као и ви. Некада сам живео у Дубровнику, то је предиван град, гдје мирише љубав. Али рат нас је променио …" (My name is Željko. I am from the United States, but also a child of Serbia, like you. I used to live in Dubrovnik, it is a beautiful city, where I smell the love. But the war changed us …)
"Ујаче Жељко, шта ти се десило?" (Uncle Željko, what happened to you?) the little girl asked. This time, some other kids also gathered around as well as some students, perhaps same age with Nagisa and Kaede in Japan, where they had their brothers/sisters there.
The little girl's talk with Željko had attracted a small number of people to her. Then, Željko looked toward to the abandoned Orthodox Church behind the kindergarden, where he held something hurt and painful on his heart.
He, Željko Jelavić just only felt sadness.
"Шта ће се десити следеће за Србе тамо?" (What would happen next for the Serbs there?)
He still felt it, even when he had moved to the United States, and became American, he could not forget his Serbian heritage. However, in process of Croatian political sentiment against Serbs due to historical trauma, it was impossible. Željko could not reject nor deny it.
Željko's family came from a special branch of the Jelavić family, when they first settled in Timok. Their family name is more linked to Croatia than Serbia due to the past, but in 14th century, Stefan Dušan conquered entire of Balkans and incorporated into Serbia. His Jelavić family soon converted to Eastern Orthodoxy, distanced themselves with majority of Jelavić families later aligned with Croatia, they chose Serbia.
He was the other few surviving members of his branch after the Yugoslav War, after ethnic cleansing against Serbs occurred in Croatia, as the consequence of Slobodan Milošević rose to power and his rhetoric anti-Croatian stance.
…
#####
Tokyo, Japan
"Wow, I don't know you are from …"
"Yes. Our history is a bit different than other, we should discuss little about it." Irina smiled.
Nagisa knew the heritage of Irina since, and all others knew. They never imagined it. Karma must be more surprised since he expected Irina to be a Croat.
"So, the paper you give us, is a song, right?" Kaede cheered out: "Can you sing it?"
"Well, if you want me sing, I can help." Irina just chilled out, but something very warm existed on her face. She wanted to do this … but in an extent it would be more special …
And so, she started to do …
…
#####
Dubrovnik, Croatia
In the ruin of an abandoned Orthodox Church, Željko Jelavić just quietly told the kids.
"Ако и даље желиш никад заборавити нешто, онда би требало да се сетиш ове песме." (If you still wish never forget something, then you should remember this song.)
Those kids were surprised, as well as some students there. A teenage girl, 14 years old, stood and wondered: "Ја сам Србин из Хрватске, моја мама говори ио песми и не сјећам се како се звала." (I am also a Serb from Croatia, my mom also speaks about a song and I don't remember what was it called.)
"Знаш то." (You'll know it.) He soon took notice to the detail. Then, in the silent, he started to sing …
…
…
…
#####
Tokyo, Japan
Irina, under pressure, had decided to sing the song:
…
…
…
"Тамо далеко, далеко од мора,
тамо је село моје, тамо је Србија
тамо је село моје, тамо је Србија"
(There, far away, far away from the sea,
over there is my village, over there is Serbia
over there is my village, over there is Serbia)
In the first line, she was calmed, and sang with the emotion of a Balkan native. Thus, it impressed the view of her as an extreme saddened woman which sought to become their own only to find out everything was lost.
Nagisa, Karma, Kaede and others listened with a slow tune. Irina sang in slow, yet totally burnt out the feeling of someone dreaming to be back home.
…
Dubrovnik, Croatia
Far away into the Balkans, at the Croatian city of Dubrovnik, Željko sang the second. He sang with the extreme similar tune, for locals there, mostly of Serbian origins.
"Тамо далеко, где цвета лимун жут,
тамо је српској војсци једини био пут
тамо је српској војсци једини био пут"
(There, far away, where a yellow lemon grows
over there was the Serbian army's only path
over there was the Serbian army's only path)
On the deep eyes of Željko, he imagined it could have helped those kids. They were listening to him, and surprised to hear the first two lines of him bear something similar with.
One kid might have figured out …
…
Tokyo, Japan
Then, Irina marked her words with the third line. And as the same to her first two just sang, she realized there was an unknown strength somewhere.
"Тамо далеко, где цвета бели крин
тамо су животе дали заједно отац и син
тамо су животе дали заједно отац и син"
(There, far away, blossoms the madonna lily
over there a father and son gave their life's to each other
over there a father and son gave their life's to each other)
This time, those girls had started to see the tears from Irina's eyes. They knew she was crying …
…
Never thought it would come in that moment, and it must have a deep hidden pain behind. The 1990s was a hard time for Irina, and she could not be alive if not without someone …
Yes, she was mentioning to the sky …
…
Dubrovnik, Croatia
For the young Željko, he just could not hold his emotion …
"Тамо где тиха путује Морава
тамо ми икона оста и моја крсна слава
тамо ми икона оста и моја крсна слава"
(Over there where the silent Morava travels
over there is my icon and my family saint
over there is my icon and my family saint)
The trauma of his life continued with the dying heart of the man, when he was calling about whereabout of Irina, his sister.
Then, he walked into the next line, where it mentions his hometown, where his family has a strong and deep connection, outside Dubrovnik itself.
"Тамо где Тимок поздравља Вељков град
тамо ми спалише цркву у којој венчах се млад
тамо ми спалише цркву у којој венчах се млад"
(Over there where Timok hails Veljkov's city
over there they burned down my church where I married at youth
over there they burned down my church where I married at youth)
…
Tokyo, Japan
And even Irina could not hold her emotions when it came to this line …
"Тамо где Тимок поздравља Вељков град
тамо ми спалише цркву у којој венчах се млад
тамо ми спалише цркву у којој венчах се млад"
(Over there where Timok hails Veljkov's city
over there they burned down my church where I married at youth
over there they burned down my church where I married at youth)
It was also the same reason. When she and her brother separated away, they never met again and they didn't know where was the other. But as long as Timok continues to flow, this mean her brother is still alive.
She was quiet but as now, the girls soon sang the tune with her. She heard from those girls, even they knew no words in Serbian/Croatian language. They still sang for the love and admiration to Irina, their other mother.
And so, they together sat with Irina, and to sing the last of them.
"Teacher, don't be sad. We are with you."
Nagisa was quick to notice this. He realized, it was actually a folk song, and Ms. Irina was singing in deep sadness.
As for the result, those little girls with no idea about a foreign language, made the last tune becoming more romantic.
"Тамо далеко, далеко од мора,
тамо је село моје, тамо је Србија"
(There, far away, far away from the sea,
over there is my village, over there is Serbia)
…
Dubrovnik, Croatia
Same thing happened as well. Those kids, only this time, were aware with it. It was the folk song popularized by many Serbs.
"Тамо далеко, далеко од мора,
тамо је село моје, тамо је Србија"
(There, far away, far away from the sea,
over there is my village, over there is Serbia)
Željko must be very deeply affected when it came to the last one. For an American, Željko would never abandon his Serbian heritage, and he would remain to be a proud Serb, even he is now a Serbian American.
And those girls had sung with him too. They did the Morava line, and they had sung with him since.
In the last, he would always tell to remember, who and where they belonged, even for those Croatian Serb children.
…
…
…
"без отацбине, на Крфу живех ја
али сам прозно клиц'о "Живела Србија!""
(without my homeland, I live on the Corfu
but I proudly cheered "Long Live Serbia!")
All came in low, nothing seemed to be fast, yet it felt a national proud and patriotism with deep pride and traumatic past, and ran high when it came to the words "на Крфу живех ја".
The images of Serbian soldiers retreated throughout Albanian mountain in the winter when their country fell to Austria and Bulgaria at the Great War had haunted Željko again. Željko reminded the image and it was in line with how he had to abandon Dubrovnik, Timok and fled away without his sister.
Željko, a much more cold-blooded assassin currently, the result for being trained by another assassin, could even not stop feeling the pride and sorrow to have sung it.
…
Tokyo, Japan
In Japan however, Irina got a backup. When she sang the last, all students. In this part, they all sang with the highest tune of power …
"али сам прозно клиц'о …
…
…
…
…
… "Живела Србија!""
(but I proudly cheered …
…
…
…
…
… "Long Live Serbia!")
The words "Живела Србија!" had been highlighted when they sang. Nagisa soon understood where had she come from.
And he knew it …
… as Irina hugged her students and cried so much for what had just happened. She got the same hugs by other students, mostly females, because they shared her view with it. They loved her and they saw her as another friend. They cried as well, because it was too sad.
…
For Irina, she could not hold her emotion anymore because when this word happened to her, no matter what, she would remain to be part of this land … From the images of the soldiers retreated there throughout cold mountains, being ambushed by tribes there, and how they formed their Government, they were patriots and proud warriors.
Never forget where they belong.
…
Both Irina and Željko realized where they belonged for. And they would never feel nothing more but proud.
No matter how far, no matter how different people like, they could be American, or Japanese. But they would never forget their heritages …
…
…
…
"али сам прозно клиц'о …
…
…
…
…
… "Живела … Србија!""
(but I proudly cheered …
…
…
…
…
… "Long Live … Serbia!")
Без обзира колико далеко, једног дана ћемо се вратити кући.
No matter how far away, we will be back home one day.