DISCLAIMER: I do no in any way, shape or form own YuYu Hakusho.
Prologue:
The Mourning Dove
A small, silent crowd stood circled around a small tent. None of the black clothed people spoke, as a shiny mahogany casket was slowly lowered into the ground. The soft, slow tapping of warm mid-summer raindrops rang out like a song into the dreary grey-clouded morning. The rhythmic tapping of the rainfall resembled a light mournfully melodious tune as it pelted softly against the plastic opaque umbrella, which successfully repelled the light drops from drenching the two dark clothed women who stood beneath the synthetic shelter.
The two women stood still, as if frozen in a life-like pose, like plastic mannequins, as the ominous silence surrounded them in a crushing grasp. The taller of the two women, had hot salty tears running down her pale face, as she hugged the shorter and younger of the two women to her side. The elder woman's body shook violently, as she tried to stifle her sobs, while keeping the younger girl plastered to her side in a crushing grip. The younger girl returned her mother's hug with her own, while soothingly rubbing a comforting hand over the brown haired woman's shoulders. The young sandy haired girl clenched her watery eyes together in heartbreak, as the beautiful mahogany casket disappeared into the ground. The brown haired woman let out a sharp, stifled scream, which was muffled behind a white tearstained handkerchief and her trembling hand. The young sandy haired girl's eyes flashed open at her mother's cry, revealing shiny, waterlogged light aqua irises, just as her mother collapsed, lifeless onto the green outdoor carpet.
"Kazuhiro-san! Leinoni!" A course of multilingual outcries resounded throughout the graveyard. As the elder woman collapsed, her aqua-eyed daughter's face became one of unsure panic and her head snapped towards the crowd looking for some help, just as four people ran to the fallen woman's side.
"Leinoni? Come on little sis, we need to get you home before you catch pneumonia." A brunette-haired man spoke quietly, as he kneeled down beside his younger sister and scared niece. With a gentle, yet firm hand, the American male pried the mother and daughter out of each other's tight grasps, before carefully hoisting his younger sister up into his arms and walking out of the graveyard. The other male and female of American heritage slowly followed their son and daughter, leaving the young silent girl with the other woman.
The sandy haired girl struggled meagerly to get back to her unconscious mother, before a black haired woman, clearly of Japanese heritage pulled the silently crying girl into her arms, while whispering comforting words to her in Japanese. Slowly, the young girl stopped struggling, yet the tears continued to fall freely from her eyes, as she watched as her mother was carried away and placed into the back seat of a black car. The silent aqua-eyed girl glanced up at her Godmother, who looked down and met the young girl's sad, questioning gaze.
"Don't you worry, little Faline, they're taking your mother back home." The black haired woman spoke quietly in Japanese, while hugging her Goddaughter to her side. Faline had never met her mother's family and they had never met her, simply because they lived in America, Los Angeles California, to be precise. Living so far away and never bothering to visit, the Johnson family knew nothing about Faline or her condition. The young sandy-haired girl had not said a word since they had arrived two days ago and Leinoni had been so distraught over the sudden loss of her husband, that she could not even tell her elder brother and parents her own name. Let alone why her daughter was always silent and gave them confused looks whenever they spoke to her.
Some family they were, the Japanese woman's hazel gaze hardened as she watched the car pull away with Faline's unconscious mother, uncle and grandparents in it. It was sad that in all of the fourteen years since Faline had been alive, her uncle and grandparents had not even known that the young girl had been born mute and did not know a single word of English and now they had driven off without so much as a glance back. That kind of ghastly treatment made Hamasaki Aika quite angry, yet for the sake of her Goddaughter, she remained as cheerful as possible.
"Come on, how about we go to my place and get a change of clothes. Then we can watch TV and eat some Ice-cream, how does that sound?" Aika asked with a small smile, while tenderly tucking a piece of the sandy-haired girls' long stray bang behind her ear. Faline met her Godmother's soft gaze, before silently nodding her head in approval. Aikas' smile brightened, before hugging the blonde haired girl in a tight motherly embrace. Walking side-by-side out of the graveyard, Aika decided that comforting familiarity would be best for Faline, since Leinoni was in the care of her family. Faline was still shaken and confused with the sudden death of her father and appearance of her previously unknown American relatives, being alone with the three Americans and a distraught mother would only cause things to get worse.
'Things will be alright, Faline. I promise. Leinoni will calm down soon and things will eventually smoothen out.' The dark haired woman silently promised to the voiceless young girl, as she led the heartbroken and confused young girl back to her small, quaint home. As the two women slowly made their way back to Aikas' apartment, the drearily grey clouds slowly parted and a few rays of sun lit up the sky as the melodious rain continued to fall.