The White Blossom Tree
A/N: Just a short oneshot I was inspired to write after watching a couple of episodes on Japanese legends. The ones about lovers always make me sad. I tried to channel my inner feelings here. ^_^ Please review!
Once, in a small village, there lived a young man by the name of Ayu. He was a hard worker who juggled between walking two miles each day to the headman's house where he worked and coming back home to take care of his ailing mother.
He did everything he was told at the headman's house, from chopping firewood out in the cold to cleaning all of the porches and the sheds out back. Yet no matter how much he worked, Ayun always remained poor.
One day, his mother smiled weakly and told him to check under the floorboards. Baffled, Ayu went to check and sure enough found a small clay pot. She called from her bed, "Open it." When he did, he found a single gold coin.
"Mother!" he cried out when he found it. "How long have you been hiding this? Why have you not told me about it sooner so we can use it to buy medicine? I will go to the money exchanger now."
"No, Ayu. That coin is all I have left for you now. Listen to me carefully, my son. I do not have much longer to live. Why I told you about that coin is because I want you to go to the Red Carp Festival tomorrow and bring me back stars in a bottle. You've been there before, remember? They sell these wonders called 'stars in a bottle' there, I have dreamed of them since I fell ill."
Ayu was speechless. He wanted so badly to just charge out of their small misshapen shack they called home and run to the first seller he found to get money for the medicine, yet he could not ignore the pain in her eyes as she begged him not to.
"You have done enough, son. All this time, I watch you work each day to come home and put food on the table for both of us. You've been giving me a larger portion, haven't you?" Ayu did not respond, but the guilt was on his face. "Now it is time for me to give back. I have never been able to go, but now you can. Please."
And so Ayu went to a fabrics seller to buy a kimono for himself, for the first time in his life, bring back the remainder of the money to keep for his trip tomorrow.
The next day, he made sure his mother was comfortable and had even stopped by his neighbor Michi's to tell her that he would be gone on a small trip and to please tend to any needs she might have. Michi, a friend, agreed, and told him to go enjoy himself. After all, the Red Carp Festival only happened once a year.
The journey was long, but the weather seemed to be on Ayu's side. The sky, a beautiful bright cerulean, held not a cloud in sight and a pleasant breeze surrounded him wherever he walked. He stopped by a tea stand for a break, before continuing over to the next village, which was where the Red Carp Festival was held.
It was a sight to behold. There were jugglers, and dancers who swirled around in the streets in their bright fabrics, silks, and thin, paper fans. Ayu, however, looked around for the 'stars in a bottle' miracle his mother had told him about as soon as he arrived.
It wasn't long until he found the stall, which had customers crowding around it, each of them in awe. He approached the stall, and his eyes widened. What his mother had craved after were small glass jars of tiny, gold delicate star-shaped sparkling jewels. They were exquisite.
When Ayu asked, "How much?" the sum the shopkeeper named was very high. Nevertheless, he paid exactly enough for one jar and requested it to be wrapped so he could take it back on the journey home. He was so happy to have found his mother's last wish.
Ayu decided to explore some more, since he was here already, and the sun was high in the sky, reminding him that it was still early. He walked around for a while, passing by a fan seller's shop, some fancy silver hairpins, and even a sweet candy shop. It was when he was walking across the Moon Bridge, named so because of its round arch you had to cross, that he saw her.
A young girl with beautiful jet black hair tied back by a red ribbon was standing a few yards away from him, apparently looking at something off in the distance. Her pale skin contrasted with her hair, and he could see her clear blue eyes. He was unable to move, for he had fallen in love right on the spot.
It was when he realized she was disappearing into the distance that he did a very bold thing: he started running after her, with only one thing in mind. Who was she, and what was her name?
"Please wait!" Ayu had called out to the girl. To his surprise, she was actually waiting for him, hands folded in front of her. She smiled, a vision in light pink and white. He stopped, confused, but found himself smiling back, falling into her charm...
"My name is Rina." Her voice. It was like a chime on the wind, a flurry of breath against a crisp, white blanket of winter snow. Ayu didn't quite understand what was going on, but he didn't care. Now, he knew her name.
"Rina." He tasted her name on his lips, and it was sweet. "Oh, Rina." Before Ayu knew it, she was in his arms, a scent of fresh cherry blossoms tickling his nose. He drew back and gazed at her, still astounded by how beautiful she was. "I am Ayu, and I cannot bear to be apart from you even for one moment. Will you come back with me?"
She looked up at him with large eyes, but they were sad. She shook her head. "I must go now, but in two days' time, meet me under the white blossom tree?"
Ayu agreed, but he didn't know where the tree was, so he asked. She replied, soft and faint as a dying ember, "Underneath the heaven's sky, but above that which keeps me sealed away. I hate it so much, Ayu. Why can't I just be free?"
He didn't understand. "What are you talking about, Rina? You are free, as a bird, right here, right now, in my arms." With that, he tilted her chin and kissed her. However, this startled him greatly, as her lips were cold as ice. Before he could even ask what had happened, she was gone. Like an unpredictable summer wind.
Ayu had no choice. He had no choice but to believe in Rina, and her words. He left the Red Carp Festival and went back home to his village, immensely glad to see his mother still in stable health. He showed her the stars in a bottle he'd bought, and she had cried, telling him over and over how much she loved him.
Yet no matter how hard he tried, he could not explain to his mother about Rina. Ayu decided to keep it to himself, and went back to work the next day. The weather was cloudy, but not gloomy, but he couldn't shake an uneasy feeling from him, as if something bad were going to happen.
The following day, Ayu woke early, and as soon as he opened the door, he saw an unbelievable thing: snow - light flakes of it drifting from the sky, softening the ground. He was astonished, but he did not wake his mother. He simply put on a straw hat and left quietly, making sure to start a fire for her and leave some food by her side.
Ayu made his way as quickly as he could across to the next village, asking everyone he ran into where the white blossom tree could be. No one knew what he was talking about. He began to grow afraid.
Just as he was about to give up, Ayu saw a traveling priest coming down the road from him. He hurried over to the priest and begged for the information he sought. Stunned, the priest asked him why he wanted to know where the tree was.
"The girl I love...she asked to meet me under the white blossom tree," Ayu replied. "Please, kind priest, tell me where this tree is. It must exist, right? She said it was underneath the heaven's sky and above that which keeps her sealed away."
To his astonishment, the priest's eyes filled with tears. "Oh, my poor boy. That was no promise your girl made you. That was a poem she recited to you, and the reason the tree does not exist is because she does not either, in the living sense."
Ayu's mouth slipped open in shock. "What do you mean by that, priest? Do you mean to tell me that the girl I saw was dead?" He fell to the ground in horror.
The priest nodded mournfully. He explained that last winter, there was a girl who had died in the village, but there were rumors circulating that she had fallen in love with someone right before her death. It was someone she had but glimpsed by chance, but now it was clear who it was: Ayu.
"Why I think she came back as a ghost was because she didn't get to tell you how she felt." The priest continued, his voice broken. "The words she told you are actually a poem. Underneath the heaven's sky / Above that which keeps me sealed away / I hate it, so much / Why can't I just be free? It's famous throughout here, and there is a tree..." He swallowed. "But the reason it is called the white blossom tree is because it only blooms in winter, when all other things are dead."
Something inside Ayu's head snapped, and he let out a scream, a haunting cry of loss and grief and utter sadness. The girl he loved, for a moment seemingly alive and in his arms, and the next, gone. Forever. As Ayu stumbled back, he choked out what he could to thank the priest and ask him to please lead him to the white blossom tree.
And so Ayu accompanied the priest to the village headman's house, to which in its backyard stood a towering, very old tree, which bloomed beautiful, small white flowers, so blinding that everything else seemed colorless and dull. It only bloomed in the snow. Suddenly, it clicked. Rina must have made it snow, just so he could see this tree and see her underneath it one last time.
The tragedy didn't end there. Some months later, Ayu's mother had passed away peacefully, even though they had not been able to clear their debts. Michi, and some other neighbors had come to his mother's funeral, a small, quiet gathering, the black veils a sharp contrast against the white snow.
Ayu was ashamed, his mother hadn't even been in her grave for a few days, yet he found himself still unable to think of anything but Rina. Her red lips. Her smile. Her soft black hair, and her white skin. She was like winter itself, fleeting yet eternal.
With no one left, Ayu once again made his way over to the next village. A year had passed since he had seen Rina on the Moon Bridge, and his heart ached. Yet nothing had changed around him. People were still laughing, bustling around, enjoying the Red Carp Festival, in full swing once more.
Underneath the heaven's sky, above that which keeps me sealed away. I hate it, so much. Why can't I just be free? Rina's words echoed in his mind, and something fogged up his eyes: tears. Ayu cried like a child lost and unable to find his mother, he cried like a lover who would never see the one he loved most again, and he cried like winter, who simply longed to see spring, but in order to do so, he had to perish.
They found his body a couple days later under the snow, right under the white blossom tree. He was frozen cold, but there was a smile on his lips. At last, winter had found its haven. They decided to bury his body right under the tree. The priest who performed the ceremony was the same one who had told him of the meaning, and he was unable to hold back his tears. A very still silence fell over the crowd that had gathered, from rumors and word of mouth.
They were there for Ayu, and for Rina's memory, and for love at first sight and love forgotten. They were there for moments created and laughter forged, for the sound of spring's sighs, summer's courage, and autumn's guidance. Most of all, they were there for the white blossom tree.
A/N: *quietly sobs* This is my first oneshot, there will be more to come. I have such a depressing mind T_T Please read and let me know what you think!