Have you seen, have you seen my children?
I've had this idea around for a while and… I know I should be updating Heart of a Mother but…
Let's just say that in some days I'll have five fics in progress
Meh me
Title: Have you seen, have you seen my children?
Pairing: HaruKan
Summary: A wagon that appears in the middle of nowhere, children handprints, and a lady who sits by the river. Based loosely upon the first version of the legend of La Llorona ('The Weeper') that I ever heard, the one I learned when little. Please note that there are several versions for this particular tale
((The original title for this story was 'Blood that won't wash off'… it would have made sense later in the story but… it sounded a bit cheesy))
--
Disclaimer: Tactics will never ever, ever, ever belong to me… no matter how much I cry
--To isumi 'kivic' not only for introducing me to the anime, but for being such awonderful person--
"Please ask that woman to leave, she's scaring away my customers"
The lady clad in a purple kimono kept her gaze low as she continued to fold the fabric she had been holding
"All she does is sit by the entrance and play her shamisen… it's quite creepy, is it, Ayane?"
She parted her glance from the piles of clothing to look at the young girl that had been sweeping the dust off the stairs at the entrance
"Ayane?"
The girl jumped a bit, quickly regaining her posture
"I'm sorry ma'am… I have to admit I like her song…"
"You do?"
The young girl nodded slightly
The woman sighed, running her hands over the neatly folded cloth
"And why do you do?"
The girl stared at the floor for some seconds
"It… it speaks of such a tragedy… about a woman who lost her offspring and…"
Ayane shook her head, black eyes rimmed with tears
"It makes me think about the future"
And she was done explaining.
The lady rose to her feet
"It might be a beautiful song, but it's scaring away the possible clients and we can't afford that, Ayane… maybe if you asked her to try a different song?"
The lady sighed softly and moved to a shelf near the hallway. She heard Ayane's footsteps growing fainter as the little girl crossed the wooden bridge which traveled all the way from the porch across the river to the main entrance
"They grow so quickly", the woman uttered. Her fingers hovered over the various needles, the garment she meant to stitch was made of a particularly delicate fabric and she definitely didn't want to ruin it
Upon spotting one that would be just perfect, she picked it up between her thumb and forefinger, so delicately, so softly
And then she stabbed herself when a high pitched scream reached her ears
"MARI-SAMA! MARI-SAMA!"
Ignoring the pain, she rushed out of the door
Mari had raised Ayane as if she were her own, her mother had been one of her servants who died during childbirth and she had taken over the role
Watching as her substitute daughter struggled with the water to keep herself alive was breaking her heart
She would have jumped, oh she would have, had a pale woman not emerged from deep within the waters
Said creature wrapped her arms around the screaming Ayane, as if trying to soothe her
And then they were gone
And so is the prologue…now to sketch the basic outline of the story
I'd love to have some feedback, the idea seemed nice when I came up with it but I'd really like to hear what you think of it
Thank you for reading
-Vivi