Prologue

Alone, at last.

The sun goddess had been wandering through the trees for a while now. The celestials had been hassling her about a stubborn old spirit and she needed an escape. She felt a fleeting guilt for abandoning them when they asked for guidance, but she knew her help was needed more elsewhere. And after all, she wasn't an omnipresent goddess. Her presence was felt across the heavens and the earth through the warmth of her golden sun in the sky, but she could only interact with others and witness events through her spiritual form, which walked on the celestial plain as one of the celestials.

The celestial plain was a beautiful place and the goddess's spiritual home, not that that stood for much in her heart. She did love it: she loved the cool droplets of the morning dew as she walked barefoot in the grasses of the plain; she loved the divine breeze that blew through the heavens, rustling through the trees sprinkling blossoms across the ripples in the grass and tangling her hair playfully; she loved the energy from the sacred Konohana tree, whose very roots formed the foundation for the whole heavenly land; and she loved how the very essence of the place, even the air, was so clean and pure. The land was nourishing and fruitful and the celestials were warm hearted and kind. It was a happy land where life was pure and simple.

The goddess sighed and kneeled by the surface of a small pool amidst the trees. In many ways it was her pool, for the celestials knew not to bother her when she journeyed there, although she made no such request. If there was anything she hated it was laying down rules for lives other than her own. How could they be beautiful, free spirits if she put constraints on them and attempted to shape them to her liking? The thought horrified her and she saw her reflection in the surface of the pool give a gentle shudder. She took a deep cleansing breath and gazed past her own reflection.

She closed her eyes and centred her spirit. She lay her hands gently upon the surface of the water, palms down and tried to channel her consciousness through them. As she felt her spirit breaking the bonds of her body, a celestial approached the poolside.

To be interrupted in the middle of spiritual extraction is not a pleasant experience. The disturbance of one's body draws the spirit back and leaves one in a brief state of physical shock. The goddess, ignoring the painful swirling in her head, got to her feet and turned to face the new arrival.

"Azumi, you shocked me!" the goddess said in surprise, upon recognition of the new arrival. Her advisor and friend would not disturb her at the pool for any small problem. She gazed at the female celestial's countenance, trying to read her expression, "listen, if Sakuro is still refusing, don't push him. He'll move on when his heart is content."

The celestial smiled at the goddess and shook her head, "great Okami Amaterasu," the goddess waved away the formalities impatiently with a hand gesture. Azumi smiled, "Amaterasu, forgive me for interrupting the peace you find here, but I am sure the news I bring will be both of great joy and of great sorrow to you, and I had to inform you as soon as the message arrived."

The swirling in Amaterasu's head subsided and she raised it carefully in curiosity. "A message," she asked, "from whom?"

"It arrived from our lunar-dwelling friends just five minutes ago." A small smirk appeared at the corner of Azumi's mouth which Amaterasu ignored, "I regret to say that the young woman of the tribe, Laila-"

Amaterasu nodded her head impatiently, "yes, yes what about her, has she-" the look in Azumi's green eyes caused Amaterasu to halt in her hasty questioning. A wave of sorrow passed over the goddess. She dropped gracefully to the floor and sat cross-legged on the grass. Her ever-loyal friend knelt beside her and gently placed her hand over Amaterasu's forearm in comfort. Amaterasu smiled at the gesture but could not prevent a tear from escaping her eye. Azumi ignored it and continued to speak, for which Amaterasu was thankful.

"Laila was plagued by a terrible illness. It's a miracle she lasted as long as she did, especially through pregnancy, and it is a tragedy that she was lost in the final moments." Azumi turned to Amaterasu, who gazed blankly through the trees. "I made the same assumption as you Amaterasu. I often forget how easy it is to underestimate the lunar-dwellers' technologies, and you have forgotten about the great joy I told you of." Amaterasu's blank face flickered and she turned to the other woman, who was smiling now.

"She was a plucky one, Laila was, and she managed to make a final request. He was still a few weeks away from being ready to be born but Laila insisted the lunar healers focus their energies and technologies on the unborn child and let her pass away."

A smile broke across the sun goddess's face as she sent a silent blessing to the deceased woman's selfless spirit, wherever it was wandering. It was thanks to her that a hope still remained in Amaterasu's heart. "How is the child?" she asked.

"He hasn't cried once and seems to be taking a long time to settle down into this life outside the womb. Perhaps he senses the loss of his mother and the grief which surrounds him; or maybe he was just born too early, who knows. I do feel sorry for the child, regardless. Nonetheless, he is alive and healthy. He has his mother's eyes, they say," Azumi smirked.

Ignoring Azumi's joking manner, Amaterasu asked, "and what is the child's name?"

"That was Laila's last request. His name is Ushiwaka, Waka he will be called." Azumi dropped the smirk and gazed into Amaterasu's eyes, trying to perceive what was in her heart, but she was extremely difficult to read. "So why were the mother and her child of such interest to you anyway, when she first visited? What is it you foresee this premature lunar child to become, the gods' gift to man?" Azumi let out a small laugh at the thought, then adopted a gentler and more sincere tone, "they have you Mother Amaterasu, what have you to worry about that you would place hope in this child, of all creatures?"

Amaterasu shook her head light heartedly. "You presume too much Azumi. Thank you for the message." Azumi bowed her head and left Amaterasu on her own by the pool. "Waka," the sun goddess whispered the name and a smile broke across her lips - just a small smile, but enough to make the sun radiate a new hope into the hearts of all those who saw it.