Author's Note: Hello there and welcome to the third chapter! It's winter break now so hopefully I'll have more time to write and with hope, Chapter 4 can be uploaded soon! But anyway, I've recently been able to watch the new Studio Ghibli film "The Tale of Princess Kaguya," and it was AMAZING. I recommend it to EVERYONE, seriously! I think I'll be keeping an eye on Takahata for new works for sure! X3 Anyways, enjoy the chapter!


Rei

Spirit


The birth ceremony was insisted upon by Kiku's gentlewomen, who decided from Kaguya's small size and looks that she could not have been more than a few days old. Thus, they said, a proper ceremony must be held to celebrate her arrival, however unusual it had been. Kiku was rather reluctant, not wanting to draw so much attention, but that would have ended up being far more conspicuous and so he had gone on to set up the occasion himself. It was beautifully elaborate: many members of the court came to offer their congratulations, and the traditional dagger presented to the baby girl had a gilded hilt, inlaid with a jewel. As he looked on, Kiku couldn't help the pride that swelled in his chest.

"Ah, a fine babe, a fine babe indeed!" His Majesty held the baby Kaguya in his arms, gazing down at her with an admiring smile. The Emperor and Kiku sat together in the southern aisle of the main house. He was but a few years older than Kiku's physical age of seventeen; however, he was a magnificent sight in his robes of dark scarlet. "Already I can see the noble lady she will become.

Though now she is a mere bud on the branch, perhaps in time
there will be a beauty to rival that Emperor's infatuation." (1)

Kiku smiled. "Such praise from Your Majesty is seen only once in many years. I am flattered."

Deeper within the rooms, Kiku's gentlewomen tittered faintly, clearly pleased with the Emperor's compliments. The two-year-old Crown Prince was playing around his father and Kiku, tugging at their sleeves and babbling. Dressed in robes of pale scarlet, over white silk gauze, he was a very handsome toddler. Kiku picked him up and placed him in his lap, where the boy squealed in delight and pulled on the front of Kiku's robe happily.

"Haha, you make me sound like a stuffy old man when you say things like that!" laughed His Majesty. "But I cannot help but wonder, my friend, how on earth such a lovely girl came to be. Nor how you will protect her from the prying eyes to come."

His Majesty was young, yes, but he was wise, and the gaze he angled at Kiku was sharp.

Kiku sighed deeply. "That is something that worries me… Without the proper support of a maternal family, I am not sure if they will accept her as a true Princess." Earlier he had quietly explained to the Emperor the details of Kaguya's appearance, to which His Majesty had listened silently.

"Well, so long as they know you — the father — to be of the imperial lineage, as well as my personal adviser, they cannot say much. Whatever rumors there will be might stay as rumors. And besides! If they should ever see her, they can hardly doubt she is of noble blood. I hope you don't mind if I say she has an extraordinary distinction of face."

As if she had understood him, the baby gurgled happily and lifted her hands, wrapping little fingers around the Emperor's bearded chin. Kiku disguised his laugh as a cough, although soon His Majesty was shaking with laughter himself. The Crown Prince babbled for attention and grabbed at Kiku's cypress-wood fan. The Nation chuckled and lifted it out of the toddler's reach. His Majesty noticed and grinned.

"Haha, it seems that somehow, both our children have gotten switched!" The two men laughed as they exchanged hands, Kiku setting the Crown Prince in His Majesty's lap and taking the Princess from his arms. The girl grabbed his fingers to mouth them, drooling. He smiled and wiped at her chin; he paid no attention to how the Emperor was watching them with eyes twinkling fondly.

"You said you have named her, haven't you?"

"Ah, yes. Her name is Nayotake-no-Kaguya," Kiku said with a nod. In his arms the baby Princess squirmed and fell against his chest. He had to drop his hands to catch her around the waist. The Emperor held his own son and chortled.

"My, but that is a good name! It fits her, a young Princess," he remarked. Kiku inclined his head, smiling.

"Your praise honors me, Your Majesty," was all he said in reply, but the way he held Kaguya spoke more. He cradled her head with his other hand and continued to let her suck on his fingers. She seemed to enjoy his presence, and snuggled deeper into his arms, yawning. For the ceremony Kojin and the other gentlewomen had dressed her in a silk gown of kerria rose coloring, and it suited her well. She really is a little Princess, isn't she, he thought to himself.

His Majesty had never seen such a gentle smile on Kiku's face before.

"What might be stronger in eroding earthen walls than
the waters of a new father's love for his silk-dressed child?"


That night the lattice shutters were all closed, and the lamps cast flickering shadows on the walls and gauzy curtains. One such lamp was propped up within Kiku's curtained bed. He sat with the drapes open so he could look out and see the gentlewomen's sleeping forms. However, his gaze tended to remain on the scrolls and parchment strewn around him. With a heavy sigh, he set down his brush to rub at his eyes.

There was so much to do. The issues of the realm not only pervaded the papers around him but his very mind as well. He was the realm, after all. Every problem that involved the declining economy, of the common people who were suffering to get by every day, they were always on him. A constant burden he could feel on his shoulders, like invisible but heavy hands. And every day he lived here, in the Greater Palace, surrounded by prosperity and riches and haughty nobles, guilt coiled tight inside his chest. It was a snake, a venomous snake — and whenever he went outside the walls, it bit him again and again when he saw his peasants eking out a living on the streets.

What could he do to help them? What could he do?

Kiku was about to pick up his brush when a chill ran down his back. He drew in a shuddering breath and his fingers curled in the air. A cold draft seemed to blow through the room, swaying the standing curtains. But that made no sense. It was the peak of summer. This frigid air was illogical.

He nearly upturned his documents upon jumping to his feet. The bed curtains were shoved out of the way as he ran from the room. Kaguya, and the gentlewomen appointed to her care, resided in the east wing of the Umegae residence; he slammed open the double doors leading to the bridgeway connecting the main house to that wing. He made it just in time to see a white figure slip into the building, skirts trailing with disconcerting silence.

Is it after Kaguya?! Kiku rushed after the figure, slapping aside the blinds. Why did all the gentlewomen continue to sleep? Didn't they hear his footsteps, sense the wrongness of the air? Maybe something is wrong with them, he thought. A flickering lamp caught his attention then.

Kojin lay to the side, sleeve under her cheek as she slumbered. The white figure was kneeling, bent over as it picked up a tiny form. Kiku's breath hitched when he realized it was holding Kaguya, who squirmed and made soft sleep-noises.

He dashed forward to rip the child out of the figure's hold, realizing as he did so that even though the spirit had been able to pick up the baby, his hands went right through the translucent arms. Kiku gripped the baby to his chest as he landed on his side, knocking his breath from him. But he held Kaguya against him and turned to look at the spirit, gasping as the baby in his arms began to wail.

It was a woman. Her wispy robes were a glowing white, as were her skin and headdress. She was beautiful, incredibly beautiful, and even Kiku found himself staring in awe. Her hair was long and jet-black, and flowed down over her train and onto the floor as she straightened up. Dark eyes lingered on Kiku's face while she slowly unfolded something from her hands.

The woman held several robes, sewn from pale beaten silks and embroidered gorgeously. They were all miniature-sized, and Kiku clutched Kaguya against him when he realized who they were intended for. Her little fists pushed feebly on his chest and she continued to sob in bewilderment.

"Who are you?" he whispered. The woman did not answer. She did, however, kneel to lay the silk robes on the floor, arranging them neatly. Her porcelain face was unreadable as she shuffled back to bow. Then with a swift motion, she stood and turned to leave. The robes she left behind seemed to glow as she did. Kiku swallowed; his throat was dry.

"Who is she then?"

She paused at that, looking back at him. There was something in her eyes, Kiku could tell, but he couldn't decipher it. The ghostly noblewoman remained silent, only gazing at him and the crying baby for a minute longer, then she turned away.

It was unnerving how silent her departure was. There was no sound of a blind being brushed away, a lattice shutter opened — the chilly air seeping back into summer warmth was the sole indication of her leaving. Kiku let out his breath in a heavy gust and looked down at Kaguya. She was crying very loudly now, in earnest, face scrunched up and hands curled into fists. The Nation cringed and tried to rock her, voice lowering into a hushed murmur.

"There, there, it's all right. It's just me, I'm here, I'm sorry. Shh, it's all right…" He wiped her face with the sleeve of his robe and whispered gently. She seemed to understand him, or at least to take comfort in the sound of his voice. Either way, Kaguya's distressed wails soon faded to whimpers instead. He continued to comfort her until at last, she had fallen asleep again.

When dawn came, Kojin woke up to find Kiku fast asleep on the floor, one arm still draped over Kaguya protectively.


Footnotes:

(1) The Emperor's poem refers to the legend of the beauty Yōkihi (Yang Guifei in Chinese, and also the fourth of the famed "Four Beauties" of ancient China) who infatuated Emperor Xuanzong to the point where he neglected his state and let a rebellion start, so his army forced him to execute her. In the ninth century, Bai Juyi told the story in "The Song of Unending Sorrow" (Chinese "Changhenge" and Japanese "Chōgonka"), a long poem that was extremely popular in Heian Japan.