Epilogue Two
"No, your wings look great. They match your eyes."
The haibane hatchling, Kemuri, froze at these words. Her large eyes abruptly turned watery. "I... know this place! I know it!"
The girl stood with her older, taller mentor Satori at the entrance to the haibane temple. The little one stomped her tiny feet on the grass in frustration.
Kemuri was small, even by the young feathers' standard. She had a round face, unruly brown hair pulled into two ponytails, and at the moment wore denim coveralls over a white shirt. Her most striking feature, as Satori had just mentioned, was the pair of gray eyes that perfectly matched her pearly gray wings.
"Shush!" Satori commanded. "I told you you're not allowed to speak here." Satori shook her head. Ever since they'd passed over the bridge the hatchling had grown more and more agitated. The blonde senior haibane ran a nervous hand through her hair. All the haibane, herself included, arrived in Guri without memories except for the haziest recollections. She had never heard of a hatchling insisting the town or its environs seemed familiar.
The pair crossed the threshold and entered the hallowed temple in silence, save for the tinkling of tiny bells mounted upon their wings. The temple was built like a barrel, high walls open to the sky. A garden bloomed inside, with paths arranged in spokes, like a wheel.
"Who enters?" A disembodied voice echoed within the circular garden, bouncing off the high walls.
"The newborn Kemuri comes as summoned," another voice answered, "and her elder, Satori, to return the halo mold."
"Approach, haibane."
The pair stepped down the dusty path through the garden, to find a stooped man in faded blue robes. This was the communicator, the Washi. The Washi turned, revealing his eerie mask with its central black disk.
Kemuri gasped aloud then. Her gray eyes widened, and the Washi cocked his head in surprise. Kemuri began bobbing up and down, sobbing, jingling her wing-bells in a near frenzy.
"You wish to speak, child?"
Unable to control her wings, Kemuri jerked her entire body to the left, an emphatic yes. The Washi gestured his assent.
"I know you! We've met before! Who am I? How do I know you?" The child's shrill voice shattered the peaceful stillness of the temple.
Satori looked from Kemuri to the Washi and back, increasingly disturbed by the strange fit the hatchling was throwing.
"Hush, little one." The communicator placed a gnarled hand upon the haibane's small head and stroked her brown locks. "Trouble yourself not with trivial matters. Rather, attend to your tasks here diligently. It is not ordained you should remain here long."
His words calmed the child, and she blinked away frustrated tears. The Washi then attended to the usual ceremonies. He gave the newcomer her book of scrip, and accepted the halo mold from Satori.
"Be at peace. Know that you may leave when you are ready, for here is shelter. And now, farewell."
Thus dismissed, Satori put her hand on Kemuri's shoulder and firmly escorted her away.
"Hold!" the Washi's voice suddenly boomed across the garden. Satori barely managed to hide her surprise and apprehension.
Because her mentor was startled, little Kemuri also felt frightened. She grimaced as the formidable old man hastened forward. Kemuri looked ready to hide behind a tree. The communicator noted an odd twitch at the child's right hand.
"Satori, will you wait outside?"
Satori obediently stepped outside the circular temple into the grass and sunlight. Whether by design or happy accident, whatever was said now between Kemuri and the Washi would not escape the echoing wall.
"Fear not," the Washi said, raising his arm in a way that communicated that very meaning to those who could read it. The cracked voice softened and became gentler. "Walk with me, little Haibane."
The girl did as she was told. They began a slow circle around the temple, the verdant garden passing at their right hands.
"What do you remember of your dream?"
"Uhm... a red light in the smoke, moving away from me." The little girl closed her eyes tightly. "A burning smell, the crackle of fire. I think I hear dogs barking."
"A child," the communicator offered helpfully.
"Two!" Kemuri's gray eyes opened in surprise. "I gave them... something? So they could escape, something important--"
"Enough!"
They walked in silence for a while.
"Yes, enough." The Washi nodded. "There is no mistake. You are correct, little Kemuri. You have visited here, a long time ago. Even I did not at first know you, changed as you are."
Kemuri looked up, not so much astonished as relieved.
"I should have foreseen this, and I regret your distress, for which I must ask your forgiveness. It is gratifying to meet you again."
"Then you know who I was before...?"
"What burdens you? Do you fear other children will shun you because this marks you as different?"
"I want my name back! I feel like I lost something precious. Wouldn't you?"
The Washi walked in silence until they had completed a circle around the garden. The Washi paused by the door, then continued down the path.
"Of course you had a name, Kemuri. The name you bore gave you much happiness. It was precious to you. Your name is here." The Washi held up a tiny wooden box. "I have written it here."
Kemuri's eyes lit up.
"Before I give you this box, you must know: this name also carried a heavy and inescapable obligation. You fulfilled that duty magnificently and now you are here, bearing the name of 'smoke.' You are free of a great debt."
The girl paused.
"Forgive me, Kemuri. You feel footsore? Perhaps my garden grows tedious?"
"Oh! It's a beautiful garden. But yeah, I wanna walk somewhere else now."
"Indeed, that does not surprise me."
They finished their round and reached the exit. "Here is the door, Kemuri. Tell me now, what do you want? Do you wish to walk around my garden again? Have you anything more to learn from walking that path?"
The hatchling considered for a while.
Then she looked up at the tall robed man and smiled. A glint appeared in her smoky eyes. With a final longing look at the tiny box in the Washi's hand, she turned and hopped out the door.
The Washi watched as the little girl hugged Satori, took her hand and walked with her back toward town, where a warm meal and friends awaited them, and a gentle sleep before a new day.
Trouble yourself not with trivial matters.
It is not ordained you should remain here long.
.