"Momma..." It had been three days since his granddaughter arrived. She had very little in the way of spirit when she arrived; her entire life seemed to have crumbled.
The argument with his son was still fresh in his mind. He knew for a very long time that his son would never be strong enough to live through the hardships of marriage none the less fatherhood, but the idea of abandoning his child sickened the older man.
"You will not leave your child when she needs you most!" He was furious with the man.
"Meko would have wanted it this way. Father, I have no choice. There is no way I could be successful at my career and take care of a child. Not without Meko's help." The pleading was even worse than the old man could handle. Before he could object and reason that this would be damaging to their relationship - his son opened the door to the black town car to reveal his granddaughter. She was void of emotion, so different from the girl that would visit him monthly.
"Rei" He called from outside her door.
"Come in grandpa." She sniffed from her room.
"Rei, would you like to see your grandmother and your mother?"
"What do you mean? Grandma's gone so is mama." The girl's tear stained face looked up the kind old man she always felt safe around.
"No, no Rei-chan, they're here and always will be." He gave a gentle smile and indicated that she should follow him. They moved passed the main room and through a corridor, that looked out into a side garden, into a large room that was a fair length away from the main house. Her surprise was hardly contained; the room was filled with a deep golden glow that emitted from a roaring fire in the middle of the room. The room, as far as she could tell was empty besides the roaring fire.
"Rei, look over at the far end of the wall."
The young girl had to strain her eyes and squinted pass the flickering embers. There on the far wall were two scrolls that cascaded all the way down to the floor.
"Come, come, and look over here." Shuffling over to the wall he gently moved his hands over a few names until it stopped on Hino Meko.
"Mama." The young girl whispered in awe.
"Yes, yes, every time someone dies we help them move along to peace. They'll never be lost Rei-chan, not to us." He smiled sadly at his beautiful granddaughter; she was so much like her mother but she had her father's spirit when he was still young - so determined and so lively.
"Grandpa?" The young girl looked up excitedly. "Could I speak to her again? Can I tell her that I love her and that I forgive her?"
"Of course you can dear. Of course you can. When I want to channel spirit and become closer to kami I meditate in front of this fire Rei. You might find that more help than me."
"Grandpa? Can you teach me how to meditate?" The old man could not help but beam. When his son renounced all the old traditions and life at the shrine he felt like there was no way back into his life. But now, now there was hope.
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I thought I'd mention that I don't know much about Shintoism so if I got any of that wrong I'm very sorry. And if anyone knows more than me about the topic then I'd love to know. Anyways sorry about the late updates! But I hope you enjoy this. Please Read and review.