NATURE BOY

There was a boy. . . A very strange enchanted boy They say he wandered very far, very far Over land and sea A little shy and sad of eye But very wise was he

My name is Katrina. My family bought this shrine in Tokyo, Japan. There used to be this one family that lived here before us. But the daughter died one day and they moved. I was sweeping the shrine steps when this strange man appeared. I recognized him from somewhere but I couldn't remember where. He asked me if I lived here. I said yes. He looked sad. Like he had lost something important to him.

And then one day

One magic day, he passed my way And while we spoke of many things Fools and kings This he said to me "The greatest thing you'll ever learn Is just to love and be loved in return"

We started talking about old legends. He asked me if I had heard about the miko and hanyou. I told him what I knew about it. That a powerful miko once protected the Shikon No Tama. A hanyou lusted after it and tried to steal it. But the hanyou ended up falling in love with the miko. And she him. But one day they believed they were betrayed by the other. The miko sealed the hanyou to the Goshinboku and then dying from her wounds. He told me he was impressed. Then he asked me if I knew the rest. I was confused. I had never heard of there being more to the legend. He told me of the miko's reincarnation setting the hanyou free. He told me how she shattered the Shikon No Tama. He then told me of their adventures. How they fought the demon that had made the miko and hanyou believe they had betrayed each other. Then he told me he told me of the hanyou and reincarnated miko falling in love. The evil demon tried to make them believe they too had betrayed each other. But their love was too pure. In the end the evil demon killed the reincarnated miko. The hanyou went into a blind rage and obliterated the demon. The stranger then told me one thing that I will remember for all my days. "The greatest thing you'll ever learn. Is to love and be loved in return." Then he left never to return.

"The greatest thing you'll ever learn

Is just to love and be loved in return"

I suddenly remembered where I recognized him from. I had once read a book on the Shikon No Tama legend. It had a picture of the hanyou and reincarnated miko. The same hanyou had just told me his own legend. And his own grief.