Chapter 7: I Can't Believe It! I'm Home Again!

Earlier the next day…

I packed my things and walked down to the Hall. The Prince was there. "M'lady, you do understand, that I will and call you at anytime, although you are permitted to return to the Other World, that your stay there might be short as a day or long as 5 years?" "Yes, sir." "Then you have my permission to leave, I wish you well." "Thank you, sir." And I once again unfolded my wings and flew in the gathering light of sun.

At my arrival in the Other World…

I landed in the park, no one was there. Good, I thought. Although, I did see a person in the distance, when he approached, I was glad to see it was Mark. "Kayuri! The Prince told me everything! Glad you're back! By the way, I told Kai you're coming, he didn't believe me at first, but- oh forget it. He's got a surprise for you!" "A surprise? But, wait- hey!" Mark started dragging me in the direction of my house, "Mark, you're hurting me, you idiot!" "OUCH!" "It serves you right, I'm perfectly capable of walking, thank you very much." "Doesn't mean you have to hit me!" "Like I said, you deserved it." And we both walked the remainder of the distance to my house. "So how was it in the palace?" "Not so good, everyone is gone." "What? Everyone?" "Yeah, but something feels wrong, you know?" "Feels wrong?" "Yeah, you get that uneasy feeling." "Oh, I get you. So what do you think is wrong?" "Not sure. Well anyways, give me a hint on what Kai has for me!" He winked, "Sorry, can't tell! But, you can say that, he thought you never left." "Um……he has a new friend? A new cousin? A long lost sibling?" Mark blushed at the last remark. "I'm right am I? We have another sibling? What is it a girl or a guy? Tell me!" "Sorry, can't tell you." He said again.

Then finally we reached the gates of the courtyard…

The lock on the gate was locked, only the immediate family had the keys to open the lock. "Use your key." Mark said. "Oh, right." I took out my key and unlocked the lock. We walked inside, I locked the lock on the way going in. We walked up the stairs to the large mansion door. The door opened, unexpectedly. It was Kai. "I've been waiting a long time to see you, Kayuri." I nearly broke into tears when I saw him again. "Oh, Kai!" I ran into his arms, "You have no idea how long I've waited to come back!" with that I stared to cry. "Its okay," he said soothingly, "You're back, and plus, I have a surprise for you." I almost forgot about the surprise. I stopped crying, and smiled, "Okay, tell me my surprise!" "Not so fast, sis." He smiled. "What did you call me, Kai?" a girl was walking down the stairs. Mark thought he was seeing double, obviously Kai hadn't told anyone, to secure maximum security. "Kayuri, is that you or am I imagining things?" "That's not me, Mark." The girl who was walking down the stairs looked exactly like me. "Um…Kai, who's that?" she pointed to me. "Likewise, who are you? Kai who is she?" I pointed to her. "She's your sister!" "Um…she's my sister!" we both said at once, even our voices were the same. I think I would faint… "Kayu, I'd like you to meet your sister Lillie." "Um…hi?" "Lillie, same to you, meet Kayuri, she's your sister, call her Kayu if you'd like." "Kai, I'll be in our room." "Oh, okay. See you there." I walked up to our room, there were still two beds, one for Kai and a bunk bed, I put my things on the floor, I didn't bother to unpack, I immediately to the window and stared outside. I just stared outside in the gathering darkness, only lit by the single moon in the sky not like in the world I was in for 7 months. But all the same, I sought solitude in its beauty. Kai nor Lillie had come in the room. I decided to take a short walk. I went into the courtyard in the back of the house and walked to the waterfall garden in the center on the courtyard and sat on a bench and looked at the moon. "I was expecting to find you here, Kayuri." It was Kai, and he was right, I usually wandered here out at night just to see the moon. He sat down beside me. "It's been seven months." I said breaking the silence between us. "I know." This reminds of the first time we met and bank of the creek. I thought How far back was that? Realizing how little time I had spent with him. "…!" Kai had started to hug me, he was crying. I snuggled up closer to him, feeling how warm he was, I was hoping this moment would never end…and I started to cry as well. We just sat there enjoying our time together knowing how short it may come to be, that I maybe called back to the Palace anytime. After reflecting on our childhood memories and laughing and joking around a bit, we went back to the house and went to bed. Lillie was already in bed, she slept on the top bunk, I really didn't care, I preferred the bottom bunk anyways, Kai had gone straight to sleep, I, however, walked up to the window once more. The moon wasn't out, but millions of stars were in its place, and beautiful all the same. Only admiring its beauty for a few minutes, I fell asleep.

Next morning…

I woke up around 7:15 in the morning. They were still both asleep. I got dressed and walked downstairs, no one was up yet, again I ate breakfast alone. After breakfast I walked to the courtyard we Kai and me had been the previous night before. But this time I went farther. Going through the courtyard was like going through a maze, of course I've been here many time before and went towards the north eastern part of the garden, where lay a plaque in memory of my mom, I alone knew where this was, no one would dare go this far in the garden without getting lost. I usually visit this place to put flowers upon the plaque, it read:

Restuko Yoshinori Hiwatari

A Loving mother to three children, Kayuri, Kai, and Lillie. A caring wife, will never be forgotten.

Ever since I was little, I wondered who Lillie was. And now she lives with us. We're a complete family now. At least that's what I thought. Upon the plaque I placed 3 white lilies. There were her favorite flower and 1 each for every child in the family. After this little ceremony, I walked back up to the house. Then went outside the front and walked to our local café/library. I brought my book along, bought a cappuccino and sat down near the fireplace and read. When I was done reading it was 11:35. I got up and walked back home for lunch.

When I got back home…

Kai and Lillie were at the table when I got there. "Where've you been all this time, Kayuri?" Grandfather asked. "At the library, grandfather." "Ah, I see, reading another good book?" "Yes, grandfather." "Ah, well, come here and eat." "Thank you, grandfather." And I sat down and ate. After lunch Lillie, Kai, and me went for a walk to the park. They discussed a couple of things, I hardly noticed what they were talking about, I didn't really say anything. We got home around 6:00 at night, I went to the garden again while Kai and Lillie went straight to bed. This time I went to my mom's resting place and sat on a bench nearby the plaque. "Mom, how come, life's like this? I wish I knew more. Things are too confusing. Please help me out." At that moment at a soft wind picked up, and along with the wind were white cherry blossom petals. Admiring the soft wind and warmth of the moonlight, I took out my pan flute, which I always keep in my pocket and played The Song of The Wind. The melody flowed in the wind as easily as the petals. The flow of the wind brushed up against my bedroom window. The melody of the song along with it and it was heard through the whole house. Then I remembered, while at the Palace, the Prince had said, The Song of Wind was what the Goddess of hope had played on her flute on a night when the moon was still and sky was lit with glow of flowing feathers, the song was heard around the world, her spirit looms where the melody is played. At that moment in a swirl of petals, I thought I saw the Goddess reflecting me playing and I continued to play, when the final note came, Kai, Grandfather, and Lillie were behind me as I played it, and they too, saw the Goddess reflecting me in the wind. I held the last note long as the wind died out and petals fell to the ground. They were all watching me. "The Song of The Wind……" was all I heard, it was from Kai, who knew the melody quite well, hearing me play it once before and by hearing the legend. After that we all walked up to the house and fell asleep, or at least I thought, once they were sure I had fallen a sleep, they all had gone down stairs to discuss what the had just witnessed, and I would never know, at least, for now.

End Of Chapter 7 Next Chapter: The Power of Love, an Unbreakable Bond.