Wow. I am so sorry guys, I've been so caught up in, well, everything. It's been far too long! Sure, I may be only in eight grade, but send applications and taking tests for high schools is driving everyone over here insane. Even my siblings are fed up with me, and they're both under the age of ten.

That, and I forgot my FF password and had to go through waaaay too much to get it back.

The sun was high in the sky, its raise beating down on my back as I washed out the bowls by the river. My hands were red and raw from the constant scrubbing, and my back ached from leaning over for so long.

I desperately wanted to go and play, but Chie-san insisted that I work from dawn till mid-afternoon. She said it was a good habit to get in to, because a village priestess never got to choose her hours.

"Midoriko! Mid-OR-iko!" Tsuyosa's daughter, Suiren, appeared over the horizon, a large, woven basket under her arm. She was holding her hand up to block the sunlight and scanning the riverside for me.

I raised my arm to wave, gathering up the clean dishes in my kimono apron. She met me about halfway. She looked lively, her color high and her smile gleaming. Her large stomach, barely covered by her apron, slowed her slightly. Suiren was pregnant with her first child, and if anyone ever deserved to be a mother, she did. She had all but adopted me as soon as I arrived, so few weeks ago, and been more like a mother to me than mine own had been.

"Suiren-san." I said, eyeing her great belly. "Shouldn't you be resting? Chie-san said your time will be coming soon."

Suiren laughed heartily. "I know, Midori-chan, I know. But I can't stay inside on such a lovely day!"

I smiled. She took my hand and led me towards the village, happily humming to herself. The sun was warm on our faces and turned the surrounding landscape into a brilliant mesh of vibrant colors.

A few women stopped to wave or nod at us as we walked past. Suiren exchanged greetings with a few as I squirmed under their intense gaze. Despite living there for nearly a month, very few of the villagers had come to get to know me.

"Suiren! What are you doing walking around?" Chie-san exclaimed when Suiren and I entered the hut. Suiren just grinned and took the bowls from me.

"Chie-san, please, I still have time." She patted her immense stomach. "I think the little one will understand."

"So what are you going to name your child?" I chirped in, watching her with raptured eyes.

She gave a little sigh as she sat down by the fire. She stared, thoughtfully, into it for a few minutes, watching the flames leap and dance about. I followed her gaze, and was soon mesmerized by the colors the ashes turned, or I had imagined them turning. I was six years old, and a very imaginative six at that.

"Koke." She said suddenly, looking up with a smile playing on her lips. "I'll name it, if it's a female, Koke."

Just then, Tsuyosa walked in, a large net full of fish slung across his back. Behind him, Suiren's husband, Higure, was carrying a similar net, except less fish. They both dropped their nets and sat down, heavily, by the fire. Higure leaned over to kiss his wife on the forehead.

Tsuyosa laughed. "And what if it's a boy, Suiren-chan? What if you have a healthy, bouncing baby boy in there?"

Suiren grinned. "Can't I have a moment of dreaming about it being a girl?"

Higure laughed. "Yes, you can have your moment when it's been born." He teased, patting her growing belly.

But Chie just made a tisking noise. "Ye shouldn't be handling anything with your hands smelling like fish." She turned to stir the bubbling broth over the fire. "It'll be bad luck for the child within."

But Tsuyosa and Suiren just laughed. "I never knew you were superstitious, Chie-san." Suiren said, smiling slightly.

I didn't get what the joke was, but it was fascinating watching Suiren speak aloud her thoughts. None of the women in my village ever did, and if someone dared to, they were either an elderly person or the wife of someone in a high position. And even then they didn't say much.

"Well, how about it, koi? What if it is a male?" Higure asked, accepting a bowl from Chie.

Suiren sighed and began staring into the fire again. I guess this was her habit when she was thinking; she did it often. "How about…Hisui?"

"I think Hisui is a fine name." Tsuyosa said loudly, beaming at his daughter. Higure nodded.

"It will be Hisui then."

I was six years old. I had been living the happiest weeks of my life. I was cared for, loved, and accepted. My budding powers, or gifts as Chie and Suiren called them, weren't criticized or denounced here. In fact, I felt them more powerfully than I have ever felt them before. I could train with them in the daylight and didn't have to worry about the reaction people would get when I unveiled a new trick or some kind of feat I could now do.

However, with happiness comes sorrow, with life, death. In the course of two days, I would feel both the overwhelming feeling or happiness and the maddening feeling of grief.

Today was the funeral. I watched the men dig up the fresh earth so they could lay my friend down to a final rest. I looked down at my own hands, and traced every line, every callous and every scrape there. Could I use these hands to bury someone I loved, someone I trusted? I didn't think so.

Suiren died a day after her baby was born. At first, all went well. The baby, a boy, was born, cleaned, blessed, and returned to the proud parents. Suiren was very pale, and she had difficulty raising her arms to accept the child, but she insisted on holding him. Chie finally complied, but not without some powerful persuasion from both Suiren and me.

I watched in fascination as she gently cradled her child in her arms, gazing at him with such adoration. Higure, who apparently was speechless with joy, just sat there, kissing his son and his wife over and over. He even went up to Tsuyosa and gave him a hug, which caused for much laughing. Tsuyosa, surprising us all, returned the hug, congratulating him and thanking Kami for giving his daughter a healthy son.

It wasn't until later that day did Suiren fall feverish. Chie, despite her furrowed brow, assured us that this was natural, something expected from hours of hard labor. I continuously bathed my friend with a damp cloth and Chie ran here and there, asking other women for assistance and advice. But, whenever I asked her if Suiren would be fine, she gave me a weak smile. "She'll be fine, Midori-chan." She would whisper, glancing over at her every-so-often. Suiren's son had been taken to a neighbor's home, where he was being cared for until Suiren got better.

But Suiren never got better. Her illness got worse and worse, until she was a wisp of herself. Higure, Tsuyosa, and Chie huddled in the corner out of my earshot, conferring in low, worried tones. Every so often, one of them would look up to see if I was still there and whether I had heard anything.

A few hours later, early in the morning, Chie startled me. I had fallen asleep after watching over Suiren for twelve hours straight.

"Child, she wants you."

"Nani?" I asked sleepily, rubbing my eyes.

Chie looked wane, and her eyes were dull. She sighed and smoothed back my unkempt hair. "Suiren-chan, she calls for you."

"Why?"

"Ask her."

I could tell something had happened, but just not what. "Yes." I said sadly, stumbling over towards my friend.

She looked as wane as Chie did. "Midoriko," she said quietly, reaching up to me. I quickly grabbed hold of her hand, though it was thin enough to easily slip through my fingers. "Koi, I want you to stay the way you are. Forget about what others want you to be; think of what you want to be." She paused to cough briefly, then smiled weakly at me as I hurried to hand her a torn cloth.

"I'm dying," she said softly.

I nodded. There was something that had told me that days ago, when she first took ill.

"I'm dying, and my baby is going to live. I want you to care for him as long as you can."

"What?" I asked, startled.

She sighed. "I love my husband, and I love my father, but they'll end up raising my son to be exactly like them; rash, un-cooperative, a natural-born fighter. But, I don't want that for him. I don't want him to end up dead after thirty years of living, being pushed to the edge by his father and grandfather, using me as a tool to convince him that's what I would have wanted. That's not what I want for my boy. I want him to be what he wants to be, not what others want him to be."

I gaped at her. I would have never guessed Suiren had hated her life so much. No matter what, she was always smiling. Even know, as she was as good as condemning her people's way of life, she had a small half-smile on her lips, as if saying "Yes, I know what I'm doing."

"Chie-san knows what I want for my child. I don't know what she'll do, considering her relationship with my father, but I know that she understands. And you, little Midoriko, understand as well. With you two, my son has a fighting chance." She closed her eyes, as if she was trying to suppress some kind of inward pain.

"I know you'll do your best."

With that, my friend died.

Chie muttered furiously under her breath, as if she expected all her begging and praying would revive our friend.

Higure and Tsuyosa stood silently, watching as Suiren was buried amongst the field of grasses, where she had insisted she would be buried.

I watched as the neighbor woman handed the newborn babe to his father, who just buried his head in the baby's hair and cried. Tsuyosa placed a hand on his son-in-law's shoulder, whispered something, and gently pried the baby from his arms.

He then came over to me and smiled. "Midoriko, I believe my daughter told you of her wishes for her son."

I nodded.

"I think she would agree with you staying, longer, with us, in order to care for the child."

I gasped, tears welling in my eyes. "Arrigato, Tsuyosa-san!" I cried, falling at his feet. "I promise I will do the best I can."

He smiled slightly as he pulled my up one-handed to my feet. "Midoriko, you remind me so much of my daughter. I wish you had had more time with her, but I have all confidence in you. She used to tell me that you were one of the best people she's ever met, and you're still young. You'll make a fine care-taker, and one day, a even better miko."

He smiled, turned, and followed the crowd into the large fortress, his grandson asleep in his arms.

I quickly crossed the large green and fell on my knees at Suiren's grave. "Thank you," I whispered briefly before following the others home.

Japanese Dictionary:

Higure – nightfall

Koke – moss

Koi - love

Hisui - jade