I never did get why she nicknamed me "Dove" but I often supposed Rei had a thing for birds, being fond of them. Of course, birds reminded her of something that she nor any of us could do and that was fly, yet, at the same, they probably reminded her of how caged we are. In her room, she had a pet dove, something that he also didn't lay a finger on, to whom she had addressed as "Budgie". At the time, I thought it was a very funny name to give to a bird that isn't what its name will have suggested, yet she named it Budgie. How Budgie came to be her pet was something I never did know and it was a story she would never tell. Of course, Budgie was her pet long before I was born and was probably her only confidant. I don't have too many memories of Budgie, however, I do remember that day that she had set it free.
With me in the room, she had walked over to its cage and carried it to the window. Tears were streaming down her face and she opened the bird's cage. She coaxed it onto her hand, asking, "What caged bird doesn't want to be free?" She then opened the window and let it out. Budgie was free and, as we watched, it had flown over to the willow tree, where it had sang. Of course, she had loved this bird and that bird was a part of her, so for her to release it, was like releasing some part of her soul. "Why'd you do it, Rei?" I had asked, to which she's responded, "Sometimes, we have to let go and it'd be cruel to keep her in a cage, so, rather than keep her, I decided to let her go. She wouldn't have survived otherwise and, someday, like Budgie, we'll be free, never again to return."