Hawks ride updrafts,
On airy sky trails,
Over the clouds and mountains,
Beyond rain and gales."
Naruto witnessed the tempest's fury lashing out at the sea, the waves thrashing wildly. The gale screamed its presence, the sea turned a foreboding shade, and the heavens split, unleashing their might.
Amidst this turmoil, two hawks unfurled their grand wings, ascending on rising currents into the embrace of the sky. They navigated through the misty veils, climbing higher and higher. Naruto watched, aware that they were reaching realms unseen, far above the storm's reach.
Within Naruto, an awe-inspiring sense of beauty burgeoned. It was as though he, too, was aloft, winging alongside the majestic birds.
Sitting in the ground floor of the lighthouse, Naruto leaned toward the open flames of the wood-fired warming stove.
He took out the photo that he kept in his chest pocket, next to his heart.
In the wavering light of the flame Asuna's photo image seemed to come alive.
Above him, in the lighthouse beacon's lantern room, the glass facets of the giant fresnel lens rotated.
The sparkling light from the burning kerosene wicks beamed across the sea.
Hundreds of feet below the bluff, waves beat against the volcanic sea stacks in the ocean. Boom, crash. They sent spray high into the night air.
Outside the window, Narutosaw the storm calming and the Hawks returning. He reached for one of the books in the wooden box of the traveling library. There. He found it in the book of poetry.
"On rugged cliffs,
The lighthouse towers,
Beaming her light,
Through the stormy hours.
Howls of the wind,
Like a strange life form,
Waves booming and crashing,
Sounds of the storm.
Hawks ride updrafts,
On airy sky trails,
Over the clouds,
Beyond rain and gales."
Naruto wanted to follow the Hawks, rising above clouds to a peaceful sky. He let his mind wander in a fuzzy daydream.
On the other side of the country, Asuna sat in her family's home outside of town, surrounded by orchards and crops. The shrubs had grown up around the house, the paint was peeling, and a broken window was covered with boards.
After her father's accident, his steady income had disappeared. Using a cane, he moved about but was unable to continue his line of work.
However, his will remained independent and energetic, like Asuna's.
She looked at the rows of vegetables in the gardens, almost buried under weeds.
"I'll have to start wearing gloves all the time to hide my hands," she thought. Scratches and blisters covered her hands now that used to be smooth and soft.
"Are you going to accept the offer on the house?" Asuna knew the younger couple was eager to turn it into a home for their growing family.
"It is a good price. Plenty for me to find lodgings or travel. Something I've always wanted to do," said her father.
"I appreciate all the work you've done, daughter, working in your shop and working my crops for me at the same time. Two jobs."
Asuna looked around at the walls holding the books she loved so much.
"It may be time for me to move into town, daughter, away from the farm, and travel part of the time. I would so love to visit my friends up and down the coast." Asuna heard the enthusiasm in his voice.
"I know Father. It's hard for me to keep working here on the farm and at my dressmaking and tailoring business in town. Alice needs to be where she can make friends and it is so isolated out here, too."
Asuna felt a weight lifting. It was time for a change.
Her father smiled at her and they both nodded. The future beckoned.
A sense of peace and happiness came over Asuna. She felt a decision had been reached and she was glad.
Asuna sat by the window where the first light of dawn gently spilled across the wooden floor. Her fingers traced the edges of a photograph that had arrived just yesterday, a captured moment now resting in her hands. It was a picture of Naruto, her husband, who was miles away, working on distant shores.
The photograph showed Naruto standing on the deck of a ship, his posture upright against the vast expanse of the ocean. His face, though partly shadowed by the brim of his cap, bore the faintest trace of a smile. Asuna knew that smile well—it was the one he reserved for moments of quiet satisfaction, a silent reassurance that all was well despite the distance between them.
As she gazed upon the image, Asuna could almost feel the salt-laden breeze that must have been blowing at that moment, could almost hear the creaking of the ship as it rocked gently on the waves. The photo was more than just paper and ink; it was a window to Naruto's world, a world she longed to share.
Asuna's heart swelled with a mixture of pride and longing. Pride for the man she loved, who braved the loneliness of the sea to provide for their future. Longing, for the day he would return and they would no longer have to rely on silent conversations through photographs and letters.
She placed the photo beside the small vase of wildflowers on the windowsill, a daily ritual that made Naruto's presence felt in their home. As the sun rose higher, casting a warm glow over the room, Asuna whispered a silent prayer for her husband's safe return, her eyes never leaving the photograph that held so many unspoken words.
Back on the Yokosuka, Naruto looked again at the charming photo of the woman in her wide-brimmed hat, wearing the lace-trimmed dress. her chestnut hair flowing in long, straight locks, typically styled into two charming pigtails that accentuate her youthful vigor. Her face, with its delicate egg-like shape, is adorned with large, hazelnut-colored eyes that seem to sparkle with life and intensity. A little girl sat on her lap. Her golden locks, reminiscent of the sun's last kiss on the horizon, cascade down her back, framing a visage marked by blue eyes that gleam with the clarity of the sky. There was strength and a sparkle in Asuna's eyes, despite her serious expression. They expressed a steadiness of character.
Naruto thought if his own story. He pictured himself, taking the ship from Asakusa to Yokosuka, then the long voyage across Edo. Working in the shipyard.
Then another voyage around Edo cape all the way to Yokosuka. Working on the docks there, becoming a sailor, fighting the storms and treacherous jetty at the Shinagawa River on the way to Kanagawa Port.
He knew he made a good looking figure now in his lighthouse keepers cap that reminded people of a captains cap. But he didn't always look or dress like this. Growing crops below the lighthouse keeper's house kept his hands rough but when it was time to made dinner he was glad to have the fresh produce.
Maybe Asuna had a different but similar tale to his own.
What was the real story of her life?
The struggles and hard won successes?
Of course she must be a lot more than a pretty woman in a lovely dress in a picture.
Naruto decided he wanted to know more.
He thought about the storm howling outside and the Hawks flying upward through the clouds.
What storms had Asuna flown through?
It would be several hours before he needed to climb the spiral stairs to the beacon room and replenish the kerosene to keep the light burning and shining.
The urge to write Asuna a letter grew. Next to the lighthouse log book were pens, inkwells, and paper. He began to write.
Naruto did not know how to express what he wanted to say so he tried to imply it.
"Dear Asuna,
The two bonded Hawks I last wrote you about flew by today when a storm squall came in across the ocean. I feared for them in these winds that almost knock me over.
But they spread their winds and soared higher, then higher still. I saw them disappear into the mists above, together. Somewhere above the storm I knew they were soaring on outstretched wings, using the rising air from the storm to lift them.
When other birds seek shelter on the ground or in trees, the Hawks soar above the clouds, above the rain and winds.
It was almost as if I was there too. Rising, lifted by a storm instead of buffeted by the winds and rain.
Have you ever felt this way, Asuna?"
Naruto hoped he was approaching the questions he had in a subtle way that would not offend her or embarrass her. He did not think she had intended to include the photo of herself in a state of disarray along with the one where she was a model of fashion.
He continued writing. "I have weathered many storms myself, and my story is not always easy to tell. Some of it seems so far away now.
Maybe you have weathered some storms too. Perhaps someday we can tell each other about it."
He sighed. His chest had loosened and he felt better. It was a relief to approach the matter instead of trying to bury it.
"I love my pair of Hawks who sometimes soar by the lighthouse lantern room at the top when I am servicing the beacon. Perhaps someday you will be able to see them too."
There. He had spoken fairly openly for him about his intentions. He was clearly interested in her.
Now he needed to get the letter posted in the village a 6 hour ride away from the lighthouse and wait for it to arrive and then for a reply.
Naruto put both the pictures in his chest pocket, close to his heart.
Images of Hawks gliding above the ocean floated like sea mists through his mind.
That night he fell asleep with a smile on his lips.
He imagined a sign over the door to his lightkeeper's house on the bluff above the sea that said, "Hawks Spreading Wings Above the Storm."
Yahallooooo~ Cristiano is here, how have you been lately?
Here is a one-shot story, I hope you guys enjoy it :)
Oh about The Last Namikaze is currently in progress and is set to be released this weekend. See you !!!