((For those of you who wonder how she left..))
She didn't want anyone else around.
Not knowing what the change would be like, not knowing what would truly happen to her, she was certain that having people around could end up being a bad thing. What if it was painful? What if someone interfered in some way, and what if she couldn't go home? So many worries for the little kuang-shi.
She's found herself a peaceful little place, in a quiet little part of the world. A graveyard, the ghost-girl sitting on one of the headstones, her claws dangling between her knees, as she rocks back and forth.
"Sister.. Are you scared too?" she asks, hoping that her sister answers her in person. She doesn't quite get the same reassurances on paper.
The ward fades from her head, and as it does so, her claws go slack from the lack of active control, stopping their slight twitching motions. Behind Lei-lei, another girl appears, dressed in gold and white - her sister, Lin-lin. The girl in gold rests her arms over Lei-Lei's shoulders, and drapes on her back. Her mouth presses against the blue-skinned girl's ear, and she whispers, for her and her alone.
"I am too, Lei-Lei. But I trust our mother. We'll be okay. I promise."
With that said, Lin-lin points to Lei-Lei's sleeve, and then reaches through the silk to point something out to her. When Lei-lei reaches in, she's able to pull out a small bamboo flute from the sleeve, and then turns to look at her sister quizzically.
"Uwaa.. Do you want me to play something, Lin-lin?" Lei-Lei asks curiously, not quite understanding. She's still fidgeting with the instrument, when she gets a hint of inspiration, and raises the instrumentto her lips. Softly, she begins to play a tune.
As she does, Lin-lin smiles, closing her eyes, and just whispers the words into Lei-lei's ears, a gentle, reassuring song. It's not Mandarin, but the twins have picked up enough Japanese to make the song passable.
Me wo tojitara nani ga miete kuru?
yasashii anata no egao
mimi sumaseba nani ga kikoeru no?
yume miteta sasayaki ga
((When I close my eyes, what will I see?
Your gentle smile.
If I clear my ears, what will I hear?
The whisper of dreams to come.))
Lei-lei's own eyes close. In her mind, she can see her Mama, waiting for her and her sister. There's no fear now, a calm settling over her as she listens to her sister whisper the words to the song, tension draining from her shoulders and making her play all the better, the flute echoing throughout the cemetary. Around them, foxfires, souls of spirits past start to rise from the ground, to listen to the pair, and to share in this goodbye.
Hoozue tsukinagara kuchizusamu
setsunaku amai melody
araigami wo sotto yurasu no wa
itazura na yoru no kaze
((While I rest my cheek on my hand, I sing
a soft painful melody
My just-showered hair is softly swayed
by the mischievious night breeze.))
Lin-Lin's voice is harder to hear now, the true ghost-girl starting to fade as she lets go - she's not leaving without her sister, holding her about her shoulders in a loose hug, whispering to her. But she is encouraging Lei-Lei, showing her that it will be alright. That an end isn't anything more than the next step to a beginning. The blue spheres that represent the other 'residents' of the cemetary circle in closer, lighting the girls, and giving them almost an aura, showing their appreciating for the music, and the song.
kyou sukoshi hanashi ga dekimashita
choppiri tokimeita kibun desu
sotto diary tojite yume wo miru
hohoende mata ashita
((Today, a little talk might happen,
the kind that brings a nervous mood.
Secretly, I close my diary and dream
of seeing your smiling face again tommorrow.))
Gathered so close together, the souls of the cemetary begin to blur, melding forms and joining into a larger whole - it takes shape slowly, a older woman with features remarkably similar to the pair of ghost-girls that play and sing. One that the girls have hoped to see for quite some time, and one that they're planning on seeing again very, very soon. The spirits move to stand next to the gravestone that Lei-Lei sits upon, and they join in the next chorus, the voice sweet and quiet.
nee itsuka kanaeta koi hitotsu
yozora ni matataku negaiboshi
tsukiakari ni ukabu photograph
oyasuminasai anata
((Say, sometimes, a love comes true only once
under a night sky where a wishing star twinkles.
As a photo of us floats in the moonlight,
goodnight, my darling.))
By this point, both Lei-Lei and Lin-lin are almost insubstantial - the growing number of foxfires, the spirits resting in the graveyard circling around and through them. Lei-lei sets her flute aside, and whispers the last words of the song with her sister and the apparition with the form of her mother, sharing that last moment together.
Me wo tojite, mata ashita..
((Close your eyes, until tomorrow.))
And with the final words said - both the girls, and the souls within the cemetary, vanish.
Not knowing what the change would be like, not knowing what would truly happen to her, she was certain that having people around could end up being a bad thing. What if it was painful? What if someone interfered in some way, and what if she couldn't go home? So many worries for the little kuang-shi.
She's found herself a peaceful little place, in a quiet little part of the world. A graveyard, the ghost-girl sitting on one of the headstones, her claws dangling between her knees, as she rocks back and forth.
"Sister.. Are you scared too?" she asks, hoping that her sister answers her in person. She doesn't quite get the same reassurances on paper.
The ward fades from her head, and as it does so, her claws go slack from the lack of active control, stopping their slight twitching motions. Behind Lei-lei, another girl appears, dressed in gold and white - her sister, Lin-lin. The girl in gold rests her arms over Lei-Lei's shoulders, and drapes on her back. Her mouth presses against the blue-skinned girl's ear, and she whispers, for her and her alone.
"I am too, Lei-Lei. But I trust our mother. We'll be okay. I promise."
With that said, Lin-lin points to Lei-Lei's sleeve, and then reaches through the silk to point something out to her. When Lei-lei reaches in, she's able to pull out a small bamboo flute from the sleeve, and then turns to look at her sister quizzically.
"Uwaa.. Do you want me to play something, Lin-lin?" Lei-Lei asks curiously, not quite understanding. She's still fidgeting with the instrument, when she gets a hint of inspiration, and raises the instrumentto her lips. Softly, she begins to play a tune.
As she does, Lin-lin smiles, closing her eyes, and just whispers the words into Lei-lei's ears, a gentle, reassuring song. It's not Mandarin, but the twins have picked up enough Japanese to make the song passable.
Me wo tojitara nani ga miete kuru?
yasashii anata no egao
mimi sumaseba nani ga kikoeru no?
yume miteta sasayaki ga
((When I close my eyes, what will I see?
Your gentle smile.
If I clear my ears, what will I hear?
The whisper of dreams to come.))
Lei-lei's own eyes close. In her mind, she can see her Mama, waiting for her and her sister. There's no fear now, a calm settling over her as she listens to her sister whisper the words to the song, tension draining from her shoulders and making her play all the better, the flute echoing throughout the cemetary. Around them, foxfires, souls of spirits past start to rise from the ground, to listen to the pair, and to share in this goodbye.
Hoozue tsukinagara kuchizusamu
setsunaku amai melody
araigami wo sotto yurasu no wa
itazura na yoru no kaze
((While I rest my cheek on my hand, I sing
a soft painful melody
My just-showered hair is softly swayed
by the mischievious night breeze.))
Lin-Lin's voice is harder to hear now, the true ghost-girl starting to fade as she lets go - she's not leaving without her sister, holding her about her shoulders in a loose hug, whispering to her. But she is encouraging Lei-Lei, showing her that it will be alright. That an end isn't anything more than the next step to a beginning. The blue spheres that represent the other 'residents' of the cemetary circle in closer, lighting the girls, and giving them almost an aura, showing their appreciating for the music, and the song.
kyou sukoshi hanashi ga dekimashita
choppiri tokimeita kibun desu
sotto diary tojite yume wo miru
hohoende mata ashita
((Today, a little talk might happen,
the kind that brings a nervous mood.
Secretly, I close my diary and dream
of seeing your smiling face again tommorrow.))
Gathered so close together, the souls of the cemetary begin to blur, melding forms and joining into a larger whole - it takes shape slowly, a older woman with features remarkably similar to the pair of ghost-girls that play and sing. One that the girls have hoped to see for quite some time, and one that they're planning on seeing again very, very soon. The spirits move to stand next to the gravestone that Lei-Lei sits upon, and they join in the next chorus, the voice sweet and quiet.
nee itsuka kanaeta koi hitotsu
yozora ni matataku negaiboshi
tsukiakari ni ukabu photograph
oyasuminasai anata
((Say, sometimes, a love comes true only once
under a night sky where a wishing star twinkles.
As a photo of us floats in the moonlight,
goodnight, my darling.))
By this point, both Lei-Lei and Lin-lin are almost insubstantial - the growing number of foxfires, the spirits resting in the graveyard circling around and through them. Lei-lei sets her flute aside, and whispers the last words of the song with her sister and the apparition with the form of her mother, sharing that last moment together.
Me wo tojite, mata ashita..
((Close your eyes, until tomorrow.))
And with the final words said - both the girls, and the souls within the cemetary, vanish.