HAYAO'S HEART WAS SWAYED

Under the fairytale banner of cherry blossoms, I heard myself say, "This is perfect. It's so strange. I didn't expect to feel this way."

It was more of a whisper. I hadn't even realized I had spoken the thought aloud until I heard myself. I looked up at Hayao startled. Did he hear me?

He did.

"Ne..neither did I." Hayao admitted and then he cleared his throat and looked away, but I caught the catch in his voice.

"Are you cold?" I decided to check with Hayao. He was in a regular evening suit now which I think was normal clothing not just for Lorent Princes, but colored mountain princes as well.

It would have been funny if he were only in some kind of colorful pajamas, but apparently, polite healer wolves like Hayao would dress appropriately for the occasion, even if no one would see it under his magic robe.

Hayao was quick to put my mind at ease, "Please do not worry about me, Princess. As a healer, I am able to regulate my body temperature."

Urm... Okay. I didn't know that was a healer ability.

"These are our Trees of Four Seasons." Hayao suddenly decided he should double up his efforts as my guide, "They were planted by his Highness, Hajime. Most of them are a variety of cherry trees, but we also have peach, and I'm certain you can smell the pear from here."

No. I can't smell anything. But I just nodded politely.

"These are all safe trees." Hayao continued, and then he allowed, "Only the plum trees may be dangerous. His Highness Hajime was fond of breeding poisonous plum blossoms. Please always be wary of inhaling the pollen of red plum blossoms, princess. Although many of them are harmless to powerful wolves, or healer wolves, his highness has successfully bred several varieties of extreme toxicity. All of them on his own property, and of course, he has the antidotes. But still, it would be prudent to avoid them."

I remembered the red trees in spring - the wild plums growing around Princess Town.

"Someone said one could make plum wine with good medicinal properties. Is that true?" I decided to ask.

"Yes. This was Highness Hajime's specialty." Hayao said, "There are many recipes, but his is the most miraculous."

I nodded, "But are there like, normal, less miraculous ones too?"

Hayao looked confused.

"I mean, back in the plains, there isn't such a drink. We only know of it from books." I tried to explain.

"Oh." Hayao smiled his understanding, "Is princess interested in our wine recipe?"

Eh?

"You have a wine recipe?"

"It is not as miraculous as Highness Hajime's wine, but our family recipe has been a guarded secret for generations." Hayao explained, "It is believed that Highness Hajime's recipe was based on our family's original recipe. Some of the elders argue he must share it because of this, but there is nothing they can do. Highness Hajime is one of the princes after all."

I nodded again. So it was a secret recipe. I guess I won't be able to get it then.

"Ah." Hayao stopped himself, "I probably shouldn't have mentioned the elders' feud with his highness Hajime. Please do not mind it. On the surface, they are very civil. Every family has its own grudges."

No, not really. I'm sure there were families in this world who didn't hold on to them. But we were on the Colored Mountains. So I nodded again.

"If it pleases you, princess, I can prepare some for you to bring home to your parents." Hayao offered, "The wine is particularly good for elder wolves, although it is also good for women..."

I think Hayao had a tendency to talk when he was nervous. At least, based on his shallower breathing and increased heart rate, I think he was nervous. I'm not sure why he would be though.

There was a sudden rustling from one of the trees. I looked up at once, "There's something there!"

I just thought to inform my host, you know, in case there was a breed of gyaara that lived in trees. I mean, I wouldn't know, would I?

Hayao looked up, his hand immediately on the hilt of his sword, and then he realized what it was and laughed a little, "It's only a fruit bat, princess."

As if to prove him right, a little black bat broke through the canopy. I think he didn't like the bright lights beneath the canopy. He squeaked angrily and swooped about the branches before finding a way back through to the night sky outside again.

"Forgive me, Princess." Hayao was truly sorry for laughing, "But I promise that you have nothing to fear with me by your side."

Okay. I flared a little now, "I wasn't afraid."

Hayao immediately agreed, "Of course not."

"I really wasn't!" I flared full now.

Hayao held up both hands in mock surrender, and then he laughed again, "Alright, Princess. I know. It is exactly as you say."

I gave up then. Hayao was just a polite healer wolf with weird ancient Colored Mountain ideas about girls. Wth. Fine. At least he wasn't nervous anymore. I'll just let him "protect" me. It's not a big deal. It didn't matter if he thought I was afraid of fruit bats and couldn't walk down slippery steps on my own. By the end of the night, I'll wake up and he'll be gone.

And I'll even return his robe before waking up. Yup. I got it all covered.

We followed the path out of the orchards and into a maze of rose bushes. These were lit too, and all in bloom.

Wow. I wished I could smell the different types. I remembered my Grandma Luna's rose garden... Okay, that smelled like roses, but also fertilizer. I wondered if rose gardens in the Colored Mountain had to use stinky compost. Maybe they were fertilized by magic.

Something was definitely magic. It was only Spring, and still frosty at night, but everything was in full bloom and altogether at the same time too. Grandma Luna's rose garden needed to take turns.

"The roses bloom at different times in the season so that the garden will bloom all through till Autumn." Grandma Luna had told me, "But every rose will get a turn to bloom."

I felt then that she was trying to tell me something, but I didn't understand because I was a dumb pup.

I probably would understand now, except I can't remember what she was talking about just before. Without context, it could pretty much mean anything.

It's not that I had walked with Grandma Luna in her rose garden all that often. On the contrary, I spent most of my Summers at Night Forest with Grandpa Alpha. But it was exactly because such occasions were so rare, I remembered walking in the rose gardens with Grandma Luna quite prominently.

"A penny for your thoughts, princess."

I blinked at Hayao who was smiling in front of me. Was something so amusing? I shook my head, "It's nothing. This place reminded me of my grandmother's garden."

Hayao nodded his understanding. I'm not sure what he understood, but it was probably weird.

"It's nothing as grand or beautiful as this one." I quickly qualified, "It was a very ordinary rose garden."

And then I felt like I was undermining my Grandpa Alpha's hard word (he was the one who planted the garden - with his own hands too - as a gift for Grandma Luna.)

"But the garden was planted by my grandfather for her, and she loved it." I said, "They weren't soul mates, but I think they did their best to make it work."

Thinking about it now, I realize my Grandpa Alpha loved my Grandma Luna very much. He had always taken care to do everything exactly as she would like, from cooking venison just the way she liked to personally tending her rose garden. I used to think it was because he was afraid of Grandma Luna, we all were to varying extents, but now I was remembering my Grandma's rose garden.

It wasn't grown with magic, and it never all bloomed at the same time, but I remembered how the shrubs were always manicured and well cared for. I remembered how Grandpa Alpha had planted the thorniest variety away from the path because he was afraid a branch might stick out too much and scratch her by accident. It was a garden that bloomed because of my Grandpa Alpha's sweat... and his love for his luna.

And my Grandma Luna loved him too. She didn't even like the outdoors, but she would visit her rose garden daily. Once I found a snail on a leaf. Grandma Luna looked aghast at it, "Get it off!"

"But that leaf is his garden, Grandma Luna!" I protested. (The shell was his home, so he needed a garden - my puppy logic entirely.)

"More like his lunch!" Grandma huffed. She plucked the offensive creature off the rose bush and flung it out of the garden.

I complained to Mum about it later that day.

Mum made a face of disbelief, "She did that?"

I nodded, "How could she be so mean?"

But Mum was more like, "To think your grandma actually killed it with her own hands!"

"The snail died?!?!" Now that was news to me.

Later, I overheard Mum tell Dad about it, but her version to Dad was not so much about Grandma Luna's cruelty to the snail nor its untimely demise, but that Grandma Luna touched something "dirty" with her own hands. For example, Grandma Luna never touched dirt, animals, babies, or money. Apparently, my Grandma Luna had a reputation for never having to labor with her hands. Mindy's sole purpose in life was to do everything for her.

"Maybe she really hated snails." Dad suggested.

Mum felt there was more to it, "She must really love that garden."

It was such a weird feeling, to realize my Grandpa Alpha and Grandma Luna were in love. I had no idea love looked like that. I remembered how Grandpa Alpha used to laugh, "She's the most difficult woman to live with - that's why I chose her. I love impossible challenges."

And Grandma Luna was always complaining about him, "Your Grandpa Alpha forgot to put my section of the newspaper on top after reading it again. I had to get Mindy to do it."

It wasn't a very magical love or even a romantic-comedy love, but it was a love that stood by each other and withstood the Great War, 4 Alpha sons (those seem hard to deal with), the personal sacrifice and trials of leading their pack out of the ravages of war. No regrets. Grandpa Alpha said. That was a kind of love too.

Hayao stopped in front of a white fountain of golden water. I stopped too. How was it that the water was golden? A trick of light?

Everything here was so strange and strangely wonderful too.

I leaned over the side to check the lights. They were yellow, but not that yellow. Maybe it was a fountain of pee. I wouldn't know. I couldn't smell.

But no matter how strange or wonderful Haku's home had been so far, putting a fountain of pee in the middle of your private family garden was probably not it.

Hayao walked to the other side of the fountain. He looked into the water too,

"To tell you the truth, I did not expect this, Princess."

Yeah. Barring the fact that this was sitting right in the middle of your garden... A yellow fountain. I know they were probably trying to go for the idea of a fountain of gold, but gold was basically just a shiny yellow and yellow water was basically...

"When my father first told me about you, I had refused to consider it." Hayao continued.

Wait, wait, backtrack. What did Haku tell you?

"I suppose it would only be fair to let you know." Hayao sighed, his breath falling out in a quiet white puff, "My heart belongs to another, although it was never meant to be."

Wait, what? What was happening all of the sudden? What had this got to do with the pee fountain? Why was Hayao suddenly telling me his unrequited love story?

"Your past is really none of my business." I told him. Please stop. I was happy to make a new friend, but we just met! Don't tell me your love stories! That's just weird, dude.

Hayao touched his hand to his heart, "Until tonight, I had never felt my heart sway."