THE LULLABY

It was three months after she turned thirteen that Hana began learning the art of swordsmanship. Learning from her father, who was also her mentor in archery ever since childhood, she learns yet another skill.

At the first crack of dawn, when the sun's light from the East touched the Earth, she was already there in the open field awaiting her courses of learning. Her father followed with two wooden swords in his hand.

"Father, the bow and arrow are already my weapon, I don't mean to disrespect but why must I learn another skill?" Hana asked when her father drew near her.

"Hana, soon you are going to be not only the protector of the Sacred Jewel but also the leader of the village. You have to learn to protect your people in all ways possible as the head priestess. This skill is necessary for you to do that job," her father replied.

Hana nodded in reply. She looked to the ground as the word "head priestess" lingered in her ear. It was a position she was expected to carry yet her shoulders are too weak to bear such a heavy weight. She couldn't hide the sadness in her eyes. There was silence in the air and as if sensing her worries, Hana's father spoke yet again.

"Yes, you have already mastered the art of archery but I also want you to learn the ways of the sword in case the situation may arise when you have to hold it in your hands to protect someone's life or yours. Do you understand?" he asked her. 

"I understand, father," Hana replied.

That day began Hana's days of learning the art of the sword. At first, her body couldn't keep up even with wooden swords. She would always get home with bruises in her body and a very tired and fatigued physique. Thirteen is way too young for a soldier's training and it strained her for countless of days till she felt like her knees would give up on her.

She would come home drained of her strength and her mother would always welcome her with open arms, hugging her as she drifts to sleep and singing her a lullaby, 

Stay with me 

Be still and see

The stars are shining above your head

The heaven sees you sleeping, dear

And it cradles you till you drift away

This continued for weeks until Hana indeed bloomed like her mother and father wished for her to be. In just a few weeks, she became a warrior. The heavy training her father placed her into strengthened her core till every swift of the sword that she would swing bore power and might. 

Just like her skills in archery, her endurance surpassed her limitations and just like her father wanted, she wielded the sword he so wanted her to hold. The accomplishment and approval she received from her parents filled her with joy. It was not because she achieved something she wanted but she saw the smiles from her parent's faces and that made her happy. The thirteen-year-old Hana then, longed for her parent's happiness more than her own and so following their wishes became her utmost priority.

Her training as a head priestess approached near and she knew she has to walk this path as much as possible. 

"Sister! Sister! Come with me to the festival!" Kaede, Hana's sister called out to her as she was training alone in the forest.

"I'm training, Kaede," Hana replied as she swings her sword back and forth, almost cutting the tree's bark in front of her into two. With heavy breaths and salty sweat, her mind was focused into training as she held the sword her father gave her days ago. It was a beautiful katana her father specially made for her, with her name written on it's scabbard. The curved, single edged blade resounded with the wind as she swings it into the air.

But Kaede, who was still six years old doesn't care about swords or fighting. She was persistent, young and cheerful. To Hana, she is the world. Her smile beams her with joy and her voice is music to her ears.

"Sister Hana! Please?  Please? Pretty, Please?, " Kaede pleaded once more, this time with dreamy eyes and a cute act to persuade her older sister to go with her to the festival.

There is no way Hana could resist this. So with a big, heartfelt smile, she lowered herself to the ground and face to face with her sister, she answered, "Alright."

Her sister's beaming face upon hearing her reply made Hana forget of all her worries. She decided for a moment to forget her training or her soon-to-be responsibility as a priestess. For a moment's time as both her and her sister ran freely in the fields, she decided to leave her responsibility for a while and enjoy a few hours of an ordinary, peaceful life as a thirteen-year-old girl.

It was still afternoon but the village market is already beaming with gleeful spirits. There was food everywhere, colors filled the air and a busy and bustling crowd made her feel the glow of a real festival. It has been months since the last time she was able to go to one. Her parents stopped bringing her to festivals ever since her training started but now, she feels like a rebel in playful spirits. She told herself, "It's just for today. I'll enjoy myself just this moment and then I'll go back to reality." So she carried her sister in her back as they swept through the festival with the brightest smiles in their faces. 

As the afternoon went deeper into the night, she soon realized she had been taking too much time. But she doesn't want to leave. She wanted to stay longer in this ordinary, joyful life with no worries. 

"Can it not just always be this way?," she thought. Yet she knew she must get home.

  As she and her sister are walking their way back home from the market, Hana saw from a distance something that caught her eye. She stopped for a moment to look at it before it passes her eyesight. It was a young girl her age but what caught Hana's attention was not exactly her but her lips. It was the paint on her lips- that red pigment young women are placing on their lips to make them fuller and redder. Yes, that red hue, that red color. 

For a moment, she paused as she touched her lips with two fingers, wishing she too could place such a tint on her own lips, wishing she too could enjoy a festival like a normal girl who doesn't need to carry a big responsibility on her shoulders. Somehow, those red tainted lips reminded her of that simple life she so wanted- an ordinary yet a peaceful life filled with joy.

Her thoughts are stopped as she heard her sister calling her name from afar.

"Sister Hana, let's go home!," Kaede shouted with a beaming smile on her face.

And as Hana ran towards her, she left that dream of a simple life behind, there on that spot where she wished for it from the heavens.

And arriving home, she was ready to ask for forgiveness for skipping her training. Her alibi is already in her head and she tried to organize the words to say to her father. But little did Hana know, it was already too late. Too late, in the sense that it is almost nightfall. Too late, in the sense that she and her younger sister came home behind time. But it was more than that.

When she and her sister arrived home, there was no sign of life. No father to scold her and no matter to hug her and sing her to sleep. It was too late. There on the floor of their humble abode lay the lifeless bodies of both her parents. Their neighbors were also there, all weeping in grief for the loss of two souls who their neighborhood deeply loved.

Hana couldn't say a word. Her shock overcame her lips from saying a thing. Just a few moment's ago, she wanted to adorn her lips with a red pigment that would make them fuller but now, she hated and abhorred just the thought of it. How could she have thought of that when she didn't know her parents are dying?

If only she knew this would happen, she wouldn't have skipped training. She would've have ran to her mother and father to accompany them and to protect them, to use all her training's worth in order to save their lives. But it was too late. 

"What foolishness," she thought, "to escape the responsibility given to me." Amidst that stinging pain she felt in her broken heart, she contemplated, "if only I knew that this is the price for a few hour's moment of laughter, of an ordinary life I so wanted, then I wouldn't have run towards it even if it means I should give it up."

Their neighbors rushed to them and hugged both Hana and Kaede in tears. 

"Your mother and father had both been very ill for years already. They were both hiding it from you. No one knows how it happened. It was so sudden, we didn't know what to do," they wept. The air that was filled a few hours ago with smiles and festivity is now dramatically changed into pain and weeping.

Hana saw her mother and father lying on the floor. She took her mother's head and rested it on her lap. She looked at her with watery eyes as she reminisced her beautiful mother whose beauty and grace transcended anyone else's when she was still alive, yet now, she seems to sleep peacefully in her arms. 

Her father lay beside her. Hana couldn't believe how just a few days ago, her father was with her, strictly training her into a warrior yet now, he leaves her with no goodbyes. Is this the reason why they both wanted her to bloom so quickly, so she could stand strong on her own two feet when they get to leave her?", she thought with mixed anger and mourning.

Hana's cries filled the air, she couldn't think straight. Alongside the whimpers of her sister, she sings with deep sadness to both her parents as they drift to a sleep upon which they would never wake.

Stay with me 

Be still and see

The stars are shining above your head

The heaven sees you sleeping, dear

And it cradles you till you drift away