It only came once in a while, this fleeting, fragile beauty. Cherry blossom petals fell down like a rain of pink, covering the ground like a soft silk blanket. There was a single cheery blossom tree in all of the entire campus grounds and it was hidden quite a ways away from the grounds that were being used for an impromptu cultural festival. Since there were so many girls from so many nationalities and walks of life, they decided it would be fun to put on a show and festival, showcasing the countries they were all from. Of course, that didn't stop girls from other countries mixing into others and helping them out with their exhibits!

Persephone, despite being British, did not help her fellows from England with their slighty lackluster Tower of London exhibit, which was more like a history lesson coupled with a haunted house. No, in fact, her specific talents were being used for the Japanese concert later on that afternoon. It wasn't a great skill, as she lacked practice, but the pink haired maiden knew how to play a flute--the little, airy Japanese flute, too.

And that was why she was out there in the edge of the forest where the cherry tree grew on a hill. The young woman smiled, the wooden flute resting safely on her lap as she watched the petals fall. She raised her hand and caught one being blown in the wind. She opened her palm, looking at the tiny pink petal, before blowing it away, the petal carried off into the distance by the wind. It was a good day and she felt oddly at peace with herself. It was warm and the silk of the kimono she was given felt wonderful against her skin.

Ah, why had she come here, all alone? She needed her practice of course, it wouldn't do to disappoint her friends by putting on a bad show and so, she picked up the instrument and put it to her lips and started to play. At first, she started with the scales, to warm up. But then, she suddenly started to play a haunting melody, a song of ages past; quiet, understated and melancholic. It had no real rhythm, no set harmony in which the girl could play, but that was the style way back when and it seemed to morph and take life of its own the more the girl played.

She remembered an old story her sister used to tell her to scare her off playing the flute. About how spirits were attracted to its sound, but Persephone didn't believe in spirits and if they did exist, well, then, she would play for them and keep them entertained with her music...

(Sorry for the late reply, I've had a bad case of writer's block lately.)

I strode through the busy makeshift streets of the cultural festival, hidden by the power of illusions that I held. A broad smile painted my face as I walked under the falling petals of the sakura trees. All of the students running around panting with exertion to set up their shops and exhibits, sweat glistened off their skin as their chests heaved to catch their breath. Despite the enjoyable view of the nubile students I was enjoying the nostalgic feel of the sakura. The sight and smell of the beautiful trees brought on a wave of nostalgia, centuries ago I would sit with my master and his vassals, perhaps even with one of my harem girls on my lap.

As I recalled the fond memories of my master it entered my mind to fetch one of the students for a little reenactment of those times. I found one particularly buxom student just retiring from her duties for the preparation of the festival. I followed her to the outskirts of the festival area when the sound of a japanese flute reached my ears. The tune was nothing like the garbage being made in recent years. It was in fact an ancient and revered melody supposedly passed down through suceeding generations. But the family was supposed to have perished during the edo period. This was worth putting my plans off till later.

I followed the sound of the flute until I was a good distance away from the festival area. It was quiet and isolated, a perfect place to practice one's playing. Eventually I came upon a single large cherry tree and under it was the source of the melody. It was a student wo wore a beautiful kimono and with bright pink hair the same shade as the sakura blossoms! It was obviously dyed that way but it was still quite a sight to see.

I took a sat down against the tree opposite her and closed my eyes, just simply enjoying the feel of the nostalgic tune she played.

((It happens. ^^))

The melody continued to flow from the wooden flute like a beautiful nightingale sailing on the wind with its wings. The air was warm and had a spicy scent to it--no doubt coming down from the fields where the Indian students had set-up a real curry shop. It made the atmosphere feel that much more tranquil for Persephone, whose notes could easily affect those down below the hill from which she played. Like one nostalgic creature lured in by the siren-like sounds of her flute. The pink haired girl did not notice him come towards her as she could not see him, however a few moments after he sat down she stopped abruptly, her eyes which had closed during her practice flying open.

She stayed froze in a playing position, staring ahead of her a moment, then turning to stare at Ryujin, although, she had no real idea that he was even there at all. She furrowed her brows, a confused look on her face. She could have sworn she felt something sit down by her. Tilting her head to the side in what some would find an adorable manner, a thought came to her. While studying all sorts of mythologies, Persephone had come across Japanese mythology amognst other things originating from Japan. She remembered how some spirits were feared, while others were also quite respected and even if they didn't exist, wouldn't it be a good show of good will to show some respect to the spirits around her?

Laying her flute aside, she assumed the bowing position often used by people who prayed, hands in front of her on the grass and her forehead almost touching the ground as she spoke in rather fluent Japanese she had elarnt at school and from her friends, a sort of salutation to someone of higher rank than her.

"Greetings, O Unseen one and may you bless our festival today," she said in Japanese, not realizing that she was actually talking to someone at all. "And may you be pleased with the music of my flute." With that said, she sat back up and took to her flute again, smiling to herself because she felt just a bit silly. It showed in the way her cheeks blushed demurely in a light shade of pink. Her music began to fill the grounds once again as she closed her eyes and diligently played.

My eyes snapped open when she stopped playing her flute. It shouldn't have been possible, but did she know I was here? That I was sitting right next to her against the tree? The timing between sitting down and her stopping to look around her was too perfect to ignore. All I could do was wait for her reaction as she looked directly at me, and yet she said and did nothing.

To my further surprise she got up from her seat; but instead of running, which I had assumed she was trying to do, she bowed low on her hands and knees and made a prayer to me. Well, the prayer itself was for the spirits, and in itself was nothing new dating back to far before I awoke in Japan. It was one of the few things that survived the rigors of time, even if it was seldom used nowadays.

When she finished she smiled and continued to play her flute, to which I smiled in turn. She must have thought it silly to offer prayer to the spirits, spirits she probably didn't believe in from the start. Well maybe it's time she believed...

"I am honored by your music, O child of man, and offer my blessing upon your festival in turn." I said in Japanese, revealing myself to her fully. I sat with my hands resting on one raised knee, eyes still closed.

(BTW I hope you don't mind me taking a liberty with the tune and all.)

(Oh, not at all! ^^ I welcome such ingenuity!)

Persephone played the wooden wind intsurment a bit longer, keeping her sky blue eyes closed some moments as she played out the non-sensical hamony. Well, it didn't make much sense to people who were into the 'classical' styles of music, but this kind of melody dated waaaay back, before the time of Beethoven, Bach and other famous composers that helped shape music of today.

Ah, it was a lovely, peaceful day with nothing--almost--to disturb her or her practice. Maybe the spirits were blessing her after all, in a way. Wouldn't it be funny if spirits did exist? That certainly would explain her own strange sixth sense. Her older sister did, too, but it was more of a 'sister sense', the crazy obsessive woman. Her siste could always tell when 'evil' was afoot...

Persephone? Not so much. Then again, she believed in good in all things, even those that seemed very malevolant.

But this thought pale in comparison to actual events. Startled out of her playing, the student's fingers slipped on the flute, making a sort of dischordant, off-key noise. She froze, staring at Ryujin in unmistakable awe and wariness. The flute was still to her lips, but then it was lowered to her lap. She couldn't believe what she saw.

"I.....I..." she had no idea what to say--she was utterly taken aback by Ryujin's appearance in front of her. She wasn't sure whether or not she should run away, screaming or....run away, screaming, actually. Normal thought process of any regular girl would tell them to run away no matter what. However, Persephone had a knack for being as far removed from society's view of 'normal' as humanly possible.

A gentle breeze picked up, blewing at her hair and the soft bed of sakura petals beeath the two of them. Her eyes trailed one as it drifted gently upward towatrds the sky.

Hm. So far, he wasn't hurting her. And made no moves to threaten her, so...

"The...the sakura is beautiful this year, isn't it?" she asked in Japanese, her voice soft as the petals of the flowers she spoke of, much i the manner a lady of the court would speak, back then. Her hands were folded neatly atop the flute in her lap. "It's a wonderful spring..."

(I sincerely apologize. I had a bunch of ideas of where to go with this but then they all started to conflict with each other. In any case, my delay in posting is inexcusable, no matter the reason.)

"Yes... wonderful." I said, catching a falling blossom in my hand. I just held it in my hand for a minute, admiring it's innate and intrinsuc beauty. So many things it had been used to represent: a woman's beauty, love, clouds, new life, and death. It represented so much, but for now, all I would see is it's brief, fleeting beauty as it fell around me.

I was surprised that she had not attempted to flee when I revealed myself to her, but the fact that she remained and even went so far as to converse with me was even more so. I gently fingered the pale pink petal in my hand, appreciating the softness and fragility of it. I turned to the pink haired girl next to em and blew it over to her, the petal landing squarely on her nose. I smiled and turned back to the scene around me.

"I used to sit like this many centuries ago with an old noble named Heihachi. We would st together with his vassals and concubines and sip some of the finest sake together as the trees bloomed. Hah ha ha, your playing reminds me of one of his concubines. She too would play the flute in honor of the trees and their beautiful but fleeting lifespan. It was bittersweet and melancholic melody, well suited to be played at such a time. Because the life of a cherry blossom is so fragile, so ephemeral... it arouses a bittersweet, almost heartbreaking fondness." I stopped and turned to her, "Don't you think?" I smiled.

((It's alright. The main point is that you're back. ^^))

Persephone blinked as he spoke to her gently, surprisingly. She was sure that such a ferocious looking person...creature....lizardman? Whatever he happened to be, she expected him to be acting a bit more beastly than as he currently was being with her. Was it a trap to lower her sense of wariness into a false sense of security? Whatever it was...it worked! Show her a little kindness and Persephone, despite herself, would trust a total stranger with her life. Odd, but no one had killed her yet, so she supposed that her infamous lucky streak was still working like a charm.

The petal tickled her nose and she wriggled it gently to dislodge the petal, watching as it joined a few others already on her lap. Attentively, she listened to Ryujin's short tale of years gone by, of how he would spend a lovely afternoon with his old lord and master, along with his concubines. The very idea of concubines brought a blush to the young woman's cheeks as she thought of what concubines were for, back in the day. There wsn't anything like that, right now, as far as she knew, but hearing about it--even if these sorts of customs were long passed--was still something that could make Persephone feel a little uncomfortable.

But, she supposed, that was how things were done and he had seemed happy. And, from what she knew, those concubines were usually happy and were usually treated well by their masters, although they were often cut throat with one anotherwhen it came to their master's attentions and affections.

It warmed her heart somewhat, to hear that her music brought upon them this trip down memory lane. She only did what came naturally, after all. But she smiled at Ryujin, nodding.

"Yes, I think so, too," she replied, not sure about what to say herself. She did agree with him, considering she herself felt an inexplicable connection to nature--especially around spring time. She always felt renewed, re-energized and...well...slightly more 'active' in certain 'areas'. Persephone had been named after a spring goddess after all, the returning queen who brought with her bounty and warmth when she would step back into the surface world. While Spring always brought many the thought of innocence and rebirth and youth, it also meant that sex was had a lot more, because it is the one time of year where many animals are together and could mate, bringing aboput the next generation...which probably explained a lot of things about Persephone in spring time, but that would be besides the point.

"...But...no matter how fleeting, surely...it is better to live in the present, isn't it?" she asked. "No matter how fragile life is....we all must strive to live on, don't we? That is why....these cherry blossoms are so beautiful. They exist now...in the present, blooming brightly for all to enjoy....until it is heir time to fall..."

She paused, then laughed nervously.

"...Oh, my....I must not be making much sense. And here I am being rude...I haven't introduced myself properly, milord." She bowed her head towards Ryujin. "Although it isn't my real name, for the day I was given the name 'Haruhi' in honor of the spring time." She looked up and smiled brightly. "Originally, they had wanted to call me 'Sakura', because of my pnk hair. But I much prefer 'Haruhi'. It seems more fitting, somehow." She picked up the flute in her lap, holding it up to look at it. "Today, it is my duty to serenade my peers and be one of their hostesses on duty. I am currently taking a break to practice, my art, however."

"There is no need to be so formal." I said waving off her concern, "Such things would be a waste on a day so blessed as this." I said as I reached over and gently patted her hand. "Sakura, Haruhi; both beautiful names, and either would suit you well, Haruhi." I called her playing along with her honorary name for the day. I sincerely doubted that she had any Japanese blood in her, but her playing and her appearance did raise some questions. Perhaps she was a distant descendant of the woman, or perhaps she was a reincarnation of her. Whatever the case may be, she did bear a strong resemblance to the concubine who played that song. Was she a distant relative whose dormant genes finally sprung up, or was she a reincarnation of her? Whatever the case may be, she had caught my interest.

"You are right of course, about living in the present and striving to live on. Life is only beautiful because it is short. But here now I am being rude. You may call me Ryujin. It is the name Heihachi gave me when we first met, as I had no name until that day..." I turned to her again, and noticed the blush on her face. Perhaps it was the mention of concubines that brought that charming shade of red to her face. I smiled and said nothing more for a while, enjoying the show of blossoms falling in silence again.

"I don't mean to ruin the mood with questions but I feel compelled to ask you: where did you learn that song you were playing? That concubine I mentioned who played it during the festivals told me that the song was part of her family heritage, that it was passed down to no one else but her family."

Persephone blinked in confusion. Well, that was certainly an odd question. Taking a moment, she thought about the song she had been playing up until Ryujin had approached her. Truth be told, she did not learn it anywhere--it simply came to her to play this 'song' like this. It was something that dwelled within her heart and was only expressed through her music on the flute. It was as if the melody already existed in her fingers and they had moved accordingly on their own.

"Hm, I have no clue," she replied honestly. Looking at Ryujin, she gave him a very helpless smile and an embarrassed, yet comely, blush that spread past her cheeks and down her slender neck. "I've always known this song, since I was little. No one taught it to me. But it's interesting...to think that a song I've known since childhood would bare resemblance to a song of old..." She held the wooden instrument gently in her fingers, rubbing the tips of her fingers against the smooth grain of the long shaft in gentle pondering over this mystery. "Life has a strange way of drawing things together, doesn't it?"

Taking a breath, she was going to play her flute again to keep on practicing her art, but stopped a moment to give some consideration to Ryujin. She was Haruhi today, and she would play the considerate hostess soon enough to her peers down below at the festival. What a better way to start off her duties, than to play the hostess to this dragonlike creature?

"Hmm...would my Lord Ryujin have any request of me?" she asked, not letting up on formality just yet. He had been polite to her, so she would do so in return. Being brought up in a good family dictated that she had to be as wlel behaved as possible in good company and Ryujin did make good company for the pink haired student. Still, she worried. She had never met anyone like him on his island before (not that she could remember anyways) and since the silence had descended between them, she felt nervous again. She could feel his eyes on her, staring into her very being and the young woman could only avert her eyes, blushing pink shyly and demurely behind one of her kimono sleeves.