Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction ❯ The Makai Lullaby ❯ The Lullaby ( Chapter 1 )

Rose:*prepares to run away* I don't own Yu Yu Hakusho (and it tears me apart inside), but I own the song The Makai Lullaby, so don't steal it. By the way, all flames will be used to burn down my brother's CD collection. Now that we've got that out of the way, Cya! *races out of the room with Kurama on her heels*

 

~^~^~ The Makai Lullaby ~^~^~

I sat on the hill just as I always did on a beautiful afternoon at the end of every month. I sighed, thinking how much my grandmother would have loved to see this scenic overlook. However, I had only found this little hideaway almost a month ago, nearly six years after my grandmother's passing. Next to me, as always on these excursions, was my pan flute. My grandmother had given me that flute when I was only seven years old. I still remember her exact words to me that rainy day.

 

~*~*~ FLASHBACK~*~*~

“Tenshi, come here, darling,” My grandmother said, using my real name as I moped because of the weather outside. I approached, wondering what sort of adventure we would be embarking on next. As I came closer, she pulled out a wide, flat box. My excitement level rose, knowing that there was something interesting inside it.

She motioned for me to sit in her lap and once I had, and I was presented with the box. Giddily, I tore open the lid and was stopped short by the contents. Inside that box was a bunch of bamboo sticks of varying lengths tied together.

“Grandmother, what is this?” I asked, very confused as to why I was receiving this odd present.

Grandmother smiled that cryptic smile of hers at me and explained that this was a pan flute. She also told me that this was an important flute; that it was our family's ancestral flute. She said it was tradition amongst the women in our family to pass the flute from grandmother to granddaughter, skipping a generation each time (which explained why my mother never knew of its existence) and that the recipient must promise to faithfully learn the craft of playing such an antique instrument.

She then looked straight at me and said, “Promise me, girl. Promise with all your heart that you will uphold our family's tradition.”

I looked back at her, nodding solemnly. “I promise, Grandmother. I will uphold our family's tradition and pass this tradition on to my granddaughter.” A smile broke the lips on the old woman's weathered face. And she began to teach me the first song that I would ever learn on the pan flute.

~*~*~END FLASHBACK~*~*~

I snapped back to the here and now, where I noticed that the sun was beginning to dip in towards the awaiting horizon. It is almost time, I think. This was another part of Grandmother's tradition, as was told to me before her passing. She said that from the time I turned sixteen (or “coming of age” as she called it), I was charged to take one full day every thirty days to commune with nature, finishing the rejuvenation day with a sunset serenade to nature herself.

So here I am, communing with nature in a park on a hill in suburban Tokyo, pushing the worries away for a little while longer as I let the sounds and sights of the hillside calm me. I fingered the ancient instrument beside me, knowing that it was time.

The sun inched closer to the land as I stood, flute in hand, prepared to honor nature's gift of beauty. With dampened lips, I pushed air into the hollow bamboo tubes, having decided to play my grandmother's favorite song, The Makai Lullaby.

As I played I was reminded of the first time I played this song; sitting in my Grandmother's backyard with me playing the pan flute and her singing the words to this hauntingly beautiful song. I continued, hearing her voice echo through my memories;

“Someone wakes from fast asleep,

Use this song as an ember.

He will bring all your dreams,

If you only remember.

 

“Give your heart with no delay,

His is yours for the taking.

And love you'll find comes with speed,

If you journey today.

 

“Search your memories,

Find your clue.

Reveal yourself and you shall see,

A mystical form inside of you.

 

“Heed these words,

and pay thee mind,

He will enter your life this day,

If fates will truly be kind.

 

“Alert yourself, and I beg of thee,

Use this song as an ember.

He will bring all these things,

If you'll only remember.”

 

 

As I finished the song, I put the flute at my side and bowed to mother nature, grateful for her audience as I played. Suddenly, I heard a disruption of the underbrush and I turned, moving into a defensive stance.

“There is hardly any need for that,” the boy said, his long red hair ruffling with the slight breeze. “I was merely enjoying your performance. Hardly anyone plays the pan flute anymore and it is highly irregular to find such a beautiful instrument being played by such a beautiful girl.”

As he approached, the words of the Makai Lullaby suddenly came into my mind. Heed these words, and pay thee mind, He will enter your life this day, If fates will truly be kind. Could that mean something in reference to the stranger that was now coming to talk to me?