festivity

*

Then the Bishop pronounced them man and wife. Hana was watching Honoo kiss his bride. She wished it had been her. But certain things just couldn't be.

Honoo was of the Fire family. And she, a Flower.

Both races were so strict about intermarriages. And it was because of a very practical reason: a union would put one to death: a Fire burning a loved Flower or a radiant Flower's dews put out a beloved Fire.

So when Hana saw Honoo the first time, when his family visited the forrest she grew up in, she knew she could only love him with a silent love.

Spring was when her petals turn bright purple. And each year, Honoo would visit the forrest when summer came. She would watch Honoo play with his friends in her blue dress. She was content with loving him from afar.

Then one year, when autumn was nearing and orange coiffed her gloriously, she saw Honoo hold a young pretty Fire's hand. She knew then she had to at least let Honoo know she loved him.

She went to her father and asked if she could let Honoo know. She was, of course, refused. And refused every single time after because her father loved her so. And her father couldn't bear his Hana dying.

Every year after, Honoo's visit broke Hana's heart: Honoo's love grew for his beloved Fire and he never knew of Hana's love. Hana would cry each night and would dream of a way to make her love known to Honoo. Her father heard her cries.

Hana, laced in golden hue, went to witness Honoo's wedding. And she celebrated with him. After, when the ceremonies ended, she declared her love for Honoo. Just that single time.

Every summer, when the sun's heat is the most scorching and the night skies the clearest, the Japanese people remember Hana's declaration of love to Honoo on his wedding day.

For it was that time when Hana's own father granted her wish, that her love be known to Honoo, fleeting the moment might be:

Hana's father kissed her one last time. He then ushered in a friend Fire who whispered a prayer in Hana's ear. Hana floated in the clear night sky and burst into a thousand million golden ashes a little after a flower of different colors was born out of fire --- the hanabi.