One truly could never know when the spirit of death would whisk you away into the dark ocean. Nanami had learned that even as a youngling when she watched her grandmother’s body being taken to the edge of the underwater cliffs, the villagers wrapping the body tightly in delicate materials that shimmered like crystals despite the darkness of the waters waiting below. Her aunt had sewn in delicate pearls that her grandmother had loved and it was with tears in everyone’s eyes that they released their dear matron to the ocean spirits. It had been years since that day but Ami still remembered it clearly since it was the last time her whole family had gotten together. Ever since then her aunt had left their village to travel the world while her parents got more and more wrapped up in their tasks around the village, both teaching and helping where they could while Ami was left alone with just their expectations to guide her own behavior. Now it was the anniversary and while her parents once had taken the time to swim to the cliffs and leave presents in honor of the departed, it was only Ami who swam this way now. Five years had eased the pain in their spirits, their busy schedules constantly making them forget what they once held dear but Ami still honored her grandmother. Even if she had been super young the child still remembered the kind laugh and the warmth of her grandmother’s hug as she watched after Ami when her parents were busy with work. Ami had even taken the time to even gather pearls, her small fingers aching from hours upon hours of gathering pearls from tightly shut oysters.

“How is it to swim with spirits?” Ami asked the ocean depths as she sat along the safer edges of the cliffs, her dark hair bobbing around her from the cooler currents that swept around the entrance of the caverns that led further down towards the village. The cliffs seemed to go into an endless expanse that went beyond even the caverns, but Ami wasn’t quite so scared of it. Rather she found it comforting thinking that her grandmother and others swam in the currents there. So many of their ancestors were surely watching over them and guarding the village from harm! Just the thought brought a small smile to Ami’s lips despite how much she missed her dear grandmother. It was comforting thinking she was there and that the shimmering crystals could perhaps even be hints of the spirits swimming around. Not that the adults really believed in spirits but Ami liked to imagine that something, even if it was just the warm memories that they left behind, was out there watching over everyone. Some perhaps left sadder or angrier memories but Ami didn’t want to think about those. She rather hoped that everyone had at least one happy memory to leave behind before they left this world. Even if it was something small from long ago….happiness had to have happened at one point in their lives, right? Ami clutched at the bag of pearls she had gathered as if they could somehow replace the warmth of her grandmother’s hand before she slowly opened the bag. Ami found herself plucking one pearl at a time and just tossing them into the void as gifts. Others would leave flowers or the like floating there, tied neatly into the corals and making a colorful barrier, but Ami felt like distributing her pearls to the darkness. They would shimmer on the way down and she would always make certain to remember something about her grandmother before tossing the next pearl. The way she laughed, how she liked to sing while sewing, the terrible cookies she baked, the treasure hunt games they would play and how she would always encourage Ami to just have fun and not worry about studying or being the perfect proper daughter. Final one… Ami’s gaze burned but she found herself pausing whenever she opened her palm to look at the final pearl. It was more blue than white and she studied it for a long moment. Maybe this one...maybe she would keep this one since it seemed to remind her of her grandmother the most. Her grandmother loved the same shade of blue that Ami did after all. A small smile crossed Ami’s face and she found herself wiping away a few tears. “I’ll see you another time, gramma.” She whispered towards the crevice, her hand wrapping tightly around the pearl for comfort as she turned and swam back towards home.

[774]