❝you see the world in black and white no color no light❞
Title: Dolphin Funeral
Series: Axis Powers Hetalia
Words: 500~
Characters: France/Vietnam/Thailand
Rating: G
Warnings: n/a
Summary: She would never forget that day, because they had held a dolphin funeral.
Dolphin Funeral
I.
She would never forget that day, because they had held a dolphin funeral.
The dolphin should not have died. A ship, large and imposing, had been approaching the coast, and it ended up crushing the dolphin, so that when its body landed on the shore it was already half-dead, forced ashore by desperation.
They had just finished laying the stones over the body when someone spotted a ship on the horizon; in a few minutes, the colors on the flag-red, white, and blue-became visible, and she knew he had returned.
Vietnam rose slowly to her feet and brushed the sand from her clothes. The sun beat down heavily upon them as the ship anchored. When he stepped out onto the sand, she caught her breath.
“Aren’t you going to welcome me home, Vi?” France asked with a sly smile, brushing the hair out of his stormy blue eyes.
“How can you call it home when you’re hardly here?” she replied in a low murmur. “You come back every few months, stay a day or a week, and then you’re gone again.”
He laughed ruefully and held out his arms. Despite herself, she allowed him to embrace her, laying her cheek against his shoulder.
“You’re covered in sand,” he said in surprise, brushing one hand through her hair. “How did that happen?”
“We had a dolphin funeral,” she said, a melancholy lilt to her voice.
He didn’t really understand what she was talking about; she hadn’t really expected him to.
II.
Seven years passed very quickly, and the time came to complete the funeral.
Thailand held her hand as the two of them walked across the beach, the breeze blowing back the loose strands of their inky hair and the sand catching on their bare feet.
With France, she had never spoken much. But with Thailand, she chattered, talking about everything from the weather to music, going on and on with no cause to stop. He simply smiled, in response.
“This is the spot, right?” he asks, stopping where he can see the glassy clear stones through the layers of sand. She nodded, and he kneeled, brushing aside the stones and revealing the dolphin’s body.
It had been beached seven years ago, but she still felt a jolt go through her as she saw such a noble beast reduced to bones. She bit her lip.
“I guess it’s time, then,” she said, biting down her emotion, and he nodded, picking up the bones as the two of them headed towards the shore. Thailand lowered the body into the sea, and, within moments, the waves came forward to claim it.
“And now everything is as it should be,” she whispered, her voice as soft as the wind blowing around them.
“Yes,” Thailand agreed, reaching for her hand once again. As their fingers intertwined, he murmured, “Even if it takes awhile, things will always return to normal, again.”
She thinks of golden hair and roses, for a moment, contrasting them against a bright smile and gentle hands. She sighs, but then she smiles.
“It’s always good when the funeral is complete.”
He smiled but doesn’t respond otherwise. He didn’t really need to; she knew he understood.
---
Footnotes:
*Dolphin funerals are exactly what they sound like. Traditionally, when the bodies of beached dolphins are found by Vietnamese farmers and fishermen, they cleanse and burry the carcasses, returning seven years later to give the body back to the sea. I unfortunately don’t have any links to further information; I read about the ceremony in National Geographic some time ago.
*Part I represented Vietnam’s time under France’s rule; Part II represented modern, more peaceful days for Vietnam and her neighbor, Thailand. {I realize more than seven years passed between the two eras; the chronology was symbolic for the funeral’s sake.}
Series: Axis Powers Hetalia
Words: 500~
Characters: France/Vietnam/Thailand
Rating: G
Warnings: n/a
Summary: She would never forget that day, because they had held a dolphin funeral.
Dolphin Funeral
I.
She would never forget that day, because they had held a dolphin funeral.
The dolphin should not have died. A ship, large and imposing, had been approaching the coast, and it ended up crushing the dolphin, so that when its body landed on the shore it was already half-dead, forced ashore by desperation.
They had just finished laying the stones over the body when someone spotted a ship on the horizon; in a few minutes, the colors on the flag-red, white, and blue-became visible, and she knew he had returned.
Vietnam rose slowly to her feet and brushed the sand from her clothes. The sun beat down heavily upon them as the ship anchored. When he stepped out onto the sand, she caught her breath.
“Aren’t you going to welcome me home, Vi?” France asked with a sly smile, brushing the hair out of his stormy blue eyes.
“How can you call it home when you’re hardly here?” she replied in a low murmur. “You come back every few months, stay a day or a week, and then you’re gone again.”
He laughed ruefully and held out his arms. Despite herself, she allowed him to embrace her, laying her cheek against his shoulder.
“You’re covered in sand,” he said in surprise, brushing one hand through her hair. “How did that happen?”
“We had a dolphin funeral,” she said, a melancholy lilt to her voice.
He didn’t really understand what she was talking about; she hadn’t really expected him to.
II.
Seven years passed very quickly, and the time came to complete the funeral.
Thailand held her hand as the two of them walked across the beach, the breeze blowing back the loose strands of their inky hair and the sand catching on their bare feet.
With France, she had never spoken much. But with Thailand, she chattered, talking about everything from the weather to music, going on and on with no cause to stop. He simply smiled, in response.
“This is the spot, right?” he asks, stopping where he can see the glassy clear stones through the layers of sand. She nodded, and he kneeled, brushing aside the stones and revealing the dolphin’s body.
It had been beached seven years ago, but she still felt a jolt go through her as she saw such a noble beast reduced to bones. She bit her lip.
“I guess it’s time, then,” she said, biting down her emotion, and he nodded, picking up the bones as the two of them headed towards the shore. Thailand lowered the body into the sea, and, within moments, the waves came forward to claim it.
“And now everything is as it should be,” she whispered, her voice as soft as the wind blowing around them.
“Yes,” Thailand agreed, reaching for her hand once again. As their fingers intertwined, he murmured, “Even if it takes awhile, things will always return to normal, again.”
She thinks of golden hair and roses, for a moment, contrasting them against a bright smile and gentle hands. She sighs, but then she smiles.
“It’s always good when the funeral is complete.”
He smiled but doesn’t respond otherwise. He didn’t really need to; she knew he understood.
---
Footnotes:
*Dolphin funerals are exactly what they sound like. Traditionally, when the bodies of beached dolphins are found by Vietnamese farmers and fishermen, they cleanse and burry the carcasses, returning seven years later to give the body back to the sea. I unfortunately don’t have any links to further information; I read about the ceremony in National Geographic some time ago.
*Part I represented Vietnam’s time under France’s rule; Part II represented modern, more peaceful days for Vietnam and her neighbor, Thailand. {I realize more than seven years passed between the two eras; the chronology was symbolic for the funeral’s sake.}