Spring Flower (Chapter 2: First Encounter)

Chapter 2: First Encounter
Haruka was surrounded by a light shower of cherry blossom. She stood a few feet from the gigantic pink petal tree. One of the petals from the shower brushed lightly against her face. It felt warm, like a gentle mother's touch. She suddenly felt another sensation; a chill crawled on her back. She was no longer in a completely blank land but a gorgeous winter wonderland. White powdery snow crushed against her boots as she took little steps towards the still blooming tree. Despite the frosty weather, the cherry blossoms somehow shielded her like a blanket.

"Haruka! Wake up! We're here!" Harold shook her shoulder gently. The tree vanished right before her eyes. The next thing she knew was opening her eyes in front of her father.
"Wh...what?" Haruka yawned.
"We're here in Vancouver!" Harold smiled.
Haruka's Beats headphones rested safely around her neck. She then remembered sulking throughout the flight, hoping that the plane would turn around back to Tokyo where her heart belonged to. She lumbered after her family off the aircraft.

"Wow! It's so big!" Nozomi squealed. The twins raced each other down the hallways like cheetahs; Natsumi caught them up just before the escalator down to the immigration counters.
"Honey! You have our passports ready, right?" Natusmi called out to her husband who ran towards them with his overloaded-looking backpack.
"Yup! Right here!" he replied, clutching four Japanese passports and his own British passport. Haruka trudged towards them, her lips formed a thin line. She spotted a blonde girl close to her age who stood a few feet away. She was wearing a wool sweater with a red and white Canadian flag on it. The colours were the same as the ones on the Japan flag.

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"Otooto! Hisashiburi!" Natusmi cried happily. She threw her arms round her younger brother Junya who was seen from the side of a shiny black Toyota. Uncle Junya gave her a hug before doing so to his three little nieces. Haruka forced a smile when Uncle Junya hugged her. He also gave a welcoming pat on Harold's back. "Man! It's been two years but you girls have grown so much!" Uncle Junya chuckled.

Uncle Junya excitedly explain more about his new business to the family. Haruka didn't listen to a word he said because she had her headphones on. Like any other introverts, she allowed the therapy of music to take over her melancholy. As the song "Still You" by K-Pop sub-unit Super Junior D&E was playing, Haruka watched as the car passed by big public buses with wires trailing above, shops and restaurants sandwiched to each other in tight lines, bald leafless trees near two-story houses with garages, and bilingual signs overtook most of the land. English words could be seen anywhere, but there were also Chinese, French, Spanish, Farsi, Korean and Japanese accompanying the mother language. Haruka wondered if people would get mixed up with all these different languages.

"Ah! Toochaku shimashita! We're here!" Uncle Junya said. The car slowed down at a newly-built house with yellow walls, sparkling translucent windows, and a dark red roof. He parked his car one foot near the curb and killed the engine with just an almost-anticlockwise turn of his keys at the ignition. Haruka watched from the back seat as the three adults carried the luggage from the trunk. Her dark brown eyes scanned around the peaceful-looking street. Everything looked new; the style of the houses looked almost similar. Instead of narrow roads with speeding motorcycles and crude Japanese phrases from annoyed passers-by, the sidewalks were overtaken by trotting dogs on leashes and friendly-looking pedestrians.

Megumi and Nozomi sprinted out of the car and through the rosewood door. Haruka lumbered after them. The first thing she saw when she stepped into her new home was the twins' hanging jaws.
"Wooooowwwwwww!" they exclaimed.
A wide-spaced living room with cooling light green walls welcomed them, followed by a golden ray of lamp light peeked through the door of a room nearby. Megumi pushed the door open and gasped, "Whoa! It's way bigger than the kitchen back home!"
Dark brown wood replaced white tiles that was hard for Natsumi to clean at times back in Tokyo. A table set for eight people was in the middle, accompanied by a vase of fake roses and a little chandelier dangling from the ceiling. A fancy stove combined with an oven at the bottom and a ventilation system on top was located on the left, sandwiched by dark wooden cupboards.

"What do you mean back home? This is our home right now!" Natsumi smiled.
"Yeah, for now..." Haruka mumbled.

"Haruka! Your room is here in the basement! Follow me!" her father said. Even though music was still blasting through her headphones, she could read her father's excited lips. She walked to a corner where a big bedroom was located. Harold watched as Haruka looked at her new Sakura pink bed, her new white study table, her very first closet which was more like a narrow room with a metal shelf guarded by two sliding doors, her new side table, and her very first shelving unit with pink boxes fitted in the bottom four square holes. "Nice, huh?" Harold said, "Oh! And your suitcases are in the closet...so go ahead and unpack your things and later we'll go out for dinner, okay?"

Haruka said nothing but sat on her bed. Everyone was excited but not her. She wished she could just buy a ticket to fly back to Tokyo.

Haruka tiptoed to the door and put on her purple Converse. She quickly glanced at the black and white clock that was hung on a wall.
"5pm...guess I still have time." she said to herself. As she went outside, the sky was a dull black with slightly visible grey clouds. The frosty wind that roared towards her direction hit against her pale skin. She was surprised to see how quick the sky darkened during winter in British Columbia. In fact, it was a little too dark. The street lights were lit up, but Haruka was a little scared to go further away from her new house all alone that time.

In fact, the street was a little too quiet for Haruka. Her mind flashed back to the lively streets of Tokyo where night markets lit up the night atmosphere with hearty food and wide smiles.

Suddenly, she spotted a soft pink flower petal floating in the air. She squinted and recognized the petal immediately. "A Sakura petal? It's not even spring yet!" she gasped. The winter breeze carried the petal away from Haruka's sight, but she immediately chased after it. She ran and ran while keeping her eyes locked on the petal. As she made her way to a nearby park, the petal brushed against a wall of vines and wild leaves. Haruka stopped and stared at the petal which was stuck between two snow-covered vines.
"Poor little petal!" Haruka said. She gently plucked it away from the vines. Suddenly, she could feel the earth shaking but it only lasted for five seconds. Haruka crouched on the ground with her eyes sealed shut, but opened her eyes when the earthquake stopped. To her surprise, the wall of vines and leaves disappeared! Instead, she gazed at a small entrance that led to an enormous cherry blossom tree. It was in full bloom. The tree was surrounded by a ring of leafless trees due to the cold season, bu the Sakura tree was the only flora that was still alive with beauty.

Haruka took a few steps forward. Her eyes stayed glued to the tree. The opening behind her closed automatically, but she didn't turn back. The tree was as if it hypnotized Haruka to a serene state.
"I never knew that Canada has cherry blossoms too." Haruka smiled.
"Well now you know!" a female voice replied. It was more like a soft echo. Haruka stopped walking and looked around.
"Who's there?" she asked, panicked.
"Right here!" the voice returned.
"Where?"
"What? Haven't you talked to a tree before?"
Haruka's eyes widened. "You're...talking to me?"
"Why yes!"
"But...trees can't talk! They're just plants!"
"Sweetie, I'm not like any other plants on earth."
"Not like any other plants?"
"Yes! You see, I'm a magical sakura tree!"

Magical? Haruka was still surprised that she was talking to a tree. She had read countless Enid Blyton books that led her to high imagination, but she never knew that magic actually existed in real life.

"Where did you come from?" Haruka asked.
"I come from the heart of a special girl." the tree replied.
Haruka's eyebrows raised, "What do you mean by the heart of a special girl?"
The tree suddenly let out a brilliant pink glow that was as strong as the Sun. A ribbon of its petals was released and surrounded around Haruka. Haruka held her breath as the beautiful magic spun around her like wind.
"I was born from a girl who loves cherry blossoms and she expresses her heart by painting them." the tree hinted.
"That sounds like me!"
"When one of my petals led that girl here, I knew that she's the one."
"That happened to me! Wait...are you talking about me?" Haruka exclaimed.
"What do you think, sweetie?"

Haruka tapped her chin while thinking. The ring of petals kept swirling round her. Suddenly, her eyes flashed to a vision where she saw the same cherry blossom tree in a snowy white background. When the vision disappeared, she stared at the tree in front of her with wide eyes.
"I'm the special girl?" she gasped.
"That's right."
"But how? I don't have any magic powers or anything."
"Magic does exist, Haruka. Magic chooses you to create me."
"How do you even know my name?"
"I've known your name even since I was born."

Haruka still couldn't believe her eyes. The tree noticed her face and cast wind that hit gently against her face, hopefully to calm her.
"I still don't understand." Haruka stammered.
"You don't have to understand. You just have to believe."
Aside from talking to a magic tree, Haruka couldn't take her eyes away from the petals. She had never seen a cherry blossom tree in full bloom in such a freezing weather. The petals seemed to be coated by a soft pink glow, a delicate kind of magic that shortly opened her eyes and heart to trust the tree.

"I think I believe." Haruka replied.
"Why that's great!"
"This is just incredible! I've never seen anything like this in my whole life!"
"You only see me in visions, right?"
"Oh yeah! I first got a vision of you the night before my flight from Tokyo, and then I got a second vision before I arrive here."
"That means my calling to you is working. I'm glad that you've got my message."
"So why are you calling me?"
"Why I just want to see you. Now that you're finally here, I have so much to tell you, Haruka."
"It's like I'm making a new friend."
"We are friends now, right?"
"Of course! I guess moving here is not so bad after all!" Haruka smiled. Her heart felt lifted, "Hey do you even have a name?"
"Well I've never thought of that!"
"I'll just call you Sakura then!"
"That's kind of a common name because I am a Sakura tree after all."
"Hmm..." Haruka tapped her chin, "How about Tsubomi?"
"What does that mean?"
"It means bloom in Japanese."
"Ah! I like it! Very well, then! Call me Tsubomi!"
"Alright!"

Haruka realized that her feet felt heavy after all the running from home, so she sat under Tsubomi with her legs crossed. Her butt was cold on the snow but she didn't care.

"So what kind of magic do you have, Tsubomi?"
"Well, as you can see, my flowers are still alive even though it's winter."
"So you're just a tree who stays alive all the time?"
"Not necessarily. I also can perform defense and healing magic."
"Defense? I've never heard of that word. What does that mean?"
"It means protection. I can cast shields to protect myself or someone."
"Cool! So you've defend against bad guys before?"
"No, I've not been in a battle before."
"Oh really?"
"Well, yeah. I'm just wearing a shield right now."
"You are?"
Haruka reached out to touch Tsubomi's trunk. Its firm wood body was warm.
"My flowers are alive because of my shield."
"Oh! That makes sense!"

Haruka talked to Tsubomi for over an hour. It feels like talking to her best friend Michiro once again. She blabbered about Michiro who pulled her away from a cliff when she was about to fall, her first attempt of using acrylic paint, her first art award for a painting of Meguro River where cherry blossoms bloom, and her messy attempt of making Sakura mochi with Michiro when they eight years old. Haruka couldn't stop laughing when she finished talking about mochi flour covered all over their faces when suddenly she heard a familiar voice, "Haruka! Haruka, are you there?"
"Dad?" she gasped. She immediately jumped on her feet. Her eyes fixed at the secret entrance.
"Don't worry, nobody will find us here."
"How can you tell? My dad is smart! He's like the winner of hide and seek!"
"My magic can trick people from finding the entrance to this area of the neighbourhood. You go ahead and find your father, I'll make sure that he won't find you coming out from here."
"Does that mean I have to keep you a secret?"
"It's best if you don't tell about me to anyone. I'll tell you more when you come back here."
"I'll definitely come back! I promise!"
"It's great to finally meet you, Haruka."
"You too, Tusbomi." Haruka smiled, and ran off to the entrance where the snow-buried wall made way for her to go through.

Haruka tiptoed her way off the park and spotted her dad who was pacing nervously around the set of swings.
"Dad!" Haruka called out.
"Haruka! Sweetheart! Gosh where have you been?"
"I'm just wandering around here."
"You'll get lost, really! Anyway, I'm glad you're okay." Harold gave his daughter a hug and walked her home. Haruka stole a glance at the park and a smile crept on her face.