Well here's a story for those of you who have watched AIR and for those who haven't. I'll say a few things now. This is a long read, it is a story! It has been completely derived from the movie AIR, although parts from the series were also included. When i watched the movie I became fascinated with the story of Kanna and Ryuuya but a little frustrated at how it was fragmented through the movie. Well i got bored on night and pulled out most bits from the movie and through in a few parts of my own. I present a slightly altered version of the beautiful love story that is Kanna and Ryuuya. Please tell us if you liked the story and if you've seen the series how you liked the small changes. (also point out any errors i MAY have accidently left....but they should be non-existant)
A Story Of Two Lovers
Generation after generation of winged beings lived and inherited the dreams of stars, and since ancient times given
wisdom to the people. They have been considered the source of all magic powers. Winged beings, because of their
strength, couldn't fly freely in the sky and they were caught and trapped by the emperor of the time, who feared
their power.
Yao bikuni, who ate the flesh of a mermaid and was granted eternal life, was trapped in a pitch black cave. She had taken upon herself the curses of all those who were killed in war. She was "tainted" because of that.
When humans first captured one of the winged women, Yao bikuni, they found a child in her stomach. One day after the child was born, she was torn away from her mother and sent to a large, secluded place. Her name was Kanna bi no Mikoto, or Princess Kanna. Princess Kanna was always alone in that large palace, she spent her days without having anyone to speak to.
The legend starts one thousand summers ago in the cherry blossom palace.
It is said that one day Kanna became intrigued in something she had probably seen many times before but not especially
noticed. A man, tall and striking. She stood on a balcony overlooking a courtyard, staring with wonder at this figure
moving towards the palace, striding purposefully through the falling cherry blossoms.
Here loyal maid Uraha noticed Kannas peculiar behavior as she approached.
"Uraha, what is that?" Kannas asked
"What is it?" Uraha queried, a little confused.
"See...That...That man" She replied, her face lighting up as she pointed towards the firgure.
"Oh he looked this way" Kanna blushed, hiding her face behind the robes hanging from her arms.
"Oh, that man?", she said, "He was recently appointed as a guard. I heard he came from the capital by the
order of the emperors right hand man."
"I see" Kanna whispered
"And?" Uraha smiled.
"N-No...nothing in particular" Kanna replied nervously
"Do you have something you want to say about that beautiful and handsome man?" Uraha taunted.
"Something to say...you're mean Uraha," Kanna muttered.
Sure enough the man came straight to see the Princess Kanna, who he would be serving. Princess Kanna, who had always been alone, met her one and only friend like that, Perhaps...
Since that meeting they became close. Ryuuya would visit the palace every couple of days for her protection and Kanna
was able to walk and talk with another, she was able to share happiness with another. Being confined to the palace this
was a dream she had never experienced.
Once Ryuuya even showed her his magic. On a day when the cherry blossoms fell, showering the sky and lake in a beautiful
pink blanket, Kanna sat under the largest tree next to the lake. Ryuuya through two spinning tops powerfully across the
ground before pulling them magically into the air
"Wow, it's beautiful" Kanna exclaimed.
"That's not all…" Ryuuya smiled before shouting, "Arimasa's spinning tops"
With this chant one top fell to its side and spun on the rim while the other balanced perfectly on top. The two then
proceeded to spin across the surface of the water until with a small flash of light, the tops vanished releasing several
butterflies.
"Ryuuya-sama, you have a wonderful, mysterious power" Kanna said
"No, it's nowhere close to yours, kanna-sama" He replied
"You know everything don't you" she said with a sad look
"Kanna-sama, you have the power of the gods"
"no...no...NO,NO...My power if hated and loathed by all, because of that I cannot take one step from this palace. I
am not aloud to leave," She says as she falls to the ground crying, "Then ryuuya-sama, do you know about my
mother?... I heard that my mother is also locked up somewhere far away from here...I want to see her"
He replied "As you command, kanna-sama"
The Princess grew closer to Ryuuya and he became the only person that she ever really trusted.
But...the princess knew about the horrendous curse that was placed on those with wings. No matter how much you like, no
matter how deeply you love, if you share your feeling with the object of your love, the fire of your life immediately
burns out and dies. It was a horrible curse and the reason Kanna was so alone.
One day during the middle of summer Kanna said to Ryuuya;
"Ryuuya-sama, I've never left this palace. I'ld like to go, at the very least, beyond that forest to the
ocean I can see from here"
"There's only a single path to the beach, it's a simple request and there are few houses on the
way."
As they walk to the courtyard and approached the entrance to the palace the were dropped and soldiers surround them
bearing spears and swords.
"Let us through the gate!" Ryuuya cried, "I have been given the responsibility of guarding her by the
emperors right hand man...The ocean, we are only going to the beach, we will be back very soon. I am going along, there
should not be any problems."
However the head guard replied "I will not allow it", brandishing his spear, "Even if it is by order of
the emperors right hand man we cannot allow the princess to take one step from this palace."
"Why is that?" Ryuuya demanded
"Those with wings are not people, they are evil spirits and devils who deceive those of this world! If you try to
break this barrier, we have been given direct orders to cut off your head without asking any questions"
"What! Direct orders?" Ryuuya stammered
"Yes...From the emporer!...If you want to be known forever as a traitor, kill us and leave the
palace."
After that, Ryuuya-dono would visit Princess Kanna every day to tell her stories of the world outside the palace. For example he told wonderful stories of the capital in Kyo (now Kyoto) and unusual stories he heard at the various places he had visited, trying to cheer up the depressed princess, if just a little.
Day after day, night after night, the two met like lovers. Princess Kanna fell in love, almost as if she has forgotten the curse that was placed on her; she wanted to see him so much.
"Ryuuya-sama, even if my life becomes as a speck and is shattered, it will continue to think of you to the last
fragment. I love you Ryuuya-sama."
That is how Princess Kanna finally said the forbidden words, breaking the rule that prohibited the words of affection to
ones loved one, no matter how intense ones feelings. Ryuuya-sama would be the first to see her wings since birth when
they made love that night.
The next night was somewhat different. When Ryuuya entered the Kannas room that night there was not a loving scene but a
scream that echoed through the palace.
Uraha, who heard the scream, came running towards the room calling "Kanna-sama" She burst into the room to
find Ryuuya supporting a collapsed Kanna on the floor.
"What happened", Uraha gasped
Kanna remained lying on the floor wincing and clasping into Ryuuyas arms.
"It Hurts...IT HURTS... My entire body feels likes it’s being stabbed by needles" she cried.
"She suddenly...suddenly started hurting, and her entire body feels like it's burning" he stammered.
"It's all right Ryuuya-sama. This is the punishment I receive for breaking the ban. I was prepared for it from
the beginning. It is the supreme evidence that I loved you - that I put my life on the line."
The week continued with kanna constantly in pain, more so when close to Ryuuya but she didn't care, this is what
she wanted more than anything. Ryuuya continued coming at night to hold Kanna dear to him while Uraha ensured she rested
during the day, both of them keeping her condition secret.
However at the end of that week, Ryuuya came to Kannas room with news, but not with good news. Ryuuya knew the princess
was in pain, but all he could say was:
"I'm sorry, Even though you are getting weaker by the day, I'm suddenly being called back by the emperors
right hand man. Tomorrow I must leave for Kyo."
Then, princess Kanna, putting what was left of her life on the line, decided to fulfill her last wish. "For once, I want to open my wings wide and fly away into the expansive sky, that expansive sky. My wings will cut through the wind and sparkle white in the sunlight. Then I want to soar across the mountains as I wish and see the mother I have never met."
That morning Ryuuya planned for her escape from the palace in order to make Princess Kanna's last wish come
true.
However with the guards that was not an easy task. That morning they once again approached the front courtyard,
confronted by guards Ryuuya took down three simultaneously with his magical spinning tops. The other guards surrounded
him but all knew he had strong powers.
"Now then, princess, shall we leave at a leisurely pace?" Ryuuya beamed.
And Kanna, attached to Ryuuyas arm slowly walked towards the front gate, the guards still surrounding them, but not
daring to attack.
There is no longer anything...There is no longer anything to fear. They were both prepared to give up their lives, at
that time they were able to smile brightly while they no longer feared anything.
The two reached the center of the courtyard and while Ryuuya drew up his sword, so did the guards in the courtyard,
while those on the walls raised loaded bows.
"Now Kanna-sama, fly across the great sky, as much as you want", he whispered to her drawing up a fighting
stance.
Kanna dropped her robe and revealed to all an opening pair of luminous white wings. The men were stunned at her power,
at her beauty as she glided gracefully up, smiling at the blue skies awaiting her.
The head guard demanded that she be shot down and hundreds of bows aimed to the sky. Ryuuya ran at the bowmen, countless numbers of arrows flew into the sky and one by one Ryuuya took down the offenders. However the men were countless and before long a stray spear penetrated his chest. As he fell to the ground he received a last glimpse at his love, Princess Kanna. A snow-white angel gleaming in the summer sky, her wings sparkling where the sun could once be seen.
Princess Kanna desperately tried to fly towards her mother, whom she still had not seen. The arrows in her body, countless, but despite the intense pain, Princess Kanna still shouted out: MOTHER!
In a cave far away, behind bars and chained down the legendary Yao bikuni, Kannas mother, could hear her daughters
cries. "I hear my daughters voice and the sound of her wings" she cried. With the power of a winged being she
broke through from her eternal chains and burst for the first time from her prison.
"Come Kanna, I am here, Fly here Kanna!" she screamed towards the sky
These were her last words before she too became victim of innumerable spears.
"My wings cut through the wind and sparkle white in the sunlight, now I can go anywhere...I can
go...anywhere"
But the truth was she no longer had anywhere to go.
Many people saw that mysterious sight. A flying white angel high in the sky with radiant white wings, glistening red drops of blood falling from her wounds. Princess Kanna, whose heart had been pierced and who should have been dead, continued to float in the sky without falling to the ground. Shortly after snow-white feathers started to rain from the sky, as they would for the final days of summer, and then, once the people noticed them, they could not see Princess Kanna anywhere.
One thousand summers later she stills flies through the summer skies, crying tears over the land for her lost lover and
the mother she never knew. She travels hidden in cloud, weeping her tears over the people so that they may remember her
sorrow and her curse and that they should never have to leave the side of the person they love.
