____________________________________________Strangely, or maybe ironically enough, nothing is able to cheer her up like crying. But not for the reasons you might think. Yes, letting loose your emotions is quite a powerful tool in reigning them in again, but for her, it is even more than that. To know why, though, you must understand a bit of her story.
____________________________________________She was not always a spirit, as she is now. She used to be nothing more than a simple willow tree. In fact, had it not been for a series of coincidences, she wouldn't ever have even the chance to be more than a seed.
Her life began as every other new tree's does- a simple seed, dropped from a mother tree, not far from her father tree. Yet it seemed she was destined to never have a chance- she fell onto cold, unforgiving rock. I'm here wasn't a chance for her to take root, or grow- she wasn't even able to reach the river to float to a new destination, as some of her sibling seedlings had, for she was dropped into a crevice where the wind could not reach. It seemed as though all was lost for her.
But fate had other plans.
As the seedling resigned herself to a short, broken life, her surroundings suddenly changed. The rock and nothingness the seedling felt was replaced by something soft, and pulsing with life. The seedling felt herself being lifted by small, yet giant, hands, and felt the warm winds brought only by life gently settle across her, as the life whispered something she couldn't understand. Though she could only feel the life now holding her, for seedlings cannot see, she instinctively understood the babbling of the toddler who now possessed her- though the words themselves meant nothing, the warm breath as the child whispered to the seedling made a promise.
You are safe now. I'll take care of you.And take care of the seedling she did.
The toddler knew nothing of willow trees, she was far too young to understand the differences in the wants of trees. So, she did what any child would, and after taking the seedling far away, the toddler ventured deep into the forest, found a clearing, created a large circle of rocks, and promptly buried the seedling, promising to return every day. The child knew not the amount of water a seedling needed, and had she not kept her promise, would've doomed the poor seedling, for all her good intentions. Yet the child did return, each time bringing water, and some of the day's food. And slowly, as seedling grew to sprout and sapling, and child grew to teen, they began to understand each other. The sapling was named Nepi, and she could understand life's language. Though see she still could not, she could certainly feel, and having met the open air, she began to hear. She never forgot the feeling of the child who saved her, nor the feelings the child spoke that day, and treasured her as a companion like no other. From her, Nepi learned to find her own place in fate's workings, and slowly grew strong enough that even as a willow she could easily survive in the forest.
But Nepi and the child had one major difference that could never be bridged, and that difference was time.
After 60 years, Nepi's companion grew slower in her visits, and warned that she would be less frequent- her tribe called for her often, as she was the oldest and wisest. After 80, the child came in obvious pain, which Nepi did her best to soothe as the old child told her stories. And after 100 years, Nepi's child visited one final time, thanking Nepi for all that she'd done, apologizing for her ignorance in where she planeted the willow, before falling to her knees, weeping as she clutched the trunk of her seedling, now a huge and beautiful willow. And as she cried, Nepi began to cry with her. Soft tendrils from the tree slowly caressed the child, and the tree seemed to shudder as petals from its blossoms drifted down onto Nepi's love. Slowly, the 100 year old child felt herself being enveloped into something so soft it almost felt like water, and the willow's tendrils wrapped around the woman even tighter. Had the woman opened her eyes, she would have seen Nepi's spirit, a white mask slowly becoming tear-stained. Yet Nepi's companion could not open her eyes- as the gentle petals fell from the willow spirit's eyes, settling onto the woman's head, her soul calmed, and began to settle into its final rest in this body. Softly, Nepi kissed the child's head- the child, so compassionate she had picked up a seedling trapped in rocks, so caring she had journeyed into a forest to plant the injured seed, so loving that she had kept a toddler's promise, visiting a tree every single day of her life, until the very last. As the last petaled tear fell from Nepi, and her lips slowly met the hair of the child who had done everything for her, Nepi felt the soul of her love peacefully depart. And Nepi couldn't stop weeping for many days after.
____________________________________________In the middle of a forest, there is a clearing, and in that clearing lies a lone weeping willow, which is rumored to bloom fully only one day every year, as the tree seems to mourn. The forest itself seems to go dreadfully still on that day, and it is rumored that not a single creature of the forest can die on the Day of Mourning. And if a soul was ever to approach the clearing on that day, they would hear, so faint it almost couldn't be heard, a woman weeping.
____________________________________________Nepi has realized that her tears, her blossoms, could calm life not just physically, but to their very souls. Specifically, they allow one to depart from the land of the living without strife. This is why, and how, weeping brings Nepi happiness. She cannot bear to see the pain of another, and knows, like her companion, her tears can bring them peace. She becomes sad because she sees souls struggling to depart, and through her tears, she helps them.
____________________________________________Though humans know it not, wild Life in the forest has come to understand Nepi's capability. The clearing is considered haunted by humans- a weeping sound, one day a year when the try is full bloom, small blossoms forming randomly, in a place where life comes to die. Yet, to those who understand the unspoken life, Nepi's clearing is sacred. Nepi rarely travels far from it, for she knows how the forest has come to accept her. She weeps, not for herself, but for life itself.
