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To put it simply, Alfe’s concern wasn’t the singing itself—it was the far more delicate matter of how to put her own feelings into the song.

Looking back over the lyrics of Prayer of Gratitude, the song that had been troubling someone as imaginative as Alfe, it left a very different impression from when I had simply listened to it as music.

To help Alfe unravel it piece by piece, I first wrote out the lyrics of Prayer of Gratitude.

Prayer of Gratitude

Ever since I awoke, I began searching
Who am I?
No one would tell me.

I will keep singing.

Seeing the lyrics written out like this, I realized something.

I had thought it was simply a song with an emotionally moving voice, but in reality, the lyrics themselves were passionately appealing to emotion.

The way it conveyed such a full range of joy, anger, sorrow, and happiness without making any one feeling stand out too obviously to a casual listener was undoubtedly the result of the singer’s extraordinary talent.

According to Alfe, the lyrics were based on the life of the singer herself—Nike.

But that life was completely different from Alfe’s.

Alfe had never once questioned who she was, nor had she ever suffered anxiety over her own identity.

Given that, her difficulty was only natural.

“…I’m not Ms. Nike. How am I supposed to express those emotions? It’s not that I can’t imagine them. But imagination alone can’t beat the real thing. It’ll end up feeling shallow. I love singing too, you know. That’s why I want to express it seriously.”
“I understand what you’re trying to say, Alfe.”

Just from the frustration in her expression and voice, I could tell how much she was struggling, even without her putting everything into words.

“Why don’t we try organizing what we know about Nike first?”

As I made the suggestion, I began tracing through the information we had about Nike’s life.

The repeated question of “Who am I?” stemmed from the fact that Nike had been an amnesiac traveling performer. While singing as part of a theater troupe, she fell in love with a man, and through that love she regained her memories.

But those memories were not something she welcomed.

The words of anguish repeated throughout the lyrics reflected her suffering as she struggled to accept her former self. Yet the song continued as a prayer of gratitude. It was the story of how, through the love she received from her partner, she overcame both her past and the fate that had been imposed upon her, allowing her to love singing once again.

“…So Ms. Nike sings this song because she wants to deliver those feelings to everyone, right?”

As we followed each piece of information together, I could feel Alfe’s imagination gradually expanding.

I wasn’t particularly gifted with imagination myself, but there were many parts of Nike’s lyrics that resonated with me.

Fortunately—or perhaps unfortunately—I had never lost my memories. Instead, I had been born carrying memories of my previous life, which constantly forced me to realize just how little happiness I had known back then.

But now, I felt as though I had already moved beyond that place.

If I had to describe it, it was like looking down on my previous life from a great height—observing it from above.

The real problem was figuring out how to help Alfe imagine something like that as if it were her own experience.

There was no way I could tell her about my previous life. So perhaps the best approach would be to connect it to something that had happened in this life instead.

“…You and I have always been together since we were little, Alfe. You might not remember it, but it was thanks to you that I came to like myself. The person I am now exists because of you… That’s why I think I understand the meaning of these lyrics, at least a little.”

It was a heavily watered-down explanation, but Alfe listened to every word with complete sincerity. Then her cheeks flushed rose-pink, her eyes grew moist, and she nodded.

“Alfe too! Alfe too… Back then, when Lyle used to bully me, and I was weak, and I cried all the time… So I wanted to become stronger. And during the Zersteller, I wanted to show that to you no matter what, Leafa… That’s why… that’s why…!”

Emotion overwhelmed her, and the words caught in her throat.

But I knew.

I knew without a doubt that she understood what I was trying to say.

“Yeah, I know what you mean, Alfe. This song isn’t something only people with dramatic lives like Nike’s can sing. It’s a song about being proud of yourself for wanting to be strong for someone precious to you.”
“If I think about you, Leafa, I can sing it! For me the ‘you’ in this song is Leafa!”

Alfe looked straight at me, her tearful eyes shining brightly.

Ah… Alfe had always been like this.

Imaginative. Honest. Straightforward. And truly beautiful.