Seventh Evening of the Full Moon

She opened her eyes. A thick mist of crimson and ivory surrounded her as she drifted through the vastness of space. Everywhere she turned, she found no signs of life. All was quiet.

"... o..."

Her people. Her "daughters." Her beloved. No one was to be found. Only the thick mist that slowly drifted around her.

"... i... e..."

Maybe this was what death was really like... To lose everything and everyone she ever cared about... As if everything became nothing in the end.

If she could, then she would give anything to go back to her old life; unfortunately, she knew she had nothing. Not even a purpose.

"... iy... me..."

Maybe, this was the fate of all soul-

"... ome...!"

She heard something. Something faint, yet familiar.

"Chi... o...!"

Left. Right. She hurriedly searched for the origin of the sound.

"Ch... ome...!"

The mist started to thin as the sound got louder. Soon, she was able to make out a silhouette. It was faint, yet it seemed like a person.

"... iyome...!"

The voice. She didn't understand why, but it made her heart race. All she knew was that she had to reach that figure.

"Chiyo...!"

The closer she got, the thinner the mist became. She could then make out the figure of a man, whose voice kept calling out to her.

The man hurriedly raced through the subsiding mist. Heart pounding. Chest panting. What kept him going was the sight of the woman. Nothing was going to stop him. Nothing was going to slow him down. The closer he got to her, the more he wanted to cry out...

"Chiyome!"

Her heart kept beating harder and faster. Her body was restless. She kept moving. She didn't want to stop. She wanted to cry out...

"Nobu!"

The faster she ran, the more she called out his name. Soon, the mist had completely subsided, allowing her to see the face of her beloved.

With blood stained on his body, the man looked worse for wear. He was breathing heavily as if he had come back from a brutal war. He gazed at the woman before him.

Watching tears run down his stained face, she couldn't help but shed her own. As her lips slowly formed a smile, so did his. Soon, they found themselves locking each other in a warm embrace.

She rubbed her face against his sleeve to wipe off her tears while he removed her hair clip to let her hair down. Their heads snuggled with each other as his hand stroked her long, black hair. They looked up. Eyes locking with each other. As she closed her eyes, she readied her lips to meet with his... Only for a leaf to land on her lips.

Chiyome opened her eyes to the sight of a wooden celing. When she lifted herself up from the floor, the leaf on her lips fell onto her lap. Picking it up, she carefully examined it.

She took in her surroundings. The ground in front of her was covered in white pebbles. Small stones were used to line a curved path through the pebbles while large stones of varying forms were planted around. Bounded on the other end of the zen garden was a collection of bushes, which gave the concrete wall behind it a celadon color. A leaf fell from a tree near her. A light breeze blew the leaf toward her. It landed on the pebbles near her feet.

Another breeze blew her way. She could have sworn that it had the aroma of early summer.

In the mansion behind her, she could hear a set of footsteps, accompanied by a voice full of excitement. She could then hear a second pair of footsteps enter the room. The first voice started to get frantic, making the second voice try to calm the first one down.

Out of curiosity, Chiyome stood up from her place and stood close to the wall separating her from the two voices.

"You see that, Master? It says one lucky person will be granted their heart's desire! Isn't this exciting?!"

"Indeed it is, Mira."

"I can't wait to go to the Tanabata Festival!"

"Heh... Me, too."

"Say, Master..."

"Yes?"

"What's your wish?"

"WTF?!"

Chiyome now had her back leaning against the wall. Her head hung low, making the bangs of her black hair cover her face. She had already stopped listening to the two voices. She was now in her own thoughts.

Looking up, she gazed into the heavens.

"My heart's desire, eh?"

Disclaimer:
Ayakashi: Ghost Guild (C) Zynga Japan

Note:
This is initially a one-shot. I may continue this if I can think of a good plot... Most likely after I've finished the Interstellar Tanabata Festival event.