Gift-ficlet to ferry-flower on tumblr...
Name from the song Wish by Olivia


The ferry woman of the river Styx hovered from above, waiting patiently, sadly, for the red-haired beauty to pass from her disease. Then known as consumption, the tuberculosis racked final coughs and bright blood from painted lips. The young man holding her shook her, as they repeated their need for each other, their love. Botan was in tears.
Using the back of her kimono to wipe her cheeks dry, she sniffed, trying for a professional air. Satine died, smiling in the arms of her lover. When her spirit appeared just below Botan, still garbed in her gorgeous costume, the ferry-girl allowed her a moment to sob into her hands as a flurry of rose petals floated down around them.
"Christian…"
Swallowing, titling her head to the side, Botan floated her oar to the dancer's level. "I'm sorry, Satine."
She jumped a bit, looking up into purple orbs in minor shock, though understanding quickly flashed across her face. "You… You're to take me to hell then?" A false breath shook the ghost's chest, steeling herself, gazing longingly at her lover. Not ready to be parted yet.
Botan smiled slightly, feeling guilty. "Not exactly… You can say goodbye before we have to go anywhere. Heaven can wait for you for a few minutes…"
Satine raised her head sharply, the beads of her headpiece moving in the slightest, catching dulled light. Botan marvelled her beauty, her story. Just all of her. The human that was a dancer, a singer, an actress, a courtesan, a lover; so purely a woman. A wonderful woman, taken too soon, too quickly after her chance had been offered to her, her wishes and desires within her grasp. There was no avoiding death – everyone had to pass from the mortal world sometime, but it was a shame not every soul could be as full of experience and memory as others were chanced to.
The woman lowered herself to the wailing man's head, kissed him, touched his shoulder, and rested her forehead against his. Botan turned away, wiping away the tears that refused to cease as she gave them a semblance of privacy.
"Very well…"
The ferry-girl turned around again, speaking with bits of her usual cheer "Alright! Time to go, then!" she held a hand out to Satine, helping her to gracefully sit upon the oar without twisting lengths of her dress, allowing the dead woman to wrap her arms around her waist. Botan didn't look back again at the scene below them, not wanting to risk the lasting image it would leave her with for the rest of her years. This was enough. This was heart-breaking enough, and she'd learned better then to do so by now.
Satine however, couldn't tear her eyes away from her death's moment – her friends and her family, standing around her body as the man she loved held on and cried her name. And as she was guided away by the pink-clad grim reaper, she cried for him as well. It would be a sound that Botan would carry in her memory for the rest of her existence.