There is a certain night in the year, that occurs each and every year on the same date. It is a night in which both madness and witch's magic are suppressed. On this night, the moon is covered with an unnatural darkness, as if someone has dyed the moon black and left it to hang in the sky, leaving it to shine a black light upon the world as the stars twinkled around it. On this night, the moon appears black and flat in the sky.
This is the night of the black paper moon.
–
Under the black paper moon, sitting in the chilled night, a man was staring up at the stars that surrounded the blackened moon. His arms were crossed loosely over his chest as the sparks of light from the stars reflected as small pinpricks in his eyes. He let out a small breath, not quite a sigh. Leaning his chin against his chest, he closed his eyes and blocked out the star-sparks. He knew he was waiting for someone, but what he didn't know, was who he was waiting for.
"Hello there, little one." He didn't look up as he heard the familiar voice behind him. The soft vibrations of a woman's voice were not what had served to alert him. He had sensed her approach before she even let him know she was there. The nickname, 'little one', was familiar, yet in a distant sort of way.
"You're came again, this year," he said simply. She came closer to him, so she was standing just behind him.
"Don't I always?" He sighed, brushing a lock of blood-red hair from his face.
"Yes, you do. But I don't see why." He looked down at the ground, half-covering his mouth with his hand. "Even when I move to another house or apartment, you always seem to find me on this night." Silence from her, then he felt her shape move around. He saw her take a seat next to him, bowing her head as her hands were clasped in her lap.
"...You still don't remember who I am, do you?"
"...No." A sigh from her, a new sadness pronounced in her voice.
"I suppose that's a good thing." They sat there in silence a while, not speaking, only feeling each others' company as the black paper moon hung above them listlessly in the sky.
"Why?" he finally asked. She sighed, he felt a hand cover his gently.
"It's complicated. It's like... like I'm falling into a shadow, and I can't pull myself out, no matter how hard I try or how much breath I take." She placed a second hand over his, gripping gently. "I just don't want to pull you in after me." Slowly, she reached a hand up to his face, pushed aside his bangs. He saw into her eyes, saw the gentle tenderness that he felt from her soul. The gentleness that was being given a temporary reprieve from the darkness that still seemed to be present within. Her hand lingered on his cheek, her eyes still stared into his. "I can still see it in your eyes, the wishes of love and happy times and pumpkin carriages." She pulled her hands away, turned at an angle away from him. "If only fate wasn't so cruel, perhaps I could have helped you find those things I see in your eyes."
They sat there still, feeling the somber atmosphere weighing them down like a thick blanket, not allowing them to move or speak easily. He felt an itch in the back of his mind, something locked away and released at this time every year, on the night when the moon was flimsy as paper and black as pitch. The itch that, the rest of the year, would be nonexistent. Slowly, he moved his own hand so that it was placed over hers, mimicking the action she had performed a moment ago. He heard a sigh from her, saw a sad smile in the dim, black light of the moon.
"If only you knew what I would do to get things how they should be." She looked up, at the glittering stars that surrounded the blacked-out moon. "I would gather up and crush all of the stars in the sky if I could, just to reshape them and create a place where I could watch over you with the moon." He sat, silent. He felt a sadness that filled his body, like he should be remembering something but couldn't. She turned back to him suddenly, returning the gentle grip he had on her hand. With her free hand, she reached out and touched his neck. She slipped her fingers under his collar a moment and pulled the string that was around his neck until the pendant slipped out. A single, simple gray cross hung on a black string. Her smile gentled, became less somber when she saw it. "You still have this," she stated, not questioned.
"I've had it ever since I was little. I never go a day without wearing it." He glanced down to it, where it sat in her palm as the string tugged gently at his neck. "...You gave this to me." Another statement that was not a question. She nodded, running her thumb over the edges.
"I did. I pulled what is within it from my own, dark depths. I hoped it would keep you safe, at least give you luck." The sadness returned to her smile. "I suppose it has, seeing your position now. I always knew you would make your own destiny, and here you are. I am very proud of what you have achieved."
"...By my position, I should have killed you the moment I saw you. But... why do I feel like I shouldn't?" Her expression hardened
"You honestly should, with what I've done. To people, to my kind, to my own child even..." She released the cross and took her hand from his grasp, placing both into her lap. Her fingers curled up and clenched. "You know, you're the only reason I don't break, that I don't surrender to the darkness within my own body... You are my everything, all I have left. As long as I have you, I won't surrender." He processed this slowly, let out a breath of air.
"I don't know who you really should be to me, but I get a feeling in my soul that I can trust what you say." She looked up at the black sickle in the sky, which was dimming as the stars winked out one by one for the night.
"It's almost time for me to go," she whispered to the sky. Slowly, she turned to him again and opened her arms to him. "Would it be alright, if I..." he smiled and, reaching out his arms, he pulled her into a loose embrace. They held on like this for a moment, she whispered softly into his ear. "Well, goodbye then, I'll be seeing you next year, when the Black Paper Moon rises into the sky again." She stood up slightly, still slightly stooped over where he sat on the bench, and touched her lips to his forehead. "Take care until then, my little Fairy Blue." Then, she was gone, the dim spark of her fallen teardrop still on his face.
–
The sun was rising slowly in the east, snickering as it brought the dawn and the end to the night of the Black Paper Moon. He rubbed his eyes and sat up, looking around. He was on a bench, he didn't know how or why. Most likely he had gotten drunk again. He stood and adjusted his tie, heading for home to begin a new day. He paused, and plucked something from his blazer. A single thread of yellow hair hung from between his thumb and forefinger. He stared at it, an itch in his mind fading, then he tossed it aside and went along on his way.
–
She awoke in her own bed, rested and refreshed. She glanced at the clock, then pulled herself up and stretched. It must have been another late night in her lab, no doubt. She had just tossed herself onto her bed and slept the night away. She rubbed the back of her hand against her face, then pulled it back, finding it damp. A small mirror near her bed told of tear-stains running sideways down her cheeks. Scowling, she wiped them off and went off.