Disclaimers: Tohou Project and its characters are the property of ZUN and Team Shanghai Alice.

Waking Ghosts

The memories came to her in little flashes. Hair the color of moonlight. Brown eyes, dark and deep. They were bottomless wells of kindness, shining for the world to see. Shining for Mokou's pleasure. The shy twist of a smile the first time they kissed. Skin, illuminated by the light of the fire the first time they made love. They bombarded her in sleep and Mokou shifted in the futon restlessly. The memories brought with them companions, emotions she had long pushed to the side and settled for the dullness of the day-to-day. She became re-acquainted with them immediately, and they crushed her with the weight of it all. They clawed at her from inside her chest and she felt as if she was suffocating.

Her eyes flashed open and she blankly stared up at the thatched ceiling of her cottage. Her covers had been kicked aside and the fire had died down, the flames dancing low in the ashes of the hearth. By the time she recognized her own home the dream had slipped away through the cracks of her cottage and flown off into the night.

-x-x-x-

The stranger came again the next day. This time she did not appear to be lost; she had deliberately sought out the clearing in order to find Mokou. When she arrived Mokou was in the middle of replacing the layers of dried reeds. Yesterday she had fixed the patches that needed replacing but somehow when she woke up this morning it hadn't been enough. She felt restless and wild as if a great fire was beginning to build inside. So she had ripped all of the reeds off, even the ones she had replaced yesterday and started layering the roof with a new set. Her cottage was small, so it was a day's work at most.

She felt empty since she had woken, breakfast had done nothing to alleviate the unknown need inside her nor did the flurry of activity make a difference. Refusing to face the emotions she worked even harder. The sun shone down on her from directly above and despite the chill in the air she had started to sweat. Rolling up her sleeves she walked over to the well and picked up the ladle for a drink of water.

As she took in a mouthful of cold water she heard a voice behind her.

"Good day, Fujiwara-san!" Came the cheery greeting and Mokou almost choked when she recognized the voice.

Swallowing quickly, she turned to the visitor," What are you doing here?" Her words were far from welcoming and her countenance was lit by a scowl but the woman was not put off by the attitude.

The stranger held up the parcel she carried, "I'm here to repay yesterday's kindness."

"I don't want it and I don't want you here," Mokou threw the ladle down and approached the woman with a feral snarl on her face. She expected the woman to back away but the stranger stood her ground until Mokou's face was inches from hers.

Vulnerability shone from the depths but curiosity was also there, lurking in the iris and pupils. The woman's lips trembled momentarily before she tightened her lips together. Her skin is really smooth, her lips the color of coral. Mokou's heart began to pound in her chest as she realized she was close enough to smell the woman. A subtle, gentle yet sweet scent clung to her and Mokou was not aware she had begun to move even closer.

"Fujiwara-san..." A whisper was all it took to bring Mokou back to her senses. Her eyes became frosty, her lips a twist of displeasure.

"Go away," Mokou ground out between gritted teeth. She was twice as angry all of a sudden and she wanted to strike out but held herself back. "Don't come back here. Ever."

Before the woman's hurt could register, Mokou turned, her long pale violet hair a silk blanket as it danced in the wind. Striding to her cottage Mokou closed the door behind her firmly, loudly, giving the woman the sign that she would not emerge as long she remained.

Mokou stood with her back braced against the door and listened. But for the first few moments she couldn't hear a thing. The pounding of her heart was much too loud. Just what had she been doing? What had been her intention when she had drawn so close to the woman? By the time her heartbeat quieted Mokou could only detect the silence of the forest. Sliding the door open she found no presence nearby. But the parcel had been left in front of the door.

"That fool!" Mokou hissed as she unwrapped the blue cloth. Three containers and a small jar had been wrapped together, all of them carrying food. Scents of side dishes that Mokou did not typically prepare for herself wafted up from the bentou boxes. The jar was filled with pickled plums. She covered the containers and took them into the cottage, an aggravated sigh leaving her.

"Too much for one person," she muttered to herself.

-x-x-x-

Kaguya's eyes widened in surprise, "She returned with food? And you turned her away?"

Mokou nodded as she took a sip of sake. Every forthnight or so the former Lunarian would find her way to Mokou's home with a large bottle or two of sake in tow. They would drink and talk until every drop was gone. But mostly they would drink. Of the two, Kaguya was the talkative one and she was never bothered by the taciturn nature Mokou displayed. What truly surprised Kaguya tonight was the unusually chatty mood of Mokou's. Humans ended lost in the Bamboo Forest all of the time and usually Mokou guided them back to a path they could recognize. But she never spoke about them like this. Nor did she get angry at them in the manner she was obviously angry at the woman. But Kaguya could see Mokou was not truly vexed at the woman, but at herself. Somehow this stranger had been able to affect Mokou in a way no one else had been able to in a very long time.

"So what did you do?" Kaguya asked, glancing at the other woman from the corner of her eyes. Her voice was lazy, disguising the curiosity she felt stirring deep inside.

"I ate it. Would have been a wasteful to throw away after all," Mokou replied as she stared into her drink before downing all of it. Her voice was slower now and Kaguya realized the second bottle was almost empty. It wouldn't take long for sleep to claim the both of them now.

"I'll get the futons," Mokou offered standing woozily and Kaguya nodded as she refilled the sake cups with the last of the alcohol.

Later, as the night wind rustled through the bamboo forest surrounding the cottage and they were lying in their respective futons, side by side, Kaguya called Mokou's name.

"What?" The response that came was slurry with drink and sleep.

"You should not turn her away," the Kaguya advised as she stared up at the ceiling of the cottage.

"Don't be ridiculous!" Mokou scoffed. Silence drifted in between them and just when Kaguya thought Mokou was asleep she heard the woman mutter in a low voice, "...she's no Keine."

The sleepy feeling that had gently covered Kaguya departed swiftly as her eyes widened. She hadn't heard Mokou utter that name in over a hundred years. She thought Keine had been forgotten. Even now the long-deceased woman was a hazy memory for Kaguya. She had lived for so long and would continue living that even this moment would one day vanish from her memory. One day it would be the same for Mokou as well. Sleep gradually returned with a feeling of melancholia she couldn't shake.

To be continued.

Thank you readers for the alerts and favorites.