Disclaimer: I own neither the Touhou Project nor Osana Reimu and ReiReimu.

Reimu arrived in her room, and slid the door shut behind her. She slumped against the cushions strown about on the floor. With a deep sigh, Reimu decided to start cleaning the shrine, to keep her mind off of troubling thoughts.

She had reached the storage shed, which was now relatively empty, when she noticed that at the back lay something covered in a purple blanket.

"Strange..." She had never noticed it before, but maybe it was because the shed had always been a disaster up until now. She shuffled over and pulled the blanket off, tossing it aside.

Underneath lay a simple body mirror, decorated with a smooth wooden frame. What was most intriguing was that the glass seemed to sparkle, even under the faint light of the bloody sky.

The shrine maiden ran her fingers over the smooth glass of the mirror. It was cold to the touch, but otherwise completely unstained by her fingers. Perhaps it was a magical artifact of some kind.

Reimu looked up at her reflection. She saw a tired young woman, damaged by the world. She saw bags under this woman's eyes, and her skin was quite pale. Then she realized that the person she saw in the mirror was none other than herself.

But then her reflection smiled. Reimu jumped back with a small gasp. It was her reflection, but not her reflection. It was now someone else, a woman somewhat older than she was. The woman had a healthy glow about her skin, and Reimu saw that she was like that woman. She had the woman's eyes, face, hair, clothes, it was almost as if she were looking at herself, but older. Could it be...?

"Reimu, don't you remember me?"

It was. That woman was her mother. Reimu reached out to the mirror once again, and placed her hand where her mother's was. It was warm to the touch.

"...Mom?"

The woman smiled gently. "Reimu, my daughter. It's been so long since we've last spoken. How have you been?"

As if she had woken up from a dream, memories rushed back into the shrine maiden's head, as if her mother had unlocked a chest in her head filled with these memories and they had come surging back. Then she remembered that day when her mother and Rumia hadn't returned. She choked back a sob. "You... You never came back..."

Now it was her mother's turn to cry. Although she still had that gentle smile on her face, tears streamed down her face. "Oh, my Reimu... I couldn't let Rumia die. I watched you grow up, every day of it. I watched my daughter play with her friends, I watched her pick flowers, I watched her... I watched her..." She paused, staring into Reimu's eyes. "It pained me so much to know that I couldn't be there for you. That you had to grow up by yourself without me there. But you've grown up, so strong, my brave daughter. You'll always be my Little Reimu."

"D-don't go. Mommy, please don't go..."

There was a light in the mirror, behind where Reimu's mother stood. She noticed it too, but once again turned back to Reimu. It was like a miracle when her mother rushed out of the mirror and held her tightly in her arms.

"It looks like my time here is up. Don't cry, Reimu, be strong for me..." But even as she said this, her tears mingled with Reimu's own, and the two held each other for many silent moments. At last, Reimu's mother pulled away gently and stood up, turning back to the mirror. But before she walked back into the glass, she turned around one last time with a grin.

"Don't worry about me, Reimu. I'll be happy where I am. We'll see each other soon, farewell, my strong and brave Little Reimu..."

She was gone, faded into that faint light.