Chapter 12

The moon on the sky was brighter than ever, a shade she never knew could marry the sky around the bright objects in the sky. You can by the shades of blue, orange, purple and even grey if it's daytime, dawn, raining, everything.

The colours of the sky will tell you… if you have seen it before of course.

Knowing this, why was the sky red?

The blood red moon above did not frighten her, it was calming in a weird way. The breeze was soft and the brushing of grass against her skin only swept her drowsy mind away from her thoughts.

Laying on the sea of flowers she came to love even if she did not know it's purpose, her long pink waves blending with the greenery thanks to the red hue casting from above.

A rustle in the wind barely caught her attention, something approached her, but her mind could not care.

Her body was completely laxed.

- "Sakura." - the voice called out. - "I´ve missed you." - they spoke in a small brittle voice. Heavy with emotions.

However, the pinket couldn't speak. Her voice was gone as she could only take a deep breath, catching the scent of whoever accompanied her.

Above the characteristic smell of lilies and dirt, the stranger smelled like a whole different world. A spice she wanted to hold onto and dig her face in. instinctively, she turned to face them.

She was faced with a blurry vision as a raging headache kicked in, even as her body refused to cooperate, she tried to reach to that dark silhouette of a person next to her.

- "Don't." - they pleaded. - "You have to wake up." -

Only, she did not want to. Her attempts seemed to push that person away from her, their scent slowly becoming faint and her mind fighting against an uncooperative body.

- "I will be here next time." - she could barely make out their words before they disappeared. Leaving her alone, under the red moon.

Grasping at the ground with newfound strength, she blinked the fogginess away to assess her surroundings.

There she was, sitting on the ground, long white robes covering her feverish body. The red hues covered everything around her. The white lilies and white robe now red under that strange moon.

With a gasp, she found herself under the tree, it was behind her this whole time.

If she wanted, she could touch it. Finally reach for it and feel it. Prove herself it was real and not just an image in her mind.

If only it looked alive.

Long heavy branches she remembered would be covered by lush green leaves and heavy branches now hanged bare twigs from all directions.

The crooked branches now creaked with the pull and push of the wind and no longer held its shine. Almost black wood stared back at her.

- "What is this?" - she gasped. Even as the sea of red lilies was vivid and danced with the wind, she couldn't believe the tree was no longer alive. Shaking off her thoughts, she glanced at the tree, hoping it would just turn back to its original glory.

But it wouldn't.

She no longer itched to touch it, she wished to run away from it.

- "What can I do?" - she pleaded to field around her. - "What do I do?" - her eyes searched for the figure she always ran away from. It had to be there.

- "Are you out there?" - she rose to her feet. - "Please, answer me." - her heels digging into the ground until she found the resolve to move forward and away from the tree.

The heaviness she felt was new, at least her body was responding better each step of the way. The small path of crushed lilies was her only guide. She would follow the creature's steps.

- "I know you're out there." - she tried again, her steps never stopping as she looked around, hoping to see something move in the never-ending sea around her, those white lilies no longer felt the same.

Turning back, she glanced at the tree. Now far from her reach, she could breathe better, and her hands gripped at her robe, holding it closer to her form.

Suddenly, she noticed the moon was back to normal, white and bright above her. The lilies a pure white again.

The pinket took a deep breath, it was all back to normal.

The crickets buzzing in the back along with the croaking of frogs, there was a pond, somewhere nearby. Turning her heel back to the path, she headed further away.

- "Do you know what happened?" - her voice now louder as she felt more aware, her mind was sharp to every small noise around her, her bare feet could make out the small pebbles mixed with the dirt and grass, her nose catching the scent of wet dirt.

She had never been here before, never ventured away from that tree and never thought she would be chasing the creature that scared her the most in her dreams.

And now that she desperately wanted to speak to the creature, she got nothing back. With a frustrated huff, Sakura continued. Small little bright yellow lights floating above a body of water came up in the distance.

With a new resolve, she pushed further, longer and faster strides carried her to the pond. It was large and filled with life.

Now that you think of it, why didn't all these bugs and small animals go near the tree?

Was she the only fool who tried to go near it?

- "If you keep sulking at the water, a frog might jump on you." - a monotone voice spoke.

- "Where are you?" - she gasped, jumping in surprise.

Slowly, from the shrubbery on the other side of the pond, the tall figure stood. - "Are you not afraid?" -

Her eyes squinted, trying to make out their featured. - "No." -

He was very tall. Dark long hair adorned his pale complexion. Beautiful features carved like a marble stone as cold as his gaze on her.

- "Who are you?" - she tried, circling the pound slowly. - "Why are you here?" -

His brows dipped slightly. - "You are the one who comes here." -

- "What?" - she stopped. - "This is my dream." -

- "No." - he tilted his chin forward. - "This is my Infinite Tsukuyomi." - his words did not ring a bell to the pinket. - "You are in my dream." -

Surprised, she glanced around. They were alone aside from the noisy little creature enjoying themselves. - "What does that mean?" -

- "It means." - he stared her down with his sharp and beautiful dark gaze. - "You shouldn't be here." -

The pinket scrunched her small nose at the statement. - "But I am here." - she emphasized. - "And I've been here many times." - she waved her arms around. - "Well, not here exactly. But I have been back there at the tree-" -

- "You did what?" - he interrupted, harshly. His marble mask slowly morphing into anger.

Her shoulders squared at his tone. - "Back there." - she pointed at the direction she came from. - "The tree, where we've met before." -

- "No, we haven't met there before." - she noticed he did not deny ever meeting her at some point.

- "We have met before, haven't we?" -

His anger melted back into his emotionless mask. - "You don't remember me?" -

- "I feel like I have, but I can't remember. Sorry" - she sighed. - "But you do remember me? Don't you?" - she held her breath, not sure if she wanted an answer. Her mind was screaming to ask who else walked in these field, whoever it was back there.

She saw a hint of recognition in his eyes. - "You're Sakura. I would never forget." - his voice was low, as if remembering it hurt.

- "The other person back there called me by my name also." - she pointed out, blurting her thoughts out loud.

- "There isn't anyone else here." - he insisted.

- "Then who did I see?" - the uncertainty of the situation was slowly kicking in. Not only was she in a strange place with a stranger who knew her, she was phased by the possibility of another stranger being around even if he was lying or not.

They weren't alone here.

- "You are probably going crazy." - he shrugged it off and turned to leave.

- "Wait! Where are you going?" - the pinket rushed to follow him.

He glanced at her before shrugging again. - "Do you want to stand by the pond all night?" -

Sakura thought about it, did he meant it would be daytime in a few hours? Was this one of those dreams you live a lifetime and wake up when your life ends? - "Well, I most certainly do not want to go back there." - she huffed, the cold sweat of the back of her neck causing her to shiver slightly.

- "You aren't even dressed to be out here." - he glanced at her bare feet before turning back to stare at a small cabbing.

Was that there the whole time?

- "I didn't really have a choice." - she muttered, but he heard her.

They approached the front porch before he turned to her again. - "Do you wish to enter?" -

Nervously, she glanced around. There was no one around, they were definitely alone there. Would she dare enter someone else's home without even knowing their name?

- "You don't have to if you don't want to." - he stated before kicking the dirt off his boots on the first step and reached the door. - "But it is warm inside and you can rest." -

He was being nice and did not hint at her to be the creepy type.

At this point, she felt like the creep in the field. Dressed in thin robes and walking barefoot, her hair must be filled with twigs and leaved from being on the ground. With one last glance, she tried to find the tree that bothered her greatly.

Nothing.

Just a field of flowers, bushes, that pond filled with insect life and jumping frogs trying to get lunch.

- "Ok." - she answered softly.

- "I'll get you a wet rag to clean up." -

She flinched slightly, forgetting she was all dirty and about to enter his home.

Ups.

Blood rushed to her cheeks, the cool air brushing her fevered skin. - "Thank you." -

- "What did you see?" -

- "What?" - the pinket turned to him, now cleaned and warming up against his fireplace. Dazed from the warm fire and the soft blanket she borrowed.

They now stayed in the middle of the small and cosy room, the rustic kitchen behind them had a kettle on the stove and the wall opposite from the entrance had two doors she only assumed had to be his bedroom and bathroom.

The couch was comfortable, but the rug called for her. The pinket had to enjoy it fully, sitting on the rug and resting her back on the couch.

He favoured an armchair covered in various fur blankets she only assumed he had caught himself. Those little furry creatures had to be sacrificed to feed and keep him warm.

- "You mentioned before, you saw someone." -

- "Oh." - she took a moment. - "I didn't see much; it was all blurry. But I heard them, they called my name." -

- "That's all?" -

- "Well, I'm sorry for being so useless." - she huffed, annoyed at herself. Her mind repeated the scene over and over, but she could not remember a single identifying feature. The red moon and the shadow of the tree did not help at all.

- "Stop that." -

- "You asked!" - she raised her hands in frustration.

- "Useless." - he stated. - "You were never useless, Sakura." - his gaze was soft and confused her.

- "What?" -

- "You always cried about it." -

- "How do you know that?" - her attention turned to the window, it was still dark out and nothing like the warm inside of the cabin. - "When did I- ugh!" -

Out of nowhere, the room started to spin. she gasped for breath and clenched her chest as she doubled over onto the soft rug.

- "Sakura!" - she heard a shout from far away.

Her world turned dark.

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The morning was warmer than expected, a little too warm. With a groan, the pinket tried to kick those heavy sheets off but was interrupted by a jolt of pain.

- "ugh… forgot about that." - her juggled mind tried to make sense of her surroundings as her eyes darted from one corner of this new room to the next and then to the window.

It was bright and sunny outside, the birds chirped and the buzz of nearby pedestrians on their way to and back from their routine life's would echo. But just barely.

Even her mind was foggy and confused. She remembered the fall, missing her buss and having to rely on strangers who were kind.

Very kind.

But her body hurt, everything felt like it burned her skin as she tried to unwrap herself from the fabric.

- "Please, don't do that." - the small gasp and plea came from the door. Turning with difficulty to face this new voice, the pinket couldn't pinpoint this small girl.

- "Who…" - Sakura's voice came out as a raspy groan more than words. Her throat felt constricted and in pain.

The small girl in a dress and dark hair adorned by piggy tails rushed to her side on the floor. - "You moved, again." - she squeaked in worry.

Glancing to her form, looking for what she meant, Sakura found herself half on the floor and half on the futon… her legs tangles between the comforter, sheets and her pillow next to her head.

But the floor was cold, just what she wanted. - "It's ok." - the pinket mumbled back.

- "No!" - the girl placed a tray down. A tray the pinket did not notice at all until now; her mind was not working with her as her eyes could barely stay open. - "You're ill." -

"Ah, that makes sense".

- "Sorry…" - the pinket tried to raise her body but found herself at the mercy of that delightful chill the floor gave her as her muscles ached from just breathing.

The faint sound of more footsteps could be heard before her sight drifted into darkness.

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