Monologue

Dawn breaks through the night and the village awakens in a hushed symphony of nature's melodies. Golden sunlight casts a warm glow over the paths and the shadow figures that populate the village. I stand by the window and watch from inside the house how the villagers go about their new day. None of them are interested in us, taking refuge in one of their buildings.

Since I can't feel any malicious or evil energy emitting from them, I decide to step outside. Though before I'm closing the door behind me I turn around and look at Airi. "I'll go explore the city, I'll be right back."

The villagers move with the same graceful purpose as they did during the night, their forms still shrouded in gentle obscurity. I sort of expected them to change their form once the sun is out. 

I carefully walk around the village, not really hoping to find anything, I just want to explore this quaint village and its peaceful denizens. I don't want to offend any of them, so I walk past them with thoughtful steps and a respectful distance.

I pass by small gardens, vibrant with oversized flora, tended to by gentle hands that coax life from the earth. The villagers' movements are a dance of harmony and grace, their actions a seamless extension of the natural world around them. They definitely feel and look otherworldly, but not as intimidatingly divine and mighty as the other spirits that we have encountered so far. 

It really does feel comforting to just be in their midst, just observing. Strangely enough they truly aren't interested in me, sometimes just briefly glancing to my direction and resuming their tasks.

Some villagers gather around a communal fire pit, where pots bubble with fragrant concoctions. The aroma that wafts through the air carries the essence of herbs and forest blooms, infusing the village with a comforting, earthy scent.

Others work with skillful hands, crafting tools and implements from materials sourced directly from the forest. They must be knowledgeable of the domain and the resources it provides.

The village seems to pulse with life, each inhabitant a thread in the intricate tapestry that binds them to the ancient forest. Though their forms remain shadowy and indistinct, their presence is palpable, a proof to the deep connection they share with the natural world.

As I wander, I find myself drawn to a small communal space where villagers have gathered. They sit in a circle, silently. Or at least that's how I perceive it. They pass around offerings of fruits and foraged treasures, each gesture a silent expression of shared gratitude.

Approaching the circle carefully, I am met with nods of acknowledgment, a silent welcome into their midst. Though our words may be absent, the warmth of their reception speaks volumes.

One of them gestures to me to sit down as well, so I take a seat into the circle, feeling the pulse of the village's heartbeat beneath me. Together, we bask in the gentle embrace of the forest, sharing in the quiet wisdom that flows through this sacred community. Without a word, one of the villagers extends a hand towards a woven basket filled with vibrant, oversized fruits, a silent offering of sustenance. I accept it with a bow of gratitude. The figure then points towards the house where Airi and I have settled and I understand that the fruit is meant for her. I was getting slightly nervous, since I can't eat the strange looking fruit, but I didn't want to offend their kind gesture. I deeply bow again. "Thank you very much." My voice seems to echo through the village. For a while longer we sit in silence, enjoying the warm sunlight and the gentle breeze carrying the scents of the earthly surroundings through the village. Each interaction, though wordless, carries a weight of significance, a reminder that communication transcends language, and that the heart can speak volumes in the language of understanding.

One figure after another stands up from the circle and resumes their day elsewhere. As the last one leaves the circle, I also head back to the house.

"I'm back home." No reply. I had the small hope that Airi woke up in the meantime. 

She still lays on the matts, unmoved from when I left earlier in the day. She said that she no longer has any human desires like hunger and thirst, but surely the fruit that I got from the villager might be of use. I take a closer look at it, turning it around in my hands. Its shape resembles a honey melon, but it has a long stem with a colourful flower attached to it. The outside of the fruit has a wavy pattern in different shades of red and blue. 

Judging it solely on its looks, my first instinct would be that this fruit is poisonous. But what do I know about produce from the in-between realm. 

I sit down beside Airi. "I went around in the village and it is really weird that they don't mind our presence at all. I even got this fruit from one of them." I hold up the fruit in front of her. "You have to tell me what it tastes like after you wake up. Though, I'm not quite sure how long this stays fresh, so you should wake up soon." 

No reaction. 

I can see her chest slowly moving up and down and I'm glad that deities at least breathe. 

Otherwise I wouldn't have a clue if she was alive or not.

I gently touch her cheeks and am surprised by the unusual coldness of her skin. She wasn't so cold when I carried her here during nightfall. A chill settles in my heart.

And even before that, she would always have this warmth radiating from her just like her aura itself. Carefully, I put my hands just above her face and feel her slight breathing on my fingertips. Why is she so cold?

I jump up and begin to frantically look for more blankets to cover her. Though, I'm sure that it was the confrontation with the nameless spirit of the hidden garden that has left this icy mark on her. With another woven blanket that I found inside a closet in the corner of the room, I gently wrap her within it. However the coldness prevails, unaffected by the remedies provided outside her inner spirit. 

If it wasn't her body that fell into this icy spell, then what can I do to support her inner strength? 

"I'm not quite sure if you can hear me, Airi, but I hope you do. Someway or another, this is the only thing that I can do for you right now." I sit down again beside her and pat her on top of the blankets. "If this iciness that you are emitting is rooted by your weakened state of heart and mind, then I will do my best to distract you as best as possible to bring out this warm fuzzy energy that you always have."

I observe her peacefully sleeping expression. Maybe my words can reach her and awaken her spirit along with her consciousness. 

"Ever since meeting you I've learned countless things. Not even considering the things about the heavenly realm, but also about myself and my surroundings. I never did not believe in anything that Chiye told me about. At first those were just fascinating stories, making up the origin of our country. My grandma would tell us about most of the things, so either way, I grew up with all this information. But honestly, I never really believed for them to be true. Maybe some overly exaggerated stories that might have happened a long time ago and that entertained the people and explained the mysterious world surrounding them." I sneak my hand under the blankets and hold her hand, stroking her fingers with my thumb, trying to rub off the coldness.

"I heard your story countless times as well. Who wouldn't know about the lunar princess that didn't understand love?" I chuckle a bit.

"To be perfectly honest, in my imagination you were beautiful indeed. But also very arrogant and narcissistic. Even though your fate and the tasks were unfair from the very beginning, I somehow thought that it must be your personality that made it justifiable." I squeeze her hand a little bit.

"Maybe it was lost in translation and the retelling over the centuries, but the way your tale is phrased, it sounds like you were some love hungry beauty whose only trait was being the most beautiful deity. And your only flaw was not understanding love. No one was able to teach you, to show it to you and then you were banned to the earthly realm, having to complete two tasks to learn about love that way." My overall tone is casual, but I can feel how my voice gets a tad darker. "Who would have thought that my imagination was so far off? Who could have ever imagined that the tool that your parents have sent for aiding you in your tasks was me?" My second hand also slides under the warm blanket, holding onto her slender hand as well. With both of my hands I'm gently stroking her hand. It feels delicate and despite the unusual cold touch, her hand is smooth, her fingers fine and wispy. 

"I should probably apologise for that since I'm so far from the truth that it's more than embarrassing. You aren't arrogant, not even in the slightest. And you are certainly not narcissistic. What you are is beautiful indeed, but you are also compassionate and empathic. You are kind and playful." I chuckle escapes from my lips. 

"Our first meeting was really a mess." I smirk as the memory flickers through my inner eyes.

"I was so nervous. Since I still thought that you were Chiye at that moment back in her room, I was in just so much awe that it was really difficult to understand the situation. I didn't believe that this short unconscious moment would cause Chiye to suddenly be so aggressive and outright bold. I was happy, not going to lie about that, but it was so out of nowhere." My grin deepens.

"You could've kept the act up for a little more and I would've gladly accepted it. But it was good that you slipped up on your tone in the end, so that I was able to tell that it wasn't really Chiye."

I observe her face vigilantly. 

It is absurd, but now that she isn't emitting her divine aura, I can take a closer look at her.

She is the embodiment of ethereal beauty, behind her closed eyelids are eyes that look like pools of liquid moonlight. Her features are delicate, bearing an innocence that contradicts the depth of her soul. It is like every line and contour was meticulously crafted, creating a timeless grace. 

Her presence, though weakened now, exudes a magnetic allure, drawing anyone close into her orbit. Her heart might be filled with a desire for genuine love, but it remains a mystery, like a puzzle that no one was able to unravel.

She is objectively speaking the most beautiful woman that my humble eyes have ever laid upon.

There couldn't be anyone on the entire planet earth that wouldn't agree with me. It makes perfect sense that Airi set the beauty standard of the entire country in the past.

Maybe it is a good thing that she isn't really human, but rather a goddess. Because if she were, the uglies of the human world would have undoubtedly sullied her. It is for the greater good that no mortal human could ever get a hold of her. Me included. I wouldn't dare to think that I'm someone so special that I was the only one in the entire human history capable of helping her. 

Everything that led us to be here now was nothing more than a mere coincidence of fortunate and unfortunate events. A chain of occurrences that eventually somehow might be a solution to her ordeal.

The only thing that I can't control and what differentiates me from others is the fact that I can see the red threads of fate. I gently feel the outline of Airi's pinky finger. It's her right hand, so I wouldn't be able to make out a red thread attached to it anyways, besides the other obvious fact that the strings aren't tangible. 

"I always wondered why I was able to see them. The red threads." I start my monologue again in a less playful tone. 

"There was this one incident during my childhood. There was never a moment where I couldn't see them, So I thought that everyone else also did. And seeing my parents who are connected to one another made me assume that every couple should be connected by their red strings."

I lower my gaze, looking at our hands underneath the blankets.

"It was our neighbours. My parents knew about the things I saw, but naturally couldn't understand it themselves, since they couldn't perceive it. I think they thought that it was just my imagination that took over. Well, the family lived next door and we were befriended with the entire street where our house is. The neighbouring family consists of both parents and twin girls, who are older than me. The couple wasn't connected by their red threads, which I found odd, since in my eyes you simply had to be tied together to be as happy as my parents are. We had a good relationship with another, sometimes bringing food over or looking over the house while the others were on vacation."

My fingers begin to fidget. 

"Usually when I tell others why I grew up with my grandparents I say that my parents work so much that they knew that they couldn't take care of me in the way they wanted to. It is true in some way, but it was mostly due to the incident that I caused. I was four years old and waited for my parents to return home from work at the neighbours place. From the outside the twin's parents had a good, just ordinary marriage. Nothing grand, but modest and well-grounded. And then there was the brother of the husband. It was pure coincidence that I was present on that day, but the brother-in-law came over to deliver some vegetables from his farm and was invited inside for some tea."

For the next following events I need to take a short break and overcome my inner barricade. I take a deep breath and collect my words.

"He came inside the living room, where I was playing alone and without a second glance it was clear to me that the wife and her brother-in-law are connected by their red threads of fate. I pointed it out and except for their initial confusion, I could tell that they had a better connection with one another than her real husband. But they didn't put any weight on my words and continued their light conversation. It was so painfully obvious that they are a better match together. I couldn't have been the first person to notice that as well. At some point the husband came home and through the eyes of a child, who could just see more than others, I blurted it out again. That they are not a good match, why they married, when his wife and his brother were a better match, that they can't be as happy with another since they are not tied together."

I ruffle through my hair with my left hand, the next part is quite uncomfortable.

"I spoke like a waterfall. I just blurted it all out, how couples are connected by a red thread on their fingers, how I could see theirs and that the wife chose the wrong brother. It was awful, but I was too young to understand that, I… wanted them to be happy, just the way my parents are. Well, the husband got angrier with every word that spilt out of me and the other two adults were too shocked, probably feeling caught. It turned out that the husband had suspected their mutual interest for another. A huge fight broke out and it was really ugly. In the end they got a divorce, the brother and ex-wife each got disowned from their families, the twins remained with their father. In that neighbourhood this incident was the biggest scandal for a long while and I caused it. It was said that I just so happened to have a good hunch and that they would have divorced anyway at some point in the future. The twins resented me though, which I can't even object. I caused their family to break off and have their mother get a bad reputation. Rumour has it that she had a secret affair with her brother-in-law. There was no substantial evidence for that, but it was the most logical to assume. However, the story didn't end after that, the twins started to spread the rumour about me that I was the devil with evil eyes who could destroy the life of the people around me. I guess in their eyes I was just exactly that. The rumour got out of hand and I couldn't even go out that much without getting strange looks." 

I pause again, the memories of my childhood at my parents place welling up inside of me. 

"Regardless of that, it wasn't me who suffered the most. Apparently, the ex-wife's ungrounded bad reputation stuck to her like glue wherever she tried to settle anew. The brother as well. He couldn't continue to work at the family's farm, which he would have inherited eventually, so he was forced to leave and tried to find new work at a different farm. But being the brother who caused his older brother to divorce and splitting up a good family made it very difficult."

I grit my teeth. "Even if they weren't fated for another, they all could have had just a good enough life and future either way. Instead I made a complete mess out of it."

I bury my face into my left hand and sigh. 

"In the end my parents sent me to my grandparents' place, I wouldn't have been able to grow up without any backlash under those circumstances back at my hometown. It was at that time that I decided to never bring up the red threads again and to not meddle with anyone's fated love anymore. It only caused distress and unpleasant confrontations."

I briefly glance at Airi's face, still motionless and quiet. 

The sunlight already gave way to the moonlight a while ago and the silvery gentle light paints the room in a white shimmer, highlighting Airi's presence. 

"Nevertheless, if it wasn't for that incident, I wouldn't have met Chiye. Which in turn means that I wouldn't have met you as well." I try to smile a bit, but it feels difficult.

Indeed, if I didn't cause all that misery, I probably wouldn't have moved into my grandparents' place at all. Or maybe, I would have done so either way, but not so soon. 

In the end it really doesn't matter to dwell on that so much, since everything has already happened. I moved to my grandparents' place in the mountains, I did meet Chiye and befriended her and I did encounter Airi.

"Do you think that was predestined? If my eyes are really your tool to understand true love, then wouldn't I have met you regardless? Or was it all planned out? Did I play into some divine game of fates?" I firmly hold onto her hand and sigh deeply.

"The question about fate or not is really difficult, it's not like I could just go and ask someone if that was all coincidence or if everything ever was already prepared for. Though, we might be able to find someone at least in this realm rather than on earth."

I let go of her hands and lay down beside Airi. Sitting with my legs crossed, over someone beneath you is exhausting after a while. I cross my arms behind my head and look upon the ceiling of this rustic house. Some vines have found their way inside, crawling along the ceiling.

The glowing silvery light of the moon through the window is the only thing illuminating the room. It won't be nightfall for so long, so there is no point in trying to look for another light source. The air carries a gentle coolness, cradling the space in a comforting embrace and it smells like moss and earth. I don't know how much time has passed back in the earthly realm, but certainly feels like forever here in the in-between realm. 

I'm just glad that I don't have any hunger or thirst yet. I also don't necessarily feel sleepy. Being awake for another night sure is strange. Nightfall and daybreak don't have any big influence on the lives here like for us humans.

"I don't believe in something like fate to be honest. Especially not in fated love. Shouldn't everyone be able to decide for themselves? I feel like most of the things in life aren't as simple as fate. How can you say that the degree that you chose is the one that is fated for you? Or the job that you get? How's any of this fate? Isn't everyone just going about their life, making decisions and then trying to make the best out of it in hopes of being the most satisfied with the result?

And even if you may fail or it turns out to be a mistake, wouldn't anyone just have the chance to try it anew? I can't know for sure if what I studied for is truly the best for me, but it just means that I now have the opportunity and the privilege to make it to be the best decision. Same goes for love." I follow the specks of dust within the ray of moonlight inside the room.

"If every human would wait for their partner, then mankind would probably go extinct. Isn't love about learning, trying and communicating? Certainly, the thought of having exactly one perfect partner is wonderful, but what's the point if you can't know who it is? Does it mean that fated partners won't ever find a flaw in their partner? That can't be, since humans are unique individuals and even if you are with your predestined partner, there simply couldn't be any flaws at all. There is no such thing as your perfect partner. The perfect partner is someone who comes close to that after having to learn, adapt, compromise and understand the other one." 

I can feel my temper rising within me. 

"Maybe I'm just bitter." 

I raise my right hand, observing my right thumb. No red thread. 

My palm breaks the ray of moonlight and wouldn't have been surprised if the glimmer would be warm somehow. 

The speckles of dust twinkle, reflecting the silvery light like miniature stars existing only in this beam of light.

I form a fist with my hand, trying to catch as many stars as possible. 

"But it is on me to take my fate in my own hands. I didn't dare to do so in that aspect before I met you. I was content with having Chiye simply in my life. That was enough, but I was just a coward. However, I will give it all my best now. I will get Chiye back to the earthly realm and bring you back home to the lunar kingdom as well." 

I slowly open my palm, releasing the stars and whirling up the others with my movement. 

"I will do my best as well." 

Airi's quiet whisper makes me jolt. I turn around and see her looking at me. Her eyes are only half-open, teasing the beautiful colour behind her eyelids.

"How are you feeling?" I kneel over her, gently touching her cheek. Her skin is still cold, but not as cold as before. 

She closes her eyes again. "I'm tired. I feel like sleeping for another century." Her voice comes out muffled and her exhaustion is palpable.

I tuck her tighter inside the blankets and she sighs in a comforting way.

"Take your time, I will be here when you wake up."

I softly stroke her dark hair.

"I won't be long." Her voice is a mere murmur. And she nestles her head into my palm.

"Sleep tight."

"Tell me more about everything." She breathes her wish out and is asleep again.

I continue to stroke her hair.

After a while I lay down beside her again, patting the top of her blankets.

As the night wears on I abide by her wish and continue to talk about just anything. 

Stories from my shared childhood with Chiye. Our school days and all the other fun things that warm up my heart. 

My monologue continues on and accompanies the light shifting with the passage of time, casting ever-changing patterns on the wall. 

If my narrative helps Airi to recover, then I will continue to speak until my throat is dried out, my mouth tired and my voice completely gone. And even then, I would still try to endure it and describe to her my thoughts and memories as best as possible.

Even though it is only my voice that fills the air, I hope that it will reach her, enough for her to draw strength from it. And until that happens, I will carry on for as many nights and days she will need.