A light, summer breeze coasts through the banished moon god's mountain garden, caressing two victims of circumstance. 

Bound, raven hair flies on the wind, rustling short bangs while whipping a mid-back ponytail against her silk covered back, "No!" 

The frantic plea of an eighteen year old girl echoes softly above infinite, sparkling streams that stretch through native and exotic plants; created by his limited, earthly-compatible power, multiple lifeforms peacefully coexist with them via air, land, and water. 

"Wait," toffee skin loses vibrancy as she trips over her own, thonged sandals. 

Glancing at bent blades of grass and trampled perennials, there are no obstacles keeping her from the man she was prepared to have dedicated the rest of her entire existence to. 

Cinnamon eyes dart from unharmed toes up bluish purple petals blooming cheerfully around the source of her current dismay. Reaching with a desperate hand for an emotionless Tsukiyomi (T-soo-key-oh-mee), this is the first time he does not budge when she stumbles. 

While regaining her balance, his lack of movement and unphased poise registers within her mind's eye. 

Asking, "Is it because I got drunk?!" much louder than intended, a twinge of judgmental remorse pangs her chest.

Stumbling forward another step, "I'll never drink again!"

Plum lips quiver back and forth between her teeth as she questions if she sounds too desperate or eager to please. Wind fills the gaps of her clothes with a heavy gust as her pearlescent love receives her sacrificial bargain like a lifeless statue.

"If it's because of how I look at you," she scans the ground guiltily before dropping to grab the nearest rock, "I'll gouge my own eyes out if that means I can stay!" 

Holding the jagged rock high in the sky while staring at his gracefully beautiful lack of emotion, her heart slows the gray jagged edges advancing toward her face without him reacting– even in the slightest. 

Watching him out the corner of her eye as she fools the cool breath of blindness whispering against her eyelashes, she grows confused.

He'd really let me. . .? . . .he doesn't want me here. . .that bad?

Thinking over everything she could have possibly done to make him push her away like this, Umeko's arm limps to graze her side before hanging. Dropping the rock to roll down her thigh, eye unscathed, she takes the deepest sigh the like of which her body has never experienced.

If a soul had the ability to shed tears, she felt it before forcing herself to get up.

By the time her eyes are off the ground and back to the pinnacle of her focus, she finds herself looking at a veil of cloudy water that blurs him from her sight.

Time nearly stops when drying lips mouth to him, "Slow down." 

Slack from the charcoal fabric of her bell sleeve, wrap-tie shirt and ankle-length trousers rest against a toffee, athletic frame when the wind abandons them. Haunted by the ghostly presence of lingering peace, serene blue skies with pillowy clouds remain oblivious to the silent destruction of a breaking heart. 

Although a breeze blows against her face to tease straight raven hair, Umeko (oo-may-koh) physically cannot move forward. Touching thin air to be stopped by an invisible force that seems to vibrate against her in ripples, horror-filled eyes burn and water. 

Swallowing down a helpless sob, "Stop this. . ."

Balling shaky fists at her sides, she shuts her eyes and shouts, "Just stop it!" 

Unmoved by her emotional display, the graceful being adorned in golden robes woven with monochrome, blue flowers simply observes. His unseen, left platinum blue and right primordial fire irises witness the girl disorient herself. Side-stepping along the barrier that's fading him away to present an illusion to the mortal, he watches her clearly from the other side. 

The powerful barrier keeps outsiders from entering the garden by completely removing sight of it from the outside. Having reset it just outside her radius, Tsukiyomi successfully blocked all sight of the garden, the mountain entrance, and himself. 

Tears roll down her cheeks as she pats wall-like air with disorganized caution, "Please?!" 

Aggressive prodding becomes side-fist punches against a firm space that continues to get cloudy while changing colors to fill in open space with the sight of stone, "Just wait!" 

Clawing at the vibrating, misty barrier with maximum effort, she suddenly stops when perplexed eyes dart over her hands. Examining tiny slits in her fingers with vine remnants clinging to her hands and wrists, she trembles in disbelief, "How?" 

Sucking up snot through her nose then spitting off to the side to clear her rapidly filling airway, she forces herself to steady her breathing. Slapping the magical sight of leafy green vines climbing a gray mountain wall, she knows it's only air. Making contact with enough pressure to resonate an echo before the illusion vibrates and hardens into what feels like real vines and stone, her breath hitches in her throat. 

Feeling the certainty of tender, green flesh and cool, rough stone, she questions if she got turned around or teleported someplace. 

No. I'm not crazy. I bet he. . .he did this because I make everything worse. 

"But even still. . ."

Muttering even in her own head as she contemplates whether or not she deserved to be kicked out, after everything that's happened between them, Don't I make him feel anything. . .?

Shaking her head, trying to steady her breathing to keep from screaming with a mournful, irritated rage, her voice cracks when the only thing she can manage to utter is his name. 

 ". . .Tsuki. . .YOMI. . .!" 

Accidentally belting it out with more force and fury than she intended, Umeko cringes when his name echoes in the prefecture until her scream fades to an embarrassing silence. 

Bitter eyes of dying hope weeps nothing more than grief and shame. 

Examining every ragged breath that leaves her discouraged form to crumble deeper into despair before his very eyes, he catches sight of her spirit through her eyes. 

The blazing glory of fire that had burned brighter for him each day, is now weakened into a tiny flicker. Signaling how her faith in His decision to free her has dimmed so rapidly, that even a stick of time could outlive how quickly she grew to doubt him. 

The fingers of his left hand flinch when she tries to climb the illusionary vines of the barrier, only to trip with a HUFF and have her body collide with materializing stone. Sliding at an angle to the ground until she rests gently in the grass, she quickly sits up and points straight at him despite being able to see where he is, "I know you're still there!"

His eyes open slightly wider. Leaving her unanswered as he remains gone from her sight, she hugs her knees and tucks her chin to her chest, "Can't you hear me. . .?" 

Raising her head, tears journey down her nose to meet the trail of snot breaking from her upper lip, along the corners of her mouth, and past her chin, "Let's talk about this first!" 

Coughing, clearing her throat and spitting up a wad of phlegm large enough to choke her, Umeko wipes her face clean with the shimmering, soft fabric of her charcoal sleeve. 

Fumbling to retrieve the handkerchief that he gifted to her, that keeps safe behind the outer layer of blouse tucked behind her belt, Umeko dabs her eyes dry. Harshly blowing her nose into the square textile, she steadies her breaths. 

Calmly admiring the embroidery of red plum blossoms on black branches stitched into white cotton, her momentary peace is shattered by reality. Eyes widening in petrified disgust, she throws Tsukiyomi's gift to her on the ground before quietly getting up while her head stays down. 

Turning her back to the mountain and stomping the ornate rag with balled fists and an angry glare, she twists it spitefully into the grass. 

Walking away without another sound, slow steps become a soft jog until she bursts into a doe-like sprint. Eventually, her silhouette shrinks entirely from his view. 

 "Puahahaaa!" 

A tear jerking laugh breaks the stillness around a hunching Tsukiyomi, startling nearby birds into gossiping and taking flight. Snapping the fingers of his right hand close to his face, the abysmal fire iris burns brighter. 

Illuminating the crest of scales around Tsukiyomi's hairline as the wind rustles his hair, a pale horn's tip catches sunlight. 

The ground near a Ryu (ree-yoo) possessed Tsukiyomi rumbles before a gray stone railing supported by four columns rises from the ground. Pearlescent skin of scale-dusted forearms overlap when he bends to relax on the porous ledge. Staring at his reflection of mismatched eyes glowing through smooth running waters, "What a pathetic attempt to spare her." 

A dramatically silent chuckle scrunches his hosts' usually empty expression. Faking a pout on graceful features, "Fragile, fluke of a life meant to fulfill one purpose for only you." 

Raising his right fist and twisting it beside his eye, "So your feeble attempt to protect her is," he mimics a crying baby, "Sending her away," Standing tall, Ryu's cynical sense of humor settles into an outward, dastardly grin, "You've given her, what," jeering, casually cupping the air, "Days of freedom?" 

Stretching both arms above his head until his spine pops, he holds the position with a satisfying exhale, "Soon, I will lead the war that ends all wars." 

Swirls of fire spark to life between open hands in front of his stomach. Spiraling on itself in the shape of a gnarly, glowing crown of manipulatable lava, a three dimensional head-piece hovers above a loosely bound, black-streaked blue ponytail. 

"Birthing a New Era to glorify my rule over the Seven Realms. Nothing that either of you do from here on will matter." 

Raking his teeth over his bottom lip, "But first," he hunches with a sinister, groaning coo, "I will find her."

Tapping his fingers together close to his chest before rubbing his hands together, "Just so you know in advance that she'll be in the comfort of your good hands." 

Bending over the rail far enough to destroy his hosts' reflection with spread fingertips, "As you watch her perform for me until she takes her final breath in the arms of her one, true love." 

Rolling to his back, "Y'know," balancing on the rail as though he's flat on the ground and staring up at the sky, "I can't help but wonder. . ."

Rolling again to face the ground, his stomach rests on the edge of rough, flat stone, "Will she continue to have the audacity to ask for your help while burning alive from her own lust?" 

His top-heavy, planking body dips, plummeting towards the stream before his face stops above the water– and even his hair remains suspended. The water stills and life below the surface is frozen in time as Ryu stares into the reflection's blue-steel eye, "I only ask. . ."

Swinging his body back to his feet, the fiery crown burns brighter before disappearing without a trace, "Since there's been nights," his eyelids lower. 

Sensually running clawed hands over his body, closing his eyes and remembering the sensation of her sweet caresses over sculpted flesh as she lavished him with tender affection, "That she cried out my name." 

A toothy smirk morphs into a short, heinous cackle, "As I beat her senseless," grabbing his dick through his pants with a rolling thrust of his hips, "With your dick." 

Pointing his free hand at a white lily bearing a dignified grin, he feels the meat of his body harden the longer he recalls every dreamy interaction with the precious, Plum Blossom Child. 

Confidence bleeds from his pores, "You can't deny this," he strokes his lengthening excitement through gold silk before cupping a rigid shaft, "Is where she belongs." 

The single, innocent flower plucks itself from the ground, "Where you really want her." 

Releasing his pride, the lily drifts to stand in the center of his upward, open palm, "But then. . ." 

Smoothly bringing the hovering flower and stem to his face above a steady hand, "Such purity would be shrouded in immorality." 

Closing his eyes to inhale its delicate aroma, "Until my arduous labor bears fruit and wine." 

Opening mismatched eyes with a burning haze, "Mm," the innocent flower transforms into a raging fireball before drifting away into ash, "Just watch." 

Forming a determined fist, "The one you would never confess to loving most of all will get fat off our milk." 

Ryu's gibe laughter echoes in the wind throughout the fantastical garden. 

*****

Umeko's eyelids flutter open as she awakens to the warmth of sunlight kissing her cheek. 

Shifting onto her back from a huddled ball, she sprawls out in soft grasses. Lying amidst a bed of closed, purple flowers, she runs her fingers over fragrant buds and lofty leaves. 

"I can't believe I cried myself to sleep like fucking baby," staring up at the sky, "I never want to feel like that again." 

Sighing hopelessly, she reflects on the moments before her outdoor nap. Suddenly sitting up, she brings her knees to her chest, "I honestly didn't think. . .anything could still hurt me so much." 

Hiding her face in her arms to cry, "Anyone," she emphasizes before holding in a hard enough chortle to make her snort. "Not just anyone. He's a god."

Shaking her head in defeat against clothed forearms before banging her forehead against her knees, "Something like this was bound to happen."

We were never meant to be together. . .

Sitting in silence, accepting the truth about the differences between herself and Tsukiyomi, Umeko freezes at the sound of hooves beating the earth. Hearing them grow louder, she realizes they're headed straight for her. 

Transported back to the night she first touched the mountain path she lays a short distance away from, her heart POUNDS inside her head. Vision tunneling as her ears begin to ring, the tormented girl can't seem to shake the memory of her assailant's faces with every blink. A cold sweat blankets her, dripping down her temples and teasing every exhale past her upper lip.

Growing more aware of the hairs on the back of her neck as the weight of her clothes begin to feel too restricting, horse shoes stampede close enough for her to feel the ground shake with every land and push off.

Squeezing her thighs to keep from sinking too far down the rabbit hole, she's forced to think fast if she means to walk away from whatever possible friend or foe is close to trampling her, if not there to help her or rob her. 

Alone, unarmed, and dressed in elegantly simple attire with nowhere to hide beyond the descended mountain path, she's concerned by how disadvantaged she truly is against anyone that wishes her harm. 

Opening her satchel to rummage for anything useful, she crumples into a tiny ball on her right side in hopes of being overlooked when she nearly faints from thinking too hard too fast. 

Swallowing dryly, feeling every hair follicle swell with goose pimples through a sheet of fear-filled sweat, there's no hope left within her reach to grasp if the rider doesn't pass her entirely. Please think I'm dead!