“Enter Mourning Actor, centre stage.” Yae Sakura murmured behind her mask, her head moving this way and that in an effort to locate the source she recognised. She swallowed thickly and dryly, and as though guided by second nature she slid her hand to her katana’s handle. “Imaginenae…” she muttered hoarsely and even though her face — therefore, her expression — was concealed by her mask, anyone could easily tell she was cautious. Which meant neutralising them.

The shrieking that filled the air was loud, piercing and bloodcurdling, and it sent a shudder through her spine that was so potent her entire body visibly shook. She knew that sound from some of her nightmares, the ones she endured after each samsara cycle where she tried to save her sister; a spine-chilling screech that signalled the arrival of dozens upon dozens of other beings, things that lay waste to anyone unfortunate enough to attract their attention, things that trick, harm and curse.

Like a little something close by you, someone visiting the ‘sorrow’ part of Planarcardia in Phantom Moon Secret Garden. Movement behind caught your eye as you defensively held your hands up. The scrape of a foot sliding across the floor, and they whirled around.

A flash of brilliant blue cut across your vision.

The Imaginenae’s head tumbled from its shoulders, visible smoke emanating from the point its neck should have been. It hit the floor with a sickening but quiet thud, followed soon after by the rest of its lifeless body.

Sakura stood over its dead form, her left foot forward and her right arm held away from her body at the end of a nine, crackling energy glowing vibrantly from the katana in her hand. Her chest heaved with deep, quick breaths, her mask staring at you as though not quite perceiving the sight until…

It was a dream. It had to be. There was no way her Kallen, who treated her with kindness only to be accused as a witch, who was not brought back from fantasy to reality, who had died fighting despite her occasional attempts to save her...there was no way that her beloved Kallen could have the face of another person, another human. No way her Kallen would visit now of all times.

But the truth was there that her blood was here, her mask slipping. No matter how she tried to rationalise it with thoughts zipping by at a million miles an hour. Could you be possessed?

She swallowed down through the newly formed lump in her throat, sliding her bottom lip between her teeth and allowing it to slip back out, trying anything to distract from the burning sensation in her eyes. She was always vulnerable where her pasts were concerned, and as a Mourning Actor, she did not want to give into that temptation. You stared at her expectantly, as though willing an explanation. A good reason to her staring at you. She had none to propose without sounding insane, so chose to let her heart do the action.

Sakura didn’t know why she did what she did next. Maybe it was the knowledge she might not get a chance to do this. Maybe it was a bittersweet memory for her to hold onto. Maybe it was the fact that you reminded her so much of her. All she knew was that the magnetic pull became too hard to resist, and the air filled with electricity so strong it could power Aha’s hosted festival. Her breathing ragged, she threw caution to the now-whirling wind, and surged forward.

The hug felt incredibly awkward, one-sided, uncomfortable...but overall? Amazing. Finally after a long, heartbreaking, soul-rending years without her Kallen breathing, she was able to embrace what she had lost. Feel you under her hands. Revel in the love she missed. She closed her eyes, content to enjoy the sensation she had been craving for so long. Full of hope and resignation, the actual joy of acting on her feelings and the grief of acting too late. What a tragic Mourning Actor she is.

Forcing the words out, Sakura said. “Forgive me…I, I know I shouldn’t have done that, but in you, I just…I see everything I had lost. Your face…even your eyes…it’s just like hers the first time we met so many years ago.”