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On that fleeting night, the patch of bamboo stalks remained in a nearby garden, colorful papers in red, yellow, green, blue and pink peppered the sticks with their vibrant colors. From afar, a young couple stood before them in unison, one holding an empty piece of paper, the same type that decorated the bamboo's stems.
"Marisa, what are you going to wish for this year?" The other's voice was faintly soft, though it was still audible despite the cold breeze's cut.
A small cough emitted from the witch, her fingers grasping the paper tightly, careful not to crumple it.
"Give me a minute, Alice. I... Ah! Got it. I wish for..."
The noise of her pen scribbling against the tanzaku repetitively was accompanied by a light, yet horribly sounding spell of coughs, until Marisa had finally finished her writing, hanging it upon the sea of vividly-colored papers. And there it was, her very wish. It seemed like a peculiar one, yet at the same time not so odd. That being her wish. For her to be...
"I wish to be a star in my next life."
Exclaiming contently, she let out a silent chortle before looking at her dear wife. Alice, as usual, had a gentle smile adorning her rosy face. Although she seemed a bit perplexed about her lover's wish, it's alright. Marisa was bound to be a little happy with it anyways.
"A star?"
"Yeah. It'd be nice to look down from the heavens and see the beautiful scenery that the earth offers every once in a while, wouldn't it?"
"You already are a star in my eyes," she chuckled, a hand over her lips to stifle the smile that lit up her face. "Just like the stars, you shine brighter than anyone else."
A loving sigh before she embraced the young woman, stroking her blonde strands and lightly kissing them. That night truly was a wonderful moment for them, a blissful moment she would always treasure, even if she was to depart from this world one day. Perhaps this night was her last, but the sweetest moments in her past would remain intact in her heart for the rest of her life. And she was sure that, even if it was a brief one, her memories with Alice would be her most cherished.
"... Thanks, Alice. I love you."
"I love you, too, Marisa."
And now, there they are, resting in their humble abode. A small, yet comfortable house inherited from Marisa's father. The chilly winds from the night's shadows would make their way through the windows, and she didn't mind. Each and every night, under the moon's gentle rays of light, Alice would slumber beside her, a blanket covering both their sleeping figures. But that night...
It was different.
Once the seven-colored puppeteer fell asleep in her arms, the ordinary magician felt a lump rise in her throat, a terrible predicament of what was yet to come. Leaving the young girl on the clean futon, she rushed to the porch behind their modest house, careful not to wake Alice up. Coughing, she brushed away a layer of tears before clasping a hand over her mouth. Ah, how fate had chosen her story to end on this very night, the crimson liquid now seeping in between her calloused fingers.
The moon shined in its brilliance through the dark night, revealing the lady's now disheveled appearance. One of her hands gripped the wooden pillar of the terrace's entrance, while her other grasped the area below her nose. A pained wheeze escaped her as she tried her best to sit down, stains of scarlet dying her black trousers a terrible shade of blood.
"Alice..."
She twitched as her grip began to loosen. Her back slowly started to topple over with the remaining strength inside her, and a tear rolled down her cheek. The girl then let out a small cough once again, her golden eyes gazing upon the field of stars that shone atop their humble abode, as if knowing that she will be united with those stars once this fleeting night ends.
"My wish... has been granted."
And that was the last time she heard the human girl's voice. Albeit faintly, the magician could hear her beloved's words, although she brushed it off as a dream. But of course, the hand of fate had decided to take her away into the stars' embrace.
As the sun rises and shines upon the land, there she stood, tears falling upon her very face. Glancing at the sickly corpse that laid rested on the porch, the blonde could see that the her dearest was now gone. But her pale bluish eyes would still stare at her with a single gaze of dismay. And the sight that broke the girl's soul still was imprinted in her mind.
"Marisa..."
How the ends of her once golden strands had now turned a muddy shade of red, evident stains of crimson that dyed her forearm and her knees. Such a terrible, despairing sight for Alice's gaze, to look upon her dearest in a state of agony.
But alas, what else can she do? What has happened will always remain that way. Marisa was nothing more than a human being with a lifespan shorter than the other's own one. Alice could only lament her beloved's departure now.
Since then, the young lady would stare into the night's glimmering skies, shedding her tears into the ethereal silence. In the dead of night where the stars hide, a memory of her dear Marisa would once again sear her heart as she sang. And with each and every time she did so, a small wish, or perhaps what one would see as a call to her beloved star, would burst from her lips in the quietness of the evening's bittersweet cold.
"If you can hear me," she murmured, her soft voice trailing away. "Blink back at me."
Those sayings of hers would be uttered in such a night, every time she hummed to the skies' serenity. That song of remembrance will resound, even after passing through many of the thousand nights.
For that lady's prayers shall reach her beloved among the stars one day.
One night, at the bottom of a seemingly unfamiliar river's flickering light, was an echoing, resounding voice. One she had always longed to hear, yet a sound she cannot recognize. The wisps of the wind's sigh across the land engulfed in the dead of night was too overwhelming for Alice's ears, the reverberating call too quiet and almost inaudible.
And yet, there it was. Perhaps it was calling out to her from the other side of the stream?
Her bleary gaze shifted to find a figure on the bank's edge, standing still amidst the chilly winds. But of course, it was blurred in the dimly-lit horizon, the unknowingly floating waves breaking against the shore only accentuating the distortion.
Who may that be?
"Marisa...?"
A hand of hers reached out into the darkness, and that figure...
It turned out to be a mere fleck of her vision. As if it melted away along with her distant touch.
Now, the girl found herself on her porch, head leaning forwards as she previously slept. Was that another dream, a façade that bound itself as an embodiment of the longing she felt for her beloved? For countless times had her eyes suffered the light of those starless nights, watching as the clouds above descended upon the run-down house. For many, many months had she sang lullabies that promised solace to her mind and body, as if cheering herself up from the aching pain that came from just her quiet tears while thoughts of her beloved Marisa played out in her mind.
Before she even realized it, however, a year finally passed, and the seventh of July eventually came. That very night seemed to be the same as last year, a blissful moment where she would take hold of a tanzaku and hang it on the bamboo amidst the village. Only this year, Marisa wasn't there to celebrate with her. She wasn't there to accompany her during the day's festival, but when the evening falls, she was sure that her dearest is watching her from above.
And so, she grasped a paper in blue, one that resembled the color of her blouse. The pen she used to write her and Marisa's wishes with last year was still there, laying somewhere around a small table.
A few seconds passed, and the paper was now hung on the plant's stem. A wish was now written there, and it was now hanging between two of its leaves, a sheet of paper that spelled out the words that Marisa would gladly oblige to.
"I wish to see you again."
And that wish, one she had written ever so sincerely, was finally granted after what felt like millions of years. As she departed from the world's grasp, there the figure was again. Not on a riverbank, but before her very eyes. The figure was but the form of a fine lady with long, golden blonde hair. The eyes that shared the very same shade of gold as her own locks shone ever so beautifully under the moon's light, gazing upon the other's light blue ones.
"Alice," she muttered, although it sounded distant. But that was the voice she had always desired to hear, even if it was but a faint call. "Look at me now! I really became a star! Ah, such beauty... Just like you."
"Marisa, you..."
There stood the young lady's spirit, astounded by the woman in front of her. Dressed in black and white, Alice gazed upon her fondly, eyes glittering with a mesmerizing allure.
"What is it?" she asked, approaching her beloved with a small smile. "You look like you have something to ask me."
"My prayers... Were you able to hear them?"
A nod before she told her how she settled her affairs with the transient world, now setting out on a joyful journey, waiting for her dear Alice to join her. And as her wish was written in that tanzaku, her very own wish would soon become a reality.
"And now, you, too, will become a star like me!"
Not too long after, Alice was no longer there. In a sea of shining stars, the slight voice that called out her name was but a distant shout. Clad in shining dust, the rosy surface of her dress glimmered with all its beauty. Now, that she hovered among the heavens, she sang and searched for her beloved amidst the shades of black and dots of white. "If you can hear me, blink back at me," she occasionally whispered under her breath, dancing alongside the field of lights.
"Oh Magpie, lead me to my loved one's star." Her thoughts went on, walking before the guidance of a winged bird nearby. "My dear is waiting..."
And before she knew it, the witch was now in her hold, lightly embracing her in the cold, yet warm breeze.
"Now, let's go to that 'place of love' together!"
Embracing one another in the summer's night, where shooting stars fall from the skies' curtains, two stars drift alongside one another, shining upon the land covered in the evening's shade. As if drifting into a distant slumber, nestling close together in happy harmony. Until the day where the two burn out, fading into nothingness, they shall remain together, embracing and dancing among the constellations until one day, their destinies will no longer intertwine. The song of recollection and remembrance the blonde sang, has finally reached her beloved Marisa after passing through many thousand nights.
And there they remained, as ephemeral stars that shone ever so tranquilly, falling into eternal slumber.