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Kaoori waited until twilight to visit the tree, the one reason Dag could not return. She had thought all day about what she would say, when it finally came to her. She approached the tree slowly, looking up and taking in all its mighty branches with the leaves that would not fall. Finally, she spoke.

“You and I.. we are much the same. Do you know that? You do not want to let go.. Just as I did not want to.”

A small breeze rustled through the forest, shaking the tree’s leaves, but they did not make a sound, as if they were hanging on for dear life.

“We are both mothers, tree. And we have both lost children. You’re going to lose them again, when they fall.. “

The little shika tilted her head , looking up at the vast branches of the tree, stretching toward the heavens. She could not fathom what it would be like to have to say goodbye, year after year.

“Do you know all their names, tree? Have you spoken with them all? When it is time.. Do you say goodbye to them all? Do you get to say goodbye? I am sure it is hard. Something I cannot fathom. But, I too, have lost.. And I did not want to let go. I wanted to find a way to bring her back, keep her with me forever. I blamed myself for everything.”

Kaoori sat underneath the tree, now aware she was speaking aloud to what seemed like no one, but the side of the tree seemed to feel warm beside her.

“I almost lost myself, dear tree. I almost faded away and disappeared, too. What good would that have done us both? And one night, I realized, as I looked to the stars..”

She looked up, through the leaves, into the clear night sky, up at the stars. One in particular seemed to twinkle more than the rest. She smiled, and her violet eyes sparkled themselves. Then she turned to face the tree, again, seemingly talking to no one.

“We have to let them go, dear tree. Your leaves cannot live forever. My child is different, yes, because she did not get to live. But I would not have gotten to live by holding onto her forever, either, and now she lives on in a different way. Your leaves.. They need to change, need to grow.. Need to make room for the new generation of your children. ..”

The little star twinkled again, and suddenly the whole sky seemed to brighten, as hundreds of other stars made their presence known, shining brightly in the sky. Kaoori turned up to the heavens again, and laughed slightly.

“Besides, dear mother tree.. Who is to say they are gone forever? Perhaps- they will watch over you.”