Chapter 22 - The Lost Rabbit

"Even in celestial realms...there are gentle follies, and queens who search for their rabbits like children."

Night never fell on the moon palace in the suspended gardens, made of mist and silver leaves, silence had the texture of a caress the cherry trees, rooted in fragments of frozen clouds, diffused an ancestral scent the lunar fireflies floated without light, like peaceful memories that no longer needed to be seen cloud fish, translucent, swam in loops in aerial streams, tracing eternal circles Saphira walked alone, her bare feet brushing the singing stones of the path  Élya, wise, dozed in the crook of her arm she wasn't looking for anything yet; she was simply savoring the rarity of peace but then… a dry, sharp, abnormal crack she froze on the ground, an overturned teapot, mochi crumbs scattered like miniature moons, and a tiny paw print…

Saphira frowned, raising her head towards the tall silhouette of Chang'e, who had appeared silently.

—"Uh… Chang'e?"

 —"Yes, my sweet star?" 

—"You've lost something."

The Goddess sighed, a long breath of resigned eternity.

—"Oh no… he's run away again."

Saphira narrowed her eyes.

—"He?"

Chang'e crossed her arms, almost pouting.

—"Tuan-Tuan. the jade rabbit, my celestial cauldron guardian. he's adorable but…" 

Pause a shiver in the violet sky.

 —"Extremely capricious he got upset because I told him he had gotten a little… plump."

The young queen sighed, resigned.

—"Alright, rabbit hunt in a miniature world woven from sugar and emotion my favorite domain."

The trees there spoke in charades Saphira had to answer three riddles offered by suspended lanterns, laughing, capricious with each correct answer, a light went out the passage opened.

Bubbles emerged from the water, bursting into absurd reflections: Saphira disguised as a carrot, Saphira in a tutu, Saphira… as a mochi she rolled her eyes. 

—"You'll see."

The ground was slippery the walls melted Saphira stumbled into a pile of candies and found herself trapped in a cocoon of pink nougat. It was Élya who, armed with a divine spoon, freed her she finally found him, in a dim dimension, an enclosed space, suspended like a poorly digested childhood memory. Tuan-Tuan rested on a celestial cushion, ears drooping, eyes hurt. He barely moved. Saphira sat beside him, slowly. She didn't speak right away. 

—" Then you know… me too, people find me too quiet, too small, too strange sometimes."

The rabbit turned an ear, curious.

—"But despite everything, some people love me, even when I shut myself away, even when I flee."

She held out her hand, not to catch, just to be there.

Tuan-Tuan gently jumped onto her lap. He rubbed against her then, in a soft breath, licked her nose. a silent pardon, a promise not to run away without warning. Chang'e waited on the mist terrace. She smiled seeing Tuan-Tuan's small body nestled against Saphira.

—"You reconciled him?"

Saphira shrugged.

—"No. He reconciled himself, with mochi and a promise to be listened to."

Chang'e laughed softly, and in that night without night, where the Moon itself seemed to breathe, Saphira sat with the sleeping rabbit on her lap she looked at the sky and smiled.

End of Chapter 22 - The Lost Rabbit