Okay, Bestla thought as she stood in a small clearing within the Park, how hard could this be? Tap her phone and whoosh! She’d be in space. Still… slinging the strap of her backpack higher up onto her shoulder, Bestla shook her head irritably. C’mon, self. Just tap the button and it’ll either work or not. She wouldn’t be losing anything either way.

“Just do it,” she growled at herself before closing her eyes and slamming her thumb down on her phone. For a brief moment, she felt a mild vertigo and would have chalked it up to her imagination. That is, if she hadn’t opened her yes and found herself in a place that was most assuredly not the Park! Feeling her knees turn rubbery, Bestla simply folded to the ground, eyes and mouth open wide in shock. All around her were massive, fossilized trees strung with withered vines. Even the light was strange, she thought. The faint, misty haze gave everything a soft, blue green tinge that Bestla decided was rather pleasing to the eye.

Moving slowly, she set her backpack on the blasted ground and opened it, quickly removing sketchbook and a small pencil box full of colored pencils. Sketches would be easier to explain than weird photographs and she wanted something to look at and study when she went back home. And since she didn’t quite feel up to walking yet, a sketch of the trees around her would do nicely. With slightly shaking hands, she grabbed a pencil and went to work. And, as time passed and nothing odd happened, she began to relax. This place was hers in a very real sense.

“Imagine,” she murmured to no one, “A whole planet-moon thing to myself.”

As she put the finishing touches on her sketch, a soft chiming sound floated briefly around her. Head jerking up, Bestla let out a startled cry when she saw that the trees she’d just been drawing were suddenly glowing and full of life. Little wind chimes hung from the branches and she could see the leaves in the upper branches moving with a wind that she couldn’t feel. Then, as quickly as it had appeared, the life faded from the trees, leaving behind the faintest of ghostly chimes.

Shivering a little, Bestla carefully put her pencils and book away and got to her feet. It was time to explore a little. MOving carefully, she went further into the trees, occasionally reached out to brush her fingers against the dead trunks. This place must’ve been so beautiful, she thought, a wave of sadness washing over her.

Consider that little grove, she thought. Just imagine the trees alives and strung with bells and banners…

Pausing and blinking slowly, Bestla realized that it wasn’t just her imagination supplying the images. She was seeing living trees and hearing the bells, seeing the banners waving cheerfully in the breeze. And then, without warning, a woman a little older than her was standing beside her and tugging on her arm, laughing the whole time.

“Hurry! The Fire is about to be lit!”

Reaching out, Bestla tried to touch the woman’s cheek, only to have her fingers brush up against nothing. And as if her testing was the trigger, the light faded again from the world around her. Biting her lip until blood was drawn, Bestla reached up to wipe away tears that were leaking from her eyes for no good reason. After a moment to steady herself, she decided that her ancient home was made all the sadder for those brief, tantalizing glimpses of life. They showed a world that had lived once, not just a dead shell. And, gods help her, it was a world that she found she desperately wanted to see live again.

It was also a world she wanted to explore thoroughly. Which, the senshi guessed, was going to take a lot longer than the few hours she’d come prepared for.

“Right,” she decided she was speaking to the planet itself. She wanted so much to comfort it, no matter how silly the thought was to her rational brain. “I’ll be back soon. And maybe I can find a way to make it a little less bleak here. I think we’d both like that, yeah?”

Even as she’d been speaking, she was heading back to where she’d left her stuff. She’d brought a bottle of water with her in case she got thirsty. Upon reaching her backpack, she rifled through until she found the water and quickly opened it and swallowed a mouthful or two before pausing. Moving closer to the roots of one of the skeletal trees, she leaned her cheek against the trunk briefly before kneeling and pouring what was left of her water over the roots.

“I know this won’t help a whole lot, but we’ll call it a physical demonstration of my word. I’m going to come back. And I’m going to figure out how to fix you. Even if I have to figure out a way to cart a plow and seeds up here with me. I’m back in a way, aren’t I? I’m not going to let you be alone and forgotten again.”

Even as she promised, she realized how very little she knew about bringing a dead planet back to life. But, at the same time, she was certain that something deep within the planet core could hear her. And that it appreciated her presence. Once the bottle was empty, she gave the tree a gentle pat and slowly got to her feet. Maybe the next time she came up here, she could bring enough stuff to stay for a few days. Of course, she’d have to ask Angus to get her mail for her, but that was a minor detail. What would she need beside food and water? Sleeping bag and blankets for sure. Maybe a tent, though she didn’t think so. As she gathered up her belongings, she took another look around and nodded to herself. She’d definitely be back. And she’d find a way to keep the promise she’d made.