Lune Love

Kaguya to moon

Luna was out of sight yet her father kept looking her way, secretly hoping for Luna to return. The receptionist cleared her throat "Ahem" to get attention. Luna's father turned to face her. "Sir, kindly wait in the waiting room," where she had started packing away her things, ready to be off duty. "I'm finally off duty now." she dropped her cellphone into her purse, her hand raised to some height from the desk.

Luna's father gave an awkward smile to the receptionist and headed for the waiting room. He sat on the couch in the room. He noticed several magazines and books heaped upon the small table in front of him. He looked at the mess and nodded in disapproval. Then he picked up the book visible from the top of the heap. He read the title 'The Legend of Kaguya Sama' and felt curious because it was a name he had never heard before. He turned through the pages and found out it was a picture book. He smirked and tossed the book back onto the heap. 'Meh. It's a children's book. I wouldn't want to read that..' he thought to himself. But it was something about the book that kept him drawing towards it. He stretched out his hand... and picked up a different book. He felt proud about fighting his childish urges and winning against them and started reading with an expression like a 'victorious warrior' on his face.

Meanwhile, Luna was walking through a long corridor with several doors, all bearing signboards, telling her what room it was. She was scared. The corridor was empty and quiet. It was well lit but her surroundings were so quiet that she could hear the beating of her heart. 'I swear I'd pass away...if even a tiny thing jumps at me right now...' Luna walked cautiously trying to listen to every sound. After walking a few steps forward, suddenly she heard a muffled sound that came from the door on her right. She paused and read the words 'Pantry' on the door. Luna stepped away from the door. She thought it was rather sensible to not look around for the unknown in a new place.

She turned around to discover a door slightly open. Luna looked at the signboard on the door, it read- "Dr. Clara". Luna felt relieved. She knocked on the door gently. The sound of the knock was followed by the loud shattering noise of glass. Luna was alarmed, she swung open the door on instinct and saw a woman standing behind the desk flinching hard. A vase lay shattered on the floor in front of her. Her right hand had a dirty cloth in its grip. "Uh...a-are you ok?" asked Luna. The woman opened her eyes and adjusted her fancy rectangular glasses. "Yeah... I'm sorry... b-but who are you supposed to be?" "My bad. I'm Luna Apollumy." The realization hit the woman. She walked out of the mess, carefully dodging the glass pieces. As she walked in front of the desk, Luna noticed she wasn't wearing any shoes. "Good evening Luna. I'm Dr. Clara", she takes Luna's hand in both her hands for a warm handshake, but Luna is concerned about the dirty cloth touching her hand. Clara saw the grimace on Luna's face. "Oh...sorry." she dropped the dirty cloth and laughed awkwardly. They broke away from the handshake and assumed serious expressions. "Ok Luna... I need you to sit here and read our prospectus. While I go and talk to your parents." "Yeah, thank you doctor." Clara smiled at Luna and pulled a chair for her to sit on. " OK Luna. I'll be back soon." Clara scanned the room for her shoes "and oh, don't go near the glass pieces." Clara found her shoes lying behind the door. She slipped her feet into them and strode away.

In the waiting room; Bored, Luna's father put away the book he had picked. He tried to find a comfortable sitting position but couldn't achieve so. He scratched his head and even arranged the heap of magazines and books, but he couldn't seem to find peace. He looked at the picture book 'I can't believe I'm going to do this...' he thought to himself and finally picked up the book- 'The Legend of Kaguya Sama' Finally, Luna's father gave in to his temptation of reading a children's book.

He turned to the first page and, to his surprise, he immediately took a liking to the illustration.

He read the story- There once was an old bamboo cutter who found a little girl resting on the stalk of the shining bamboo. The old man took the girl with him to show her to his old wife. They both rejoiced because they did not have any offspring of their own. They named the little girl Princess Kaguya. The couple soon grew rich after the arrival of Kaguya. Every day the old woodcutter would find pieces of gold in the stalk of bamboo. Soon the Princess grew up to be a woman of extraordinary beauty. Five suitors came to ask for her hand but Kaguya rejected every one of them. Then came the emperor, whom Kaguya refused to marry as well. And so the emperor returned to his palace. But he had fallen in love and conveyed his feelings to her through letters. Things were peaceful the way they were going when, suddenly, one night, Kaguya was sad as she looked at the moon. Worried for their beloved daughter, the old couple asked the reason for such great sadness in the eyes of the beautiful Princess Kaguya. Kaguya spoke up and told the old couple that she belonged to the moon, where her people live. She transformed into her real celestial form and a carriage descended from the moon to take Kaguya back. She said she loved them very much and that it was tough for her to leave, but she belonged with her people and couldn't stay. She wrote one last letter to the emperor before leaving, letting him know of her departure and then she flew away to the moon in the carriage.



The story left Luna's father in tears. He wiped away his tears and placed the book carefully on the table. Soon after he put the book away, he felt embarrassed about crying at a picture book for children. But the book was not the only reason why he burst into tears, it was because of all the emotional rollercoaster that he had been through. He took out his handkerchief and blew his nose in it. Before he could recover from his vulnerable moment, Dr. Clara caught up to him. "Hello-" "BAH!" Luna's father was startled. Clara was quick to judge the situation. She saw the book on the table and understood why Luna's father was in whiplash. "Oh, dear... I-I'm so sorry Mr. Apollumy... I d-didn't mean to startle you." Luna's father put away his handkerchief in a flash. "Ahaha it's OK." An awkward silence fell between them. Clara adjusted her glasses. "Please have a seat, Mr. Apollumy." and broke the ice. They both sat down. "Nice books you people got here." he laughed nervously. "Yes sir... They're my selection, by the way." "Amazing. Must say." "Haha. Thank you Mr. Apollumy. Glad you liked them." "So yeah, my daughter-" "Your daughter will recover in no time, sir. I assure you. She is not as bad as you think but she does need to stick around in the rehab for now." "Ah, good...good" although Clara's words felt assuring, Luna's father had several questions that he wanted to talk about. After all, it was his daughter that they were going to keep. "But still... on an estimate... h-how long do you think...Luna needs to stay here?" Clara understood well about the state of mind Luna's father was going through and she didn't have the heart to tell that she was not sure at that point. "Mr. Apollumy...I-" "Just be an honest doctor...I-is it too bad?" Clara remembered reading Luna's previous therapy session notes. "No. Mr. Apollumy. Have faith in me. She will improve in no time with us here. I assure you." Luna's father thought deeply before choosing his words. He still had several questions to ask, but after taking his daughter to several psychologists, even psychiatrists, he was ready to try anything to stop his daughter from taking those pathetic medications that didn't help her.

"Ok. I trust you "