Sakura died.

She knew she did.

She remembers how.

She remembers when.

She remembers an agonizing pain and the fathomless darkness that consumed her after.

She remembers floating in the darkness. Alone. Unclothed but not cold.

She remembers a blinding light that materialized into view.

She reached out to that light…

But…

…someone, or something, took a hold of her ankle and dragged her down.

Sakura remembers it all.

The darkness was no longer a void. Whoever, or whatever, has taken hold of Sakura pulled her down and she plunged to a body of water.

She sank slowly and sank deeper for a while... 

...until her bare feet touched sand.

As fast as the creature appeared it also quickly vanished. Again, she was alone. This time not floating but standing in an unknown vast plane. She was underwater yet she had no trouble breathing. She stood on an even ground that stretches for miles without end. The sand beneath her feet was smooth and it tickled her soles.

Sakura began to walk. Her long hair floated and swayed with every motion she made. Is this heaven? Or is this hell? She wondered. But neither of the two seemed to be the right answer. She was simply nowhere. Forward or backward were the only directions she could go. She chose forward.

There was no fear or anxiety in Sakura’s mind. Wherever she was, it was peaceful there. After a while, her footsteps may have already crossed miles but she didn’t tire. However, she was beginning to feel lonely. Her mind was filled with precious memories of her loved ones and the life she had left behind.

After a while of tirelessly walking, an object came to view in the distance. At first, she thought it was just an illusion but the object got larger as she got closer. It was an old tree. The tree was tall, its trunk large but its branches are barren of leaves.

Not knowing what to do Sakura stood a good distance from it. An odd sense of certainty gave her the impression that she had reached her destination. But she was still clueless of what she was supposed to do.

Something caught her eye at the roots of the tree. She came closer and leaned forward to examine it. A little blue flower was stuck between two entwining roots. She picked it up and put it in her palms. The flower was unfamiliar to Sakura but it looked somewhat similar to the cherry blossom they had back home.

The flower began to glimmer. Sakura felt a tingle ran on her palms and that feeling traveled to her body. The sensation filled her entire being with a profound sense of power and greatness. Unbeknownst to Sakura, a greater force of nature was at work to entwine