Sakura Hime 2 -

The night of the Great Bloom arrived. The enemy armies were at the gates, their torches looking like fallen stars against the dark earth. Kaguya stood on the balcony, her kimono trailing behind her like a river of silk. The Emperor stood behind her, his hand heavy on her shoulder. "Bloom," he commanded.

"You are the second breath of the world," he would tell her, his eyes fixed on the horizon where their enemies gathered. "When the moon reaches its zenith, you will bloom, and they will shatter." Sakura Hime 2

As the sun rose, there were no armies left. There was only a forest of white trees, standing in a perfect circle around the capital. And at the center, where the High Pagoda once stood, was a single, towering Sakura tree with petals that shimmered like pearls. The night of the Great Bloom arrived

The petals of the Great Sakura did not fall; they bled. In the celestial kingdom of Cherry Blossom, the legend of the first Sakura Hime had faded into a nursery rhyme. But for Princess Kaguya, the second to bear the title, the weight of the blossoms was a physical ache. Unlike her predecessor, who commanded the spring with a smile, Kaguya’s touch turned the trees into crystalline glass. The Emperor stood behind her, his hand heavy on her shoulder