Erica stared at the two saplings in front of her. Their sources were obvious, even with just a glance. The first had white bark, leaves of shining gold, and seemed to glow slightly.

The second had black bark and dark red leaves. When she fished it out of her pool, she cut herself on its many, many thorns.

Thankfully, neither sapling seemed to possess the auras of their humanoid counterparts.

“Trees are good. I can deal with trees.”

Erica sat back on her haunches and continued staring at the saplings in front of her. Then, she looked around at her little island. There was so much plant life! Granted, there was only some grass and small flowers (and now two saplings), but this was more plant life than she had seen in person, ever.

Erica focused on the sensations of the grass beneath her hands. The green, earthy scent that wafted from the ground. The texture of the leaves, somehow both soft and scratchy.

She leaned down to smell a flower.

The flower was immediately snatched from under her nose by a black blur. She reeled back and panicked as she felt herself begin to fall off the edge. She let out a strangled scream, and then she was dancing with starlight.

Her feet skimmed the grass of her island, as she was twirled and dipped by a thing of starlight and silence, cold as the void between stars and yet also somehow comforting. She had just barely managed to process the visual input, scrambled by the twirling of herself and the thing.

Colours swirled and bent, its form twisting in ways that hurt her eyes. The interstellar cold receded and was replaced with the warmth of a living being. Erica’s skin began to bloom with the heat of contact, the frission of flesh against touch-starved flesh.

Erica quickly found herself hugging the being, burying her face in its chest and savouring the sensations. It was not unlike the omnidirectional sun here, but closer and so much better. Comfort and bliss in one delightful package. Her frame was wracked with sobs of a different sort.

“Well hello to you too!”

The voice snapped the girl out of her daze and she realized that she was naked and hugging a stranger. She pushed away and covered herself, blushing profusely.

The woman she had been hugging stood before her, holding the lily that Erica had been about to smell. She was taller than Erica, and breathtakingly beautiful. She wore jeggings and a crop-top with an odd, fractal shape on it. Her red hair was cropped close on the edges, and her cocky grin added to the overall air of a lesbian who would happily seduce you and your sister and suggest a threesome without batting an eye. Then, Erica met her eyes and the illusion was shattered.

Her eyes held vastness. Nebulae gleamed in their depth, and almost (but could not quite) disguise the aeons of weariness they held. Where the beautiful woman had made her body burn in some quite interesting ways, those eyes stole her breath.

She did not know how long she stood there, entranced by the eternity there, when the woman closed her eyes to inhale the scent of the lily.

“That’s quite a Yearning you have there!”

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She smacked her lips appreciatively, a sommelier tasting a new addition to her collection.

“Would be a shame to lose it.”

She glanced over to Erica, who had absolutely no idea how to handle this situation. She held her arms tight around herself, protecting her modesty as best she could.

“Oh, relax, would you? We’re literally standing in your soul, it’s not like we could get any more intimate.”

This was not reassuring.

Erica hugged herself close and averted her eyes.

“Hmm, shy, aren’t we? How about some introductions! Your soul is a garden, so… You can call me the Gardener. We shan’t be here long, but a name should smooth things over, don’t you think?”

Erica gave a jerky nod. After a moment, she forced herself to meet the fathomless gaze again.

“Erica. I’m Erica.”

“Nice to meet you!”

The being bounced on her heels, in a childish affectation that clashed horribly with both her look and her eyes, but somehow suited the being herself.

“So! Which one didja pick?”

“Pick?”

“The big armor guys! Black or gold? Freedom or purpose?”

Erica, currently lacking any free hands, nodded to the two saplings.

“Both, I think?”

The being faltered, and Erica saw a hint of true sorrow in those fathomless depths.

“Oh.”

Suddenly, Erica was enveloped in another deliciously warm and comforting hug. She was stiff at first, but found herself melting into Gardener’s embrace. Eventually, the being pulled away.

“So. I’m not going to lie to you. That was deeply foolish."

Erica stiffened, her heart sinking.

“They will both take from you in return for their blessings, and you will die young and forgotten.”

Erica just stared, shaking.

“But! You would have died eventually anyway and you’d have to scrape all these pesky memories up and start over! So it’s not like you really lost anything.”

Erica bit back tears.

“Of course. Well. I’ll just do my… my best.”

She was drawn into another hug, and clung to Gardener’s warm frame, uncaring of her bared skin.

“I know it hurts. But normally, you wouldn’t get a second chance, no matter how brief. You can think of it as a reward for escaping imprisonment. A vacation.”

Gardener sounded as if she was trying to convince herself. Erica wanted to rage, wanted to throw something, break something- but that would change nothing and hurt the only person who was here and close. She tried to laugh, but it felt more like she was slapping herself.

“Heh. Maybe it’s better to forget. I wasn’t exactly happy.”

The tears flowed, and she sobbed into gardener’s chest. Gardener said nothing, and merely held her close.

After what felt like a lifetime, her tears dried. She felt hollow and empty, as if a light breeze could scatter her into the void.

She pulled away and scrubbed at her eyes. She felt herself almost blush at the trail of snot she’d gotten on Gardener’s top. That was a little too much emotion, though, and she just felt… empty.

“Well. Shall we get started? We’ll need to wrap the roots around your Source.”

The being nodded her head towards the shimmering crystal floating over her small pond.

Erica bit her lip and stood tall. If she delayed, she might lose her nerve. Plus, well. The fact that the being had shown up in the guise of an attractive woman had not gone unnoticed by her lizard brain and it wanted, in some small way, to impress Gardener.

“Y-yeah! Endless darkness isn’t exactly my idea of a vacation spot”

She turned to face the crystal in a vain attempt to hide her moistening eyes from her companion.

Gardener stooped to pick up the golden-leafed sapling.

Suddenly, Erica was being danced with again. The nebulae shone bright with excitement, and Gardener’s laughter was bright as ringing silver.

“Ah! That is what immortality does to a girl. You stop looking at the details.”

Erica felt like a maple seed, battered about by winds unknown, just trying to get her bearings.

“Details?”

“Ah! We can actually make use of that delightful Yearning of yours. But what strength?”

“Gardener, what-?”

“Hmm, you couldn’t really do much in your life, could you? Well, enough to start!”

“Gardener, please!”

Erica stumbled away from the being, whose smile looked significantly less tired.

“What is going on?”

“I was wrong!” She laughed again, the sound so joyful and beautiful that Erica could not help but smile in sympathetic response.

“You did not take both offers!”

“I didn’t?”

Erica felt a surge of hope.

“No! Dear girl, you made no bargains at all!”