• “Shadow stop!” Kaia yelled running after him. It felt like an eternity crossing the grass in the dying sunlight to reach him. He didn’t look back, didn’t stop.

    “Where are you going!? You can’t leave!” she begged.

    Shadow finally glanced back at her, “Go back inside.”

    Kaia skidded to a halt, “No I can’t! Not if you’re going to leave without saying anything again!”

    Shadow only turned his back on her and kept walking. Kaia couldn’t bear to watch him walk out on their lives again. What if he didn’t come back this time?

    “Do you realize what you are to me!?” she cried, tears already streamed down her cheeks. “What you’re always going to be!?”

    Even as she spoke, she saw him hesitate.

    “I know you’re not perfect. Hell, you have one of the worst attitudes toward life I’ve ever seen! But I’m not perfect either. Please believe me when I say I want to be by your side. I want to hold your hand in mine, to treasure you in the morning and the evening, to be next to you… to be held close to your heart now and for the rest of my waking days! I want to be your comfort, calm your fears and dry your tears, to fight your battles and not be ashamed of anything that has happened or will happen!”

    She paused, “The way I feel is too intense to verbalize…”

    As she breathed the last words, Shadow vanished in front of her.

    Was that the end?

    Kaia froze and felt an icy grip claim her heart. Was this his way of rejecting her? Did he just leave her alone in the fading light?

    She closed her eyes as she heard a soft murmur behind her. He hadn’t left her.

    “Life is like the sky…” she heard him say.

    “And all the people we meet become our stars. They stay in the sky like they stay in our memory. Through the years some shine brighter then others, but none are ever forgotten. Even though you can’t see some of them, they are still there.”

    Kaia’s heart skipped a beat as he sighed, “Do you think you can be my brightest star?”

    “You kno-“she turned to face him but was stopped as he placed a finger to her lips.

    She met his eyes and felt his gaze penetrate her very being.

    “Do you think you can be my brightest star Kaia?” he asked again softly.

    Kaia’s eyes lost their focus as she realized too late the spell he was setting on her. She tried to fight it off but it was no use. She stumbled into him as her body grew drowsy.

    She looked up at him as he held her there. She wanted to tell him everything but he was making it impossible. She didn’t understand why.

    “Shadow… I...” she whispered as darkness took her.

    Shadow I love you.