Monday, July 28, 2008

Memories - Ch. 19

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Anakin recognized being in the dream. He felt it in the way his limbs hung wrong on his body. The way that he felt dwarfed by the doorways in the Jedi Temple, and the adults that walked past him. He knew it in the way that he did not really have control over his body, the way he seemed more observer than participant. He glanced over and saw Tahiri, young, dressed in an orange jumpsuit, her hair a wild mass of curls and waves, bare feet whispered quietly on the stone as they walked the halls.

"This session is almost over, isn't it?" she asked him.

He nodded his head. "Yeah. That's why we have to do go down the river tomorrow."

"And then after that, you're going home?"

"Yeah," he replied, lowering his head slightly. "Jaina and Jacen are coming back for their session, so I'm going home to visit Mom and Dad."

"But you'll be back?"

He looked over at her again, and quickly nodded his head. "Of course."

She stopped walking. "C-can you promise me?"

He took a few more steps and then stopped as well. Slowly, he turned to look at her. She stood there, head tilted downward slightly, a frown edging her mouth and her eyes were large and green, with tears lining them. In her hands, she clasped the small angel doll that he had given her at the start of the term. The one his father had helped him pick out. He walked back towards her.

"It's a promise," he replied, grinning at her. "Everything will be all right."

"Promise?" she asked lifting her head to look up at him.

"Yeah, It's a promise."

"Yes," she said, a smile coming to her lips.

Anakin glanced at the doll for a moment. "That doll that I gave you..."

She lifted it slightly, "This one?"

"Yeah, it's not an ordinary doll. It's a magical doll that can grant wishes." She blinked her eyes a couple times, and he grinned at her as he continued speaking. "You think I'm lying to you, don't you?"

"A little," she replied.

He shrugged his shoulders. "But it's true."

"Really?" she exclaimed, her mouth dropping open.

He nodded his head, once sharply. "Yup, but it can only grant three wishes. And no more wishing for more wishes, you'll have to take into account the person granting the wishes."

She clutched the doll tight against her chest again. "Who's going to grant them?"

He grinned at her again. "Me, of course."

"I see..."

"So I can't grant any wishes that are impossible for me, either. Now, say any wish you want."

She tilted her head slightly, thinking hard. Then she focused on him again, smiling broadly. "All right, I have my first wish, and here it is. Please don't forget about me."

Anakin felt his mouth open in shock, and he blinked twice.

Tahiri had closed her eyes, and just continued talking. "Even if you go home, because it's your brother and sister's turn for training, please remember me from time to time. And think, 'Right, I met that strange, Tusken girl that wouldn't stop talking.' That's enough, so please... don't forget. That... that's my first wish." She opened her eyes again. "Is that okay?"

He snapped his mouth shut, and nodded his head quickly. "I told you, I'd do anything that I can. I promise. I'll never forget about you, and that I'll come back to Yavin. When I do, we'll have some canapés together."

She smiled brightly. "Yeah."

Anakin bolted awake, a thin sweat covering his body. He pushed the blankets off of him, and swung his feet out of the bed, clutching his head in his hands. The flickers of the dream still preyed on his mind, and he wondered why he was dreaming of Tahiri.

Sighing, he got out of bed, and walked to the door to the balcony. He pushed it open, and stepped out. A cold wind whipped through his hair, cutting through his sleeping clothes, sending a chill down his frame.

He leaned against the railing, and looked down at the ground far below. Then he lifted his face, to star at the stars. He watched, and as he did so, memories of Nelani flashed through his mind. All of events from the night of her party, two days ago. The way she had smiled at him. That single kiss. Then the way she had just disappeared.

"Anakin?"

Startled, he looked up and over, to see Tahiri walking towards him. "'Ri?"

"You'll catch a cold if you stay out here too long."

"Leave me alone," he replied, walking away from the rail to lean against the wall.

She giggled and jogged closer to him, gripping onto the railing, leaning over the side. Then she dropped back to the flats of her feet and looked up at the sky. "Do you think it'll be raining again soon?"

He shrugged his shoulders. "Probably. The rainy season isn't that far off."

"You were thinking about Nelani again, weren't you?'

"You heard about her illness?"

"From Jaina," she replied. "And Jaina said she heard it from Kiori."

"I see."

"Is her illness that serious?"

"Yeah..." he said, frowning slightly. "Actually, I don't know that much either. All I know is that she can't come outside for a while."

"I see," Tahiri said a hint of pain in her voice. "Well, I hope she gets better soon. If there's anything I can do, I'll do it." She then turned to look at him. "Just like you comforted me so long ago."

He shook his head. "I didn't do much."

"That's not true. If you hadn't comforted me, I don't think I would have ever been able to smile again." She pulled her necklace out from beneath her sleeping shirt, and showed him one of the pendants on it. "And actually you gave me this as well."

He looked at the pendant, a brown stone; smooth, attached to her necklace by a twisted piece of wire. He felt a frown form onto his face, and he wondered just when he had done so. "I gave you that?"

"Yeah," she replied. "Around the time when you were supposed to go back to Coruscant." She pulled it out a bit further, so she could get a better look at it. "Anakin?"

He focused on her again, "Huh?"

"Do you remember when you gave this to me?"

Slowly, he shook his head. "No, I don't... sorry."

"Oh," she replied, eyes falling again. "Actually, I don't remember that much about that time either." She let the pendant go, allowing it to drop against her breast again. "I, I was hoping that you would remember, but... Let's go back inside."

He straightened slightly, surprised at the sudden shift in topic.

Tahiri smiled at him. "We need to get up early tomorrow for Jaina's match."

"Yeah," he replied. "You're right."

She turned to look up at the sky again. "I hope that it's sunny tomorrow."

------------------------------------

Anakin, Mara Jade and Tahiri stepped into the dim cavernous room that was used for lightsaber tournaments. A crowd had already gathered, giving the room the atmosphere of a sporting event back on Coruscant. He looked around, waving at some of the other students that he knew from training. Finally, he spotted his sister, and called out, "Jaina!"

She turned towards him, and jogged over, a grin coming to her face.

"Everyone came," she said as she wrapped Anakin in a hug.

"Good luck, Jaina," Tahiri said.

"My apprentice doesn't need luck," Mara responded dryly.

Anakin shook his head slightly. "Dad would say that since she's a Solo, that's all she really needs."

Mara frowned his way. "Watch it, Solo."

Anakin laughed, and turned back to his sister. "Do make sure you put on a good show. I don't want to think I wasted this prime sleeping-in morning for a half-hearted attempt."

Jaina scowled at him, and flipped her hair over her shoulder. "Keep it up, and I'm sure I could convince Aunt Mara that you need to participate in these things."

Tionne, the Master in charge of training with Jaina's team stepped out from a side door, and waved Jaina over. For a moment, her eyes seemed to lock onto Tahiri, but then she frowned and turned away. Jaina waved at the three of them, as she started to jog off. "I'll talk to you later."

Tahiri twisted her head around, and pointed towards a space on the top set of bleachers. "Look Anakin, we'll be able to see better from up there."

She then grabbed his arm and dragged him towards the bleacher. He cast a glance over his shoulder and saw that Mara was shaking her head as she fell into step behind them.

Once they had gotten settled into seats, Tahiri leaned towards him. "Do you think Jaina's going to win? She'll win right?"

He shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know. She's not very nervous. Seems to me she'd be more nervous for the match."

Tahiri scowled at him, and slapped his shoulder. "That's not true! Jaina will win for sure."

Looking down at her, he grinned slightly. "You're the one that said you were worried."

Her eyes popped open wider, and then she dropped her head. "I did, but..."

The distinctive snap-hiss of a saber igniting drew his attention, and he turned towards the ring. Jaina stood in the center, an older Rodian he didn't know facing her. Standing to her left was Daesha'cor, on her right was Ganner and behind her was Raynar. In a similar diamond formation behind the Rodian were three other Jedi Knights: a second Rodian, this one female, was standing opposite Daesha'cor, while Miko Regalio faced off with Ganner and a human that Anakin didn't know was in the back position for the opposing team.

Standing in the center of the ring, was his Uncle Luke. He was speaking soft words to both teams. Anakin watched his uncle for a moment, seeing how tired he appeared.

Tahiri leaned over towards Anakin. "Isn't that your Uncle?"

"Yeah," he replied.

"I didn't know he was on Yavin right now."

"He came back," Mara responded; her eyes glued to the field, watching both her husband and her apprentice. "For this tournament. After this, he has to go back to Coruscant for more meetings."

Anakin focused back on the field, as Luke stepped away. Then the two teams rushed forward, their sabers flashing in bright arcs only to flare into white when they connected.

Jaina jumped and twirled, her blade always perfectly positioned to block the saber of her opponent; then she would twist and turn the block into an attack.

"Wow," Tahiri whispered.

He could hear the smirk in Mara's voice. "That's my apprentice. She's the best one out there, as usual."

Anakin chuckled, and continued watching, as one after one, Jaina's team defeated the opposing teams. Finally, it was the last match for the team events. Before long, Ganner had knocked Wurth Skidder to the ground, and with the tip of his saber drew an infinity symbol in the air, showing a kill point for the final member of the opposing group.

The crowd erupted into cheers, with Anakin and Tahiri standing up and screaming along with them. He noticed that Mara merely sat there, a superior smirk on her face, as she watched the two teams shaking hands in the center of the field.

After they had left the fields, Luke walked to the center, and raised his hands. Silence dropped over the gathered people. "Now, it is time for the singles competition."

He nodded towards the corner, and Anakin watched as Miko and a Twi'lek female he didn't recognize walked out onto the field. He proceeded to ignore the battle, and chatted with Tahiri instead.

Two hours later, the final singles match was being held. Jaina was squaring off against Raynar.

Anakin leaned forward, watching the two intently, wondering just how well Raynar would be able to do against Jaina. Since they spent so much time training together, he thought they should be fairly evenly matched.

Luke stepped away from between them, and gave the signal for the match to begin.

Jaina charged forward, her blade coming in low. She thrust up and to the left, and Raynar jumped high, slashing at her exposed back.

She dropped to the ground and rolled. She got to her feet in a single, fluid movement, and darted forward again, her saber slashing in a right, left, right pattern.

Raynar stumbled backwards, his blade constantly parrying Jaina's blows, but leaving him unable to attack.

She pulled back, and Raynar darted in with an attack. She ducked the blow, and swept his legs out from beneath him. Popping back into a standing position, she quickly made the infinity symbol above his chest.

As Jaina helped Raynar to his feet, Anakin chuckled to himself, pleased that she was able to so easily best her opponents.

Luke then gave out the awards for winning the various competitions. Jaina stood up there by their uncle, a happy grin on her lips. As she was getting the medal for winning, she saw Anakin and the others in the bleachers, and waved. Tahiri jumped up from her seat and waved back.

------------------------------------

Anakin sat across from Jaina. They were in Poltz, at a table next to the big bay windows that looked out onto the street. Anakin lifted his cup of tea, while Jaina lifted her strawberry parfait. The touched the rims of their glasses together, as Anakin said, "Congratulations on winning."

She grinned for him, mischief flashing in her eyes, "Thanks, Anakin."

"So, did you comm and tell Kiori about your win?"

Jaina nodded her head, "Yes, she sounded happy. She also said that she's sorry that she couldn't be there in person."

"I see," he replied.

She took a bite of her parfait, and looked out the window. "So Anakin, have you gotten used to Yavin?"

Anakin arched an eyebrow at his sister. "What's this all of a sudden?"

She shrugged her shoulders. "It's just that when you got here, you were worried about not being happy here. That you were worried about the past. Do those things still bother you?"

He shook his head, and peered into his tea. "Yes and no. Most of the time I don't even think about it."

"I'm sure," she replied, grinning slightly as she took another bite of her desert. "But, I like it here, so I want you to like it as well."

Anakin took a sip of his tea, and looked out at the pedestrians on the street. After a moment, he turned back to Jaina. "You don't have anyone that you like do you?"

"What?"

He shrugged his shoulders. "Just something Raynar said. You're popular, everyone likes you, but you keep everything in. You hide behind these walls."

Jaina sighed, and took another bite of her parfait. "I used to. There was a boy that I liked back on Coruscant."

"Wow," he replied. "That was a while ago. What happened?"

She shook her head. "I, I was rejected."

"And you haven't seen him since?"

"I saw him once after that rejection. Things... they didn't go well that time."

Anakin frowned at glanced out the window again. He watched, as a young boy, maybe 8 years old ran from a girl about the same age. In his hands he held a scarf, which the girl was obviously chasing after. The girl stopped and dropped to her knees, putting her hands over her face, obviously crying, and Anakin had to chuckle as the boy quickly turned back to the girl, handing her the scarf.

Anakin focused on Jaina again. "So there's no other boys out there?"

Laughing, Jaina shook her head. "No, that one was enough." She took another bite of her parfait, and then grinned up at him. "Well, I could tell you about this one boy I met, not the one I liked, but another one. It was about six years ago or so. He was head over heels for this one girl, had no clue about it though."

"So what happened between them?"

She chuckled. "Oh, he's still crazy about her."

"That's devoted."

"Well, he can be mean sometimes," she replied. "But when he sees someone in trouble, he has to stick his nose into it." Then she chuckled. "Of course, he doesn't seem to realize that he does so."

Anakin shook his head. "Sounds like a personality that is asking for trouble."

She smirked at him. "Oh, definitely."

A short while later, they were walking towards their apartment building. Anakin looked around at the stores that lined either side of the street, and then at Jaina. "Should I buy you something to celebrate your victory?"

She looked up at him, surprise on her face. "Really?"

"Although," he continued. "I don't have much on me. I had to use money rather frequently lately."

Jaina thought for a moment, and then looked into the shop they were passing. "Then..."

She stopped, and went into the shop. Anakin backed up and followed her in. Walking over to one of the display counters, she picked up a single red marble, holding it up to the light between her forefinger and her thumb.

"This," she said. "I want this."

"I've got enough to buy you something better than that."

"No," she said, smiling as she shook her head. "It's pretty, and it's the color of strawberries."

He shrugged his shoulders, and passed over his credit chit to the shopkeeper. A few minutes later, they were walking down the street. Jaina holding the marble up towards the sun, one eye closed as she stared at it. She grinned and said, "It really is pretty."

Snorting, Anakin replied, "And you're weird too. Comparable to Tahiri actually."

Jaina stopped walking and lowered her arm. "Hey, Anakin..."

He stopped, and turned back towards her.

She continued, "Don't give Tahiri too much trouble, okay?"

"If anything," he replied. "I think I'm the one who's getting all the troubles."

Jaina sighed and shook her head. "You don't understand. Tahiri is..."

"Tahiri is what?"

She turned away from him, refusing to meet his eyes. "It's a secret."

"Give me a hint," he said, raising a finger.

"It's meaningless for me to say it," she replied as she began to walk past him.

"Hint two," he said, raising a second finger.

"Nope. You only get one."

He turned, watching her as she walked past him, frowning slightly.

"Bonus chance!"

"There's none of that."

He jogged to catch up to her.

"Special chance?"

"Now you're just making things up."

"Attack chance?"

"You're not making any sense."

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Anakin recognized the familiar sensations of a dream; the surreal quality to his sense and emotions, the feeling of once more being a child.

He was running down the hall, hunting for someone. Darting in and out of the other students and the instructors.

Finally, he spied her, sitting on a bench, kicking her legs, the pink of her toes flashing rhythmically as they swung in and out of the shadows beneath her seat. She stared at the ceiling, looking bored and chewing on her lower lip, and in her hands, she held a small package, wrapped tightly with a string.

"Tahiri!" he called out.

She lifted her head, her green eyes flashing with delight, as she jumped up off the bench. "You're late, Anakin."

"Sorry," he mumbled between pants. "To keep you waiting."

She shook her head. "I almost thought we weren't going to be able to do this today."

"Me too, actually," he replied. "I thought Uncle Luke was going to give me some extra lessons. Sorry, I made you wait."

"Anakin, uhm..." She then thrust the package she was holding towards him. "These are for you. They're cookies that I made."

"Handmade," he asked, taking them from her. "Thank you."

He untied the ribbon, and fought to keep the shock and fear off of his face, but what he saw in the package scared him. They were lumpy, and had a black tint to them, the smell of charcoal drifted up to his nose. His eyes flicked up to Tahiri, where she stood in front of him, a blush shining bright through her tanned cheeks.

"I'm sorry that I couldn't make them very well," she said.

He plucked one out of the bag, and lifted it to his lips. He bit into it, and then crunched down harder when a piece wouldn't come off. He tried to swallow the bite without tasting, but it still touched his taste buds, and he had to forcibly suppress a shudder.

"So, how is it," she asked, her eyes large and green.

"It's good," he lied to her.

The fear fled her face, being replaced by a brilliant smile. "That's great!"

Anakin looked around, shoving the remaining cookies into one of the pockets of his orange jumpsuit. He reached out and grabbed her hand, and together they darted towards one of the Temple's exits. As soon as they left the building, the warm humid air struck them, sweat started running down their faces and backs, as they went further and further from the Temple.

Then they stopped, both awestruck by the river that thundered past them. It was a good ten meters across, fast moving, and they had both seen it before in their dreams.

Tahiri gasped, and then said, "I, I've never seen so much water in one place before.

Anakin blinked rapidly, and then looked around. "Where is it?"

"Where's what?"

"The boat," he muttered, looking around. "In the dream, there's a boat, a silver boat."

The looked for a few more minutes, but when they couldn't find the boat, they slowly made their way back to the Temple. Once they had gotten back to the bench, Tahiri sighed.

Anakin scratched at his hair. "I guess we'll have to try again tomorrow."

She frowned for a moment. "It's not long before you have to go back to Coruscant, right?"

He nodded his head. "Yeah, but I have a few more days before that happens. We'll try again tomorrow."

"Great," she said, beaming at him. "I'll be waiting for you here then."

Anakin's eyes snapped open. He knew that he had been dreaming; that he had been reliving a memory. Yet the harder he clung to it, the quicker it flickered away. Finally, he gave up, and got out of bed. He glanced towards the door to the balcony, and walked over to it. His hand lingered on the handle for a moment, and then he slid it opened and stepped out.

A gust of wind tugged at his pajamas, and he frowned up at the stars, wondering why he couldn't remember anything.

"Anakin?"

He turned and saw Tahiri standing there in her pajamas. She was rubbing her shoulders as she watched him. She padded over to him, her bare feet barely whispering across the permacrete of the balcony. Leaning against the wall beside him, she looked up and said, "So, we're out here again."

Chuckling, he smiled at her and said, "Yeah. You're not stalking me are you?"

"It's a coincidence," she replied, lowering her face to look at her toes as she wiggled them. "I had a dream and woke up."

"That is a coincidence," he said. "I had a dream as well."

She lifted her face to look up at him again. "What kind of dream?"

"I forgot."

She giggled. "Well, maybe we had the same dream."

"As if."

Anakin looked up at the stars as silence settled over them. They watched together the timeless parade of the night.

"Hey," he began after a few moments of silence. "How much do you remember from six years ago?"

"Bits and pieces," she responded, chewing slightly on one of her knuckles. "I know we were together almost every day, but..."

He snorted. "You have a lame memory."

She made a disgusted noise in the back of her throat, and twisted her head to the side. "So, do you remember?"

Smiling, he shook his head. "To tell the truth, I don't remember either. Ultimately, I was able to remember with Sannah and Tenel Ka, I wonder why..."

"Well, it was six years ago. But..." Anakin turned to look down at her, and found her staring at him, her green eyes flashing with delight. "... even after six years, I still have my necklace, and you're right here in front of me. Isn't that amazing?"

"Is it that amazing?"

"Yep," she replied with a quick nod of the head and a big smile. "I think it is."

The next day at lunch, Anakin was sitting across from Raynar, who was poking at his nerf steak with his fork, one hand propping up his head. Sighing, he looked towards Anakin. "Why are we eating lunch together, alone?"

Anakin took a bite of his protatoes and shrugged. "Can't be helped. Kiori's out still and Jaina had to talk to Master Tionne about the team stuff, as you should know."

"I just feel so melancholic all of a sudden."

Anakin shrugged again, and took a bite of the fish he had as a main course.

A few minutes later, Raynar spoke again, "I hear Nelani is doing well."

"I see," he replied, a grin tugging slightly at his lips.

Once he returned to class, he started staring out at the meditation garden where he would often meet Nelani. Suddenly, he missed her, and wished to see her down there in the garden once again, with her shawl around her.

"Anakin," Jaina's voice cut through his ruminations. He looked up at her, and she grinned at him. "Training's over for the day."

Startled, he looked around and found that only the two of them remained in the classroom.

"Oh," he replied, then standing he left the Academy grounds, heading towards the shopping district.

Before long, he was wandering through the district, something tugging at his soul, causing him to frown.

Suddenly a weight dropped onto his back, as arms wrapped around his neck. Tahiri's voice was warm and loud in his ear, "Anakin!"

Grinning, he responded with a simple, "Hey, Tahiri."

She dropped off of his back, and titled her head slightly. "You're not surprised today?'

He shrugged, "I think I'm used to it now. Surprise attacks just won't work anymore."

Her face scrunched up in anger as she balled her fists and stomped. "They're not surprise attacks!"

She looked around, and then raced over to a bench. "You know, six years ago, I used to wait for you on a bench just like this." She dropped into the seat, and looked down at the ground. "I always arrived first, and would have to wait for you to show up."

Chuckling, Anakin walked towards where she sat, kicking her legs. When he stopped in front of her, she lifted her face, and with a grin said, "You're late, Anakin!"

He smiled at her. "Sorry, I'm a bit late."

"Not just a bit, a lot," she shot back. When he didn't respond, she lifted her head, and noticed the faraway look in his eyes. "Hey, what's wrong?"

He shook slightly, and grinned. "No, nothing. So, you're here looking for your lost item, have you found it yet?"

"Actually," she replied, some of the brightness seeming to flow from her. "Not yet..."

"Well, I'll help you out."

Her face transformed as she smiled up at him. "Did you come here just for that?"

"I just happened to pass by," he responded. "I'm not that nice."

With another bright smile, she stood up and they began to search once again.

Two hours later, they found themselves back where they had started, both of them now sitting on the bench, Tahiri looking depressed.

"I couldn't find it again," she complained.

"Don't be so sad," Anakin said, smiling at her. "I'll help you look again tomorrow."

A small, sad smile came to her lips. "Sorry I made you come along."

"Don't worry," he replied, shaking his head. "I had time to kill anyways."

She folded her hands and then placed them in her lap. Frowning, she looked down at them, watching her hands as they sat there. "Sitting here like this reminds me of those times. Before coming to Yavin, I was alone. I mean, I had my father Sliven, but he wasn't really my father. I didn't really have a friend until you came to talk to me."

"Yeah, I remember that," he replied.

"Have you ever lost an important person right in front of you?"

The tone of her voice, the wavering tears that threatened to fall from her eyes, all of it pricked at his heart. He opened his mouth to say something, anything, but nothing would come out.

Finally, she continued speaking. "I... I have. I couldn't do anything. I was forced to face the fact that I was a powerless child. All I could do was call..." She blinked, and one of those threatened tears became realized and slowly traveled down her cheek. "All I could do was call out my mother and father's name until my voice died, and I couldn't speak anymore."

The tear reached her chin, and fell to splatter against her hands. "I don't want to feel that again. Have you... have you had that experience?"

"I..."

Then images slammed into Anakin.

Sannah playing on the ground with Ikrit, mute and childlike from the Changing.

Sannah slipping into the dark waters.

Tenel Ka trembling from pain and exhaustion.

Tenel Ka slamming her sword through her chest.

Nelani from the moments leading up to that single kiss, and when she disappeared.

Finally, an image of the river, a silver boat, and gathering clouds slashed through his awareness.

"Tahiri, is... is Nelani... d-" he stopped speaking, and covered his face with his hands. He fought against the tears that wanted to come, and could feel his body shaking. Tahiri placed her hand on his back, and leaned towards him.

"What's wrong, Anakin?"

He bolted to his feet, and started walking away from her.

"Anakin," she called out after him, scrambling to her feet, and jogging to catch up to him.

After he had walked a good three meters, he stopped, and waited for Tahiri.

She arrived moments, later and walked around in front of him. He took a deep breath and opened his eyes.

"Sorry," he said. "I'm fine now."

"So," she replied, the tears leaking from both of her green eyes as they seemed to pierce his soul. "You have experienced it. You have lost someone important right in front of you."

He didn't reply, just watched her face, as the tears ran down both of her cheeks, freely flowing for their shared pain.

"Anakin," she said. "Don't look at my face, okay? I'm sure it's all messy from the tears and everything. So, close your eyes."

"Yeah," he replied, and did as she asked. Hiding the world behind his eyelids.

Her voice floated to him from the darkness. "I'll close my eyes, too."

Then he felt the gentle, feather-light touch of her lips against his. He almost opened his eyes, but was afraid that if he did so, she would disappear. Instead he reached down, and clasped his hands around her arms, ensuring that she stayed there with him.

In the light of the setting sun, they stood there kissing for an eternal moment.


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