Her trembling hand reached out to his fragile, shattered face. Her fingers brushed against the damaged skin, tracing the lines of his jagged cheekbone. A shaky gasp escaped her throat as she gently laid her palm against his freckled cheek, shivering at the frigidness she was met with. Tears swelled in her amethyst eyes as she dared to look at him, dared to look at his still form, closed eyes that would see no more.

"What has happened to you, my starlight?" She choked, rubbing her thumb over the blood and ash that had trespassed onto his flawless skin.

Finally, the barrier broke as her eyes shut tightly, a horrible sound wretching from her throat as she cried, screamed, released the pain she had held for so long. He was gone, he had left her, he had broken his promise. She wept into her free hand, held her own shattering face as she cried, cried for the first time in a long time. She was gone, she had left him, she had broken her promise.

After a few moments, she brought herself to open her eyes, to look upon him once more, hoping to see him smiling at her, his smokey eyes so full of life, so full of ambition. Her hand still cupped his cheek, his frozen face. She ran her hand through his hair, running her fingers through his untamed strands, brushing them away from his lifeless features.

The tears ran freely down her cheeks, sobbing as she froze, her fingers idly running through his hair. She remembered when he would let her touch him, let her fingers playfully dance across his skin, memorizing every secret his body held, memorizing every single strand of dark hair. Now, those secrets had vanished, he was now so unfamiliar to her touch. He was gone.

She looked away from him, gazed up through the skylight of stars passing by, of planets spinning endlessly through vast amounts of space and time. She had yet to see what most of those unknown worlds possessed, and now she had no desire to, not without him.

"You promised me, Balem," she whispered, voice trembling, "don't you remember? You promised."

Her gaze was unbroken as she watched the sky pass overhead, she found herself lost as she had many times before. She was a dreamer, a lost soul, a star-crossed hopeless girl with no path, as she had been told many times before. In her sorrow, she found a glint of happiness, a hint of humor as she thought about the first time she had met him. It had been anything but joyous at the time, but now it was all she could find to keep her heart beating.

Her eyes reflected a starlit sky above her as she remembered, as she struggled to bury the unbearable pain she had now felt, and a faint smile crept across her lips. She closed her eyes and could see him, could see herself, somewhere far away when their life was innocent, and dreams were just made of stardust.