For XxsugarminuetxX: Happy Birthday, Soulsis! I know I've been talking about how Jace Wayland is the best and how hot Jesse de Silva is. But do you see me writing stories of them? No. I haven't forgotten about Ash! I love Ash too! Ash is awesome! So this is specially written…for YOU. And once again, Happy Birthday! Congrats, you survived…another year! XD
So I hope you all enjoy this one-shot. Yep, it's fluffy…Actually; this might count as my first fluff…so yay for me! XD
Disclaimer: I don't own Night World, and the quote is by T.E Lawrence.
Across the Sky in Stars
I loved you, so I drew these tides of men into my hands and wrote my will across the sky in stars." – T.E Lawrence
*.*.*
The night was peaceful. There was no other sound than the crickets' crisping and the occasional sound of leaves shaking to the cool night wind, as if responding to a call of the wind. The woods, dark and mysterious, stood at the far edge beside the hills covered in green grass. At the far western horizon was the village, miles away, the houses and Victorian style farms and barn houses barely visible, its lights glowing faintly.
A girl sat on one of the low hill tops, hugging her knees and gazing up at the night sky. The sky was dark. It wasn't completely black, but the colour was a sort of very dark velvety blue. Dark enough that people who normally just take a glance at the sky would say the sky has no trace of blue in it. What made the sky so precious were the millions of tiny jewels that spread on it. Like diamonds, they twinkled brightly. Faintly, a giant white band cut through the dark night sky, known as the Milky Way. The air was dry. The scent of dried leaves, mud and grass mixed in the fresh air, carried by occasional night breezes that blown the girl's dark hair across her face.
The girl stretched out a hand to tame the strap of hair blown across her face by the wind, but not taking her eyes off the sky. A while later, she picked up an object beside her. Binoculars. Instead of putting them to her face, she held them in both hands and looked at them longingly, as if reminiscing. Finally, she sighed, and put them to her eyes, continuing to observe the night sky.
Mary-Lynnette always loved the night. She loved the stars of it, the peacefulness of it, and the mysteriousness of it. Tonight was another one of those nights where the air was dry and the sky was clear, a perfect night for star-watching. Most importantly, the night always reminded her of a certain someone she loved.
She almost missed the quiet footsteps approaching and the dark silhouette standing behind her, and when she did, she almost jumped.
"Could you please not do that?" She asked, exasperated, "Like, at least make a sound or something."
"Mary-Lynnette." Ash said, scowling. "You should've told me before you came here."
"Maybe I just wanted to spend some time alone." She said, but she moved aside, leaving a place for him to sit.
"Really? I'm that boring to be around?" He teased, pretending to sound hurt.
"An arrogant jerk? Yeah." Mary-Lynnette joked, putting her binoculars down. Ash, who sat down beside her was wearing a black t-shirt and ripped jeans, his legs stretched out in front of him. Tall, lanky and elegant as always with his ash blonde hair and ever-changing eyes, slightly longer than it was few years ago. Mary-Lynnette remembered touching it, that it was soft like cat's fur.
"A jerk who loves you more than anything else in the world." He whispered beside her ears, his breath tickling behind her ears. "That's another story."
Mary-Lynnette shivered a little. "Stop that." She snapped.
"Stop what, Angel?" He asked innocently. His eyes, though in the dark, were guileless blue.
She decided to ignore him. "The night's beautiful." She muttered.
"Not as beautiful as you." Ash said casually, keeping his tone nonchalant.
Mary-Lynnette turned around to look at him, amused. "So, you decided to be all romantic and mushy tonight?" She asked in a slightly irritated voice.
"Aren't I always?" He answered, arching up an eyebrow.
She couldn't hold the smile anymore. "Right." She laughed. Ash reached out casually to brush a stray hair blown by the breeze away from her face. She'd cut her hair short a while back then when she started college, but her hair had grown longer then.
"I liked it better when it was short." She said, almost to herself.
She'd expected him to say something back, but he didn't. Instead, Ash kept silent as he stared at the sky in stars.
Mary-Lynnette returned her gaze on the sky too. The Pleiades were high up in the east. Below them, Aldebaran , the red giant, was shining extraordinarily bright. If she used her telescope, Jupiter's Great Red Spot would be clearly visible…And right over head, the little smudge disk in Andromeda was another galaxy, light years away…
She looked back at Ash, who was staring into the distance at the stars too. From time to time, she still couldn't help but wonder what it would be like to have vampire visions, no longer limited by the human nine-millimetre pupils…
Ash, feeling her gaze, stared back at her. For a moment they were just staring at each other. He looked at her as if she was the most important thing in the world, that he loved her. She was aware that she was still wearing the ring Ash had given her—the white rose, each pedal supporting a diamond… Then he put his hand on top of hers, looking down at it.
Finally Ash said, "I want to show you something."
Mary-Lynnette blinked. "Yes?"
"Face north-east, look up…" He trailed off, tilting his own head back."Past Perseus. Beside the star Algol. Do you see the sort of blue-ish star?"
"That," Mary-Lynnette scowled, narrowing her eyes, "doesn't look like a star to me."
"It's not. It's a comet." He said, almost sheepishly.
"I haven't heard of any comets passing by this month."
"Mary-Lynnette."
"Ash?"
"I discovered it. I named it after you." He said, keeping his tone light and casual.
"What?" Mary-Lynnette said, surprised and awed at the same time, "Ash…you mean, you named a comet after me?"
"Well," He said, looking at the comet too. "I couldn't name a meteor. I mean, I could shout the name out, but it'll probably be gone within a second. As in the deep-sky objects, I would think you would be the better one discovering it. And as for stars—"
"Ash. You know that's not what I meant."
"There was a saying," He went on as if he hadn't heard her, "If you love something, set it free, if it was meant to be, it will come back." He quoted. "A comet will always come back after a certain amount of time, no matter how long." He said sincerely, "If you wait for it."
Mary-Lynnette was startled. She turned around to look at him. "Ash—"
But whatever she was going to say was lost then, because as she turned around to face him, their lips touched. And then his warm lips were on hers, and they were somehow caught in a kiss.
And she didn't resist it. Her hands, like sunflowers growing to sunlight, twined around his neck. She felt his hand moving along her back, pulling them closer, deepening the kiss. She felt the silver chord that connected the two of them pulling shorter and shorter—
And the world fell away.
She felt his mind opened up to her. His mind—in all the colours of the spectrum, and like the first time, it was still dazzling. But this wasn't the old Ash anymore. What she saw was a reformed Ash, who went to everyone he'd hurt before, who'd spent years trying to make up for his past. He changed. For her. And there was guilt and regret and shame too, more of all, the pain he felt not knowing where she was, the loneliness and the years he'd spent being away from her. Instantly, she felt regret; she tried to reach out with her mind to tell him—
Don't. You did the right thing. He thought hoarsely. You were the one who set me free, Mary-Lynnette—
Don't even try to hide. She cut him off. I know. I'm sorry.
Mary-Lynnette. He repeated, and she could feel his mind blossom, everything was suddenly brighter. She felt his happiness to have her safe in his arms, how much he loved her and would do anything for her.
Mary-Lynnette. Sorry for what? It was the best you could have done for me. Because I am not the one setting you free—you are.
She was at a lost of words. I love you. She thought dizzily, suddenly overwhelmed by the thoughts.
Mary-Lynnette, Mary-Lynnette… He thought over and over again. Just her name.
At some point they weren't kissing anymore, but Ash's strong arms were around her, and she leaned her head back on his shoulder. And it was just the two of them, under the stars, watching as the comet crossed slowly across the sky in stars. "I love you." He murmured.
A while later, Ash broke the silence. "Mary-Lynnette? Jade mentioned something to me earlier."
"What was it?"
Though she wasn't facing him, she could almost feel him smile. "Happy Birthday." He said.
Well, so…if you love Ash, drop a comment! I'd appreciate that. Please? XD
Hope you liked it, soulsis :D
