Vi looked up from wiping down the table as the front door opened, a giddy figure bounding in. "Vi! Vi! Vi!" Caitlyn exclaimed as she burst into the entryway, haphazardly tossing her boots off her feet to land where they may and skipping up to Vi like a little girl home from school.

"Caitlyn, Caitlyn, Caitlyn, yes, what is it?" Vi offered back in flat, drooping tones that one usually reserves for calming an over-excited puppy. She continued cleaning the table as Caitlyn grabbed her arm and shook it emphatically as she spoke, the cleaning rag in her hand flying every which way, "Have you been outside tonight? Have you seen how pretty it is?" Shaking her head, Vi steeled the muscles in her arm to focus on finishing the task at hand, making Caitlyn look like she were doing pushups off a flagpole, "No, but I imagine you're going to tell me."

Caitlyn nodded excitedly, and made as if to pull Vi over to the front door, which proved about as effective as trying to pull a mountain over to the front door. Finishing her cleaning duties, Vi looked over and finally broke a smirk, as Caitlyn had clenched her eyes shut and dug her heels into the floor, grunting and heaving ineffectually. "Alright, alright," she succumbed, her first step from the table nearly bowling Caitlyn over as her mountain suddenly moved, "let's see then."

Dashing out of the living room and skidding across the entryway in her socks, Caitlyn threw the door open and pointed up. Cool, fresh air began to fill the foyer, and Vi couldn't help but nod in concession as she stepped out and regarded the night sky. It was a new moon, without a single cloud to obstruct the view.

Taking a deep breath of the night air, Vi smiled beside herself – though she fought it as best she could most of the time, Caitlyn's enthusiasm was often infectious. "You're right, it's beautiful."

Caitlyn beamed at seeing Vi's smile, as if an invisible dial in the heavens remained constantly turning to ensure that Caitlyn's excitement was always twice that of Vi's.

"Right? It's so romantic." Caitlyn crooned, grabbing Vi's arm again and pulling her closer with as much success as her previous effort.

Vi let Caitlyn keep her arm as a consolation prize while turning the rest of her body away, shrugging as she spoke, "If pitch-darkness is romantic, I guess."

Another sudden tug had Vi looking back over her shoulder, where she met Caitlyn's wide-eyed stare with a start, "It's perfect! Right down beside the river, I bet that's the perfect place!"

Vi blinked, not catching her meaning, "The riverbank? Perfect for what?" Caitlyn was already a blur of motion, however, talking like a horse racing announcer as she ran to the other room to fetch her coat. From across the house, Caitlyn continued, "Stargazing! You know, all the constellations, all the pretty stars? It's perfect when it's a new moon like this, you can see them all so clearly!"

"Hang on, I can't hea-" Vi began, having missed what Caitlyn had just said, before she came racing back across the living room on her way to the bedroom, still gathering her things, "It's the perfect night for us to do it, though. It's so dark outside, there's no way we can pass this up!"

Vi continued her mountain impression alone this time, standing frozen in the entryway with her mouth open as Caitlyn disappeared into the back hallway. "Us…do…it?"

Caitlyn had completely immersed herself in the bottom drawer of her dresser, searching for a new pair of socks since the ones she was wearing had gotten wet when she stepped outside.

"So uh, hey…" "Whoa!" Caitlyn whirled around and nearly jumped out of her skin as Vi started to speak after silently arriving in the room.

"Sorry, sorry," Vi apologized, "Look, it's just…I'm glad you're excited and all, and I'm all for a walk along the river, but I mean…" Caitlyn cocked her head to the side and furrowed her eyebrows, assuming that the blush in Vi's cheeks was due to the cool air from before. Vi paced back and forth in the room, keeping her eyes at her feet, "…I mean, I've never…never done…it…before…so…"

Caitlyn giggled and waved her hand dismissively, turning back to her sock drawer, "Oh come on, it's no big deal, you don't have to have any experience to enjoy yourself." Vi swallowed hard and sat down on the edge of the bed. Her eyes had begun to glaze over when Caitlyn landed with a bounce next to her, hastily pulling on a pair of purple socks adorned with tiny stars.

"Come on, this is no time to space out!" Vi reluctantly pulled herself from her reverie, and opened her mouth as if to protest again.

"It's okay, I'll teach you as we go. You'll have a great time, I promise!" Vi let out a whimper too quiet to be heard as Caitlyn took her by the arm and led her easily back over to the entryway, her status as a mountain officially revoked from excess shock.

"Brr, Vi, I'm cold…" Caitlyn complained melodramatically, reaching over for Vi's arm for the umpteenth time since they began their walk to the river. Keeping her hands in her pockets, Vi took her umpteenth dodging step to the side, "I told you before you left the house that you should have brought a warmer jacket." "Hmph." Caitlyn pouted, wrapping her arms around herself.

Their path wound past the fields outside their home and through a light copse of trees before coming to large embankment that marked the edge of the valley where the river ran.

Caitlyn took a few steps ahead and turned around, walking backward as she spoke, "This is so exciting! I can't wait to point out what everything is."

"E…everything?" Vi cleared her throat and tried to quickly change the subject, "Hey, be careful, you shouldn't walk backward in the dark like that."

Caitlyn nodded happily, completely ignoring her warning, "So you've never read about it or anything? I'm sure you've tried looking at least once by yourself, though." Vi turned away, mumbling, "I mean…I guess I've…looked…before…but…"

Caitlyn shook her head and giggled, "Anyone can just look! It's best if you have a guide who can show you what everything is for the first time, then it's easy to remember later." Vi nodded gravely, "I…I'll trust you be a good guide, then."

Caitlyn beamed, nodding repeatedly, "No worries! I'm a great guide! Well, I mean, I've never tried teaching anyone else before, but I've done a toooooon of studying by myself." Caitlyn moved back around to walk by Vi's side, offering her a reassuring smile, and in the darkness as they approached the river, couldn't notice that her eyes were the size of dinner plates.

"Okay, here we are!" Caitlyn announced, plopping down unceremoniously onto the cool grass. Vi fumbled listlessly with the blades of grass beneath her, "So…um…what do we…-"

"Ooh, hold that thought, I'm gonna go get a drink from the river!" Caitlyn said, as she made her way down the bank and over to the water's edge.

The quiet bubbling of the current intertwined seamlessly with the calls of the crickets and frogs, and Vi proved just how relaxed and serene she felt at that moment by collapsing on her back with her arms crossed on her chest like a mummy about to be entombed.

Her heart began to race as she heard the sound of grass underfoot growing closer, "Okay, sorry about that. You ready?"

Vi closed her eyes as Caitlyn laid down beside her in the grass, "Yes, but…just be gent-"

"Okay, so see those three right there? Those are its back, right?"

Vi reluctantly opened her eyes, seeing Caitlyn's outstretched arm pointing straight up to the night sky that spread out above them in every direction. "Its…back?"

"Right, so those three are its back, and if you follow them over, those two right there are its floppy little ears, and the big bright one is its puffy little tail!"

Vi paused there for a long, long moment, replaying the night back in her head to see where she lost the thread, all the while Caitlyn giggling innocently beside her over the shimmering bunny in the sky.

"Okay, I think I get it now." Vi admitted with a deep sigh of relief, "I think I get it." For the first time that night, she took a moment to relax, and was at once overwhelmed by the wonder of the scene above her. She had seen the stars before, of course, but never like this - without the moon's brightness, no matter where you looked, it seemed a million tiny points of light were floating there.

"Great!" Caitlyn exclaimed, "See? I knew you were a natural stargazer."

Vi turned away from the scene to regard Caitlyn, her cheerful face just barely aglow with starlight.

"I guess…I never knew it was so beautiful." Vi realized aloud in a distant, dreamy tone.

"I know, right? Okay, so if you follow the line from the bunny's right little ear, there's a bunch of stars right there, and they…"

Before she realized it, Vi found her hands slowly drifting toward Caitlyn's side, her face inching closer to her cheek. In the darkness, Caitlyn didn't even notice as Vi held her breath, drawing close enough to feel Caitlyn's warmth offering her escape from the cool night air.

"C…Caitlyn…"

"Hmm?" Caitlyn turned her head, but her eyes adjusted too slowly after staring at the stars to fully realize just how close Vi was to her.

"I…" Vi bit her lower lip, looking deep into Caitlyn's eyes.

"…I'm going to go get a drink too, I'll be right back." Vi sat up as quickly as her body would allow, stomping her way down to the bank of the river and thrusting her head under the freezing current. With a bracing gasp she pulled herself back up, and muttered quietly to herself as she wrung out her hair and made her way back up to Caitlyn.

"Welcome back! Okay, so if you look just past all those stars that make up the giraffe's loooooong neck…"

FIN