'What's that sound?' Thought Robin. Brushing his hair away from his eyes, Robin opened and closed his eyes a few times to adjust his vision to the dim lighting. He then pushed himself up from the double bed groggily, noticing that his wife wasn't next to him in bed.
'Nowi doesn't usually wake up in the middle of the night...what's going on?' He quickly got out of the bed and started walking towards the source of the sound. Soon, he recognized the voice as Nowi's and felt somewhat relieved. Her voice was coming from the attic of their cottage, where the couple had another bedroom. It was a comfortable room that they built to use during the winter time when the ground floor became cold. And the window they had built there allowed the lovebirds a wonderous sight of the stars that often had the effect of making their bedtime more intimate and romantic.
"So Robin said: 'Wh-Wha?! ASSASSINO!' Isn't that SO funny?" Nowi's cheerful voice like that of a songbird came flowing from the attic. 'Who's she talking to...?' Thought Robin as he entered through the open door. And there Nowi was, under a shimmering moonlight that made her flowing hair and luminous skin stunningly beautiful to behold. But, Robin noticed, her conversation partner was nowhere to be found. She just had her eyes closed and sat on the bedside, kicking her legs in casual tandem. Nowi fell silent for a moment as if to listen to a reaction to her quip. "Oh! I didn't notice!" She exclaimed after a short pause, and opened her eyes to find Robin as if she knew he was there.
"Hehe! What are you doing just standing there honey? Come on!" Nowi said as she shifted to the side, gesturing to Robin to take a place next to her. Feeling a bit awkward, Robin sat next to Nowi. The goosedown blanket shrunk comfortably under his weight.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to eavesdrop." Robin said just in case. "Oh no! I don't mind at all!" Nowi answered, then proceeded to rest her head on Robin's shoulders letting out a content sigh.
"So...who were you talking to?" Robin finally asked after a moment. Nowi turned her gaze towards Robin's face and seemed confused for a moment, then slapped her head lightly. "Oh! You didn't know!...I was praying! You know, talking to Naga!"
"Ah, I see. So that's what it was!" Robin said, his mystery solved. "You seemed quite...casual, you know. For someone offering prayer to a god," Robin chuckled.
"That's just how we are. We're really close to Naga but she and us are all kind of friendly-like. She's like a big sister to us all!" Saying this, Nowi this time lay sideways, coiling herself around Robin's waist. Thinking this is what Nowi would do in her dragon form, Robin could not hold back a smile.
"That's quite a good relationship isn't it? It seems better than how humans worship her...you know, with so much respect and everything." He said, gently brushing Nowi's hair out of her face.
"I guess, yeah!"
The couple stayed like that for a while. The dim moonlight and silence lent them a serene moment as Robin continuously stroked Nowi's silky hair. Nowi closed her eyes and relaxed in the warmth of her husband. A sweet eternity seemed to pass.
"What did you pray for?" Robin asked softly. Nowi opened her eyes about halfway and smiled. "Oh, I didn't really pray for anything...but I did give Naga my thanks." "Hmm? For what?" To this, Nowi slowly reached up to touch Robin's cheek with her hand, smiling deeply. "For you, dear...I thanked her for you. For letting us meet...For us falling in love with each other...For us being together throughout the rest of our lives...Our kids...Just...Everything about you."
An explosive warmth spread through Robin's chest. 'To be so appreciated by someone to such an extent...' He once again felt the depth of her feelings for him, and the gush of emotions expressed itself through his smile which spread so wide and deep that his cheeks began to smart. Not attempting to stop it, he gazed as fondly as he possibly could, crouching over his wife's petite figure.
"Then I should pray to her as well. For you." Gazing into Nowi's moonlit magenta eyes, Robin held her hands. Nowi cozily smiled and nodded under Robin. "Yeah, now that you're a manakete too, you should be able to talk to her just like me! Let's give it a try!"
"Is that so?...I guess that should be true. But before that..." He drew his face closer to Nowi's, their faces now inches apart. Nowi's pupils shook ever so slightly with expectation as her finger intertwined more firmly around Robin's. "I need to show you just how happy you've just made me." Grinning, he caressed Nowi's lips with his own.
"Mmh...!" Nowi squeaked in helpless bliss.
Observable to no one, a ghostly figure hung in the starry skies over the two lovebirds' cottage. As if troubled, the figure put a hand on its cheek and sighed.
"I wanted to speak to him as well today; he is my son just as much as Nowi is my daughter now...but alas, it seems the time is not ripe. ...But really! I granted him such a gift and he never even thought of talking to me after that...Although he did give his thanks over and over at the time..."
Spoke the figure, in a tone which would remind one of a slightly disgruntled mother who had not heard from her son in a while.
"Oh let them be, both you and they have all the time in the world now! Their life as husband and wife has only just begun." Another figure, this time massive yet graceful, arose from the forest: A great white dragon with ruby red eyes and almost transparent wings that lent it a most mystical elegance.
"You speak wisely..But to be disregarded in such a manner...I must say I am slightly hurt, if not amused." Saying this, the figure produced a vibrating hum that would have been felt as a laughter had any mortal heard it.
"Oh, don't be so forlorn Naga; Robin probably yet feels distant from you...I plan to pay them a visit tomorrow. I will make sure I speak of you to him and also that he speaks to you as well." The dragon's eyes formed two red arcs and the tips of its mouth rose slightly.
"You would, Tiki, my child? Well, I will look forward to it then. Such an occasion should be most joyful." Naga said, her shimmering visage turning into an expectant smile.
"Yes, they do have a knack for bringing happiness to those around them." Said Tiki, giggling in a way only a dragon could.
After this, the two beings dissipated into the night sky as if they were never there, and the moonlit cottage under the starry skies was silent once more...For the most part.