Shion spent much of his time just staring at the sky. His mind would wander and he'd end up with his head in the clouds, not paying any attention to the world around him. Most times, he'd catch himself, shake his head a little, and get back to work. Some days were worse than others though. The times when his mind wouldn't stop going, when he couldn't stop thinking about everything that made his heart hurt, Shion would excuse himself and find a place where he could see the sky. There was just something special and calming about the fact that no matter where he was in the world, he was looking into the same sky as everyone else on Earth.

Some nights when sleep wouldn't come to him, when he would toss and turn for hours on end, when his mind just wouldn't shut off, Shion would quietly leave the bakery and make his way to the edge of town. There, he would lay down on the ground, press his hands into the dirt, and stare up into the night sky. He had become very skilled in recognizing constellations and would search the stars for the pictures that they painted.

One day towards the end of June, a few years after the destruction of No.6 as it once was, Shion found himself unable to concentrate on anything. His brain kept cycling through memories he had tried to put away. He was trying to continue working, he really was, but his mind wouldn't allow it. Finally, he caved and excused himself from the Reconstruction Committee office, quickly making his way outside.

He knew he should stay nearby but he was feeling antsy and closed in. He wasn't paying attention to where he was going and allowed his feet to carry him farther and farther from the building. Before Shion knew it, he had made his way to the edge of the forest, the edge of No.6. He blinked and looked around, surprised at where he had ended up, but decided it was as good a place as any to collect his thoughts.

Shion walked a little ways in, not far enough to lose sight of the entrance however. There was a clearing with some small wildflowers just inside the forest. The Committee had tried to plant trees here but they just couldn't grow. It made for a very peaceful place to relax though and Shion sat down in the middle of the purple flowers.

He tilted his head back and looked up to the sky. Since no trees would grow in this part of the woods, the sky was wide open above him. Shion watched the clouds floating by, noticing how some of them looked like animals or figures. After a while, his neck began to hurt and he laid back onto the soft ground. The breeze was cool and made his hair blow lazily around his face.

Shion didn't know how long he had been gone and was surprised when he suddenly woke up and found that it was starting to get dark. The sky had turned to a dark blue and the first of the night's stars were beginning to appear. He had apparently drifted off but something had woken him with a jolt. He rubbed his eyes and kept them trained toward the sky as he tried to figure out what had caused his heart to beat so quickly, his palms to sweat as they now were, and his breath to hitch as he came back to consciousness.

He heard the sound of very light footsteps coming closer. Shion didn't have time to decide whether he should try to run or not before a figure was looming over him. Shion's eyes focused on the face looking down at him and he realized then what had caused him to wake up.

He'd heard his name.

The voice had come from the entrance of the forest, almost like a whisper. The small word had been enough somehow to wake him from his sleep. This particular voice had always had that effect on him.

A smile broke out on Shion's face, his first genuine grin in a long time. He wanted to jump up, wanted to throw his arms around the person over him, wanted to cry and shout and dance and sing and stay in this comfortable silence all at once. His body couldn't decide what to do and he simply remained on the ground with a goofy smile plastered on his face, staring into the gray eyes he had only seen in dreams for the past years.

He heard a chuckle come from the man above and Shion felt a single tear slide down his face. A few seconds passed between them before the dark haired man with a gray cloth wrapped around his neck opened his mouth to speak the words Shion had been wanting to hear for years now. They kept their eyes on each other as the words came out.

"Shion, I'm back."