Ron was nineteen years old when the saddest realization of his life hit him.
He didn't know how to be a kid.
That was the sad, sad truth. He had fought, running, never taking a break from evil for so long, that somewhere along the way, he had forgotten how to be a kid.
Well, kid was the wrong word. He had forgotten how to be young. While other nineteen year olds were outside, having fun, living life, and staying up till dawn, he was stuck at home, in his bed, having nightmares about all the crap that had happened to him ages fifteen to eighteen.
This realization struck at a bar. Glancing away from Harry and Hermione with their hands all over each other, he looked around, seeing people his own age acting like there wasn't a care in the world, when he knew that they had to have one, at least one.
He had many. From the little, like what was Auror training going to bring today, to the big, like what was being an Auror going to be like and if it was worse than what he had faced before, he wasn't sure he could take it.
He wondered how even Harry and Hermione could be so carefree. He never considered the possibility that they helped each other through the nightmares, through the flashbacks, through the times when they thought that maybe life wasn't worth living. They helped each other and they helped themselves. Ron didn't even think that.
Until it happened to him.
The night that he had the realization was the night that he saw Luna again after what must have been about a year. That night when he just saw her on a corner of a street in the middle of Dublin, dressed in a simple black coat and boots, and looking up at the sky like she expected it to snow even though there was no forecast for it.
She was the beautiful thing that he had ever seen in his life.
He must have stood there for a good ten minutes, just staring at her, while she just stared up at the sky. He didn't even think she knew that he was there until she said, so softly that Ron almost didn't hear it but clear as a bell too, "Beautiful night, isn't it?"
Ron stood still for one more minute before he moved to stand near her and he looked up at the sky too, so close that he could smell her. She smelled like sunlight and grass and fresh air. Like one of those perfect days when you just lay on your back outside and you fall asleep, feeling totally secure and safe though truthfully you are the most vulnerable you've ever been.
That was Luna though. No matter how vulnerable you might get with her, you always feel secure. You know she wouldn't breathe a word of what you just told her to anyone, no matter how dotty she might get in the mean time. That was what he loved the most about her. That's what made her perfect. Ron was so lost in his thoughts that he didn't even realize his confession of love. That was another thing that he loved about her though. You could be honest about anything and everything and always know that she didn't judge you, no matter what.
His thoughts almost blocked out her next words, which were, "It's a lovely night to be alive, isn't it?"
He still heard her though and replied with a simple, "Yeah."
Luna, always so sweetly blunt, said next, "You don't have to be so sad all the time Ronald. I hate seeing you sad. It's not really a good look on you anyway. You're more of a happy person, a person that should have a smile on his face. I haven't seen you in a year, but you were like this a year ago and I can tell that you've been like this for that year, plus Hermione and Ginny told me you've been. So why are you sad Ron? A lot of people are, but they're healing. You're not. Why?"
It was the most passionate that he had ever heard Luna sound and he liked it. But as for her question, he only had one answer. So he took a deep breath and said it.
"Because I don't feel like there's anything to be happy about."
Luna finally looked down from the sky and Ron followed. Silvery gray met cinnamon brown as she said with all seriousness, "There's always something to be happy about. You just have to look."
Ron felt bad, but he couldn't help but snort at that. Luna didn't seem to mind. "I don't know where to start," he said in a half-sad, half-mocking voice. It sounded even to him hollow and shell-like. All Luna did though was intertwine her fingers with Ron's, giving him a little jump as he looked at her. She just smiled and said, "I'll help you."
Ron squeezed her hand and said nothing. Nothing needed to be said.