It was already dark. The orange street-lights faded away as Dia, with a heavy green jacket thrown over her clothes, trailed through the pitch-black forest. Her torch, the stars, and the full moon all guided her.

She came into a clearing – a dark green tent had been set up. Beside it, sat a girl with long, dark blue hair tied up in a ponytail messing around with a telescope. Finally, thought Dia, I found her.

As she walked towards her friend, leaves and twigs cracked under her boots. The other girl twisted at the noise – they caught each other's eyes. Dia pulled a sombre expression, unsure of what to say.

After a brief moment of silence, the dark blue haired called out to her in a bitter voice. "What are you doing here?"

"I came looking for you." Dia told her. "You never turned up for school, nor were you at your home. I was worried."

Her friend grimaced and turned away. "I'm fine. You can leave now."

Dia sighed. She walked up behind her, placing a delicate hand on the girl's shoulder. "Kanan," she began, in a solemn voice. "She's not coming back. Running away is not going to change that."

Her shoulders heaved, her head lowered. "I know that." Kanan admitted. "I'm the one who encouraged her to go, after all."

It was only the day before, that Mari Ohara left for America. The three teenage girls had said their tearful goodbyes at the airport, but the overall mood was glum. Their failure of being a school idol group, had taken a toll on their friendship.

"Are you mad at me?" asked Kanan, still avoiding Dia's gaze. "For doing what I did?"

"No, what's done is done."

"In the end, it was just a silly dream."

"It was our dream. It was not silly at all." Dia defiantly told her, having folded her arms.

Kanan suddenly giggled at her stubbornness.

The tension in the air relaxed. Kanan shyly glanced at her friend who had come to console her, she could see the worry that had been in Dia's eyes. They gave each other a small, sad smile.

Dia was glad to find her well, even if she was a little sulky.

She sat down next to Kanan's left side. It was chilly, yet her friend had not brought any sort of coat with her. She never thinks ahead, Dia mused to herself. Without a second thought, she wrapped the right side of her jacket over Kanan to share. Cuddling up, Dia rested her head on Kanan's left shoulder, closing her eyes.

Kanan's eyes widened over her friend's sudden actions - her cheeks blushed red when she realised how close their hands were, their pinky fingers almost touching. She had a sudden urge to grab Dia's dainty hand, and hold it tightly. Nervously, she moved her hand closer, hovered above her friend's hand, but when she was about to wrap her fingers over... she chickened out.

Because she suddenly jerked back, she disturbed Dia. Her dark haired friend didn't say anything, just gave her a look that asked, "what's wrong?"

"Ah, um..." Kanan awkwardly shifted her arms, trying to think of an excuse. "D-Do you want me to show you the moon? Through the telescope.. of course!"

Dia smiled sweetly. "I'd love to."

She looks so graceful, was all Kanan could think about. For a good moment she didn't move, just smiled warmly at Dia.

"What are you spacing out for?" Dia puzzled.

"Ah.. right.." Kanan, blinked, and came back to earth. "I'll get on it.."

She adjusted her telescope, making sure it was focused perfectly on the moon.

"Here," Kanan courtesied for Dia to take a peek. Dia's emerald eyes gently looked into the glass, the round shape of the moon reflected into her eyes – Kanan was mesmerised.

"She's beautiful," gushed Dia.

"Who?" Kanan thoughtlessly asked, forgetting what Dia was focused on.

"The moon – what else?" Dia frowned.

"Oh..." Kanan laughed nervously. "Wait till you zoom in closer!"

Dia let Kanan take over again so she could adjust the telescope. When Kanan was finished, she pulled Dia back over to join her. Forcing herself to forget about her nerves, together they shared the telescope's view.

It was a clear night, so they had so much to see. The millions of craters on the moon formed such a breathtaking view, Dia felt she could take hours to take in all the details. Kanan then started to show her the rest of the sky and its wonders. She explained which stars were which and pointed out the constellations to Dia, revealing some of the myths behind them.

Before they knew it, it was incredibly late.

"I could gaze at the stars all night with you, Kanan," said Dia, she began to stand back up, "But I should head home now." She smiled softly.

Kanan, a little distracted by her smile, shook her head. "No," With both hands, she grabbed one of Dia's, pulling her back. "You should stay all night, there's more than enough room in the tent."

Dia, a little surprised at Kanan's offer. "I... I shouldn't. I don't have my mobile phone on me. Ruby will wonder where I am..."

Kanan's grip tightened. "Just one night. You can call Ruby on mine! Let her know you're fine."

Dia hesitated to answer. It came to mind how Kanan initially pushed her away when Dia found her, yet now she's pulling her to stay. Dia let out a small giggle. "Fine.. I'll stay with you in the tent tonight."

"What will we sleep in?"

Kanan lifted up the only sleeping bag. "Hehe..."

"Ugh, nevermind then..." Dia turned to leave the tent.

"Ah, no!" Kanan grabbed her arm. "There's enough room in it for both of us! Honest!"

Dia smirked lightly. "I was just joking." She placed a hand on her hip. "Are you sure there's room for both of us?"

"Let's find out-!"

To Dia's surprise, they both fitted in snugly.

"See? It's not too bad!" Kanan said triumphantly.

"Hah hah, it just fits us in."

They lay side by side, their bodies were so close they were touching. For a moment, they lay quietly looking up at the top of the tent.

Dia broke the silence.

"Do you think Mari will come back here to us?"

"Hmm, I think she will," Kanan said her voice sounding pretty optimistic.

"How come you're being so positive about it now?" said Dia, noticing her change of attitude. "Just earlier you were so depressed over it."

"Hehe.. you cheered me up, I think." Kanan admitted, blushing a little.

"I did?"

"Yup!" Kanan smiled. "I realised, earlier when we were stargazing, we've only got each other for now. Even though Mari's gone to another country.. we have to use this time to become even closer - for her."

"Mari would want us to stick together." Dia said. "So the three of us can unite when she returns."

"Yup!" Kanan snuggled up even closer to Dia. "So we can't have any fallings out now, can we?"

Dia giggled. "Of course not."

"Well, we should get some rest. I'm turning out the light." Kanan reached her arm out and switched off the lamp. The tent became pitch-black. "Good night, Dia."

"Sleep tight, Kanan."

As they tightly cuddled up, they soon fell asleep together.