The dark was rising up against the forest, rearing to crash down like a foamy whistling wave. The trees shook, the wind roared, and the red moon laughed silently at the trembling figures below. The grass was ripped up in chunks from the ground, throwing dirt and roots into the frothing water's edge. The water itself was muddy and black, and swirling with rotting plants and slimy mud. A choked burbling came from between the rocks, as dirt and twigs and yellow foam caught between them, stopping water flow from that particular passage. But the water had other plans. It built up and crashed over the rocks, drenching the riverbanks and the violently waving grass.
She looked at him in sorrow, her liquid blue eyes overflowing with emotion. Her pawsteps were soft and unheard against the screaming wind. He blinked. His eyes widened, his face lost all fierceness, as he recognized her soft features, her white fur. He stumbled towards her, shook his head in disbelief. A small smile played on her face, but it was sad, and knowing. His eyes filled with tears. He didn't have long.
He broke into a run, digging his claws into the grass beneath his paws. Suddenly the clearing seemed endless, and she seemed a million miles away. He gasped in sharp breaths of the cold air, each one a shard of ice in the back of his throat. His breath billowed before him, clouding his vision in small puffs of humid white. And in an instant he was there, beside her, stumbling, trying to catch his breath, and he collided with her in his desperate attempts to skid to a stop. He was darkness, and she was light, and her starry form latched onto his darkened soul and held him tight. And he cried into her, his muzzle buried in her neck. He spoke to her of how he missed her, of apologies and pure heart break, of loneliness that came in thin silky strands, and then crashed over like waves by the sea.
And he didn't notice her paw stroking his cheek until she leaned forward and touched her nose to his. He froze. In all the seasons that had passed, his pelt was faded and stained. With one stroke of her paw, the blood stains vanished. Stars began to dot his fur, and he looked at her, a questioning smile on his face, tears filling his golden eyes. She nodded and smiled reassuringly. All that was needed to be said was between that look. And for the first time in all his life, he cried tears of joy. For her, for him, for the life after life that he had never had. In that moment, all was silent. The wind stopped, the trees stood still. The water burbled no more. The grass stopped waving, and light poured down from a renewed pale white moon.
Crystal blue butterflies filled the air and surrounded the cats, lifting them into the sky. The tom looked rather fearfully at the she-cat, but she smiled a smile that reached her eyes, and his fear vanished. Clear laughter burbled out, kind and genuine, as they vanished into the beautiful scattered stars. But the butterflies remained, antennae brushing, wings opening and closing with such grace, placing on the slight breeze, as you might call them, butterfly kisses.