This is dedicated to a group of people who've made the last three weeks of my life, for lack of a better term, less stressful than it might have been without them. Thanks, you guys. :] Hope you (and everyone else reading!) enjoy this.

When I look at the stars, I see someone else
When I look at the stars
The stars, I feel like myself
Switchfoot / "Stars"

It was a perfect night for the Starry Night Festival. Downright freezing, as Winter always was, but no harsh wind to create further discomfort. The near-full moon cast a glossy crown on the waves below, the stars dazzling pinpricks against the pitch black wall of the cold sky. Any of the couples who went together would be more than pleased that the atmosphere lent itself to romance, to the possibility of becoming closer.

Kasey exhaled loudly, purposefully, his breath quickly clouding and just as quickly absorbing into the icy winter night. The other perfect part of it was that he was finally getting to enjoy the Starry Night Festival. Alone, on the dock by Harmonica Town's Fishery, with no company but the half-eaten egg sandwich in his hand.

Many of the townspeople were shocked that Kasey hadn't invited anyone. Charismatic Kasey, with his sharp wit and winning smile, his eagerness to be the center of attention whenever possible (especially when there were females around), was going stag.

How much of a deal it really became was unexpected. That he wasn't even going to try to invite any of the single girls, all of whom he was on good terms with, even though he wasn't "seeing" any of them. Yolanda kept trying to stuff him with her heartiest soups, insisting the reason for his "sudden withdrawal" was that he was sick. Mira had recounted to him her own experiences at the Festivals she spent with her husband several years ago, the fondness she held for him (and always would) transforming her typically solemn expression into one of peace. Kasey knew it was an attempt to encourage him not to let the opportunity pass him, to seek out a date, but really, he was just glad that Mira was beginning to accept her husband's passing by opening up about him.

Even Luke had tried to coerce him into joining the "bro-party" he was throwing for himself, Owen, Bo, and (so Luke said) his dog Boss, none of whom had managed to wrangle up dates either. Kasey declined with reluctance, knowing full well any party thrown by Luke would be "extreme" in every way possible, including an "extreme" hangover.

If everyone was trying to make him feel guilty about excluding himself from the festivities, it was working. Guilty because all the concern was genuine, not some trivial fuel for gossip. They all really did care about him, and wanted him to have a good time, with one of the girls or otherwise.

And he wanted to leave.

He'd been thinking about it for a season or two, about leaving Castanet Island. Not because he didn't like it there, and certainly not because he didn't care about it, or the people. He just had a hard time understanding why he was there.

He didn't understand when he first arrived either, past that he could be here for a bit and earn a living at something he had experience in, be on his own until he figured out what he really wanted to do with his life.

It didn't work out that way though, not with Finn appearing and this whole Bells thing, this restoring the Islands. It was the biggest rush he'd ever experienced, playing hero, and having all the townspeople view him with a sort of reverence as little-by-little, the Island regained its old form.

But it'd been almost three years now since he arrived, and he was still so young, only twenty-one. It was pretty much unspoken that Kasey had made Castanet his permanent home, but he couldn't fathom that this was it, that he would just put roots down here and more-or-less commit the rest of his life to it, not when he had so much life left to live.

He could try and talk to someone about it, but where would he start? Most of the Islanders had never left Castanet, and probably never would, but he'd feel like far less of a...freak...if it didn't seem as if he wasn't the only one who'd ever considered it. Even his friends who had been off of the Island, for one reason or another: Anissa, Gill...it was as if they knew, when they left, that they'd return some day. He didn't know that either.

Kasey took the thermos of hot tea he'd brought with him from the lunch bag at his feet. As he unscrewed the lid, the stars flashed overhead all together, almost as if on a cue. Kasey wondered if they really were shining brighter than any other day of the year, a treat from the Harvest Goddess, or if it was just wishful thinking-turned-truth. He'd never really thought about it before, but there were many things he was just now beginning to notice, to soak in; there were many things that it might be his "last time" doing, including the Starry Night Festival.

Maybe he should have brought a date after all.

"K-kasey?" A voice rustled him from staring down blankly at his tea, so whisper-soft he thought he'd imagined it at first.

A few feet away from him stood Candace, bundled up in a wooly navy coat, a loosely-crocheted cream-white beret flat on top of her blue cottony hair.

Caught between the shock of being invaded upon, and the pleasant surprise that it was her, his words came out all wrong, a squawk of disbelief. "Candace! What are you doing here?"

He closed his eyes tight for a moment, afraid he might have sounded too harsh. But she simply stared down at the pile of fabric in her mittened hands. "I-I saw you walk by earlier tonight a-and..." She paused, shuffling her feet as Kasey moved a few inches closer. "When you n-never came back, I...I didn't want you to get too cold out here, so I br-brought you this..."

Her head lifted, a trace of a smile across it, as she handed him what she was carrying. It wasn't just any pile of fabric, it was a scarf. A deep blue, he could make out under the lights of the dock. And though his fingers had numbed slightly in the cold, he could feel it wasn't made of just any old material. There had to have been cashmere woven into it, with how smooth it was.

"I-I hope you like it...I spent all week working on it, just for you. You always bring me such nice things, I thought I could give you something in r-return. B-but if it's not..."

"No, Candace, this is really cool!" Kasey unfurled it and wrapped it around his neck, looping it so both ends draped forward over each of his shoulders. His lips brushed it as he continued talking. "Or, I guess I should say warm, right?" Though the scarf obstructed the crooked, playful smile that had formed, it was evident in his voice.

She tittered politely, and fiddled with the toggles of her coat. A comfortable silence fell between them as they both turned their attention to the night sky.

A lot of the townspeople, including Candace's own sister, often urged her to talk more, to be more outgoing, but Kasey liked that she didn't waste her time droning on and on about frivolous things. While she could stand to have more self-esteem, he appreciated her gentle presence, especially with how tumultuous his stay on Castanet Island had been.

He wasn't the only one who appreciated her.

"I thought you'd be with Julius," he stated with earnest interest, referring to the gaudy metalsmith who made no secret that the only person he thought was as "fabulous" as himself was Candace. Kasey wasn't so sure himself that he'd use the adjective "fabulous" to describe Candace, maybe "sweet" or something along those lines.

He also had a few other choice words to describe Julius other than "fabulous", with the way he'd perfected the backhanded compliment. He'd witnessed a few instances firsthand, of Julius soliciting his rather tactless advice to Candace, about her wardrobe, and wondered how many he hadn't had the "privilege" of seeing.

"N-no...I told him I'd r-rather not go with him..." Kasey didn't reply, partially from relief that the interest appeared to be one-sided, and Candace continued. "I...didn't think he would have a good t-time with me, so..."

Kasey laughed out loud, envisioning the hissy-fit Julius had probably launched into. But it almost hurt, laughing, with the disappointment of hearing Candace's reasoning, so defeatist.

Candace shrunk away from him, and he reached out for her, taking hold of her wrist with his free hand. "No, no, Candace, I wasn't laughing at you." He sighed, waffling with the idea of elaborating, but she had relaxed, believing him. He dropped his hand away and extended the thermos of tea to her. "Here. It's mint."

"Th-thank you." She cupped both hands around the thermos and brought it to her mouth, sipping as her large blue eyes focused on him, in an appraising manner.

Her eyes fell as she lowered the container, then fixed back on him with a new resolve.

"Kasey, I'm worried about you...!" The words came out suddenly, tremulously, but with a certain force.

"Worried? What for?" Kasey chuckled and waved his hand dismissively, his too-cool-for-school attitude returning. It was a sort of habit, a bad habit, he'd developed, to act as though nothing fazed him to the point of it bordering on arrogance. Unfortunately there were a few people, Candace included, who had grown to know him better than that, and it embarrassed him, that he still had to put on a show for them for his pride's sake.

Candace nodded slowly, hugging the tea close to her body. "You...you've been different l-lately, I haven't seen you as much, no one has. And you don't look as happy and...and...Luna acted the same way before she..." she trailed off, but Kasey knew what she was alluding to. Her sister Luna had spent a couple years in the city, when Castanet was still in shambles, to better herself in the realm of business in case the Sonata Tailors ever took off again. He couldn't picture bossy, opinionated Luna being anything resembling withdrawn, but Candace wasn't one to fabricate such a story.

"You think I want to leave here?" Kasey asked, and Candace nodded again, her shoulders trembling, and Kasey thanked the Goddess it was dark, that he couldn't tell if she was starting to cry or not.. "That's...not true." He left out the "entirely", unable to bear the thought of upsetting her more.

"If you r-really want to, though...if it would make you h-happy..."

"No, Candace, that's not it, it's just-" He sighed, frustrated at all the thoughts that were careening around in his head. Then they came spilling out, jumbled, no structure to his sentences. All the while he knew being this candid about his feelings to dear, sensitive Candace was about as risky as the time Luke thought he could bash honey out of a beehive with a tree branch ("It's just like a piñata!").

But Candace didn't react at all until his rant winded down.

Then she set the tea thermos down on the dock, and took a couple steps towards Kasey, and wrapped both arms around his torso in a desperate hug.

"I-I would miss you terribly if you did l-leave, Kasey. Y-you...I think you're the best person to ever come here." Her head only came up to his chest and even with a sweater and winter coat on, he feared she'd be able to hear his heart beating double-time.

His arms found their way around her as well, one hand setting at the back of her head. He opened his mouth to reply, but a tail of light streaked across the sky: a shooting star. Both he and Candace turned their heads, still in embrace, and watched it.

The legend was that if you quickly repeated your wish three times in succession before the star disappeared, it would come true.

But at that moment, Kasey had a hard time really wishing for anything more.

I really liked writing this. I love Kasey/Candace...I've always generally liked it, but I've grown to adore it lately. I like Julius too a lot, actually; his mention had a lot to do with me being fanservice-y, dohoho. Oooh and this is my first ever entry into ANY kind of writing festival. :S :X