CHAPTER 12-Noctem Aeternus

The whole world seemed to start spinning at once and then stop, mid-air, suspended in the universe, and ceased to breathe. Silence had descended upon the battlefield as quickly and as suddenly as if we had broken into the vacuumn of space. They were all yowling and screeching loud enough to wake the dead a few seconds ago, but now, they might as well have been mute.

The leaves rustled and whispered amongst themselves. The blue sky churned like a wave. It was like watching a scene from a movie without any sound in it, save for the violent thudding of my heart and the breathing of Featherpaw beside me.

The black cat stood upon the top of the cliff, as still and unmoving as a statue. Her fur gleamed, polished, in the cold sun, as smooth as a raven's feather glinting to the light. Her dark brown eyes were almost as dark as black; dark enough to match the color of her pelt. They were stern, icy.

But not cold enough. There was a glint in there that reflected the light.

Confused, I glanced at my surroundings. Most of the younger cats, including Featherpaw,were blinking up at her with blank looks. However, the older ones stood spellbound, mouths agape, eyes wide with shock, as if they were gazing not at a cat, but at StarClan itself.

Bramblestar stood rigidly by the foot of the Highledge, something like bewilderment showing impossibly strong on his face. Even Onestar had halted, his paw poised frozen in the air.

No one said anything. No one moved. No one even blinked. Every cat was rooted to the spot, all of them staring up at the same thing.

I quietly nudged Featherpaw. "Who is she?" I whispered.

She blinked at me and shook her head, indicating that she didn't know either. Then she waved her tail and pointed to something a short way away.

I followed her gaze.

Dewstep was standing stock-still, as if he were made of stone. His fur was fluffed up until he looked twice his usual size, and his amber eyes were round with surprise. His mouth opened a few times, but no sound came out.

The black cat had called out his name a few moments before. What did she want with my mentor? Was she a WindClan cat? I parted my jaws to drink in the air, but it was no use. She was too far away for the wind to pick up her scent.

Her dark brown eyes surveyed the scene before her. It wasn't much to look at: blood stains everywhere, cats collapsed on the ground. There was a reek of iron that clung onto every cat's pelt. The blood on my paws was beginning to stiffen and dry out.

Her small grin had ceased, but then it was replaced by another smile, wider this time, when she caught sight of Dewstep again. Or was it the cat behind him?

No mistake-her gaze was aimed at Dewstep. Why? Who was she?

"Hey!" she called loudly, and began to make her way down the cliff.

That voice. And that smile. Those eyes. They all seemed so familiar, as if I had seen it in a dream somewhere. I tried to remember. It prickled the back of my mind like pins and needles.

And like Moses crossing the Red Sea, the group of cats, ThunderClan and WindClan alike, moved aside to let her pass. Some of them even dipped their heads. A few calmer ones nodded as she slid past them. Most of them, however, were too surprised to do anything but stare.

Including Dewstep. His legs were trembling now, his eyes quivering. Why? Was he scared?

"Featherpaw?" I breathed, without breaking my eyes away from her. "What's she going to do to him?"

And why wasn't anyone stopping her? How could a stranger just stride into the camp like this without a second thought?

Her voice was tiny. Like grass rustling together, or the trickling music of a stream. The camp was quiet enough for me to hear her.

She paused just a few feet in front of Dewstep.

Still grinning, she mewed, "Hello." Dewstep actually started a bit and then backed a few paces away from her. But he wasn't afraid. No, there was another emotion there in the bristle of his fur like electricity, the sweep of his tail, the quivering in his whole body. Something I didn't recognize, didn't know.

Maybe she was going to say something else, maybe something that actually made sense, but I didn't let her. She was weird; she was strange; she was out of place here. She didn't belong, like how water didn't belong in a desert, or warmth didn't belong in snow. I just felt her, somehow. Like an invisible aura pulsing from her in waves, a halo around light. She was different; she was different like how I was different. It made my neck prickle. Who was this cat, this cat who just appeared out of the blue from nowhere and who felt different from everyone else? Who was this cat, this person, who just tumbled out of the sky and crash-landed right in my life like a certain other weird one I knew?

Featherpaw's tail was quivering, and I knew that, somehow, she knew too.

I strode up toward her in long, bold movements and planted myself firmly in front of her, wedged between her and Dewstep.

A ripple passed through the crowd; no one said anything, no one gasped, and I was pretty sure that no one was even breathing, but I could tell, for just one flicker of a flame, what they were thinking.

I could also tell just from the horrified looks on their faces, the looks that were all aimed at me. I was in the spotlight. I didn't care, though. I was used to it.

I glared at her. Glared at her all over, from the tips of her toes to the tops of her ears. She stared back at me, more with confusion than anything else. She blinked a few times. Then she smiled again, laughed softly and shrugged her shoulders, like she thought that what I was doing wasn't a big deal.

I leaned in real close until our whiskers were touching and gave her another red-hot glare. She didn't flinch, but only stared back intently. Something glimmered in her eyes, like starlight washing on a beach.

Rainy days.

Metaphors.

Pink and purple with yellow spots.

Tulips.

It couldn't be...

"Oh," she said. And her eyes widened.

She asked, "How are you feeling today?" She tipped her head to one side, a laugh in her voice that made the thing flutter in my heart once more. "Pink? Blue? Or a mix of everything, like the rainbow?"

I snapped my head back, irritation now mingling with my surprise, and hissed, "Y-you..."

She raised her head and looked at something behind me. "Dewstep! Oi, Dewstep!" She waved her paw. "You alright? Hey, don't act like that. I know it's been a long time, but-"

All of a sudden, in a violent lunge, he surged forward and was crying all over her, licking her shoulder and purring. He was a mess.

"I missed you," he mewed, and I couldn't tell what he was feeling more right now-sheer happiness or relief. "I'm so glad you're alright."

"You know him?" I asked her.

He broke away and blinked, his brow furrowing. "Are you saying that you know her?"

Before I could reply, a chorus of voices rose up and cats surged and crowded around us like waves. We were pushed and knocked roughly up against each other, and instantly, everyone started talking at once. I couldn't make out what they were saying. All of their voices rose up and mingled with each other into an ear-wrenching racket, like thread rolled up into a matted ball that could never be untangled. But they all wanted to talk to her.

"Onestar!" Ashley called out. She broke away from the crowd to scrabble onto a boulder at the foot of the Highledge.

"What are you doing up there, Onestar?"

The voices died down again. The WindClan cats looked away and shuffled their paws.

Onestar folded his ears back and bared his teeth defensively.

"Let go of her."

His amber eyes widened. "You don't know what this Clan has done-"

"I don't care. I've already seen enough from just the ruins of the camp. Let her go."

Her voice was firm now, hardly the same voice that I recognized from all those years. She flexed her muscles. Was she really planning to go up there and fight the WindClan leader?

The tom hesitated for a few heartbeats. Then something flashed in his eyes, a flame of defiance, and then he lowered his raised paw.

A growl came from his chest. Muttering something under his breath, he straightened up and let Silverpaw go. The apprentice mewled and got unsteadily onto her paws. Her fur was fluffed out with fear and her blue eyes were as round as an owl's. She scrambled to and fro and latched onto the first thing she saw-me. And she wouldn't let go, like moss clinging to a rock.

She felt stiff against me, more like a rock than fur. I nudged her gently. "Hey. You okay?"

She murmured something and buried her face into my shoulder.

"Silverpaw!" Wolfpaw cried as she bounded forward to meet us.

Onestar stared at us for a moment with a vile look, before shaking his fur and yowled, "Retreat, WindClan! Retreat!"

He bounded down from the Highledge and snarled, "This isn't over. It'll never be over!" before turning and sprinting away through the gorse tunnel.

The rest of his warriors hesitated before following.

One by one, they turned tail and exited the camp with a great pattering of hurried paws.

The camp was in ruins. Part of the warriors' den had caved in, revealing twisted and gnarled brambles. The gorse barrier was nothing but a cluster of shattered branches, what had been left over after the WindClan warriors had barged in. Blood stained the walls. A few deep scratch marks were lined against the ground and dens. Around me, my Clanmates were darting around, shouting orders or rushing to help a few cats who had collapsed.

The blood had sunk deep into the ground like a bright billow of red, although the edges were now turning a shade of cracked brown. It had somehow made its way into the air so that everything stunk of salt.

I stiffened when Ashley padded toward me.

"Are you okay, Sam?" she asked, eyeing my wounds.

I didn't have a chance to answer. Dewstep faced her, purring loudly. "I'm so relieved," he meowed. "You're back. You're finally back. I was wondering if you'd forgotten..."

"Dewstep," she purred back, rubbing her forehead against his. "I'm sorry I couldn't get to you sooner. What did you think I did, mouse-brain? I couldn't just leave you and Ember and Spottedpaw behind. Of course I didn't forget."

The tom looked happier than I had ever seen him. There was an actual beaming smile on his face that almost softened the old scars.

Ashley broke off and gazed at me. Her eyes brightened. "And you, Sam! I just suddenly panicked when you left. I couldn't believe it, but I realized that somehow, you ended up...here." She gazed at her surroundings. "What happened? Sam, you're going to have to tell me everything."

"Again," Dewstep meowed, looking up. He scrutinized me. "Do you two somehow know each other?"

My Clanmates abruptly stopped and stared. Disbelief was etched all over their faces.

Scorchpaw, Wolfpaw, Featherpaw, and Silverpaw all blinked in confusion.

I shrugged. "Yeah, we met in the cit-I mean, the Twolegplace. What's the big deal?"

Squirrelflight padded forward on shaky limbs. "Stormpaw, you don't know-"

Ashley abruptly cut her off. "Stormpaw? Is that what they've named you?" She wrapped her paws around me and buried her nose in my fur. "So you've become an apprentice! That's wonderful! Who's your mentor? Has the training been hard?"

"Whoa, calm down there," I said, smiling. She leaned back and sighed with contentment.

She was happy. I could tell from the sparkle in her eyes and the grin on her face that I've come to love so much. Her happiness made me feel glad too.

"How did you end up here?" I asked. "Are you going to join ThunderClan too?" I wanted her to stay with me. I could beg her and make her join if she refused. I wanted to hunt and fight and be with her, just like in my human life. Now that I could see her again, I realized just how much she meant to me. My heart gave a lurch when I imagined what it would be like if she decided to leave.

"Ah, don't worry, Sam," she mewed. She could tell from the worry in my voice. "I don't think I'll be leaving any time soon. In fact, I'm a warrior here."

"Huh?" I was a bit taken back. Here, standing before me, was the girl who couldn't fight back when the boys came to taunt her, the one who had cried on her seventh birthday, the one who believed and still believed in aliens and Bigfoot and the Loch Ness Monster.

I smiled back. "Hey, don't joke about that." I crouched down and flexed my arms. "Wait till we train together. I'll show you how much I learned!"

"But I'm serious, Sam. I'm a ThunderClan warrior." She straightened up with pride.

"And my name is Shadefrost."

I stopped, my eyes widening in disbelief. Shadefrost. Shadefrost, Shadefrost...

Silverpaw, Wolfpaw, and Scorchpaw stiffened along with me. Even Featherpaw had a shocked look on her face.

I laughed nervously. "Eh heh, wow, Ashley, I-"

She furrowed her brow. "I'm not lying, Sam."

Dewstep nodded. "It's true."

I slowly gulped and turned to gaze at every cat next to me. They all grinned and nodded, and the butterflies in my stomach turned into static that shivered all the way down my spine.

"Then," I said slowly. "You're the...the legend...that everyone's been talking about."

She blinked with a mild surprise. "Oh, so I'm a legend now? To be honest, I actually thought that everyone had forgotten about me."

Bramblestar shouldered his way through the crowd and dipped his head in respect. It was almost comical to see the huge, broad-shouldered leader bending down to greet the small, slender she-cat.

"Welcome, Shadefrost," he purred. "We're very glad to have you here again. You've finally come back."

The ThunderClan cats glanced at each other, some of them whispering into each other's ears, others with a bright gleam in their eyes.

Suddenly, as one, like a lion bunching up its muscles to make a flying leap across a canyon, they opened their mouths and chanted at the top of their lungs.

"Shadefrost! Shadefrost! Shadefrost!"

Her name, over and over again, like a trophy, like honey on the tongue. Excitement and joy quivered in their throats, singing her name, cheering for her, welcoming her back. The camp was filled with nothing but her, always her.

After a while, Silverpaw, Wolfpaw, and Scorchpaw joined in.

Everyone broke off the chanting and began to gather around her. They shoved, trying to be the closet to her, asking her questions, pelting her with words.

"Where did you go?"

"How long are you staying?"

"The Guardian! The Guardian of the Lake has finally come back!"

Bramblestar shouldered his way through the crowd and held his head high. "Don't be too rough with her," he meowed. "She must be tired after her long trip. Give her some time to rest. Rosepetal, Icecloud, fetch some moss for her nest. Jayfeather and Briarlight, make sure that she-"

"There's really no need, Bramblestar," Shadefrost broke in. "I feel fine." She gazed around the camp, her eyes suddenly darkening. "But what happened here? Why was there a battle?"

She slowly padded over to Silverpaw and sniffed her fur. Silverpaw stiffened at the contact, her blue eyes wide with barely concealed awe.

Shadefrost asked softly, "Are you alright? Did Onestar hurt you?"

The apprentice was trembling lightly, but not from the pain. She was staring dumbstruck at Shadefrost as if wings had suddenly sprouted from her back.

It took all of her willpower to slowly shake her head, her eyes still trained on the black she-cat.

Shadefrost sniffed her again. "I'm not sure about that. Your wounds are bleeding pretty heavily."

She looked up and called, "Jayfeather! I think you need to take a look at her."

Silverpaw squeaked and scampered away, while shaking her head quickly and mewing, "N-no! I'm fine! It's fine!"

She dove behind Wolfpaw's back, just out of sight, and quivered there. Wolfpaw was watching Shadefrost with a mixture of bewilderment and wonder in her frosty eyes, along with Scorchpaw. Even Featherpaw, with her usually neutral expression, looked astonished.

Shadefrost stared after her, her brow furrowed. "Did I scare her?"

I grinned, amusement flickering in my chest. "Nah, she's okay. Just a bit shocked."

Scorchpaw suddenly broke in and padded tentatively forward, his ears flattened and his ginger-and-white fur slightly fluffed out. He glanced at me, then back at her, and mewed, "Sorry to interrupt, but...it's just hard to believe. How long have you known the Guardian?"

I replied without hesitating, "For years."

A murmur rippled through the crowd like a disturbance in water.

Squirrelflight dipped her head at Shadefrost with respect, as if bowing to a Clan leader. "It's an honor to have you back, Shadefrost. We've never forgotten the enormous debt that we owe you."

Part of me was still surprised. Here, standing before me, was Ashley. Except that she was a cat. We were both cats. This could be a dream, but it was much too real to be a dream. And besides, I would've woken up already.

The Clans were real. The warriors were real, not just some made-up fantasy novels stacked up in my shelf.

This couldn't be Ashley, not the Ashley I knew. I peered at her closely. Her brown eyes were the same, the same ones that I had known for ten years: warm, fawn and chestnut like the color of cocoa, like doe's eyes, like the tepid dust that nestled itself within the veins of autumn leaves. But now they had a slight tint of something else in them, something very faint and small like a hint of iron. And the scar on her side; the scar that wound its way from her shoulder all along her ribs like a thin, curved snake, even more noticeable now against her black fur. I had asked her, maybe a hundred times, about that scar. Her answer had always been the same.

She suddenly stiffened and gazed at the bloodied remains of the Clan. "Was anyone badly hurt?"

Bramblestar shook his head. "Thanks to you, it was stopped before any real damage could occur. It was a fight against WindClan. Apparently, a queen had died on their border and they're blaming it on us."

He didn't mention that it was a murder, and he left out Moleclaw's death. But I guess it was for the better; I didn't want Ashley to freak out.

Dewstep meowed to Bramblestar, "I'd like to show Shadefrost around the territory. So much had changed since she'd left."

Bramblestar nodded. "Very well, then. But be careful." He opened his mouth to mew something else, but then shook his head and shut it.

I could guess what he was going to say. Be careful. About the murderer.

I perked up. "Oh yeah. Wasn't there something about two WindClan apprentices on our territory? Is the killer still there?" I shivered when I imagined him standing so close to the camp.

Shadefrost stiffened and glanced at me with a worried look. Killer? she mouthed silently.

Squirrelflight glared at me for a few seconds before smiling at Shadefrost. "No, it's nothing to worry about. It was a trap that WindClan had set up. They lured Bramblestar and half of the warriors away from the camp, saying that there were some intruders in our part of the forest. Thank StarClan, Bramblestar realized the scheme right away and came rushing back here to fight."

"Oh." Shadefrost's eyes suddenly brightened. She bounded toward me and nuzzled my fur happily, purring. "I knew I'd find you here."

I gave her a crooked grin, feeling a bit awkward to have so many cats staring at us. "Oi, you know I don't like hugs."

She backed away and flicked her tail. "Come on, then. What are you waiting for? Let's go!" She beckoned toward the gorse tunnel.

"But..."

I glanced at her, then back at the rest of the apprentices. They all had hopeful smiles plastered on their faces, sitting tall and straight as if their backs had been replaced with a firm wire.

I asked, "Can they...come with us?"

Squirrelflight opened her mouth to object, but Shadefrost didn't notice her. She nodded and said, "Of course."

OoOOoOoOOooooooooooOOooOoOOOOOOoOoOoOOo

We strolled through the forest, Dewstep in the lead and Shadefrost and I padding side-by-side. Silverpaw, Wolfpaw, and Scorchpaw trailed behind us. Featherpaw was last.

They were whispering among themselves, their voices sounding like the light shush-shushing of reeds brushing against rocks. If I angled my ears in the right direction, I could pick up what they were saying.

"So that's really Shadefrost?" Scorchpaw whispered.

"How intriguing," Wolfpaw murmured. "She looks just like an ordinary cat."

"Did you hear it? Stormpaw and Shadefrost both know each other! Stormpaw's so amazing!" Silverpaw's excited chattering was a bit louder.

Despite myself, a sense of pride began to swell inside me.

"Hey," Ashley mewed, snapping me out of my thoughts. She waved at me with her tail, pointing toward an opening in the bushes. Blinking at her questioningly, I slipped inside, the others following behind. The bushes quickly swallowed us up.

The light filtered through the leaves in glowing patches and dappled our pelts. Dry bracken crunched underpaw. The air was filled with the normal scent of the woodlands, but as we continued through the tunnel, another perfume wafted through, mingling with the scent of acorns and oaks. A sweet aroma that reminded me of heather, of nectar. And something else, something vaguely familiar...It made me picture a scene from an old, yellow photograph, of deep, waving seas and a wide, open sky.

The branches thinned out. I shouldered my way through the thorns, catching tufts of my fur on them.

Silverpaw bounded forward and abruptly skidded to a halt, her mouth open in wonder. Her blue eyes widened.

She breathed, "It's...it's beautiful."

"What is it?" I asked, still trying to squeeze my way out of the tunnel.

And then I stopped. And I stared.

Surrounding me on all sides was a meadow that seemed to stretch on forever, for as far as the eye could see. It was a golden ocean of grass that seemed to glow with an inner warmth. The grass was tall enough to reach up to my shoulders and soft enough to feel like cotton. They weaved back and forth as the wind breathed on them gently, making them look as if they were dancing. Yellow dandelions peered up from between their stalks.

High above me was the sky, the bluest blue imaginable. There were no trees here. We had left the forest far behind us. Now, without any branches to block them from view, I could see the entire realm above me. It was blue...so blue. The most beautiful color that I could see. It seemed, that if I reached my paw up high enough, I could touch it.

The scent of heather and honey was everywhere, like an exotic and rich perfume. It would be winter soon, but it seemed that the frost would never touch this place. The meadow was brighter than gold. Brighter even than the sun.

I heard muffled paw stops as someone moved in next to me, but I couldn't move my eyes away from the ever-waving, ever-dancing field of yellow.

"Snowstorm was the one who should me this place. Did I ever tell you about him?" There was a hint of sadness in her voice, a whiff of melancholy. "It's much more beautiful here at night. You can see all of the stars. There's no light pollution to get in the way."

"Shadefrost," I whispered.

Her ears perked up. "Yes?"

"Ashley." And suddenly, I was filled with something inside my chest that ached and swelled and ceased like the rocking of the tides on a beach. There was suddenly a lump in my throat. Without another word, I buried my face in her chest and breathed in her scent, her familiar scent that I had known for years and that I didn't want to ever leave me.

"Oh, Sam," she said with a hint of a chuckle, and she pressed me closer against her.

I heard the squeals of Silverpaw and Scorchpaw as they romped and wrestled in the field with glee, the rustle of Wolfpaw as she bent down to catch a whiff of the dandelions. Even Featherpaw, batting curiously at dandelion seeds floating in the breeze. And Dewstep sitting a few tail-lengths away, his eyes closed, doing nothing but enjoying everything around him.

When I was little, I always wondered what it would feel like to live in a snowglobe. With a glass dome surrounding you, encasing a blue sky and all of eternity inside it.

This was eternity in the snowglobe, this meadow, and everything in it. The frost would never reach this place. Time itself would stop here.

We waited, Ashley and I, in a neverending field of sunlight.

OOooOOOoOoOoOooOoOoooOOoOoOoOOoooooooOoOoo

Shadefrost was right. The nights were beautiful here.

Long shadows stretched across the heather and wrapped everything in shades of blue and purple and indigo. As the sun set, stars slowly appeared and twinkled brightly against dark velvet.

Fireflies lit up and danced among the grass like tiny balls of glowing flame. Featherpaw yawned and rolled over onto her back, batting her paw lazily in an effort to catch them.

We were sprawled out among the billowing stalks.

Shadefrost pointed out the stars. "That's the Big Dipper," she mewed, her eyes sparkling. "And Orion, the man with the lion in his hand."

"And that's the North Star," she whispered quieter, as if she was telling me a secret. "If you have him, you'll never get lost."

I watched and listened with my eyes half-closed, feeling the beat of the earth underneath me.

Silverpaw was already asleep, curled against the side of her sister. Wolfpaw was starting to nod off. Scorchpaw was lying next to me, his nose buried in the fur of his tail. He looked so peaceful, his breathing coming slow and steady. The moon illuminated his pelt so that it seemed to glow like the stars. I drew him in closer, feeling his fur brush against mine.

Ashley handed me a dandelion. "Rub it against your chin," she meowed, her eyes bright. "If it comes off yellow, that means that you're in love."

"In love?" I asked her. I'd been in love before. More times that I could count. It had been like the Titanic, gigantic and massive in size, so strong that it seemed like nothing can stop it. But we all know the ending. Tragic ending.

She smiled. "Sure." She looked back up at the stars. "There's many kinds of love. Some good, some bad. Love for your friends, or your family, for example. Or maybe for someone special. Try it."

I hesitated, and then shrugged. I was just about to raise the dandelion to my chin, but all of a sudden, the heather parted and a dark form stalked out.

My hackles began to rise in alarm, but all of a sudden, the scent made its way toward me. My hackles relaxed, only slightly.

A fox trotted toward us, something dangling from her mouth. The aroma told me that it was a rabbit.

Not Atlas, I thought, with a mild relief.

Ember dropped the prey in front of us and settled down, nestling warmly against the warm grass. In the night, she looked larger than ever. The shadows ran down her face and made her eyes gleam darkly. I still didn't trust her.

The fox gazed away and nodded. Dewstep was dozing next to Ashley. In the soft light of the white moon, the scars on his face didn't look as sharp as usual. They were more like light markings against his rough grey fur.

"He looks peaceful," she rumbled. Even now, I still felt a mild twinge of surprise when she talked. It just seemed weird to hear a fox speak the words of a cat.

She touched noses with Ashley. "It's glad to have you back."

"Ember," my friend purred. "I've missed you. I'm sorry I couldn't be back sooner." Her voice became alarmed. "You're hurt. Are you alright?"

"Yes, yes, I'm fine." She adjusted her position to get more comfortable. Her red pelt rustled like autumn leaves. "I've been hurt much worse before."

Ashley grinned softly. "You've gotten so big. The last time I saw you, you weren't much older than a pup."

I left them to their conversation, gazing off into the distance, lost in thought. Just being here with everyone, with all of my companions, snuggled up side-by-side, brought me a warm feeling that I hadn't felt in a long time. I wanted to stay here forever.

Without warning, I stiffened.

"Oh," I breathed softly.

Ashley glanced at me. "Hm?" And then she stopped and stared too.

Not far away from us, bobbing up and down in the breeze. A pair of them, burning like fire despite the coldness of the night. Scarlet. Auburn. Red like roses, like ripe apples, like the hearth.

Tulips. As red as anything.

"Oh," Ashley said again, more quietly this time. "I didn't think they grew here. Or were they always there? I don't remember."

We watched in silence, listening to our breaths as they poured out of our mouths in fog and drifted off into the stars. The air grew colder, but we only snuggled closer together and kept out warmth. And the sight of the red tulips made me feel warm too.

"I'm happy," Ashley suddenly said. "I'm happy, Sam."

"Heh. Don't act so childish."

"But I am! I'm just so glad to be here with everyone. I think my heart's going to burst. I'm happy. I'm happy." With her face illuminated by the moon, I could tell that she really was. It made the feeling in my chest stir too.

I raised my eyes toward the North Star. It glittered, blue and white, then white and blue, as if it was winking at me.

As I was looking up toward it, was it looking down at me at the same time?

I listened to the rhythmic breathing next to me, and then closed my eyes and was carried off to the rising and falling tide of sleep.