Before I say anything, go do yourselves a favor and read KaylaDestroyer's Flames within. It's the best! Squint gets an adorable new twin who is just the sweetest thing!

Ok, now you can go read! ^_^

They'd been on the way to this odd 'surprise' for about fifteen minutes. Zalim had a firm grip on her hand and was steadily pulling her along through the jungles' overgrown plushness. "For the sixth time, where're we goin?!"

"And also for the sixth time, I cannot tell you."

"Whyyyyyyy?" she whined, completely aware that she sounded unbearably childish. But she didn't care; if there were two things Raz couldn't stand, it was waiting, and someone keeping something from her. Well... that, and being dragged through an unknown forest at midnight by a near-complete stranger who, for all she knew, could be dragging her to feed her to a sea monster. "Tell me!"

"No."

"Please?"

She could almost hear the smirk in his voice. "Simply because you say please will not sway my decision."

"How bout this? Please please pretty please with vi'lence on top?"

He chuckled. "No, that won't work either."

Huh... well, it was worth a shot. It always worked at home- to this day, her big brothers were all soft, squishy clay in her hands when she asked like that. She'd even convinced her captain to let her stay up late a few times when she was young. He'd even let her raid their sugar stash once. She couldn't count how many times she'd suckered Silas into just one more bedtime story, or convincing Gupta to let her paint his long, long claws pink, just for the fun of it. She'd even suckered Squint into letting her braid his ears when she learned how at about five. Of course, he made her take it right out... after she dragged him above deck so she could bask in the praise and her poor older brother could nearly die of embarrassment.

Just thinking about those funny moments and memories when being 'their precious baby sister' came in handy- it made her smile, laughter building up in her chest, and before she knew it, she was giggling softly to herself. Those sorry suckers...

"I take it you find humor in your family's gullibility?"

She swatted his arm. "Stay outta my head!" she ordered. "Y'know, s'me people like 'avin their thoughts private. Thas why they ain't sayin em out loud!"

"Mm." he sounded bored. "Well, no one's thoughts are private if I am near. I cannot help it- my telepathy is not of my choice. I can't help but hear all thoughts; though it makes eliminating traitors and possible threats easy."

"...Ah." she ducked under a branch. "We there yet?"

"If we had arrived, don't you suppose we'd have stopped moving?"

She rolled her eyes. 'Smart-alec'

"Why thank you."

"Get outta my head!" for once, his laugh didn't make her want to punch him.

...

"Alright, here we are."

Raz blinked. They'd arrived out of the forest and into a small grassy field, empty. The dim light of the moon was just enough to see. They were high up on a cliff overlooking the ocean, the stars above them glimmering weakly. Was it just her imagination, or were they... dimming? Yes, sure enough, the stars were all blinking out at an alarming rate, leaving the sky bare save for the sliver of a crescent moon. Raz shivered; without their pale silvery light, it felt suddenly much colder. "Wha... Whas happenin?!"

He smiled. "Just watch. Come here." she felt his fingers slip around hers, gently pulling her down. She obediently crouched down into the cool soil and soft grass, confused. What was happening? For a few minutes they lay there, until his grip tightened. "Look." he whispered. What she saw next was unexplainable.

She watched as, suddenly, a flower popped up in front of them, maybe two feet away. Topping it was a closed bud, black as night, the shape of a rose. "What the..." another popped up, then another, and another and another, until there were a million of the flowers sticking out of the ground.

"Now" he murmured. "Comes the magical part."

She could only stare as the first bud, suddenly began to tremble. It began shaking and stretching, the petals expanding and contracting, jiggling like jelly. It began to glow, a bright silver light leaking from underneath the petals. As the trembling ceased, the bud opened. An orb of light the size of a fist oozed out, floating in the air. It began to slowly drift upward, straight up to to the sky. "What..." the flower stock ducked back below the ground, grass instantly springing up in its place. More flowers began shaking too, all of them, a million of the glowing silver orbs being born into the air, their flowers ducking back inside the ground when they were done. Raz rolled over onto her back, finding them all drifting away at a startling speed. Many were already so far away they looked like... "Are those...?"

"Yes." he changed positions to watch the heavens as well. "The stars are reborn and recreate every night, right here. By morning, the sun's light makes them invisible. And by the next night, they've floated so far away, they are no longer visible. And so more are created."

"Wow..." she breathed, pushing herself up. Unable to stop herself, she hopped further into the field, watching as the stars all floated around her. She reached out to touch one- it was hot, though not uncomfortably so. She gave it a little push upward with her hand, and it went up into the sky. She looked back at Zalim, finding him... what was he doing, anyway? Stepping up to him, she found her self-proclaimed fiance arranging the stars, pushing them into a different shape, letting them float upward only when he was satisfied. "Wot didja do?" she demanded.

"Mm? Oh, nothing."

"Liah'."

He smirked. "Maybe. But what does it matter? Look what I have made for you."

What was he... he nodded upwards, and she slowly turned her eyes skyward. The last few stars were taking their places above, and she could spot many familiar constellations. However... "Oh you. Did. No'." he was just unbelievable.

And there ya have it! Please review!