That night, Willa struggled to sleep with the variety of sounds and animals surrounding her. The  owls, coyotes, and frogs seemed extremely loud.

But it wasn't the only thing keeping her awake.

I can't trust this alien can I? I don't know his intentions. What if he's leading me on?

Willa couldn't stop her mind running through every reason not to trust Schaffel, ever since she met him she's been doing that, but she also couldn't help herself from saving him. Every time they were put in danger, Willa felt the urge to protect him. But why? Why do I want to save him? I barely trust or know him.

Willa sighed, then rolled over, and looked at Schaffel as he peacefully slept.

As she looked at his innocent face, she couldn't help the small smile that tugged on her lips. For the first time in four years, the hard, stone cold heart Willa had created was softening. She couldn't decipher the feeling, to the point that she couldn't determine if it was a bad or good thing.

Willa shook her head and turned away, continuing to stare up at the dark sky. Eventually, her eyes closed, and she fell asleep.

As Schaffel slept, his vision changed into a dream. He first saw the sky, and could feel his body falling, and finally he was thrown into a blue liquid. 

It was the same dream from before. 

Schaffel tried to scream for help, pinch himself so that he would awaken, but he never did. He even tried to swim up, but he couldn't free himself—it was no use. 

Suddenly the dark figure came again. Schaffel watched quietly as it came closer, curious, yet terrified. It eventually grew so close he could almost see their face.

Schaffel gasped and flashed his eyes open, to the beautiful night above him. 

He sat up on the grass staring down, trying to catch his breath. Why do I keep having this dream? What does it mean? 

Suddenly his thoughts drifted, as his gaze moved and began to focus more on the dark night. From Schaffel's planet, Actaeon, it was always night, but it never looked as beautiful as this one. The little white dots were brighter, and the sky a beautiful shade of indigo. 

Schaffel nudged Willa.

"Willa? Wake up!" He whispered.

Willa's eyes slowly opened, "what's wrong?"

"Look!" he pointed.

Willa sat up in fear, thinking Schaffel was pointing to something that would put them in danger. 

Her gaze then followed where Schaffel pointed. Willa rolled her eyes. "Those are stars." she said irritated.

"Stars?" Schaffel looked at her excitedly. "How pretty!"

Willa's expression changed, she couldn't help but smile at his adorable curiosity.

Schaffel lied down in the grass, "It's so beautiful!" He said gazing up at the sky, like a child seeing a cartoon for the first time. 

Willa lied down onto her back, beside Schaffel. "You see how some of the stars are cluttered in some places?" She pointed.

Schaffel nodded not tearing his eyes from the sky.

"When I was little, my mother and I would lie down, and find shapes and animals in the sky." She smiled sadly.

"Woah." 

"They're called constellations."

Schaffel's face shifted to focused as he searched for one. "There! I found one!" He pointed excitedly.

Willa followed his gaze to a bunny-like shape. "Yeah..." She said her smile was fading.

Seeing him so excited and happy reminded her of herself, when everything was happy and pain was a five minute experience. It hurt even more that this made her think of her mother, when she told her about constellations for the first time. 

Ever since her mother died, Willa stared out her window in Helsinki every night, knowing her mother was one of those stars.

"Or there, or there!" He continued to excitedly point to random parts of the sky. Schaffel's face dropped, turning towards the grass. 

"What?" Willa turned, when she realized what Schaffel had been looking at. His face was mesmerized, as he admired the beautiful but small green light in the grass, which casted a beautiful glow to his features.

It was a Firefly.

The green light then floated up, and flew around aimlessly.

Schaffel stood up and began to chase it, and as he did, more emerged from the ground.

Willa raised her eyebrow. 

"C'mon, I can't do it alone." He said, then reached his hand out to her.

Willa maintained a bored gaze at Schaffel, but then stood up and walked past him, more fireflies emerging from under her feet. He smiled.

Suddenly, all the fireflies began to surround Willa, and play with her hair. She crossed her arms trying to look unamused, but once one of the fireflies landed on the tip of her nose, she couldn't help but let out a giggle.

The next morning, Schaffel awoke early. He wiped his eyes, and yawned. 

He looked up at the sky, then noticed a large bird quickly fly over his head. His eyes followed, watching as it majestically flew toward the horizon. 

It was a beautiful sight. But Schaffel couldn't help but be confused

What is this bird, and why do I keep seeing it? Am I hallucinating?

The sounds of grunts and smashing rocks interrupted Schaffel's thoughts. He turned, and watched as Willa kicked and punched floating rocks. Her face was focused, and red, beads of sweat forming on her forehead, and chin. She tried to kick and punch harder against the last rocks, but they didn't shatter or break.

They all finally dropped to the ground, and Willa panted, resting her hands on her knees.

Schaffel stood up, "mornin'!"

Willa turned her head. "Oh, you're awake." She said surprised, raising her shirt to wipe her face.

"I saw you over there—" he said, "you looked cool!"

Willa looked down, "I was lazy today, I wasn't as focused as I should have been."

"You don't have to be so hard on yourself, you did your best." Schaffel replied reassuringly.

Willa scoffed, "my best isn't good enough." She muttered. "You wouldn't understand..." she turned away, picking up the stones to prepare for another round.

Schaffel frowned. "Actually, I do." Willa stopped, and turned toward him.

"I know exactly what it feels like to never be or feel good enough." Willa looked at Schaffel surprised, as his face grew dark. "I've always been told I'm strange, weird, useless, and never good enough my whole life!" He snapped. "So yes, you're not the only one who feels like they aren't good enough!"

He stomped away, and sat in the grass, his face in his knees.

Willa watched him, not knowing what to say. 

She sighed. "Schaffel?" She said, but he turned away. "I'm sorry, I didn't know-"

"I didn't expect you to." He sniffled. "I was bullied my whole life you know, I could do weird things no one else could do, and I was teased for it." He avoided eye contact with Willa. "So I just think—I'm not good enough to do anything." He hid his face in his knees.

Willa sat down beside Schaffel. "I'm sorry if I u-upset you." She smiled looked down.

Schaffel raised his head showing his puffy red eyes, "It's fine. I shouldn't have been that mad. It wasn't your fault, but I appreciate your apology."  

Schaffel hugged Willa. "What is with you and hugs?" She asked, chuckling. 

"You look like you need one." 

Willa swallowed, at a loss for words.  

As Schaffel began to hug Willa tighter, the feeling she felt from before began to start again, and Willa smiled.

Schaffel experienced yet another dream that night. 

But as the figure approached, Schaffel tried to pay close attention to their face. But Schaffel's eyes closed from exhaustion before the figure could reach him. Suddenly, he felt arms around him, pulling him up towards a light above. Schaffel's eyes opened slightly, to the sight of a girl pulling him towards the light. 

"Willa?" He asked weakly. 

Schaffel woke up abruptly, noticing the large purple bird sitting on a tree branch once again, its eyes locked onto him. He recognized it, and got up to run towards it. But once his eyes blinked, it was gone.

He groaned, and looked towards the sun which was just beginning to rise. Schaffel took a deep breath in but noticed something was off.

The air felt strange, and wreaked of raw fish. Schaffel gulped, and turned around quickly, "Willa?" he asked, leaning over where she slept, but it was empty. "Willa!" Schaffel called. 

Panicked, he ran through the field, but Willa didn't respond.

Schaffel collapsed to his knees, and cried. 

She was gone.

Heyo, 

So I'm going to update once or twice DAILY. I'm trying to upload this whole story by August 14th, as I can't update after that. 

Thank you! 💜