Winter had been looking for Moon for almost an hour now. She wasn't in the library, which was very surprising, and she wasn't in the underground lake. Winter had found Anemone and Turtle swimming down there, and when he'd asked, they said they hadn't seen her either. He'd even asked Kinkajou, who said she had seen her in the halls about thirty minutes ago - but she wasn't there either. Qibli hadn't seen her either, and now Winter was stomping around the halls looking into each cave, startling a few dragons.

Clay limped around the corner, making Winter stop. The big MudWing spotted Winter and paused where he was. 

"Have you seen Moon?" Winter had felt ashamed about asking around earlier, because it was strange for an IceWing to be looking for a NightWing, but he didn't care anymore. He just needed to know where she was. He wanted to tell her something, but he had to find her first.

Clay shrugged his shoulders. "Actually, I haven't. Do you need her for something?" 

"No," Winter lied, avoiding Clay's eyes. "I'm just wondering where she is. She's usually in the library, but she wasn't today." 

"Oh," Clay said. "Well, I can help you look, if you want." He smiled at the prince.

"That's alright," Winter said, keeping his tone icy. He turned and walked the other direction, sighing deeply. Where could she have gone? Why was she there, wherever she was? If she wasn't in the library, where else would she be? 

"Did you check outside, on the ledge that Umber likes to sit on sometimes?" Clay asked, coming up beside Winter.

The IceWing concealed his jump, then looked at Clay in confusion. There was a ledge on the school that overlooked the view around them, he knew that, but Moon hardly went there. Did she? 

"No," Winter said. "I'll go check there." He started walking, paused, then threw over his shoulder, "Thank you." and hurried off. He heard Clay chuckle behind him, and confusion ripped through him. What had that laugh meant? Did he know? 

When Winter stepped outside, it was rather cold. The cold made him feel welcome, because he missed his home, and the biting air reminded him of the times he would run around in the snow without permission with Hailstorm by his side. 

Winter shook away that last thought, looking up as he walked onto the slippery rocks. He folded his wings gently and weaved around the path until he found a large opening that indeed overlooked almost everything around the school. Winter stopped, wonder creeping into his heart. It was actually pretty, and Winter had never been up here before, so he'd never seen it. 

The prince shuffled forward, only to stop again when a figure came into view. It was a black scaled dragon, sitting outward, staring at the beautiful view before her. Silver teardrop scales shone in the moonlight, and her head was tipped back. She wasn't looking at the view before her - she was looking at the stars. Her face was calm and happy, but also full of awe and wonder. Her tail was curled around her feet delicately, and she didn't seem to hear Winter approach her.

Moon. 

Giddiness, nervousness, and embarrassment flooded through Winter, and he took a deep breath before making himself known. "Moon?" He stepped next to her, tipping his snout down to look at her. 

The NightWing started and looked up slightly, blinking at him before acknowledging him. "Oh. Winter. You startled me. Hello." She turned her head back to the sky, and Winter followed her eyes. The starlit sky was even more beautiful than the view before them. There was constellations everywhere, and even where there weren't, stars were twinkling down at the two dragons merrily. It was wonderful.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" Moon asked softly, still staring at the sky. 

"Yeah," Winter agreed breathlessly. He couldn't think of anything else to say, so he sat down next to Moon with a sigh.

"They're so bright," Moon said, and when Winter looked down at her, she was smiling. "They remind me of your scales." 

Winter felt his heart jump, but he didn't say anything, realizing that she would continue.

"My mom used to let me stargaze before she took me here," the NightWing sighed. "I know almost every constellation, but I always like to look at them and think of Mother. Sometimes I wonder if she does the same. I know she misses me, but does she ever look at the stars like I do?" 

Winter noticed that Moon shivered, and immediately felt slightly bad. His scales were cold, and it was cold outside, so he was probably making her cold. He was about to get up and tell her they could go inside if she was cold, but suddenly she put her wing around him and leaned into his shoulder.

The prince froze, a million emotions that he couldn't even name flying through his whole body. He stared at the stars until Moon sighed, then he glanced down at her and found that she had her eyes closed and was smiling. 

"Are you cold?" Winter asked, proud that he'd found words and his voice didn't shake in shock. 

"Not really," she replied. "I know you're scales are cold... but I'm fine." She opened her eyes and rested her chin on his shoulder. "Winter..." 

Winter felt a rush of courage and cut her off, or so he thought, but she said something the same time as him - she said the same thing as him.

"I love you," the both said.

Moon blinked up at him for a moment, while Winter felt a rush of embarrassment. His face was surely a deep blue, but he couldn't see Moon's clearly enough to tell if she was blushing. He wasn't sure if he'd read her mind and said what he was going to - no, he had his Skyfire pouch on him - but he knew that he loved her, and he would never let her go.

"I ... love you, Winter," Moon said again, and then she leaned her whole body onto his side. Winter was embarrassed only for a moment, then the rush of courage swooped back, and he shifted so that Moon was leaning on his chest, her head tucked close to his neck, and wrapped both wings around her. He put his chin on her head and sighed happily. He wrapped his whip-thin tail around them both, making Moon snuggle closer. 

"I've loved you even from the beginning," he said up at the starlit sky. "I always will love you."