On that particular date, the streets seemed dull but the night remained alive as ever. From her dimly lit room, Alyra marched out into her balcony standing under the adorned sky taking in her surroundings. Unlike all the other times, tonight it seemed people relished in the inactivity rather than bustling on the streets with their friends and colleagues to loosen up from tough days at school or work. Even the lampposts that glowed vibrantly on the other nights seemed to be deserting the streets.
The moon hung in the sky proud as if shouting to the world, "Look the sky belongs to me and I to the sky and none can set us apart." The glory and shine of that white ball got enhanced with the floating clouds that played hide and seek with it. The stars saw their dance and giggled with their twinkles. Alyra sighed to herself holding her coffee mug closer to her. Nights like these always seemed to scratch a fresh ache in her memories. It made her remember that certain someone she longed to be with, every second of the day.
Music flowed in silent waves from behind her room, adorned with the light of her Bluetooth speakers. Where her dim room projected the dullness of their distance aching within her, the sky projected the liveliness of her memories standing as the evidence of her shared love with her precious. Alyra looked up at once, caught in the scenic beauty of the night.
On the other side of the world stood a boy, not much older than Alyra, in his own apartment balcony holding an identical mug to hers in his hands, the only difference being the tea contained in the ceramic instrument opposed to Alyra's coffee. Han's apartment was dim replicating a night sky that only shined with pale stars and an absent moon. In the background played a song particularly close to Han's heart - the song that showered cherry blossoms over the vision of a special girl in his mind. The boy heaved a sigh closing his eyes to picture her more vividly in the canvas of his mind.
He missed her. And he missed her dearly.
On days when he felt weighed down by work, all he wanted to do was loosen his tie, storm into his apartment and collapse into the welcoming arms of his precious who could embrace him and comfort him and run her hands through his hair lulling him to sleep.
Where would she be?
How must she be doing?
Questions and only questions graced his mind with no answers whenever he thought of her.
Does she remember me?
Does she miss me as much as I do her?
Does she desire my arms around her with the same intensity as I long for hers?
Han opened his eyes only to be met by a pompously decorated night sky. The stars shone with such fire as if to tell him, "Yes, she does as much as you and we are here to convey her message so you don't lose hope."
Involuntarily, a smile graced his young face. How much Alyra had loved the sky and maybe she did even now. How she had a craze for all that the sky consisted of. Day and night equally fascinated her. Sun and moon equally beheld her attention. Clouds and stars were of similar softness to her. How Han always wished she had found him as worthy to be gazed upon as she did the sky.
Both the humans separated by the tides of distance unknowingly drifted to each other's memories. The best friends desired and longed for each other's presence dearly. The young lovers slid down the respective rails of their balcony windows; Han sitting on the ground gazing up at the sky and Alyra making herself comfortable in the serenity of the dull night.
Please tell me,
What's hidden in your heart.
I'll not tell anyone.
I won't tell anyone.
The singer's melodious voice struck every delicate chord in their hearts. Was it some weird game of cosmos... that both their actions corresponded and synchronized with each other to an eerie degree? Was it some weird coincidence that both their speakers played the same song at the same time? And it so happened to be the one that they in their hearts had attributed to each other without the other's knowledge?
Was it a miscalculated accident or a planned serendipity?
Only if they could be in each other's presence right then would they know and would be shocked at the eerie similarities, at how everything around them begged and screamed for them to be together.
Alyra's hands unconsciously rubbed the ring on her finger. Her eyes took notice of her hand grazing the promise ring that he had given her. She still wore it. Despite the apparent hopelessness of their situation, it remained as an evidence of their bond.
Her eyes glazed over.
Flash and a memory ~~
By the little lake, Alyra sat back on the support of her hands looking up at the floating clouds, making a dictionary of cloud constellations in her mind. She hummed to herself in happiness at the tranquility of nature around her. Her face was adorned with a small smile that conveyed the feeling of fulfillment in her eyes.
"With the amount of time you spend gazing shamelessly at the sky Elly, I wouldn't be surprised if it filed a harassment lawsuit against you." Han's voice kissed her ears, bringing an end to her brief moments of peace.
Alyra rolled her eyes sitting up straight and examining the patterns of grass etched onto her palms from sitting on their support for too long.
"Somehow you have to come up with the creepiest propositions and ruin my moments and their purity, Han." Alyra voiced with disinterest.
"You know I love messing with you." Han passed her one of his adorable smiles that hid his big bambi eyes, but gave him a new look resembling that of a rabbit.
His smile was the one thing that could bring Alyra to her knees no matter how angry she felt or how annoyed she became with him. And he knew the full effect of his heart stopping smile, so he always made sure to let nothing go to waste when it came to milking the hell out of that opportunity.
The young boy sat himself beside his best friend, huddling himself close to her and brushing his shoulders and knees against her.
"You're touchy today." Alyra took note of their proximity.
"I am always touchy. You just fail to notice, too swept up either in other people or in this stupid sky." Han voiced his disappointment, his tone laced with perhaps what Alyra could pinpoint as a little bit of envy.
The girl chuckled at the bambi boy's absurdity, "Han, are you seriously getting jealous of the sky? The SKY? Gosh your possessiveness is borderline ridiculous." Alyra looked to her best friend with a hint of mischief in her eyes.
If only you knew the extent of my possessiveness, Elly... If only you knew...
Han wanted to say those words out loud but zipped his mouth, biting his lip to keep from making any improper remark of the situation. "I am not getting jealous. I am trying to make your thick skull understand that I as your best friend should be your top priority and therefore should be the one worthy of your time than other people or this stupid vast inanimate sky."
Han's irrationality caused Alyra's giggles to turn to full blown laughter.
"Han you sound so stupid do you even listen to yourself?" She found it hard to cease her laughter at her best friend's amusing but dumb self.
"So when you voice your disappointment then I am the one in the wrong and I should apologize but when I share my concerns of losing my best friend to the forces of nature then I am being absurd and psychotic? Wow, the hypocrisy! Big guy up there, are you seeing the injustice my poor lonely soul is facing out here?"
"Alright stop being dramatic, gosh you're such a drama queen Hannii." Alyra used the nickname Han hated to rile him up o purpose.
"So you are still mocking me?! Waahh I cannot believe the audacity of this chipmunk girl!" Han was incredulous and huffing, crossing his arms at chest to turn away from his best friend.
"Oh wow you are the one to call me a chipmunk. Now what does that make you then? Decided\ on one at least, bambi or rabbit, you human looking animal!" Alyra retorted with her own childish remark.
Han turned even more to the side facing away from her while Alyra found herself tiring out from sitting with no back support.
"Yah, Hannii can you spread your legs?" Though stated in the most nonchalant tone, the choice of words made Han instantly turn his head to the brunette beauty. A glint of amusement and mischief shone in his eyes giving him an animated countenance.
Han jokingly put his hands up to cover his chest, "As much as I should be flattered by your offer, are you seriously trying to rob my virgin dignity in the middle of the day, under an open sky Elly?"
"Wha-?"Alyra took some minutes to process Han's suggestive comment. As realization dawned, her cheeks flamed to a dull red.
"Han you pervert! You seriously need therapy. My God, the nerve of this guy!" She put her hands to her cheeks to calm them down whereas Han laughed in amusement finding her flustered state entertaining.
The girl in question narrowed her eyes at the mischievous boy and immediately recovered to deliver a good blow to the muscle bunny that happened to be her best friend. A painful punch to the arm made the big eyed boy shut up, wincing from the impact as he rubbed the spot a seemingly petite Alyra had hit.
"Ow! Elly are you One Punch Man or something? The hell was that?"
Alyra smiled in triumph sending the devil in pain and forcefully untangled Han's legs from the criss-cross position he sat in to spread them out in front of him. She then positioned herself into a comfortable space as she laid her head in the coconut boy's lap. Her lengthy chestnut locks spread out in disarray over Han's legs as he took in the antics of the girl now lying in a satisfied heap of comfort in his lap. All the pain and melodrama that Han had been acting out was thrown out the window, completely forgotten, as his eyes fell over the peaceful face of the girl he had come to love.
The smile that graced Han's face was one of a kind. It came out on rare occasions such as these where he felt like his life had been fulfilled with all that he ever longed for.
Letting all the silliness simmer to a low, the boy moved his hands to tangle them into his Elly's soft hair. Alyra who found herself losing her energy levels enjoyed the loving caress of her friend's warm hands. Han busied himself in braiding her hair to a pretty hairstyle that would allow him to see her features more clearly.
After completing the little braid crown over her head, he took to caressing his knuckles over her eyes and forehead.
"Elly?" The bambi boy's voice was soft and hesitant
"Hmm?" Alyra opened her eyes to look at her coconut shaped roundie. Her eyes sparkled in that moment as she waited for Han to continue. The dimple that made rare appearances came out in all its glory to adorn Alyra's right cheek. In her eyes, Han could see all the love she felt for him.
Platonic or romantic, he could not put a finger on, but love it was nonetheless and that was all that mattered.
"Will we stay the same for each other even if we somehow move apart? Will you remember me? Will you still love me?" Han's uncertainty was genuine and his questions radiated innocence.
They echoed the fear of a child.
Alyra smiled a loving smile at the boy who she had declared the holder of her affections.
"Memory or no memory. Life or no life, my soul knows you and in any unknown corner of the universe, it will always chant your name Han. And that is the one thing I can cross my heart on." Her voice was laced with such determination that it made Han wonder if she was some sort of fortune teller who knew the dooms their futures held.
"Okay Nostradamus if you say so with such surety, I shall be gracious enough to believe you."
"Oh thanks for bestowing such mercy on my lowly self."
After some moments of comfortable silence, Han spoke again.
"Elly?" The same childlike hesitance shone in his large doe eyes.
"Yes?" This time Alyra smiled in reassurance, ready to ward off all doubts and fears from her friend's mind.
Han produced something from his pocket, shifting into a more comfortable position displacing Alyra's head. After settling, he placed her head back in his lap securely. Curiosity danced in the swirls of her brown eyes. Wordlessly, Han took her hand in his soft and careful grip and slipped a band onto her right finger. He held into the ringed hand intertwining their fingers in a locked hold.
Alyra examined the band: it was simple and outlined black. In the middle were patterns of the pulse of a heartbeat with little hearts sprouting at the impulse points against a pale background.
The girl shifted her eyes asking wordless questions to the boy who held and caressed her hands while being crouched over her and zeroing his attention over the band on her finger.
"It's a promise band. The pale patterns you see in the middle? They glow in the dark. Everybody talks about the light at the end of the tunnel. Everyone talks about wanting to be the light to someone's darkness, but I want to accompany you in the darkness rather than warding it off. I want to be the little glow of reassurance when you surround yourself in the dark. I want to be the reminder of the light in the world so you can navigate your own way around the dark rather than me being the guide."
His eyes drifted to hers where she was tucked safe and sound in his lap as he passed her one of his rare smiles. The one that conveyed his fulfillment and contentment with his life. Alyra was awestruck. She was touched into silence. Her mind could not produce finite words to her infinite feelings. Her brain refused to process the profoundness behind Han's thoughtful gesture.
"W-why the right finger and not the left? Isn't that like the actual ring finger?" Rather than thanking him for the gift, she chose to shift her attention at the insignificant matter.
Han smiled knowing well that in such a meaningful moment, only his Elly could come up with such questions of details. And if he were being honest, he had done it on purpose knowing his chipmunk girl would catch onto the little oddity.
"Because left fingers are too cliché." Alyra rolled her eyes. Of course the answer was going to be unexpectedly simple if it had to be coming from someone like Han. She should have seen it coming.
"Besides, that finger is reserved for marriage and marriages can have terrible ends. Unless of course, if you want me to put THAT ring on you then I shall have no hesitations." Han's ever glowing eyes held the familiar mischief that he loved to test her with.
"Creep!" Alyra muttered amused but deeply touched by Han's philosophy behind his actions.
Unexpectedly the boy leaned down and kissed her nose, getting back up with the goofiest and widest smile Alyra had ever seen on his face.
She widened her eyes at the boldness of him, "Did you just-"
Han giggled with a childlike grin leaning down and kissing her nose again taking Alyra by surprise for a second time.
"Bet you didn't see that one coming." He winked and gently lifted her head off his lap taking advantage of her stunned demeanor, and dashing away from her punches that were no doubt about to be rained on him.
"Han you little mischievous bastard I'll kill you come here!" She yelled.
And like that, with the sounds of flowing waters and chirping birds, Alyra's shrieks and Han's youthful chuckles filled the air around them making all of it fall into nature's one big perfect picture.
Snapping out of the loving memory, both Alyra and Han laughed quietly to themselves.
"I miss his kisses."
"I miss her outbursts."
Both the distant lovers and friends uttered at the same time voicing their longing to the silence of the universe-- hoping for any forces above to listen to them and bring them together, putting their pieces back into the scattered puzzle of their lives.
"Time is the longest distance between two places."
Who could explain it better than Alyra and Han? The two humans who had felt it, were living it, and longed for nothing more than to escape its agonizing loop of slow-burning tragedy.