Setting: A full moon night. Guests gather for a special festival Aira quietly planned in secret. Eiran walk into a dream he didn't know she created for him.
Eiran was late.
Eiran spent the whole day fixing a broken water line near the animal shelter, covered in mud and soaked from waist to boot. He thought he missed whatever "little gathering" Aira had whispered about the day before.
But when he stepped into the clearing near the pond, he froze.
It was breathtaking.
Lanterns floated on the water—each one glowing gold, bobbing like stars trying to remember how to be close to Earth. Strings of lights wove between trees. Soft music played from speakers hidden beneath flower baskets. Candles lined the walkways. Children laughed in the distance, and grownups sat with cups of herbal wine, talking in low, grateful tones.
And standing at the edge of the pond… Aira.
She wore a soft indigo dress, barefoot in the grass, her hair braided with jasmine. She turned just as he saw her—and smiled.
Eiran walked toward her slowly, not trusting your voice.
She reached out, took his hand.
"I wanted to thank you," she said. "For building a place like this. For letting me be part of it."
"You did this?" he finally asked.
She nodded. "I asked the staff to keep it a secret. It's a gratitude gathering. For the guests… and for you."
Eiran couldn't find words at first. Then:
"You made this place feel like magic."
She smiled softly. "No. You made it a sanctuary. I just reminded it how to dream."
Later That Night
Guests had left, and most lanterns were out. One floated alone near the far edge of the pond, a faint flicker.
Eiran and Aira stood by the water's edge. She handed him a piece of paper and a pen.
"Write something you're letting go," she said. "Something you won't carry into tomorrow."
He hesitated. Then wrote one word:Guilt.
She saw it. She nodded, not asking why.
Then she wrote on hers.
He watched the ink bleed softly:Fear.
They both placed the notes into the last lantern and set it adrift.
They watched until it disappeared into the night.
🌙 Beneath the Moonlight
Aira turned to him then, more serious than ever before.
"I used to think I was meant to float through life. Never stay. Never belong."She stepped closer. "But now… I want to plant roots. Not just here. With you."
The air shifted.
And for the first time—softly, surely—He kissed her.
It wasn't hurried. It wasn't wild.
It was a promise.