Death Guns In Another World

Snowflakes float down from the dark void that is the sky. They paint Luna's cheeks and nose a cool wet sheer and she opens her mouth to steal one that has landed on her lips. She smiled, the snowflake melting on her tongue. She drifts backward, carving into the barely frozen frost, her silhouette imprinting the earth. Another's silhouette imprinted the night sky and Luna's voice called out to it.

"What are you thinking about?" Luna's voice was loose and flowing, tumbling from her lips like discarded words, lucky enough to form a sentence.

"Nothing in particular." Comes a strong voice from the shadows. Luna shivered deliciously at his voice. Never did his voice cease to excite her.

"How boring!"

She rolled over on her side, closer to him. His face became more defined as he leaned closer. His cheeks gaining shape, his nose sharper, his eyes piercing through the blackness like beautiful emeralds.

"What are you thinking about?" He challenged with a slight grin to his voice.

"Everything. School. Future. You." The last word was the whisper of a sound. It floated between them like a stranded soul, not knowing which way to turn. He leaned away, his face dissolving into a shapeless form once again.

Anger bubbled just beneath Luna's skin.

"You do not think of me?"

"I never said that." He breathed deeply. She could hear the shuddering in his chest along with the constriction of his heart. Luna rolled back onto her spine, her eyes reaching out into the stars, seeking some sort of guidance. She was bewildered and lost as if she was being pulled in all different directions. And there was only one person to solve her problems. Only three words need to be spoken to ease my suffering.

I love you.

They are so simple, yet the heavy weight of them can weigh even the strongest people down. These words are not to be spoken lightly though she held no burden when she has said them in the past.

Now, Luna longed to hear them spoken by him but he seemed so desperate to hide them from her like some sick game. She sighed, letting her eyes slip closed. The wind picked up and snowflakes entangled in her blonde hair. She could hear him shift, the snow cracking beneath his body but she dared not open her eyes. She felt him descend beside her and still, she kept them closed. She opened them only when she felt his lips at her ear.

"I do think of you." He whispered, the wind carrying his voice to Luna's ear.

"But it isn't enough is it." She sniffed, her nose starting to run from the cold. He sighed, deep and clear and Luna clamped her eyes shut, knowing the answer she dreaded to hear.

"No. It's not enough." He says his voice a knife that pierces Luna's heart.

She choked back a sob. "Because you're leaving tomorrow?"

"Yes." He collapsed beside her, his body lost in the mountain of white.

"But, we can call each other." Luna tried desperately to cling to the thought of them together.

"We can write. Email."

But it is like clutching smoke with your bare hands.

"You know it won't be the same." His words are taking on a sharper edge with each syllable and Luna feels it in her heart like pricks of needles.

But she knew he was right.

'We will be worlds away by tomorrow afternoon. Never to see each other again.'

And Luna feels the trickle of tears welling just beyond her vision. He heard the soft hiccups from her, the effect of holding back her tears.

"Oh, Luna." He gathered her into his arms.

"Let's not think about tomorrow."

Luna buried her face into the warmth of his coat and his lips fluttered through her hair, kissing the strands.

She wished to stay here like this forever, protected in his strong arms. She forgot that he was leaving tomorrow. She forgot that they might not see each other again. She forgot everything but him. She only smelled his cologne and felt only the soft fur strands that lined the inside of his coat. And she embraced him closer, looking up at the midnight sky speckled with stars.

°°°°°

The airport was filled with boisterous noise.

People shove and shake Luna as they run to catch their flight. She felt numb and didn't notice the many apologies thrown in her general direction after another person pushed her aside. All that was in Luna's mind was the fact that Alex was leaving today.

He's leaving me.

The thought was so bizarre but she knew that it was true. He was leaving for good. Never visit or call again. The thought sounded odd on Luna's tongue and she swallowed it down her throat, leaving a burning, bitter taste in her mouth.

She reached the terminal where he would depart with his parents, his mother leading the way. She pointed to where Alex was standing with his family.

Luna smiled weakly when they spotted her and waved her over. Her mother gave her a slight shove when she didn't move and she stumbled forward. Alex was staring at his feet, his hands in his pockets. She wished he would embrace her. Tell her he would write or call every night. To whisper in her ear that everything will be okay and that he'll visit as soon as he can. But she knew those would be false promises made to keep her happy.

He won't write or call. It won't be okay and he'll never visit. She swallowed the lump in her throat as he looked up, his emerald eyes filled with regret.

"Well, I guess this is goodbye then." Luna stuttered, tears welling in her eyes. He didn't answer but he scooped her up into his arms and squeezed the air from her lungs. But she didn't protest and just hung on for dear life. His cologne floats across her nose and she filed it away in her memory. She pulled back and stared at his face, trying to memorize every little detail to the dimple of his cheeks.

He smiled sadly when his plane was called out. Luna started to tremble as she released him.

"Goodbye, Luna."

His voice broke at the end and he had to look away. Tears burst from the dam Luna tried to create and pour down her face. I watch him walk through the door to his plane.

Even after he disappeared, she stayed and watched, hoping for some miracle that he'd walk right back through the door and say it was all some cruel joke.

She wished it, no she prayed, vowing to forever love him if it was just a prank and he came back.

One week later they were back. Luna cried with joy, her prayers had been answered.

She would keep her promise, forever love him even in their next life.