Page 40 of Meet Me in the Stars

“Should I be worried about what I’m going to find out?” Fred asked after we walked for several minutes in companionable silence.

Purple, blue, and red grass lined the sides of the path now. We were getting close. Worry wasn’t the word I’d use for what I thought he’d feel, but then again whether I was inside his head or not, I’d not been able to predict Fred Moonscale’s reaction to things very clearly.

“I don’t think you should worry about it. It’s done and over with. There’s nothing to be done that will change what happened. I think it might be strange to have had something happen and not remember it. That was strange for me at first. I didn’t have much context to go on for the memory from the Other World I had stored. It took a while to parse out the details. I’ll be right there with you. I’ll answer any questions I can and one of the guides will be there too. I think you guys might call them priests or something, but we call them guides. They study from like fifteen or so, if they feel called. They study life and death and guide dragons from both sides. They’ll admit they don’t have all the answers, but they’re helpful.”

“Guides, huh?” Fred arched a brow.

“They’re not some secret society. They release a bulletin every week of the soul stuff they did the week before. It’s on their website and delivered to every Starscale mailbox on all three worlds. Before you ask this is the only Star Room for all three worlds. We only get one, because three worlds or three hundred worlds, we’re all one flight.”

“That’s a sweet sentiment. When was the last civil war?”

“Here? In the flight? Never,” I shook my head.

“With all these dragons, though?”

“We all have what we need. Our leaders aren’t horrible. Uncle Hush is annoying, but that’s probably because he’s my uncle. They haven’t pushed to find a way to get us attached to the Other World gateway network. I secretly think that’s because they were afraid of failing and causing unrest. Despite our strength and our temperaments, I don’t think war is the natural state of dragons. We’re flock animals. We work together quite well as long as there’s enough food for everyone and enough space for everyone to nest and live. Food grows well here, and the hunting is awesome. If we start to run out of space, we just build another world. The third world was only added the year I hatched.”

“That’s incredible,” Fred said, glancing up at the mountains behind the Star Room in the distance.

“We try,” I shrugged. “Making a planet takes a long time, but it’s worth it I think to keep our flight together. We’re not all scattered like we might’ve ended up on Earthside. Sure, not all of our flight members came with us then, but a lot of them have been reborn here. She was one of us before, you know.”

“Who?” Fred stopped in his tracks.

“Lotus,” I whispered her name.

“How? How is it even possible to know that?”

“Well, she was,” I said, tugging him along the path. “Her star has come back now. It’s easier to show you than to tell you.”

“You keep saying that,” Fred let out a frustrated laugh.

“Because it’s true. That’s how we crossed paths, though. Come on, hurry,” I tugged him again toward the huge edifice. “My heart’s trying to pound right out of my star!” I laughed.

“Excited or afraid?” Fred stopped at the bottom of the stairs.

“Absolutely terrified and elated all at once,” I said.

Fred wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me in close to him. His warmth spread over me like a gentle fire in the dead of winter. He kissed my forehead and then the tip of my nose. I went up on my tiptoes and gave him a real kiss.

“Nothing bad happened to us in the Other World,” I promised him.

“Then why are you so nervous?” Fred asked, pressing his forehead gently against mine.

“Because if you don’t believe me after you see the memory, you’ll never believe me, and I’ve sort of grown accustomed to having you around.”

Fred kissed me again. His tongue twirled around mine in lieu of the promises I hoped he’d make to me. I wanted him to promise to believe me. Everything inside me right down to my dragon’s tail scales ached for him because I knew the truth. Knowing every word you’ve uttered is the truth and not being believed stings and aches like nothing else.

“Look,” Fred said when the kiss broke.

“I know, I know. If you don’t believe me, you’ll kill me,” I rolled my eyes.

“No,” Fred shook his head. “I shouldn’t have said that. I don’t know why you’d put together such an elaborate lie, if that’s what had happened. But even if you did, I’m not going to kill you, Elio. I’m not even going to try to. I’m going to go back to sleep, if none of this is real and leave you to tell Castor and the others they have to drag me all the way back to the ship.”

“You’re starting to believe me,” I smirked and stole another kiss.

“They say seeing is believing, but I’m starting to wonder if it’s feeling is knowing instead,” Fred said, pushing a lock of hair behind my ear.

“We haven’t known each other forever, but we could,” I whispered to him.

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