She ran because she had nowhere else to go, nowhere else to turn to. She cried because she had nothing left to smile for, nothing left to do. Her feet flew along well known paths, weaving through the dense woods as the moon watched over her. A velvet sky stared down from the many silver eyes of stars covering its surface. Skeletal trees guarded her from the harsh touch of the wind.

She ran until her feet were torn and bloodied, sharp rocks cutting her bare feet. She ran until she could go no further. Then she collapsed in the middle of the woods, rocks sheltering her, sobs wracking her young frame. Only eighteen and knowing more sorrow than anyone should. The tears were a bittersweet cure. She could lose herself in their flow, but they only reminded her of what was lost, what would never be. The cold was a salve to her ravaged mind, reminding her that she still existed beyond the flaming sphere of sorrow.

Tears fell softly, glittering bright in the moon, shining with their own light. The sound of her sobs was the only sound in the woods, almost as if the trees and creatures had become silent in respect for her loss.

She could feel a rock cushioning her head, more comforting than any human arms. Her black hair brushed along the dusty ground, collecting her tears and holding them as jewels in its strands. Her eyes opened to the moon, shining blue with the tears left unshed that wavered on the surface.

She let her gaze fall on the full moon, watching over her. “Why?” was her only whispered complaint to the heavenly sphere. A question sent to the stars and barely expecting a reply.

She felt as if someone had ripped away everything inside of her, leaving her hollow with only the salty tears to fill her. A wellspring of sorrow that would never run dry.

The tears fell again, cascading down cheeks burned by the cold. Her breath came out in misty fog, joining the slight tendrils that were forming in the night. The trees swayed; branches moaning in a song of lament for all, comfort expressed by their waving bows, an attempt of comfort that none could accomplish.

She never heard him, only noticed him as she looked back up to the stars, too bright for a night of such darkness. He was sitting just above her head on the rock, crouched down and looking at her with deep green eyes, studying her. The wind, cold and crisp, did not stir the delicate strands of his brown hair, his skin seemed oblivious to the cold. Only a pair of leather shorts covered him, yet he didn’t seem to mind. She started to get up, to leave and find solitude once more with only sorrow for company when he extended a hand. He didn’t speak, just held his tan hand out. She looked at his hand as if she had never seen anything like it before, and she hadn’t. Soft green vines that seemed an equal part of his skin wrapped around his fingers, winding to reach the pale strands of moonlight. The same green designs covered his whole body, constantly moving to create a piece of living art.

“Come.” One word. She stared to snap back, tell him no and run again, run far away to the ends of the earth and then beyond. Run until the pain could no longer follow and the tears would abandon her and leave her empty instead of filled with sorrow. But then she looked into his eyes. She could see eons of time pass in them, trapped in the forests of his mind. She accepted his hand and rose, stepping lightly onto the rock. For a moment she believed it was a dream, then the pain from her raw soles banished that thought. But even pain couldn’t stop her. It never had before; it had always seemed to drive her on instead. He led her through the trees, seeming to follow a path clear to only him. They soon reached their destination.

The clearing was surrounded by towering pines, the likes of which she had never seen, though she had passed through these woods more times than she knew. Moonlight, pure and silver, flowed into it, bathing them both in light.

“Will you come?” he asked, eyes expectant and hopeful, though seeming to already know the answer.

She began to say no again, but she stopped before she had begun. What was there left to lose? Nothing here was worth anything. He had dropped her hand and cold and dark filled her, finally driving away the tears. She couldn’t stand the cold and dark. Something deeply buried in her mind screamed that he was dangerous, but she ignored it. Even if she were to die, what would be the difference?

“Yes,” she replied, words wavering in the frozen air. When she took his offered hand again, the soft vines wound around her fingers, binding them together. The ground fell from beneath them and they rose towards the moon.

As the world faded beneath her, so did the unbearable sorrow. She felt free as never before. The world and its cares fell below her as she soared into the heavens. As she flew above, hand in hand with the mysterious man, she knew the night would never end. Time was something of the world, and she had now risen above it and all things contained within it. Only love remained.