It was late, but Nioelle didn't care. She needed to be outside for a while--she hated being cooped up indoors. She hadn't left Garden for a couple of hours, all her time was spent studying, so she needed an escape, so to speak.

She was lying in the grass, staring up at the stars. She was talking silently to her mother, letting her know about everything that had happened. She laughed to herself, figuring if her mother was watching over her, she would already know about everything.

Hey Nini, what's going on? When you told me to meet you out here I half way suspected something was wrong.

He promptly layed next to her in the grass and gave her a warm kiss on the cheek to greet her.

Nioelle smiled as she returned the kiss.

Just needed to get out of Garden for a bit, that's all! I figured you'd want to join me.

She said, and moved closer to him.

Just talking to my mom.

Shinu tightly wrapped his arm around her shoulder.

What are you two talking about tonight? Tell her hi for me! Or she can probably hear me... hello Nioelle's mom! I hope you don't mind me dating your daughter. I promise to take good care of her.

He looked down and smiled at her brightly.

What was her name?

Nioelle laughed as she moved her head onto his chest.

Her name's Ella.

Nioelle responded, and smiled up at Shinu.

I think she would have liked you!

Would have?

Shinu jokingly questioned.

I think she already likes me! Look how she thinned out the atmosphere so we can get a better view of the stars! You know, one of my dreams is to travel into space. I'm actually the world's first astronomer. I'm working on a way to get closer looks though.

Nioelle laughed.

That's good. She won't come back to haunt you, then!

Nioelle thought for a minute on his last statement.

Do you think I could go into space with you? I'd love to see the stars closer!

I definitely wouldn't want that, I haven't ready any books on how to handle that.

Shinu laughed at himself. He was quite the bookworm, and he didn't have a problem with it.

I promise that if I go out into space, I'm taking you with me. I have a lot of things to do before that day comes though. I'm working on using optical research to enhance my view of the stars, and then there's a lot of engineering that goes into being able to travel fast enough to even break our atmosphere.

He looked down at Nioelle, who was looking straight up at the stars. He wondered how she saw them, what she thought of them. Shinu had such a strange perception of things, almost like he was beyond human. Corenian was a great example, most thought he was weird, but he thought that Corenian was fascinating and that he could diagnose the situation to help Corenian as well as all humans. The stars were no different, Shinu thought they all told stories, not just made shapes and shight brilliant light.

You know, each star has its own personality. They move at a different rate, shine at a different level of brightness. Some of them move in a different direction. One thing I've always wondered about though... is why they're always moving away from us. See everything in space has its own unique path, but the only thing they have in common is that they're all moving away no matter the pace. The only thing that moves away and then gets closer, is that faint green light... can you see it?

He pointed over her head, slightly north east. There was indeed a faint green light. It was barely noticable if no one pointed it out. This was the object in space that kept Shinu awake on many nights. He had so many questions. Why is it green? Why won't it get further away permanantly? What is there? Is it a star? One thing that would keep him up in the future, was how in the world he could make sure he stayed with this girl forever.

Nioelle squinted to get a better look at where Shinu was pointing. She turned her head to the side and smiled.

Kind of, yeah. I don't want the stars to move further from us. In the first few months after my mom died, the stars were the ones to help me through it.

Nioelle looked up at Shinu and smiled.

What is that? The green light? It's so pretty.

Shinu hadn't noticed that she was looking at him. His old friend "green light special" was taking his attention for the moment. If only he knew what it was!

I'm actually not sure. Strange right? Know it all Shinu doesn't have the answer! What I do have are questions though. Once I've invented a way to get a closer look, I'll be able to better guess what's out there. For now, I think it's a planet, a green one that can host life. I believe there's oxygen, but the water will have to be artificially created there. Of course this is just an idea, and I doubt anyone in the science world would back me on this. Besides, space theory is totally against religion these days.

He sighed and now looked down to see Nioelle still staring at him. He changed his sad face to a smile the instant he caught a look at those green eyes.

You know if you could look into your own eyes, you wouldn't need the stars so much. They're absolutely dazzling.