Power of Stars (Mae)

Lifespan of an average human being is of around 80 years. That equates to roughly 29 200 days. But do humans even see the days passing by? Most of the time, they do not, and they just pass through life, never even noticing the everchanging times of days, the sun watching over them from above... and the beautiful starry sky, telling its own story of love and trust...

Is it not a sad existence? You'd be surprised, but it's really not that bad. At least... as long as you have someone to share those lost days with, as long as you have a warm hand to hold your own... Then you can be content, and you can stop caring about the world around you. In that regard, human ignorance could truly be seen as a blessing, one that they all strive for throughout their fleeting lives...

But there are also those days that you do look up and notice the sky. Where you break from the concrete world of your visage and embrace the beauty and harmony of the stars above. As Charles pulled Mae's hand happily up the hill overlooking the city, towards the lone tree sitting on top of it, she would have been able to feel that this was one such day. It was special, and this place was special, and the tone of conclusion weighing lightly in the atmosphere could ease any restless soul...

"Come on, Mae!" Charles ran up, laughing heartily like he had never laughed before as he waved at her, his silhuette outlined by the shining city behind him, and the stars above. His eyes were not lost anymore, as if he had found his resolve. Yet, there was still something nostalgic about them, and about the way he was looking at her as she climbed...

The stars shone bright with hope for the best possible today...

Mae called out happily, trying to keep up with Charles. It had come as a suprise for her when the android had decided to take her somewhere. He looked so... happy. It was truly nice to see such a genuine smile on his face after all this time... She would eventually make her way uptop the hill overlooking the city of San Malarus. The streetlights and everything else looked like small specks of light flickering in the distance, much like the stars hanging above them. A lone tree was standing proudly on top of it all, like it held some special significance to this place... It did remind Mae a bit of the Lunapa Oak in a sense, just... smaller and less majestic, but it still had an aura of mystery and beauty about it.

Mae giggled happily, sitting down underneath the tree, taking Charles with her. "You really do have a nack of finding beautiful places, you know that?" She said, looking out over the city... He had brought her here for a reason, that much she knew. Charles was never really one to drag people to places without a reason to do so, no matter how insignificant it was of a reason, it was still there nontheless. She smiled at him. Everything had felt so much better since they got back together... But there was still something which had bothered her since their last meeting... Something had been off with how he was acting back then. Not a speck of that was present with the Charles here now... Maybe that was for the better. Mae might actually be better off not knowing, but would she be content with living in blissful ignorance? No... She would most certainly not.

"Mhm!" Charles nodded as he took a seat next to Mae beneath the tree, facing the city. He leaned next to her, so their shoulders touched. He liked to feel her warmth, it was reassuring... But he needed to let it go. "This really is a beautiful, special place..." He began after a short, silent moment. "The sky and the city merge into one, forming this unique horizon. Oh right, I have this here." He smiled and pulled a folded piece of paper from his jacket's pocket. It was the half finished sketch of the dark city in the distance with the stars above it. He looked at it for a moment before giving it to Mae, stopping her when their eyes met and fingers touched. "Have I ever even showed this to you? I can't remember why, but this is a very important picture. Yet, it is incomplete." He let go of the sketch, so that only Mae held it now, and pulled a pencil out of his pocket. "But even if I don't know why it's important, that doesn't matter. What we can do is make it important to us, so that we can look at this picture and smile, reminiscing in the happy moments, right?"

He took a small pause before continuing, stars and the many lights of the city reflecting off his eyes, like tiny fireflies, specks of dispersing souls of humanity, giving the sense that everything was going to be alright. "So, before we do anything else, I would like it if you could finish this piece, Mae."

"It really is..." She smiled at him, slowly taking his hand. The view from here was quite breathtaking really. The stars glowing beautifully above them, like tiny needles. "It's nice to get away from the city every once in a while, don't you think?"

"I... Dunno... You might have. But then again, you have so many sketches..." Mae took the drawing, looking at it curiously, as Charles continued talking. "Yeah... I suppose so. Anything can have significance..." Even if it was just an incomplete sketch now, there was no doubt that Charles had a connection to this drawing... Perhaps it was that other girl he had once known? She couldn't help but feel a sting of jealousy when she thought of this girl... Had the two been lovers before Mae and Charles had met? Was that why Mae had felt... this hesitation resting within Charles when they had last met?

"M-Me?!" Mae looked at Charles, bewildered. She couldn't draw anything to save her own life, and yet... here he was, asking her to... "I-I can't draw! You do it!" She had a feeling Charles would insist on it... But it was worth a shot.

"No way!" Charles shook his head when Mae said she couldn't draw. "It is like a duet, this sketch, this vision... It was meant for two. One cannot dance a duet only with oneself! Besides, it would lose half of its meaning if I were to do it!" He gently clasped Mae's hand and the pencil in it as a faint breeze brushed against them. "Can you do it for me? It would really mean a lot..."

If only to seal their connection before the final moment, Charles wanted Mae to do this. The sketch lacked the sense of love and kindness only she could bring to it. It didn't matter how well she could, or couldn't draw. "Will you?"

"A-Alright... If you insist." Mae said nervously, and took the pencil, reluctantly. Oh geez, she really had to do this... The girl took a deep breath as she compared the sketch to reality, and slowly, but surely, began to draw. She didn't rush things either. If anything, she was doing her best to make it look somewhat decent, even if Charles had said it didn't matter how it looked, as long as she was the one who drew the second half... She kept at this for a good thirty minutes, staying silent the whole time, focusing intently in what she was drawing, glancing up every now and again to compare what she had drawn to her surroundings... It was far from as detailed and well drawn as Charles' part, but at least she could see what it was supposed to be...

"...Aaaaand... Done. What do you think?" She asked him, holding up the finished drawing in front of her face. "...It's horrible, isn't it?" She asked, peeking out her head from behind her drawing. It could've been worse, but... The difference in detail was staggering. "Um..."

"Hmm." Charles sat back and enjoyed himself as he watched Mae struggle with the drawing for what felt like ages... but in a good way. His smile stuck on his lips as she filled in the blanks of the drawing... as well as the blanks in their relationship. Every new line she added, however shaky or unsure, made the picture firmer as a whole and gave Charles a stronger reason to do what he was about to do. When Mae finally finished and raised the drawing up for him to see, he smiled, closing his eyes as his smile grew wider and wider. The sight of this duet of theirs warmed his heart... He couldn't help it, it felt like it was going to burst any second now!

"It's beautiful." He said before gentle putting his hands over hers, pushing them down as he neared her face, her breath... her lips... and kissed her. As he did so, he grabbed Mae's hands and straightened up into a standing position with her in his embrace, as the Moon and the stars framed their silhuettes beneath the tree...

This was the time, this was the moment to seal it all. And so, he pulled his head back and smiled at her. "Mae, thank you for everything."

He began as he spun her in his arms before letting her hand so she could face him... As the stars shone just for tonight...

-Charles has left the scene...

"R-Really?" Mae asked, looking at him sheepishly. Was he honestly saying that...? Or did he say so just to make her happy? Regardless, it worked. And what happened next... she had barely any time to collect her own thoughts before Charles... kissed her. Volountarily this time around. He had even managed to catch Mae off guard with it, but she apprechiated the gesture. The red-head kissed him back, letting him embrace her. It was a nice, warm feeling... Just like last time.


"Oh Charles..." She looked into his eyes, with a light blush on her smiling face. "There's no need to thank me... You should be thanking yourself. After all, it's thanks to your own efforts that you're here with me today. I only... helped out a little, but you did most of the hard work yourself." And with that, Mae kissed the android for what would be the last time, letting the moon and stars above them be the only witnesses to this final act of forbidden love...