Flashback: When the Stars Were Just Stars

The rebel outpost in Thalor's Highlands was quiet that night.

No alarms, no drills, no command briefings. Just an unusually clear sky blanketed in a sea of stars.

Alex sat on the rooftop alone, legs stretched out, arms behind his head. The rifle next to him was untouched. The war felt distant up here.

Liana appeared at the hatch quietly. She didn't say anything, just climbed up and joined him, her bootsteps soft against the metal.

He didn't need to turn to know it was her.

"Can't sleep?" he asked.

"Nope." She laid down beside him, her shoulder just brushing his. "It's too quiet. It feels… fake."

"Or maybe this is what normal feels like. We just forgot."

A breeze passed between them, lifting strands of her dark hair across her cheek. He reached out instinctively, brushing it back with the gentlest touch.

She didn't pull away.

"You always do that," she said, eyes still fixed on the stars.

"Do what?"

"Act like you're not broken, when you're the most haunted person I know."

He didn't reply. The silence said more than words ever could.

She rolled onto her side, propping herself up on one elbow to face him.

"Why do you stay in this war, Alex? Really?"

He turned to her, their eyes locking.

"Because if I didn't, I wouldn't be able to live with what I left behind," he said. "And because you're still here."

Her breath caught.

A shooting star arced across the sky, brief and burning.

"I used to believe in fate," she whispered.

"You don't anymore?"

"I don't know," she said. "But I believe in you. And that scares me more."

He reached up slowly, brushing his fingers against hers.

"You don't have to be afraid," he said.

"Then stay," she whispered. "When this war is over… stay."

The words lingered between them like a vow.

And in that quiet rooftop moment, with nothing but stars and distance and stolen time between them, Alex leaned in.

Their lips met.

Softly. Not with desperation, not with lust—but with the quiet ache of two soldiers trying to remember they were still human.

It wasn't a kiss born of battle. It was born of stillness.

And maybe, just maybe… a beginning.