Stars Dancing [Dreams-To-Lovers Romance]

"Helix"

Stars collided.

Nucleus divided.

Strands unwound.

Then rebound.

We came apart.

Then wove together.

Lovers are never separate.

File name: Untold Stories

Passcode: 8675309

RYST

"Maybe you'll see a Durn for your birthday, Ryst," Gorshan called up from about ten steps in front of me. Gorshan was one of Produced by Pedran's staffers, and he, Peydran, Chef Amran, and the other two staffers Lorren and Saran and I were walking down, down, down the cliff steps of Avdat Bay.

The trip to Genesis Oasis had been the best birthday gift ever! Genesis sat right on the coast which was unlike anything I had ever seen in my life. Two-hundred-foot-high cliffs soared above raging, angry, lapis blue seas. The water crashed relentlessly against the cliffs all the way up the coast. But scattered along the rocky edges, there were bays. The one we were hiking to, Avdat, was the largest and the most popular for snorkeling and scuba.

"Durn?" I asked, continuing down the long staircase.

"Sea beast— largest of them all," Chef answered.

"My gran says they're good luck," Lorren piped up.

"Mine says they bring nightmares," Saran jibed her back.

"Peydran, your nana? Am I getting birthday luck or birthday nightmares?"

"My nana says that superstitions are a waste of time and beasts have better things to do than eat snorkelers for breakfast."

I'd been packed full of cautions when I'd rented my scuba gear. The great sea beasts were real; don't approach. They don't harm people. Buuuut, they do displace massive amounts of water, so stay as far away as possible if you hear or see one. I even had a sonar device on my shirt that I could turn on that would give them a little push so they'd avoid me. I was the only scuba-trained member of our group; the rest were carrying snorkel gear.

I was so, so excited to be back in the water! If I could ever get down the interminable staircase. Avdat bay was aaaammmmaaaaazing! It was 100 acres, far more than I could swim in a day. It was cut into the sea cliffs so deep that the raging ocean outside was calmed by the inlet.

We were hiking our way down before sunrise so we could beat the heat of the day. It would still be a heck of a climb to get back up, carrying all the gear, but at least we'd be wet when we started the hot trek back. The stairs were backlit with a very soft orange light, and around the bay, just above the water line, there were caves carved into the rock.

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You could hike all the way around the inlet on a path that was carved into the rock, and then go into the caves to get out of the sun. The staircase we were hiking down was carved directly into the cliff face and only about two feet wide. The whole place was insane. And probably the coolest thing I'd ever done in my life!

Finally, we stowed our extra gear in a cave and made our way to the water's edge just as the sun rose. I slid into the ocean and went under. Life! Life awaited me! Teeming, roiling with life! A whole new world of living creatures. So many colors.

Towers of corals and shelving, branching plants. Radiant yellow anemones and spiny bright blue urchins. Striped fish and turtles larger than me. Purple sea mushrooms. Dark green slugs. Tiny crustaceans and crawling crabs. Endless vistas of life! Life everywhere! So much colorful life. Popping and cracking sounds.

And, something deep and sonorous. I stopped swimming and paused. There it was again. Deep, low, resonant base. It was almost like a whale from my home world Starlend, but so much deeper. That was all— just a few seconds. I moved on, getting video and photos. "This is the best day of my life," I thought. I was pure joy, just swimming along, and my eyes were open wide, trying to take it all in. I let the wonder fill me and surge through me.

Then, he was there. I felt him behind me, holding on. Joy raged through me. I hadn't felt him for so long! I tried to tell him. Universal. Universal. Don't let go. Universal. I felt a question from him, but couldn't tell exactly what it was. I decided to try just letting him feel how happy I was.

It's my birthday. I'm in the ocean. Diving. Swimming. Joy! Happiness! Life all around! Beautiful! Beautiful! It's beautiful! You came to me! My Ahtah, you found me! I'm yours. I'm yours! He overflowed with happiness, and it filled me. There was life all around me.

He faded away. But I had felt him. Felt him with my eyes open! He had been there, with me, on my birthday!

Eventually, I was tired enough to return to the water's edge, and I pulled myself up. Just as I pulled off my mask and turned back to the sea, outside the inlet, in the wide space of the crashing ocean a massive, massive form lept out of the water and smashed back down onto its surface. It was the size of a starliner! Too big to get into the inlet. Massive— I didn't know there were beasts so large.

"Durn," Chef Amran said reverently. Every single person on the cliffs was silent. It was just crashing waves and seagulls above. Durn. I'd heard it, hadn't I? That deep, sonorous sound? So resonant in all my bones. It was the most precious moment of my life.

Dream Journal

I sank into black water. I saw nothing. Just sinking down, and down, and down. I inhaled. I could breathe. I kept sinking down and down in the water. I was content. It was peaceful and still. Just sinking down, down, down. I was filled with warmth, desire. Desire. Need. I felt him all around me, just like the water. He circled around me. I breathed him in. I let him fill me. I remembered I had legs and arms. I wrapped my legs around his waist and my arms around his neck. My face pressed against his neck.

I clung to him desperately, Ahtah, Ahtah, my love. Don't go. I was supposed to remember something. Something I had practiced. Universal! Universal! Ahtah, love! I said in Universal. He was murmuring. I only heard "Methela." The rest I didn't understand. I focused. Felt it. Remembered to feel it. Universal. Universal, love. Universal. Just like I had practiced. I remembered. I felt relieved.

I felt him relax. He focused. Tried so hard. Words in my hair. Words I understood. "Lovers are never separate." I woke up.

"Lucky," the Durn.

Magic Hour generated image.

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