A year had passed since Timpani had last seen Blumiere. She and Merlon had been counting the days. She used to see the boy from the Tribe of Darkness on the 19th of each month, but now with each 19th day that passed she felt a small pang of sorrow and emptiness.

Merlon had aged what looked to be about twenty years in that year alone. He was much quieter than normal and spent a lot more time reading through the Light Prognosticus. He hardly spoke of his dream of uniting the two tribes anymore. It was heartbreaking, seeing him let go of something that once filled him with so much hope. It was like his entire life's purpose had vanished.

Sometimes, she couldn't help but blame him. It wasn't his fault, of course, he was just trying to do what he thought would be best for both tribes, but if he hadn't offered to take the Dark Prognosticus, maybe she could still see Blumiere. She never missed anyone this much before. It was strange, she saw him practically everywhere she went now, even though she hadn't seen him in a year. She saw him in the flowers that decorated her village and in the sky whenever there was a particularly clear night.

She saw him in that meadow where they used to meet. On the 19th of each month, she usually found herself still going there, hoping that he'd come back. He never did, though, and after two months Merlon stopped coming with her. He gave up on that hope.

She was an adult now. Maybe it was time for her to wake up and give up on waiting too.

That night, she stayed inside instead of going out to the meadow. After all, it had been one year. It was time to accept that Blumiere was gone from her life, and he wasn't coming back. As much as she tried to deny it earlier, this was the indisputable truth. She had to let go of him and accept that the part of her life with him in it was over.

Her chest felt tight and her nose felt itchy. She felt this way a lot whenever the heavy weight of reality settled in on her. She tried not to let it get to her, but the thought of never seeing him again, never hearing his voice, it was all almost too much to bear. She couldn't keep waiting on something that would never happen, though. 

She wondered what was going on in his mind. Did he ever think about her? He seemed like the kind of person who would, but at the same time, maybe she wasn't special. Maybe he was that way with everyone. She used to feel like they had this special connection, but that might have just been because she didn't have any friends in her village. Blumiere was special to her, but maybe she was just another person to hang out with to him. 

She didn't like thinking that way... but if she was special, he would have come back, right?

She tried to go to bed early, but sleep wouldn't take her. The swelling of sorrow kept her awake, even though she was dreadfully tired from spending the day in such sadness. Though her eyes were closed, she could sense the sun setting from the way the brightness in the world seemed to fade. 

Usually, she kept one light on at night because there was something about the dark that always frightened her. 

Blumiere was from the dark, though...

So, she kept the light off. Besides, keeping a night light was childish. It was about time she got past that. There was nothing to be scared of, the Tribe of Ancients was a strong group, and her village was one of the safest places in the world. It was weird to think about, but Merlon and the other ancients were amongst some of the strongest, most powerful beings in all of existence.

There was a light tapping on her window, but this wasn't unusual. Tree branches did this whenever the night air grew windy. It used to scare her when she was younger, but she was grown now.

The tapping briefly stopped and she allowed her body to relax slightly.

Then, it repeated again.

Oddly enough, the taps were even. Usually, the taps of tree branches were sporadic, but this felt very calculated. Three taps, a brief pause, then three more.

The pattern continued for a few minutes until Timpani finally grew annoyed and sat up, opening her eyes and glaring at her window.

"Stupid trees—" she started, when she suddenly stilled.

Blumiere froze in place, his eyes widening at the sight of her. His hand was pressed against the glass that separated them.

Timpani couldn't move, couldn't blink. Had she fallen asleep? Was this a dream?

"Timpani?" he seemed to say, though she couldn't hear him through the glass. The wind blew slightly, making his blue hair a disheveled mess.

He looked taller. A little older, too. His jawline was more defined, but he wore the same smile. She hated to say it, but he was starting to look a little like his father. Far prettier, though. They both had the same eye color, but the executioner had slightly larger, round eyes while Blumiere's were almond-shaped and a little brighter.

Timpani quickly scrambled out of bed, slightly embarrassed to be caught in her light pink nightgown. She must have looked so childish. Still, she threw the window open, letting a gush of cold air rush into her room.

"Blumiere?!" she asked. "What are you doing?!"

"Oh, hi Timpani!" he smiled, dumbly.

"Hi," she breathed with a slight eye roll, hiding the excitement that was bubbling up in her chest. "You could get in big trouble! Do you know what the other ancients will do if they see you here?!"

"Oh, that's why I brought a disguise!" Blumiere chimed. He pulled out a white tophat and spun it around, then placed it on top of his head. He tilted it slightly, so it would cast a shadow over his face, a customary ancient custom. "I'm a fancy traveling salesman! You can tell I mean business because of the tophat."

Timpani placed a hand over her face, hiding her smile. He was such an idiot.

An idiot she missed, though.

"Anyway, do you have a moment?" he asked as he tilted the hat up so she could see his face again. "I want to talk to you. It'll be fast! We can go to the meadow like we used to!"

She paused for a moment and looked back at her bedroom door. She wasn't sure how Merlon would feel about her sneaking out. He was kind, but he was also a little overprotective sometimes. Every time she and Blumiere hung out together before, he was always close by. Besides, he spent a year getting over the failed attempt to connect to the Tribe of Darkness. Would he feel betrayed by her going off to hang out with Blumiere?

And what about her? She was just starting to get over not being able to see Blumiere. Surely going with him would put a wrench in that process.

But... he was here now.

She never even truly wanted to get over him. She just wanted to stop missing him so much. And, well, she didn't miss him right now.

"Alright," she breathed. "Let me just get a jacket. I look like a slob."

"Slob?" Blumiere asked, frowning slightly. He looked her up and down, then shrugged his shoulders slightly. "Of all the years I've known you, you've never ever looked like a slob. In fact, I don't think I've ever seen anyone look as pretty as you do right now."

She rolled her eyes, then turned away and grabbed the first jacket she could find, which happened to be a deep purple jean jacket Merlon gave her years ago. She almost never wore it, so it wasn't the comfiest, but it would do.

She didn't have many darkly colored clothes, so it almost felt strange to wear.

Blumiere held his arms out to her as she approached the window and climbed through. He politely helped her down, then grasped her hands, smiling widely.

"This way! We have so much to catch up on!" he grinned, turning and dragging her back toward the meadow. "Your village is beautiful, by the way. I can't believe you and Merlon never got the chance to give me and my dad a tour."

"To be fair, we never got to see yours either," Timpani pointed out, trying to hide the small blush that was forming on her cheeks. 

"Someday, you will," he stated cheerfully. "Someday, everyone will be allowed to go everywhere!"

She shook her head. Did that mean he still hadn't let go of that dream of uniting both tribes?

Why was he gone for so long, then? She thought the dream died because he and his dad had given up first.

Blumiere led her up to the meadow, back by the tree they used to sit beneath. She was flooded with memories of sitting and talking with him for hours. For the past year, that tree filled her with a strong sense of loneliness, but now the joy and excitement she felt during her teenage years upon seeing it were back.

"Blumiere... why didn't you come back until now?" she asked, turning to face him.

His smile dropped, but just slightly. He took the silly tophat off and held it in front of himself, keeping his gaze on her.

"I wanted to. Really, really badly. But... the tribe had a talk with my dad. They were letting him and me meet with you guys, but one of the rules was that we had to report everything back, as I'm sure you and Merlon had to do too. So... when they heard what happened last time, they told my father that if either of us came back again, we'd get in big trouble. But... I missed you so much, and it's been a whole year, so I snuck back over."

Timpani felt her heart swell slightly, both with joy and an aching feel. It was nice to hear that he missed her too. Though, she wished he would have snuck out sooner. It would have made these past few months more bearable. She couldn't blame him, though. It was scary, going against people's wishes. She didn't know exactly how strict the Tribe of Darkness was, but sneaking out to see her was probably a really big deal.

"I've been coming here," she breathed as she placed a hand on the trunk of the tree. "Every month, waiting for you. Today was the first time I didn't, actually..."

Blumiere stilled for a second, then slowly placed his hand on the tree as well, next to hers.

"Did you give up on me?" he asked.

She let out a sigh, lowering her gaze slightly before looking up at him.

"I... wanted to stop missing you so much," she admitted. "It really hurt."

"It hurt us too," Blumiere breathed. "My dad... not many people like him. Because he's the executioner. I think Merlon was his only friend, the only person besides me who saw him as more than an executioner. He used to talk about Merlon a lot. So... losing that was really hard on him. And losing you... you're my favorite person in the world, so I felt like I lost a part of myself when I couldn't see you anymore. I mean... I never loved someone the way I love you before."

Timpani stilled, then shook her head.

"What?"

"What?" Blumiere asked back, his eyes widening. "Wait, what did I say?"

"You said you've never loved someone the way you loved me before," Timpani said, flustered. Her voice was squeaker than normal, she must have looked terrified.

"What's wrong with that?" he asked, slowly becoming more and more panicked. "Why are you making a weird face? Are we not in love?!"

"Are we in love?!" Timpani asked back. This was the first she heard of it.

"Wait, you didn't know we were in love?" he exclaimed.

She shook her head, appalled. She never remembered agreeing to be in love.

Although, now that she thought about it and looked back on the memories the two of them shared...

"I mean, if you don't want to be in love anymore, that's okay," he breathed. "But... I thought holding hands and spending time together alone and talking about the stars and flowers and the future and wanting to spend my life with you meant being in love."

"I... guess it does," she breathed, unable to silence the thundering of her own heart.

"Oh, good," Blumiere breathed. He placed a hand on his chest and relaxed slightly. "So we're still in love, then?"

"Looks like it," Timpani muttered, trying to hide her smile. Was this really what being in love was like? She didn't think much of it before, but hearing him mention spending their lives together, holding hands, and talking about stars and flowers and things beautiful... it did seem like the kind of thing someone in love would think about. 

"Then I have a plan!" Blumiere beamed while placing his hand on hers and smiling widely.

"A plan?" she asked.

"Yes," he beamed. "A plan to unite our tribes and make my dad's dream come true! A plan so we can be together!"

"And what would that be?"

He grinned, then got down on one knee, still holding her hand. "Marry me, Timpani!"