The night after the storm was quiet — too quiet. The stars still shimmered above Aisha's rooftop garden, yet they looked different somehow, as though watching instead of shining. The air, once gentle with summer, now trembled with a strange expectancy, like a song waiting to be sung.
Aisha sat cross-legged beside the silver lilies Kael had grown for her. They glowed faintly in the dark, their petals gathering threads of starlight. She traced one with her finger, smiling at the way it shimmered beneath her touch. "You can come out," she whispered softly.
A shadow moved across the terrace — tall, graceful, familiar. Kael emerged from the mist, his eyes holding that same celestial gleam that had once scared her and now steadied her more than anything. "You always know," he murmured, settling beside her.
"Your magic hums when you hide," she said, smiling. "And you forget — I know its rhythm better than anyone."
