Chapter 4 Kai I missed Stella. It was pretty off without her, and Otis was even more convinced it was a lie. Noticing how offended I was, and how strange I felt without her, I had to admit it to myself. Then, I filed through some of my art, bored, tired, and mildly agitated. That was when I found a picture of a blonde girl with a pale blue dress and a flower crown. It made sense. So that’s where she came from. “I think— no, I know for sure… I love you.” The words slipped out. It was her. I figured she came out of nowhere, but no— she’d been locked in my mind for so long. And I loved her. I missed her too much for her to just be my friend. I couldn’t bear to believe that anyone could think she wasn’t there. I went to sleep that night hoping the dream would come. It did, much to my relief. I was still in my room, with Stella there, glowing brighter than ever, “Hey,” I muttered awkwardly. Stella smiled and held out her hand. “There’s someone I want you to meet.” Being in love with her, I felt this could be a bad sign. I took her hand. “First, something that I found earlier today.” She levitated over to stand next to me. I let go of her hand to find the drawing. “I must’ve imagined you a long time ago, and you were lost in my thoughts until now.” She looked at the drawing. “It’s… beautiful. Are all your works like this?” I had to laugh. “My stuff’s better now, this one’s pretty old.” I pulled out a newer drawing of a fallen angel. “Whoa,” Stella breathed. “You have talent.” I took her hand again. “We can go now.” I was slightly nervous about who she wanted me to meet, but it was just her friend, Liz. “Hi!” She smiled. “So you came.” I turned to whisper in Stella’s ear. “Aren’t I just dreaming?” She giggled. “It’ll feel like a dream, but to the Imaginaries it all happened, and that’s the case.” “Oh,” I realized. She took me basically everywhere in the so-called sky island, showing me all the sights to see, the beautiful landscape and the constellations. “These are the lights,” she whispered. “The lights in the dark. Reality can be a dark place. I’ll be your light. Your hope.” Then she took me by surprise. Stella I turned to kiss him on the cheek. He smiled awkwardly. We stood there in silence for a bit. “Kai,” I was still whispering. “I…” Suddenly I practically went mute. “I…” He finished for me. “I love you too,” he said. We both hugged each other on the spot, constellations above us and all. “Home?” Kai asked. I nodded. My home was with him now. He told me we should stop by Liz’s place before heading back to reality. “Am I coming?” Liz asked. I smiled. “Yup!” When we arrived at Kai’s place, he sort of had the strange spasm we expected— he was technically dreaming that whole time, since that was the only way for humans to visit the sky islands. There were flashing lights everywhere. When he woke up, he still saw us and we were all in the same place. His memories were anything but drained from what had happened overnight. “What now?” He asked. Liz and I looked at each other. “Liz, let’s go look for the one you were destined to guide.” Kai frowned. “But if Liz has someone to guide, and Stella stays with me— wait, I have an idea.” I was curious. “What?” Kai snuck into another room, Liz and I trailing behind him.
