I knew sitting outside and drawing late in the night was a bad idea, I was only realizing how bad now. The windy night made it impossible for the firelight to remain in one place on my paper. Shadows danced over my sketch, showing parts of the outlined face of Chief Kono.

Zachan wanted the portrait to remain a secret to his father. I wasn't entirely sure why, but it meant I was to be as discreet as possible. Currently I sat a little way from the main area where Chief Kono was sitting, finally able to leave his tent and enjoy a meal with his tribe. One could still see he was unwell, from his hollowing cheeks and the deep darkness under his eyes. But I tried to sketch him with out his exhausted state, recalling on the lively man I met on the shores of the Southern Lands.

People had passed me by, greeting me, not really knowing what I was doing. I think most thought something was wrong, that I had trickled back into my old ways, as I was sitting alone.

It was half way through the tribe dinner when it seemed the firelight fully faded. I realized why as someone was standing in front of my low table I was working on, casting a shadow over me. Zachan.

I could barely make out his features as he bent over, placing two objects on the table. They were two small wooden bowls, one filled with some spiced flatbread, and the other filled with a few slices of roasted meat accompanied by sautéed vegetables and fresh fruit.

"Thank you." I say, a slow smile gracing my face. He returns one, seeming almost unsure before he backs away with a quick duck of his head. He returned back to his seat beside his father close to the edge of the gathering. At first Chief Kono gave him worried eyes, and when Zachan said nothing, the chief gave him a knowing smile that I didn't understand.

I took a short break, eating the food Zachan had given to me. I had noticed that this was one of the little things that Zachan would do for me now. Such as keeping a tent flap open for me to go through, or passing me a bowl that I was reaching for myself when dining inside our home. Those things became normality now, and I didn't mind them at all...

After I finished eating I went back to sketching, or attempting to at least. It finally seemed that the wind calmed down, so the light remained less uneven during the night. I was engrossed in my work to barely realize until it was to late that nearly everyone had left. There was a scattering of people still talking late in the night, but Zachan was the one to rouse me from my work.

"Aleenia..." I hear softly from above, again Zachan stood in front of me.

"Yes." I blink at him, my eyes blotching from lack of light.

"My father has gone back to his tent."

I crane my neck around him to see the chief had indeed left his seat." Oh..."

Zachan chuckles, a light sound that draws me out of my daze. His eyes look down to my sketch." May I see?"

"Um..." I hesitate; fearful that my lack of good light might mean my sketch will look different-worse- when presented in proper light. I slowly close the soft brown leather folder incasing my portrait sketches." I've barely have done anything, maybe next time..."

He looks slightly disappointed but quickly changes his face back to neutral." Alright. I am heading back to our tent now."

"I'll come with you." I say, quickly getting up and gathering my things.

Walking back side by side, I take small glances up to his face. His manner seemed more relaxed now, but still I felt a nervous air surrounding us. I break our silence, hoping to alleviate it.

"Your father looks better." I state.

Zachan nods his head." Yes... in time he should be back to his usual ways... I hope."

The uncertainty in his voice, it enabled me to relate to him. The amount of times my own father was sick had me guessing more and more if he would get better. Or would he end up worse. I wondered now if he had recovered from the illness he had before I left... surely if something had happened, I would have been told. My thoughts drag me into deep dark places of my mind.

"What are you thinking Aleenia?" I hear my husband ask. I realize that my face must have been looking worrisome. Glancing back up at him I make sure to relax it, not wanting him to question it. There was no point discussing something that I had no control over, and would make me even more upset.

"Nothing... what does the healer say about your father, clearly he is getting better."

Thankfully Zachan did not push the subject of what I was thinking before, even though it looked like he wanted to. " My father is strong and recovering, the healer says it is up to him now if he will want to fight or join the stars."

At the mention, Zachan's head lifts up to the night sky, slowing before stopping in his path. He looks to the bright white spots speckled on an endless black canvas. He had said something similar before, but I did not understand what he meant by it.

"The stars?" I question.

Zachan reclines his head down to me, as if forgetting I was still by his side. "That is where we go, what we become when our..." he struggles for the right word, his hand coming to tap on his chest." arema, leaves us. Our arema becomes an azar, what you call a star."

I knew their word for star, azar, but arema, it took me a few moments to understand what he was referring to, or the closest thing I could think of in my language. " Arema, as in your soul?"

"Soul..." Zachan sounds out the new word, stashing it away into his vocabulary.

"But I thought..." I ponder aloud. " I thought the stars were different. What Mr. Larkin said was the stars were tears of Himmala-"

"There are many different telling's of the story, the tribe here to have many different beliefs in it... they like to believe that the people they love are still living above us, watching us, living happily in Valdoor and Himmala's haven."

I caught the fact that he said 'they' than 'us', separating himself from the rest of the tribe. Seanne had said Zachan had his doubts, but I was starting to see now they were stronger then I thought.

My own eyes wonder up to the sky." Even though they are beautiful to look at, being a star looks quite lonely."

The statement has me feel Zachan's gaze turn to me. " Because the other stars are so far away from each other?" I hear him question.

"Yes, but... it seems so cold up there, and you would be trapped looking down at the same place for the rest of... well, what ever life brings after this one." I muse . A part of me still thought that Zachan would be upset for questioning his 'supposed' beliefs, but he says nothing. In fact looking back to him, he doesn't even look remotely offended. It as if I have sparked his interest somehow.

" I thought you could see the world, as stars move through the sky." He states, his head going back to look up at the night.

My eyebrows raise in thought." I suppose your right..."

Zachan's head snaps to me, startling me too look at him, thinking something was wrong. His eyes search my face for a moment, looking for something. A quiver in his top lip looks like he was about to speak, but he doesn't. Instead he gives a tight nod of his head, turning his gaze back to in front of him, gesturing his hand for us to continue walking.

From his odd behavior I ease back into our walk, my mind trying to figure what could have happened to him back there. "Zachan-"

"I must be with my father tonight." He quickly says intervening, our steps slowing once again as we have reached the entrance to our tent. " The healer has watched him these past nights, I feel I should give him rest for tonight."

He doesn't meet my eyes as he gathers the fabric of the flap to our tent, holding it open for me to enter. I nod my head, forcing a smile that hopefully conveys understanding, as right now I was more confused then ever." Alright... I will see you tomorrow?"

He nods, his smile grim. I step into the tent and the flaps float back down into place. His shadow through the fabric remains however; his head hung low, his body tense. I hear the frustrated sigh Zachan lets out before he walks away.

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

It was if last night had never happened.

Zachan comes walking through the forest to the log we normally sat at together when I was drawing his portrait. And like the past couple weeks he had a gracious smile on his face. It seems these sessions we have, has bought to light a more relaxed side of my husband. I wouldn't say he was an open book, but he definitely didn't hold back his true self like he normally did.

I wanted to ask him about last night, ask what had troubled him. But from all that was happening with his father, I feared if I said something his laughter would cease.

" It is hard to say." I flush, embarrassed that I had said one word in his language that sounded very much like another. Because now I spent my free time with Zachan, Mr.Larkin's lessons were put on hold. Zachan offered to help me learn while I sketch instead, and right now he was trying to teach me body parts. " It does not help that 'ears' sounds very much like 'feet'."

Zachan's deep rumble of a laugh had slowly faded to a smirk. Together we straddled the log facing each other, my small wooden plank easel rested between us. I had stopped my sketching to look at him.

" No, it is not." He states before explaining further." But the reason behind it is that both body parts come in pairs. 'erm' means pair. Erm-mung is-" Zachan reaches his hands out to me, and I flinch a little in surprise as his fingers push the bobbled hair from my braid behind my ears. I feel the rough pad of his finger trace the arch of the both of them." Ears."

After he pulls away I find my breath being hitched in my throat. It is only released when his hands go back to his lap. Still flushed I nod, biting the tip of my pencil. I make my eyes wander away from my husband, only to have him staring at me through my nearly completed sketch. It seems I could not escape his gaze.

" So I suppose..." I wonder aloud." That is why legs, arms, shoulders and eyes sound so similar as well."

" Yes..." he says, eyes still on me." That is also for eyebrows, erm-"

"Wait!" I yelp, going down to retrieve my sketchbook by my left foot. I flipped open the page I had drawn a basic face and body. Mr. Larkin and I barely brushed over the this subject, but it was handy to have the diagram I could now fill in." Sorry...go on."

" Erm- anhoi... eyebrows"

He paused for a few seconds as I jotted down my interpretation of the pronunciation beside the sketch of an outlined face.

"Erm- mata... eyes"

Another pause as I write it down.

"Ieeka... nose"

As if a student again, I quickly scribbling down notes from a teacher. I didn't pay attention to the difference in theme, pairing plurals changing to singular features of the face.

"Erm-pinei..." Zachan says softer this time. And I am quickly pulled out from my trance as feather like fingers stroke down my cheeks. My pencil falls short on paper as my head lifts to look to Zachan. His eyes are fixated on my face." Cheeks..."

One of his hands drops away from my face, leaving his left one to wonder from the center of my cheek down to my lips. There was something so gentle about his touch as well as his voice that did not have me retreating away. I was almost hypnotized by him, a snake charmed by it's keeper.

My eyes look down passed my nose to his tanned hand, the pad of his thumb gentling resting on my pouting bottom lip." Tu..." he says, softer if possible.

I was too surprised to say anything has his finger curls under my chin, pinching it between his fingers. My shaky breath is let out during a pause before he lifts my chin upwards. My eyes follow its path.

His face was already so close to mine.

My nose bumped his as he tilted his head.

His thumb slipped away only to be replaced by his lips.

Hello everyone, I hope you enjoyed that chapter. I wonder if you guys are surprised from what happened? Tell me what you think in the comments below. Sorry to leave you on a bit of cliff hanger.

Also I am sorry for the two week delay. Firstly I have been swamped with assignments, secondly I have just stared a new job. And tomorrow night I have work, so I am going to have to change the day and time I update. Any Ideas?

So please Vote and Comment, I love to hear form you guys!

Next update will hopefully be some time, possibly not this weekend but the next.

LOVE U all