Through the passing of another romantic winter, Lumina and I found a wonderful balance of spending time together. It was never easy finding any specific events we could both do at the same time; telepathic dating is the most difficult circumstance I can think of, since we're never physically in each other's arms. We can't do the normal things other couples around us can do while I'm on another planet. We can't hold hands or kiss, we can't hold each other in our arms with promise, and we don't have the physical proximity that makes one sweat and their heart flutter.

Despite this, Lumina and I can still enjoy hanging out together. We play board games, watch movies, and eat at fancy restaurants if ever the chance comes up. We flirt with each other all the time, sharing our deepest feelings with our words and traded emotions. We give each other hope and courage, making each one of us a better person than we were yesterday. Despite what I don't have, I love Lumina more than anything in the world, and I would never-ever give this up for anything.

I've known this for a while now; I needed not the reminder. Even today was fated to be another special day. Despite the annoyances of high school, the weather granted us another wish of a romantic movie night. Today's cold wasn't anything amazing. In fact, the temperature was less ideal for a telepathic connection than I would have wanted, hanging around 53oN. Georgia often enters these phases of humidity through thunderstorms and overcasts, stormy or rainy weather which effectively prevents the temperature from moving up or down. I refer to this phenomena as temperature lock.

The good news is that the viable temperature for telepathy is holding strongly. The bad news, is that 53oN isn't all that ideal. The closer the air temperature is to the official limit of 60oN, the weaker our connection becomes. Lumina can still see well enough through my eyes, so I accepted what we had available, and used that time to watch an amazing movie title I found.

In Your Eyes (by Joss Whedon), was the movie I chose, after being impressed with the trailer earlier. It's a strange romance movie about two people living separately on the other side of the world, knowing nothing about each other, until mysterious circumstances bring them together through telepathy. The movie isn't all entirely realistic in terms of how psionic energy would work, but the main characters start a gradual romance from their shared connection, a romance that obviously reminds me a lot about myself and Lumina. Their time spent together is quirky and funny, just as much as it is awkward and amazing.

We were all through halfway part the movie, enjoying every second of our own shared connection. "It's a very interesting film you picked out." Lumina spoke over the scene, since there wasn't much happening in the movie for the moment. It isn't something we weren't used to; Lumina and I would often interrupt or pause our own movie moments just to talk about what was going on in the movie, comparing situations to real life.

"It's the one time I got lucky. I bumped into its title by accident looking for other movies."

"What's happening now?"

"Huh?" Perplexed by her question, I waited for her elaboration.

"The movie... What's happening now?"

"What do you mean...? You can't see it anymore can you?"

"Everything's getting too staticy for me. Sorry Reed."

"Hm..." I didn't say more for the moment. I wasn't expecting our connection to become weaker over the following time, but if Lumina can't see through my eyes anymore, then it must mean the temperature outdoors must have already gone up to 55oN. I decided to pause the movie and step outside to see for myself, comfortably since I was also the only one home right now. "You know, if it was warming up outside, you could have said something."

"I didn't want to spoil the moment... And I also don't want to miss the rest of the movie."

"No worries Lumina. If we absolutely have to, I'll set the movie aside for later. I won't watch the ending without you here with me; promise!" I could tell Lumina was satisfied with my answer, while I stepped outside to feel the ambient air around me.

"It sucks that we're in the middle of January and we can't even watch one full movie together." With every exhale of her breath, I felt the loving solace and sadness of her desire, matching my own. Lumina and I were still madly in love with each other, and it was a sensation only growing stronger each day.

"Yeah, that's just how Georgia is. It can warm up anytime, and the rain won't always cool us down if it comes from the tropical region." Despite how I sounded, I felt evermore desperate to be wrong, to walk outside and feel the force of a thousand blizzards. How badly I wanted to deny any reality that would cut our time short! My heart ached just at the thought of letting her go again so soon.

When I stepped outside using my bare arms feeling the slight winds around me, encasing the moisture of the beautiful thunderstorm above us, I knew our time today would be coming to a swift end. There was a reason I was feeling weaker than before, and a reason why Lumina's voice sounded so far away from me now. It wasn't 55oN outside; it was 57oN instead. Normally, when our connection becomes this weak, and there is evidence of the temperature climbing, Lumina and I say our goodbyes - until we can meet again under better circumstances. There isn't anything inherently wrong with letting the connection fail from heat on its own, but each time it has in the past, it left me fairly drained for the whole remainder of my day.

"You don't have to say it Reed. I already know that the connection is getting weaker. It must be warming up over there." It was one of Lumina's powers to determine the strength level of our active connection, something I couldn't do myself.

"Fifty-seven Nixus. The storm is bringing in a warm front with its humidity... We've got maybe ten minutes left at this rate."

"I... I don't want to go." In her own telepathic voice, I could hear the tears trembling through her mind, tears which shook me the same, tears we both bled together.

"I know Lumina. I don't want to hang up either. Being with you is all I want to do right now."

"I won't shut our connection off like that. I want more time with you."

The feeling has been mutual for as long as I could remember. The circumstances of our situation were always second in priority to the first, that being our perpetual wish to keep making moments together. It's moments like these where saying goodbye, even for a day or two hurts worse than anything hell could throw at me. The sadness and heartbreak from within fought with my hopefulness that she and I will see each other again soon. Just for right now, I didn't want this moment to end. Lumina and I cried for each other. "I love you Lumina."

"I love you too Reed. I love you so much."

"It's fifty-eight now... What do you want to do?"

Lumina had a few moments to think in the silence I gave her. "I don't want to hang up right now. Can we just stay like this for a little longer?"

"Of course." Even if the temperature was going up, weakening our own connection, I knew it wouldn't hurt to let this drag on for as long as we wanted it to. Once the temperature bumps its way to sixty degrees, our connection will be forcibly killed, the weather disrupting my ability to project properly. I was already beginning to feel some weakness or exhaustion, but I did not deny Lumina our wish.

For what felt like the eternity of ten minutes, Lumina and I just stood there together in sync, looking up at the sky with wonder and faith, telling ourselves that everything would be better with time. It became evident, though not surprising how badly Lumina craved my presence like this. I've always felt this way for her, wondering in the past if she ever felt the same, though I was now certain how she feels for me. This indescribable sensation, this immeasurable amount of love, I have no specific means to describe it. All I knew is that I'd never let it go.

"It's been a while since you last checked the temperature." Lumina cringed at her very own statement, hoping I didn't get the wrong idea about her curiosity.

Not that I did. I knew neither one of us were willing to voluntarily cut off our connection. We were waiting for this to happen on its own, for the wrath of Mother Nature to come crash our private party. As I gently waved my arm around again to determine the temperature as Lumina taught me to before, I relished in the surprise I wasn't expecting. "Fifty-eight Nixus. Same as before... It's not moving."

"It's been ten minutes. Maybe it's going to drop again?"

Overjoyed in the thought, my tired eyes lifted once more. "No Lumina, this is temperature lock! The weather from above is locking the current temperature in place. We can keep hanging out after all!"

"We can't finish the movie with a connection as weak as this one, but you're right. This is better than having to be forced to wait again."

"Right?" This is better. Even if the connection is so weak that our voices carry less volume or distance, it's better than no connection at all. I'm not too picky about it, and I don't think Lumina is either.

"Still," she warned, "you should drink some water. Keeping a connection this weak going will be a bit more difficult."

"Already ahead of you." I held up my nearly empty bottle of water in front of my eyes, uncertain if Lumina could see it.

"It's all I can do just to keep the connection alive. I can't see anything through your eyes anymore, not even static."

"It's okay. We still have our voice." I could care less how much I could see or feel Lumina; just knowing she is here with me was enough to make me happy again.

Both of us were still having the time of our lives, enjoying what tiny connection we still had for what felt like half an hour after me coming outside. Lumina would do this all the time, find any random thing to talk about. Sometimes, we didn't even need words to understand each other. Whether I brought up random parts of my day, reminded her of something funny, or just flirted with her, Lumina and I both enjoyed each other so much, it brought a new slime and glow to our faces which could never be reached any other way. We stayed this way for as long as we could, fighting our building exhaustion to keep an already weak connection going for as long as possible.

The temperature was still locked at 58oN, however, we were still on limited time. Keeping a weak connection alive uses up a lot more of our psionic energy than doing so with a stronger connection. Before long, I was beginning to feel the drain for myself. Running out of water many minutes ago, I decided to walk up to my room to get more from storage.

"I still want to know what happens in the second part of the movie."

"Relax Lumina. I promise, I'll make it up to you in our next connection. I'm kind of amazed this one has lasted this long."

"Well... I am doing all I can to keep it stable right now, using amplification."

"Using what? Lumina, isn't that going to drain you dry?" I asked only in concern for her, while entering my room towards the closet storage.

"I know my limits. I'll do everything I can to be with you for as long as I can handle it."

"That's fine and all, but I don't think we should overdo it. I'll drink one more water and see where we stand on that."

"You just do what you have to do... I'll keep... Doing my best... Making sure it's..."

"You sound winded. Everything all good?"

Lumina was breathing rather quickly compared to what was normal for an Altiri. I could already tell that she was beginning to feel dazed and weak. Truth be told, I was feeling dizzy myself too, though nothing to worry me. "Yeah... On second thought, maybe I should call it day."

"You're tired now, aren't you? It's nothing to be ashamed of Lumina."

"I forgot about the delay factor."

"Delay factor?"

"Reed, I..." Lumina was struggling just to speak out loud, which easily had me worried.

But before I could say or do anymore, I just now took notice of my own symptoms. My heart was racing as if I had been running a marathon, my breaths quick and short. The dizziness I felt before suddenly intensified, causing me to gasp in surprise.

"I can't keep it going anymore."

Perhaps because of how poor the telepathy was, Lumina didn't seem to notice the sudden state I was in, though she was suffering in a similar manner too. All of my surroundings started fading and pulsing to darkness with each heartbeat, and my physical body became so frail and weak. My hearing had somehow shut itself off, replaced by the annoying constant sound of intense ringing. I didn't have a lot of time to think about what was happening to me, just enough to realize how similar and familiar this moment was to one I shared before. I felt like this once before, that time when I used clairvoyance one too many times in a congregated moment, nearly passing out as a result. I didn't know what was going to happen to me next, because it became too hard just to think about anything.

In a sudden instant, every part of my body from head to toe went numb and tingled through pain, while my knees buckled, dragging me face first to the carpet. I couldn't think or panic, because I didn't know what happened next. All I knew was that everything went black. Whatever this overpowering weakness in my head was, I could fight it no longer.