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In Anakt Garden, the stars weren’t real. They were just tiny spots of light in the glass dome above, a poor copy of the night sky Mizi had read about in stories. Sua, with her dark hair and thoughtful nature, loved these false stars. She could spend hours with her back against the cold wall, tracing the patterns as if they were far away.
Mizi liked watching Sua gaze at the “stars.” While Sua saw a beautiful but fake sky, Mizi felt the universe's essence in her. Sua's eyes were like two black holes, sucking in the light and darkness around her, holding them within her delicate body. Mizi felt like a small satellite caught in a large planets gravitational pull, longing to belong to Sua's world forever.
That evening, Mizi grabbed a blanket. It was a simple extra piece of fabric from the children's area, but she spread it on the floor of Anakt Garden and invited Sua to sit with her.
Sua regarded her with a contemplative intensity, a subtle curiosity flickering in her expression. "It feels cold," Sua murmured, her voice tinged with a quiet vulnerability that belied the consistent warmth maintained by the artificial environment.
"Maybe," Mizi replied, patting the space beside her. "But stars are cold. We are not."
Slowly, Sua sat next to Mizi and let the blanket wrap around her. Mizi pulled it up to their chins, creating a small, warm cocoon. The artificial stars above shone softly, casting a blue-white glow on their faces.
"What are you thinking about?" Mizi whispered, her voice soft and playful.
Sua hesitated, then sighed. Mizi recognized this sound as meaning she had got her way, along with an answer. "The way the light reflects in the glass," Sua said. "It's a perfect copy, isn’t it? A flawless imitation. But it’s not real. We are not real."
Mizi turned and pressed her face into Sua's shoulder, her pink hair brushing against Sua's neck. "That's not true," she murmured. "Our singing is real. The way you laugh is real. This is real." She wrapped her arm around Sua, holding her close. "You're real."
Sua stayed quiet for a long moment, the hum of the tech and their breathing filling the air. Then, she turned in Mizi's arms to face her. Sua's deep eyes looked directly into Mizi's.
"I think about you," Sua said, her voice soft but steady. "I think about how you came to me. How you chose to sing my song back to me. How you saw me when no one else would."
Mizi's heart fluttered. Sua's careful affection felt precious, something Mizi had earned through patience and genuine care. Mizi gently traced Sua’s jawline with her finger, her touch light and curious.
Sua leaned into the touch, closing her eyes. "You make me forget the sound," Sua confessed, her whisper barely audible. "You make me feel like I can just... be. Without the music. Without the aliens. "
Mizi kissed her then, a tender, soft kiss that felt like both a promise and a prayer. It seemed more real than any of the artificial stars above, a small, bright light in a universe that tried to take all the warmth from them. They were real together under the cold, fake sky, and for now, that was all that mattered
A shame that this wouldn't last long.