Broken Boulder And I will still be here stargazing.

She smiles at his question - soft and unsure. But something in her smile is wistful, as if to keep something at bay. 

Liri turns woodland eyes on him, almost black in the moonlight. She can see that somehow this question is important to this strangely gentle giant. 

She quells the urge to hide her secrets again. She tells him the truth. 

"The old ones, they told us stories when I was a child. They taught us things, life and death and the meanings," she began, albeit shakily.

"They told us that when we leave this world we become part of the stars. When I look to them, I am reminded of those who have left," her gaze returns to the stars again, and there is pain in her voice.

"I like to think that perhaps my children, my babies, found my family. Perhaps they wait for me. I will see them again and so I try not to be sad," Liri explains, gazing forlornly at the stars. 

Her star babies, she imagines them in some happier place perhaps accompanied by their grandparents and Liri's silent, sweet sister. 

But perhaps for the first time, the stars don't feel so very far away. If there are many more moments like this one, she might not mind the wait.