Broken Boulder And I will still be here stargazing.

She smiled at his question, but it was different from before; it made him want to comfort her. He was momentarily distracted from that need when she turned her striking eyes to his and begn to tell him about wolves she called 'the old ones.' Elders, maybe? He wasn't sure, but it was unimportant, because she went on to explain that the stars remind her of ones she had lost. He saw sadness in her eyes and heard pain in her voice before she turned back to the sky. 

Instantly, he knew he would do anything to keep from hearing that sound in her voice again; as impractical as that may be. 

When she finally revealed that she had not only lost family members, but children, and still tried to keep from being sad, he could no longer hold himself back. He closed the small distance between them to touch his forehead to her cheek. And even though his chest was filled with intense sadness for her, the only thing he could manage to say was, "I'm so sorry." 

He silently cursed his innate inability to express complex emotions.