He looked away from her eyes and stared out over the glittering blue lake.
The sun was still up, leaving a golden stripe across the water. It wouldn't be long now till the sun went down.
"Liron." Seery's soft, low voice beside him drew him out of his thoughts. "What's the matter?" she asked.
"Nothing. It's just..." He sighted, and then looked back on her.
"It's just, you've been acting so strange lately. I really want to known what's going on."
Seery lowered her glance. "It's nothing," she said at last. "I just need some time to think."
"About what?" Liron pressed. "Nothing. It's nothing, Liron."
Liron knew her better than that. This wasn't her.
Seery lifted her glance over the lake, tried to hide her emotions from him. But he knew her too well.
He had quickly learned to understand her when he first got to T�Airen. Learned to understand her feelings. Most of the time, at least.
He felt that he shared her emotions, but not that she shared his, at least not in the same way.
He had felt it almost instantly when he met her. It had struck him like lightning from the clear sky, and he had felt her soul. Knew her soulname. Erith.
But he knew the same thing hadn't happened to her. She didn't knew his soulname, nor that he knew hers.
He didn't want to tell her, since she didn't know his soulname. Maybe it would ruin everything. Ruin the friendship they had built. He wasn't sure how all this soulname and recognition thing worked, and wouldn't take any chances.
Seery moved her glance from the lake and looked into his eyes again.
The sun was almost gone, and he could see its last, red, golden light in her eyes.
He thought he could see something else in there too, but it was gone before he could figure out what it was.
"Liron," she said, "you know me well enough. I promise you, it's nothing wrong. I just need some time to think, to figure something out."
Liron nodded. He wouldn't stand in her way. He guessed she would tell him, when she thought it was time.
After a while, just sitting there beside each other, looking over the lake while the sun went down, darkness surrounded them and the sky went full of stars, Seery got up.
"I should go. I promised my mother I wouldn't be late."
Liron nodded to her. He wouldn't go back yet, he wanted to stay a little longer.
She turned to go. *Goodnight, Seery.* She smiled. *Goodnight, Awir.*
Liron jerked back. "What?" Seery swirled around. She had a strange, frighten look in her eyes.
"Oh, I... I didn't mean to..."
"You know my soulname?" Seery lowered her glance to the ground.
"Yes," she said after a while. "When?"
She didn't need to answer, he knew when. And now he knew why she had acted so strange, and what that thing he had seen in her eyes was. She knew.
"It happened a couple of days ago," she said, still looking at the ground.
"It just hit me, but I was afraid to tell you, 'cause I didn't think you had the same feelings for me."
In the darkness he could see a tear running down her cheek. He got up and went towards her.
"You don't need to be afraid," he said, wiping her tears away with a finger.
"I've known you soulname since the day we met, Erith."
She looked at him with wonder in her tearful eyes.
"I, too, was afraid to tell you," he continued, "'cause I knew you didn't knew my soulname. I was afraid that if I told you, it may have broken our friendship."
*Our friendship couldn't have been broken,* she sent, looking into his eyes. Liron smiled and stroke her dark blonde hair.
*I know, Erith. I just wish I knew earlier.* Seery smiled back.
*It doesn't matter anymore, Awir. We know it now.*
Liron kissed her, and they both fell laughing to the ground, while the stars glittered above them.