When I first met Serena, just about a year ago, I had just made my way to this forest. I was just making my way through, trying to find my bearings in the middle of a long, aimless trip. I took a minute to sit down by the little grass hill that pops out between these trees, right around where we'd go on to build the village.

As I took a breather and shuffled through my bag to get some snacks, I caught sight of something out of the corner of my eye. A lone figure stood by the edge of the forest, with long, bushy brown hair running down her shoulders, and her coat swiveling in the warm spring breeze. Judging by her tall antlers, I assumed the figure was a deer. She was staring intently across the horizon like she was trying to find something. Even way back from where I was sitting, I could tell she had this pensive look in her bright, green eyes.

I hadn't seen or even heard another soul for almost an entire month, so figuring out what to say was hard. So, looking back, the way I approached her was pretty clumsy. I dunno what I was thinking, but I went ahead and walked up to her anyway. A bit scary, considering that, even without the antlers, she's at least half a foot taller than me.

"Um, excuse me, deer lady," I said to her, timid. "Do you... live here?"

"I believe I do," she said in a quiet, clear voice. "I happen to live in this cabin you see over here." She gestured to a tiny little cabin peeking between the trees behind us, before turning to me with a smile. "You know, as an aside, I appreciate that you refer to me as a lady. It's been so quiet around here for the past few weeks... But, more importantly, why do you ask, dear? You wouldn't happen to be lost, would you?"

The last thing I wanted to do was make her worry about my clueless meandering. "Oh, um, no, not really," I sputtered out, caught off-guard. "I mean, I'm not even going anywhere in particular, so..."

The deer chuckled. "Hmm, that's good... You definitely look like a traveler to me, very weary, so I was about to ask if you wanted to join me for lunch in a bit."

If my memory serves me right, I was running mostly on old sandwiches and whatever fish I could catch at the river. I wasn't about to pass this chance to eat with a cute girl for anything. "I... I'd love to!" I said. Gosh, I must've looked pretty ragged for her to invite me on a whim like that.

Of course, that was just what our first day together went like, and it was much busier than I expected. At first, I was a little sad, since I was thinking about going on my way that evening. But then she suggested that I stay for the night and make a little campfire, since it was starting to get real chilly. Then the next morning, I took her down by the river and we spent the day fishing. And the day after, I asked if she could help me find some fresh fruit... Before I knew it, I had spent the better part of a week with her -- and for the record, it was a lovely one.

I remember when she was the one that came to me with questions of her own. We were heading back from the river on a particularly breezy evening, once the sun had set. It was something so obvious that it hadn't occurred to us at all.

"By the way, wolf girl, if I may ask... what is your name?" She asked me.

I quickly answered: "Elena. But, you can call me Ellie -- if you want, I mean. What's yours?"

"Serena," she said with a smile. "See, I've been wondering about something, Ellie..." She continued, looking at me in the eye, and holding my hands with her own. "The stars are coming out now, and there's not a single cloud in sight. So, I'd be delighted if you could join me for some stargazing tonight. Can you do that?"

"I-I'd love to," I said, trying not to jumble up my words.

With that, we headed further uphill, with Serena guiding me by keeping a careful grip on my hand. It was so warm I never even paid attention to how cold the air was getting the farther uphill we went. It didn't take long for us to find ourselves standing near the edge of a hill, with soft, wavy grass under our feet, and nothing but open sky above us. There were more stars than I could ever hope to count, covering the entire firmament in a big band of light. And there wasn't a cloud in sight; it was all clear as far as we could see.

When I sat down to soak in the spectacle unfolding above me, Serena sat right beside me, putting an arm around me. I felt a kind of warmth in my chest I hadn't felt before. I couldn't quite figure out what it was, though, until she started talking to me.

"I had been waiting a long time to see the sky open up like this again," she said, looking straight into my eyes. "I'm glad I finally had someone to share it with this time around."

Those early days I spent with Serena were one of the most soothing I had experienced in recent memory. Whenever I saw her smile at me or heard her joyfully humming along, I felt like I wanted to make sure things would stay that way. So I figured I'd put an arm around her, too. Seeing her eyes lit up was more than enough for me to know what to do. The question was how to tell her.

I figured the easiest way was to be completely honest about it and ask. "Hey, Serena?" I asked as my breathing began to speed up. "Is it okay, if I...?"

I was having trouble finishing the question, but it didn't matter all that much. She already knew what I wanted to ask, and she didn't have to answer me at all.

All she did was delicately cradle my cheeks with her hands, lean in, and press her lips against mine. I must've been colder than I thought that night, because hers felt so much warmer. So much that I wanted to keep kissing her until the sun came back up. Our lips met a few more times, and we only seemed to stop when she couldn't keep herself from giggling so much. I had fallen head-over-heels for her on that starry night. And once we headed back home and fell asleep in each other's arms, I wanted to see if I could feel that way again.

Luckily, we've sat under a lot of starry nights ever since.