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"What's it like, over there?" His voice carries with the breeze, and she feels a chill run down her spine. 

"Not so different from here, I guess," she replies, never tearing her eyes away from the millions of twinkling lights in the dark sky above. This, of course, is a lie. Everything is different back home. Everything is... 

"Do you want to go back?"

She shakes her head, stretching her legs with such satisfaction her toes curl. "I don't ever want to go back," she tells him. "I like it here. With you."

He sits up, looking down at her. In the pale moonlight, his expression crumples into confusion. "What about your family? Your friends? Your life? You didn't even get a chance to say goodbye."

After a moment of hesitation, she asks: "Would you go back, if you were in my place?"

"Yes." The reply is immediate. "You know how to get here now. You said it was easy enough. I'd go back, see my family and friends, and get all of my affairs in order. Do things right."

Do things right.

She hums distractedly, watching a comet streak against the midnight black. She wants to tell him the truth - the truth about her homeland, and everything she ran away from. But if he knew the truth... he would want me to leave and never come back. 

He would see her as one of them: the enemy. And then she truly will have no home.

She should tell him. There is an imminent danger - a threat - to everyone in this realm, as long as that portal exists. But it is so peaceful here, so relaxed and free, that she doesn't want to end this moment by bringing them fear. 

Just a little while longer, she tells herself. I'll tell him everything, soon. But just a little while longer, I want to be here, with him, staring at the stars, without a care in the world. 

Just a little while longer.

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