A soft breeze ran its fingers through Sana’s hair, the feeling of it almost pulling her consciousness along with it. Down off the balcony through the clear sky, right into the heart of the rising sun. She wouldn’t usually wake up this early. Not in a million years would she ever decide to wake up at an hour before eight o’clock am. Yet here she was, bright and early, six thirty, dressed and ready, leaning on the railing of her balcony, looking out at the street.

She watched the tendrils of the sun reach out to touch different things. The neighbour’s car, the gutter of the cul-de-sac she lived on, the tiny patch of grass next to the footpath. She wondered when it would reach her outstretched hand. She wondered if it would ever reach that hand.

As much as she was enjoying revelling in the morning air she rarely got to experience, Sana was becoming impatient. Momo should have been here fifteen minutes ago, and she was the one that wanted to wake up so early in the first place. She was about to reach into her waistband of her running tights for her phone to give her a call, when a familiar call greeted her as pleasantly as the morning breeze.

“Satang!” It was Momo’s voice of course, the sound of it bringing an immediate smile to Sana’s face. A big goofy grin that she knew probably wouldn’t go away until Momo did at the end of the day. “Sorry I’m late.”

Sana looked down at her. She stood in the centre of her front lawn, her blue hoodie pulled up and tied under her chin to keep out the crisp air, her hands buried deep in its front pocket and her laced pink shoes scuffing at the grass. Sana’s heart squeezed at the sight.

“Yeah, you are late. What’s with that? Asking me to wake up at this ungodly hour and expecting me to wait for your sorry ? I could have slept for another half hour while you were on your way here.”

Momo giggled slightly, rocking back and forth on her heels. Her shy smile was something Sana wanted to see more often. Her cheeks lifted, rosy and her eyes gleaming.

“I’m sorry okay? Just come down! We’ll miss it!”

Sana ran through her house to her front door as fast as humanly possible, arriving and throwing herself into the arms of the love of her life.

Momo’s hugs were always the best. Sana could bury her head in the crook of her neck and breathe in her scent forever. As always, it ended too soon, Momo’s beautiful smile coming back to fill Sana’s vision.

“If we run really fast, we won’t miss it. Let’s go!”

So, they ran.

It was slightly euphoric for Sana. Feeling the wind pass through her clothes, her feet pounding against the pavement, the reaching hands of the sun slowly evaporating the dew on the grass, ever reaching for her body and Momo’s.  

It wasn’t long before they reached their destination. A wooden walking bridge above a lake. The same lake where Momo had confessed to Sana. The same bridge they had had their first kiss. The same place that they both held deeply in their hearts.

Looking out onto the waters, Sana remembered why Momo had been so excited for this. The water was still. Like a piece of glass. A mirror painted with intricate clusters of lily pads and surrounded by the cherry blossom trees. It wasn’t spring, so they hadn’t bloomed yet, but that wasn’t the focus of the view. It was the sun. A perfect reflection of the orange sun in all of its glory as it rose. It was like the ground had merged with the sky. Like a heaven on the earth.

She felt Momo’s fingers link with her own.

“It’s been a while… huh.” She whispered as if to not disturb the stillness of the waters and break the illusion.

Sana glanced to the side.

The illusion was in her eyes too. Momo’s eyes. Filled with the rising sun as if they were part of the sky too. Her eyes filled with all the brightness and goodness in the world. It might as well be bleeding from her heart. This reflection wasn’t an illusion in Momo’s case. Sana knew for sure.

“Hey.” She whispered too, calling Momo to look at her. With the smallest shifts in her pupils, Momo looked. The very sun looking into Sana’s soul. The sky over head telling her that all was right with the world as long as she was with this girl.

She reached toward her, slipping her hand inside her hoodie to cup her cheek. She was so warm, Sana thought as she ran her thumb across her cheek and then across her lips.

“I love you.” She said.

“I know.”