For two days and nights, I hadn't seen Chanyeol's smiling face. My heart was rid of all the aches it held when we had rebelled against Father Wolf. It seemed that the power that was once inside of me had disappeared completely.
    The strangest thing about me being gone for all these days was that my family hadn't noticed at all. My father never questioned my disappearance. My mother didn't acknowledge the scratches on my face. My siblings hardly even spoke to me. Had I just disappeared completely?
    I bit my lower lip while thinking of my other half. A long sigh escaped my lips. There was nothing to do without him here. The whole two days, I stayed isolated in my tent without a single bite to eat. My stomach wasn't hungry at all. It couldn't be.
    "Nou?" I looked up to see Xay peeking into my tent with curiosity on her face. She smiled when we locked eyes, glad to see me home for once. "May I come in?"
    Silently, I nodded my head. Xay seemed to be the only one that noticed every detail when she walked closer to me.
    "Oh my goodness!" She exclaimed when she studied me. "Did you fall down a tall tree?"
    At first, all I could do was laugh at her remark, remembering what had just happened from two days like it was just a minute ago. It seemed silly, but falling down a tree was the last thing that would cut me up like this.
    I answered quickly. "Ah yes. It was quite the fall." I grinned to make it seem more appealing. To show that it was almost nothing. "But I'm feeling much better. Thank you Xay."
    She nodded her head and searched in her satchel, pulling out some cooked meat wrapped in a cloth for me. Had she known that I wasn't eating much these past two days?
    "You looked like you needed it."
    "Thank you so much..." The instant I took the clothed meat into my hands, I could feel my eyes welling up, so I looked down to the ground to keep her from seeing. When I sniffled my nose, Xay put her arms around me. Shushing me like a mother.
    "Tell me what's wrong?" The way she spoke was soothing. Like she missed seeing me. As if being with me right now was more important than anything. But it was true -- we had not seen each other as of six days.
    Yet, even if she was my best friend, I was afraid to tell her my story. My heart wanted to let everything spill out to her, but my head told me to keep quiet. All I could do was cry in that moment. There was nothing I could say to make myself or her feel comforted.
    "If you cannot tell me, I'm okay with that as well. Just know that I will always be here for you. I will always be your friend." Xay slowly brushed my wavy hair with her hands. I couldn't see it, but I knew she was smiling. This brought back many memories for us. Back in our younger days, I would always comfort Xay. She was a timid child when it came to animals.
    Once, Xay and I had been out in the fields playing with other children. A wild horse ran nearby, scaring her to the point in which she would shed a river of tears. I had chased it away by throwing rocks and other things at it. My father had taught me that animals were more scared of us than we were of them. It was simple knowledge. After it had gone away, I shushed Xay while brushing her hair. It took a while, but she would stop crying.
    I smiled sincerely, reminiscing about the times.
    "Xay!" A voice shouted from the outside of my tent. The both of us looked over at the entranceway to see Xay's mother peeking in. "Oh! Xay, I just finished business with Nou's mother. We must go back before it gets dark."
    Quickly, my best friend looked back at me with a smile. "I must be on my way, but if you need anything -- you know where I am. My arms and ears are always open, friend."
    "Thank you, once again." We held each other for a long time as I shed one last tear. So many things I wished I could have said in that short amount of time... "I will see you soon!"
    I watched quietly as she waved goodbye and walked out the tent. Her coming to see me had made my mood rise a bit. The meat wrapped in the cloth sat beside me, untouched. Should I eat?
    Yes, I should.

    Once again, I starved myself the rest of the day. When my stomach growled at me, I would pummel it softly, shushing it away until I felt like I didn't need to eat again.
    The stars were beginning to shine in the sky and still -- there was no Chanyeol. I was beginning to wonder what happened. Strangely, I was only starting to think about it now.
    Where was he? What was he doing? Why hadn't he come to see me? I could only hold back my thoughts.
    I laid down on my feather pillow, slowly falling asleep from dizziness. Either I was thinking too much or I just needed to find something to eat, yet I couldn't do much about it. I was already losing consciousness anyway.
    Releasing myself into the dream world, I closed my eyes and drowned myself in my mind where I was likely to have a chance to meet Chanyeol.

    "Meet me there..." He whispered into my mind. I could hear his voice but I couldn't see him. I opened my eyes once again and looked around.
    All around me, the moonlight flowers glowed dimly. The large tree in the middle of the field was sparkling like the sun's reflection on the water. Was I seeing things?
    "Meet me there..." Chanyeol repeated. Again, I couldn't see him. But I wanted to. Was my dream showing me a way to meet him? If it was true, I needed to wake up and make my way to the flower field.
    Then I thought to myself -- was I already awake? The stars in the sky glowed brightly. The midnight air smelled very fresh. In order to check, I stepped on the edge of a rock that was stuck in the ground.
    Ouch! I was definitely awake. But how did I get here...?
    "Hurry..."
    Desperate to see him, I ran toward the shining tree. My heart beat was quickening with every step I took. Pushing through the flower bushes and tall grass in the way, I knew that somehow I would meet with him.

    And there he was.

    "Ch-Chanyeol..." I managed to stutter his name underneath my breath. With a large smile, he opened his arms for me. Holding in the tears that were about to burst from my eyes, I tumbled into his chest. My arms wrapped around his thin waist.
    Still the same as always. For once, my heart was happy to see him. I pulled away to look up at him. He didn't look like he had changed but I could tell that there was something different.
    "I'm sorry..." A tear ran down his cheek. He opened his mouth to speak, but his voice hardly came out. "I... Nou..."
    My hands lifted to his face, wiping his small tears away. The tears that welled up inside my eyes were beginning to fall as well. I forced myself to smile, but it didn't feel the same. "I'm here. Don't cry."
    Suddenly, the lights from the large tree were beginning to fade. Chanyeol took a breath of air and held me closer. Tighter. I could hear his throat swallowing saliva. What was going on?
    Again, I pulled away to look at him. Although I had told him not to cry, he began sobbing. Slowly, Chanyeol fell to his knees, hands keeping their grip on me.
    I kneeled down in front of him and held his face in my hands. "What's wrong, Chanyeol...?"
    Sadly, he looked at me, simultaneously catching his breath. "It's the night..."
    "The night?" I was confused already. Whatever he was going on about didn't make sense to me. "What are you trying to say?"
    Instead of explaining, Chanyeol shook his head. He lifted his face and kissed my lips softly -- like it was going to be the last time he ever would. Pulling away from me, he caressed my cheek. "I love you, Nou."
    "Let's get going..." A voice said behind me.
    Shocked, I turned around to see all of Chanyeol's clan brothers. Eleven familiar faces. Kai, Xiumin, Suho, Chen, Luhan, Zitao, Wu Fan, Sehun, Kyungsoo, Baekhyun and Lay. What were they doing here?
    They all looked down at Chanyeol and I, sorrow filling every face but one. Zitao.
    No emotion showed on his face, but there was a sort of feeling that told me he felt the same as his other brothers. He sighed and spoke to Chanyeol. "It's time to say farewell, my brother."
    Angry and confused, I spoke up. "What is going on here!?"
    Suho walked over and knelt down beside me, brushing my hair with his hand. "It seems that our brother here didn't have a chance to explain. I will tell you, but we must make it short."
    He looked back at his other brothers, who all nodded their heads in unison. Suho nodded back then looked into my eyes. "After the death of Father Wolf, our clan had broken up and the twelve of us had a calling. In our dreams, Mama appeared in front of us. She told us that we must return to her. You see, every lifetime, we are reincarnated with a purpose -- to strengthen others' belief in Mama. But in this life, we failed to show others the power of the Goddess."
    My eyes grew wide and hot tears fell to the ground. A stinging pain shot through my heart. They were leaving. Chanyeol was leaving. But there was no chance that I would see him in the next lifetime.
    "I apologize, Nou." Suho sympathized with me. Then again, the way he spoke sounded more like pity.
    Chanyeol got back onto his feet. The hot tears that once streamed down his face had now disappeared. All emotion that was held on his face had been replaced with nothing. He released me from his hold, walked over to his eleven brothers, and stood silently with them.
    A strange light luminated from my body. I began to shine as bright as the moon as the twelve clanmen surrounded me, a hand on their heart and one to the sky. Everything became frozen in time. I couldn't move.
    My head lifted up toward the sky and I watched as the light began to form into a being. No, I was wrong -- it formed into the Goddess herself. Slowly, she floated down onto the ground in front of me.
    In the most beautiful voice I had ever heard, she spoke to me. "Thank you, for taking care of my children for me."
    There was so much I wished to say, but she allowed no time for it. For what seemed like the last time, my eyes wandered over to Chanyeol. His golden eyes flickered like flames as tears spilled.
    Mama looked at Chanyeol then back to me. She took no guilt in taking him away, yet there was nothing that could have reversed it all. These were her children. Her life.
    "It is time." She looked around at all of them, making sure they were ready to part ways. Focusing back on me, the Goddess bowed her head slightly. "Farewell..."
    Like the sun, Mama's body shone brightly as she floated toward the moon. Following closely behind, her twelve children dissipating into glimmers of moonlight.
    My body fell to the ground, feeling lifeless, but still awake enough to watch everything happen. I kept my eyes on Chanyeol, who cried his last tear as he disappeared into the air. "I love you..." He said one last time.
    "I..." My voice seemed to fade as Chanyeol completely became moonlight.