Cosmic Connections: The Renaissance Night of Lyra and Samuel

They say that first love is always special.

For Lyna, that had always been Samuel. A childhood friend, a crush, and a long-time partner in crime against her parents' wishes. They'd done everything together. The only person she'd ever truly trusted with her secrets, and the only one who'd ever truly seen her for who she was. He'd seen her at her best, heard every thought tumbling through her head, faced all of her fears - and he'd always been there to reassure her whenever she needed it most.

So when he disappeared one day with no explanation, she was absolutely heartbroken. She waited for him by their tree in the woods, watched him walk out the front door every morning with his bag slung over his shoulder as if nothing had changed between them. She prayed hard and long for some kind of reassurance that he would return - but it never came.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity drifting between a crushing sense of grief and an equally crushing sense of guilt for feeling hurt in light of the countless other lives lost in the war raging across the galaxy above them, she decided to move on. They were both old enough to make their own decisions by now anyway - even if she didn't agree with them.

But he showed up one day at her apartment building without warning in his sleek black shipsuit looking just as handsome and confident as ever, as if he'd never left at all! She was so shocked to see him there after years apart that all she could do was stand there dumbly staring at him while everyone else scurried around them trying not to get caught up in whatever drama they were having. He took her hand and pulled her towards him gently so they could speak privately, squeezing it tightly before releasing it slowly as if afraid that she might disappear again if he let go too quickly.

She impatiently waited on edge for him to say something - anything! But instead his deep brown eyes stared back into hers until finally they closed slowly with a sigh of relief, tears forming at the corners as he smiled softly at the sight of her still standing there in front of him alive and well. Relief washed over both of them as they held each other tightly, soaking each other's clothes in their tears until finally they decided that it was time to leave for their flight down to Earth for what would be the last time for quite some time...