"Where are we going?" I asked Nick, looking at him in suspicion since he couldn't stop smiling all the way we walked. "We almost there." I rolled my eyes and sighed, didn't want to argue more.
Suddenly, i could hear his footsteps stopped.
"We are here." I frowned and slowly looked up, my mouth hung opened at the sight. Never thought i could see the night time in Wonderland. I always came at days which it was rare for me to see the moon. But now, the moon was exactly in front of me, shining brightly to light up the land. I couldn't stop smiling at the picturesque and i couldn't explain the beauty with words.
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"You like it?" I heard Nick asked as he peeked a little to see my reaction. "I love it!" I replied, making him chuckled.
"I never thought there's a night here." Nick frowned and smiled afterwards. "Of course there is, Star. This is the other side of Wonderland. No one could easily come here." I looked at him. "Why?" He shrugged. "That's the rule of Wonderland. I never thought to find out the reason." I nodded. He suddenly moved towards the lake, sitting down on the grass and pat the seat beside him with a cute smile plastered on his handsome face. I giggled and took a seat beside him, inhaling the fresh air and closed my eyes tightly.
"I love watching this kind of scenery. It's hard to find at my place." I spoke, catching his attention. "Really? It makes me happy to bring you here then." He said and smiled. "Of course. Thank you so much, Nick." He nodded and averted his gaze to the moon.
"Star.." He softly called for me. I hummed in yes, my eyes fixed on the moon. "Do you know why i want to call you Star?" I furrowed ny eyebrows at his sudden question. Sometimes, i wondered about that too. But never thought of asking him the reason.
"Why?" I asked as now my gaze was fully on him, but not his. His gaze still stucked at the moon with a tiny smile.
"Cause Stella is one of the Star's name in the sky." I blinked my eyes. Star's name... Unconditionally, a small smile formed on my face. That was cute of him.
"You know many of star's name?" He nodded in excitement.
"There are many of them. Some of them are Alsephina, Alula, Alya, Aquila, Arawan and many more!" I gasped. "Such a unique name." I mumbled, but somehow he heard it and chuckled.
"Alsephina is a cluster of stars that are located in the Vela constellation. The celestial name of Alula means 'first leap'. Alya means sky and heaven. In Hebrew, it means to ascend in Slavonic, Alya means beautiful. With ancient Roman roots, Aquila means eagle. Meanwhile Arawan means brave and courageous." He explained one by one made me focused on each words that came out from his mouth.
"That's awesome, Nick. I just knew how beautiful star's name were in the sky." Nick flashed me his cute smiled. I abruptly turned to him, moving slightly my body to face him.
"What about my name, Stella? Whaf does it mean?" He sheepishly smiled and turned to me. "Celestial star." I tilted my head.
"Celestial star...is the meaning of Stella." My breath hitched. I never knew my name meant for a star name. I never thought of it before. That was....beautiful. I was glad that my parents gave me that beautiful name.
"Thanks, Nick." The moment i uttered the words, he immediately turned his head to me. "For what?" I smiled and looked at him right in his blue ocean deep eyes. "For telling me those beautiful things that I've never heard before in my life." He warmly smiled and nodded.
"You know, this place is special for me." I blinked my eyes, staring back at the pretty wide lake.
"Whenever i feel down, my feet will bring me here. The moment i look at the sky, everything becone better. It's not an easy task to be a prince. My responsibility is huge. I have to make sure my people always ready to fight the enemies that will come whenever they want." I frowned. I never heard they talked about their enemies.
"You guys have enemies?" He smiled and looked down.
"We have. But it's been 10 years they've gone. Our great grandparents that defeated them right away. Somehow, people keep saying that they will never come back cause the war in 10 years back is freaking dangerous and big enough. Many of them died. Even I'm not sure either our powers can stop our enemies. It's hard. But luckily, it's been years. I grateful for that enough. I don't want to involve in a war and blood everywhere. I love my people and kingdom. I swear i will do anything to protect them, even my friends. I feel lonely before, but with them, i feel happiness slowly filled up my empty heart. It feels good." That warm smile never slipped from his face. I slowly looked at the lake again.
"Now i understand why they said people tend to forget all of their problems when they landed in Wonderland." He averted his gaze at me.
"Nick, actually, i live alone. My parents live a little bit far from me." He looked shocked and confused at the same time.
"Why? Don't you miss them?" I chuckled sadly. "Of course i miss them. I came to where i am right now to work harder to gain money and trust for both of them." He gently moved closer to me.
"Before i come there, i had a huge fight with my parents. We are not rich. We are poor and helpless. My dad borrowed some money from the shark men to pay for my school. Unfortunately, he couldn't manage to pay the same amount back, no, not the same amount, it already increased and the amount of money is many." He nodded at every words i said.
"So i decided to go away since i suddenly got the job and the salary is good. I can get many more money to afford them. They don't want to put the load on me but i refused, knowing the shark men will find them at the end if they fail to pay back. So, we fought. I just left the house without their permission and until now, they didn't call nor texting me. It's kinda...sad." Without my knowing, a warm tear escaped from my eyes and before i could wipe it away, Nick brought up his hands, gently wiped it.
"It must be hard for you to handle everything at once. By hook or by crook, i know you still have the responsibility as a child to help your parents. And i don't want to argue with that. Don't worry, everything will become better like before. I'm sure." He reassured me, making me burst into tears. He flinched, but slowly brought me into his arms.
"Let it all out, Star. I'm willing to be with you now and wipe away your precious tears." With that, i woke up.
