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A few minutes later, Tae and Sarah were standing out under the night sky in an open field.  A light breeze was flowing over them.  Tae threw one of the blankets up in the air and, with a snap of his wrists, caused it to fall down to lie flat on the ground.  Kneeling on it, he spread it out and invited Sarah to lie down on it beside him.  He settled the other blanket over them both, tucking Sarah in up to her chin.  He grinned down at her in the dark.  All she could make out was the flash of his white teeth in the darkness.  She returned his smile as he lay down next to her and looked up at the stars.

“Are you still cold?” he asked.

“A little, but I’m sure I’ll warm up.”

He glanced over at her.  This was the perfect excuse to do what he’d been thinking about for several minutes.  He scooted over close to her.  

“Come here,” he beckoned as he stretched his arm out towards her.  “Come, rest on my shoulder.”

It was going to make it pretty hard for her to look at the stars if she was snuggled into his side, but Sarah didn’t really care about that anyway.  She was here because she was with Tae.  She just wanted to bask in his presence.  So she eagerly rolled towards him, pillowing her head against his chest.  He wrapped his arm around her, pulling her even closer.  Immediately, she was engulfed by a cloud of heat rising from his side.  She closed her eyes and soaked it in.

Tae lay in the dark, smiling, as he stared up at thousands of stars twinkling down at them.  Sarah was cuddled against his side, and in that moment, all felt right in his world.  He felt like he’d found a safe refuge from the storms of life, a secret place where none could trespass but him and Sarah.  For this one night, anyway.  

He inhaled, and he was overwhelmed by a light and delicious fragrance emanating from her hair.  He breathed it in again.  Joyfully.  It reminded him of cherry blossoms and his grandmother’s farm.  A place he’d spent a gleeful childhood.  He found himself grinning with pleasure.  What was it about Sarah that brought him so much comfort?  She was like coming home.

He stared up at the thousands of glowing, celestial bodies gazing down upon them.  One of those stars had Sarah’s name on it.  He just had to decide which one.  His eyes searched for the one that reminded him of her.  Then he found the brightest one.  He pointed at it.  

“See the brightest one, Sarah?”

“Mmmhmm.”

“That’s you, Sarah!  You’re the brightest star in my universe!”

She laughed.  “Tae, that’s the North Star.”

“I don’t care what other people call it.  I’m calling it Sarah!”

She smiled into his shoulder, laughing under her breath at his sweetness.  “Tae, has anyone ever told you how incredibly sweet you are?”

He bent his head and dropped a kiss in her hair.  They lay staring up at the sky for a long while, until the warmth and intimacy of the moment lulled them both to sleep under the dark dome of a star-filled sky.