The year was 1999, turning into 2000. Everyone was scared of computers breaking, but Xylotheca was only scared of losing the man in front of her. She was a girl made of starlight, and her skin gave off a soft, pink glow.
They stood in a park. The grass was wet. The sky was dark purple. Vane, a man made of shadows, stood two steps away. He looked like a ghost that could not decide if he was real.
"You are late, Vane," Xylotheca said. Her voice sounded like small bells. "The moon is high. The year is almost over."
Vane did not move. "The borders between our worlds are closing, Xy. The humans are making too much noise. They think their machines will die at midnight."
"Will they?" she asked. "Is the world ending?"
Vane looked at his hands. They were fading. "For them? No. For us? Yes. Our bridge is breaking."
Xylotheca stepped closer. Her glowing skin lit up his dark face. "Why are you shaking, Vane? Shadows are not supposed to shake."
"I spent three hundred years with no heart," Vane whispered. "Now I have one, and it hurts. I have to leave you here."
"Leave?" Xylotheca's eyes filled with light. "You promised! You said the New Year would make us free. You said we could stay together."
"I lied," Vane said. He sounded very sad. "I lied so you would not be afraid. If I stay, I will pull you into the dark with me. You will disappear."
"I am not afraid of the dark!" she shouted. She grabbed his arm. Where she touched him, smoke rose. "Look at me! I am glowing because I love you. My blood is calling for you to stay."
"That is the problem," Vane said. He gently pulled away. "Every minute you spend with me, your light gets weaker. You are becoming a normal girl, Xy. You are dying because of me."
"Then let me be a normal girl!" she cried. Tears fell down her face. They looked like liquid diamonds. "I want to feel cold. I want to grow old. I don't care about being a star. I just want to hear you breathe."
"You say that now," Vane said. He reached out but did not touch her. "But in fifty years, you will be tired and old. I will still be like this. You will hate me for making you mortal."
"I could never hate you," she said. She was shaking now. "I waited a thousand years just to hear you say my name. Say it. Please. One last time."
"Xylotheca..." he whispered.
"Say it again," she sobbed. "Like you want to keep me."
"I am taking your name with me," Vane said. His body started to turn into black mist. "I am taking the only part of me that was ever good."
"Don't go! Stay!" She tried to hug the mist, but her arms went through it. "Let the world break! I don't care! Just stay in the ashes with me!"
"I love you too much to let you fade away," Vane said. His voice was getting quiet.
"Vane! No! Come back!"
"Close your eyes, Xy," the wind seemed to say. "When you open them, it will be the year 2000. You will be a normal girl. You will be happy. And I will be a dream you forgot."
"I will find you!" Xylotheca screamed at the empty air. The first firework went off in the sky. Boom. "In the next year, or the next hundred years. I will find you in every life until you stay!"
The clock struck twelve. The world did not end. But Xylotheca's glow went out. She stood in the dark, a normal girl with a broken heart, waiting for a shadow to return.
From the trees, a tiny whisper followed the wind.
"I will be waiting. But I hope you never find me."