Aurora

In love with the stars and each other astronomers


It was love at first sight.

That was what Aurora and Borealis would tell anyone who had the unfortunate idea to ask them about how their relationship started. That sentence would be followed by a long story, full of flirting and bashful giggles from both sides, until either the one who asked them left out of second-hand embarrassment or disgust, or they — miraculously — managed to finish the story.

But that was far from the truth. The two of them had mutually decided that they both had to hide the true origins of their loving relationship, lest they get teased about it again.

In fact, it was hate at first sight.

Aurora and Borealis met when they participated in a festival competition. They were part of different teams, and though they both shared the same interest in astronomy at that time, they had differing ideas.

Borealis was a loud guy. His voice was able to travel over crowds even in the crowded area that the starting point of the competition was. He liked to share his ideas about astronomy too, throwing out theories and facts at unsuspecting friends and clan members.

Which wouldn’t have been a problem… if Aurora hadn’t been near to overhear one of his theories that she knew was wrong.

And Aurora — young, intelligent but arrogant Aurora, who hadn’t experienced the things her older self had — took offence. Personal offence.

That marked the beginning of a long history of debates and arguments, starting from when Aurora marched up to Borealis and tried to throw hands with him. She didn’t quite succeed, but the two definitely spent a lot of time arguing about that particular theory. When their groups had to leave for their own clans, the two of them thought it would be the last time they ever met each other (and thank Eleven for that).

It was not, in fact, the last time they met.

Over the years, they kept meeting. It was as if some invisible force above was forcing them to constantly spot each other — while hunting, at a competition, at a convention entirely unrelated to astronomy, even simply exploring…

It was annoying. They both wished to never see each other’s face again. And yet…

Perhaps it was fate, or perhaps it was just a natural thing, but over time, their feelings for each other began to change as they continued meeting in various ways, as they grew and matured as dragons, as they got to see different parts of each other, slowly peeling away the wall that had formed on their unfortunate first meeting.

Over time, hate grew into love.

Their shared interest certainly helped in that regard. The two of them were the only ones who could understand how important astronomy was to them, and as their relationship progressed, it was common to see them having fallen asleep together under the open sky, tired but happy after a long night of watching the stars.

Their clans had forged an alliance, a part of it made possible because they continued meeting. It was interesting to watch how they flitted around each other, sidestepping and evading anything more than the comfortable relationship they had with each other now. To hope for something more was… illogical.

At least, that was what they thought.

A lot of hijinks from their close friends and family members who were tired of watching them flirt (but only in a platonic way, as they kept insisting) and various misunderstandings later, Aurora and Borealis were happily together, and ‘speedrunning’ the various phases of a relationship — going on dates every other day, getting engaged in three months, and having a wedding another three months later.

Nowadays, you’d be hard-pressed to see one without the other. If they couldn’t be found during the daytime as they travelled between their two clans, they could definitely be found during the night — the studious astronomers that they are, always exploring, always watching.

True, Aurora and Borealis didn’t have a good first meeting. But they loved each other deeply and thoroughly now — their embarrassing past could be forgotten, surely.

(They only told the true origins of their relationship to a few close family members, who had been there for only some of the events, and didn’t quite remember the true beginning

If Aurora or Borealis remembered that incident, they would shudder.

Never again.)