”Do you think you would be able to kill somebody?” He asked her with a sober tone, not a hint of realization of the heavy subject he had just brought into broad daylight, despite the moon shining on them, letting them know the night would keep their secrets.

She looked at him, feeling his facial expressions with her eyes, trying to look for the least sign of change in it, but his face only continued to harden.

“I suppose…” She mumbled under her slow breath, having averted her gaze from the man in front of her.

“If it was a question about life or death, I would have no choice” She continued, feeling a bit more sure of her answer.

“There is always a choice” He cut in, just as she finished her sentence.

“There is always a choice” He repeated. She noticed how his face was now twitching a bit, the stone crumbling from being under too much pressure for too long.

“I’m sorry…” She said, taking a caring hand and gently placing it on his back. She continued to pat him as if he was a child that had just had his first fight with a friend.

Slowly, but steadily, she moved closer to the man falling apart in front of her, leaning closer to him with each moment.

He had stopped talking. She had stopped as well. She simply let her actions do the talking for her, as she took on the role of the rock the crumbling sand beside her seemed to so desperately need.

When she got as close as she could, she took her cold fingers under his chin, and lifted up his head so their eyes could meet.

“Talking about it is a choice too” She whispered into the moonlight reflected in his eyes. He stared for a bit, feeling his eyes being filled with a warm wetness that stinged just a tinge. As the moonlight got a bigger and more wet surface to reflect on, she caressed his cheek, telling him through her touch that she too could simply be there for him, if that was what he needed.

“I guess…” His voice broke into a slight sob as he blinked and finally let the tears, the stones he had carried with him, fall down from his eyes as well as his chest.

“I think I just…” His sobs was now uncontrollable as he reached out to her, embracing her as his tears got contagious and she started to cry too.

He didn’t finish his sentence, but he felt like he didn’t need to. There was no rush. This was the first step towards opening something he had kept a lid on for years.

Having to be a stone, a rock, a mountain, standing tall and unchanging, was something he simply wasn’t suited for. She had shown him that with simply a few gestures through their time together.

Being the vast sand in a desert, being able to fly around when change came about, that was something he had needed. Something he had longed for without ever knowing.

“Would you like to continue to look at the moon with me?” She asked carefully, almost as if she was able to sense his fog having cleared up just a second ago.

“I would love to” He responded, already feeling like his inner change could be reflected by the moonlight as well.