A few hours later, I look at the tattoo again in the mirror of our hotel room. It's still red but I like the way it looks. All the way back from the tattoo artist, Ayden tried to get his friends to send him a picture of my tattoo but everyone told him to be patient. We were planning on meeting up in the evening anyway. Until then, I have some time to relax with my best friend. After all the revelations and changes of the past days, that’s exactly what I need now, even if we just lie on the beds and stare at the ceiling.

When it’s time to get ready for the beach, Nadja lets me borrow one of her tank tops. Both of my tattoos are visible now and my best friend jokes about me having something from our old worldview, my first tattoo, and something of our new worldview, my mandala tattoo. It’s still a bit overwhelming how much happened on this holiday but I wouldn’t want it any other way.

Heading out to the beach, I can't wait to finally have Ayden close to me again. We already see them playing soccer in the distance when we leave the hotel. Nadja starts running towards them while I hold my camera up to take pictures with the sunset in the background. As soon as my best friend notices me staying behind her, she slows down and laughs as I catch up with her. 

The closer we get to them the more it feels like there's some kind of tension in the air. I know everyone's waiting for me and Ayden to touch so we can see if I really light up like they do but a bit of nervousness keeps me from just searching through the crowd for him. What if nothing happens?

Ayden waves at me before slowly coming closer, giving me the chance to stop him if I don't want to do this in front of the others. However, as soon as he gets closer, the Light inside of me already pushes me towards him and I can barely ignore that sign. His blue eyes are focused on me. As he's just a step away from me, I can't hold back anymore and close the gap between us before wrapping my arms around his neck and pulling him closer to me to kiss him. Immediately, I feel the Light inside of me rushing around again. Nadja's giggling but I ignore it, all sounds seem to get turned down.

Soon, I feel Ayden light up, the warmth of the Light of his tattoos surrounds me as he wraps his arms around me. At the same time, the Light inside of me seems to go wild again and I feel it searching for a way to get out. However, my attention focuses back on Ayden's lips on mine and his arms around me. For the first time in forever, I feel special. 

Suddenly, I notice the Light inside of me calming down and gathering in my upper arm. That's when I feel the warmth of my own Light coming out of my tattoo. Ayden breaks the kiss and smiles at me, his own tattoos shining bright and enveloping us. With one hand, he gently grabs my arm to inspect the tattoo, looking exactly like one of his. It's small but still lights up part of the beach around us. “This feels so much better with your Light on me,” Ayden admits while letting his finger brush over my healed tattoo. When he kisses me again, I can hear the others clapping.

"I hope I'll get that soon, too!" Nadja shouts before grabbing the ball from one of the boys to play soccer. Ayden and I sit down and kiss again. There's nothing I'd rather do right now and nobody even dares to interrupt us.

***

Ayden lets his Light disappear when the sun’s gone, encouraging me to try and control my Light as well. He pulls the arm that he had wrapped around me away and only holds my hand “Just focus on pulling it back in,” he explains while looking at my tattoo. I try to feel my Light and make it go away from my upper arm. Of course, nothing happens. I just let it out for the first time, how should I be able to control this Light that sometimes behaves like a storm inside of me? 

Ayden lets go of my hand and we both watch the Light vanish. Then he softly brushes my hand with his finger, “Try holding it back.” This time, it’s much easier. Stopping my Light from getting out seems to be simple, even when he starts holding my hand. “See, you can do it! Just a bit more practice and everything will be fine,” Ayden concludes. He kisses me again, letting his tattoos shine brightly for a moment together with mine. Then he stands up, holds out a hand to me and pulls me up with him. After handing me his jacket, he waits for me to put it on, grabs my hand and leads me away from the others.