TWS: I had a hard time with this, so please be gentle with me (laughs). This was sent by Anon on tumblr. The prompt was to write a scene about what happens after the last chapter of IM, which actually makes me happy to write about seeing as I kept complaining on how short-lived and fast-paced the book was. I got the inspiration to write from this beautiful poem about stars.

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Disclaimer: Characters, the first 7 lines of this prompt and the book itself all belong to Tahereh Mafi. Though I wouldn't mind claiming Warner if she were to give him away. [ugly sobbing]

Prompt 1: The World Is Ours

He pulls himself up onto the roof and walks over to me, so steadily. Calm, like there's nothing in the world we'd planned to do today but stand here, together, looking over a field of dead bodies and happy children.

"Aaron," I whisper.

He pulls me into his arms.

And I fall.

Every bone, every muscle, every nerve in my body comes undone at his touch and I cling to him, holding on for dear life.

"You know," he whispers, his lips at my ear, "the whole world will be coming for us now."

I lean back. Look into his eyes.

"I can't wait to watch him try."

He smiles at my answer, dimple visible on both cheeks, eyes glistening with amusement and excitement—and a subtle hint of pride. "You'll have to take position as the Supreme Commander and reconstruct the chaos my father created."

"I know what I was getting myself into before I did this," I remind him, unwavering. A long time ago, when I was still scared and unknowing of my capabilities, maybe I would've cried and ran away if I found out that I was going to help thousands—millions of people. I'm still terrified of the idea, but I know that this is the right thing. This is what I want and I won't let anyone tell me otherwise.

Warner can see right through me.

"You'll have to explain yourself to the senate and convince the rest of the continent what you're worth," he says, his smile growing wider. I frown. "and you'll have to communicate with the other Supreme Commanders."

"Aaron…" I start. My life has suddenly returned to my body and I move away from him, unsure whether he's trying to scare me for fun or he's being serious.

"I wasn't kidding," he says. A pause. A breath. A gentle hand reaching out and covering my own, his thumb drawing lazy circles on my palm. "But we have all the time in the world to think of that. For now, for today, I want to spend this moment with you."

He brings my hand to his lips. Kisses the back of my hand, looking at me with such an intensity that it steals away every unnecessary thought inside my head. The ruins left from the war, the memory of Anderson, my fear for tomorrow. All of it is gone, stored away in a secret chest and thrown into the sunset in front of us.

My breath hitches in response, and I'm trying so hard to hate Warner for still making me feel this way. "Yes," I tell him, stumbling and running out of words to borrow from my head, "we do have all the time in the world."

He chuckles softly, pulling me closer until I could feel the unsteady rise and fall of his chest. It makes me wonder if everyone from below could hear how fast his heart is beating right now—how fast mine is right now because I can no longer hear them. The sounds of laughter and grief, hope and chances, are all gone and all I could hear is his voice and all I could see are his eyes and all I could feel is his lips on my neck, hand at the back of my head and the other around my waist. I want to taste him too, I think, and I do just that.

Warner pulls away before I could kiss him. His grin goes beyond wicked and I have never felt so frustrated with him in my entire life. I have ultimately decided that I hate Aaron Warner Anderson in these few seconds that pass between us.

"We have all the time in the world, remember?" he whispers, mischief laced in his voice, "besides, I wouldn't want to give your friends a show. At least, not for free."

"Oh," I say, blushing. I look down at the world below us. Everyone else has left, save for the few people who know exactly who I am. Lily and Winston are whistling and giving me thumbs-ups. Castle has his arms crossed, smiling at us. Adam and Alia are busy talking to each other, though I see Adam take a quick glance at us for a quick second. Kenji's standing beside James, whose eyes he's covering with his hand, and smiles at us.

"Did we interrupt you guys?" He shouts.

I want to kill him.

"Yes, you did," I shout back, surprising everyone but Kenji and James, who has managed to escape Kenji's grasp.

Kenji laughs and winks at me before gathering the rest of the group and moving them into someplace far, someplace safe. "Come on guys. Let's give the new leaders of the soon-to-be free world some space. I'd rather hear her talk about what's gonna happen here than be killed for not letting anything happen at all."

A pause. Then, "Stop looking so green, Kent. It's not your color."

I wait until all of them are gone from my sight before I turn to Warner, who's smiling and shaking his head. I can tell how hard he's trying not to roll his eyes.

"You tell Kishimoto everything that happens between us?"

"Not all of it," I say, embarrassed. The memory of my conversation with Kenji about seeing Warner in sweatpants clouded my head, and the one about my first time swarmed my thoughts. It's impossible to lie when Warner knows if I'm lying or not, and I'm not the best liar in the world.

"Right," he says so sarcastically that it makes me roll my eyes.

2 seconds of silence.

"It's already nighttime."

"Yeah."

1 second of hesitation.

"Should we go back?"

"I don't want to."

"Me neither."

4 seconds of silence.

"Let's count the stars then?"

"Aaron…"

"You've never tried it, love? I used to do it with my mom as a child. It took forever to count them."

11 seconds of counting stars.

"Juliette?"

"Yeah?"

"Are you asleep?"

"Yeah."

"Do you want to stay here?"

"Yeah."

A kiss.

"Goodnight, Juliette." He whispers, fingers gently stroking my hair.

"Goodnight, Aaron." I whisper, slowly falling into darkness. "I love you."

I fell asleep under the stars, with the boy I love right beside me.

When I woke up the next day the first thing I see is Warner fast asleep beside me. It also took me a second to realize that we're back in his room, on his bed. He carried me all the way back.

I smiled.

I knew that I didn't have to ask him if he stayed with me until the stars disappeared; I knew he did. He probably spent the entire night counting the stars.

He'll stay even after the stars disappear, I thought, but stars never actually disappear. Nothing, I have come to realize, will disappear. Even after our deaths, our memories will continue to revolve and rotate around the sun just like the earth does. Our stories will be written in people's hearts, and no one can ever take that away from them. No one can take that away from us.

The world is ours, we can control it, and as long as I'm next to him in the long years ahead of us I know that everything will be alright.

So I spend the next few minutes counting the stars on this perfectly imperfect boy's face.

If every freckle is an angel's kiss, I think, then no wonder you have galaxies pressed upon your skin. And how much I want to kiss these galaxies myself goes beyond compare.