Elfilin's dreams have always been very vivid. They were lucid in a way. He was always aware of the fact he was within his mind, but he wasn't able to say the way that Kirby described his dreams. He sensed his dreams. They were made up of his emotions connected to different thoughts and memories. Because of this freedom, he liked to spend his dreams recounting and organizing his memories. And thanks to his recent adventures with Kirby, this had become more fun than ever before.

He would start at the beginning. Pain, tears, confusion, but most importantly - freedom, departure, new beginning. Anything before - from it - was a suffocating torrent of emotions even worse than directly after, so he dared not ever try to feel back. In the directly-after he used to try, but he soon found other memories to revisit.

He would continue forwards into his new life, into the time when the initial confusion and pain subsided into a real liberty where he felt like anything was possible! Everyday was a new discovery, filled to the brim with all the worlds wonders and pleasures. The warmth of the sun over the bright landscapes, the chill of a peaceful night, soft grass, smooth stones -- everything was felt so deeply. The barks and howls of the awoofies tickled his ears, and the snuggles with the rabiroos his fur!

It all created in him what felt like a soaring internal warmth, but it faded relatively quickly. As the connections faded so did that of the world around him. Years and years and years passed and the wonders became mundanities, and he realized that nothing could stop a deep, dark chill from building inside of him.

There were so many memories from this time, all numbingly cold. It was impossible to count them all, and he let them whizz past his senses as a blur, as they had began to when he lived them. An eternity spent aimless and empty in his seemingly endless life, as things stagnated and he felt farther and farther and farther away from anything else alive. Retreating into his own mind, and being disgusted to know that it was the only other thing on the planet sharing this experience... But no, it was impossible to understand it...

Elfilin psychically sighed with relief as he felt the warmth of a new chapter in his life come upon him. It was sudden at the time, but within his mind its radiance could be felt from far away.

His trance was abruptly shattered one day by the sky opening and twisting into electrified portal, from which his new, wonderful life rained down like wishing stars. The Popstarians came! Bringing new life to this stagnant paradise -- it was like the bond with the animals starting all over again. But the Popstarians were so smart and unique, and had this super-charged feeling to them anytime he was near them. But the energy of the Waddle Dees didn't even compare to that of Kirby!

It was heartbroken when the animals came and attacked them all, forgetting their friendships with Elfilin from lifetimes ago, and they tried to tear him away from his new friends. Trapping him within a cage. Trapping, capturing, suffocating him. 

But then he appeared! Kirby with his bright mane of soft hair, and his round friendly face, and his starry blue eyes that reflected his warm heart. Kirby, Kirby -- even his name was so fun to say! Kirby didn't just bring him connection, but the entire suite of discovery all over again. All the joy, excitement, warmth, chills, lights -- everything. It was almost hypnotizing to be around him. 

Following him bouncing across the grass, hearing his every coo and laugh at everything whether familiar or new. Being near him, hugging him, petting him, feeling him and his mind... He felt like he was in a trance all over again, but one only of radiant emotional warmth instead of that chill from all the years alone.

It was so scary when he was captured again by the animals. For so much longer, he was captured, suffocated, drowned, and pinned under the weight of fear of never being free again, just when he was happiest. But when Kirby appeared again to save him, he knew he would be safe from now on. He had Kirby, and beside him he could face it, destroy it, and purify it from this world and his mind. He had never felt stronger in his life.

And it was all thanks to Kirby. Ever since returning to the little Popstarian camp, Elfilin cherished Kirby's warmth more than anything. Every night now, he perfectly followed this trail of turmoil just so he could re-submerge himself in the overwhelming psychic presence of Kirby's warmth beside him. It burned strongly through all his recent memories, up to and including his time sleeping. Until...

As he moved to the very present, signally his waking, something changed... The boy drifted straight out of his sleep with a slight ache in his heart before he could see anything. But he jolted in panic as the emotions sunk in and were reinforced by his blurry surveillance. He stared dead at the spot where Kirby went to sleep beside him only to find it empty. His eyes darted around the room as an uncomfortable chill settled over his soul.

Kirby? Kirby? Kirby? His eyes and mind probed every centimeter of the tiny room they called home, but every angle came up short of the boy's visage. Or of that psychic warmth he had just basked in from his memories. Panic built in him as he felt it leave his body like steam, leaving behind something terrible.

He couldn't move. Where was Kirby? Why wasn't he here? What would he do without him? Elfilin's eyes stung and his face grew hot with emotions. One terrible, unbearable thought blared in his head, every ring choking his heart: What if I never see Kirby again?

He sobbed helplessly, frozen exactly where he awoke just moments ago, as if he'd lost everything that ever mattered to him. He was so blinded by catastrophe he wasn't sure how long he sat letting tears and chocked breaths poor out of his throat. But eventually someone came through the door.

"Elfy! Poyo - are you okay!?" The familiar boy cried.

Elfilin could hardly sense the return of his companion through the ache of his shivering body and soul. He saw a blur of pink approach him through tear-filled eyes, but even faster Elfilin shot off the bed and into his companion's arms, continuing to sob uncontrollably as the warmth slowly refilled his body.

"W-hat happened, poyo! What's wrong?" Kirby asked, returning the hug, and sounding half as distraught as Elfilin.

The blue-haired boy hardly heard him at first, but as his senses returned he yearned to respond to his friend's shared concern. "I... I... I..." Tears and hiccups tore through his voice. " I... w-woke up.... and... you... you w-were-" Just repeating the scenario through words caused him to shiver.

Kirby in all his grace understood perfectly and picked up for his friend, "Poyo, I'm so sorry, Elfy, poyo! I left to get breakfast, poyo, only for a few minutes, I promise..." He squeezed Elfilin tighter and rubbed back trying his best to soothe him.

The closer he was to Kirby, hearing his voice, in his arms, his head resting on his - their minds as close to one another's as they could get - Elfilin began to regain control of himself. He tightened his grip on Kirby's sides out of embarrassment, aware he'd made so much trouble for someone he cared for so much. "I..." he sniffled sharply. "I-I'm sorry..."

"It's OK, poyo..." he soothed. "Next time I get up for breakfast I'll, poyo, make sure not to leave you behind. OK?"

As Elfilin nodded into Kirby's chest the two boys relaxed more into each other's embrace. That wonderful, soul-deep warmth that he had missed so much from Kirby, even if only for that short time eased back into his body, and he grew content and tired again. He thoughtlessly nuzzled into Kirby's neck -- something picked up from his time with the rabiroos.

The tranquil comfort begun to lull Elfilin right back to sleep. So effectively he didn't notice Kirby's stomach growl loudly under him.

"I- uhm... poyo... I still need to eat..." Kirby prodded, to which he was met by an absentminded hum from Elfilin. "Poyo, how 'bout you rest on my head so you can come with me while you sleep!"

Another lazy hum came from the boy, who was promptly lifted above Kirby's head and pushed over top of his fluffy pink afro so his arms and head could rest atop it. Elfilin's passive floating accounted for the rest of his body, and he drifted back into his dreams.