Before I was Kisshu, alien invader of Earth, I was just one among many of a peace-loving race determined to make the best of our pitiless and hazardous planet. My race honestly had no thoughts of reclaiming the old planet until it happened.
Then it was too late. So many lives had been torn apart that doing nothing simply wasn't an option.
One single spark to light dry wood and the whole thing catches flame.
"Kisshu!"
I turn to face her, feeling a smile twitch into place.
"Everyone is waiting, and a storm is approaching. It's either now or wait until wind season!" She says, brushing off my smile like it had never occurred.
"Fine. I'll come and participate in your childish games."
I follow behind a few paces, admiring the strands of red hair escaping her ponytail and the whole ironic cheerfulness emitted even from her grey cloak. Not once has there been a day when she couldn't brighten my mood by just being present.
"Kisshu, you better not have outgrown us." She mutters, severing my daydreaming.
"I will never outgrow you, Aka." I dare.
She laughs, letting a blush creep up her cheeks.
We approach the usual spot during a game of tag, apparently the rest of the children had gotten bored waiting for us, and started anyway.
"The brown-haired girl over there is It, and she's faster than you'd expect, so be wary." A tall alien wearing an orange bright enough to melt the snows of Ice season mutters to me. I guess he could be considered my friend, but I would rather that remain just between the two of us. 'Neighbor' is my preferred label when used in correlation with my own name.
"Kisshu, you aren't stuck in a dirty fantasy involving Aka, are you?" he whispers, cutting off my musings.
"And what if I am, Tachibana?"
He pushes me away with a grin.
"Well, now you're It."
I roll my eyes and chase after Aka, wanting more than anything for it to just be a game between the two of us, and not the weather or a single being there to disturb us. Of course, storms will always be there, and when there's not any danger Aka will be with the others, never letting the dreary climate destroy her.
"Okay, everyone! We'll have to continue some other time!" Aka says, breaking off the game. The youngest head toward their mothers and the rest of us gather in one of the side caves to wait out the storm.
"Let's play a different kind of game." I start, feeling a bit of courage nip at my heart.
"Pretend we're at a different place, one where the storms can get bad, but only rarely, and the above ground is where people live freely, filled with bright colors and sunlight." I feel my voice falter, but find the courage again to continue.
"This is a world where you don't have to live in shades of grey, where you can play in broad daylight without the fear of death. What is the first thing you'd do?" I finish, turning to face Aka.
"I'd go find a flower." Aka says firmly. "I've never seen one before, but they sound so pretty…" she stares at the ceiling and runs a hand along stone.
"Why would you need a world like the one you mention?" a girl asks. "This one is nice in its own ways; the beauty of rainfall after a terrible thunderstorm, or the brief moment of sunlight through the clouds when snow covers the above ground." Her blue eyes reflect her question at me, daring me to find a way to challenge her logic.
"This is a world where you get the gentle rain and not the fearsome tempest, sunlight shines for the whole day and the next as well. You can sit among a whole bunch of flowers whenever you want." I flick my eyes to Aka and she grins at me.
"When there is no danger, the joy won't ever feel the same."
"Happiness does not depend on sadness."
"When there is no heat or cold, what do you feel? Nothing. For one defines how the other feels."
"Hot and cold are physical, happiness and sadness are emotions."
"Love and hate are emotions. Passion is passion, it can go either way, so for it to exist, both love and hate must exist as well." The unsettling gaze of her eyes bore through my own. My response dies before leaving my mouth.
"Do not want what you cannot have, for greed turns you blind to the true worth of what you do possess until it is lost. By then it will be too late, and no matter how much you will wish it, you will not be able to go back." Adverting her gaze pointedly away from me, she takes a few steps out of our sanctuary and stares at the electricity shimmering in the sky.
"Tsuki! What are you doing! It's dangerous to go out in this!" I hear Aka call to her friend, always wanting the best for everyone.
Without showing that she heard, Tsuki walks into the dead center of the area, staring through the crevice in the ceiling at the brawling thunderclouds. I can see fear flicker in her eyes before she closes them tight and steadies her breathing. White light shatters before our eyes, the crackle rolling through our bodies and sending her night-black hair rippling behind her like a ribbon held in a wind.
Stillness sweeps her backwards, but she doesn't fall, trembling in relief that it had missed. None of us can quite breathe yet, but Aka grabs my shoulder to steady herself.
"See how close I came to death? It whispered throughout my veins and held me still for a brief moment before evaporating into air just as fast, no, faster, than it had arrived. Without this threat, life doesn't seem as precious, or as temporary. I cannot stare through the cracks at the stars without feeling glad to have survived. Isn't that a kind of happiness too?" Tsuki turns and walks out of sight.
"Let's play a different game, one without impossible dreams or pain." Aka says, facing her other two friends instead of me. We start an innocent word game, and fill up the breaks between thunder with laughter, but I can't entirely tear my thoughts away from the 'other' planet.