Stars.
I used to sit up on my roof when I was a kid and look at them for hours.
Wondering... what's out there.
Was there Life?
Was there Death?
Or was there just Nothing?
I used to feel so small when I looked up at the endless space.
What did I matter when there was so much more out there?
Stars.
It's been years since I sat on my roof to look at them.
I decided tonight that I would,
and it was the right choice.
They haven't lost any of their beauty.
They're still gorgeous.
But they have lost some of their past meaning.
I know what's out there.
I know because it came down here.
He came down here.
And he made the stars pale in comparison to him.
Not because he was beautiful, even though he certainly thought he was.
But because while the stars were far away and interesting to look at,
he was here and he was stunning.
His skin; his eyes; his antenna; his ego; his defect.
From day one he enraptured me.
And I was just as attention grabbing to him as he was to me.
We fought everyday and sometimes at night.
At least, while we were kids.
Then came the teenage years, with hormones and growth spurts (for both of us).
We still fought, of course; it's who we were, what first drew us to each other.
Without our fights, we weren't ourselves.
But they weren't as bloody and they never got as close to killing someone as before.
Usually, the fights we did have ended in the bedroom.
Stars.
They came down, eventually.
Not the stars, obviously, but them.
His people.
His Tallest and the Armada.
They told him why he was on Earth and what he was; a defect.
Then they left, leaving him banished to this planet, never to leave.
If he left they would kill him.
He stayed and we went back to our routine.
For a while.
Because he came down from the stars and he had to go back to the stars eventually.
Even if that meant dying, even if it meant leaving me down here.
One night, he said 'good night' and I knew he really meant 'good bye'.
So I told him the three words he had never let me say before.
And he knew what I really meant was 'its okay. I'll be here if you come back'.
He was gone when the stars faded from view.
Stars.
It hurts to look up at them.
I knew it would.
It hurts because I know he is up there somewhere in that space that once seemed so big.
It hurts because I don't know if he is up there somewhere, alive.
It hurts because even though I said I would be here if he came back, I know that is a very big 'if'.
It hurts.
But the pain is good.
It lets me remember that he was real and he was here.
This pain only makes the stars seem brighter.
Stars.
I think I will come up here tomorrow night.
Bring a blanket.
Lay back.
Look up.
And gaze at the stars, hurting because he is up there and I am still down here.
A/N: I'm... not sure where this came from. Obviously Dib thinking about Zim. Um... this is what I get for allowing a character to think for themselves. Review?
Disclaimer: I don't own Invader Zim. Only this angst ridden little thing.