A/N: Hello everybody! If you're coming from my story 'Band Meeting' then don't panic, I haven't abandoned it! Anyways, this is a oneshot for a fab ATU competition. It won't let me put the link here so go to my profile if you're interested. Some fantastic prizes but it ends tommorow guys... HURRY!

Disclaimer: I do not own Across the Universe, A Million Suns or any of the characters in this story. Everything belongs to the amazing Beth Revis.

Here we go.

Starless

Sky. I finally have the sky. I crane my neck up to take it all in. The fresh scents and sights of this new world shock my senses. After four days it still hasn't sunk in that we're actually here, on Centauri-Earth! With two suns, it's never dark and the heat is immense. Vast expanses of swaying grass beckon me, encouraging me to run faster. I wince at the pain in my muscles, creaky and unused from my time on the ship.

In the days that followed our arrival many people died. They were panicked, paranoid and plagued with the knowledge that there was no going back. Hundreds of people ended their own lives, fearing the unknown. Yesterday it was estimated that nearly half of the people we'd left the ship with were dead.

Despite all of this, our first day here was by far the worst day of my life. It was worse than having to choose between a normal life on Sol-Earth and an adventure across the universe; worse than waking up on Godspeed with no hope of ever seeing my parents again; worse than the day Harley died. To put it simply: we crashed. The ship's auto-pilot failed and Elder and I were left to land the ship untrained. About one-hundred people were injured. Twenty died.

Elder was one of them.

It's entirely my fault. Orion declared that it was my choice whether to land or not. I chose to lead Elder to his death. Now I feel hollow, as if I died with him.

We woke the frozens up the next day. As soon as my parents were reanimated, I ran to meet them. Their faces were identical: showing a mix of joy, confusion and pride.

"Amy! How are you?" Mum gushed, pulling me into a hug, "Where did you get those clothes from, sweetheart?"

Suddenly the force of the situation hit me. They had no idea about the trauma I'd been through over the past few months, while they were frozen beneath my feet. As far as they were concerned I was still their little girl, their sweetheart. I looked hopelessly into my mother's watery eyes, knowing that nothing would ever be the same in our family again, not after all that's happened. Even if I told them everything, I'd never be their daughter again.

All of this time I thought that the one person I needed most was Mom or Daddy but it wasn't… it was Elder. 'These two people standing before me are strangers' I thought. I felt as though I had lived my whole life; they were oblivious.

I need Elder. I look back up to the sky, feeling trapped. Being on Centauri-Earth is no better than being on the ship. Sure, I have the sky now, and fresh air, room to run around but not Elder. His body is here but I know that his soul is up there, among the stars. As I mentioned before, two suns equals constant light and without darkness we can't see the stars. It almost makes me doubt that they're even there at all. New generations on Centauri-Earth will never see stars and this time, it will not be a matter of getting them access to a hatch. I wish I could see the stars again, just once.

I no longer believe that Heaven is a place up in the clouds; I think it's farther than that. Its right up there, in space, where the souls of many different creatures dance and twirl, creating amazing things: black holes, suns, planets, forces, dust, matter… Elder is up there now. My soul is old, over 300 years old. I think that now, I will join him.

A/N: Thanks for reading.

Review maybe?

Leoni

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