Ma Petite Étoile

The doctor looked over his forms once more before turning to the two of them with a reassuring smile. "Well, Mr. Kirkland, it looks like Alfred here will be just fine."

He, on the other hand, wasn't about to let his father off the hook that easily. Sticking his tongue out at the other, he piped, "See, Artie? I told you it wasn't serious!"

The blond scowled. "You were crying and wouldn't walk! What else was I supposed to do?"

"You didn't have to take me to a hospital!"

"Oh, be quiet, you! Thank you very much, doctor."

The man in the lab coat shook his head. "You're very welcome. If you'd like, I can write you something up to help heal those scratches faster, it'll also lessen the itching when they scab over."

His father perked up. "That'd be wonderful. Alfred has this horrible habit of scratching his scabs anyways. I always tell him to stop but he never listens."

Huffing, he frowned. "I can't help it if they're itchy!"

The doctor smiled. "Well, this will make it less itchy, okay? Mr. Kirkland, if you'd come with me for a moment? We just need you to fill out a release form if you wouldn't mind."

"Of course not. Alfred, you stay put, okay? Don't even think about going anywhere."

He waved offhandedly at the two as they left and scoffed. "I'm not thinking about leaving this room, I'm thinking about exploring! They're two completely different things! Besides, as long as I get back here before they do, Artie will never even notice I left!" Then, with a triumphant grin, he raced out of the room.

After doing what he'd thought was a lap around the main floor of the hospital, he ducked back into his room only to find that he'd gotten the wrong room. Suddenly, a tiny voice interrupted his thoughts, "Papa?"

He gave a start. "Who's there?" It took a moment of looking around to realize that on the bed, sat a rather frail looking boy around his age who had a book in one hand and a stuffed bear in the other. The boy merely stared at him with a confused expression on his face. He smiled ruefully. "Oh! Sorry, I didn't see you there! Who are you?"

The boy looked surprised at the sudden question. "S-sorry! I'm Mathieu, and this is my guard-bear," his brows furled for a moment, "I forgot his name again. W-what about you?"

"I'm Alfred! I'm seven years old and I live with my dad, Artie!" he replied happily. "So what are you doing here? Is your dad out talking to a doctor too?"

"Papa?" Mathieu shook his head. "I think he's outside talking to the nurses. He really likes talking to them and the nurses seem to really like papa too."

"Oh, my dad's talking to the doctor right now. I fell earlier and he made me come here. Look," he lifted his leg to show off all the band-aids that'd been stuck on, "I got all of these from that fall, but I didn't cry! I told Artie it wasn't serious, but he made me come anyways!"

The other boy seemed impressed by his leg. "T-that looks really painful. Does it still hurt?"

Alfred looked down at his leg in thought. "Yeah, it does a little." He blinked when the boy motioned for him to draw closer. He walked over. "Yes?"

The blond leaned over and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "Voila!"

Immediately raising a hand to cover the place where he'd just been kissed, he blinked in bewilderment. "What was that for?"

"S-sorry," was the instant response, "that's what papa does for me when I fall."

"…will kisses make it heal faster?"

Mathieu shook his head. "I don't know, but it makes it hurt less."

He frowned for a moment, but then realized that he'd been too preoccupied by the action to notice his pain. "Hey, you're right! It stopped hurting for awhile, thanks, Mattie! Wait till I tell Artie about this!"

"W-where's your papa now?"

There was a long pause. Then he remembered his situation, and his eyes began tearing up. "Oh no! Artie's probably figured out that I left by now! I don't even know how to get back! W-what should I do, Mattie? He's going to get super mad at me! I'm already grounded! I don't want to get grounded again! I'll be double grounded and I'll never get to leave the house again!"

The boy looked around frantically for an answer. "U-um, papa should be back soon! He can help you find your papa, so please wait! Um…l-look up!"

The lights went out.

Confused, he tilted his head back and looked up. "Whoa!"

The ceiling and the walls were covered in glowing stars, each of them seemed to twinkle and shine as though they were real. And the room was dark enough that he couldn't tell where one wall stopped and another began. With his troubles completely forgotten, he shuffled onto the bed to sit next to the boy.

"This is awesome! Did you do all this, Mattie? There weren't any stars in the room I was in."

The blond shook his head, clearly pleased at the reaction he received. "No, papa did it for me last week. Doesn't it look like heaven? Papa said that maman's somewhere there. She went up and now she's exploring all the stars and meeting all the people there. Just like in Le Petit Prince,maybe maman's already met him, his sheep, and his rose with four thorns."

Blue eyes blinked, eyes never leaving the ceiling. He'd never heard of anyone staying in a hospital for over a day before. "Le what prince? Sheep? Rose with four thorns? Is it a story? I haven't heard of it before. Wait, your dad did this last week? You've been here for a whole week now! What happened? Did you break a bone or something? I didn't see a cast though…"

"I'm waiting to go to heaven," Mathieu answered easily.

Alfred stared in surprise. He never thought that heaven was something to be spoken so lightly of. The boy didn't seem all too concerned with the idea at all. For a moment, he thought he'd heard the other wrong. "What?"

"Heaven?"

Then the door opened and a man's voice spoke out, "Mathieu? Mon cher, were you sleeping? Why are the lights off?"

"Oh, papa!" The lights came back on. "Désolé, I was showing Alfred the heaven you made for me."

At the door stood a blond man with a short beard and deep blue eyes. "Alfred…? Oh, I didn't know you had a friend over!" He smiled. "Bonjour, I'm Mathieu's papa."

He sat up sheepishly. "Hi, I'm Alfred. Um…I wasn't supposed to leave the room I was in, but I did, and I can't find my dad now. Mattie said you could help me…please."

Mathieu stared at the man imploringly. "Can you, papa? Please?"

Upon looking at the two, the Frenchman grinned. "Of course I can! You know I'd do anything for you, mon cher. Alfred, would you like to go find your papa now?"

"Yes, sir." He leaned in and whispered into the other boy's ear, "I'll come play with you again soon, so don't go to heaven yet, okay?"

With his eyes widened in surprised delight, the blond nodded happily. "Okay!"

Hopping off the bed, he smiled and waved at the boy. "Thanks for showing me the heaven your papa made, Mattie! And thanks for the kiss! Look, Mattie's papa! I got all these from my fall! Mattie kissed it better! So now, I'm going to go tell Artie all about it!"

"Really? I'm glad Mathieu remembered to kiss it better. It's something I learnt from my papa, back when I was little."

Waving goodbye one more time, he followed the man out the door. "From your papa? So from Mattie's granddad? Is it a family secret? Maybe I shouldn't tell Artie then…"

The man laughed. "No, go ahead and tell your papa, or how else he won't know that he's supposed to kiss it better the next time you fall? It's something that was made to be shared."

It didn't take very long for the two of them to locate his frantically anxious father. He perked up as the panicking man came into view. "Artie!"

The man whirled around and ran up to them, face flushed from his search. "Alfred! Where'd you go? I told you to stay put! Honestly, will you never listen to me? Are you okay? You didn't take another tumble or anything, did you? You didn't go around and cause any trouble, did you?" He looked up at Mathieu's father. "I'm sorry about my son! I'm Arthur Kirkland, thank you for finding him!"

The other man smiled easily. "I'm Francis Bonnefoy. It was no problem, monsieur. I didn't find Alfred. Actually, he found my son and kept him company while I was out of the room. So thank you, Alfred, but next time, maybe you should wait for your papa's permission, yes?"

"I'll keep that in mind next time! Can I come play with Mattie again, please?"

Francis nodded. "I'm sure that'd make Mathieu very happy, but only if your papa says it's alright."

He turned to his father. "Please, Artie! Can I please come and play with Mattie again? I promise you'll know where I am at all times! Please!"

Arthur crossed his arms and sighed, "I don't see why not… You'll have to promise to behave though, or I won't bring you here, okay? Now, let's go home for dinner. Thanks again."

The Frenchman waved as they left before turning around and heading back to his son's room. Opening the door, he stepped into the room. The boy set his book down and smiled at him "D-did you find Alfred's papa?"

"Of course, would papa come back if he didn't do as he promised?"

The boy shook his head, "Non. Merci beaucoup, papa."

Francis leaned down and placed a kiss on his son's head. "De rien."

In the car, Arthur glanced up at his rear mirror, over at the smiling child who was sitting silently and kicking his feet idly. "You seem to be in an awful good mood now that you've made a new friend. It's like your scratches and bruises don't even hurt anymore."

Alfred grinned. "They don't! Mattie kissed it all better! Did you know about this, Artie? I guess you didn't or you would've done it instead of taking me to the hospital! But that's okay! The next time I get hurt, you'll have to kiss it better, okay?"

"What a…French thing to do," his father muttered quietly to himself. He wanted to add that he knew about kissing wounds better but he had simply always been too embarrassed to do it, but decided against it after a moment of thought. "So? What else did you two talk about while you were there?"

The boy sat up excitedly. "He told me about a book! It was about a prince I think, and a sheep, a rose and stars! Do you know which book he was talking about?"

"It sounds familiar. Are you talking about The Little Prince?"

A shrug. "I guess! Can we read that book next?"

Arthur raised a brow at his enthusiasm. "What? You actually want to read a book? What kind of boy is this Mathew lad? I don't remember you ever being so excited about making a friend before. You're always complaining about Ivan and Yao, and that Cuban kid."

"You can't compare him to all the kids at school! Mattie's special," he insisted as they turned into their driveway.

Turning the engine off, he turned to glance at his son who was taking his seatbelt off in the backseat. "Oh? He's special? How so? Other than the fact that he's French, I mean. Did he have a cast that he let you sign or something?"

"Nope, he's going to heaven soon," Alfred spoke as nonchalantly as the boy at the hospital had as he opened the car door and got out.

On their fourth play date, he announced happily to the boy as they played in the hospital's playroom under the supervision of a pair of nurses. "Mattie! Me and Artie finally finished The Little Prince! All 27 chapters!"

Mathieu smiled. "R-really? Did you like it?"

He nodded. "At first, I felt bad for the rose for being left behind, but then the prince goes back, doesn't he? After that, I felt bad for the guy he left on earth, but at least he has all the stars to make him laugh again." Staring at the toy rocket in his hands, he flew it upwards and glanced over at the nurses to make sure they were busy elsewhere. "Hey, Mattie?"

Violet eyes looked over at him and asked, "Yes?"

"Are you scared?"

"Of what?"

Still concentrating on his toy, he guided the rocket through the air in waves. "Of going to heaven."

Mathieu stopped playing and watched him. "Um…a little. B-but it's okay! Papa said that maman will be waiting for me, and I've got Kuma…Kumatoro? He'll keep me safe."

He blinked in wonder as he landed his rocket. "Really? So is he like your guardian angel?"

"I guess you could say that…"

Alfred smiled. "Are you excited about seeing your mum? You've met her before, right? I never met mine, but that's okay since I have Artie and he's all I need."

The other boy nodded slowly. "I remember maman. I really miss her, but…I'm going to miss papa. I don't want to leave papa behind, or you."

The quiver in his friend's voice made him stop to think. Suddenly, an idea popped into his head. He perked up and shot the other a toothy grin. "Mattie, I know what we can do! I've heard before that you can buy a star! I'll save up and buy you your own star! It'll be my present to you so you won't forget about me while you're exploring with your mum and your bear! And! And you can wait for me and your dad there since we'll know where to find you! And this way, your papa won't get lonely! He'll always know you're up in the sky, safe and waiting with your mum!"

Mathieu's eyes shone. "R-really, Al? You'd buy a star for me? That'll probably cost you a billion dollars!"

"I don't think it'll cost a billion dollars. But I'll buy one for you, I promise! It…it'll be your Christmas present! Then when I go to heaven, I'll come find you and we'll play together again, okay? And you can tell me all about your adventures!"

"O-okay!" The boy hugged him tightly. "Thank you, Al!"

He laughed. "You're welcome!"

Then Francis stepped in with a plate of treats, having just come in from work. "I'm sorry I'm so late, mon cher! They absolutely needed me at the restaurant today! I brought you your favourite though-oh, Alfred! You came to play with Mathieu? That's a relief, I thought my poor Mathieu was all by himself!" He set the plate down. "Here, you two can share these. I'll be right back, mes chers. I just need to go put my things down."

Alfred happily popped a treat into his mouth, his eyes widening. "Wow! Mattie, these are really good!"

The other boy nodded. "That's because papa's a chef! He has his own restaurant! Everybody loves papa's food! Hey Al, what are you going to do when you grow up?"

He stood up proudly. "Me? I'm going to be a hero and revive dinosaurs!"

Taking a bite of a treat, the blond stared at him in awe. "Really? Dinosaurs? You're so brave!"

This caused him to blink. "Brave? What do you mean? You need to be brave to revive dinosaurs? Why?"

Mathieu dipped his head seriously. "There was a movie on in sitting room once about dinosaurs in a really big park. They went around and ate all the people!"

"W-what?" He gulped. "I haven't seen that movie before. Maybe I can get Artie to rent it…"

Then the Frenchman returned. "What are you two talking about?"

"Papa, what was that scary movie with the dinosaurs called?"

"Jurassic Park?"

Mathieu smiled. "Oui, Jurassic Park! Did you know, papa? Al wants to revive dinosaurs!"

Munching on another treat slowly, he gave a weak laugh. "Maybe I'll revive something else; something less scary. …maybe I'll just be a hero."

That evening, Alfred pushed his father aside as he was about to start on the dishes. "Artie! I'll do them!"

The man stared at him incredulously. "What? You want to do the dishes? Did you hit your head or something at the hospital today?"

He shook his head. "Nope! But if I do more chores, you'll give me more allowance, right?"

Arthur nodded. "Yes, that'd be logical. But why do you need more money? Is there something you want? You know, Christmas is coming in two months, you can just wait and ask Santa for whatever it is, can't you?"

"Nope! It has to be bought by me! It's because I promised to buy Mattie his very own star for when he goes to heaven," he informed his father happily. "I don't know how much it costs though…"

Wiping his hands on a dishcloth, the man smiled. "That sounds like a very thoughtful gift for the lad. You know what? How about this? While you do the dishes, I'll look it up for you, okay?"

"Okay! Thanks Artie! Oh, and have you heard of Jurassic Park?"

Arthur raised a brow. "The movie? I believe we have it somewhere, actually."

He hesitated for a moment. "Oh, um…can we watch it?"

The blond shrugged and left the room. "It's still pretty early so I don't see why not. I'll go find it after I look up how much your star will cost."

Later that night, while hiding under his father's covers, Alfred decided that he didn't want to revive dinosaurs anymore.

It turned out that the star didn't cost anywhere near a billion dollars, which was a good thing since Alfred couldn't imagine how many chores he'd have to do every day to earn that amount of money before Christmas. He emptied his piggybank into a shoebox which he kept under his bed to begin his star funds. And since Christmas was coming up in about two months' time, he swore off buying things for the sake of his mission.

True to his word, he did all his daily chores and more, and refrained from buying anything. Even his father had noticed his resolve and had commented on it. And during his frequent visits to Mathieu, he enjoyed bragging about the amount of money he'd been able to save, savouring the look of admiration on the other boy's face. But at the same time, he realized that the more time he spent with Mathieu, the less he wanted the boy to leave. Despite his thoughts, it was one of the few rare occasions when he decided against voice them out loud. After all, his friend had already confided in him that he was afraid of leaving, and to voice his own fears would only make it even worse for the blond.

They'd stopped going to the playroom since the doctor felt it better for Mathieu to remain in a calm and controlled environment with doctors and nurses constantly nearby. During his visit that day, Alfred blinked at how particularly quiet his friend was that day. Having taken on the role of Mathieu's hero, he asked, "Mattie, are you okay?"

The boy looked up in surprise and blinked. "M-me? Sorry, I'm okay." Then he dipped his head sullenly and stared at his feet. "But I don't know if papa is. Last night, we were reading the last part of Le Petit Prince, and when we got to the end, papa started crying. I asked him what was wrong and he said nothing. So I told him we didn't have to read it again if he didn't like it, but that only made things worse. Do you know what's wrong with papa, Al?"

He frowned a little worriedly. "I'll ask Artie later. Maybe he'll know, okay?"

Mathieu nodded. "Okay. Thank you. And Al?"

"Yeah, Mattie?"

"I think I'm scared. I don't want to go to heaven yet. W-what if papa or you get lonely?"

Alfred pursed his lips for a moment, trying to think of something reassuring to say to the other. "We'll be fine, I promise! I'll make sure your papa's okay! And maybe one day, I'll go all the way up into space to find you! As an astronaut! Okay? If I'm that much closer to your star, you'll be able to see me, right? And then you'll know that we're doing just fine and won't have to worry!"

The blond smiled, forgetting his earlier problems. "Wow, Al! You're going to become an astronaut?"

He laughed, liking the sound of his new dream already. "Sure, why not? I'll be a hero and travel all around the planets and meet the people living there! Then I'll tell you all about it when I see you again!"

That evening, after he told his father what'd happened, he asked, "So do you know why Mattie's papa was crying?"

Arthur didn't look all too willing to answer as he breathed a sigh. "I suppose it's because he was sad."

Blue eyes blinked. "Sad? Really? But he always looks so happy! I thought you were going to say it was because he was French again."

His father knelt down and pulled him into an embrace. "If there's one thing I do know, it's that no matter where you're from, or what language you speak, or how French you are, losing a child's never easy. Mathew's papa's very brave. I don't know what I'd do if I were to lose you…"

Not wanting to let on that he understood for a reason he couldn't explain, he patted the other on the back and smiled reassuringly. "Don't worry, Artie! All you'd have to do is go to the security office. I'll be there waiting for you to pick me up!"

Alfred decided not to tell his friend the results of his findings.

"A tummy ache? But no one ever gets sick from papa's food."

"Maybe he was trying someone else's food?"

"O-oh! Maybe that's it!" Mathieu smiled in relief. "Thank you, Al!"

He grinned. "Anytime! I'm your hero, aren't I?"

One day, a little under two weeks before Christmas, as he was walking home, he spotted a toy he'd been pining for on sale in one of the stores. Reaching into his pocket, he dug out a couple crumpled bills and coins that he'd collected and had forgotten to throw into his shoebox. He'd nearly collected enough money to buy his promised star and Christmas was still quite a ways away. Brows furled in contemplation, he looked from the money in his gloved hands to the toy on display, trying to reach a decision.

Minutes later, he left the store with a new toy in hand. To alleviate the guilt he felt, he told himself, "It's okay since I'll share it with Mattie anyways! And I'll do extra chores tomorrow to make up for it!"

It was a few days before Christmas and he'd convinced Arthur to let him pay his friend an after-dinner visit. Alfred jogged down the hall excitedly, eager to see his friend, while his father walked leisurely some ways behind. Upon reaching Mathieu's room, he stopped in front of the door in confusion. The lights had been turned off. He wondered if his friend had already gone to bed, but it was too early, even for Mathieu. By the time his father had caught up, he'd quietly poked his head through the doorway.

Inside the darkened room, underneath the carefully handmade heaven of shining stars and planets, sat Mathieu's father. Suddenly, it seemed like the entire hospital had gone silent save for the man lost in his grief. He was hunched over the side of the bed, and his back shook as he held back his sobs. All Alfred could do was stand there and listen to the man cry his son's name over and over again.

Arthur placed a hand gently on his shoulder and drew him away from the door and into a tight hug. "Oh, Alfred…I'm so sorry…"

It wasn't until they reached their house that everything hit him and the dam gates opened. Fat droplets of tears began rolling down his cheeks as he tried to choke back his sobs. He clung onto his father as he wailed, "Mattie…Mattie, I'm sorry! I don't have enough for his s-star yet! I-it's because I, I bou-bought that toy! I'm so sorry! A-Artie! It's my fault! I'm supposed to be Mattie's hero! B-but now Ma-Mattie won't know which star to, to wait on because I bought a-a toy! What do I do now!? Mattie! W-what if he gets lo-lost!?"

Arthur rubbed his back reassuringly, trying his best to hold back his own tears. "How much do you still need for that star, Alfred?"

"T-ten whole dollars!"

Taking out a handkerchief, his father wiped his face and took him by the hand towards their computer. "Here, let's go order that star, okay? I forgot to pay you for the chores you did for the past few days because I was low on change, right? It should be enough to get you that star. You can still give it to him as a Christmas present."

Alfred wiped his tears away with his sleeves, stumbling over his words, "But…but even if I get him a star, h-how will Mattie know where it is?"

"You told me he had a guardian bear, didn't you? It'll definitely know where his star is!"

Sniffling, he looked at his father questioningly. "E-even if it's a polar bear?"

Arthur nodded reassuringly. "Especially if it's a polar bear! They travel a lot every year and they never get lost! They're the most reliable bears out there! Now, what should we name this star?"

"M-Mattie's Star…"

"And do you know what Mathew's favourite constellation was?"

He nodded. "The little bear…"

"There, done." His father patted his head gently. "Alfred, you two are good friends, aren't you?"

Sniffling, he nodded again. "we're best friends."

His father smiled. "Then I'm sure he'll find his way to his star without any problems. And I'm sure he'll wait for you there after he's finished exploring. So one day, when you look out into the stars, I'm sure you'll see Mathew smiling at you."

His breath hitched as he looked up at the other. "Re-really, Artie? You promise?"

"Yes. I promise you. And you know how I feel about promises you can't keep."

"You might as well not make them at all…"

"Exactly." Picking his son up, he made his way towards the boy's bedroom. "Alfred, I know it's hard, but remember that he's not afraid or lonely because he has his mum with him now, and his bear, right?"

By then, he didn't have the energy to shout anymore. He wiped his reddened eyes again. "B-but I never even got to thank him. Artie, I didn't t-thank Mattie for teaching me about kisses, dinosaurs an-and stars. A-and I didn't thank him for sharing his snacks. And I didn't get to tell him not to be sc-scared. I w-wanted to tell him not to forget about me. What if he makes a new best friend?"

Arthur soothed back his hair. "I'm sure you'll still be Mathew's best friend. How could he ever forget about you? You bought him a star all on your own! He's probably telling someone about how his best friend's a hero and bought him his very own star right now. Besides, remember that one day, you'll get to play with him again up there, right? You can tell him everything then, and I'm sure he'll have a lot to tell you too."

"Promise?"

His father nodded. "I promise. Come on, now let's get you ready for bed. You'll feel a little better in the morning."

Having cried himself to the point of exhaustion, Alfred let out a shaky yawn as his father tucked him in. "Artie?"

"Yes?"

"You won't go to heaven any time soon, will you?"

Planting a kiss on his head, Arthur shook his head. "No, don't you worry. I'm not going anywhere anytime soon."

That night, he dreamt of Mathieu exploring the stars with his mother and bear at his side, and a happy smile on his lips.

On Christmas, the two of them paid a visit to Francis' restaurant which was empty save for the Frenchman. He had a haggard look as he tried his best to greet them. With a weak smile, he ushered them inside, out of the cold and snow. "Sorry, I didn't prepare anything. I wasn't expecting to have visitors today."

Arthur shook his head. "that's completely understandable. Please, if you ever need anything, our doors are opened. But that's not why we're here. Actually, Alfred here has something to give you."

He could feel his tears welling up again as he presented the star certificate to the man. "Mer…Merry Christmas, Mattie's papa. I bought Mattie a star like I promised to. I-it's so that you'll know where he is. He promised me that he'd wait there a-after he finished exploring with his mum so…" he wiped his tears away with his sleeve, "you don't have to feel lonely since M-Mattie's up there. He's probably h-having fun and making lots of new friends right now! A-and Artie said that…that he'll be able to find the star bec-because he has his bear. He promised me so it has to be true. Mattie's papa...thank you for taking care of Mattie, and for the snacks, and for l-letting me play with him. Artie promised me that Mattie's okay, so please don't be sad."

Francis knelt down and hugged him tightly. "Thank you, Alfred. Thank you for playing with Mathieu, thank you for this gift, thank you for everything. You don't know how much this means to me. You're going to do great things with your life, and I know that Mathieu will be cheering you on from the stars every step of the way. He loved you very much, Alfred. Thank you."

Hugging the man back, he cried, "T-then as Mattie's best friend and hero, I promise I'll make sure I'll do something great to make him proud! That way, he'll know I'm doing just fine and, and he won't have to worry! Then when I see him for real, I-I'll get to tell him all about it!"

Ten years later…

During his high school years, he made friends with Emily Jones. The two of them had a rather rocky relationship due to their similar personalities. When they got along, they were the best of friends, but when they disagreed, the two of them could conjure up storms. But it was also through her that he met her sister, Madeline.

Walking into the classroom to fetch his project partner's sister, he sighed loudly and raised the papers he'd rolled up to his lips to use as a megaphone. "Is there a 'Maddie Jones' here? Your pain in the butt of a sister's waiting for you."

A girl in pigtails with maple leaf clips in her hair stood up hastily. "S-sorry! That'd be me! I zoned out and completely forgot about the time! Oh, everyone's already left! I hope Emily didn't give you a hard time!"

Something about the way she immediately apologized made him laugh. He shook his head. "No, don't worry about it! Emily was just being Emily."

Then the door opened and a girl with blond, shoulder-length hair stormed in with a baseball bat in her hands. "Alfred Kirkland, stop flirting with my baby sister or I'll beat you up!"

"E-Emily!"

His face reddened. "W-what!? You're the one who said you had baseball practice and asked me to go bring her to the field!"

"Yeah! I said go get her! I didn't say go and flirt with her! Maddie, don't get too close to this guy!"

"What are you talking about!? I just got here! Since you got up here so fast, why'd you even ask me to come!?"

"I obviously realized how wrong I was to trust Maddie to you and came rushing up here to save her!"

"Save her? What kind of person do you take me for? Ow! Don't hit me! I can't believe I even agreed to work on this project with you let alone wait for you to finish your stupid practice! I should've done this project with Kiku! Or Lars! Even Ivan would've been better!"

"Like you should be talking! I should've partnered up with Alice or Bella instead!"

"Ow! Why can't you be more like your sister? How are you two even related!?"

The younger girl laughed. "You two sure get along well."

The two of them whirled around angrily in protest. "No, we don't! Take that back! Who on earth would be able to get along with this idiot!?"

Sitting on the benches by the field, the two of them waited for Emily's practice to end. He admitted a little begrudgingly, "She's actually really good at baseball, isn't she?"

Madeline nodded with a smile. "She wants to be a pro someday."

"That sounds exactly like something Emily would aim for."

"What about you? You're graduating soon too, eh? Do you have any plans?"

"Sort of…right now, I'm thinking of going into engineering since I really want to go into space."

She blinked. "Wow, space? That sounds really amazing! Is there a particular reason why you want to go into space though?"

Alfred rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. "You're going to think it's stupid."

The blonde shook her head. "I promise I won't!"

Chewing on his lip, he sighed, "Fine, I'll tell you. When I look up, instead of stars, I see hundreds of kisses. You know, the kind that make people's pain go away. And in particular, there's this one star I want to go to. See, when I was little, I had this friend that I bought a star for. He's the one who taught me about kissing injuries better. He promised that he'd wait on that star for me after he finished exploring so that we could play together again."

"Oh, kind of like in Le Petit Prince?"

"You know that book?"

The girl nodded. "I used to read it all the time when I was little. So you want to go to that star and see if he's there?"

"Yeah…" He blinked. "Wait, you don't think it's stupid?"

"Not in the least. What are you going to say to him when you see him?"

He looked up at the sky. "I don't know. I mean, if I see him, the first time will just be kind of like a visitation, right? I'd probably shout his name and give him a really long hug. But mostly, I just want to see how he's doing and I want to let him know that we're all doing just fine on earth. That'd be enough for me, at least until I die and go there for real. And what about you?"

She gave a start. "Eh? M-me?"

"Yes, you. Come on, you didn't laugh at me, so let me return the favour somehow."

Shyly, she stared at her legs. "Well, I don't have an exciting dream like you or Emily. I mean, I don't plan on becoming a star or going to a star. I was just thinking about going into wildlife and habitat conservation…I'd like to help preserve our forests and the wildlife in them, that's all…"

Alfred blinked. "What's there to get embarrassed about? That sounds legit to me. If you want to save our forests and animals, you should do it!"

Smiling at the encouragement, she nodded. "Thanks, Alfred. I guess you'll find out how successful I am if, after you come back from your mission in space and all our forests are still standing, eh?"

He grinned. "I'll look forward to coming back and taking a hike in the forests then!"

"Alfred! Stop flirting with Maddie!"

"What the hell, Emily!? Concentrate on your practice! Talking doesn't always equal flirting!"

Another ten years later…

He stepped into a familiar restaurant with a smile. "Mattie's papa!"

The owner turned around and greeted him happily, "Alfred! It's great to see you, mon cher! I saw you on the news! Actually, even if I didn't, I would've heard all about it from your papa. He ran in here to spread the news the second you told him, and then he got drunk and passed out. But who can blame him? He must be so proud of you! After all these years of hard work, congratulations on becoming the youngest astronaut to be sent into space, Alfred!"

Alfred could feel his face flush with embarrassment at his father's behaviour. "Thank you! And I'm sorry I won't have time to properly eat here until tomorrow! I've got an interview and then I'm meeting up with Madeline."

Francis smiled understandingly. "You sound terribly busy. Here, have a quick bite before you leave or you'll get hungry during your interview. I'm surprised you even had time to visit me."

He shook his head and accepted the food gratefully. "Of course I did! You're like a second dad to me! You're the one who gave me shelter that one time Emily chased me across town with that stupid bat of hers! I swear, she only became good enough for the All Star Team because she kept practicing on me! And look at you, feeding me delicious food the second I walk in, not even Artie does that! Well, that's partly because he can't cook, I guess. Oh, and speaking of Artie, he always complains about how whenever I call him, I ask him about Mattie's papa before I ask about him! So I'd tell him that he picked up the phone so he's obviously doing just fine!"

The Frenchman let out a laugh. "That makes sense to me. It's been so quiet ever since you and Emily left town, you two were the livliest kids around. But she's doing quite well, isn't she? I see her on TV all the time. Poor Madeline must be bored without the two of you. And without you around, there's no one to call me Mathieu's papa."

Glancing at the star certificate that'd been framed and placed on the wall, he hummed thoughtfully. "I always wondered if you minded it. Your wife must not be too fond of it."

The chef had remarried years ago to a nurse, though he never had another child after Mathieu. The man shook his head. "don't worry, my wife doesn't mind, and I certainly don't mind it. Alfred, most titles are temporary. One day I'll retire and then I'll no longer be a chef. But there will never be a single day that goes by where I'm not Mathieu's papa. Just like you'll always be Mathieu's hero, non?"

Alfred dipped his head in agreement. "That's right! Maybe I'll see him in space! Oh, I guess I better get to my interview!"

"One more thing, Alfred." The blond called out to him and handed him a napkin. "Two more, actually. First, wipe your mouth. And second, I'm positive that somewhere up there, Mathieu is very proud of you right now. We're all very proud of you. Thank you for keeping your promise."

He grinned and wiped his mouth. "Well, it's like Artie always says, if you're going to make a promise you can't keep, you might as well not make it at all. I'll be back!"

"I'm here live with Alfred F. Kirkland, soon to be NASA's youngest astronaut in space. Just a couple questions, Mr. Kirkland, what are you feelings on your upcoming mission?"

"Excitement for sure, and I guess I'm a little nervous to finally be able to get up there, but mostly excitement."

"Is there anyone you'd like to thank in particular?"

"My father, my family, all my friends, and anyone who helped me get to where I am today."

"Are you expecting to find anything out of the ordinary up there?"

"Not particularly…I mean, most people would say everything in space is just debris and rocks, but I like to think of them as different worlds waiting to be explored. Who knows? Maybe I'll even find aliens? If I meet an alien, I think I'd like to name him Tony."

"Have you already made plans for when you return home?"

"Of course! It'll be celebrations all the way! I have a pretty good idea as to exactly who I'll be seeing first and where I'll be eating! Oh, and I'm hoping to take a nice, long walk through a forest after I get back as well!"

"Did you always want to be an astronaut?"

"Not really. Actually, at first, I'd wanted to be a palaeontologist and somehow bring dinosaurs back to life, but then decided against it after watching Jurassic Park."

"I'm afraid we only have time for one more question today. You mentioned a little star in your other interviews. Did this have a big influence in your career choice then?"

"Yes, I'd say it definitely did. You see, I was lucky enough to make friends with a little star. And if it wasn't for him, I don't think I would've ever taken this career path after I got scared away from the idea of reviving dinosaurs. You see, he's probably up there exploring right now, or maybe he's waiting somewhere in the Ursa Minor, I'm not really sure. But there's one thing I'd like to let him know. If I'm lucky enough to come across him in space, I'd like to thank him and let him know that I'm doing just fine."

Nya~

Why do I suck so bad at writing summaries!? Not the happiest Christmas fic, is it? At least I didn't just leave it at 'he died. The end.' Actually, I don't even know what prompted me to write this. Somehow, it just kept getting long and longer until it became this. So here, have a very long one-shot and remember to tell all your loved ones just how much you love them or at least give them a hug! Though I did notice something while doing research for this fic. The price of stars range depending on where you are. With the exchange rate taken into account, I think the cheapest place to buy a star's in the States. The youngest astronaut to go up with NASA was 32, according to their site. If I don't update again before Christmas, Merry Christmas and Happy New Years! Enjoy!