A/N: This comes as a most warm and heartfelt gift to one of the most amazing people I have had the honor of knowing. Happy Birthday, Newborn Hope. May this story speak softly to your coming of age...and may you always remember how amazing you are in my eyes.
Bared feet stepped lightly along the tatami mat flooring, guided by the pale illumination of the moon as they drifted silently towards the open window. The daylight had been burned through fever and dwindled in restless sleeping, and now she found herself unable to slumber any longer. Another day gone away without the warmth of the sun as deep onyx eyes once again fluttered open to night. This seemed to be her new cycle, now. Living in darkness. Sleeping through the warmth of day. But...strangely...fading away into this eternal darkness no longer seemed to bother her as it once did. She found herself growing fondly accustomed to the night.
...and its loneliness...
But this night was different. Holding a warm embrace for her all its own, the warmth of the summer day still lingering on the evening breeze as it met her pale skin in a lover's caress. The closest thing to love she could feel now.
...this night hailed the Summer Solstice... The longest day of the year. And...her birthday.
She was now eighteen. An adult. A woman. Though this sentiment hardly seemed to matter...she had already grown so far beyond her short years.
Staring into the night, deep onyx eyes reflected the moon and its stars...and all the loveliness of the galaxy and universe her gaze could behold. The breathless beauty only seen and brought forth through the veil of darkness.
Another tender caress ran itself through the tendrils of her inky hair and through her very skin, catching itself along the delicate creation suspended from the windowsill. A fragile sculpture of glass beads linked together through invisible twine as they spiraled out from a center. Like a solar system of brightly shining, precious jems that slowly spun in a graceful dance along the evening wind. The child's toy drew her attention away from the vastness of the universe and into a singular memory. One she loved and cherished through the pain it caused her now.
'Akito. Come here, beloved. I have something for you.' A warm, gentle voice beckoned lovingly to the child.
'Is it a birthday gift for me, Papa?' The little girl sang out in jubilation so completely contagious that it swept over the moment with the growing laughter of her father.
'Of course, child.' The voice chuckled in response as tiny little feet came to run to him. 'Come see what I've made for you.'
And the little girl followed her father to the windowsill, watching his every move as large, gentle hands suspended the gift in the light of the sun. Bright, deep onyx eyes grew large with delight as the child stared at the gift for the longest time, watching it twist and dance in the summer breeze as each glass jewel exploded into color with the sun's kiss. And the very walls seemed to come alive with refracted light as the entire room manifested with millions of dancing fireflies in full daylight. With each twist and turn of the toy, the lights shifted and changed a kaleidoscope of colors right before her very eyes.
'Do you like it, beloved?' This whisper floated to her ear, causing the little girl to nod her head enthusiastically before gazing up lovingly at her father.
'Yes, Papa.' The child grinned as she watched her father crouch down to her level. 'It's pretty!' And a giggle escaped the child's lips with the tossing of her inky hair.
'I'm glad you like it, Akito.' The gentle voice murmured contently with a matching smile.
'What is it, Papa?' The little girl asked, taken in again by the whimsical magic of this gift.
'It's the solar system, child.' The words came softly as little brows furrowed in confusion.
'Solar...System?' And this question was met with the warmest of smiles.
'Everything you see at night. The sun, moon, and the stars, child. They are all part of something bigger. Something more vast.' Wise words came soft in their teaching as the child sat in rapture before strong comforting arms drew her into a warm lap as the two sat on the floor of the little girls room.
'You know the legend of the Zodiac, beloved.' The tender voice murmured as the two stared at the beauty of the gift in the window.
'Yes, Papa. But I want to hear about it again.' The little girl whispered, dark onyx eyes entranced by the light and color of the gift...and her father's voice.
'The Zodiac were created from the constellation of stars.' The voice began the familiar tale. 'And each star structure represents an animal spirit. A soul linked to a body in order to connect the earth to the sky above. Twelve beings residing in twelve very special people. Only the wisdom and providence of the universe decides who these people are. And how they are blessed.' These words continued to lull in the child's awareness as she listened attentively, her gaze fixed on the gift. 'And the Zodiac. Well, the Zodiac is much like the solar system. Each planet and star individual and distinct. Unique. But all of them are held together by the gravitational pull of the sun. The sun sits at the center of this delicate dance of planets, holding them all in a warm embrace to keep them connected...like a family.' The voice grew lower in this moment of peace. 'And just like the solar system... The universe, in its infinite wisdom, knew that the Zodiac would need a center too. To hold them all together. You are that center, beloved.' This statement was met with a gentle kiss to the top of the child's head as her father continued. 'It's no error of providence that you were born on the Solstice, child. That is when the sun shines at it's brightest. And you are like the sun, Akito. Holding all of us together. It won't always be easy, beloved. And the responsibility will be taxing.' The voice came laced with the slightest twinge of sadness. 'But remember that just like the warmth of the sun along the planets in the sky, the warmth of your love for the Zodiac members will keep you all together...as a family.' And the little girl felt strong arms squeeze in a gentle hug as she shifted to look up at her father.
'So...I'm the big diamond in the toy you made me? The sun?' The little child questioned whimsically.
'Yes.' Came this chuckled concession. 'I suppose you are.'
'And the other little diamonds around me are the Zodiac?' She continued to question, looking into her father's eyes in wonder.
'They can be, child. If you want them to be.' And the little girl beamed a smile as she turned her attention to the toy once more, before little brows furrowed in discontent.
'Papa, there are only nine diamonds.' The little child's voice came confused as large eyes looked at the solar system in more detail.
'Yes.' The gentle voice conceded. 'Because there are only nine planets in our solar system.'
'But...there are twelve zodiac members, Papa.' These words came full of concern. 'Where are the rest of my diamonds?' And a small chuckle of amusement manifested as another kiss was laid on the child's head.
'Would you like me to add them, beloved?' This question came warm and tender in response to the child's candidness.
'Yes.' The little girl answered quickly. 'We all need to be together.'
Deep onyx eyes took in the delicate structure once more as she resurfaced from this memory. This had been the last birthday present Akito had received from her father before his passing. And she cherished it. And hated it. Because it always reminded her of all of the hopes her father had had for her. To be the center for the Zodiac cursed. To be their warmth and light...
...and it reminded her of all the many ways she could never live up to her father's expectations...
Because, as Akito had grown, she began to realize that her father hadn't completely understood the weight of this burden placed upon her, though she knew he had tried to prepare her for it as best he could. To be the center of a solar system. It's guiding light and warmth. What he hadn't understood, was that the planets and stars, and the vastness of the universe itself always seemed to shine brightest in the absence of light...
THE END