the Moon and the Star


youth - breakage remix by foxes


note: you may want to have a spanish to english dictionary in hand.


Ever since she was a child Luna hated mornings. Most days, they started by slamming the snooze button, begging for another ten minutes of sleep. But her four-year-old had other plans.

"Mommy! Mommy! Get up!" Estrella energetically jumped on the bed, shaking her mother by the shoulders.

Luna groaned, pulling the pillow over her head. She wanted sleep. With contempt, the nineteen year old sat up, and rubbed her eyes while attempting to tune out her daughter's loudness. It didn't work. Estrella hurled herself across the small bed, and wrapped her arms around her mom's neck with a giggle.

"Abue says to wake you up for breakfast," she grinned, releasing her mother and jumping off the bed before dashing out. For a second, Luna wished she had the energy her daughter had.

She stretched herself with a loud yawn; glad she didn't have to worry about making breakfast this morning. Days like these were when she was thankful for the support her family provided.

"Buenos días," Marina smiled brightly when Luna tiredly dragged herself in, replying with a grunt.

Marina Gonzalez stood at an average height for a Mexican. The always-cheerful woman had light brown wavy hair that fell right above her shoulders, and because of poliosis, a section of her long bangs were white.

"Cuantos tacos quieres?" Marina asked.

"Two," Luna replied, kissing her father's baldhead and taking the seat next to him.

Hector Gonzalez was a portly man with a trimmed gray moustache, thinning dark hair with gray sideburns. He originated from Guadalajara, and like his wife, escaped the dangers of cartels and thee the corrupt government during 1983.

"Hector, put el pinche celluar away!" Marina ordered, swatting her spatula near his hand. Hector shoved it back in his pocket with a grumble and took another bite from his taco. Estrella whined loudly from her chair, telling grandma she wanted to play angry birds.

"We don't use our phones at the table, Estrella," Marina kindly informed her sole granddaughter. The latter only pouted, swinging her feet.

"Where's Sol?" Luna asked, looking around for her twin sister.

"Sol left to school, dijo que she was working on an important project," her father grinned, digging into his breakfast tacos.

Luna rolled her eyes.

Sol always had something to work at in school, even in the middle of summer.

Luna carried a giggling Estrella after breakfast, dressed her up in a cute pink dress with a pair of white sandals, and braided her hair. The mother opted for a modest skirt with a white blouse tucked in, and a pair of flats.

For the past few weeks, Luna had been teaching her daughter how to act around strangers. While Estrella was usually a hyperactive child with some destructive tendencies, Luna had worked hard to secure an interview to Saint Catherine's private school.

They rushed out of the home, walking down Loomis St, reaching the blue line train where they switched from the Clinton stop to the Damen station. Luna grabbed her daughter's hand tightly, not wanting to loose her in the midst of tourists.

The teenage mother took a deep breath, looking at the old building while standing in the front. Sighing, she crouched down at eye level Estrella, a tight smile on her lips, "I want you to be a good girl, okay?"

The four year old nodded, watching her mother with a curious stare. Luna fixed the stray hair in Estrella's face, and gently pulled her inside.

Knocking three times, she was greeted by a pleasantly smiling nun.

"Mrs Gonzalez?"

"Miss," Luna corrected with a smile.

"Come in dear, the Dean is waiting," the nun said. She followed diligently with Estrella in tow.

The first thing you would notice of Dean Gertrude Goldenyates is the unkind aura she possessed, and the similarities between Miss Trunchbull from Matilda. She was a sturdy woman, with a tight bun on the top of her head and wore a all gray pantsuit. Had it not been for intimidating aura, Luna could have sworn the woman was only joking.

"Mrs Gonzalez," she began.

"Miss," Luna corrected again, immediately regretting it when she was given the disapproval look.

"Miss Gonzalez," Goldenyates said, the dissatisfaction outright with the word. "What is your interest in signing up your daughter up this respected institute?"

The mother balked, her memory blank as she tried to scramble for answers. But the one question that flashedin neon letters was 'Would Estrella strive for greatness with a scary lady as a dean?' Despite it, Luna knew it was between a barrio education or a private school, and the dependency of her daughter's future hit her like a truck.

"I, well, I want her to do much better than what I did for myself," was her shaky response.

The love she had for her daughter was endless, and Luna did not regret the life she has led with her. But there were times where she regretted the limitations imposed on herself as a teenage mother. Why go to college if she could get a job and provide right away?

Her twin was a University of Chicago student, majoring in biochemistry, and her oldest sister worked for a congressman in Washington. Her? She worked as a secretary at a small law firm. She liked her job, and was good at it. But more often than not she felt like a disappointment to her parents, who left their country for a better life for their children. There were days Luna couldn't help but feel like a letdown.

"What career will you child strive for?" The dean seemingly sneered, looking at surprisingly calm and well behaved Estrella. The instinct to smack the older woman across the face was Luna's immediate reaction, but she held it back and digressed and bit her tongue. This was her daughter's future.

She took a few seconds to mull it over her answer, but the only answer she could come up was greatness. Luna lied, and said doctor. If Estrella decided to be a sculpture artist that emphasized working with cat feces, then Luna would work double shifts in order to support her daughter.

"Is the father out of the picture?" the vile woman then asked, arched eyebrow with a stare down. Luna shifted in her seat, straightened her shoulders while glancing momentarily at her daughter, who was interested in her hands. Luna returned her gaze back to the dean, and nodded.

The rest of the interview was unpleasant. The woman could not suppress her aversion towards single mothers, asking questions that would allude to Estrella's father. Luna concluded her daughter would not be accepted, and breathed deeply once they were out in the streets.

It had been the same type of snobbery she encountered when she attempted to alleviate her parents from babysitting, and enroll Estrella into daycare. But every place she thought redeemable had the tendency to look down their noses, and decline the applications.

"Mommy, don't be sad," Estrella tugged on mother's arm, a soft smile on her lips.

"I'm not sad sweetheart," Luna lied, picking her up and carrying her on her hip.

"But you're crying mommy."

"It's just sweat Estrella," She laughed through her lie. "Come on, let's go meet grandma so she can take you home."


Luna was proud of her work ethic, and it helped that she actually enjoyed her job.

But she was a puta, eye-candy, and nothing more.

That's what the other women at the law firm described her as behind her back. Okay so they didn't use the word puta, but that was her translation. She was the secretary for Santiago Manuel Fernandez, a partner in the firm, and he was young.

"Qué pasó Luna?" He asked in his flawless Spanish, making her regret neglecting her Latina roots.

He was handsome.

"Nothing, I'm fine," she replied, sorting through the files.

He was caring.

"Did the Saint Catherine's meeting not go well?"

He was good lawyer.

"She looked at me like a common whore, Santiago," she huffed, slamming the papers on the desk and rubbing her temples.

And he was married.

"I'm sorry." He placed his hand on the lower back of her waist, pulling her into an embrace and planting a kiss on her lips.


Luna arrived home a little later than her usual, a smile on her lips. Despite starting the day with a negative note, she felt considerably better. Being with Santiago was wrong, and she knew that. He had an estranged wife, but he assured her they were in the middle of a custody battle to divide the assets. She'd never seen the papers before, but he claimed another lawyer was handling it.

"Mooommy!" Estrella flung herself at her mother, wrapping her arms around the legs.

"Hi sweetie," she smiled, placing a kiss on her daughter's forehead.

"Auntie Sol is face timing with Aunt Cowa on the phone, come on, come on!" she said, dragging her mother to the bedroom.

Her exhausted looking twin greeted her with a nod, handing the phone over with an annoyed look.

"Corazon is being unbearable," she grunted, rolling her eyes as she walked away.

'I heard that!' She heard her oldest sister yell from the phone.

"I wasn't hiding it," Sol retaliated.

Luna chuckled as she sat on the window nook, positioning the phone in front of her to face the eldest Gonzalez. Estrella sat on mother's lap as she started babbling to her aunt about her day. Luna watched in amusement as her sister gave the timely nods, 'okays' and 'that sounds fun.' She was thankful for her, even if she didn't tell her often. Instead of judging her teenage pregnancy, Corazon took time off from her job during her last trimester, and was in the delivery room when Estrella was born.

"I'm gonna go play with toys now," Estrella announced, waving goodbye to her aunt with a huge grin minutes later and ran off. Luna smiled after her, but turned her attention back to her sister.

'What's wrong?' Cora inquired.

"What makes you think there's something wrong?"

'Usually you try to kick her out of the room so we can talk,' she said with a knowing smirk.

"I don't want to talk about it," Luna responded.

Cora rolled her eyes, dramatically sighing, and Luna negated her statement seconds later.

"Can you try to be impartial?"

'Not when it comes to family, but I can give it a try.'

"Do you think I'm a slut because I got pregnant?"

'No, why?' Cora's interest roused quickly.

"I'm just wondering," Luna muttered, clearing her throat.

'That's not something you just wonder about."

"I just, ugh, I feel like I've screwed up Estrella life so many ways because I'm a single mother," Luna vented, waving her free hand aimlessly.

'Let's get one thing straight, single mother's don't have help from anyone, and you've had help from Ama, Apa, Sol and me… even if you didn't want to tell us who the father is,' Corazon was quick to state.

"I mean, because I'm not married, I feel people treat me like a second class citizen," the brunette replied, annoyed and delved into the story of Goldenyates.

'That's fucked up,' Corazon responded. 'I think I can get you a meeting at that other private school… what was it? Oh! Morgan Park Academy. I can pull some string, a couple of people owe me a favor.'

Luna shook her head, a frown marring on her lips, "I would love that but I can't afford it."

Cora laughed.

'Trust me, don't worry about it, I'll set it up for you.'

Skeptical, but still trusting her sister, Luna let her do it. She doubted her sister's ability to pull strings from Washington.

Luna watched as her sister pulled on her earlobe, and arched an eyebrow in question. It was her sister's notable action when she was about to reveal something. A few months ago, Cora confessed she had sold weed from time to time.

'I've got to tell you something but you can't tell anyone yet,' she began, and once she saw Luna's nod, continued. 'I've got a couple of roommates – not serial killers, before you start to worry! – they recently got jobs at my office, and needed a place to stay.'

"Is it a long term thing?"

'That's up in the air,' Cora replied.

"Are they nice?" Her sister nodded. "Okay. Well, hey, when are you coming over? Mom kept blabbering on how much she misses you, so you know that means you're overdue for a visit."

'Soon.' Cora vaguely answered, laughing. 'Even Jem's pushing me to go home for a while.'

"How's she doing?"

'She's good,' she replied curtly and Luna nodded. She liked Jemma, and was really the only friend Cora ever brought around.

'So I have to go start dinner but I'll talk to you later, okay? Give Amá and Apá a hug for me.'

The goodbye was quick, and didn't even get to act surprised that Corazon was cooking dinner. She laughed, locking the phone and dropped it on Sol's bed before hearing her father loudly announce he was home. Luna heard her daughter scramble for the toys, and making her way to the entrance.

Her sister was right.

She wasn't a single mother.


A/N: luna and estrella play such an important roll in this story, that i just had to have an entire chapter on them. it also gives me a break from the whole spy/hero thing.

sorry this took forever. one of my two betas went MIA so i was/am pretty nervous about putting this up. i am anxious to hear about the peppered spanish in the story. my og script has a lot of spanglish but i had to narrow it down to every other word because it's more believable to those who speak both languages natively. let me know what your thoughts are on it.

-Astral Kai & abstract0118: I didn't meant to take forever :(

& thanks to all my fellow lurker readers! feel free to drop me a message via my ff tumblr! vaindaisy . tumblr