Chapter 13 Birth of a Galaxy

About a year passed, and Solar was determined to keep that promise. At first, staying grounded was a hard thing to do. His feet hurt something fierce, and deep inside, he felt the unquenchable desire to fly. Often times, he would catch himself rising into the sky, only to scold himself and sink back to the Earth.

The last time this happened, Solar slapped himself on the cheek and grit his teeth. His cheek burned like a fireplace, so much so that tears sprung to his eyes. But he wasn't going to give into that part of himself.

He couldn't.

Eventually, Solar managed to engrain that mindset into his head hard enough so that he stayed on the ground. He went a whole day without rising into the air. That day turned into two, and two turned into three. Sure enough, he found that it had been a month since he had risen into the air. He had never felt so proud of himself.

And now, it was a year since that dreadful day. He was a happy young boy, always playing with the lumas and munching on starbits. Even without his powers, he couldn't ask for a better life.

"Solar?"

Solar perked up. He turned and saw his Mama, watching him observe the lumas as they played. She smiled at him, causing his heart to flutter. He hadn't seen that smile in so long. He had began to doubt that she would ever wear that expression again.

"How are you?"

Her tone was fearless, peaceful. Solar felt his cheeks grow warm as he stood up. "I'm doing well. Thanks, Mama."

The lumas who Solar had been observing noticed their Mama. They bolted over, squeeing like little babies and cooing like doves. They surrounded their mother, grabbing hold of her body and snuggling against the fabric of her dress. Solar laughed. It looked like they were devouring her.

"Okay, okay little ones!" Rosalina said. She laughed as she did so; clearly she was enjoying this. "I think it would be best if you went back to playing."

"No!" one luma said.

"We love you, Mama!"

"We don't want to play; we want to snuggle you!"

Rosalina let out an exasperated sigh, but still could not hide the smile on her face. This caused Solar to giggle.

"You're liking this."

"I am not!" Rosalina said. She tried to push the star creatures off, but they were determined. They clung to her arms like life preservers, kissing her skin. "Children, please!"

Solar giggled. "I want to get in on this too, Mama!" He rushed over and tackled Rosalina to the ground. All the parties involved squealed. Solar felt as if he was on top of the world. "Tickle fight!"

Rosalina laughed up a storm as Solar tickled her. The lumas, finding this display amusing, joined Solar immediately. Rosalina laughed so hard that her face turned red.

"Stop!" She squealed in delight.

Solar wasn't going to stop. He poured all of his happiness into his effort to tickle her, wishing that he could show her how joyful he was. Maybe he could transfer some of that joy to her? Oh, he wished that he could.

"Everyone!"

Solar stopped. He turned and saw Polari, staring at them with a raised eyebrow. "What's going on here?"

Solar bolted off his Mama, as did the lumas. He hung his head and held his hands behind his back. "Nothing, Papa."

"It was not nothing!" Rosalina exclaimed. She got up and wiped some dust off her front. "They ambushed me!"

Polari giggled. "Ambushed you, huh? A true warrior you are, Rose?"

Rosalina flushed. "I...I...I am…"

Polari shook his head, floated up, and patted her on the shoulder. "Don't worry; I'll keep your soft spot hidden."

"Me too," Solar said. He went up and stroked her arm. "We can't let the universe know that the keeper of the cosmos is a great big softy."

Rosalina flushed even harder. "I...I...I…" Eventually, she sighed. "Don't patronize me."

"Oh, Rose." Polari wrapped her in a hug. "You're too pure to patronize."

"Yeah!" Solar joined in on the hug. It didn't last long before Rosalina pushed them both away from her, looking grumpy.

"Well, anyway," she said. "I should probably get back to work."

Polari's eyes lit up. "Oh! Yeah, about that!" He gestured toward a luma, one with icy blue skin and a jubilant expression. "Icy is ready to turn!"

Rosalina's eyes grew wide. "What? Are you…" She floated up to Icy. "You're ready, dear!"

"Oh yes, Mama!" Icy exclaimed. The light in their eyes looked like it was dancing. "I just need a few more star bits! Then, I can transform!"

Rosalina smiled. "Well then. Who am I to say no?" She gestured toward Solar. "Come on, sweetie. Let's go feed Icy."

Solar felt his heart soar. He was going to watch a luma transform for the first time!

…

The entire Comet Observatory gathered around outside the Engine Room. Icy bounced around, twirling in anticipation. Solar himself was also feeling excited. In all the seven years that he had been alive, he had never seen this happen. And if he had, he had been way too young to remember. He had only heard how marvelous it was, how amazing it looked.

"Okay, Icy!" Polari exclaimed. He and Rosalina carried a bucketful of star bits. Rosalina smiled, a proud sensation taking up every part of her. Polari himself looked beyond excited, arguably just as excited as Solar was. And Icy? He stared at the star bits like they were precious treasures.

"Gimme!" he exclaimed.

"Hold on," Rosalina said. She turned toward the rest of the lumas. "Today is the day, my little ones. Today is when your brother finally comes of age."

The lumas cheered, and Solar cheered right along with them. In his opinion, this was an event worth celebrating.

Rosalina raised her hand. "Okay, okay." They crowd quieted down. "We will remember this day for the rest of eternity. It is the day when a new galaxy is born, when a new component is added to our vast and extraordinary universe." She paused. When she spoke again, Solar couldn't help but hear a sort of...pain in her voice. "Yes. This is quite good."

Solar blinked. His Mama sounded like she was minutes away from crying. Was she okay?

Polari turned back toward Icy. "Well…" he handed over the star bits. "Eat up, kid."

Icy nodded and wolfed down each of the star bits whole. Once he finished, his entire form glowed. He also vibrated, possibly from excitement.

"It's time!" He squealed. "TRANSFORM!"

He shot up into the air like a firework. Solar blinked, gawking as he saw the luma travel up, up, up. For a minute, he stopped. Just as Solar was starting to become concerned, an explosion of light occurred. He covered his eyes, the light searing itself into his retinas. Yeah, he would definitely be seeing that as he tried to sleep that night.

"Look!" one of the lumas exclaimed.

Solar looked up. There was a new galaxy, a spiral galaxy. The stars that it housed sparkled and shone. They looked like diamonds, diamonds beyond any sort of earthly value. Solar didn't dare to blink. He wanted to keep the sight of them ingrained in his mind.

"Woah."

"Let's go to the new galaxy!" one of the lumas exclaimed. The others gathered around Rosalina and Polari, chirping like birds as they all made the same request.

"Okay, okay!" Rosalina said as she held up her hands. "Don't worry; we can go!"

The lumas cheered. Solar smiled. A new galaxy, just waiting to be explored. What could possibly be found there? New creatures? New food? New adventures?

Well, whatever there was, he was excited to find out.