Allen woke up with the heavy scent of flowers in his nose. A little confused he opened his eyes. A light blue sky, framed by high stems with flowers met him. Butterflies flapped around, unaware of the suddenly awake human. Bees zipped past, almost making a race of landing on the next flower faster than their competition. Allen stretched out his hand to touch one of the purple heads above him, surprising a big fluffy bumblebee that buzzed up with deep rumbling wings.
These creatures didn't seem to care they could go so much higher with their wings. They were just happy with flying around between the pretty colors.
Allen pushed himself up, expanding his view. As high as they were he could see the forest on one side, the sea on the other. The waves made the sun's rays dance. Between them, big bodies moved as a group of whales surfaced to spray the water from their airways.
It was incredible how different the world looked under the sunlight. Stars were beautiful, but they weren't capable of bringing out the many colors that attracted the bugs around him. He shifted his eyes back to the flowers. This time more slowly, he brought his finger to one of the petals. The bumblebee that seemed to be searching for the sweet treasure inside stepped around slowly, not paying any attention to the fact that it's little black paws were finding their hold on a pale human finger. Allen smiled at the light, tickling sensation. It was incredible that a creature like this seemed so content with its world.
A soft rumble announced the bug's departure. He followed it with his eyes as it left his finger and went on to the next flower.
He dropped his hand in his lap, then let his eyes dart to the figure next to him. Lavi seemed fast asleep. He was breathing heavily. His face was completely relaxed. The red hair had gotten all messy in their flight earlier, but for some reason Allen wished it would always look like that. With the sun making it light up like flames, he couldn't resist the temptation of touching it.
However much he liked the stars, they didn't do Lavi any justice. Of course the sun was a star too, but it wasn't the same as seeing all of them in the night sky. However, right now, seeing Lavi's face lit brightly, he was kind of glad it was daytime. For the first time, the wonder of everything around him seemed to actually reach his mind completely. The brightness of the colors seemed to outshine his wish for the silver light of the moon. Lavi had been telling him how beautiful the earth was all this time, but he hadn't really paid much attention to it. He'd thought that was what humans said just to soothe themselves with the idea that they were stuck down here. But for the first time he was starting to realize his companion hadn't just been lying to himself to be positive. For the first time he was starting to see himself how pretty everything was around him and how much more there might be on the huge surface the planet had. He'd been looking upwards to the stars so much, he'd never actually taken the effort to open his eyes for what was in front of him all along.
He curled one of the red strands around his finger, inspecting it like he saw it for the first time. The complexity, the bright color of the simple hair seemed breathtaking all of a sudden. Finally he let go of it, so it fell back on the ground. His companion seemed completely unaware. The defenselessness of his partner made a protective feeling rise inside of Allen. Suddenly he wondered if he should turn back into a dragon and curl around him again.
But if he did that, he would become unable to do other things. Like that time in the lake. As a dragon he could never have shared his air. He hadn't really expected it to feel so good though. Everything in him had warmed up, like he had been preparing to breathe out a sea of flames.
Had it just been the heat of the moment? Had it been a coincidence? He'd watched a lot of humans in his long lifetime. He knew how they showed their love to each other. But he wasn't human. Was it still possible to feel things like that as a star and a dragon? He bent down, assured by the fact that the redhead was still deeply unconscious. Carefully he pressed a soft kiss on the closed eyelids of Lavi's only good eye. A new, peaceful glow of warmth started to spread in his chest. Convinced by the growing good feeling he moved downwards, brushing his lips against the other's like before. For a moment he wondered if he should go further. What Lavi would think of it. In the lake he hadn't seemed to mind.
However, his thoughts were broken apart when a set of arms wrapped around him and pulled him to the ground. Allen yelped softly as Lavi pushed him against his chest. "No, don't leave, Al."
For a moment he was sure his companion had woken up, but then he realized the words didn't make any sense. The redhead's breath returned to the same heavy rhythm as before, the arms relaxed.
He was still asleep.
Allen smiled, feeling his cheeks burn up at the thought of what the guy could possibly be dreaming of. Carefully he let his hands slide over the guy's shirt and dug his fingers deep in the folds. He pulled himself closer, burying his face in the fabric. "Don't worry, Lavi," he answered gently, hoping his words would somehow reach his companion in his dreams. "I can't." He sighed softly, caressing the warm emotions that filled his mind like warm, fluffy clouds. It was so much like what he'd felt when he was still with Mana that he felt the desire to start shining like a star. "I won't either."
They were really getting closer to their destination by now. The fuzzy cloud Lavi had been walking on for a few days was starting to dissipate from the moment Allen told him he was starting to actually feel Neah's presence. He hadn't really thought much of their mission anymore. It had seemed unimportant ever since their magical flight. Not to mention the way he had woken up with the boy in his arms the next night. He had to admit it had been kind of embarrassing, but at the same time he couldn't ignore the strong desire it had woken up inside of him. At first he had thought his companion had felt the same, but the past few days the boy had started to avoid him instead. He still wasn't sure how to tell Allen how he felt without making himself look like a fool.
And now they were almost reaching their goal. He had to move fast. No-one knew what would happen as soon as they would reach their destination after all. If Allen would be in time to defeat Neah and if so, if he would be able to return to the stars after all.
If anything, Lavi wanted to at least prevent that with the boy's own free will. He couldn't stand to be separated by such a giant, unimaginable distance.
However, as he lay there on his back next to the campfire with his companion sitting on the other side, he couldn't think of anything. He stared at the stars, hoping they would somehow offer him some answers, but instead they gazed upon him in silent white. His mind wandered in the late night. The light above them turned into people in beautiful white robes, dancing around with ribbons that floated like shining rays.
Suddenly Lavi realized where he had seen that before. He turned his head to see if his companion was still awake. He was. Allen was staring into the flames with his mind just as far, but he wasn't asleep.
"Hey, Al, I just remembered something pretty interesting."
Grey eyes blinked and turned back to bright silver. "You did?"
"Yeah," Lavi worked himself up to his elbows. "You know, I once was in this village where they had this whole religion based on the sky. Just as I got there they were organizing a whole festival and you know what the most awesome thing was? They had this huge dance, where everyone personalized a star. They danced in circles all around the square in the exact arcs the stars also describe in the night sky around that time of year. It was breathtaking."
Allen smiled excitingly. "Yeah, I've been there too! When I was really homesick I stayed there for a while and asked them to teach me." He frowned in thought. "I think I can still remember most of them."
"You mean you can dance?" Lavi pushed himself up entirely now.
Amusement slid over the boy's face. "Well, yes, I guess you could say that."
"Would you…?"
He almost didn't dare to ask further, but Allen laughed like he'd already expected the question.
"Alright then, but don't expect too much of me. It was about a century ago and it's probably much harder with gravity." He rose slowly. For a moment he tilted his head to the stars above them, then he closed his eyes, breathed deeply… and started to dance.
With slow but elegant gestures he moved over the forest floor. Though every step was different, his body shifted in a steady speed, making him circle with just the same continuity as a star. His arms swirled around his head like rays of light. His hair glowed. The moves were all pretty and bright as the fires burning above them, but never caused him to stray from his orbit.
It was exactly as Lavi remembered it. In this role it seemed perfectly clear where Allen belonged.
"You're doing Sirius!"
Allen stopped and smiled so brightly that it almost seemed like he was emitting light himself. Even the little chip in his tooth couldn't dull the perfect radiance. "I did! I didn't expect you to be able to guess it in such detail."
Lavi laughed, rubbing the back of his head in embarrassment. "Well, I've read a lot of books on the stars and I remember most of the dances I saw."
A spark jumped between the silver eyes. "Then what about this one." Suddenly he went back to dancing. However, this time he wasn't as precise as before. He swirled around the clearing in little irregular loops, slowing down every time he started going upstream, and speeding up again as he finished the strange out of arc motion.
Lavi didn't have to think long about that one. "You're Mars now."
Allen laughed as he let his body come to a standstill. "Yeah, though that isn't a star strictly speaking, but it looks like one from down here."
"That was really good though. You looked just as good as the village people there. You're a natural talent."
Allen bowed deeply. "Well, thank you."
Lavi put his finger under his chin and stared at the boy thoughtfully. For a moment he wondered if he should ask it, if it wouldn't open up old wounds inside the still recovering heart. But then he decided to take the risk carefully. "So, Al, since you're a star, what does your dance look like?"
Allen's eyes widened in surprise, then he smiled a little regretfully. "I wasn't visible from here, Lavi, so they never made a dance for me."
That would explain why nobody seemed to have noticed one of the stars had suddenly disappeared when the dragon had descended.
"Then what would it look like? You should know. It's about you after all."
That sparked some thought into the boy. Silver eyes traveled back upwards to the tiny white lights in the darkness. A pale hand traveled to a white strand of hair and started curling it around a finger. Then Allen looked back at Lavi and smiled a little unsurely.
"Well, I guess it would look a bit like this." He closed his eyes, then started moving slowly. The steps were small, the movement of his arms delicate. The whole dance was much more modest than the ones he'd done before. Within the usual arc, that presented his path through the sky seen from the earth, he was describing small perfect circles, like he was going around something that was doing the actual big arc. The boy's face was relaxed and peaceful as he danced. It was clear that his body was basically moving on his own. As Lavi watched him act out the path of the star, he couldn't help but feel that Allen was completely in his element. A strong sensation of alien powers radiating from the boy caught him and suddenly he felt sure that if gravity hadn't taken such a hold on Allen, he would just have started floating right there. The pale skin glowed up and soon enough it was radiating soft silver light like the moon.
After a few circles, Allen let his dance flow to a slow stop. He opened his eyes slowly, looking like he was still waking up from a trance. When he caught sight of Lavi he smiled. Then he froze. "Oh wait, I didn't do that entirely right, I should end it like this." Suddenly he started dancing with rapid steps, flinging himself out of his arc and hurtling himself towards the redhead.
For a moment Lavi thought he would have to catch the boy before they would collide, but then Allen stopped as abruptly as he had started moving. They were so close to each other that he could feel the air of Allen's quick breath brush his skin. Allen's cheeks were flushed from the exercise. His eyes were shining brighter than usual.
"Now I'm on the earth as I'm supposed to be. Together with you."
Lavi laughed, suddenly realizing what the boy had meant to do. "Yeah, I guess that would be the most fitting dance indeed."
"So what about you, Lavi?" It seemed a little more than a joke. Allen was actually interested. "What would your dance look like if you were a star?"
That wasn't a question he had expected. Not really one that was really in his capabilities to answer either, but the boy was looking at him with such brimming expectation that he couldn't possibly deny it.
He closed his eye, thinking about what made him 'him'. What was important for him and how that would express itself in him as a star. There wasn't really much he could think of. Every time he thought of stars he would just see Allen's bright smile, with twinkling silver eyes. Maybe he should just use that.
With a grin he opened his eyes. "Maybe a bit like this." He took one step back to create some distance between him and his companion, then started stepping around randomly. He wasn't really sure how he was supposed to dance as a star, so he let his limbs choose their own path. However, as he circled around the boy, he suddenly grabbed Allen's arms and started swinging him with him.
If he wasn't a real star, he was basically leaning on Allen to be one, right? It didn't seem like an entirely stupid choice of dance to him anyhow.
Allen burst out laughing. At first Lavi tried to keep pulling him along, but he had to stop when the fit was paralyzing his companion.
"Wow, Lavi, you're almost like a twin star."
"A twin star?"
"Yeah," Allen rubbed his eyes with his sleeve, "There are pairs of stars that always circle around each other. They are super clingy, always keeping each other close. Some of them even get so close that they fuse. Almost like what you were doing just now."
Lavi grinned. Actually, that description didn't sound so bad at all, but maybe he'd better not say that. Then he thought back to the dance the boy had done just before. It had confused him a little at the time. "Wait, you were making circles too. You're a twin star!"
Allen smiled, his cheeks darkening. "Yeah, basically. I wasn't very noticeable though. Mana was really big and bright, while I'm just a little dwarf star."
For some reason it felt like Allen was sharing really intimate information. The stories about his time as a star, high up in the sky, were incredibly interesting. They were starting to make him look at Allen with different eyes.
He grinned, pulling a white strand of hair playfully. "A dwarf star, I knew it. You are a beansprout!"
Allen eyes widened in surprise, then narrowed indignantly. "Call me that again and I'll flash you."
"Flash me? That sounds like a very dangerous warning coming from such a little dwarf star."
He shouldn't have underestimated a natural ball of fire, because a second later a pale finger was flicked towards him and a white explosion of light burned straight into his retina.
He cried out and stumbled back in reflex. When he opened his eye again, there was just darkness and a mass of grey spots in his sight. His night sight was completely ruined.
"Aahh, Allen, what did you do? You just blinded me!" He made sure his voice gave away how light hearted his words were.
"That's punishment for belittling a star. I'm still way bigger and heavier and brighter than you, stupid mortal."
Lavi chuckled. "Alright, alright, I'm sorry, mr. bright star."
"Alright then. I'll give you some light to make up for it." As promised the boy lit up again, glowing just enough to show their direct surroundings. It was like a second moon had appeared in the sky.
"Incredible, you can really shine like a star."
"Yeah, I don't do it very often as it can attract unwanted attention and humans tend to get freaked out by it. But even a dwarf star gives light, you know. Just not as much as Mana," he admitted shyly.
"But you still stayed close to him." It was a friendly statement.
Allen smiled brilliantly. "Yeah, it was great. We basically circled around each other. Wait, why don't we try it out together. Dance in the usual arc, then try to let me in too."
Lavi grinned, excited at the idea. He chose an arc and tried to stick close to it. He wasn't really sure about the rest of his moves, but he just decided to go with the flow. Allen didn't even seem to pay much attention to his dance moves. Instead he moved in and started circling around Lavi. Lavi moved backwards a little, offering the boy half of the arc, then mimicked the circling movement. Soon enough they were dancing in perfect arcs through the sky, but always staying close. Allen's face was glowing with happiness.
Still, Lavi couldn't help but frown a little as they kept taking steps around each other, always in the same circles, turning and swirling through the darkness. It was starting to feel all too familiar to him. This was basically the feeling he'd been having these past few days. "This seems all very nice and cozy and all, but still I would be super frustrated if I were that Mana guy."
Allen looked up from his trance in confusion. "What, why?"
Lavi smiled. "Well, if I was him I couldn't take it that you're here all the time, so close, but still out of reach. If I were him, I would do this." Clearly totally outside the expectation of the boy, he grabbed his companion and pulled him to his chest, wrapping his arms around Allen's small body. The boy was even warmer than usual. The glow wasn't just light apparently. The heat spread through the fabric of his shirt and warmed him to the core. When the boy started laughing, he could feel the muscles spasm under his skin, the voice rumble through Allen's chest.
"Lavi, you just made two stars collide. That usually causes mass destruction, you know."
He grinned, tightening his grip on his precious load. "I don't care. As long as you're so close, the whole world can fall apart around me."
Allen pushed them apart just a little. Lavi let it happen reluctantly. Silver eyes stared deep inside his. The thousands of tiny specks in the irises looked like a whole stellar system on its own. For a moment Lavi wondered if the dance they made when Allen laughed would be actable too.
Then he closed his eye, leaned in and pressed his lips on the boy's. Allen reacted by melting into his embrace. White light cut through his eyelids and the heat under his arms intensified. It was like their bodies continued where they had left off last time. Lavi felt his heart accelerate when he felt how Allen responded with the same strong desire that was filling his own mind. He let a hand travel upwards, to the boy's head, tangling his fingers in the soft hair. Their kiss got rougher. Allen's fingers were clashed in his shirt, pulling so hard it might actually rip apart.
But the magic was broken even more roughly then last time. Suddenly every muscle under Lavi's hand tensed. Allen's body froze, then, with all the strength he'd built up in the past few weeks, he pushed them apart.
Lavi opened his eye with shock to see the boy standing in front of him, his arms between them as a barricade. His head was bowed down, so his eyes were hidden behind his hair.
"We can't do this," his voice sounded stifled and he turned his face away. "However much I want this, I'm a star and a dragon. You're just a human, Lavi. This love is doomed. We can't go on with this. It will only lead to meaningless suffering."
All the heat inside him turned to a solid rock that crashed into his heart and collided it with the rest of the organs in his abdomen. "It wouldn't be meaningless." The corners of his mouth curled up desperately as he grabbed Allen's hand with his own. "Think of all the good things that can come out of this." He pulled it up and pressed his cheek against it. "Please, Al, I don't think I can stand seeing you circle around me all the time, always out of reach."
Allen jolted his hand out of his grip and backed away, clenching it with his other. "I'm sorry. I really wish we could be like that too, but I live for hundreds, thousands, maybe even billions of years, while you'll be away in the blink of an eye. As you age and wither, I'll just shine with the same light as always and when you die I'll be left alone. I can't do this. Not to you, to me, or us."
Lavi felt his hands fall next to his body. All hopes for what they had been building up together melted under the light that was starting to die out on Allen's skin. However much he wanted this, he knew the boy was right. All his life he'd spent with his nose in the books trying to find the truth about everything, but this time he wished he'd never had. Of all he'd ever learned, this was the most devastating.
"I'm sorry, Lavi," Allen whispered. A drop glittered in silver on its way down from the boy's face. "I'm really sorry." Then he sprouted two giant wings on his back and launched himself off in the air.
Lavi watched with a blurry vision as the white figure disappeared into the distance, until he seemed like he had returned between his own kind, out of reach forever, so one could only dream about ever getting that high.
