In the morning, Dean dragged on some fresh clothes for the day and tossed off a casual greeting to Claire and Chuck, both of whom were already seated at the dining room table, laptops at the ready. The plan was that they would work their ways through the list of items on Chuck's list and also enlist the aid of Sam and Alex back at the bunker.

Claire had Sam on the phone, and tried to hand him off to Dean. "I really don't have time to chat about this right now. Let him know I'll talk to him later tonight." He grabbed his messenger bag full of lessons and student work and headed out the door. It wasn't that he didn't want to help. It was more about the worry that he felt at the deeper thoughts that the situation was stirring up.

He had gone to bed with a tiny bit of hope. And hope is a dangerous thing. He was accustomed to the many ways that his life would not work out. It was part of the reason why he had tried to get far away from the old hunting life. There was no winning in that life, only varying degrees of losing. And he had lost enough.

But then everyone had to go and imply the impossible. None of them had said directly that God might want to save Cas, restore him to life or whatnot, but that had been the implication, and it had been enough for Dean to suddenly feel the old dangerous hope springing up in his chest.

So, I could lose everything all over again. So what if we've all misinterpreted the signs. Wouldn't be the first time. I'll deal. I'll just drink again, let it just have me. I'm pretty sure this will all go down like it always does. Shit, Sam won't be able to deal with me like that again. Shit, shit, shit. He wanted to hope. Hope was a thing that he use to have in spades. It was a thing that connected him to Cas.

He'd fight for me. He'd let himself hope, and he'd fight to the bitter end if it meant saving me. Dean drove to the campus with these thoughts and hardly paid attention to the world outside. He was rushing across the courtyard, not late, but not early either when his phone started buzzing in his pocket. He pulled it out and noticed that Sam's name was splashed across the screen. He sent the call to voicemail.

Some of his students were already gathered outside the class. Charlotte wasn't there to entertain them so he knew that he wasn't horribly late yet. He set up his notes on the podium as the rest of the class trickled in. He was going to talk about Jupiter and its moons. He had some slides and extensive notes for them, but his heart wasn't in the lecture.

The last of the students trickled in, looking tired. It was the end of the term. He had mere weeks left to get them ready for the final. Instead of lecturing though, he said, "How about we all go to the planetarium for the day?" This seemed to perk them up. "A change of scenery is always a good thing. Plus, you all don't get to see enough of what I'm talking about. You can be my guinea pigs. I have a new show that I've been putting together."

They left the classroom and ventured over to the planetarium. Dean pull out his keys and opened the place up, ushering the students in. It was funny how just a slight change in routine could set them all in such a different mood. He reflected on how the same was true for him. He noted with a smile how one month of living with Claire had altered him so much. He was not muddling through as he was before. Instead he was consciously making his decisions each day because she was part of them. He thought, not for the first time, that he'd have been proud to have called her his daughter.

He shook his head as the last student entered, clearing away the cobwebs of random thoughts, and entered the room. He would play the show and provide the narrative for what they were seeing. It would be very different from a lecture, but they'd likely remember the information better, so he felt good about the change of plans.

Once everyone was settled, he started the program. The lights slowly went dark, and he took a moment to stare up at the ceiling and the stars that appeared out of nowhere. He was always sure to include Denab. One of his students said, "Mr. Winchester, is that the swan constellation that you told us about, the one that is also a chicken and a cross?"

"Yes, Judy."

"You said that in the chicken story the constellation represented a woman separated from her love."

"No, that was a separate myth from the chicken one. That was the story of the Weaver Girl and the Cowherd. Denab forms a bridge that allows them to see one another once each year."

Judy replied, "Oh yeah, I remember now. Like Pirates of the Caribbean."

"Yeah, Judy. Just like that." The class laughed a little, Judy too. Dean let the rest of the sky fill in while he stared at Denab remembering Cas' luminous voice as he told him the story of it. Dean closed his hand at his side and imagined the firmness of Cas' hand there in his own. Jupiter appeared above them, and Dean began his lecture on the planet.

"There once was a young woman of immeasurable beauty," Cas' voice was low as he began his tale. Dean was laying back on the hood of the Impala with his head pressed in close to Cas.

"So she was like a total ancient hotty?" Dean laughed.

"Do you wish to hear the story?" Cas sat up a little and Dean regretted the loss of contact between them almost immediately.

"Yes. Tell me about the immeasurably beautiful woman." Cas settled back down and Dean nuzzled in closer, pressing his head into the space between Cas' neck and shoulder. He could do this, because he had told himself that it was cold outside, and Cas was a giant furnace. Furthermore, it was just easier to hear his stories when he was closer.

Cas let out a long- suffering sigh, but he did continue. "Her hair fell around her face in dark cascades like blessed night after a long day." He sat up again but only a little. He tucked his arm up under himself and looked down at Dean. "Her eyes were likely the very thing that made them all view her with such heady admiration. They were like stars captured so perfectly."

Dean felt himself leaning in closer, craving the contact that he had lost when Cas sat up again. "What color were her eyes?" He only asked because Cas had grown silent when he moved closer.

Cas' hand was close to his. He had held his hand earlier, but somehow they had lost that contact over the hours that they had spent out under the stars. Cas tipped his head a little and stared at him with great intensity. "Let's say that her eyes were green. Let's say that they held flecks of golden sunlight in them, and that they were a world of deep earthy magic."

"You don't remember what color they were?"

"I just said that they were green."

"Yeah, but you sounded like you were making it up." Dean moved minutely closer again.

"Many of the details will be made up, but the general tale is not of my creation. The original tale is rather old by human standards." Cas let his hand run up Dean's arm a little. It was an affectionate move that made Dean's skin prick up in a type of pleasure.

"So there was an immeasurably beautiful woman with magical, starry eyes, that are also green or some color that you are totally making up for aesthetic purposes." Dean grinned as he said it and added, "So continue."

"You are sometimes irritating." Cas' fingers traced a line back and forth on Dean's upper arm. The touch was gentle and calming. "In some stories, her name was Vega. In others she was Qi Xi. In others she was Abhijit. She is one of many names. She was in some stories depicted as a fallen eagle or vulture."

Dean raised an eyebrow and asked, was she an angel?"

"No." Then he seemed to think about his answer a little more and added, "Well, I suppose anything is possible."

"What made you say no?"

"Well, it is just uncommon for an angel to behave as she behaved." Cas' hand noticeably slipped away.

"Too bad I don't know the rest of the story. I might be able to weigh in on this."

Cas rolled his eyes and said, "Well, her behavior was rather human."

"Okay, tell me about the immeasurably beautiful, green eyed human that was most definitely not an angel." Dean laughed a little at Cas as he said it.

Cas' hand came back to Dean's arm and the absent minded tracing that he was doing there. "She was born into a family of exceeding wealth and heritage. She was loved by her mother and father who had both planned an impressive future for her. Marriage was certainly part of that future, and her husband would be a man of exceptional pedigree. She would bring honor to him and to her parents in this union. All was fated to greatness. Then…"

Dean interrupted, "She met someone else."

"Yes, she did." Cas sighed again and continued. "He was a young man of such low station as to have never been noticed by anyone of her rank. However, he was attractive and kind, so this changed the trajectory of her fated course. He was a mere cowherd. He had no business with a woman such as her. Yet somehow, they found each other and the rest is history."

Cas seemed to be done with the tale, so Dean asked, "Is that it?"

"That is the part that I know. They fall in love, have some children, and end up in the stars. The end is tragic."

"That is not how you tell a story. You were doing so well too."

"You were complaining when I made up details before."

"Well, I've changed my mind. Make up some more details for me, Cas." Dean reached out his own hand and traced a line up Cas' arm now. Cas glanced at it and then back at Dean's face.

"Fine." Cas took a deep breath and continued, "She saw him from the high window of her family's estate. He was working in the field. He was filthy and course. She watched him day after day under the oppressive heat of the sun. He toiled and yet he did not complain. The life he seemed to be living was torture, she thought. She had been pampered and treated like a princess, for there was not much difference between her station in life and that of royalty. So she viewed his life of toil and labor as the stuff of horrors. How could anyone want to live that way?" Cas leaned in closer and rested his chin on Dean's head.

"Comfortable?"

"Yes, I was getting tired."

"Oh, I'll understand if you want to sleep. I could take you home."

"No, I want to stay here."

"Okay then."

Cas continued, "So she ventured down to the pasture intent on speaking with him. She would endeavor to understand his life, and if possible to elevate him from his current station. When she got to him, he was covered in mud and sweat. She should have been put off by him, but she wasn't. He was a handsome creature, for being a peasant, and a lowly one at that." Dean thought for a moment that Cas had kissed his head. He felt a shift in pressure near where Cas' chin rested. He focused instead on the words and decided that he was letting his imagination run away with him.

"Did she speak with him?"

"She did." Cas' answer breathed through Dean's hair. "She asked him if he enjoyed his work." Dean continued to trace lines on Cas' arm, and Cas did the same. "He told her that work of his sort was just part of being human." Cas seemed to pause then, like he had misspoken. "It was his lot in life. He answered her graciously. She spoke with him for some time about the life that he lived, the world that he was making for himself. When she left him to return to her room high up in her family's estate, she felt like she had been wholly wrong about the nature of her class and his. She wanted to learn more about him. She wanted to see more of his life."

"Did she go back to him again?" Dean asked.

"Many times. Their acquaintance spanned years. He came to mean a great deal to her. One might even say that she loved him with such a degree and scope of love that one could never match it in any tale from any land in any time."

"Did he love her back?"

"He seemed to love her as well, though he had trouble displaying that love. You see, it was not acceptable then for one of her station and one of his to marry, let alone to choose with whom they would marry. So, he was incapable of sharing his feelings openly for Qi Xi as he had been raised to view such feeling for her as wrong."

Dean shifted a little as he thought about the story and what Cas was telling him. "He should tell her."

"He was merely doing what he thought he must. His lack of action did not diminish the depth of his feelings for her. More importantly, his lack of action did not reduce her love for him either. In fact she may have loved him more for his timidity." Dean thought that he had felt the gentle press of Cas' lips to his head again. He tried to focus on the spot. He wasn't sure if it would matter, but if he felt it again, he thought that he might feel motivated toward actions of his own.

"In your version of the story, will he tell her that he cares for her, or that he at least needs her?"

"Perhaps." Cas sounded a little pleased with himself for creating a story that Dean liked. He continued, "One day when she found him out in the distant pasture at the end of a long day, he finally spoke with her about all that weighed heavy on his heart. He first told her that she was as close to him as his own family. He told her that he felt a need for her that surpassed all understanding. He was a strong man, capable of great and noble feats, yet here he was standing before her shaking because she was beautiful and, he thought, too good for him." Cas stopped tracing lines on his arm and let his hand just rest there on his bicep, warm and solid.

"What did she say?"

"At first she was afraid. She didn't say anything. What could she do? Her family had plans for her. Yet here was everything that she never dared to want for herself. She tried to quell her worries and all of the doubt that was threatening to overtake her. He looked long at her, his hands clenched at his sides. He broke the silence between them by saying quite simply, I need you. I love you."

Dean heard the words to the story like they were directed at him. His own hand settled on Cas. Their posture was rather intimate. They appeared to be hugging on the hood of the Impala. Dean smiled into Cas' neck and asked, "What did she do?"

"She couldn't do anything, so she left."

Dean sat up, "Huh? What do you mean she left. He said he loved her and needed her, and she just left?"

"Yes."

"But then she came back, right?"

"This story seems to be upsetting you, Dean. Maybe I should tell you the tale of Ursa Major instead." Cas looked a little weary.

"No, I want to hear about fucking Qi Xi and the cow dude. I also want some fucking resolution here, not this 'she left' bullshit."

"What if that is just how the story ends though?"

"It doesn't end like that Cas."

"Maybe it does."

"Well, since you're making it up, I expect a better ending, a happy ending."

"Life isn't happy. People love each other and leave each other. People want desperately to stay with the ones that they love and the world tears them apart." Cas sounded angry then. He looked off to the sky and the stars stared defiantly back at him. "She loved him desperately. She loved him completely and so deeply that she thought that nothing in the world would ever matter so much as him. She left him in that field though and marched right back to her estate. She knew that loving him and telling him of that love would only lead to pain for him."

"He would disagree."

"He would?"

"Absolutely."

Cas seemed to lose some of his earlier fervor. He said, "She grew despondent in her home, far from him. She took to spending long chunks of her day in solitude. Some days she watched him, unbeknownst to him. He tended to the cows and the other creatures in the pasture. She told herself that in time she'd be able to accept the world without him at her side. She was wrong."

"I knew it. She went back to him, right?" Dean didn't know why he was so happy with the turn of fictional events, but somehow it mattered a great deal to him. It felt personal.

"Actually, he came to her. Word had reached the general population of the young woman who lived in the rich man's estate. She had grown ill. She would neither eat nor drink. She was withering away, and none of the healers seemed to know what to do. Some said that she was cursed. This was why he came to her. He could not bear the thought that she would perish without seeing her just once more."

Dean settled back into the space at Cas' shoulder. Cas wrapped an arm around him. "So he marched right up into the estate and demanded to see her?"

"No, he was too clever for that." Cas laughed. "He snuck in during the dead of night with only the stars to witness. He found his way through the dark halls to her room. When she saw him, she thought that she was dreaming. How could he have found her? Why would he have even tried?"

"Because he loved her, damnnit," Dean interrupted again.

"Yes, he did, but she didn't understand what that would mean until he scooped her up and carried her away to his home."

"That's a brave- ass move right there."

"It is. She was brave to let him do that too. I imagine that she thought that he should just leave her there, move on with his potentially happy life. He didn't though. He came back for her, and she let him save her. They inevitably had to leave his home too. Too many people would look for them and eventually find them if they stayed."

"And they lived happily ever after?"

"Not exactly." Cas pulled in a deep breath. "They lived happily for many years. She loved him and he loved her in return. She gave him children, and he was an exceptional father. He was gentle with her, and taught her how to live as a hu...peasant." Dean caught the near slip but didn't say anything at first.

"And she taught him a few things too I bet."

"Yes." Cas' tone was a bit melancholy. "Eventually, when they had lived long enough in comfort and ease, when they had both come to assume that nothing could hurt them or separate them, the universe intervened in their happiness." Cas' hand came up to the back of Dean's neck and smoothed over the skin and hair there. "Her father found her, and made her return home. It did not matter that she had children. It did not matter that she loved so greatly. He had written her future out in solid shapes and lines. She was not going to be allowed to venture off into a world of her own making."

"He rescued her though, right?"

"No, she died." Cas paused like he expected Dean to complain or argue. When he didn't do either, Cas continued, "She once again stopped eating and drinking. She once again began withering away, yet this time, her family guarded the estate from her lover. This time he had truly lost her to the abyss that was her family's home. When she died, many people came to her funeral. They had heard the tale of her great love and tragic passing. Her family kept her children and her lover from the funeral. They were never acknowledged and they left the area without ever getting to say a proper goodbye."

Dean slipped his arm around Cas and held him. He didn't want that sort of end for the story. Such ends needed to be temporary. They had cheated death, so Qi Xi should too. Then he asked, "How did she end up in the stars?"

"All heroes end up in the stars."

"Was she a hero? All she did was die," Dean asked.

"She did far more than that. She loved. It is the greatest and oftentimes the most difficult thing one can do. When she died, her spirit was placed in the stars. Some say that her lover and children are there too, but that they only get to see each other once per year, on the seventh day of the seventh month. On that day a bridge is formed over the white river. And on that day they live as though it is all of time, and all in that moment is good."

"Why do they ever go back to their sides of the bridge?"

"They are stars now, Dean. They cannot control what they do. They are heroes though, and they hang above us, watching all of life. And briefly each year they are rewarded for all that they give to us. They get the greatest gift they could wish for. They get to watch humanity live, knowing that with all that watching no one can be hurt by them, nor can they be hurt. And more importantly maybe, they get to keep each other for an eternity."

It was late, and he would have to drive Cas home soon, or to the Gas-n-Sip. He didn't want to do that. He could see the distant pink glow of the horizon. He nuzzled into Cas' neck and breathed him in. "I suppose the end could have been worse. At least they get to have each other. They deserve more than one day though."

Cas carded his fingers through Dean's hair. Here they could be free with each other like this. Dean was fairly certain that Cas had pressed a third kiss to his head then. He didn't act on it though. He just let the feeling of it spread through him. He let it tip his mind into warmth and a bare hint of joy. He put off the thought that Cas would be pulled from him in the morning, letting this moment be eternal.