After much contemplation, I have it: the second part to this oneshot.
It took a while, since I wasn't sure what I wanted to do, but one of my plot bunnies hit me yesterday after I updated, "Come Together" and I found I could write the second half to this. I may come back and change a few things later, but for now here it is; there may even be a third part, possibly. Readers, what do you think?
Thanks for sticking with me on this!
Marik sighed sadly to himself as he peeked out from his room, noticing a shadow on the wall from the Guard patrolling near the entrance to the passageway.
Ever since Marik had shown Rishid the stars he'd been secretly returning to the tunnel after everyone had gone to bed, staring up for hours at the night sky above him with wonder. Unfortunately, last week his father found out about Marik's late night excursions and forbade him from setting foot in that room at night. Marik had tried to visit the tunnel, but found that his father had placed a member of the Guard there to block all attempts from going there again, and the child had been forced to give up.
That didn't stop the now five year old Egyptian child from still wanting to see the stars.
He kicked at his bedpost in frustration, his lavender eyes blinking back tears. It wasn't fair; the stars were above ground, but Marik himself was still in the Tomb Keeper's home. He hadn't left, and he hadn't broken any rules—why then wouldn't his father allow him to see the stars? And why couldn't the stars come to him? Couldn't they come down for just one night? Rishid had said something about them not being able to, but he wanted to see the stars up close.
Speaking of which, why wasn't Rishid ever able to play with him anymore? Ever since his father had banned Marik from going back to the room Rishid had been busy with some secret task; when his father wasn't working the Egyptian man half to death, Rishid was busy in his room doing something that Marik wasn't allowed to look at.
What was worse, it was his birthday today. Ishizu had made him kushari for dinner as a special treat and had woven a new blanket for him, but neither of the two Ishtar siblings had seen Rishid at the table. Marik wanted Rishid to pay attention to him, not be busy with work. But Father would not allow the golden-eyed Egyptian to leave his tasks at all, despite all of Marik's cajoling. He wanted to see Rishid again, when the older man wasn't busy and was able to play with him
At that moment, however, Rishid himself slipped into the room. "You're supposed to be asleep, Master Marik," he chided with tired amusement. The reprimand was only half-hearted, however; lately, Master Ishtar had been working Rishid until the Egyptian could hardly see.
Marik instantly brightened. "Rishid!" he cried, slipping from the bed to hug his older brother around the waist. "You're not working anymore!"
Rishid, in spite of being utterly exhausted, brought one of his arms from behind his back and returned the hug awkwardly. Marik frowned, noticing that his brother had various bandages wrapped around his hand, but he did not comment on it.
"I'm sorry I haven't had time lately to play with you, Master Marik," Rishid said simply, a gentle smile appearing on his face. "But to make up for it I brought you something."
Marik looked back up at Rishid curiously. "Really?"
"Of course. How could I forget my brother's birthday?" replied the older Egyptian with amusement, crossing over to where Marik's candle was flickering. He switched whatever he'd been holding behind his back to the front of his body, preventing Marik from seeing it.
He turned halfway back to Marik and said, "Close your eyes for a moment."
The five year old blinked. "Why?"
"Because it's a surprise. It won't be if you look."
Marik pouted but complied with his brother's request, keeping his eyes closed. He could hear Rishid fiddling with something on his nightstand and the child shifted impatiently. "Rishid, can I look yet?" he asked.
There was a moment of silence before Rishid said, "Go ahead, Master Marik."
Marik opened his eyes, blinking in surprise as he noticed that his room was so much darker than before. He rubbed his eyes to try and adjust to the sudden darkness, but his eyes wandered to the wall and he gasped.
The room, though dark, was filled with tiny pinpoints of light. The little lights were scattered liberally across the room in no coherent pattern or form; in fact, they almost looked like…
"Stars," whispered Marik, staring around at the room in wonder. He rose to his feet and gently placed a hand on one of the points of light on the wall, smiling a bit as he noticed that the light had transferred from the wall to the back of his hand.
Marik looked away from the sight to look at his brother. "Rishid, how…?"
"Master Ishtar won't allow you back to the tunnel, and I felt terrible that I was not able to catch any of the stars for you when you asked," Rishid replied, keeping his bandaged hands hidden. "I made this for you so you could see the stars without disobeying Master Ishtar," he continued, gesturing to the carved vase that was upended over Marik's candle.
Marik wandered to the nightstand, staring at the vase. It looked like one of the jars that Ishizu used to keep herbs and spices; the top of the vase had a few larger holes in it than the rest of the tiny holes carved into the vase, which would allow the candle to breathe. A handle had been added to the top, allowing Marik to lift it up without burning his hand.
He took the sight in for one more minute, looking around the room again before a grin split his face and he launched himself at his brother. "Thank you, Rishid!" he cried ecstatically. "Thank you, thank you, thank you, THANK YOU!"
Rishid was startled by the abrupt reaction, but then his surprise melted into happiness. "You're welcome," he said gently, hugging Marik back. "Be sure to thank Lady Ishizu, too—she helped me with this as well."
Marik's grin grew even larger, and he released Rishid to leave the room. The golden eyed Egyptian had no doubt that the boy was going to go find his sister and he hurried out the door quickly, a slight frown marring his features. Marik was supposed to be asleep right now, and if he was caught by his father then the child would get punished.
If need be, Rishid would be the one to intercede on Marik's behalf if Master Ishtar caught them.