It's so cold up here, she wept silently. It's always so cold.
She had her head tucked in her arms, her eyes closed to all the others around her. They were always too far away to bother with anyway. That's how it always was. That's how it always will be, she sniffled. Poor lonely Cassiopeia, all alone her own quiet little corner of the night sky.
She looked up just once more. She knew it was beautiful here. It was always beautiful. The universe surrounding her was like an eternal night that was deep and infinite and so rich in its beauty. And there, everywhere she looked... there were stars. So many and all so bright.
Her distant friends. Well, "friends".
There was Leo. And over there, Aries. And dear old Lyra, ever so graceful with her instrument. And Jiminy.
And here, our poor constellation was all alone. She didn't really know Leo or Aries or Lyra. She wasn't sure if Jiminy was even a star. They were just names she had made up. She wasn't even sure if they were alive and blazing like she was or if they were just quiet empties.
She had met one once - an empty. It had been heading her way and it looked like it was still raging its heartfelt flame. She had been so excited.
Finally! A friend. She had always dreamed of making a friend.
But then... Then it had floated by. And she saw it for what it truly was. Just a hollow shell of the star it once was, little embers still burning in the depths of its heart but it wasn't a flame large enough to sustain the life of a star.
She knew then then she was never going to find anyone. Never. It had taken forever for a star to come by and when it did, it had been pure emptiness. Not a trace of a proud sun in its soul. It was too much. This had gone on for far too long. She couldn't take it any more.
And so she had wept. Her tears flowed for years, for decades, for centuries, for millennia and for loneliness.
And they just never stopped. Even now, there was a trail of stardust - sorrow incarnate - running down her eyes.
That was when she first heard him.
She had looked up but she wasn't sure where he was coming from. She didn't know how she knew that it was a boy but somehow she did. She couldn't see him. All the stars looked the same from where she was. But she could hear him coming, the sound steadily growing over the years. It took her precisely 45,363 years before she finally spotted him. He was the only star growing in size. He was the only one headed her way. He was tiny but she could feel it. Her love was on his way.
Sure, she had seen whole galaxies flow by before but they were always in the distance, always just too far for her to make out anything except to recognize that they were a cluster of stars bound together by some kind of bond.
She had wished she had that. She wanted it so dearly, a whole family of constellations to surround her and for her to be able to follow them wherever they went. Never being alone.
But here he was, aiming right for her.
She had this sharp suspicion in her left twinkle that this would turn out to be another empty. But by the power of her mother, the Universe, she sure hoped not.
It took him another couple hundred millennia to get close enough for her to see him and by now she had grown terribly jumpy. The beauty of her constellation shimmered with her joy.
This star... This wonderful, wonderful star... He... He wasn't an empty. He was a shooting star. She could almost cry new tears, she thought. And she did. These tears were filled with starlight - joy incarnate - and pure peace.
A friend, at last.
And sure enough, here he was, slowly drifting with grace.
"Hi." Small, meek, simple. She had never done this before.
"Hey." Soft, gentle, strong. Neither had he.
And though she had a hundred questions to ask him, she felt this calm come over her. The two stars never spoke. Something more subtle passed between them and she never really knew what it was. Trust, she supposed. It was as if they had been lost to each other for so long and has only finally found each other again.
There was no need for words. Silence and just the pleasure of the other's company was good enough.
It took him another ten years before It happened.
And she was glad it happened. He had been heading right at her for a long time. Not a single degree off course.
When they collided, she felt nothing but companionship and beautiful explosions and she felt it when a feeling grew in her deep, dark, bright soul. This curious feeling burst out, mingling with him, his feelings, his soul. And Cassiopeia knew she was home. She felt it all the way down to her spiral bones.
It felt just like heaven.
She had her head tucked in her arms, her eyes closed to all the others around her. They were always too far away to bother with anyway. That's how it always was. That's how it always will be, she sniffled. Poor lonely Cassiopeia, all alone her own quiet little corner of the night sky.
She looked up just once more. She knew it was beautiful here. It was always beautiful. The universe surrounding her was like an eternal night that was deep and infinite and so rich in its beauty. And there, everywhere she looked... there were stars. So many and all so bright.
Her distant friends. Well, "friends".
There was Leo. And over there, Aries. And dear old Lyra, ever so graceful with her instrument. And Jiminy.
And here, our poor constellation was all alone. She didn't really know Leo or Aries or Lyra. She wasn't sure if Jiminy was even a star. They were just names she had made up. She wasn't even sure if they were alive and blazing like she was or if they were just quiet empties.
She had met one once - an empty. It had been heading her way and it looked like it was still raging its heartfelt flame. She had been so excited.
Finally! A friend. She had always dreamed of making a friend.
But then... Then it had floated by. And she saw it for what it truly was. Just a hollow shell of the star it once was, little embers still burning in the depths of its heart but it wasn't a flame large enough to sustain the life of a star.
She knew then then she was never going to find anyone. Never. It had taken forever for a star to come by and when it did, it had been pure emptiness. Not a trace of a proud sun in its soul. It was too much. This had gone on for far too long. She couldn't take it any more.
And so she had wept. Her tears flowed for years, for decades, for centuries, for millennia and for loneliness.
And they just never stopped. Even now, there was a trail of stardust - sorrow incarnate - running down her eyes.
That was when she first heard him.
She had looked up but she wasn't sure where he was coming from. She didn't know how she knew that it was a boy but somehow she did. She couldn't see him. All the stars looked the same from where she was. But she could hear him coming, the sound steadily growing over the years. It took her precisely 45,363 years before she finally spotted him. He was the only star growing in size. He was the only one headed her way. He was tiny but she could feel it. Her love was on his way.
Sure, she had seen whole galaxies flow by before but they were always in the distance, always just too far for her to make out anything except to recognize that they were a cluster of stars bound together by some kind of bond.
She had wished she had that. She wanted it so dearly, a whole family of constellations to surround her and for her to be able to follow them wherever they went. Never being alone.
But here he was, aiming right for her.
She had this sharp suspicion in her left twinkle that this would turn out to be another empty. But by the power of her mother, the Universe, she sure hoped not.
It took him another couple hundred millennia to get close enough for her to see him and by now she had grown terribly jumpy. The beauty of her constellation shimmered with her joy.
This star... This wonderful, wonderful star... He... He wasn't an empty. He was a shooting star. She could almost cry new tears, she thought. And she did. These tears were filled with starlight - joy incarnate - and pure peace.
A friend, at last.
And sure enough, here he was, slowly drifting with grace.
"Hi." Small, meek, simple. She had never done this before.
"Hey." Soft, gentle, strong. Neither had he.
And though she had a hundred questions to ask him, she felt this calm come over her. The two stars never spoke. Something more subtle passed between them and she never really knew what it was. Trust, she supposed. It was as if they had been lost to each other for so long and has only finally found each other again.
There was no need for words. Silence and just the pleasure of the other's company was good enough.
It took him another ten years before It happened.
And she was glad it happened. He had been heading right at her for a long time. Not a single degree off course.
When they collided, she felt nothing but companionship and beautiful explosions and she felt it when a feeling grew in her deep, dark, bright soul. This curious feeling burst out, mingling with him, his feelings, his soul. And Cassiopeia knew she was home. She felt it all the way down to her spiral bones.
It felt just like heaven.
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