Helia was lying to him.

That was the only thought that occupied Endymion's mind as he sprinted through the gardens.

That was the only explanation to what she was saying.

Yes, Endymion would admit that he liked to have Polaris's attention focused on him. But he liked the other Stars to pay attention only to him as well. They seemed to like to pay attention to him too, it was not only his fault.

Polaris loved him. He knew that was the truth.

And when was Polaris finding the time to go off and visit Helia?

Shouldn't Endymion have been able to go along at his guardian's side to visit his sister? That would have been the fair thing to do.

But really, Endymion could remember no point that Polaris had left his side, not since the time he had fallen and scared Rigel so bad that he would never stay alone to play again.

Maybe he should apologize for scaring the Star so bad.

But it wasn't Endymion's fault that Rigel scared so easily. And besides, if he hadn't hurt his arm, they never would have learned that he could heal himself. So it had been a good thing really.

And then Polaris came into view, or at least his back did. It seemed that he was searching for Endymion as though they were playing seek.

That sight alone was enough to make Endymion start crying, his distress finally making its way out through something other than the quickness of his steps. Great gasping sobs left him as he approached his guardian.

The crying must have been enough for Polaris to hear him, because the Star turned to face him just in time for Endymion to barrel into him. At once his skinny arms were wrapped around the tall, slender figure, and his face was buried in the smooth chest.

"Well now, Little Light," Polaris said gently, returning the embrace almost instinctively. His hand started stroking Endymion's shaking back, trying to calm the young spirit enough to chase away the tears. "Here you are. I have been searching for you everywhere you normally hide from me. Where have you been? What happened that has you in such a state? Will you talk to me?"

Endymion nodded against Polaris, sobbing a bit more before looking up at the Star, still sniffling. "Do you hate me?" he managed to ask miserably.

"Me? Hate you?" Polaris asked with a startled laugh. Endymion had never known Polaris to make such a noise before. "Whatever gave you that idea?"

"H-Helia," he sniffled miserably, trying to take a step back out of Polaris's embrace. That laugh had felt like a stabbing pain to his heart, and he did not like it, even though it sounded like the Star shared some of his surprise over Helia's statement.

"And where did you see Helia that she told you I hate you?" Polaris asked gently, not letting Endymion escape his firm embrace in the slightest.

"I-I went to see her," Endymion admitted softly, looking down. While he would not admit to knowing better than to visit his sister, he did feel guilty that he had not first asked permission to go to her home. Obviously Polaris knew that visiting her might not have been a good idea.

Or at least visiting her alone.

"I see," Polaris said softly, pulling Endymion into his lap as he dropped tiredly onto one of the outcroppings of stone his charge had accidentally created. "And she told you that I hate you?"

Endymion sniffled harder at being cradled by the older Spirit. This was his favorite position when he was distressed since he was surrounded by the silver light he associated with Polaris's love. This was safety. Instead of speaking, he nodded his answer to the question.

"Well then she is silly, because I don't hate you," Polaris assured Endymion firmly. "I love you as much as if you were my own son. And I look forward to seeing you keep growing. You will do wonderful things."

The sobs returned as Endymion buried his head in his guardian's shoulder, wrapping his arms around the strong neck. "B-but you visit her! Why? When?" he sobbed, still more distressed than he had ever thought possible by the whole situation.

"I do visit her, but it is not because I hate you."

"But when? We always play," Endymion wailed, keeping his head buried in the strong shoulder.

"You are not always awake, Little Light," Polaris explained, moving the hand from Endymion's back to run his fingers through the fine silver hair. "You have a cycle of wakefulness. You get more and more playful, then you get more and more sleepy, and then you sleep, and it all starts again."

"What!" Endymion exclaimed sitting up straight to meet Polaris's eyes fully. This was something he had never heard before. How long had his guardian been hiding the fact he slept from him?

"I didn't know that you were unaware of your naps," Polaris answered, a small smile dancing around his lips.

The tears were forgotten with another huff as Endymion pulled away from Polaris. Instead of sitting like a child, he stood firmly before the Star, arms crossed with a scowl on his face. "What else have you been keeping from me? Have you been teaching Helia things? Is that why she is so much bigger than me now? How do I control my Power so I don't kill her flowers?"

"You killed her flowers?" Polaris asked, astounded.

Rather than answer the question, Endymion glared. Why was it so hard to get a straight answer from anyone that spoke to him? If they didn't want him to get angry than they needed to actually answer him.

"The first step to learning to control your Power is to learn to control your temper a bit, Endymion," Polaris said firmly, the astonishment falling away from his voice.

Finally, he was being taken seriously.

"And the rest of my questions?" Endymion demanded.

"I believe Helia has grown faster than you because she learned to manifest her form for the people of the surface to see. They see her, so they pray to her light just like the people of the islands below us pray to the Stars," Polaris began to explain calmly.

Now that he was getting answers, Endymion dropped to sit on the ground before Polaris, looking up to him in the same way he did when listening to a story being told. "And how do I do that?"

"First we have to learn how to help you channel your Power, Little Light. You have so much energy, we have to find how to focus it. That is why the ground always seems to jump out at you. That's your Power trying to make you happy since you don't have any control over it."

Endymion nodded along with Polaris's explanation. It all seemed to make so much sense, but what came next he did not expect.

"Is there something you want to make with your Power? Anything you want, you can make."

"I want to make a grand house. Better than anything Helia ever sees and she can never come in," Endymion declared brightly. "Only you and the other Stars can come see me there. It will be so much better than her flowers."

"A house it is. Let's begin."

The tall Star, and shorter Endymion rose to their feet as one. After one more tight embrace to end the conversation that had been full of ups and downs, they turned to the field before them.

An impish smile appeared on Endymion's face.

He was ready to show his sister who was the better twin.