Dedicated to AnnaQuin07 and MinaParkes because you seem to share the opinion of Polaris 4 lyfe
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The night before the New Moon found Endymion sitting tiredly in the cushioned chair of his observatory. Dark circles smudged the pale skin beneath eyes as he fought against sleep with all his might. He had been using so much of his power over the last few days to communicate with Lana he was more tired than normal for the night so close to the full moon. 

If only he could lay back in his bed and sleep now. But no. He had to make it through this one last night. Then he would rest. 

He would look on the surface once more and make an attempt to listen to at least some prayers.

Even more on his mind was a need to send another moth to Lana to assure her that his thoughts remained with her, even on the nights she could not see him in the sky. 

While they did not truly speak, and she still seemed rather irritated with him from the night they had met, there was just something about the thought of her not knowing he would be sleeping that was unsettling. 

If he hadn't been so tired, he would have been tempted to take a second trip down to the surface to share another conversation, and try to convince her to pray more reverently. He couldn't have the Stars going around, gossiping about how this girl liked to call him names.

But that was a thought for another time, when his power had waxed to fullness once more.

It took time for Endymion to pull together enough power to focus the crystal of his viewing wall upon the surface. 

A smile stole across his face when he saw Lana on her beach. 

Her face looked far more serious than he had ever seen it. And were her lips moving? Was she praying? Was something wrong? He closed his eyes, focusing until he could hear her words.

"You look so small," Lana said softly. His heart rose as her voice came clearly into his ears easily. She was praying to him. 

"I know this is a monthly thing for you to do up there, Endymion, but it feels different now. 

"Now that I have seen you, met you, I worry at the sight of you growing smaller. What happens when you are not in the sky? Or do you start the month as a little baby and by the end of the month you are a wrinkled old man that is reborn when you return?" 

A small laugh left her as she sat back upon the sand, still looking up at the sky. "I have so many questions that I want to ask you, but I don't think I will ever meet you again. Unless you count those little glowing bugs of yours. 

"I think that's sad. Because I want to see you. But then, maybe it's a good thing too. You were so infuriating when you talked! 

"Now I've had time to think about it, and maybe you were so infuriating just because you've never talked to anyone like you did with me. I don't know. It feels like you have just tossed everything onto its head and the world will never be the same again. 

"I don't suppose you have ever felt that way before, you being a god and all. Well, I suppose that I have taken up enough of your time tonight. After all, you must be busy. I'm sure you can't fall down sand dunes to land at my feet every day."

Lana's rambling prayer brought a tired smile to Endymion's face and he lifted his hand, summoning what was left of his power around himself to create another glowing moth. 

He whispered gentle words of assurance to it before sending it flying through the crystal. The strain of overusing his powers was so great he was barely able to stay conscious long enough to see the glowing bug land upon her shoulder.

The last thing Endymion saw as his eyes fell closed was the worried smile Lana turned toward the sky.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Polaris found Endymion an hour after the stars had left the sky. He had known that something was wrong when the moon had not even reached the horizon before fading from sight. 

Now here was his friend, unconscious in his chair. 

He had never seen Endymion so pale and frail looking as he was in that moment, with his head lolling back against the chair and limbs all akimbo.

Without the Power that usually guided the observation crystal, the wall before Endymion's chair was actually showing the view of the surface so many miles below. That left the room in darkness without a candle or magic to light it. 

With a worried sigh, Polaris waved a hand before the smooth surface, murmuring the Word Endymion had told him long ago to take the moon from the sky. 

He had never thought there would come a time he would have to use that knowledge.

When the wall had gone dark, Polaris took a moment to allow his ever present glow to light the room. This only succeeded in making his friend look even more ill. 

He moved to stand before Endymion, gently patting his cheeks to try to rouse him. 

"Endymion, pleas wake up. I know this is the day you sleep, but you must know that it would be more comfortable to rest in your bed." He spoke with as much energy as possible, attempting to funnel it into the obviously exhausted Moon.

Slowly, the patting roused Endymion enough for his eyes to flutter open. Slowly, he turned his head to look the Star in the eyes, obviously on the verge of falling back into unconsciousness. 

"Polaris? It is still night. Why're you here glowin' instead of out there?" he managed, sounding truly confused.

The confusion on Endymion's face only grew as Polaris scooped him up into his arms to carry him from the Observatory. This left the Moon looking like a small, ailing child draped in his father's arms. 

"Polaris? What is going on? Say something?"

"It is already morning, Endymion," Polaris said with a small smile after a long moment of silence. His pace was quick as he walked through the halls. 

This morning had already given him another reason to bind the Moon's power. If all went according to plan, then Endymion would return well rested instead of looking near death from exhaustion.

"I have never seen you sleep in that chair. Have you been working too hard while I haven't been watching over your shoulder?"

"I had to speak to Lana," Endymion answered, his voice no more than a whisper. He was amazed at just how much energy speaking seemed to take at the moment. 

"Usually on a night like last night, I just say the word and listen, not really looking at anything. But Lana was so loud, and so concerned that I had to send a message to her. I thought she as going to cry and I couldn't stand that. I like her smiling more."

Polaris gave a bit of a chuckle at that as he pushed his way into Endymion's room. "Well then, we will have to try to help her smile more," he said softly as he lay his friend gently on the bed. 

When he had the Moon laid out on the mattress, head nestled gently on the pillows, he sat down on the edge of the bed, serious look upon his face. "I am going to help you, Endymion. When you wake, you will feel a changed man. You will be better for it, I promise. "

Polaris paused just long enough to take a deep breath before asking, "Do you trust me?"

"I have always trusted you, Polaris. You are my only friend," Endymion answered, rolling onto his side to curl around one of his pillows. He was blinking hard in an attempt to stay awake. 

"But how can I be changed just by sleeping? It seems like a rather large promise to make me."

That comment startled a laugh out of Polaris as he reached over to ruffle the silvery hair. 

"You just rest. Soon all of what I said will be made clear. I just need you to promise me that you won't be angry with me. We, the Stars have discussed things, and we think that this will be best for all of us."

"Then I trust you, Polaris. You have never done anything to hurt me," Endymion managed to yawn before falling into a deep sleep.

Those words were like a hot knife of pure guilt stabbing into Polaris's gut. But there it was. Endymion trusted him to do anything he felt was necessary. If only that would remain his friend's opinion, it would be a miracle.