"Bye Mom!"
"Bye.."

Mom smiles, the same fake/sad smile she always makes. It's been a while since I've seen a real smile from her.
Don't blame her.

"I'll try to see you soon. Promise."
"Yeah, whatever."
"Oh, okay then..."

She turns around and disappears. As always, she looks back one more time. But I could've sworn there were tears in her eyes.

"Come on, let's go inside."
"Actually, can I hang out with Sam?"
"Uh, sure. Tell her I said hi."

Solar nods and heads off. Sam and Dad were close. I think it was from all that time they spent on Earth.

"I'll stay with you, Dad."
"Thanks, kid."
"No problem."

But my mind was on Solar and Mom. For all of their shortcomings, Solar used to love Mom. And I... I was the one who hated her.
But the weird thing was that... he started hating her when I finally came to peace with her.

"You okay?"
"Yeah, fine."

Which was true, but I was worried Solar wasn't.

~~~

"Hey, Sam!"
"Solar? I thought you would be with your family."
"Well, I'm not."
"Wait, but isn't your mo-"
"Yes, she left. We said our goodbyes. I'm here now."

She looked a little surprised and a touch of hurt, but didn't say anything.

"What? You don't want to see your best friend?"
"Of course I do, this just isn't you."

She looks away from me.

"What are you talking about?" This is me. I'm me."
Saying it out loud felt kinda stupid, but I was too mad to really care about it.

"No. This isn't you."

She frowns.
"Look, I have to take care of Aster. I'll see you later."
"My dad says hi."
"Yeah, tell him thanks."

She walks away from me. That was... that was a first. We were best friends. This was me.
I'm myself.

~~~

"Vapor?"
"Uh hey... you didn't come over. Just wanted to see what's up."
"Oh, nothing. Just wanted to stay with my dad."

He raises an eyebrow but doesn't say anything.

"Well, can you hang out?"
"Uh... maybe? Let me ask my-"

Dad shows up at the door.

"You can go. Have her here by 8 o'clock."

I groan as Vapor salutes.

"Don't worry, sir. She'll be safe with me."
"Don't encourage him."
"Good, take care of her."
"Dad!"

He just winks at me and goes back inside the house.

"I hate you."
"What? It was great."
"It was not great. It was cheesy."
"What's wrong with cheesy?"

I smack my forehead.

"Remind me why I'm friends with you."
"Because you love me."
"Wrong. I think I was brainwashed as a child."
"Oh yeah, definitely brainwashed."

I punch him on the arm.

"You suck."
"You're one to talk."
"Shut up."

We laugh, a short but happy laugh.

"You're a weirdo."
"A lovable weirdo."
"No, just a weirdo."

He pretends to be hurt, putting his hand on his heart and fake crying.

"Dramatic. You really-"

My hair flies all over the place, getting into my mouth and covering my eyes.

"Where'd all this wind come from?"
"I don't know, but this doesn't feel right."

I nod in agreement and we start heading over to the nearest house, Sam's house.

"Sam!"
"I didn't do this!"
"Well, who did?"

She tries to think of anyone who would do this.

"Uh... maybe someone's mad at our parents?"
"Lucifer's army has been disbanded!"
"I don't know!"

She looks down for a second.

"Could... could it be Solar?"

But she shakes her head.

"No. Solar wouldn't do this. He's a good person. Yeah... good."

She sighs.

"Come on, Storm's in here too. She was playing with Aster."

She guides us to the kitchen where Storm jumps down on us. She was hanging from the ceiling... somehow.

"Ack, hey Storm."
"Vapor! What's happening? I was outside and suddenly all this wind happened!"
"Don't worry about it. Just stay inside."
"That's what I said to Aster, but he said he dropped something and went outside."

Our eyes widen.

"Is... is he back yet?"
"No, but he left a while ago."

Sam runs to the door and steps outside.

"ASTER! ASTER, WHERE ARE YOU?"

She parts the wind as best she could, but it kept coming.

"ASTER!"

She turns to us, shaking.

"W-where's my brother?"