𝙰/𝙽: 𝚘𝚔𝚊𝚢 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚠𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚊 𝚍𝚒𝚏𝚏𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚍𝚒𝚛𝚎𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝙸 𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚝, 𝚜𝚘 𝚒𝚝'𝚜 𝚍𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚕𝚒𝚎𝚛! 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚒𝚐 𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚜 𝚠𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚑𝚘𝚙𝚎𝚏𝚞𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚋𝚎 𝚍𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚋𝚢 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚎𝚗𝚍 𝚘𝚏 𝚢𝚎𝚊𝚛. 𝚃𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚔𝚜 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐 :)

----
"W-what?! Where am I? Why do you still look like this?!"

"Shush, uncle, if they hear you, I'll be in more trouble."

"I don't understand! Did you kidnap me?!"

"No, no! Shush, shush! Look, I came to speak to you."

"Jo, I'm still-"

"I know you're upset, uncle. I'm sorry about that night."

"..Are you?"

"Yes, uncle! How could you even say that!"

"Because you've done it twice. A mistake is only done once, but twice is either carelessness or on purpose."

"...uncle, I summoned you for a specific reason."

"What?"

"My mind, it's going. I feel as though...I-I may be going insane. I want to give you a gift, Uncle. I want to fix you."

"Fix me?"

"Yes. You aren't normal, remember? I have the power to give you a normal mind with no autism. You'll be like everyone else!"

"..."

"Well?"

"No."

"No!? Uncle, don't be foolish!"

"I like me. I'm different, sure, but I'm not stupid."

"I never said you were!"

"Jo, I'm fine with the way I am. I have a hard time with certain things, but I have friends. And kids. And family."

"...Uncle, those aren't your children."

"Yes, they are. I told you that before."

"They aren't your blood children. They aren't even children anymore!"

"Well, I will always see them as my children, Jo! Besides, blood doesn't mean anything to you, really!"

"You're wrong!"

"No! You don't care about your siblings! You said it yourself!"

"I do, I do!"

"Their names."

"What?"

"What are their names then? Full names."

"..."

"What are your parents' names?"

"Uncle, stop."

"What's mine?"

"Enough."

"No! You don't tell me enough, I'm your uncle! I know my children's names. I know what they like or what they don't like. You claim that they aren't family because they aren't blood, or whatever that means because they do have blood in their bodies-"

"That's not I m-"

"-but the ones that are related to us mean nothing to you."

"That's not true! I love...I love...love l..."

"YOU FORGOT HIS NAME!"

"Don't scream at me. You're going to make me angry!"

"YOU HURT HIM, JO! YOU KILLED HIM TWICE, AND YOU FORGOT HIS NAME! I-"

"Uncle, uncle, please stop. You're getting hysterical."

"...Jo, what was Lloyd's favorite color?"

"I-"

"What was his favorite pen to write with? His favorite earrings?"

"Why are you asking dumb questions?"

"You can't love someone if you know nothing about them."

"Are you saying I don't love him?"

"Yeah. You don't even know his name."

"How dare you! Uncle-"

"You don't love anyone but yourself. You've hurt everyone around us. You really hurt your sister. You locked her away."

"She's a-wait, no! He-"

"You kept her away from everyone over something she couldn't control, something I did as well."

"Wh-"

"You hurt your siblings. You made my parents sad. You made your parents cry."

"They don't care about me, so why should I care?!"

"They do care about you. Marie didn't smile for a long time after you were kicked. Big brother apologized to me because you were named after me."

"No..."

"Why did you do it, Jo?"

"STOP. Enough! Stop talking!"

"I think the only one who needs to change is you. You're not a good person."

--

Ho sprung out of bed, already in his angelic form. He looked around. Jo wasn't there.

"Ho."

He nearly screamed when he saw the giant in his room, more normal looking.

"That was a very brave thing you've done. I'm surprised, I didn't suspect you to be so outspoken."

He smiled, and then his eyes went big. "Where's Lloyd?"

"He's on another mission, this time with his spouse." She moved her head to the sky, her hair floating in place. She lifted his black curtain to show him the stars. "Look closely, and you'll see them."

Back in his human form, he eyed at the sky. "Nothing."

She turned back to him. "Today will be three years."

"I know." He looked down. "But he's here now. He's okay."

"His spouse was concerned about this, so I offered them a job until seven in the evening. Is he allowed here?"

"Yes! I just need to tell Big Brother."

"Very well." She began shrinking until there was nothing left of her. "Goodbye, Ho Doh."

"Bye!"

---

(Flashback, a few hours ago in France) (OMG I HATE THIS I USE TO WRITE LIKE THIS ALL THE TIME 😞)

"No, no! Please!"

Lloyd woke up slowly, believing he was hearing something. Once his brain confirmed it, he was at high alert.

"No, please! Please!"

He felt arms moving. He looked to his left and saw François moving and grasping his blanket, his eyes tightly shut.

"François, wake up." He picked him up, his lower body still being in bed as he hugged him. "Franny, you're having a nightmare."

He gasped like a fish out of water, tears shining on his face. Lloyd turned on the mushroom lights as the other sobbed into his chest, his warmth heating up the cold scales.

"Oh, Lloyd! It was terrible!" He gasped and shook as his back was rubbed. "My brain...it's evil!"

He pulled him away, his red eyes full of concern. "Did you hallucinate?"

"No, I had a nightmare!" He was touching the other's chest, the crying worsening. "Oh, baby, it told me everything was fake! It showed me the house, the bedroom, everything. Everything was the same, like when you died!" He hugged him tight, his sobbing echoing in the other's ear.

He shushed him and wiped the tears until he stopped, only hiccuping and having stray tears fall from the corner of his shining eyes.  "It's okay, darling. I know how scary that must've been." He pointed around the room, especially at the sleeping dogs in the corner next to the cat. "Everything's changed. We changed it together." He touched his hands, staring into his eyes. "I'm very real, aren't I?"

The redhead had his hand to his head. "Why do I do this? Why can't I be normal?"

"Nightmares are normal, Franny. You just had a really bad one." He laid down next to him, letting the taller hold him close to his warm body.

"I can't go back to sleep." He looked at him, the blue in his eyes shining like diamonds. "I'm sorry, I know you're tired..."

Lloyd smiled at him, rubbing his wet beard. François was touching his hand. "Then we can talk until you feel better."

He sighed, finally breaking into a smile. "I love you. I love your kindness, Lloydie."

There was kissing involved, not much talking. François still held him close to him in the blanket, concerned by how cold he was. They were so distracted that they didn't see the lights flashing in the sky, but they did hear the boom. One of them really heard it, ducking and positioning himself to shoot an imaginary gun as ice formed on the blanket. He only stopped when he saw the other's teary eyes.

"Oh." Lloyd's cheeks flushed. "Damn, I haven't had a reaction like that in a while." Another boom. He yelped and covered his ears. The taller got up to close the curtain. His heart still thought the lights would cause a seizure, but his brain reminded him that wouldn't happen.

"Why are-" his face fell as pink light shined in the room, the other seeing it.

"Oh." He flew and gently led the other back to him. "François, I'm so sorry."

He allowed himself to sit before the tears started again, crying into his hands. Lloyd hugged him, still jumping when he heard the booms.

"I'm okay, I'm still here." He used a tissue to wipe those big tears. "Nothing bad happened this time."

His voice was shaking. "I know. I-I had the same reaction three times now. Force of habit, I guess." He laughed nervously, the other didn't.

He was hugging him from behind. The redhead had his hand on the snake's head. He could feel it throbbing. "I'm happy I came when I did. I couldn't have you going through this alone."

François felt him jump at an especially loud firework. He turned to embrace him. He felt him trembling. "I'm glad we're together." Their faces were both yellow from a quick light. There was a knot in his throat. "Are you okay? How are you feeling?"

"Other than scared, I'm-" he eyed the open door. François looked too. "I think there's someone here. Stay here."

"No, I go." He stood up and got the rifle from under the bed.

He flew and slowly made his way to the door, François following him behind. He cocked the rifle as a warning.

"Lloyd, I'm here!"

"Ji-hye!"

François felt his heart drop to his stomach as Lloyd happily flew down the stairs. He saw him embrace a teenage girl with brown hair and hoop earrings.

"Who-" Benjamin and Apple both came running to greet her, the girl awing and hugging the creatures she grew to love.

"This is my husband!" Lloyd flew up again to guide him downstairs. Instead, the other carried him down, making sure to hold him especially tight.

She happily had her hands together. "Frank, right?"

He laughed as he put Lloyd down. "François. Pleasure to meet you." After he shook her hand, he asked. "What are you doing here?"

"The goddess wants you to do a job, and she said I can come with!" She was clapping her hands.

Lloyd smiled at her, then frowned when he saw François look down. "I'll go only if Franny can come."

"Yeah, he can come! Just put him in a bubble!"

He nodded only when the other agreed. He touched her shoulder. "This look is definitely you, girl."

Her skin wasn't unnaturally white anymore, being a slightly tanish color. Her eyes looked like a normal size. There was no makeup on her pretty face. She was wearing more relaxed clothes, though her earrings were still stupidly large. Her hair was straight, brown, and down. "Everyone's been saying that! It feels really good!"

Lloyd gave his husband a kiss before putting him in a bubble, the other giving a thumbs up. He turned to the two dogs. "We'll be back in the morning. If anything, the babysitter will come." He gave them kisses, then cupped Benjamin's face in his hands. "You're the man of the house until we get back. You're in charge."

They waved goodbye before disappearing. The pitbull promptly pissed on the floor, the smaller dog barking until he shamefully went upstairs.

--

Now, hours later,  the three were surrounded by the stars. Today's mission was the easiest one by far: keep the stars entertained until their mother returns from business.

François was shocked by what he was seeing. He always thought the stars were just objects in the sky, their only job being to shine. However, they acted like small children. They were running around, making strange sounds similar to an excited puppy. They were climbing on the Dohs and leaving what seemed to be kiss marks on their skin, making them laugh. A bunch of them tried to kiss him, but Lloyd explained that he had to stay in the bubble. He ended up falling asleep, a red star making sure he slept well.

"C'here, guys!" Ji-hye were speaking an unknown language, the same one they all spoke when they were dead. "Lloyd has something to show you!"

The billions of stars circled around them, jumping and squealing. Lloyd made them an ice show, crystals forming and flowing out in the air as he made different shapes. They were easy to make happy. Think of it as a room full of preschoolers.

When they noticed their mother's light, all of them happily cried out and flew to her, kissing her and greeting her as she chuckled. The movement made François wake up.

"Slept well?" He nodded slowly, his hair a mess.

The two flew over, Lloyd's hand on the bubble. "Very well behaved. They liked the snowmen the most."

She smiled at them. "Very good. Well done."

François, now awake, looked around. The stars were back to normal. He saw them playing with little toys, some looking older than others. "I'm really surprised. The stars seem so..alive, in a sense."

"Would you like to know why?" All three nodded. She grabbed one, the stars flapping around. She moved her hand, and the star turned to a little boy biting on his bear. He was wearing old clothes, possibly from the 1910s. "All these stars were once children, human children."

Ji-hye got a chill down her spine, the couple staring at each other.

"All these children have no identity. When they passed one way or another, nobody knew who they were. When they were born. Sometimes, not even their face."

Lloyd looked out to the stars. Millions of billions of lights, and even more out in the distances. Billions of people. Children. Children that were once someone's whole world. They were all somebody's baby. He felt tears rolling down his face, covering his mouth. François did the same.

"This little boy-" the boy was climbing on her finger. "-was found in a barrel decades after he passed. He, like so many others, couldn't go anywhere after death. So, I was created when the first child on earth passed on." She moved her hand, and the child became a star again, floating away. "I exist to protect those that couldn't go anywhere, to give love to some who never felt a gentle hand. Sometimes, if they've been here for an especially long time, they are reincarnated into someone else. That's how Aurora got her daughter."

François' voice was breathy. "M-ma'am, I have a request. In my family, there was a little girl who died in Buchenwald, a German camp." He took out his phone and showed her a picture of a chubby redheaded girl with braids. "Her name was Simoné Dauphiné. I don't know much, but she was my great aunt's daughter. She always looked for her." He cried again, remembering his century-old aunt's last moments of crying out for her daughter in the hospital bed.

The giant looked at the picture again and dragged down the same red star that watched him sleep. With a move of her hand, the girl from the photograph cheered and fumbled with her toy. François gasped, his eyes wide.

"Simoné was torn apart from her family and put into a different camp from everyone she knew. She died on June 19, 1943. There was no more food for her." The girl awed at her name. The giant cupped her into her hands. "She was three years old."

Lloyd nearly wept for her. He knows the pain of hunger. The taste of it in his mouth. The way it shook his body. He barely survived it at seventeen. Poor, poor child.

"What do you know? Today is her birthday." She crushed a mass of stars together that weren't children and put the shining pink light with the girl. She threw her up, the orange and pink light going higher and higher until it was no longer visible.

Ji-hye looked up at it, then back at her. "Where's she going?"

She smiled as she looked up. "When they have a name and a family, I send them there. She's with her family."

François looked up and sighed. His aunt could finally smile.

"Why wasn't Jeanette here?" Lloyd was kissed by a star.

"Because she's a Doh, and your family is important to me. You were almost placed here, but that was mainly because the stars couldn't wait to meet you and almost dragged you with them." She beamed, remembering when she had to scoop his dead body away from them as they played with his neck, twisting and twirling it like a toy. "Silly stars."

François felt sick as he looked at the other. He would've never found him in this sea of souls.

"Ji-hye, you may go back."

The teen hugged Lloyd and waved goodbye to the man in the bubble before also going up. The goddess turned to her knight.

"You love it here, don't you?" When he exclaimed yes, she asked, "Do you want to come back?"

François held his breath as the shorter his his face. He shook his head no, but he mouthed something to the giant. She closed her eyes and nodded.

"Now, Lloyd, as a gift, and as an apology for what happened three years ago, I will give you a gift." She smiled when Lloyd happily flew around and hugged his husband's bubble.

She cupped him into her hand, scaring the other. She made him lay down, put a flashing light to his forehead, then put him in the bubble with François, who clung to him. He felt his breathing and heartbeat.

"He's well. He'll rise again when you're back on Earth." He nodded, very relieved. "You're going to Vagu for their new year. I feel as though you can benefit from it."

"Yes, his parents would especially like that." The scream of Beom from three years ago rung in his head. As hard as he tried, he couldn't scub it from his brain.

She pushed the bubble down, the man screaming as the surroundings rapidly changed until they were in front of the Doh mansion. The bubble popped as Lloyd woke up.

"Ah, that was nice." He rubbed his eyes, the other kissing his head. "Did-" he stared at François like a deer in headlights.

"Darling, what's wrong?" He spoke fast, looking at his hair. No black.

He grabbed his hands, tears on the brim of his eyes. "Your hair..it's red..."

The other grinned, rubbing his knuckles. "Lloydie, you can see colors again!"

He chuckled as he looked around. As if the world couldn't get more beautiful. "Wow..." He floated up, holding the other's hand. "Let's go in."

Inside, dessert was taking place. In Vagu, people eat pineapples and cakes after dinner in order to have a sweet new year. Ho noticed him first.

"You came!" Ho smiled at them as Marie stood up to embrace him.

"Hi, guys." He blushed when she kissed his cheek. "Hi, Mama."

Beom had to be sitting in between his other children to feel comfortable. "Eat, boys."

François sat in between Da and Peter, fist bumping him. "God, I love cake."

Étoile was already on its third piece. "Me too!" It has the diet of a child. It drinks only flavored drinks because water is "boring." It only eats sweets and fried foods, the only exception being rice. It's so unhealthy that it needs to take vitamins, which it usually needs a reminder to do so.

Lloyd told them all about the adventure they had. The parents were barely listening. Lloyd was here. Ho was here. Their children are here. Everyone they grieved for so many years were all with them together.

Lloyd gave François a kiss. "Happy anniversary, Franny."

They kissed again, the others being grossed out. "Happy anniversary, my love."

-----

After hours of games and chatting, the countdown began. Beom felt a sense of dread in his stomach. He didn't understand. He wasn't in France. No one was ill.

Lily was holding Peter's arm. "Look, it's starting!"

The three Dohs were going to see the fireworks at last. They didn't before. They wanted to see what was going on Earth. Da still remembers holding them as they turned off the globe. The world didn't appeal to them after seeing the baby fall.

"10! 9!"

François was squeezing Lloyd's hand. He kissed it, his eyes shut.

"5! 4!"

Their grandparents looked on, feeling more alone than ever.

"1! Happy New Year!"

The fireworks lit the sky. Marie had her arms around her boys, who both jumped. Beom was crying, having his arms around his youngest son.

"Daddy's here." He whispered in his ear in Korean. "We're together. You're not by yourself, alright?"

He looked up at him, wrapping his arm hair. "I know, appa. I'm okay." He looked over at François, who was crying into his handkerchief. "It's alright."

The taller kissed his hand again. "I love you. Thank you for staying."

Da was holding her whimpering puppy. "Look how pretty they are!"

Marie awed at them. She loves how they appreciate the simple things she overlooks each day. They like the way mud feels, how their bodies feel after sleeping, the sunlight on their skin, everything her brain blocked off. They are truly beautiful.

Ho stayed quiet as he watched the fireworks, having earplugs to avoid the sound. He watched the patterns fading and restarting. In the back of his mind, he thought about Jo and Hunter. He always thinks about his eldest son. He knew he wouldn't have really cared about this, but who knows, maybe he would've liked it this year. Jo, he doesn't know.

"This is a great day." François had his arm around his husband's upper shoulders as they sat on the couch. "Love you, Lloyd."

The other kissed his ring. "Love you more." He sat back, sighing. "This is good, the atmosphere." He nodded again. "This is really good."

----

Star in the East
Joseph Paradis