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Earth had been trying to cope with the loss of his dear friend Venus’ memory.
Though it was quite the struggle.
Earth finally managed to work up the courage to tell Venus that he was in love with him, that he had been in love with him, but time waits for no one.
Time is an impatient person,
time is restless,
time is eager,
time is merciless.
Time would never spare even a drop of pity for anyone, no matter who, no matter what, no matter when.
Time had no sympathy.
Earth quickly learned to understand that.
He was forced to.
Time made sure to give him all of the resources he needed to become educated.
Several long and detailed lessons, and very thorough first hand experiences.
A few years had passed since Venus lost all of his memories, good and bad, meaningful and meaningless, big and small, long and short, to dissociative amnesia.
The only thing he could remember is that he was forgetting something.
Everytime a specific planet would talk to him, he would feel an agonizing amount of anguish in his core, but he couldn’t figure out why.
That specific planet felt the same agonizing anguish in his own core as well, the only difference being that he knew very well why it was there.
Earth’s feelings for Venus never subsided, they only grew as the months passed by. Each day he yearned to tell Venus how he felt.
Each day he yearned for Venus.
Each day he yearned.
He yearned and yearned, would yearn a bit more, a bit more, and then some.
The yearning was seemingly endless, and it only grew.
Every day Earth would question what would have happened if he wasn’t such a coward, and had just confessed to Venus as soon as he realized his feelings.
Earth wished Venus would’ve just rejected him.
He wished Venus would’ve rejected him on his own.
And not have amnesia do it for him.
“You don’t know pain until you look someone you love in the eyes, and they stare back at you like you’re a stranger because to them, you are.”
Earth knew that he had to get over this somehow.
It had been so many years since it happened, yet it still jabbed into him with every passing thought.
He truly wished that he could forget too- but he knew he didn’t actually want that.
Even though it hurt, even though it hurt so bad- like nothing he had ever felt before- he didn’t want to forget his love for Venus.
“Are you sure there’s nothing we can do to help him to remember?” Earth asked.
He already knew the answer to this question as he had asked it nearly a million times.
Jupiter just sighed as he shook his head, “No, Earth. I’m sorry but there really isn’t anything we can do.”
Earth’s head drooped, he knew that would be the answer, but he still held out hope that maybe- just maybe- it would be different.
It never was though.
“Are you sure there isn’t anything that could possibly jog at least one memory?” He questioned, pleading for an answer that wasn’t no.
Jupiter solemnly shook his head, “Once again, no. I’m really, really sorry, but there just isn’t anything we can do about it.”
Earth sluggishly raised his head, “I figured you’d say that…oh well- I’m gonna go talk to Venus.” he lamented as he slowly floated off.
Jupiter watched as he did, pity apparent in his eyes.
He felt bad for the rocky planet.
Everyday all he would do is either question him if there was any way to revive Venus’ memory, question what could’ve been, or try to repair Venus’ remembrance himself.
It was a pitiful sight to watch nonetheless.
Though no one could tell Earth that everything he would do was in vain.
That all of his attempts were worthless.
That all of his attempts were a waste of his time.
But Earth didn’t mind wasting time: Again, time was impatient. Too impatient to allow Earth to even get a drop of his feelings out to Venus before he forgot.
So it was only fair that he would render time futile every now and then.
Perhaps it was worse to let him believe in the delusions that one day Venus would get his memories back, but it was seemingly the only thing that brought him clarity.
Oh well, it was okay for now.
Earth smiled as he saw Venus talking to Mercury.
Even though seeing the other planet brought him immense feelings of despair and regret- he still enjoyed hanging out with him.
Venus not remembering anything was better than him being dead.
At least now he could actually have a peaceful conversation with Mercury.
“Hey Venus, hey Mercury!” He greeted as he drifted over to the two planets.
Mercury gave Earth a sad look, knowing what he was going to do, but he didn’t say anything about it. He knew that it would be to no avail, “Hi Earth,”
Venus turned around, glancing at Earth, “Hey, Earth…” he began to feel that weird feeling again.
Just why did he feel that way?
Just why did he feel that anguish?
Just why did he feel that agony?
Just why did he feel that sorrow??
Just why?
“What are you two up to?” Earth asked.
Mercury shrugged, “Eh, nothing much- we’re just chatting really.” he answered.
“Well…what are you talking about?” Earth had been rather antisocial lately, well- besides from constantly asking Jupiter if there was anything they could do to revive Venus’ memory and questioning Venus on things he once did in a sorry attempt to get him to remember his past. So he had gotten a little dull with his social skills.
At least he had improved in interrogating others though.
Mercury, sadly, didn't seem to realize this, “Nothing in particular, are you doing anything?” he asked in turn.
Earth hummed for a moment, “Mmm, nah- not really. Just trying to see if there’s anything I can do to revive Venus’ memory.”
Mercury sighed, giving him a sad glance.
Venus on the other hand just looked at him bleakly, “Revive my memory…?”
He was still a little slow, not completely aware of anything that happened out of the presence.
Earth just nodded, “Mhm, remember- I’ve been trying to find a way to help you remember everything from before?” It was painful to hear that none of what he did was working, but he managed to keep himself in the reality of his fantasies.
Venus nodded slowly, quite apparent that he really had no clue what the hell the other was talking about, “Yeah…”
Earth somehow managed to believe that he was being sincere when he said this, “Okay perfect! How about we play space poker and then maybe that’ll spark some memories!”
Mercury shook his head somberly, “Earth, you’ve tried that several times before-”
“So what if I have? Doesn’t hurt to try again.” He said, forcing a smile on his face despite feeling as though he were on the verge of tears.
Mercury sighed, he really didn’t want Earth to keep doing this, in all honesty it only hurt him further, but he couldn’t bring himself to tell him that, “I guess you’re right…Venus, do you remember the rules?” He turned to the larger planet.
Venus looked between Mercury and Earth, a slightly confused look on his face, “Uhhhh…maybe?”
Earth’s smile faltered slightly as he felt his small light of hope flicker. Though, he managed to once again convince himself that this could work- that this would work, “Alright, I can explain it to you again, and then we can play- sound good?”
Venus nodded, “Okay then…”
Mercury felt bad for his friend, for both of them really.
Ever since Venus first fell in love with Earth, he could tell just exactly how badly he needed the other planet.
Even though he rarely had good interactions with him back then, it was easy for him to see it: The way Venus would gaze at him longingly, the way he’d softly smile when Earth would go on about something his Earthlings did when he thought no one was looking, the way he would always find a way to subtly show how much he cared.
Honestly, within every interaction he had with the other planet, Mercury could see just how in love he was.
And it was the same with Earth,
Ever since Earth first fell in love with Venus, he could tell just how he yearned for the other.
It was so easy to see: The way Earth would gaze at Venus affectionately, the way he would softly smile whenever the other planet would tease him, the way Earth would subtly tease him back or make little quips.
It was physically painful how obvious it was to Mercury.
Why couldn’t these two just realize their love for each other already!?
Why couldn’t these dumbasses just kiss, get married, and be happy?
Mercury was devastated that Venus had forgotten everything.
He was devastated that they never got to tell eachother how they felt.
He was devastated with the way Earth desperately tried to get Venus to remember even the slightest of things.
He was devastated with how Earth would ask Jupiter everyday if there was any possible way to get Venus’ memory back.
He was devastated with how Earth tirelessly tried to revive even a fraction of Venus’ memory.
It was just devastating to witness.
“Okay so, the two of spades is the most powerful card, and the nine of hearts is the second most powerful, got it?” He explained, showing Venus what the cards looked like as he did.
Venus nodded slowly, a little confused, “I think so…”
Earth smiled brightly, “Okay great! Hey Mercury, can you go get Mars? I think that’ll give us a higher chance of Venus remembering something.”
Mercury sighed, this was seriously sad to watch, “Sure thing Earth, I’ll be right back.” he finished as he floated off to Mars’ orbit to go get him.
Venus and Earth gazed at each other for a moment, that same painful feeling plaguing Venus’ core once again.
Just what the hell was it?
What was that pain?
What was that agony?
What was the anguish?
What was that ache?
What was that twinge?
What was that throb?
What was that tenderness?
And why did it keep happening when Earth was around?
Earth felt that same pain in his own core, only he knew what it was.
He knew that it was caused by the regret of being just a bit too late.
Mercury arrived at Mars’ orbit, he puffed out a sigh as he thought about how desperately Earth was trying to provoke Venus’ memories, though it was always to no avail.
“Hey Mars,” Mercury called out, gaining the attention of the other planet.
He turned around, making his way over to the smaller, “Hey Mercury, what’s up?”
Mercury sighed.
That was enough to tell Mars just exactly what was going on, but Mercury still explained, “Earth is trying to provoke Venus’ memories again.”
Mars groaned, “Ugh, poor guy. What’s he trying this time?”
“He’s having Venus play space poker with him again, he wants you to join us. He thinks that if you’re there it’ll give Venus a higher chance of remembering something.” He explained solemnly.
Mars shook his head, “Didn’t he just try that last week and- the week before?”
Mercury shrugged, “Yeah, he did, but he’s giving it another go.”
The larger planet sighed. Earth truly was running out of ideas, “Well, I’ve been pretty bored lately, and I haven’t played in a while. Let’s go.”
The smaller planet nodded quietly, before turning around and heading back over to Earth’s orbit.
Since Jupiter’s orbit was right next to Mars’, he overheard the two rocky planet’s conversation.
He sighed sadly.
Poor Earth just wouldn’t give up.
Jupiter could tell he was beginning to get hopeless as he had tried nearly everything he possibly could twice over.
Earth had tried telling Venus about every possible thing he himself could remember from the other planet’s past, he had tried playing asteroid dodgeball with him, he had tried getting Venus to bully poor Mercury, he had tried getting Venus hit by a solarflare, he had tried getting him to play space poker, and many more things.
He had run out of ideas so now he had begun to try things over again, and then over once more.
It was truly heartbreaking to watch.
Jupiter shook his head, he really should just tell Earth that there was no point in trying, but he knew Earth would just ignore him and keep finding ideas to try out.
Saturn had noticed that Jupiter was acting somber, and grew concerned for his friend, “Jupiter,” he began, “Is something wrong?” He asked gently, an anxious expression on his face.
Jupiter turned around to face the ringed planet, “No, I’m fine. It’s just that Earth is trying to revive Venus’ memories again.” he explained.
“Isn’t that a good thing though?” He asked.
Jupiter shook his head, “It was at first, but now he’s getting obsessive about it. He won’t give it a rest, he’s tried literally every possible thing he can think of, so now he’s just repeating things.”
Saturn sighed, a pitiful look on his face, “I guess you’re right…though is there seriously nothing that can be done about it?” he asked, seemingly pondering his own question.
“No, not really. I think he has dissociative amnesia, there’s no definite cure for it. Normally it’s just temporary- but his seems to be long term.” The gas giant explained.
The ringed planet slouched slightly, “That’s a shame, I really hate seeing Earth this depressed…”
“Me too Saturn, me too.” Jupiter agreed.
Mars and Mercury hastily made their way back to Earth’s orbit, not taking them too long to reach their destination.
Earth sprang up when he noticed Mercury had finally made it back, “Finally! What took you guys so long?” he asked, his tone sounding a little annoyed.
Mars and Mercury exchanged a mutual glance of pity, before Mercury answered with a sigh, “I wasn’t gone for that long, Earth. It only took me about five or so minutes to get Mars and come back here.”
Earth rolled his eyes, “Well it felt longer, besides, five minutes is a pretty long time.”
Mars gave him a weird look, “Five minutes isn’t really that long of a time-”
“Shh! Less talking, more getting to our game! I gotta see if this can jog Venus’ memory!” he interrupted, floating back to where Venus was and starting to shuffle the deck of cards.
Mercury and Mars exchanged one more glance before they sat next to Earth and Venus.
Venus seemed to be a little confused as to what the three other planets were arguing about, but he didn’t question it. Seemingly either not sure how to ask, or just not having the energy to do so.
Earth shuffled through the deck as fast as he possibly could, losing cards every now and then with how hastily he worked.
“Slow down man, no one’s gonna take the cards away from you.” Mars mused, watching as Earth lost another card from the deck.
“What do you mean ‘slow down’? I’m just shuffling through the deck at a normal pace!” He grumbled, seemingly a little frustrated.
Mercury really didn’t want a fight to start, so he quickly intervened, “Okay, okay- calm down, Mars didn’t mean to provoke you. And- just take your time, Earth- it’s better to take things slowly- if you rush through things you might miss an opportunity to revoke a memory of Venus’.”
Earth puffed out a breath, calming down slightly, “I guess you’re right…okay- let me try that again.”
He began to re-shuffle through the cards, though much more calmly and slower this time.
As he did he looked back up at Venus, “Does this bring any memories back? Does it bring anything back at all?”
Venus studied this scene for a moment, thinking as hard as he possibly could and trying to see if this reminded him of anything.
Sadly, he really truly couldn’t seem to draw anything back from this.
The only thing that came to mind was that unfamiliar agonizing pain in his core.
He shook his, “No, sorry.”
Earth sighed, his head dropping slightly, “Okay then, maybe when we get to playing it’ll remind you of something.”
Mercury and Mars looked at eachother, both seemingly being able to tell that the other was thinking the same thing.
They both could tell that Earth was starting to get obsessed with this.
The more he lost hope, the more obsessive he got.
It was starting to get unhealthy.
Earth began to pass out the cards, still going slowly, trying to provoke something in Venus’ mind.
“How about now? Does anything feel familiar?” He asked again, hoping for a different answer this time.
Venus just shook his head, the only thing he felt was that damned pain.
Earth groaned, “Ugh, why can’t there just be a cure for this bullshit?” he asked seemingly to no one.
Mercury sighed, “I know, Earth, but just stay calm- alright? It’s no help getting worked up over it.”
Earth realized that he was once again beginning to get ticked off, “Sorry, Mercury…I just- really want this to work…I miss Venus a lot.”
I felt weird to Venus to be talked about as if he wasn’t there even though he was right next to Earth.
It kind of made him question his existence.
Was he even the same person everyone referred to as “Venus” anymore?
Who even really was he at this point?
Did he even exist?
Is he just a shell?
A shell with no personality, thoughts, or feelings?
No- he definitely had feelings.
If he didn’t he wouldn’t feel that anguish in his core every time Earth was around.
But since that was the case- just what was he at this point?
“I know you do Earth, but he’s still here, isn’t he? He just doesn’t remember anything.” Mercury contributed.
“Yeah, I guess you’re right, Mercury….also- sorry, Venus. That sounded kind of rude just now- I promise I didn’t mean it like that. It’s just kind of weird to me that you’re here but like- not here at the same time.” He apologized somberly.
“Don’t worry about it, I understand…I think…” Venus trailed off, now confused with himself.
“Anyway- let’s get back to it, I don’t wanna waste any time!” Earth chimed as he began to look through his cards.
The four of them played for ours, every few minutes Earth would ask, “How about now- does this seem familiar?”
And in kind, Venus would always respond with a shake of his head or a simple, “No- sorry.”
The only thing it could bring back to him was that painful throbbing feeling in his core.
“Okay, just one more game! I swear- this is the last!” Earth said, trying to convince the other three.
Mars groaned, “Earth- you said that five rounds ago! I’m pretty sure Venus would’ve remembered something by now if this provoked something.”
Mercury nodded in response, “Yeah, why don’t we try something else?” He suggested.
“This is the last one! I promise! Just oneeeeee more!” Earth insisted.
Mercury sighed, “If we play another round we’ll just end up playing five more- why not ask Venus if he has any other ideas then this?” He offered.
Earth hummed for a moment, seemingly considering it. “Ugh, fine- hey Venus- what do you think we should do?”
Venus looked at him, slightly confused, but he still tried to give him an answer, “Uhm- well…I think if I was going to remember something from this I would’ve done it by now…how about we try something different?”
Earth sighed, “Okay- I guess you’re right…hmmm…” he trailed off, seemingly pondering what to do.
Though he seemed to have found something as he perked up gleefully, “Ah! I know! We should take Venus back to the Kuiper belt!”
Mars and Mercury exchanged a glance.
“That’s a terrible idea, Earth…” Mars stated, a bit of a weird look on his face.
“Why is it?” Earth began, “I mean, what’s so bad about it? It’s one of the only things we haven’t tried yet.”
Mercury pondered his query for a moment, though he really couldn’t find a reason why this was such a bad thought, “Well- I guess technically it's not that bad of an idea. I mean- Earth kind’ve has a point- the Kuiper belt is where Venus lost his memories, why isn’t that where he could potentially remember something?”
Earth nodded his head matter of factly, “Mhm, that’s what I’m saying! We should at least try it!”
Mars sighed, “I guess.” Mars for some reason figured it would be a bad idea specifically because that's where Venus forgot everything.
Couldn’t something worse happen?
But then again, it didn’t seem like anything else was going to work so they might as well give it a shot.
“Great! Let’s go!” Earth chimed as he began to float off.
“Wait- now?” Mars asked.
Earth nodded, “Mhm! That’s what I said, isn't it?”
Mercury sighed as he looked at Mars, “Well- it’s not like we really have anything else going on- that is unless you wanna play another ten rounds of space poker,”
“Ah, nevermind then- let's get going!” Mars quickly insisted, floating off as quickly as he could.
The small planet stifled a laugh, though Earth seemed confused, “Wow, he’s eager. Wonder why he had a sudden change of heart?”
Mercury shook his head, a smile planted on his lips, “Oh nothing, he probably just doesn’t wanna play space poker again.” he answered as he too drifted off.
“Hey, what’s that supposed to mean!?” Earth interrogated as he hastily chased after the two of them.
Venus on the other hand, was rather sluggish as he followed.
Something about the Kuiper belt gave him a weird feeling…though he couldn’t quite pinpoint it.
He knew he had heard of it from somewhere…what was it-?
From the way it was described to him, it seemed as though it was a mix of dread and guilt…?
He wasn’t quite sure, all he knew was that he really didn’t wanna go back to that place, even though it felt like he had never been there.
Earth began to notice that Venus wasn’t following, he turned around to see where he was, “Are you coming Venus?” he asked.
Venus came back to, “Oh- uhm, yeah.” he muttered as he hurried after the three of them.
“Oh wait! Maybe we should start with the asteroid belt!” Earth suggested, noticing how they were right by it.
“I mean, we kind’ve have to, considering to get to the Kuiper belt we have to go through it.” Mars explained.
Earth smiled as he eagerly drifted into it, not waiting to hear the rest of the rest of what Mars had to say.
Mars froze, “Wow- he’s really…” he trailed off,
“Obsessed? Yeah,” Mercury finished for him, earning a simple nod from the other planet.
Venus on the other hand just stared blankly.
He hadn’t been completely filled in on anything that had happened: All he knew was that he had lost his memory, and Earth was desperately trying to get it back for him.
He had no clue of anything else besides that, everyone had miserably failed to fill him in, it was kind’ve frustrating now that he thought about it, “Uhm- what are we doing again?” he asked hesitantly.
Mars glanced back at him, “Oh, we’re heading to the Kuiper belt, Earth thinks that it might bring your memories back if we go there.” he explained, as he headed into the asteroid belt after Earth.
Venus was still rather confused, he hadn’t figured out that part since he had heard bits and pieces of it, but he didn’t understand why they were so desperate.
They acted like they had no time at all when they really had all the time in the world.
Why were they so rushed?
Why was Earth so obsessed with this?
Was he missing something?
Mercury could tell that Venus was still perplexed, “Do you really have any clue of what’s happening?” he asked, earning a simple shake of his head from Venus.
The smaller planet sighed before answering, “Alright, so basically-”
“Hey! Are you two coming?” Earth interrupted.
Mercury groaned, “Yeah, hang on a minute.” he began, “Alright- as I was saying-”
“Well we don’t have a minute! There’s no point in us doing this if Venus isn’t here!” Earth once again interrupted.
Mercury groaned, a little frustrated, “Okay, I’ll inform you on the way- let’s just go before he gets upset.” he grumbled as he turned around, heading into the asteroid belt.
So Venus was left in confusion, he slowly followed after Mercury, trying to rack his brain for what the explanation could possibly be.
Could it be that he possibly did something bad?
No- they probably wouldn’t be so concerned about him if that was the case.
Did it have something to do with what Earth first told him?
Wait- what was it he had first said to him?
Something about-
“Hey Venus! Come here!” Earth yelled.
Venus startled slightly, jumping at the unexpected sound of Earth’s voice.
“C-coming,” he murmured as he floated over to the other planet.
“Does anything here look familiar to you?” Earth asked, gesturing at the several hundreds of asteroids in the area.
Were asteroids supposed to be familiar?
Did asteroids mean something to him?
He stared at them, studying them as closely as possible.
He began to count them, perhaps the number meant something?
Wait- how do you count again?
Uhm-
1…
1…?
What comes after one?
Is it two…?
Or twelve…?
Well, two has the same amount of numbers as one does, but then again-
“If you don’t recognize anything that’s fine, Venus.” Earth said, startling Venus slightly.
“Oh- uhm…yeah- I don’t think anything here is familiar to me…Maybe we should try somewhere else…?” He suggested.
Earth quickly nodded, floating off hastily.
Right- now what comes after one?
Oh right- we decided it was two…didn’t we?
Or did we agree it was twelve instead?
Mercury looked back at Venus, who was seemingly spacing out once again, “Venus, are you alright?” He asked worriedly.
Venus snapped back too, “Oh- yeah…I’m just- thinking…”
Mercury frowned, he had a feeling that this was starting to stress the other planet out. “We can stop if you need,”
Venus quickly shook his head, “No, no, no- it’s not that,” he quickly demurred, “It’s just that…I can’t figure out what comes after one,”
Mercury gave him a weird look, “What comes after one…?” he repeated the question, not certain he heard it correctly.
The larger planet nodded, “Yeah…is it two? Or twelve?”
Mercury cocked a brow, “Uhhh, it’s two…”
“Hey! Guys- would you stop just- stopping? We don’t have all day!” Earth yelled back grumpily.
“W-well technically we do-”
“Less talking, more searching! Come on now!” He interrupted once again.
The smaller planet sighed defeatedly, “Come on Venus,”
He sluggishly floated towards the other two planets.
Venus followed him, still curious as to what the rush was and- what came after three?
Mars gave Earth a bit of a sad gaze, “Hey- Earth,” he began, “Are you…alright?”
The other planet glanced back at Mars, “Mhm, why wouldn’t I be?”
“I don’t know, maybe because you seem really…rushed?” He answered hesitantly.
Earth furrowed his brow, growing slightly frustrated once more, “Why is everyone suddenly so worried about me? If anything, you guys should be worried about Venus, he’s the one without a memory, not me.”
Mars shook his head, “Well- yes but- your becoming obsessed with this- I’m worried that you’re going to become depres-”
“No I won’t! I’m just trying to solve this- okay!? Just- stop pestering me about it and let me just do what I need to do!” He interrupted, startling the other planet with his sudden change in tone.
Earth really didn’t want to think about his depressed state right now, he doesn’t have the time to feel sorry for himself- he has to figure out how to get Venus’ memories back.
Mars really didn’t want to start a fight with Earth, but this had to be brought up sooner or later, “Earth, I get that you’re stressed right now, but I’m worried for you-”
“Well you shouldn’t be! Alright? Now just shut up about it!” He disrupted the other, floating ahead of him.
Mars sighed, there really was no talking sense into him.
Meanwhile, Mercury felt hopeless.
Earth really was getting a little too obsessed with this.
“Hey Mars, come here real fast,” He called to the other planet.
Mars drifted over to him, “What is it, Mercury?”
“I’m gonna go try to talk some sense into him, can you stay with Venus?” He asked, gesturing towards the other very confused looking planet.
Mars groaned, “Ugh, it’ll just be a waste of your time, there’s no point.”
The smaller planet simply shook his head, “Well, I might as well just give it another try, I’ll be right back.”
With that, he floated off after Earth, not waiting to hear if Mars had anything else to say.
Venus was confused as to why he was suddenly being treated like a child, it’s not like he wasn’t trustworthy to be left alone.
Did they think he was going to run off?
Sure, maybe he had lost his memory, but he wasn’t stupid.
Mercury hurried after Earth, thankfully, he was still trying to get Venus to look at things and see if they looked familiar, so he hadn’t gone that far ahead.
“Earth, wait up a second!” He called after the other planet.
Earth simply rolled his eyes, not bothering to listen to Mercury and continuing on his way.
“Earth, this won’t revoke any of Venus’ memories if you’re not even there to help him.” Mercury insisted.
If Earth thought about it, he wasn’t really even sure why he was trying to get away from everyone else, Mercury really did have a point, he won’t help anything if he’s just pissed off the whole time.
He took a breath, calming himself down before turning around to face the other planet.
Mercury smiled, glad that he had finally gotten his friend to chill out, “Earth, there’s no need to rush- like I said- rushing might cause Venus to miss something, and don’t you wanna do everything in your power to make sure that doesn’t happen?”
The other planet sighed, “You’re right, I- I’m sorry, Mercury. I’m just stressed,”
“I know you are Earth, but it might help you if you just took a break for a bit. Everyday for years now you’ve been obsessing over this, it’s not healthy.” Mercury informed, a soft smile painted upon his lips.
“I know, but- what do I do if we can’t get Venus’ memory back? What happens if he never remembers?” He questioned, feeling the rims of his eyes grow red as tears provoked him.
This was a hard question to answer, not because there wasn’t an explanation, but because it was a harsh reality, “Then, we’ll just have to learn to live with it. You’ll have to rebuild your relationship with him. It’s harsh, but it’s just the way reality is.”
Earth’s throat felt as though there were thorns poking at the inside of it as he struggled to retain tears, “But, how do I live with that outcome? How will I manage?”
Mercury shook his head, “There’s really no answer to that,”
“The only answer is that I won’t be able to, I won’t be able to live with that.” Earth could no longer contain his tears.
The smaller planet sadly shook his head, “But you’ll have to, Earth.”
Earth’s vocal cords felt as though they had been ripped to shreds, as he tried his best not to break down, “But I can’t! I won’t be able to bring myself to do that!”
“Well, you’ll still be close friends with Venus, won’t you? It’s not like he’s gone forever.”
“But he is!” Earth interrupted, tears now streaking down his cheeks like raindrops on a car window.
Mercury was slightly surprised by that sentence.
“He is gone! He’s a completely different person! Sure- he looks the same, but he doesn’t act the same! Venus isn’t Venus anymore, Mercury!” He yelled, his voice high and wobbly as his throat was tear choked.
Those words were harsh, but they were the truth.
A person isn’t a person without a personality.
So when it changes, it’s like they are a completely different being.
“I know, Earth. But- who says that's what's going to happen? Who says we won’t be able to get his memory back?” He asked softly, trying to reassure the other.
Earth took a few deep breaths, “You’re right, I’ll just…count on the fact that he’ll remember…”
Mercury shook his head, “Don’t get your hopes up, that’ll only make things worse in the end if he doesn’t get his memory back.”
These words were confusing, wasn’t Mercury practically just telling him to stay positive?
But now he’s telling him to be pessimistic, which is it?
“But, how should I stay positive then? You say that there’s still a chance he’ll get his memories back, so not to get too upset over it. But then you say that there’s also a chance he won’t so not to get my hopes up over it. Which is it?” He interrogated the other planet.
Mercury sighed, “It’s hard, I know. How about, instead of counting on the other, you don’t count on either?” he suggested.
This confused Earth, “What do you mean? How do I not count on one or the other?”
“Well- I guess…just don’t assume that one’s going to happen over the other. Just assume there’s a third option, one that’s not a definite answer, and count on that one instead. Does that make sense?” He asked, a small smile on his face.
“I guess so…” Earth replied, obviously still a little uncertain but starting to get it.
“Good, now- we should probably get back to Mars and Venus before they get concerned.” He said, turning around.
Earth just nodded in response.
Venus was now beginning to wonder, what came after two?
If two came after one, then what came after two?
Mars began to notice that Venus seemed to be deep in thought, “Is something wrong?” he asked.
Venus hummed for a moment, “Mmm, nothing really…I’m just curious about something…” He trailed off, once again pondering his earlier question.
Mars gave him a weird look, “Uhm, well- what is it?”
“Well…I was wondering, if two comes after one, what comes after two?” He asked, a questioning look painted upon his face.
The other planet was rather confused, “Uhm- three?” he answered uncertainly.
Venus nodded slowly, “Ah, well- what comes after three?”
“Uh- four…why do you ask?” He replied curiously.
“Oh, I’m just trying to count all of the asteroids here.” He answered blankly.
Mars stared at him, looking extremely confused, “Why the hell are you trying to count them all? That’ll take you forever!”
Venus simply shrugged, “Well, earlier Earth asked me if the asteroids reminded me of anything. They didn’t at the time, so I was wondering if maybe counting them would help.” he answered.
The other planet quickly shook his head, “I doubt that’ll help revoke anything, but if you really want to, go ahead- I guess…”
With that, Venus continued to count them.
One…
Two…
What was it again-?
Three?
Yeah- three…
Three…
Four…
What’s after four…?
Venus was about to ask his question, but Earth and Mercury returned before he got the chance.
Mars sprang up, hurrying over to them, “Mercury, did you finally manage to talk some sense into him?”
Mercury nodded slowly, “I think so…” he replied, trailing off.
Earth glanced over to Venus, who was quiet in the background, “Venus, are you alright?”
Venus looked at the other planet, “Oh, yeah-” he answered, going back to pondering what came after four.
Earth didn’t fully believe him, “A-are you sure? You seem sort of upset…”
The other planet shook his head, “No, I’m not…I’m just trying to count the asteroids.” he answered.
“Huh? Why are you…” Earth began.
“He thinks that if he does he might remember something,” Mars explained.
Earth looked over at him, “That’s a great idea! Alright- let’s begin!”
Mercury looked extremely confused, seeing as he was the only one who had no clue any of this was happening, it was warranted, “Wait- what?”
“Shhh, you’ll make us lose our focus! One…” Earth shushed, quickly going back to counting.
Mars and Mercury exchanged a glance, “We’re gonna be here a while,” Mars mumbled under his breath.
Though, Earth seemed to hear him, “Hey! Weren’t you the one who said we have all the time in the world?”
Mars quickly shut his mouth.
Earth, seeing he wasn’t going to say anymore, returned to counting with Venus.
Mercury sighed to himself, “Hey, Earth…how about we go to the Kuiper belt, and then we count the asteroids? We start with the shorter thing, then move on to the longer thing?”
Earth seemingly pondered the question, looking as if he were considering it, “Mmmm, okay! Let’s keep going!” he agreed, once again quickly floating off.
Venus followed after him quickly, leaving just Mars and Mercury to stare at each other.
“Well that was fast- I didn’t expect him to agree…” The smaller planet trailed off.
The other simply just shrugged, “Eh, suppose he’s willing to do anything possible.” he said before chasing after the other two.
Mars was about to follow, though he noticed something out of the corner of his eyes.
It was rather small, and gray-ish in color.
He felt dread overcome him as he quickly realized exactly what this was.
It was his worst fear.
Ceres.
The dwarf planet peaked at Mars from behind an asteroid, a creepy smile plastered onto his face.
After a few seconds of the two just staring at each other, Ceres began to emerge from behind the rock.
“HEY NO NO NO, Y-YOU STAY THERE-” Mars screamed as he backed up hastily.
Ceres, of course- didn’t oblige. He laughed like a manic as he slowly but surely closed the distance between himself and the planet.
“HEY- WE CAN TALK ABOUT THIS-”
Ceres just kept laughing psychotically as he now floated towards the planet even quicker.
Mars backed up, quickly beginning to realize that his attempts to make peace with the dwarf planet were futile.
The planet decided it would be better to make a break for it, “MERCURY!!!! SAVE ME!!” he yelled as he drifted over to the smaller planet as fast as he possibly could.
Mercury was rather confused as to why the larger planet was suddenly terrified, “What are you-” he began as he turned around, only to be met with a very rabid looking dwarf planet.
Mars quickly took cover behind Mercury, trembling in fear as he stared at Ceres, “M-make it go away!” he screamed.
The smaller planet found this to be rather laughable, “It’s just Ceres, why are you so afraid?”
The rabid planetoid smiled widely, eyes locked on Mars.
“D-DO YOU NOT SEE THE WAY HE LOOKS AT ME??? HE WANTS TO EAT ME!!!” He stuttered out.
Earth had now grown confused as to what was going on back there, considering all of the screaming and maniacal laughing.
He floated over to the two of them, Venus following him closely behind.
“What are you two doing- oh…” he interrupted himself, now seeing the issue.
Mars, now realizing there was a bigger object to hide behind, quickly fled from Mercury, and instead hid behind Earth.
Earth glanced back at him, “Why are you so scared of him? He’s much smaller than you, he probably can’t even do much if he wanted…”
Ceres now left from Mercury, and floated over in front of Earth, eyes still locked onto Mars.
Mars now shuddered more violently, “H-HOW DO YOU KNOW THAT??? HE PROBABLY HAS RABIES!!!!! I MEAN- J-JUST LOOK AT HIM!!!”
Earth glanced back at the other, “Well don’t be rude.”
Ceres continued laughing in a berserk manner as he floated behind Earth to where Mars was.
Earning Earth to get earraped by Mars’ very loud and high pitched scream, “AHHHHHHH- GET IT AWAY!!!!”
Mars attempted to get away, though Ceres seemed to think Mars was edible, as he bit him, latching onto him tightly.
Perhaps he was confused, this Mars was the planet, not the candy bar.
“AHHHHHH GET IT OFF- GET IT OFF!!!!!”
Earth was seriously struggling not to laugh at this hysterical scene, and Venus was confused as hell.
“D-DON’T JUST WATCH!!! DO SOMETHING!!!!!!!!!!!” He yelled, now attempting to shake Ceres off.
Ceres only latched on tighter, he also had rather sharp teeth, so it was beginning to get painful.
Although Mercury managed to contain himself and refrain from laughing, Earth no longer could, “HAHAHAHHAHAHAAAAAAAA,”
“STOP LAUGHING AT ME AND GET HIM OFF!!!!!!!!!!!” Mars yelled, still trying to shake the planetoid off.
Venus was beginning to get a headache from all of this.
He floated over to Mars and attempted to remove Ceres, though- he was latched on much more tightly then he had thought for.
Ceres was still laughing maniacally of course, and now seeing that someone was attempting to pull him off, he bit in deeper. Obviously not wanting to leave.
“AHHH, OUCH OUCH!!! STOP THAT!!!!!!!!” Mars began, “GET HIM OFF VENUS!!!!!!!!”
“I’m trying! S-stay still!” Venus replied, pulling harder.
“W-WELL TRY HARDER!!!!!!!!”
Mercury sighed at this scene, “You guys are a mess…”
Earth on the other hand was about to break his non-existent ribs with how hard he was laughing.
After a few minutes of struggling, screaming, and maniacal laughter, Ceres was finally removed.
Although, Mars had earned a very prominent bite mark on the top of his surface.
Tears poked at the corners of his eyes as he was now traumatized.
Meanwhile, tears poked at Earth’s eyes with how hard he was laughing.
Mercury just watched this scene quietly, now feeling rather defeated, and Venus simply held the rabid chihuahua- I mean Ceres.
Ceres continued to smile widely, though he was quiet this time, still staring at Mars
Venus looked from the planetoid, and then to Mars, “I think he likes you,”
“Yeah, he likes to EAT ME!!” He yelled in reply, once again hiding behind Earth.
Ceres wiggled in Venus’ grasp, seemingly wanting to be released from containment.
The planet looked down at the rabid chihuahua- oh- uhm…Ceres…
He then looked back at Mars.
“Don’t you dare do it Venus!” The planet growled.
Venus once again looked down at Ceres, then to Mars.
“Venus! I’m warning you!”
And with one more final look between the two, he let the restless planetoid out of his grasp.
“DAMNIT VENUS!!!!!!!!”
Ceres bounded towards Mars, Earth not even bothering to try to block the dwarf planet from him.
“EARTH YOU TRAITOR!!!!!!” Mars screamed as he now seeked out coverage from Mercury.
Though, Ceres was a creature of magic- like a unicorn.
He would always manage to get to Mars.
He once again latched onto him.
“AHHHHH- NOT AGAIN!!!!!!!!”
Mercury simply sighed as he watched this scene repeat.
Earth didn’t even try not to laugh this time, “HAHAHAHAHAHHAHAAHHAHHAAH!!!!!!!!” He almost sounded more maniacal than Ceres.
Though Venus didn’t even attempt to remove the little planetoid this time, figuring that it would be to no avail.
“ARE YOU GUYS SERIOUSLY NOT GOING TO DO ANYTHING ABOUT THIS!????” He screamed, once again trying to shake the planetoid off.
Earth just shrugged, “There’s really not anything that can be done, if we take him off he’ll just cling onto you again. You’re stuck with him man.”
“NOOOOOOOOOOO, AT LEAST TRY!!!!”
“Hey, weren’t we trying to get to the Kuiper belt? I think we’ve gotten a little distracted,” Mercury mused.
Earth simply nodded, “Yeah you’re right, okay- let’s keep going.”
“WAIT WAIT- YOU WANT ME TO JUST LET HIM BITE ME AND ACT LIKE IT’S NOTHING!!????” Mars screeched, feeling dread overcome him.
“Well yeah, maybe if you just ignore him he’ll leave,” Earth answered nonchalantly, beginning to float off.
Mars hurried after him, not wanting to be left alone with a maniac attached to him, “W-well how long is he going to stay on me????”
Earth once again shrugged, “I don’t know, a few minutes- hour- months, maybe even years. Just be patient, I’m sure he’ll come loose soon enough.”
“YEARS????”
Mercury just sighed, this was seriously hard to watch.
So they simply continued, ignoring all of Mars’ wails and cries as they did.
Though luckily, when they reached the end of the asteroid belt Ceres finally loosened up, allowing Mars to be free from his grasp.
Mars had never felt so happy, “I’M FREEEE, I’M FREEE, FINALLY!!!!” He screamed gleefully.
Ceres stared at the planet momentarily, that wide creepy smile still plastered on his face.
He seemed to be contemplating something, perhaps he was contemplating latching back onto Mars?
He seemed to be truly unsure of the answer.
After a few seconds he finally decided that he had gotten his fill and simply floated back to where he came from, seemingly bored of Mars.
“YESS, HE’S GONE!!!!!” He screamed as he quickly floated out of the asteroid belt before Ceres were to change his mind and decide that he wasn’t quite done nibbling on the planet yet.
Venus and Mercury exchanged a glance.
Earth simply grinned, “Well, now you have a very deep…bite mark on your surface…”
Mars’ eyes widened, “ANOTHER????”
The larger planet nodded, “Actually- I think you might have several- man he got you good.”
“SEVERAL?????”
“Mhm.”
“NOOOOOO, NOT AGAIN!!!!!!” Mars cried.
Once again, ignoring Mars’ complaints they simply continued on their way to the Kuiper belt.
Earth had figured they were wasting too much time, even though they had an endless amount of it, so he decided to subtly speed things up.
Hence, he managed to get to the Kuiper belt rather quickly.
Mars was relieved, there were no tiny rabid dwarf planets here- that they knew of…
Meanwhile, Venus hated it.
He was rather reluctant to enter the belt.
Earth glanced back at the planet, “Coming Venus?” he asked, waiting for him to follow him.
Venus looked around sheepishly, this place made him feel horrible.
It was sort of like that anguish- but a different type…?
It almost felt like…what’s the word?
Deja vu…?
Yeah, deja vu…
It felt bitter and familiar.
He hated it.
“Uhm, I guess…Do we really need to?” Venus asked, glancing around anxiously.
Earth cocked a brow, “Well yeah we really need too, we didn’t just come all this way for nothing!”
Venus sighed wearily as he followed the larger planet, making sure to stay as close to him as possible.
“Why are you suddenly so afraid of this place? You were completely fine in the asteroid belt,” Earth questioned.
Venus really didn’t have an answer to that, he himself wasn’t even quite sure.
And he didn’t know how to explain that weird feeling to Earth.
Luckily, Mercury intervened, “Well- in my opinion, this place is much creepier than the asteroid belt. Besides- this is where Venus lost all of his memories, it's expected for him to be slightly uncomfortable here.”
Earth hummed, “Mmm, I guess you’re right ... .speaking of which, does this bring anything back, Venus?”
Venus thought for a moment, looking around as he did.
It didn’t exactly bring any memories back, but it definitely felt as though it should.
He thought as hard as he could, trying to force something into his mind, though the only that could come up was the word “nihility”.
Though- what did “nihility” even mean?
It must not be important.
He shook his head, “No, nothing really- I mean…it feels…familiar? But it doesn’t bring anything to mind.”
Earth’s eyes lit up at that, “Really? That’s great! Let’s keep going!”
Venus was slightly confused, he didn’t manage to remember anything, why was that good?
“Uhm, but I didn’t remember anything? Why are you so happy about it?”
Earth gave the smaller planet a weird look, though he still smiled widely, “Why is that a good thing? Because that means that you might be able to remember something here!”
“Oh, okay then…” Venus trailed off, for some reason, this was all extremely confusing to him.
Mercury and Mars exchanged a glance- they seemed to like doing that.
“Earth, I know that you’re happy, but still- just remember-”
“Not to get my hopes up, yeah, yeah.” He interrupted the smaller planet, “Anyways, let’s keep going!” he drifted off, Venus following as closely behind as possible.
Mars and Mercury tailed behind him, sharing an anxious look, “He’s definitely going to get his hopes up,” Mars began, earning a small nod from Mercury,
“At least he’s happy,” Mars murmured, watching as Earth was smiling uncontrollably as he was rambling about something to Venus.
“But he won’t be for very long if this doesn’t work, in the end it’ll only make things worse.” Mercury worried.
The other planet just sighed in response, “I know, but- just let him have this…just this once.”
Earth rambled on about some random thing, to Venus- though Venus didn’t seem to be listening, seemingly too anxious to pay attention to the other planet.
Earth began to notice the other’s weariness, “Are you alright…Venus?”
Venus jumped slightly at the sound of Earth’s voice, not expecting someone to begin speaking to him, “Oh- uhm yeah…this place is just…off-putting…” he answered briefly.
The larger planet nodded in response, “Yeah- this place is rather creepy, but it just looks that way- it’s not like there’s anything out here. Well- besides a couple of dwarf planets and maybe some angry moons, but that’s pretty much it.” he comforted.
Venus gave him a timid look, “But…still- angry moons sounds a little…scary, I mean- didn’t you say something about-”
“Sh, sh, no need to bring that up!” Earth shushed.
He really didn’t feel like talking about the moon revolution right now, he already had enough on his plate.
Venus gave him a weird look, but didn’t say anything further, just clinging on tighter to Earth.
Earth breath hitched at the warmth of the other planet.
He had never really been so close to him before- despite constantly yearning for it- he never got the chance.
But even now- when he finally did get the chance- it didn’t feel refreshing. It wasn’t satisfying.
This wasn’t the same Venus he loved.
Of course he still loved Venus, even more so now- but this Venus just wasn’t Venus.
He missed how the smaller planet used to be.
Sure, he was rude, but he’d do anything to be called a “reckless idiot” by him and have it mean the same thing again, even if it was just once.
He could feel his eyes beginning to sting as tears began to probe at them.
Earth held his breath in an attempt to stop them from barreling out.
He gazed longingly at the other planet, wishing that somehow, someway, he would just get his memories back.
He was so pretty, even though he didn’t act the same, he was still so damn pretty.
Venus seemed to notice that his friend had suddenly gone quiet. He looked up to see what had happened, though he was met with a glossy eyed Earth staring back down at him.
The two met eyes, Venus momentarily captivated with how pretty the other planet looked.
After a few seconds he managed to speak, “Uhm…are you alright…Earth?” he asked softly.
Earth didn’t know why, but whenever someone would ask him, “Are you okay?” when he was on the verge of tears would always be the final straw.
He could no longer contain them.
He looked away from Venus, not wanting him to see him as he cried, “Y-yeah…I’m…fine…” his voice was wobbly.
Venus could obviously tell that he wasn’t, “Then why are you crying…?”
Earth really didn’t want to answer that, he knew it would only make things worse and upset Venus.
He probably wouldn’t even be able to form coherent sentences, and he really didn’t want Mars and Mercury to notice that he was upset.
But it’s not like he could just ignore Venus.
He prayed for there to be something, anything to get him out of this situation.
Though, it seemed as though the universe smiled upon him today.
Neptune slowly emerged from the shadows, seemingly noticing that there were things that didn’t belong in the Kuiper belt.
Venus, not expecting someone to suddenly appear out of seemingly thin air, jumped, gripping onto Earth even tighter now.
Mercury and Mars also seemed to startle slightly.
Good lord, Neptune truly was just a living jumpscare.
“What are you guys doing out here????” Neptune asked, frog-blinking as he did.
Mercury made sure to keep his distance, not wanting to get sucked into the ice giant’s gravity and become Triton 2.0, “Well, Earth wanted to come out here to see if maybe he could get Venus’ memory back.”
Neptune smiled emotionlessly at that, seeming as though he didn’t understand what the smaller planet was talking about.
Mars sighed, “He probably doesn’t remember anything…”
The icy planet hummed for a moment, seemingly pondering through his memories, “Ohh! Right- isn’t that the guy who tried to ruin his memory a couple years ago?”
Mars, Mercury, and Earth were all stunned.
He remembered!?
Wait- Venus never even told him that that was what he was doing, did he?
How could he have possibly known?
Venus stared at the other blankly, “Wait, is that what happened…?”
No had told him why he couldn’t remember anything, so this was the first time he was hearing about it.
Neptune nodded, “Mhm, at least- I think that’s what happened…hmmm….”
Earth wiped away his tears quickly, not wanting anyone to return to the earlier subject,
“H-how did you even know that, Neptune? Don’t you forget everything?” his voice was still slightly shaky from the earlier tears.
Neptune shook his head, “Nooooo! I don’t forget everything, just things that aren’t important to me! I think…” he once again trailed off, trying to remember if that was right.
Earth was still slightly puzzled, Venus had never really talked to Neptune, really that was the first time, “Wait- but wasn’t that like…I don’t know- the first time he ever spoke to you?”
The icy planet shrugged, still smiling, “I don’t know, I don’t remember…buuuuuttttttt, I do remember that he was apologizing to me for seemingly no reason, which I found odd! He also seemed really- what’s the word…? Mmmm, sad- yeah he seemed really sad!”
Venus began to feel kind’ve weird, it was almost like that deja vu feeling again- but a little different.
Almost like he was finally remembering something- like it finally came back to him, but it didn’t?
What the hell was this feeling?
Earth glanced over to Venus, noticing how he suddenly got quiet.
He studied the smaller planet. He seemed to be deep in thought, as his brow was furrowed and he stared down blankly.
Earth felt slightly happy upon seeing this, perhaps they were getting closer to get his memory back!
He looked back, going to continue asking Neptune questions, though the icy planet had seemingly vanished, “Neptu- wait- where did he go?” he turned around to ask the other two planets.
Mercury and Mars just shrugged, they hadn’t seen where the hell Neptune went either.
How could such a large planet just sneak off so easily!?
Venus on the other hand, was starting to feel that anguish once again.
He really didn’t have the energy to keep searching for some kind’ve a reminder, “Hey…Earth,” he began, glancing at the other.
Earth looked back at him, “Yeah?”
“C-can we go back? I’m kind’ve…tired…” he trailed off.
The larger planet sighed, he really wanted to keep trying, but he didn’t want to exhaust Venus, that would only end up making things worse, “Sure, we can try this again later.”
Earth turned to Mars and Mercury, “Venus is getting tired, so I think we should stop for today,”
Mars and Mercury nodded in response.
It was a good idea not to over do it.
If they exhausted Venus too much it would probably only lead to giving him more memory fog.
The four of them headed back to their orbits, Venus still clung on tightly to Earth, and Mars was on edge as they passed back through the asteroid belt.
He was constantly looking from side to side, up and down- not wanting to be attacked by a homeless man- I mean Ceres…again…
Luckily, their way back had no issues, no rabid chihuahuas, no counting asteroids, no planets appearing out of thin air, no nothing.
Seems they had their fill on their way to the Kuiper belt.
Earth sighed as he resumed his original orbit, Luna quickly floating over to him, “Why do you keep suddenly disappearing!?” he huffed.
Earth startled slightly- somehow he had completely managed to forget about his moon, “Oh- uhm…sorry Luna. I forgot to tell you what we were doing…”
Luna groaned, “You had me worried sick! You have to stop doing this Earth!”
The planet just sighed, “I know, I know,”
“Well? What were you even doing?” The moon asked, his voice sounding frustrated.
Earth took a moment to reply, he was tired from all of the constant stress, “Me, Mars, and Mercury, took Venus to the Kuiper belt to see if we could manage to get him to remember anything. That’s all.”
Luna sighed, “Earth, you have to take a break from this. You’re exhausted, I’m sure Venus is drained as well- it’s probably stressing him out too. I know you’re anxious to get his memories back considering that-”
“Ugh, can you not bring up my feelings for him right now? I don’t wanna talk about that!” He interrupted grumpily.
The moon shook his head, “I’m sorry…I didn’t mean to upset you,” he apologized.
He really didn’t mean to hurt Earth, but he had to get his point across, “But you seriously need to take a break from this- it’s only making you more and more depressed every time it fails, and making Venus upset!”
The planet perked up slightly, staring at the moon, “Wait- it upsets Venus? Why? Doesn’t he want his memories back?”
Luna was slightly surprised the Earth couldn’t seem to figure out why that could possibly be upsetting to Venus, “Wha- what do you mean? It makes him feel bad about himself because he’s not the same person you loved! He feels bad because it upsets you!”
Earth was stunned, “Wait- he knows that I was in love with him!?”
“Seriously!? That’s what you’re concerned about!? No! But he knows that you used to be super close to him before he lost his memory, and that you’re upset because he doesn’t act the same anymore!” Luna yelled.
Good god could Earth be anymore ignorant?
Earth just stood there, not sure what to say.
He really never realized how he could’ve upset Venus- though now that he thought about it- if he were in the same predicament he would probably be rather upset too, “I- I’m sorry Luna…”
“Well don’t apologize to me! Apologize to Venus!”
Sure, Luna wasn’t the closest with Venus, but he still felt bad for him.
I mean, he had lost his memory and everyone either treated him as if he were a child, or were weird around him because they weren’t quite sure how to act around the “new” Venus.
He was still the same planet, he just didn’t remember anything.
Venus sluggishly drifted back to his orbit, man was he tired.
All of this running around, playing random games, and interrogation sessions were absolutely draining.
Of course he understood that Earth just wanted his friend back, but it kind’ve made him upset.
Hearing about how the planet missed his “old friend” so much, and how he would do anything to have him back really saddened him.
Wasn’t he still here? Sure, he didn’t act the same and didn’t speak the same, but he wasn’t dead…was he?
As these thoughts spun through his mind his eyes slowly began to flutter shut as he drifted off into a deep sleep.
His rest was filled with unfamiliar dreams, scenes from a time he couldn’t seem to remember.
There were memories of unknown feelings, it felt…overwhelming?
Yeah, it felt overwhelming, and a mix of all the other emotions he could remember.
It was like he was angry, jealous, sad, stressed, overwhelmed, and annoyed all at the same time.
It was like he was watching himself, viewing him as if he were a different person.
Were these what people called…memories…?
The planet shuddered in his sleep, this was all too much for him to handle.
Earth sighed as he tried to hold his tears back.
He drifted over to Venus’ orbit slowly, he truly did owe him an apology, an explanation,
Why was he always so damn ignorant!?
How did he never seem to notice that this was upsetting Venus?
He didn’t even realize that this could hurt him!
God, he was arrogant too.
Every part of him was bad, not a single good trait made up his personality.
He drifted over to Venus somberly, he gazed at the other planet.
He was about to start speaking, though he quickly realized that Venus was asleep.
Well- I shouldn’t disturb him, I’m sure he’s tired from all of the shit I’ve been making him do…I’ll apologize to him when he wakes up… Earth thought to himself.
He was about to head back to his orbit, but he quickly noticed that Venus seemed to be shuddering.
He seemed very distressed- it looked as though he was having night terrors.
Well I can’t just leave him like this… Earth murmured to himself silently.
He quietly floated over to the other planet and leaned against him gently.
God he was so warm, Earth had never gotten the chance to embrace him before he lost his memories, oh how he wished he wasn’t such a coward.
If he wasn’t such a wimp and just told Venus how he truly felt about him they probably wouldn’t be in this situation.
Damn him, damn him for it all.
Venus felt a certain warmth next to him, it was slightly familiar- yet not at the same time.
It almost felt as though he had…ugh damnit- why is he constantly forgetting the words for feelings!? It’s starting to get on his nerves!
Yearning, yes yearning- it felt almost as though he yearned to feel that warmth, but even now that he was feeling it, it didn’t satisfy him.
Wait- what even was that warmth?
Though he wished to ponder the question longer, he didn’t get the chance to, as his sleeping mind was stolen away by more dreams.
Dreams of memories he once had.
Memories that he will soon own again.
A few hours passed before Venus’ eyes would slowly flutter open.
It took him a few minutes to realize that he was now in reality, and that this wasn’t just another dreamscape.
Still feeling the warmth, he looked over to see what it was.
Beside him lay a slightly larger planet, Earth.
He leaned on him, his eyes half lidded and very dreary looking.
Staring at this planet made Venus realize something, he felt different.
Almost like he had been asleep for years, and the whole time he was having extremely realistic dreams.
What had even happened?
It was like he was in a coma.
“Earth,” he mumbled, his voice raspy with grogginess.
Earth looked over to him, “Oh- you’re awake now?” he asked, not expecting the other planet to wake up so soon.
Venus nodded slowly, being careful not to make himself dizzy, “Yeah- what happened…?” he asked hesitantly.
The larger planet gave him a confused look, “What do you mean what happened? You just fell asleep for a bit, that’s all.”
Venus shook his head, still being careful not to give himself motion sickness, “No like- I feel…weird?”
He felt like he had forgotten everything, then forgotten that he forgot everything, and was now suddenly back to normal.
Does that even make sense?
Probably not, nothing Venus does, thinks, or says makes sense.
Earth gazed at him curiously, “Well, you did just wake up from a nap, that tends to happen sometimes.”
Venus just shook his head once more as he furrowed his brow, “No like- I feel like I took a nap, woke up, forgot everything, forgot that I forgot everything, and now it’s all just suddenly back to normal. What the fuck is this?”
Earth didn’t exactly process what the other had said at first, “Yeah, well you probably just had a weird- wait!” he perked up, a large smile spreading across his face, “D-do you remember everything now!??? Do you remember that you made yourself forget everything!!??? Is your dissociative amnesia cured!?”
Venus stared at him in bewilderment, “Huh? Remember that I made myself forget everything? Dissociative amnesia? The fuck are you talking about???”
Earth felt as tears began to well up in his eyes.
Venus was acting the same, and he was speaking as though he remembered things, “Okay, okay, hang on, hang on, can you remember everything now??”
Venus gave him another weird look, “Uhm- yeah- at least I think so…but there’s like a void in my memory- I’m not quite sure why it’s there though…” he trailed off.
Earth could no longer restrain his tears, this meant that Venus remembered everything now, right?
He pulled the smaller planet into a tight embrace.
Venus was slightly startled at first.
Good god how he had longed for this.
He wished to allow himself to just melt into it, but he knew he couldn’t do that.
He would only be betraying himself if he did that.
Venus couldn’t allow himself to fall deeper in love with Earth, any deeper and he would never be able to climb out of that abyss.
He’d drown in that ocean of yearning.
He tried to push the other planet off, though Earth wouldn’t budge.
“Venus! I’m so glad that you’re finally back! I- I was so worried that you’d never be the same again, and-”
“Okay, wait- what do you mean by ‘finally back’? What the hell happened?” He interrupted, his confusion beginning to grow frustrating.
Earth loosened up slightly, gazing into the smaller planet’s eyes.
Venus gazed back, though he quickly had to look away, lest he wanted to fall deeper.
“Well, you somehow managed to erase your memories, and for a couple years you were just completely different. I tried every possible thing to get you to remember, but nothing worked, but now- you have your memory back!” he explained, though it made no sense to Venus.
“Uh- okay- that doesn’t explain anything! Can you like- explain it less shitily or something?”
Earth shook his head, “I will later, but there’s something I have to tell you..”
“Why can’t you just tell me after you finish telling me about whatever the fuck happened? Why is that more important?” Venus questioned. He really just wanted an answer as to what the fuck was going on.
“I promise you I will explain everything later. But I don’t want to miss my chance, not again..” Earth trailed off, recalling how he was just slightly too late last time.
Venus gave him a weird look, “Miss your chance…? The hell is that supposed to mean?”
“I’ll tell you after this- just- just let me say this first!” Earth said, a soft smile on his face.
Venus just rolled his eyes, there was no point in trying to argue with him, “Fine, just spit it out.”
Earth took a deep breath before answering, “Okay, Venus- I never told you this- mainly because I feared that it would come between us and ruin our friendship. But- I don’t care anymore, not after everything that happened, I just need you to know this…” He trailed off momentarily, gazing at the other planet.
“JUST SPIT IT OUT ALREADY!!” Venus yelled, nearly dying from the anticipation.
“Right, right, sorry,” he began, taking a couple more deep breaths as his heart felt it was about to pound out of his chest, “Venus, I want to tell you how I truly feel about you, how I’ve always truly felt about you. Ever since I met you- I've been so in love with you. It’s just everything you do, everything about you. The way you talk, the way you act, just- everything. Every time you insult me it makes me feel- happy- every time you talk to me it makes me feel happy, everytime you’re around I’m happy. I’ve yearned for you for so long, I’ve always yearned for you- but I was afraid that if I told you how I truly felt it would come between us…”
Venus was stunned, was he hearing this right?
Did Earth really feel the same way that he did?
Did he truly love him back?
Earth continued, a soft smile on his face and tears falling from his eyes, “But I just had to tell you, before something stole you away from me. I completely understand if you don’t feel the same-”
If he didn’t feel the same!?
God, who could ever think he didn’t feel the same?
He had always yearned for Earth, but could never tell him, for the same exact reasons too.
Venus stared at the larger planet in shock.
His eyes grew glossy.
Venus had yearned for Earth for years,
Venus had longed for Earth for years,
Venus had desired Earth for years,
Venus had craved Earth for years,
And this whole damn time he felt the fucking same?
All of his suffering was for fucking nothing?
He forced himself to stuff those feelings away, deep down in a part of him he didn’t even know existed, and it was all for nothing???
Earth gazed at the other planet, that same damn smile on his face, he sighed, “It’s okay if you don’t same the way, Venus-”
“Don’t feel the same way!? Don’t feel the same fucking way!? How could you ever think I don’t feel the same way!!?? I’ve felt this way for years! I hid my feelings away! I forced myself away from you so that these feelings would subside- and you assume I don’t feel the same way!!???”
Earth stared at him, stunned.
He didn’t expect that kind of a reaction.
Did Venus really truly say that?
“How can you be so- so- stupid! So arrogant! So ignorant! How the fuck could you ever assume that I wouldn’t feel the same??” Venus continued, a soft blush spread across his cheeks as he did.
Earth felt as though he were in utter bliss, “Wait- you really- actually feel the same? Am I really hearing this right?”
Venus furrowed his brow, good god was Earth stupid, “You dumbass! Of course you’re really hearing this right!”
Earth felt as his smile slowly turned into a frown and he felt as that elation slowly turned into misery as a thought entered his mind.
What if this was just a dream?
Or a delusion?
What if this actually wasn’t real, and he was just imagining it?
Venus could tell that Earth still wasn’t completely sure if this was actually happening, “Ugh- you seriously don’t believe this!?”
Earth slowly looked up to him, “W-well, I don’t know…what if it’s just too good to be true???”
Venus rolled his eyes, “Ugh! Do you seriously need proof???”
Earth really wasn’t sure if this was just one of his realistic dreams, and he didn’t want to get his hopes up only to be devastated in the end if it was, “I don’t know- maybe…?”
Venus groaned as he floated closer to the other planet, the two of them only a couple inches apart now.
Earth blushed as he stared at the other planet, he was much prettier up close- though that wasn’t to say he wasn’t already plenty pretty from afar.
Though that thought process was quickly broken as Venus pushed his lips against Earth’s, kissing him gently.
Earth was stunned to say the least.
Sadly, the kiss didn’t last very long, as Venus quickly pulled away.
Earth stared at him, utterly bewildered.
“What’s that look for???” Venus hissed.
The larger planet shook his head, “O-oh- nothing…it’s just that….” he trailed off.
Venus cocked a brow, “It’s just that…what?”
“W-well, I didn’t expect you would ever do that…” He mumbled quietly.
“Why?” Venus questioned blankly.
“I don’t know…it just didn’t seem like something you’d ever really do…I’m not sure how to explain…” He trailed off once more.
Venus once again rolled his eyes, if he keeps doing that they’ll get stuck in the back of his head! “You obviously aren’t good at explaining anything.”
The larger planet chuckled softly, “I guess so- but- do you want me to explain everything now?”
“Yeah, I’d like you to explain why you didn’t confess to me sooner,” He grumbled.
Earth once again laughed softly, “Well you didn’t confess either-”
“Well that doesn’t count!” Venus retorted.
The other planet just shook his head, a soft smile painted on his lips.
He soon would return to quietly gazing at the other planet.
Earth just couldn’t keep his eyes off Venus.
Venus was slightly confused as to why he was suddenly staring at him once more, “What? Why are you staring at me again?” He questioned.
Earth’s smile grew, “Oh, it’s nothing- I just…can’t believe this is real…”
Venus was going to commit a crime, this planet had a serious dissociation problem, “Ughhhh! Still? What do I have to do to get you back into reality???”
Earth shrugged, “I don’t know, I’m sure after a few days I’ll realize this isn’t a dream.”
The smaller planet gave him a weird look, “Well why can’t you just realize it’s not a dream now?”
Earth just shrugged once again, not bothering to think up another answer.
Venus moaned in frustration, “Ugh, am I really going to have to convince you?”
The other planet hummed for a moment, “Mmm, maybe, I don’t know.”
Venus once again rolled his eyes before pulling the other planet into his embrace, and kissing him again.
Though this time- the kiss was deeper.
Earth was once again surprised at this, but he managed to allow himself to relax.
Oh how he had yearned for this for millions upon millions of years.
Nothing could ever amount to the satisfaction it brought him to finally get what he desired.
After a few seconds Venus pulled away, “Do you finally believe this is real now?”
Earth was still a little dreary, so it took him a moment to reply, “Hm, I’m not sure- though maybe- if you kiss me a couple more times I will…who knows though?” he teased.
Venus stared at him with a deadpan expression, “Oh I bet if I hit you with an asteroid that’ll also make you believe this is real.”
The larger planet chuckled softly, “Okay, okay, I was just kidding…Man, I love you Venus.”
Those words really tugged at Venus’ core.
He had longed to hear them for so long, and now he had finally gotten too, “I- love you too…Earth…” he stuttered out.
Earth gazed at him once more, “Hmm, I think we’re going to have to teach you how to say that properly. It seems you’re struggling.”
Venus rolled his eyes, “You’ll be the one struggling soon.” He grumbled.
The other planet raised an eyebrow, “Mn? In what sense?” he asked, a smirk on his face.
Venus was slightly confused, what other sense was there besides him beating the shit out of him?
Oh.
“YOU SHUT UP!!” He yelled as he blushed madly.
Earth just laughed in response, seeing this reaction from the other was definitely worth getting beat up for later.