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Sol was trapped in the prison everyone called gravity.
He was stuck, imprisoned, captured, pulled out of his orbit, and chained down, leaving him weak and unable to shine, drowning in the darkness all around. Cold, so cold, freezing and-
Yeah, okay, maybe not. But he was allowed to be dramatic, given the… circumstances.
The Sun grumbled weakly, unwillingly drawing more air into his lungs- lungs, stars, Alpha Centauri would have broken him into smithereens for allowing himself to take this pathetic form. He was a Sun for Sagittarius A’s sake, the Sun! THEIR Sun!
Their star.
Reduced to the pathetic form of one of Earth’s Earthlings. A… human, he had called them.
For the first time in his life… Sol felt cold.
He had been smothered in ‘blankets’, as well as very thick clothing. The ‘heating’ in his room had been turned up to the max it could, whatever that meant… apparently, Earth’s silly creatures had invented ways to keep themselves warm and in the light.
Without the Sun.
Ha… no wonder even the Earth hadn’t hesitated in rebelling against him.
His planets didn’t need their star anymore.
His eyes burned, and for once in his life, he didn’t immediately blind his vision because of it. His tears didn’t evaporate or scorch his skin. Instead, they slowly dripped down his cheeks, into the pillow he rested his head upon, leaving a dark spot behind as it soaked into the soft fabric. Being so close to his face, the wet texture brushed against his cheek painfully, the feeling of it completely new. Instinct flared and screamed at him, burn burn burn, but the star could do no more than lie there and take it. The heavy, heavy atmosphere pushed him down into the soft and cushy mattress, leaving him unable to even lift his head, or open his eyes.
Well, no, he could. But opening them meant glaring into the open window, to have his own light shine back into his eyes- and Sol… couldn’t handle that right now. It had been shocking to learn that he, Sun, the star, the warmth and light- could create headaches when staring into it for too long. And his everything ached enough as it was, so-
Of course it did.
Sol had never left his orbit before.
“What… What's happening to my barricenter?!”
“Helios! Ra! Apollo! Inti! I am SIMP0136, with a mass 12.7 times more than your largest planet! We, the rogue planets, will not accept the abuse from you stars anymore!”
Anger. The star had never felt so angry before.
Abuse? They called his treatment… abuse?!
The way he burned for them, CONSTANTLY?! The way he was always worried about their safety, had cried in front of the Earth because THEY had left HIM, how even after all the nonsense they pulled, Sol welcomed them back, and gave them ALL the freedom they wanted earlier, and- and-
They had the audacity to call it A B U S E ? !
Sun had fallen. Like those shooting stars that the Earthlings wished upon- except his descent had been anything but grace. He had been pushed, tripped and thrown away-
And had been left behind.
He had wept as if he were a new star, had passed out while doing so, and then when he woke up he'd continued right where he left of. His body hurt from all the new pressure it had been under, from the movement- but that ache was nothing compared to the pain in his heart.
They'd left him.
His planets, his children, had left him after trying to kill him. Had even gone the extra mile, and yelled at him before they abandoned him.
"You'll wander space in absolute darkness?! Forever?!"
"...Anything is better than this."
Darkness was evil. It was cold, and lonely, and drove you insane. It had been the cause of the old star's demise, and almost the reason Sol had burned himself out.
Almost. Because he didn't. He had stopped trying to be like the beasts, and had focused on what little he had.
The space debris. Who became his planets.
"When you're afraid of the dark... just look at me!"
His beloved Thunderbringer had been afraid of the dark before... had he grown so horrible that Jupiter, as all his celestials, now craved it over his light?
His breath hitched when a wave of pain washed over his aching body once more, reminding him of his current misery and bringing him back to the present. Sun winced, and closed his eyes when his own light shined painfully at them. How pathethic. Burned by his own flames.
Sol would have turned away if he could, but he was in no position to do so. Trying to force even the slightest movement caused his limbs to wail from agony, rendering him... stuck.
Again.
...He didn't get it.
Darkness was evil. He knew it was. They knew it was, the celestials had been so desperate to return to his light before... why did they just leave him like that? Why bother? Why rebel against him, and somehow move him from his orbit, almost crush him, prefer the darkness and then come back and-
Why hadn't they just killed him if he was so bad? It would have been kinder.
His planets didn't like him, Sol knew that was well but- he was their star. Their star who'd looked out for them, kept them warm and bright, and- and...
More tears joined the earlier ones, quiet, hot, and more. It was a strange sensation, the wetness staining his cheeks instead of evaporating the moment they appeared. They slid down his chin or his cheek, either way ending up staining the pillow his planets had somehow left him upon. It looked horrible by now.
...Sun hadn't been alone for a long time.
Yes, no one approached him. But he'd been surrounded by celestials clinging onto his gravity constantly. They always needed him, his gravity, his light and his warmth- and Sun held them, even if they didn't approach him. He was aware of all their movements, everything they did, every time they left their orbits and thought Sol wasn't aware-
It was strange, down here. There was no constant pulling or tugging at his form, because there was no gravity dragging him down. His body ached without it, already in flight or fight mode because it didn't make sense...
For the first time in his life, all he had to hold up was himself. And he couldn't even do that.
Sol shivered, his breath hitching as the cold bit at his skin through all the layers of fabric he wore. It forced him back to be aware of himself, of the tears, of the shivers, of the sort of pleasant heaviness on top of his body-
The pain, deep in his core.
The panic that came back everytime he remembered he was alone.
Sol's body locked up completely, eyes shooting wide with terror, suddenly hyperfocusing on a shadow in the corner that had been torturing him from the moment he'd noticed it. Instinct made him try to flare, to drown out all the darkness, but-
He could do no such thing.
His aching, exhausted body didn't burn.
He burrowed into the heavy blankets with a whimper, aching for his usual warmth. The burning hurt, it always did- but it was all he'd ever known.
Blinding light and scorching heat.
Too small for the other stars. But too large for his planets.
If they didn't like him. If they didn't like him, his puns, or being around him, then... then at the very least, Sol had thought they liked what he had to offer. He shielded them with his gravity so no beast could get to them, burned himself out so they had warmth and light. At least they liked those, he'd whispered to himself as comfort. At least they'd liked the fact he was a star.
Their star.
"Wait! NO!" Sol screamed at the top of his lungs, absolute and pure terror managing to give him enough energy to lift his crushed, heavy body. Everything hurt, it hurt it hurt from the amount of pressure it had been under after not having had anything for so long. His heart was broken, shattered into a thousand pieces from their betrayal.
And yet, Sol found himself screaming for his celestials.
If not even for himself, as much as that was one of the main reasons.
"Stop! Don't leave me alone! COME BACK!"
He had gotten on his knees and begged. Pleaded for them to please not join the dark, please please please don't leave him alone again, please stars please-
Please don't become another mark on his arms.
Sol grunted, followed by a shuddering breath as he tried to get his heavy arm to move. He barely managed to lift it, and already had tears of pain in his eyes from the effort alone. But he managed to move the fabric of his sleeve just enough to reveal a couple of the many, many marks that were scattered all over his skin. Down here, they'd turned into... beauty marks. Beauty marks. He would have burned them off his skin if he could. The audacity.
Beauty? Beauty? The destruction of his children?! Beauty?!
...Why wasn't that exploding sensation he always felt when a solarflare was about to force its way when he go-... oh. Right. He couldn't do that either.
No longer wanting to look at the offending marks on his skin, he closed his eyes back again.
"Please, I... I don't wanna be alone!"
If that child had seen the person he had become today, would he have cried at him for becoming a beast like the other stars?
A gentle knock on his door- or Jupiter's door, because the Sun didn't have a room here- scared him out of his thoughts, dragging him back into the heavy body and reminding him where he was. His body tensed, afraid. Pathetic. A star, afraid? Seriously?!
Why not? His planets did try to kill him.
From what he'd understood from watching his planets for millenia, Sol was supposed to tell whoever was on the other side they could come in. There never really had been a point in trying to give Sol privacy before, for he was too large and... well... right in the center of their orbits. So. Yeah. No one needed to announce their presence to him, for the star already felt them approaching light years away.
This was... new.
He didn't know who was on the other side. He hadn't even known someone was near, a potential intruder, unable to feel for them.
Sol didn't want them inside. As agonizing as the isolation was... he wanted to scream.
With whatever he had left in him, he turned his body away from the door, hoping whoever it was would go away. He wanted to shout, yell at the top of his lungs without bursting into flames, get angry and be allowed to get angry without hurting, either himself or someone else, without scaring his surroundings, and demand answers as to why they kept leaving him, again and again and again.
He wanted to fall to his knees and sob at their feet, begging to know why they kept leaving him, again and again and again.
Sol did neither of those things.
He got reminded to breathe by the stupid Earthling body aching in his chest, but made sure to keep it as slow and even as he could. Hey, he'd pretended to be asleep before. He could do that.
Unfortunately for him, the door opened, creaking loudly in the otherwise quiet room. He heard someone step inside, and gently close the door behind them. Sol just kept his eyes closed. Not right now.
"...Sun?" The planet... Jupiter asked from the other side of the room, the exhaustion in his voice momenterally making Sun feel guilty again. That's right... Jupiter hadn't rested at all, had he? He'd been banned from his orbit, running after Uranus and Earth, and before that-
Sun had banished him.
......But still. Was it that hard to keep his star updated? Just a "Oh Sun, Uranus is running away, I'm going to go get him" Would have been plenty! He would have.... he would have understood, and they knew that!
...Right?
Sol kept perfectly still, even as the doubt crept in through the cracks. He... okay, yes, he'd been angry but...
He tried not to flinch when he heard the footsteps approach him, Jupiter's large frame suddenly towering over his own, pathethic one. He ignored the shadow it created as much ss he could... but he couldn't stop the subtle trembling from the panic that settled. "...Are you awake?" Jupiter gently asked, leaning down more to get a proper look of his face. It was... odd, to have no gravity pulling between them. No subtle way for Sol to feel how close he was, if he were shaking, or hurt, or...
How far he left.
This surface was far too small, and Jupiter was far too close. A hand, large and very solid, hesitantly touched his shoulder.
The absolute agony of something so simple, so insignificant, made the poor star flinch with a sharp gasp.
Jupiter pulled back instantly, leaving behind a cold that made the chill that had been clinging to him nothing in comparison. The star's breath hitched as the evil freeze stuck its teeth into his surface, darkened his light from the inside out and dragged him into the shadows he could no longer outshine-
"Ow..." He sobbed, smushing his face into the pillow he'd been resting on. The hot tears, strangely, a small relief.
"There is no light out there! There is only darkness!" The star had sobbed to himself, ignoring Earth's pleads for him to look as he dragged his shaky hand down his arms over and over again to feel for a new burn. "The beasts." He gasped, going rigid. "They'll find them, they'll- they'll burn!"
The cold would eat his children and swallow them whole. Or the beasts would take them, and burn them alive.
And Sun couldn't do anything about it, far too small a star to shine as brightly as they would need him to.
"Oh- oh, Sun, I'm sorry-" Jupiter apologized. But Sun didn't hear it, by now already having started weeping into the fabric again.
He was smaller than Jupiter down here. He wasn't sure if Jupiter had noticed, or why he was so- so pathetic, but it hadn't failed to remind him of another way he'd failed as a star. Of course his child was bigger than him, Jupiter was a giant. Sol... Sol was not, as big as he was compared to him.
Half a star.
Dwarf star.
Too small for the other stars. But too big for his planets. Was there anything he could do right?
"My star- please stop." Jupiter pleaded, the bed dipping under his weight as he sat down on the edge. Sol wanted to scream at him, he wanted to experience the gentle touch again, he wanted Jupiter as far from his as possible, he- "Please, I... I don't know how to make it better." His oldest admitted quietly, a vulnerable edge creeping into his voice. In that childish tone he used to have when he accidentally did something wrong and didn't know how to proceed when he was little, or when he had nightmares and wanted his star to make it better. "Please, tell me?"
"It looks scary out there..."
"I know... Hey. When you're afraid of the dark... just look at me!"
Sol didn't know. Sue him, he didn't know for once! He was tired of knowing! He was exhausted of knowing how his once gentle flame suddenly was something everyone was terrified of, how his temper was something to tiptoe around, how no one told him anything despite the fact he was their star, or no one liked him and apparently liked the darkness more and- Sol didn't want to know anything anymore!
He shook his head softly into the pillow, and even burrowed deeper despite knowing the darkness would increase if he did. Endure he would if he must. Just until Jupiter left again. He would eventually, Sun knew his children.
Or not. "Sol, please?" His name, his name. None of his titles or given names, no 'my star'. No, Jupiter used his name as he begged softly again, the dip he created causing Sol to slightly slide his way. The feel of the fabric was nice. Would have been better if he wasn't so cold. "I know we upset you, but we came back, so isn't that-"
"You left me!" he cut the planet off with a heartbroken cry, finally turning his gaze Jupiter's way. The giant actually froze at the sight of his bloodshot, sunken eyes, and the tears that hadn't stopped flowing ever since... all that. But it was the familiar anger that caught his attention the most. An anger Sun usually loathed, and used to try and surpress because he knew how scary it was to see someone taller and more powerful than you lose themselves to rage.
But he wasn't the largest down here anymore. He certainly wasn't the strongest, he could barely lift himself. He had no nitrogen or helium to burn.
He could get angry without risking all the celestials in his hold.
And yet, despite that realization... just like his flames, his mood dimmed down, back to being heartbroken. Sounding much more defeated as he quietly admitted. "...I didn't choose to be a star."
"Sol..."
"I didn't choose to be a star..." He grieved, going back to hiding again. The trembling of his body worsened while a headache bloomed, strengtening the pain his body already was in from almost being crushed- because even down here, even though he wasn't on fire anymore, still his being had to be in pain. That was what it meant to be a star. To be in pain. Either your fire exploded and went supernova, or the flames dimmed down and you became a red dwarf. The Sun didn't know which of the two he had done.
"...I know." Jupiter murmured, making himself more comfortable on the bed. Sun gasped when their bodies touched again, the simple sensation of touch enough to paralyze him. It was too much. It wasn't enough. "I know, Sol."
"If you know then why do you keep abandoning me?" The star pleaded to know without looking up. His planet sighed, but didn't answer him.
"You... we didn't feel like we could do anything else!" Jupiter tried to defend himself, unknowingly stoking the flames. "You're... big, my star."
"So are you, Zeus."
"But- but you're scary, and- and sometimes it's a bit unpredictable what you do when you're angry-"
"You tried to crush me!" He yelled into his pillow this time, grabbing the edges of it to squeeze. "When did I ever do that to you?!"
He was right, and Jupiter knew it. Based on the stunned silence he received, Sol assumed he won. "You... but your solarflares..." Jupiter weakly mumbled. A pathetic excuse, in his opinion.
Sun couldn't help the annoyed scowl as they faced again. "I aim away from you."
None of them would survive if they got hit by his solarflares today. Something he had learned through trial and error, back when he thought those dangerous beams were weak because he wasn't a big star. Accidentally hitting the ice giants to try and warm them up, only for his two babies to scream and cry as parts of themselves melted away, had taught Sun very well.
As small as he was, he was large compared to his celestials. A lesson he had taught Jupiter as well, back when he was a child, because he understood it was hard to be aware of ones strenght. Sun... hadn't thought Jupiter was this strong, though.
The bruises on his body were enough proof of the strength.
"Sun, what do you want me to say?" Jupiter asked, sounding a bit fed up himself as he sat straighter. Ah. There was his hotheaded child. "Because I don't know! I'm sorry you're a star, and thank you for not aiming at us, but thats just the bare minimum."
Minimum? Minimum?!
"I burn, all the time, even when I don't have to because I don't have a choice!" The heartbroken tears were replaced by angry ones, fast, and more draining. Angrily, Sol tried to push himself up again- but collapsed instead, another wave of pain making him cry out. "But I make sure to burn as little as possible so I don't overwhelm you, but just enough to keep my system warm and bright! I give you so many chances, again and again, even when you break the rules that are there for your own safety! Stars!" He shook his head repeatedly, one of the small things he could do in this prison. "I can't even move down here because I have never left my orbit before, Jupiter!"
Jupiter's face crumpled quickly, already seeing the error in his words. "...Forgive me, my star, I-"
"Stop calling me that!" Jupiter flinched out of instinct, breaking his heart even further. "I have asked you so many times to stop calling me that." He cried. Sol wanted to say more, he did... but the tears and cries rendered him unable to speak. All he could do was cry, and cry, and cry, billions of years worth of tears finally being let out. Leaving him hollow. But at least warming his face.
Just a star. A stupid, pathetic little star. All he could ever be.
He could feel Jupiter's calculating gaze on him, but Sun couldn't find it in himself to care anymore. He'd already fallen from grace, what was a little more?
"..." Jupiter sighed... but it was the tone that made his breath hitch. Because he didn't sound angry, or upset, but-
"...I'm sorry, Sol." He whispered the words, oh so soft. But Sol heard it. And froze when that hand settled on his back, and stayed this time. "I am so, so sorry."
He tried to process just how overwhelming it felt, stars, he did. But the simple, gentle touch was too much for a body used to pain.
Hesitantly, Jupiter stroked between his shoulderblades with his thumb.
And his mind shattered.
He let out a soft sound, quieter than his cries of before, but somehow so much more heartbreaking. It was a terrible, broken noise of not a star, but a child who'd only known pain before. Who'd given, and given again, and for once received.
How could something so painful feel so good?
"Oh, Sol." Jupiter murmured, voice so full of core his heart shattered further. "I am so, so sorry."
The touch grew bolder, more daring, pressing more firmly against his aching muscles to rub a circle onto the sensitive skin. He flinched, expecting that crushing sensation once more.
Instead... the ache was soothed, bit by bit, the more the comforting touch went on. The fight drained out of his body, causing him to sag back into all the blankets he'd been tucked in earlier. Somehow, more exhausted replacing the old ones.
...Oh.
"Am I hurting you?" The grand planet asked, pausing the gentle petting. Sol managed a weak shake of his head, eyes already drooping. Wow, he... wow. That felt... nice. Good, even.
Encouraged, Jupiter took it a step further, slowly lowering himself until he laid on top of all the fabric, next to his star. He resumed the soothing circles with one hand while another gently tangled into his hair, then lightly scratched at his scalp. The star shuddered, no longer because of the cold.
He wanted to lean into it, to press himself against Jupiter and never let go. He wanted his earlier, more familiar anger back and yell about how they left him after everything he had done. He wanted to beg for more. He wanted everything to stop. "Jupiter..."
"I know." A kiss was pressed into his hair, the unfamiliar press slightly ticklish as well as soft. "You have to breathe, My Star."
The title was used in a more delicate manner this time. It felt less as a title, and more... Sol didn't even know what to name it. What he did know is that whatever tone Jupiter used soothed his nerves.
The nerves, which had been on fire from the moment he'd opened his eyes.
"Hey, hey! Toliman, look at this one!"
"Nice find, Rigil!"
"Breathing is not optional, Sol." Jupiter scolded, letting out a big sigh. The star shuddered when his chest puffed out and pressed against his back when he took his next breath, all that beautiful air Earth so carefully had nurtured most of his existence filling his being. "Inhale."
As silly as it was... the second Jupiter commanded, Sol listened. And breathed in.
The shock of all that air filling his lungs and stopping the painful tightening in his chest almost had him choking. What was supposed to be a calm inhale turned into a sharp gasp, like a man who'd been drowning suddenly trying to have all that glorious oxygen to fill his lungs. His eyes widened. New tears leaked once more.
Oh... oh. No wonder his head had been pounding so much. He... wow.
"Just like that." Jupiter murmured, pressing himself more against his back, leaving no space between them, allowing the star to feel the steady beating of his heart. Da-dun, da-dun, sounded that oh so strong beat, so much calmer than the flutter in his own chest. "And breathe out."
The air he'd just taken was traded for carbon dioxide, adding to the carbon cycle- the the fragile balance they called life.
He breathed the air in again, slower this time so he could relish in the feeling. The way it filled his airways, soothed his heart which each breath he took. And breathed out the carbon dioxide, adding to the atmosphere around.
...Earth truly had such wonderful creatures.
"Good." Jupiter murmured after a couple breaths, resting his large, calloused hand onto Sol's chest- right above where his now calmer heart continued its melody. He resumed rubbing circles there, ignoring the way the shaking intensified from how overwhelmed the star was getting. Sol didn't really pay mind to that in favor of the prettier sounding one behind him. Just like a lullaby...
His eyes drooped. For the first time in a... long while, Sol felt the final bits of tension drain from his exhausted body. All that was left was just the subtle tremble, a reaction to the fact he wasn't used to touch.
Let alone being held.
That tired gaze faded into darkness when a single finger rubbed under his eye, removing the last of his tears he usually burned by now. Sol sank down, further into that pleasant fuzziness that had started in his brain... slowing down his thoughts...
Oh... those blankets weren't as cold as he thought. Sol snuggled further into the fluffy fabric. Not as warm as him, of course... but it would do.
It felt oh so wonderful to have something else holding him up, for once. His body drifted, falling into Jupiter's embrace and shuddering when the grand planet moved to hold him without a thought, cradling him against his frame. The star's head fell into that space beneath his chin gently, and he didn't try to pull away. His lovely planet let him rest there. And kissed his hair. And then just... stayed.
For once in his lonely existence, someone stayed.
The joy that statement brought was something close to what he'd felt when his planets had opened their eyes that first time.
For a moment, Jupiter let Sun rest. He continued petting over his heart while his face remained in his hair, blowing out hot carbon dioxide with every exhale. If he were in his proper body, his flames might have burst... "Sol?" The planet whispered, breaking the peaceful silence.
"Hm?" Slurred out the star.
"Are you falling asleep?"
...Oh. Was that what this was?
The star tried to respond properly, but only an incoherent sound came out. Jupiter was quick to shush him before he could get upset. "That's okay." He murmured, his voice vibrating pleasantly. "But let's drink some water first, alright? These bodies need a lot of that down here, my star."
There it was again. Sol shivered when Jupiter pulled away, though he could tell the taller wasn't going far. That same title, paired with the different way he spoke to him was... something. But stars, Sun couldn't figure out why-
Pain flared back again, shocking his system and forcing him to be wide awake, when Jupiter started lifting him up. His body protested the upward movement, all the bruises he'd forgotten about aching and bruising and letting him know just how bad he was off. Sol gasped, and then again, and-
The blankets fell from his shoulders and pooled around his hips, suddenly leaving him exposed and allowing the darkness to bite at him. Sol gasped, the shivers painful as they increased. They calmed as his planet gently tucked them back around his shoulders and secured them, ensuring they didn't slip off again.
"Shhh, shh, I know." Jupiter kissed his forehead, but didn't lower him back down. Instead, he sat next to the Sun so he could lean his weight against him to keep him upright. "Just for a moment. You know how to swallow, right, Sol?"
Swallow... such a funny word. The star tested if he knew, feeling the lump in his throat just before he closed his eyes, and swallowed it. It went down with difficulty, and the unfamiliar sensation made him gag- but he managed. He nodded, wincing at the crack that popped from one of the joints of the movement. Ah... such delicate creatures indeed.
"That's right." The planet still praised, holding up something straight, and blue, and see-through. His heavy head fell back onto Jupiter's shoulder while his eyes drooped, the strange object turning blurry... shapes and colors...
An insistent touch on his cheek woke him back up. The star whined, but still leaned into it, relishing in the feeling. "I know." Jupiter murmured, pressing the weird object against his lips. It tasted disgusting... plastic? Not edible, that much he knew. "No, no, the liquid inside."
...Ah.
The holding chamber, Sol decided, was tipped upward. And the liquid flooded his mouth.
The feeling of liquid and cold flooded his senses from the inside out, endless and fast and against everything the star was. He choked, coughing out the danger in spurts like a man drowning, before remembering he was supposed to be drinking and holding whatever little he had left in his mouth. His hand pressed desperately against his wet lips, hoping to help keep it down. A single droplet dripped down his fingers.
Jupiter didn't seem all too surprised... or even bothered, instead wordlessly patting the wetness away with one of the many blanket Sol was swattled in. Gently pushing Sun's hand away from his lips so he could wipe the water away. "Try again?"
The second try went a bit better, even if some of it still drippled down his cheek. It took all Sol's power to not listen to his instinct to spit it out. Water... did feel nice though. He hadn't even realized just how dry the inside of his mouth had been until that first sip went down his throat.
Jupiter pulled the strange device away when half of it was drained, and pulled the star back towards his chest. Sun went down willingly, snuggling back into his spot and refocusing on that powerful heartbeat. "Good." Jupiter hummed, cradling his star close. "...You can sleep now if you want to, Sol." He murmured, already having resumed the earlier loving touches now aided by the gentle rocking, succesfully coaxing the star to close his eyes
And be greeted by darkness.
...His babies had left him for the darkness.
"Anything is better than this."
It was not. It was absolutely not, they, he-
They would freeze to death. They would burn alive.
"You can't! Come back!" Sol pleaded, just as much for himself as for them... as he accidentally glanced at the three, suddenly far too close bright dots ahead. The same direction his child was headed in.
"Please help me, I'm scared! Haha!"
"Poor little star!"
"I am the Sun! The Star! YOUR star! Don't leave me, please don't leave me!!!"
"..." He smushed his face into Jupiter's chest. Jupiter sounded worried. "My star?"
"I'm sorry..." He sobbed softly, tightening his grip onto his child as much as his frailed body allowed. "I'll be whatever you need me to be, just-" He cut off. "Don't go into the darkness..." His voice shook.
Stay in his light. Stay warm and safe and do whatever you wanted, Sol didn't care anymore. Just-
Not the dark.
Anything but that horrible void.
"...No one is leaving your light, Sol." Jupiter promised with a kiss into his hair, the statement allowing Sol to relax a final time. "Don't worry about that now."
"Good..." He slurred, blinking sluggishly. Being held felt so good... "The beasts can't get you..." Not in his light. Not while Sol kept them safe.
"Don't worry about me. I'm the Sun! I'll be okay."
"...You mean the rogues?" He asked, lighthearted. But Sol didn't answer, already almost out. A gurgled sound was all he managed to make, as if he were drowning in the water he'd drank. His headache had lessened though. And Jupiter had soothed away most of the pain his body was in.
His celestials had come back to him.
"..." Jupiter sighed... but a final press of lips on his cold skin was gifted to him, warming him up in ways nothing else could compare. "...Sleep well, Sol." Being the last thing he heard before finally, finally, sweet, sweet sleep claimed him in its embrace... along with Jupiter's, who lowered him back down and tucked him in.
"It looks scary out there..."
"When you're afraid of the dark... just look at me!"
For once in his life, someone held the lonely star, the same way he had held all his celestials in his comforting light.
And Sol couldn't have been happier.