Museum of Stars- A Zodiac Story

Chapter 36: Feelings for Cancer

In Pisces' Point of View

I must admit, I did feel quite different after my encounter with Moon.

She was much... older than I expected, with an aura of power, mystery, and a hint of stress. Even before Aquarius and Scorpio told us about Aquarius' item being taken by Moon, I'd already felt this weird connection to Cancer- as if I was forced to miss him. I mean, I did miss him a lot, but not to a level that I'd run to his arms and hug him when he returned.

And the fact that Moon removed her own feelings for the two of us, that only made me feel the need to like Cancer even more. The outcome would only be unnatural. And now that Cancer had disappeared yet again, I had this urge to find him.

I told this all to Leo, but she said something I didn't expect.

"Well, you don't have to love him," Leo told me. "I... I'm not really the person you should talk to about these matters."

"What do you mean?"

"There are... different types of love, Pisce," she replied. "I'm not sure if I can give you advice on this one. The only thing I can tell you to do is to talk to the person you think is going through the same thing."

"And who might that be?"

Leo smiled, and gestured towards Scorpio's room.

All I could say was- I knew it! Being emphatic had its perks. I was just not sure why I did not sense it sooner.

I knocked on the door."Scorpio!" I peeked over his shoulder. He looked surprised, but grabbed my hand and did an impromptu waltz with me.

"Hey," he said. "I know, I know. Libra's item. I think we'll find it in Venice, Italy."

I had a dreamy look on my face. "Italy..." I said in awe. Imagine that impromptu waltz, but on top of a bridge while watching gondolas gently rowing down the canals. Cancer would love it. The three of us would walk around arm in arm and buy things like pasta and biscotti.

"-so it's definitely not in Antarctica," Scorpio was saying.

I just nodded, not being able to hear what he said before. "So, Italy. Right. But I suppose you wouldn't mind if we searched for Cancer first, right?"

Scorpio looked at me, confused. "That's why I said we were going to split up."

"I... mustn't have heard?"

"I talked to Aquarius earlier. He said he wanted to go along to find Cancer, so I'm coming along to find Cancer, of course. With you, Sagittarius, Leo, Gemini, and Taurus. Then, Aries, Libra, Capricorn, Virgo, and Aquarius will go off to find the Mace."

"Good. Okay."

The two of us shared some silence.

"There's something else?" Scorpio asked.

I shuffled my feet. "You see... there's this thing Leo told me to tell you. Something she told me you could relate to."

"And that is...?"

I told him everything- what Aquarius concluded about Moon using his item, what I felt the past days, and what Leo told me about the different-types-of-love thing.

"And she said you should talk to me?" Scorpio asked, looking shocked. His gape turned into a frown. "Oh. Yeah. Well, I recently figured out Taurus liked me--"

He paused, as if he was waiting for me to complain. I did not. So, he continued.

"With Master saying we were pre-destined for each other, I had no idea of the state we had to be in." He looked as though he had trouble saying anything else. I motioned for him to go on, but he shook his head.

"I... well, there's this..." he had trouble forming words. He shyed away from me, which wasn't that obvious, but his hands were gripping his jacket sleeves dangerously tight. "If ever... if ever you're forced to like someone, Pisces, I think it's best to see them as they are."

I gave it a thought.

Cancer was a nice person. He comforted me when I felt sad. He went after Moon so I could be rescued, knowing he was in danger as well. But he was still Cancer- the one I could rely on, the one who could rely on me. I didn't love him as someone to be romantically attracted to.

But I knew that my little paragraph of thoughts wouldn't be enough to know if I loved him or not.

Scorpio seemed to sense it, because he nodded. He showed me out the door. We hugged for a while, and then I left.

"-refuse," Virgo was saying to Aries once I got outside. The two of them paused, eyes staring at me, the room filling with tension. My shoulders squared, "I... I am terribly sorry. Please, please continue."

Something else I didn't expect happened. Virgo lowered her eyes and said, "I'm sorry."

Aries just stayed in his spot on the couch. "I'm still going to Venice anyway."

"Um... what-?"

Sagittarius appeared behind me, interrupting me. "Hey... Pisces!" his tone was awkward. "My room is lit up very nicely this time of day."

He didn't lie. His room being positioned somewhere in the corner of the house was great.

"I know it wasn't your fault," Sagittarius said, trying his best not to laugh at me. "But what were you doing there?"

Despite him talking, I was lost in thought. "Why didn't they just talk in a room? We all know so very well they absolutely do not get along, but do they really have to fight in the living room? It is literally the only thing bridging all of our rooms! And they get all nervous when someone sees them."

"Right?" Sagittarius nodded. "The others are in Leo's room after being shoved there by Aries. You know, right after you went in to Scorpio's room."

I sighed. "What do you suppose they were talking about?"

"Well, you and Scorpio seemed to have a topic of your own. After Aquarius explained things, they decided on who was going to Venice and who would find Cancer. Aries was assigned to go to Venice."

"Like Scorpio told me," I followed. "And, Aries disagreed?"

"Yeah," Sagittarius laughed. "Who'd want to spend their Venice trip with their worst enemy anyway, right?"

"Oh, quite right," I agreed with him. I thought of everyone in our group, "Although, I don't really have any worst enemies."

"You're kidding!" Sagittarius exclaimed. "Well, I'm going to come with you to find Cancer, so I won't even have to worry about having a worst enemy."

I flinched at the thought of Cancer, flashbacking on everything Scorpio had told me. Sagittarius looked at me, his eyes questioning, but I didn't dare explain.

"You... you should probably get going," Sagittarius offered, to make things less awkward. "There're cookies on the table. They're supposed to be for me, but I don't like the flavor anyway."

"Wow, uh... I appreciate it, Sagittarius."

We smiled at each other, and I left the room. Aries and Virgo were no longer there, however, Leo was. She grinned, and told me something I would not yet understand.