When Stars Fall

Chapter 23 - A Carpet of Starlight

Sitara stared at the picture in front of her. Her eyes were wide and filled with shock, disbelief, and troubled emotions. She blinked and tried to choke down the lump in her throat but could not. It was as if they were sinking into this hellfire of a night she hadn't experienced, but which lay so figuratively scattered on the ground here. Strewn bodies among feathers, charred beads, rusty sabers, and scraps of clothing. All this time, they had not known what had happened here. How this place had been desecrated, and what had happened to the brave guardians of the island. Had they found peace? At some point? Somewhere?

The star could not tear herself away from the sight, though her vision blurred. With a rising sob, she hastily turned her face away so Peter wouldn't see the first telltale tear. The first of several that rolled down her cheeks for countless lives wiped out. She mourned for the lives that had faded away here. They were unimportant, fleeting ... erasing each other, and in the end, the stars in the sky only provided the playing field ... but they did not push the pieces on it, always just watching. Unlike the burden she had been to Peter so far, she did not want to appear weak, but the pain seized her unexpectedly, settled over her shoulders like a cloak of lead, and pressed her down.

"Sitara ..." Peter's voice was rough as he pulled her against him. Her nose bounced against his hard chest, and his arms wrapped around her shoulders to hold her close. He laid his hand over the glowing creature, whose light grew paler because an invisible dagger struck her wounds he could do nothing about. Peter gritted his teeth, but his burning hatred for the pirates could not have grown any greater.
He wanted to promise that he would make the pirates pay. But at the same time ... it had been his thirst for revenge that had brought this situation about in the very first place. That was why he kept silent, letting the little thing sob in his arms and only releasing her when the trembling of the delicate body had lessened.

Carefully he put his hands to the cheeks wet with tears as bright as porcelain. The beautiful gold of her irises appeared like a treasure under the clear waters of the mermaid lagoons. Tempting ... but foolish if he dared to reach for it. Then again, had Peter always been a fool?

"Please ... stop crying," he pleaded harshly, taking a deep breath, his thumbs wiping away the wet marks on his soft skin. "I can't bear to see you cry ..." he confessed softly. Slowly he leaned closer to rest his forehead gently against hers. "We're almost there..." he tried to cheer her up because the sight also made his heart ache and his stomach turn. She and him ... were more alike than they wanted to admit.

The boy who never wanted to grow up, whose revenge cost him everything, and who now, as punishment, had to live not only with the consequences but also with the change in himself. To be an adult.
And she, the fallen star, confronted for the first time with feelings that normally only mortals possessed.
Everything was new; everything changed. As if their old souls now had to endure the torrent of the floods that the dam of time had long kept away from them. But now everything was crashing down on them ... and all they both had was each other.

"Come. Let's go on. It's not far now; then everything will be all right," Peter promised the crying girl but couldn't entirely banish his despair from it. He had never been able to witness it when girls cried, and not that he had to see it often. Girls cried much faster than boys, and it had always bothered him. Wendy also wanted to avoid climbing the tall trees or tickling the bears in their den. As a 'mother,' this was understandable, but he had often been more sensitive about such things so far.