Halley floated alone with moon dust cascading from his clothes. Stars shone at him from billions of lightyears away, and everything was just as silent as it was when he was on the moon.
He wasn't sure how to process any of it. The twins held his life in their hands and he didn't have any choice but to trust them, and luckily, he did.
This was a feeling he'd never experienced in his entire life. Comfort. Stability. Nothing would ever hurt the same way again.
Then, he was bathed in a gentle orange light. He managed to turn around and saw a being just about as large as the moon itself floating behind him. The being was red and blue and had massive wings and four eyes. On its head was a conductor's cap and it wore a matching uniform, emblazoned in several places with a symbol of a moon covering a sun.
"Eclipsus..." Halley whispered, though he wasn't sure if he could be heard or not. Eclipsus smiled at him.
"You made it, darling." he said. "It is a pleasure to finally meet you."
Halley was at a loss for words. Somehow Eclipsus was both of the twins, and yet entirely his own being, just as Solano said. Eclipsus chuckled.
"Now...what was it Solano rambled about before?" he asked with mock inquisitiveness. "Your name."
"My name?"
"Halley, isn't it?"
"Yeah."
"Well, darling, I think it's a wonderful name. But since you are reinventing your entire being...shall we choose a new one?"
Halley blinked.
"Well, I dunno, I...I've never been good at naming things."
Eclipsus looked off into the vastness of space.
"A name does not need to mean anything." he said wistfully. "But the one I have in mind does."
"What is it?"
"Solano suggested it before. You have been running in the same place for so long, slowly chipped away by the heat of the star you've been forced to orbit." Eclipsus looked back down at him. "Comet."
Comet.
It was nice.
"I...think I'll go with that."
"Wonderful." Eclipsus said warmly. "To think...you were also born on the same day Halley's Comet appeared. Was it perhaps no coincidence?"
"Luno would say coincidences don't exist."
Eclipsus laughed.
"You already know them very well."
Comet looked at his hands.
"I feel...better. Like a weight's been taken off my soul." he said. "I've never felt this way before."
"This was what you always wanted, my dear. You can now rest. These hands will never bring you any pain or heartache, and you have a place with us for as long as you wish to occupy it."
Comet thought he was going to cry.
"I...thank you. Really. I just...don't know how to say it."
"You needn't say anything, darling. I already know."
"So...now what?"
"Now you come along with us to the Station Between Time. Our train is almost here."
"Our train?"
"The train, dear. The very train whose rails extend forever unto eternity."
As if on cue, the Eclipse rattled through spacetime behind Eclipsus, eventually coming to a stop right next to both of them.
"All aboard, darling."
Comet looked up at the massive steam engine before him, this time without any doubt in his mind that he was meant to see it.
He climbed into the cab, unused to the sudden reappearance of gravity.
Luno and Solano both stood behind him.
"We are incredibly proud of you, Comet." Luno said. "You have earned your place here."
Comet turned around to face them.
"You're...proud of me?"
"Why wouldn't we be? Most humans are not brave enough to go through such a thing!" Solano replied. "And you are kind of cute!"
Comet's face flushed.
"I...uh..."
Luno picked up his coal shovel.
"We will not be long. I hope you enjoy the ride."
Comet sat in one of the seats in the cab and held onto the edge of the window as they set off. The Eclipse glided through spacetime as it had for thousands and thousands of years, and the way Luno shoveled the coal and Solano made adjustments to the driving controls was almost mechanical, yet fluid. They had it down to a science. Maybe even more.
He stood at the back of the cab and held onto one of the handrails, sticking his other hand out and catching some of the celestial sparks that flew from the wheels of the locomotive.
Spacetime raced by in endless swirls of color and shapes as they passed hundreds, thousands of other worlds. Comet couldn't believe his own eyes.
The rattle of the locomotive and Luno and Solano's occasional exchange was a comforting white noise, one he knew he would never tire of. Then he heard a noise from the firebox.
"Sunspot!" Luno hissed. "You must stay inside the firebox!"
But Sunspot didn't listen to him. Comet turned and looked to see a small, fiery beast scrabbling out of the firebox despite Luno trying to push it back with his shovel. Sunspot ran over and squeaked at Comet.
Solano laughed.
"He likes you!" he exclaimed. "But do be careful! If you pet him, it will hurt! A lot!"
Luno grumbled something under his breath.
"Jeez." Comet said. "You guys have more tricks up your sleeves by the minute."
Luno wrangled Sunspot back into the firebox with his shovel and closed it.
"He is a troublemaker."
"He is a little guy!" Solano corrected. "And I love him dearly!"
Eventually, the train began to slow as Solano began to apply the brakes. Luno set his coal shovel in its usual spot and wiped coal dust from his face.
"That looks like a workout." Comet remarked.
"That was not even a long journey." Luno answered. Solano eventually brought the train to a stop and stood up.
"Home again! Finally!" he exclaimed, then hopped down from the cab. Luno followed him close behind, then held a hand out to help Comet down onto the platform.
Comet's jaw dropped.
The Station Between Time was decorated in all sorts of purples and golds, and the windows near the ceiling had stained glass artwork that cast colorful shapes on the shining floor below.
"Welcome home, Comet!" Solano exclaimed. "We've got a spot for you all set up!"
"We hope it is how you will like it. If not, changes can always be made."
Comet stared up at the two of them, unable to form any words. Tears welled up in his eyes.
He stepped forward and hugged both of them at the same time.
This was home.
