I don't need no light to see you SHINE

31

TWs: Memory loss, panicking/brief crying, rude behavior, cliffhanger. Stay safe :)

"N-Neptune...?"

The blue Celestial whipped his head around, eyes as wide as saucers, "S/2004 N1?"

"I-It's Hippocamp, remember? They gave me a name a few years ago..." The smallest Neptunian Celestite uttered as he hesitated to move forward.

"Oh, right! I remember now!" Neptune grinned, "What are you doing away from the others?"

Hippocamp frowned, becoming uneasy at the Celestial's drastic change in attitude compared to before. The small moon fiddled with his hands, eyebrows slanted as he looked up at Neptune with an anxious gaze, "Do you not remember what happened...?"

Neptune blinked one eye then the other, his face contorting in confusion as he tilted his head, "What do you mean?"

"Uh..." Hippocamp drifted away slightly, "You told us we were too small to be your moons and compared us to pebbles and asteroids."

"What!? That's-!"

"And you attacked Uranus."

Neptune stopped, frozen with his mouth open. A few noises slipped out, one word being prominent, "...What?"

He couldn't believe it. He didn't believe it.

Neptune let out a small laugh of disbelief, voice cracking as he shook his head, "Th-That's not- I mean, there's no way I could've- it's not..."

"But it's true! I was there, Triton was there- all of the moons were there."

Neptune's eyes were wide, a terrified expression overtaking his features, "I-I'm... oh, I have to apologize to him, let him know I didn't mean it- though I can't remember doing it..."

Hippocamp gnawed on his lip, fidgeting in place as he looked at Neptune, his eyes looming with a question.

Neptune noticed the smallest Celestite's look, eyes softening as he caught the other's gaze, "I-Is that everything you wanted to tell me?"

Hippocamp hesitated, mouth opening and closing like a fish out of water, "Is it true that Triton destroyed your moons?"

Neptune sucked in a breath, shock taking over his features as his eyes widened, "Wh-Wha-"

"And is it true that Triton's not a moon- that you pulled him into your gravity?"

Neptune's eyebrows slanted in guilt and sorrow, he pursed his lips as they started twitching. He looked down in shame, slightly nodding, "I'm sorry, S/200- Hippocamp... I wanted to tell you and the others, but I couldn't bring myself to. You all were so happy and loving towards Triton and I didn't want to come between that by telling you guys the truth..."

Hippocamp appeared saddened by the words, "But we're your moons, right? You should tell us these things... isn't that how planets and moons work? When one of us is feeling bad, it also weighs on the others..."

"...You're completely right." Neptune smiled, yet it failed to reach his eyes, "It's not fair of us to keep this in any longer."

Hippocamp grinned, "So you promise to tell them?"

"Of course! I always keep my promises!" Neptune spoke adamantly, his eyes darting around the area, "But we should probably get out of here first- the Kuiper Belt is no place for smaller objects."

"Even that thing?" Hippocamp gestured to the asteroid still in Neptune's hands.

Neptune hummed, eyeing the piece of debris with remorse, "Yeah... even Guillermo."