My Star || Delta x Dante fanfic

☆ Chapter 29 - Enough

Delta’s POV

By the time we finished the test battle, the sky had already begun to soften into late afternoon, gold bleeding into orange, the city slowing its breath.

“Break time,” Arman announced, stretching. “Food, rest, whatever. We’ve earned it.”

People scattered naturally after that.

I stayed behind for a moment, wiping down Polaris Devolos, my thumb tracing the new edges, checking the locks out of habit more than necessity. The Bey felt right in my hands.

That was when I noticed Dante wasn’t with them.

He didn’t say anything. Didn’t announce where he was going. He just… slipped away.

That alone wouldn’t have bothered me.

But lately, Dante had been doing that more often, smiling when he should’ve been tired, cheering louder than necessary, acting like everything was fine in a way that felt forced. Too bright. Like light stretched thin.

I looked up just in time to see his back disappear down the street.

…Tch.

I clipped my launcher shut and followed.

I kept my distance at first. Dante walked without direction, hands stuffed into his jacket pockets, steps slow. Not lost, just wandering. Like he didn’t want to end up anywhere in particular.

Eventually, he stopped.

The bench. The same one we sat on when Devolos broke.

I slowed my pace.

Dante sat down facing the Eiffel Tower, silhouetted against the sinking sun. The sky behind it burned orange and pink, clouds stretched thin like brushstrokes. The wind carried the city’s distant noise- cars, voices, life continuing.

In his hands was Dragon.

The Bey rested in his palms like something fragile. Like he was afraid it might disappear again if he held it too loose. His thumb brushed over the scratched layer, slow and absent, the way someone touches a scar they never really stop feeling.

My chest tightened.

I didn’t announce myself. Just walked up and sat beside him, the wood of the bench warm from the sun.

He didn’t look surprised. Just tilted his head slightly, like he’d known I’d follow.

“Figured you’d follow me,” Dante said quietly.

“…You were acting strange,” I replied.

He huffed a small laugh. “Guess I wasn’t subtle.”

Silence settled between us- not uncomfortable, just heavy. The kind that pressed into your ribs.

I stared ahead, eyes fixed on the Eiffel Tower. “You didn’t come to watch the test battle finish.”

“I know,” he said. “I just… needed air.”

He lifted Dragon slightly, letting the light hit it.

“I was really happy for you, you know,” Dante continued. “Polaris Devolos is amazing. Watching you battle again like that… it felt right.”

There it was. That careful tone.

“I thought,” he said quietly, “that once Devolos was fixed… once you were okay… I’d feel better.”

He swallowed.

“But watching you battle again just reminded me of everything I can’t do anymore.” He stared at the sunset, eyes reflecting gold and red. “Sometimes I think… maybe I was only worth something when I could stand in the stadium. When I had Dragon.”

I turned to him. “That’s wrong.”

He blinked, caught off guard.

I clenched my jaw. I’d seen broken Beys before. Mine included. But Dragon wasn’t just broken. Dragon was gone.

I looked at the Bey in his hands, then back at him. “You think strength is only measured by what spins in the stadium,” I said.

He didn’t argue.

“So did I,” I added.

That got his attention.

I shifted on the bench, facing forward again. “When Devolos broke, I thought that was it. That if I couldn’t fight, I had nothing left to offer.”

“But you were there when Devolos shattered,” I continued. “You picked up the pieces when I couldn’t move. You followed me when I walked away. You stayed.”

My voice lowered. “Power doesn’t decide that.”

Dante’s fingers tightened briefly around Dragon. “I just wish,” he murmured, “that I could help you the way everyone else can.”

The sun dipped lower, light cutting across his face. For a second, he looked smaller, younger. Not the Dante who’d faced Arthur and survived but the one still living with the aftermath.

“You help,” I said firmly. “More than you realize.”

Dante glanced at me, surprised.

“You think Devolos exists because I trained harder?” I continued. “No. It exists because you didn’t let me disappear. Because you believed I was still worth rebuilding.”

The wind brushed past us, carrying the distant sounds of the city.

“You say Dragon is gone,” I said quietly. “But you’re still here.”

Dante looked down again, his thumb resting over Dragon’s core. “…Sometimes that doesn’t feel like enough.”

I wasn’t good at comforting others, never had been. But I knew the truth when I felt it.

“It is,” I said. “To me.”

He froze.

I didn’t look at him when I added, “For what it’s worth, you’re not standing behind me. You never were.”

The Eiffel Tower began to glow as dusk settled in. Dante didn’t reply. But his grip on Dragon loosened, just a little.

And for the first time that day, I felt like maybe… I’d said the right thing.

End of Delta’s POV