Stargazer

Part V: Departure

"Time," Beginning said, her arms folded. For the first time, I felt how cold it was in the exposed space away from her star's warmth. Nearby gravitated two new terrestrial planets, which Beginning had named Rocky and Leila--I was starting to realize that Beginning was great at making planets, but she was terrible at naming them. The thought made me smile. She'd been working really hard lately. I'd felt the new planets being made, but to my pleasant surprise, each new molten ball of rock opened a smaller wound than the last. Maybe I would still feel the new planets here being made when I was gone.

"Time," I repeated. I glanced back at Big Red, which hadn't looked much different after the whole spitting incident, but I knew the life was there. I'd spent a while observing and facilitating the microbes after I'd rested a while on the planet's warm surface. The future of those microbes was of one of my greatest concerns, but I trusted Beginning to watch them for me. "What will you do while I'm gone?" I asked Beginning, trying desperately to get her to look into my eyes.

"Make more planets. Watch Big Red. Standard starchild stuff," she said, looking up at me sadly. In an instant, her arms were around me. I was almost startled. "Oh, do you really have to leave, Stargazer? It feels like you just got here."

It did feel like I just got there, as if only mere moments ago I was holding Beginning in the space between my palms, or I was watching her create Big Red out of clouds of dust, or I was spitting on Big Red's surface after having a near-existential crisis. It had been longer than that, though, I knew, and I had to go. The rest of the universe wasn't going to make itself--or, maybe it would eventually, but I had to get the process started somehow.

"I'll come back to visit as often as I can, but I do have to go. Soon we'll have an entire cosmic family--a galaxy, and then a ton of galaxies. A whole local group. There'll be more starchildren, and more planets, and an entire sky of beautiful things in the distance. You'll love it, I promise. And when the lifeforms on Big Red evolve to see and think, they'll love it too. I'll have to come back when that happens--for good. Until then, I'll see you when I can."

Beginning released me. She was smiling, but she seemed to be tearing up. She let out a heavy sigh. "I'll miss you," she said, distancing herself from me. "Make sure to come back soon."

"I will," I replied. "See you soon."

"See you soon." I hugged her again and waved before going off into the empty void. I looked back to see Beginning going off towards Big Red, who was clearly her favorite planet at this point. I smiled. I wondered how different things would be on Big Red when I came back.

I kept going off into the void until Beginning's star was only a dot in the distance behind me--which took a long, long time because of how bright she was. I wasn't afraid of finding her again. Something told me I'd always be drawn back to her, no matter how far and lost I was. I sped even further, and when I looked back, she wasn't there.

My short time in the new universe made me forget how dark empty space was. In what felt like a short while, I really did miss Beginning, and I wished more than anything that I'd spent longer resting in her solar system, where there was, at least, light and warmth and life, however small. Still, I knew this was where I had to be: out in the cold harshness of new space--nothingness waiting to be filled with somethingness. My hands felt jittery.

Okay, creator mojo, I thought, rubbing my hands together. Do your stuff.

In moments, two new stars blossomed in my fingertips, filling me with new warmth. I almost laughed. Twins. A binary star system. I released them into the empty space, watching them grow into the dark sky. Individually, they were quite a bit smaller than Beginning, shining a persistent yellow instead of Beginning's radiant blue. They were both about the same size as each other, but with a seemingly uneven gravitational pull. They almost looked like they were fighting as they wobbled.

"I am Stargazer," I recited to them. "I am the force that created you, and the force that fuels your existence. I name you..." I paused, putting a finger to my chin as I thought. "I name you Persistence, and I name you Aurum, after the--"

"Yeah, yeah, we know the spiel," a chipper-sounding boy's voice interrupted while another slightly deeper voice scoffed beside him, causing my body to start unexpectedly. One would guess after Beginning, I would've been more used to being startled in that way, but it made no difference. "Pleased to meet ya', Miss Stargazer."

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T'is I, the author! (And yeah, I actually updated in less than a month this time, haha! I'm very proud of myself.) Thanks so much for reading this part of Stargazer! *virtual high five* Don't forget to vote if you liked this story, and I always appreciate comments and feedback of all sorts! (Y'all are awesome for sticking with this story for so long. I promise I have some good stuff coming!... And maybe some tragic stuff, eventually. But shhhhh. I'm not telling. Not yet. If you guys have any predictions, though, feel free to share in comments.)

I'll finally have a consistent uploading schedule! Thanks to an unexpected long break from school, I got around to putting some chapters in the reserves, and I'll be updating regularly on Wednesdays and Saturdays from now on. So woooooo for that.

**Open Ended Question: Do you guys have any other names for stars/planets/etc. you'd like to see in the story? I was honestly debating naming the twin stars "Dylan" and "Cole" this time around. I am glad I did not, but still. Any suggestions you have would be greatly appreciated. (I can make no promises that they will actually be in the story, but I will definitely consider them as options.)