Star Light, Star Bright

prolouge

At the age of three years old, a child does not know very many things.

Their mother, their father, perhaps their siblings, and enough words to form short sentences— how to walk, how to crawl, how to get what they want by crying— but they certainly do not know what it means when everyone in the house is constantly crying, when the atmosphere is always gloomy, and when it seems as if no one has the energy for them anymore.

Oh, she tried to get their attention— she'd knock things over, try to cry louder than them, or refuse to eat her food— but it seemed like her family members would never look poor little Lucy full in the face. The simple fact was, although she didn't know it, she looked too much like the child they'd only recently lost.

She looked too much like Lance McClain.

Nobody ever meant to be rude or negligent of her. The family did their absolute best to be strong and brave around her, to try and pretend nothing bad had ever happened, but sometimes... it just wasn't enough. Occasionally, there would be nights like the very one happening now, nights where her family would all go out to check the tips they'd received of their son's location— nights where her sisters were supposed to be watching her, but snuck out of the house to search for their missing brother instead. After all, Lucy was only three years old— what damage could she possibly do while they were gone?

Presently, the little girl was sitting upright in her crib, her pretty blue eyes fixed on the ceiling as she sucked on her thumb. There were glow-in-the-dark stickers of stars and planets pasted to the clay above her head, each of them twinkling faintly in the light of the setting sun. Here, alone, without the haunted faces of her family surrounding her, it almost felt like nothing had changed. Little though she was, Lucy could still recall her sisters sitting in here and pointing out the names of the things on the ceiling to her, telling her softly that one day, her brother would get to see it all.

Was that where he was now...? Was her big brother trapped up there, all alone in the stars...?

Lucy's face fell at the thought of that, her tiny little thumb slipping halfway out of her mouth. She would hate to be alone all the time. But if nobody knew where her brother was, that must be what he was— alone.

Alone, and, if she knew him, afraid.

Lucy lost what little shred of dignity she had left at that moment; she screwed up her face, her hand falling back into her lap as she started to cry quite loudly, the sound of her voice bouncing off the empty walls of her room. Surely if she just kept crying, someone would come and pick her up... someone would come to tell her everything was going to be okay...

But no one ever came.

The house had been left completely abandoned, and because of that critical factor, it was almost criminally easy for a lone hooded figure to sneak into the house without being noticed. Easier still it was to follow the sounds of the crying child, locate them, and realize the mistake the family of the blue paladin had made by leaving her behind.

Now, she was nothing but a bargaining chip, completely available to the Galra for the taking.