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Neither of them actually slept, so it didn’t really matter that they were both up before the sun. Taako was first awake, as he was always one to wake up early on this day. It was a testament to time and healing that he actually laid down and tried to meditate a little on this night.
But still, he couldn’t manage to stay in bed for the whole night. He rose from the plush bed and grabbed his robe quietly from the armchair in the corner of the room. Taako knew that Kravitz really didn’t need sleep either, but when he was in his human form, it was better for his health that he did. Besides, Taako didn’t want to interrupt any dreams he might be having.
Taako padded out of the room, weaving his way through the hallways of the Moon Base in complete darkness. He tried to be completely silent in this venture, stepping quietly so not to wake anyone up or alert anyone who might already be stirring in the wee hours of the morning.
Eventually, he made it out to the main quad, which shone startlingly bright for the middle of the night. All of the safety lights had been turned off already, but the full moon blazed so intensely onto the domes that they glittered like starts embedded in the grass. The beauty of it took Taako’s breath away. It looked like everything was frozen into place, and he really didn’t want to disturb anything.
He did anyway. His footsteps crunched the frosted grass and his breath floated away as a fog in the chilled night. He made his way around the base, walking the perimeter and looking all around. The view from the Moon Bass was always astounding: he could see the faint glow from torchlight of cities below and the constellations in the skies above. It felt like he was everywhere at once, and the clear skies above seemed to calm his nerves.
“The stars are so bright tonight.” Taako startled so bad he almost fell over the banister he was leaning against. Kravitz wrapped his arms around him quickly, keeping him from going over the edge.
“You scared the shit out of me!” Taako whispered furiously to his husband, but leaned into the backward hug anyway. “What are you doing up?”
“I woke up and you weren’t in bed, so I thought I’d come and find you.” Kravitz leaned his head against Taako’s shoulder, seeming contemplative for a moment. “I know today’s a hard day for you, so I wanted to make sure you’re alright.” Taako turned in his grasp, pecking a small kiss on Kravitz’s lips.
“I swear I’m alright, sweet cheeks, I just didn’t want to wake you up just because I couldn’t sleep.” Taako smiled sadly before looking up once again at the stars. “I just had to check, make sure they’re all there. I’ve grown rather fond of these constellations.”
Kravitz grinned, looking up at the stars as well. “They are quite beautiful, aren’t they? Personally, I’ve always loved Dragon’s Hoard.” He let go of Taako to point at a cluster of stars that could shape a sleeping dragon if one blurred their eyes and tilted their head to the left.
Taako’s ears perked up. “Dragon’s Hoard? I’ve always heard it called Flying Fish!”
“Oh well, regional variances and all that.” Kravitz pondered quietly, leaning his head back on Taako’s shoulder. They stood there, on the edge of the Moon Base for quite a while, shivering in the chill of the night and gazing at the stars.
“You know, there was this one plane that didn’t shape constellations by the stars?” Taako blurted out suddenly. Kravitz just hummed his agreement, sensing that Taako needed a bit of time to rant. “Their constellations considered the space in between the stars to be the important part. So they didn’t see outlines of things, but something else in the sky.” Kravitz felt Taako shift next to him, starting to look toward the ground instead of the sky. “I couldn’t figure out how to see in between the lines during that cycle, which kind of sucked because that plane’s entire religion was based on the stars.”
“What do you see now?” Kravitz asked. He hadn’t seen Taako this introspective in a long time and he was concerned at what was bothering him. Taako shrugged off Kravitz’s arm around him and walked away from the edge of the Moon Base, sitting down on a bench placed toward the edges of the quad. Kravitz followed him, but chose to stand behind Taako with his hands on Taako’s shoulders.
Taako leaned into the touch, head craned. It looked to Kravitz like he was trying to see all of the stars at once. “I see them all. I feel like the memories of all of the stars from all the planes are permanently burned into my mind.” He huffed a bitter laugh. “I can’t see any space in between the stars because there are so many, just lingering at the edges of my vision.” Taako suddenly surged up onto his knees, the bench giving him enough height to still be eye to eye with Kravitz. “But the longer I spend here, with you, the easier it becomes to only see the stars here— the spaces here. I feel like even though me and Lup and all of us are intruders on this plane, there is space for us, at least between the stars.” Taako kissed Kravitz tenderly, entwining their fingers. He broke the kiss after only a few seconds, looking fondly into his husband’s eyes.
Kravitz felt breathless, just as he always felt after Taako kissed him. He looked at his husband, who had seen countless die, and was blown away by how much bravery Taako needed to face every day, and how much relief he must have felt when they were finally triumphant over the Hunger. He wasn’t sure how to treat all of this information, and since he was tongue-tied anyway, Kravitz kissed Taako back just as gently.
“Darling, you’ll always have a space, right by me.” Kravitz whispered to Taako. If Taako shed a tear, neither husband would ever say anything. They both knew Taako had an appearance to uphold.
In their embrace, Taako suddenly perked up. “Oh! Kravitz, look over there.” He exclaimed, pointing a finger over Kravitz’s shoulder. When Kravitz turned, he saw the faintest of pinks on the horizon, promising the arrival of the sun in a few moments. “Let’s go inside, bubeleh. We can cook breakfast for everyone else.” Taako twirled away, striding toward the kitchen. Kravitz was caught floundering in the wake of Taako’s change in whims and jogged to catch up to the erratic wizard.
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It wasn’t exactly unusual for there to be more than one member of the IPRE on the Moon Base at any given time, but for all of them to be there was something akin to a miracle. Reunions were fun and all, but there was a lot of planning to do to have seven people, plus all of the tagalongs, at one place at one time.
One of those planning issues was with food, but luckily Taako was the second best chef around.
Lup was the second member of the IPRE crew to wake up, and she did so purposefully to start breakfast for everyone. However, when she entered the kitchen, she found it already occupied by her brother and her manage. Both of them were covered in flour and looking startled at her entrance.
Lup, to her credit, took the scene in great stride. “Do you guys need any help?” She asked, already tying her personalized apron into place.
Kravitz said “yes” at the same time Taako said “no”, so she went to Kravitz’s aid, where he looked to be struggling with a pancake mixture. Lup and Kravitz both tactfully ignored Taako’s mutterings of “I don’t know where I messed up the recipe but I swear if you added too much baking powder…” until they were drowned out by the sound of furious whisking.
One IPRE member in the kitchen was sure to be a disaster. Two IPRE members were sure to be a success, especially if it was Taako and Lup.
So the rest of the gang woke up to a wonderful homemade breakfast; the fluffiest waffles and pancakes any of them had seen in a while, freshly cut fruit, eggs cooked in almost any fashion. This was a feast for the ages, and it would be gone shortly with how many people it would feed. Taako, Lup, and Kravitz were the first to pick out their food, and they chose to sit in the large living room instead of at the table. The table wouldn’t have been able to hold everyone, and it really wasn’t an anniversary if someone didn’t spill food all over one of the couches.
The conversation was nice and calm, most everyone still drowsy from waking up. Taako critiqued everyone’s pajamas behind his hand to Kravitz, who laughed when he called out Merle. In his robe and matching bottoms, Taako said Merle looked like a druidic Santa Claus.
Everything was wonderful until Lucretia stood up, clinking her mimosa glass to get everyone’s attention. “I think I can speak for the room when I say that we all get nervous around today. But I have had all of my eyes and ears out searching for clues that I hoped wouldn’t be found.” While Lucretia took a moment to lock eyes with everyone in the room, the universe held its collective breath. “On the fifth anniversary since the Hunger arrived on this plane and we destroyed it, there has been no sign of it anywhere. Nothing in any of the planes, nothing still lurking around in Faerun.”
The room didn’t explode into applause or cheers or anything. But a lot of tension seemed to flow out of it; everyone seemed to breathe a little bit easier. “So, we’re safe, right? We aren’t going anywhere?” Lup piped up from where she was sitting next to Barry.
Lucretia smiled, the lines of her face easing away and making her look like the young woman she was when they set out on this quest. “We’re safe, and so is this plane.” Lucretia paused for a moment, looking thoughtful. “No more running, you guys. This is it.”
Those who weren’t IPRE in the room watched the news settle on the voyagers. They watched the relief, the reality, the wonder of a life not on the run begin to dawn on them. The hush that settled over the room was stubborn, but after a while, conversations and debates started rekindling, and the cheerfulness returned to the atmosphere once more.
But something was bothering Taako, and Kravitz could see it, so when Taako got up to return his plate to the kitchen, he followed.
He caught his husband staring at nothing, the water running over the now clean plate in the sink. “Darling?” Kravitz spoke quietly, not wanting to startle Taako too badly.
“Hmm?” Taako seemed to snap out of his head. He turned off the water and dried the plate, but still wouldn’t look at Kravitz.
“What’s the matter?” Kravitz probed further, worried about Taako at this point, concerned that Taako refused to look at him.
Taako puttered around the kitchen, picking up pans and whisks and spatulas that needed to be cleaned. “Nothing’s wrong, it’s just—” He paused, seemingly losing his voice for a moment. “It’s just, I thought when I promised ‘forever’ when we got married, I thought I was a liar. And I could barely look at myself sometimes, knowing that I promised you something that I couldn’t guarantee.” Taako looked away from the sink and up into Kravitz’s eyes with more love that Kravitz thought existed in all twelve planes.
“Now I know I didn’t lie to you. I actually get to spend forever with you, and I—” A sob interrupted him, catching his words in his throat. “Babe, I couldn’t be happier.” Taako threw himself at Kravitz, latching on to him in the fiercest hug he had ever experienced.
Kravitz hugged him back with all the love in his heart, and well, if Kravitz was crying too, nobody would ever know.