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The Toy Soldier was never alive. It does not feel, not joy, or sorrow. It is closed to warmth and love. It is dead, and always has been. Now its friends are dead, it will stop pretending otherwise.
"Hey, TS."
But perhaps not right now.
Lily walked in, pushing aside the ancient and battered mahogany door to the bridge. It screamed as she did, rusted hinges moving for the first time in decades.
"I've been looking for you. How long have you been here, TS?"
"Hello, Lily! I Have Not Seen You For Thirty Seven Years!"
"And you've been here all this time? I'm sorry Toy." She slumped down besides it, back to the wall. Shoulder to shoulder. "Move over"
The puppet obeyed, shifting slightly so the white haired woman could more easily nestle into its side. her hair streaked with old rainbow dye and her bandoleers empty, Lily rested her head on her compatriot's shoulder.
"Oh Don't You Worry! I'm Just Happy To Be Here!"
"Yeah, I'm happy to be back with you too." She exhaled in a heavy sigh. two millennia of memories scarred her two decade face, and she crumpled under the weight of her age.
"I found Nastya, Toy."
"Did You? That's Delightful! Give Her My Love!"
"She's dead, Toy. Or good as. She was old, and didn't remember me. And her blood? It was red. She's gone."
"Oh, Well That's Hardly Optimal, I Suppose. Nastya Was A Skilled Engineer!"
"I know, TS. I miss her too." Lily leaned into it, and finally broke, sobbing onto its shoulder. In the heat of the bridge the last remnants of the Aurora drifted towards the Supergiant that held her in its orbit, pulling their venerable mother into the fires of its love. The clear air slowly grew thick with fumes as varnished wood began to smoke. Through it all, watching the great star through shielded glass, a puppet embraced its forever child.
"The Temperature Is Rising Lily.” Its voice remained unchanged, and yet a weight lurked, dragging the words down even as they flowed cheery and nonchalant from its open mouth. "You Must Be Getting Quite Uncomfortable Here."
"I - I don't want to leave, Toy." She hiccuped, speaking through the tears flowing down her cheeks.
"It's been so long, and I just want to sleep."
"No Order Received!"
She looked up at it, and gave a watery smile to the old puppet before once more sinking her face into its tattered jacket.
"I'm not going to tell you to kill me, TS. I can't do that to you." As the door behind them began to burn and an old alarm whistled a merry tune for the rising heat, the two friends embraced and watched the searing sun.
"You're A Tough Old Sort! You'll Make It Through This!"
"I know. But I can't force you to kill me." The puppet watched on, tilting its head down to gaze at its longtime daughter, a stiff smile still locked upon its face.
A day, a week, a full year could have passed then as the two nestled together in silence. time meant nought to them, and that which they drew near. Perhaps once they would have had cause to keep track, cause to deign to move, but all their reasons had gone, stabbed and poisoned and burned and lost.
It is the Toy Soldier that breaks the silence.
"Keep Your Back Stiff, Old Friend!" The Soldier spoke.
Lily sat silent, then began to sob once more into the Wooden being's lapel.
"Thank You." Two words, spoken through the tears.
The toy soldier's expression does not, cannot change, as it does its work.
And it is alone, and the star is collapsing. Lily's slumped form still lay across its lap, her black overcoat stained red with blood and littered with gears and cogs. The mismatched consoles melted down, wailing cries in innumerable languages and voices as they died. The door burst aflame, the hinges melting and sloughing off like water. And the corpse of its daughter began to burn
And in the last scream of an exploding star, wood too began turning to so much ash.
The Toy Soldier was not alive. It did not feel joy, or sorrow. It had been closed to warmth and love. It was dead, and long had been so.
It will stop pretending otherwise.