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Ali made himself comfortable on the grass in his backyard and attempted to take in the myriad of stars that were sprinkled throughout the night sky. 'The night of endless stars' they called it— it’s the only day in SagaraS where the sky is clear enough to see all the visible stars in the sky. Ali had read about this astronomical phenomenon in SagaraS's seemingly endless information database, but he could never have anticipated its beauty.
“She would probably love to see this,” he smiled as he entertained this notion for a second. “Wait, stop. Why would I even think about her right now?” Another thought follows as he shook his head.
"You're still admiring the sky, darling?" a familiar voice asks. His mother— Eli — comes and sits next to him in the grass.
He looks at his mother and smiles, forever feeling grateful that he is now reunited with her. “You’re not alone anymore, Ali,” he thought.
“Yeah, it’s beautiful. I just can’t stop staring at it,” he replied.
She laughed. “I’m surprised you actually managed to close down those database holograms and finally enjoy your new surrounding for once.”
Ali smiled and sighed. His mother is right— almost two weeks have passed since Ali made the decision to remain on SagaraS, and in that time he has spent every waking second poring over SagaraS’ never-ending database. Time can move so fast when you spend it knees deep in books and holograms— one might even suggest that it can be the perfect escape from processing his own grief of choosing to leave his friends behind. Leaving her behind.
“You look like you’re in a deep thought, is everything alright son?”
He kept silent for a second before answering, “…yeah, just admiring the stars, that’s all.” It’s obvious to her that something is bothering him.
“Missing your friends?”
Silence again.
“I don’t regret staying here with you mom. All my life I’ve been living without knowing the warmth of a mother. Now that you’re here, it doesn’t feel right to leave.”
“Aw sweetheart, I’m glad that you’re here with me. But you do know that it is also valid if you still miss your friends right?” she brushed her fingers through his messy hair.
The memories of the three of them adventuring together suddenly pop up in his mind— Seli and her stupid questions, his banter with Raib, how the three of them have endured the weight of the world on their shoulders despite being just a teenager. Of course, he misses them. To maintain his ego to look tough, he finds himself unable to confess it to his mother.
To break the silence, she decided to tease him, “or maybe you miss a special someone? A certain princess perhaps?”
Caught off guard by the tease, he blushed.
“Mom!” he protested, while she laughs.
“Tell me more about her, what is she like? Apart from her being an Aldebaran Princess of course.”
He thinks for a second. Where should he start? On how selfless she is? how she will sacrifice herself for her friends? or maybe on how she’s very easy and fun to be teased? (despite the usual aggressive elbowing that follows afterward of course) “Well to start off, she’s a remarkable fighter. She struggled with her powers for a while but she works very hard to control them. We all haven’t seen her full power yet but I think after the unexpected burst of power that she showcased in front of us before… I have no doubts that she will become one of the strongest fighters in all Clans.”
“I can see that. The royal blood truly runs through her veins. Even I can see that she is destined to be a powerful fighter, like all of the pure-blood ancestors that came before her.” she remarked.
“Yeah, but on top of all that… She’s a great friend…”, sensing the sudden seriousness of this conversation, Ali decided to switch it back to more of a playful one. “I teased her a lot you know? and she could’ve just stopped being friends with me or even beat me up, but she’s still there. So yeah thanks for not beating my annoying ass Ra.” he joked, followed by a small laugh.
Ali expected that his mom would tease him back, but Eli just looked at her son and smiled.
“Oh, I think it’s almost 23:23!” his mother suddenly remarked.
“What?” Ali asked, confused.
“I bet the database didn’t mention this. It is an urban legend here after all,” she said with a mischievous smile.
“Yeah, it doesn’t say anything on the database but let me guess… you can say your wish at that specific time and it will come true?” he guessed.
“Oh wow, it’s not fun when you have a genius son huh?” his mother chuckled.
“Well, we do have quite the same culture back in the Earth Clan, although we usually called it 11:11. I don’t really believe in that stuff.”
“But I bet you don’t have a shooting star to accompany that wish.”
Ali shook his head, “Nope, I don’t think so. Would be cool though.”
His mother went on to explain that the legend came from a story of a star-crossed lover who came from different clans. The woman, who was from SagaraS, kept wishing for their reunion at exactly 23:23 every year during "The night of endless stars." Then, a shooting star fell right after she made her wish, and her lover showed up in front of her house. They eloped to a faraway clan and lived happily ever after.
Ali was skeptical. "So the 23:23 shooting star is guaranteed to happen every single year after that?" he asked.
His mother chuckled. "No, I think the sky would be TOO generous for that. You can't guarantee that the star will fall, all you can do is wish earnestly with all your heart and hope that the sky will hear you.”
Ali was still unconvinced. "And you believe this story, Mom? I thought us inventors should only believe in Science."
His mother smiled. "Of course, I believe in science. But romanticizing life every now and then doesn't hurt, you know? Sometimes it's what keeps me going.”
They fell into a comfortable silence, both lost in their thoughts.
"Well, I'm going to go inside and make us some tea, would you like that?" his mother finally said, breaking the silence.
"Don't you want to wait until 23:23 first? Having a wish or not, don't you want to see if there's a falling star this year?"
“I don’t need to make a wish anymore. My wish has already been granted,” she said before looking back at Ali, smiling.
“I already get to be reunited with my dear son.”
Ali smiled back, he can feel the knot that is tightening in his throat. “How can I tell her that I still long to have adventures with my friends? To meet with her again? Will she be sad if I said I want to leave?” he pondered.
“Try to make a wish darling, you can think that it’s pointless now, but you might find it fulfilling after making one. Trust me,” she suggested before making her way back to the house.
Ali is once again left alone with his own thoughts. The clock is ticking, as it is just 20 seconds away from 23:23.
He closed his eyes and recollected parts of his adventures with Raib and Seli.
20, 19, 18, 17, 16. The clock ticks away.
He remembered it all— the fun, the fear, the excitement of their adventures. Things were not always going smoothly, but they kept supporting one another. He may never have had the warmth of a family before, but there are times when being in ILY with them feels like home to him.
15, 14, 13, 12, 11.
And finally, he remembered her. Her smile, her laughs, her expression whenever he teased her, her snarky remarks to him, her crying, and how many times he wished that he could hug her at that moment. He realized there are many words that are still left unspoken to her. How he longed to meet her again. Normally he would reject these thoughts, but he seemed to have come to terms with the fact that he missed her dearly.
10, 9, 8, 7, 6.
He opened his eyes, finally knowing what to wish for. “I can’t believe I’m doing this,” he chuckled, deep down knowing how ridiculous the idea of making a wish for the sky to listen.
5, 4, 3, 2, 1.
He closed his eyes and stated his wish.
"May we meet again soon. Whatever the circumstances might be.”
As he opened his eyes, he saw a perfectly divine streak of light that glow brightly amongst the sky full of stars. There’s a hint of golden glow in the streak that follows the fallen star right across the sky. Ali has never seen quite anything like that before.
It’s true, that throughout his life, Ali has never been a person who believes in fantasies and urban legends…
…but just this once, he might just want to believe it.