Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

"Really?" Sun's voice came out in a high-pitched shrill, which was grating even to his own ears.

"That's what they said," Moon replies, his tone and manner indifferent, as he is when it's something he doesn't remember. Which, is a lot of things.

Sun, on the other hand, is like a loaded spring, or a ticking bomb seconds away from exploding. "They couldn't have given us a heads-up?"

The reason for this exchange sat in the middle of the playmat, deactivated but whole. Lunar, their youngest brother who, for a while, they thought would be lost forever. But now, here he was, dropped off in the Superstar Daycare with zero warning or fanfare.

Don't get Sun wrong, he was overjoyed that Lunar was being returned to them. But he really wished Monty could've called them ahead of time to let them know. Heck, even that weird puppet guy showing up to drop him off would've been preferable. But, no. Here Lunar was, in the daycare with zero warning whatsoever, at one of the worst times possible.

Sun and Moon had gotten into another disagreement. Moon had found out his twin had lied about Kill Code showing up, and was slowly killing himself trying to harness Star power. They were taking a break from each other for a while, to think their crap through. But that break was cut short by the shocking sight of an inactive lunar animatronic in the daycare that morning.

"Why is he deactivated?" Sun wonders out loud in a shaky voice, barely above a whisper. His entire body was buzzing with nerves, but that was just about his default state at this point.

Moon moves to take a closer look, the cheery jingling of his bells a stark contrast to the brothers' current mood. This was supposed to be a happy moment, a beautiful moment. But like everything else in their lives, it was ruined.

"If I were to make an educated guess based on what I think happened, he took so much damage after being, well, blown up, that even after being fixed, they're gonna have to be rebooted manually."

Sun nodded dazedly. His brother's explanation made sense, he supposed. Lunar almost died, after all. Well, they did die. And it's my fault; I drove him away, I put him in danger. It's a wonder that Monty was able to repair them.

"But, y'know… it might not be such a bad thing."

"What?!"

Moon raised his hands placatingly. "Wait, no, that—I didn't quite word that right. I mean that since Lunar's deactivated, we don't have to wake them up right now."

"Yes we do!" Sun shouts, his rays standing on end like the fur of an angry cat.

"Sun, look." Moon's tone is calm, as if to placate, which just makes Sun angrier. He hates when Moon talks to him like this, like he doesn't know anything. But I don't, do I? I never do anything right… But he knows continuing to yell at Moon never gets any good results for him, so he lets him speak. "Lunar's fine now. He's repaired, he's alive, and all we have to do is wake him up. But we don't have to do that now; we shouldn't do that. We're a mess, brother. Both of us are, and you know it. It just wouldn't be fair to Lunar to drop them in the middle of this, especially after what happened to him before."

"But—"

"Lunar is fine, Sun. And they will still be fine later, when it's a better time to wake them up, and we can dedicate our focus to them."

"… Okay, Moon. You're right." As always. And I'm wrong, also as always…

"Thanks, brother."

Sun couldn't sleep that night. He tossed and turned in his bed, which meant he was constantly untangling his charging cable from his limbs and rays. Why couldn't we have gotten charging stations like the glamrocks?The solar animatronic wonders moodily.

Sun couldn't stop thinking about Lunar. He'd thought about the youngest member of their little celestial family often since their death, but now they were all he could think about. Lunar, his baby brother, who he'd never quite acknowledged as such.

If Sun were to be completely honest, he hadn't really liked Lunar, especially at first. He was creepy and immature, and he stole Moon's body. He had pretended to be Moon for a whole week, and Sun hadn't even noticed.

Then, Moon just sprang it on Sun out of nowhere, during a very stressful time of being stuck in his mindscape due to Eclipse on top of everything else that: 'Hey. Lunar's good now, and also our brother.' Not even asking Sun what his opinion was, not even considering how he would feel about having another brother. But it was fine, it was fine.

Moon had gone through a lot: his kill code, Eclipse, being in pain whenever he moved. And this made him happy, so Sun would go along with it. But it was just so annoying.

It was like having one of the daycare kids around 24-7, with Lunar constantly wanting Sun's attention, asking him to play games and do other random things with them. But what was worse than that was how Moon treated Lunar.

He was kind, and understanding, and patient with them. He never yelled at them, or threatened them, or hit them with a whacking stick. And Sun didn't want to admit it, not even to himself. But he was jealous. He was extremely jealous.

Why should Lunar be treated so well by Moon when they weren't the one who'd known him for so long? Lunar wasn't the one who'd been through all this crap; in fact, he'd been the one to cause some of said crap. So it didn't make sense to Sun, it made him angry. But, Moon was happy. And Sun would only be treated even worse by Moon if he tried to voice these concerns.

But by keeping it inside, Sun's anger festered. And eventually, it boiled over. Sun snapped. He yelled at Lunar, and almost hit him. And it drove them away.

It was then, and only then, that Sun saw what moon had seen in Lunar. A young, innocent animatronic who just wanted a family, just wanted to be loved. Which was what Moon had been trying to give, all along. Lunar really was just like a kid, even though they constantly insisted that they weren't one…

Now, all Sun felt for Lunar was sadness and grief. All the anger, all the resentment, had been buried under a churning ocean of guilt. He wanted to apologize to them. He wanted to make it up to them, put in the effort, and actually be Lunar's brother. For real, and not just to appease Moon. And he didn't want to wait.

Sun untangled the cable from himself for the umpteenth time, and sat up. Why should he have to wait? Moon did have a point; it might not be the best time to wake Lunar… No. You know what? Just, no!

Moon didn't understand. No matter how many times he reassured Sun otherwise, he didn't understand. His memory had been wiped. He didn't truly comprehend what Sun had gone through, what he was still going through. Moon, Eclipse, Lunar, Blood Moon, Kill Code, all of it! They were things that this Moon only knows about second-hand.

But not Lunar, Sun realizes. They remember all of it. He would understand what I'm going through way better than Moon does.

The fact is, Moon was no longer the same Moon Sun had shared all those experiences with, good and bad. And he was right that Sun hadn't fully realized that until now. Moon was effectively his twin brother, and a complete stranger all at the same time. And Sun missed him, oh, did he miss him. He missed having a brother who really understood, that he felt was really in this together with him. He still had moon, but it wasn't the same. And he had Earth, who had been incredibly kind to him, probably more than he deserved. But like Moon, she only had second-hand experience with all of this.

Lunar, bright-eyed and innocent as he was, had been right smack dab in the middle of everything. They would understand what Sun was going through. And he was almost certain that if he just apologized to them, and started putting in more effort into being a good brother to them, Lunar would forgive him and welcome him with open arms.

Sun crept out of his room and through the daycare, making sure to move in a way where his bells didn't jingle. The place was darkened, and the large moon and stars on the ceiling gently glowed, casting just enough light to see by. Sun always got an eerie feeling whenever he saw the Superstar Daycare this way. It was the feeling that he wasn't supposed to be here, wasn't supposed to see this. And in a way, that was true. Or it had been at one point.

He cautiously made his way into Lunar's room. It was right next to Moon's, so he had to make extra effort to be silent (Moon's security protocols meant he was an extra light sleeper.)

Lunar laid just as inactive as before, except there was now a charging cable plugged into him. If Sun had an expressive faceplate, his smile would be widening at the sight. Lunar was alive. His sweet, baby brother was alive!

And all Sun had to do was issue the reboot command. His hand hovered over their form for a moment; should he really be doing this? Moon wasn't going to be happy about it… But when is Moon ever happy with me? It's worth it. Lunar is worth it. If only it didn't take them getting blown up for me to realize it. So, without any further hesitation, the solar attendant gave the command.

Lunar's reactivation was slow-going, only starting with a few barely noticeable twitches in their limbs. But, he was moving. And soon, he would be alive again.

"Lunar?" Sun asks experimentally, his voice barely above a whisper, before it's completely swallowed up by anxiety. What am I thinking? Lunar's forgiving and all, but he won't want to hear me. Not as the first person he hears after coming back alive, anyway.

"Mmm…" Lunar let out a quiet noise, between a whimper and a groan. They didn't sound angry, they didn't even sound annoyed. Just a bit dazed.

Sun takes a deep, simulated breath as he feels his fans overworking themselves trying to keep his body cool. "L-lunar?"

"Mmmh… tickle cuddle fish number seventeen five…"

Wait a minute… Sun clamps a hand over his permanently molded smile, desperately trying to muffle the sound of his hysterical, slightly deranged laughter. That's the same thing he said last time! The first time I met him… At that moment, Sun promised himself that this time would be different. This meeting with Lunar would go better.

Chapter Text

Confusion.

That was the first thing Lunar felt when he came to life. And that struck him as a little funky because like all animatronics, he knew who he was, and what he was meant to do.

His name was Lunar. And he was made by his brother, Eclipse, to be in Moon's body and keep him from doing stuff to get in the way of Eclipse's plans. But something didn't feel quite right. Something just felt off, in a way that Lunar couldn't quite put his finger on.

"Lunar!" His senses were suddenly brought online all at once, and the poor animatronic was completely overwhelmed. Not just from the concept of suddenly having so much stimulation, but also because someone was shouting his name very close to his audio receptor. And squeezing him—no, hugging him?

The room was dark (was it nighttime?) and lunar could see some yellow rays poking into the corner of his eye. Eclipse?

"Lunar, L-Lunar…" That shaky voice came again. It didn't sound like Eclipse, it was too high-pitched for that.

"Sun?" Lunar asked hesitantly. His voice vibrated through his body in a very funky way. Was everyone's voice like that? He'd have to ask. But that would have to wait.

Sun was speaking to Lunar, directly. He knew Lunar's name. How did he know that? Lunar never told him. Was it because his voice was different? Did he just somehow guess his name right? Should he pretend to be Moon now? No, he decides after a second. That would look sus.

"I—thank god you're okay," Sun was saying through his tears when Lunar teared back in. The other animatronic was sobbing oil all over the place. Moon would be upset when he came back and saw that his clothes were ruined. But it would probably make Eclipse happy, so Lunar just lets it happen. But what's this about Lunar being okay?

"Yeah, I'm okay," Lunar said. "I just woke up."

"Yeah," Sun sniffled. "I-I woke you up."

"Huh? Why?"

Lunar got the impression that he shouldn't have said that. A tense, heavy silence filled the room. Sun shakily untangled himself from Lunar, much to his relief. If Sun were a person, his face would be all red and puffy. And his cheeks are puffy, but they're always like that. The only thing signifying he was crying were the rivulets of oil oozing down his faceplate.

"Lunar," Sun's voice cracked so badly it was hard to tell if that was actually what he said. "I'm—so sorry about what happened l-last time. I know you were just… and I-I shouldn't have… I'm sorry."

"Wha?" lunar's mind got all buzzy. What was Sun even talking about last time? There was no last time; this was the first time they ever met. Maybe this was some kind of weird mind game to try to screw with him? But Sun's too dumb to play that sort of card, right? Maybe he mistook Lunar for somebody else?

He realized the other animatronic was still talking, and brought his attention back to him. "You were right, okay? I-I understand that now. I wasn't making good choices; and I… I was never as nice to you as I could've been—as I should've been. S-So, if you'll let me, I want us to be brothers—"

"Brothers?" Lunar didn't mean to interrupt Sun, but he was so confused, and frustrated, and he didn't want to wait for answers anymore since the solar daycare attendant seemed too trapped in his odd, sad little funk to give him any. "We're not brothers."

The look on Sun's—well, he couldn't actually change expressions, but he still conveyed his feelings somehow. Lunar didn't know it was possible to look so shocked, anguished and hurt all at the same time. And even though he had been annoyed, even though he didn't like Sun (Eclipse didn't so neither did Lunar) it stung in the newborn AI's chest to see it. Or maybe it was the glimmer of sad resignation afterwords that hurt, Lunar couldn't be sure. Although it probably would've had a worse impact if he knew why Sun felt that way, whichever it was.

"Eclipse is my brother," Lunar said. It came out softer than he had intended it because of the weird chest pain. Sun seemed to have a knack for guilt-tripping Lunar for rejecting his offer of brotherhood even though they hardly knew each other; it was funky, and not in the fun kind of way.

We're not brothers.

Why did it hurt so much to hear, even though he had expected it?

Eclipse is my brother.

Why did it hurt so much when the sentence directly after confirmed Sun's worst fear?

He should be happy about it. Lunar had reset, just like Moon did. Sun didn't have to worry about Lunar not liking him because of what he said to them, what he did to them. He could start fresh, and be the loving brother to Lunar that he always should've been.

He could never be happy about it. Lunar had reset, just like Moon did. That meant the Lunar he'd known was gone, forever. His brothers were gone… his brothers were gone!

And Sun had no one to blame but himself. If he hadn't had yelled at and hit Lunar, then tried to kill Eclipse, neither of them would've been erased. They could all be together now, as a big, happy family, Earth included. Everything could've been fine if it weren't for him.

Sun couldn't take it anymore. He couldn't handle facing this new Lunar, or Moon, or Earth, or anyone right now! With a sob caught in his vocal processor, he bolted out of the room, Not-Lunar's bewildered cry echoing behind him.