Chapter Text
Everything was hot.
It was hot, and it was heavy, and yet it was nothing.
He can feel himself coming together. Vague memories of a past he can’t connect to flow through him.
He is being formed, he can feel it. He can feel as the dust of a previous star comes together, forming him.
His legs bend out coming back up in a way to get feeling in them. His arms start to clump together, his fingers flex out as the dust gets denser and denser to form them. His chest falls and rises as he gains the ability to breathe, to add oxygen to his flames. Then he can hear things. It’s quiet but he feels like he can hear the whispers of the void talking to him, welcoming him to existence and telling him stories of who he is to be. Eventually he can open his eyes. He does so vaguely, and when he does he is amazed. In the distance is a dark void with just prickles of light, thousands of millions of dots he is reminded of that are stars. The dust floats around him, purples and blues and yellows, it is all coming towards him and becoming a part of him. He feels the cold hands of the void on his face as his eyes close once more. He is not done forming, he is not ready to shine yet.
Millions of years later he takes a breath and his heart beats, eyes flying open to the universe he is now a part of.
—-
The Sun smiles at Earth, the name the little humans have given it. He loves Earth, he loves all of his planets. He had formed them in the hope that they could become his friends, but for some reason none of them had ever formed into beings. However, one day one of his other planets crashed into Earth and together they formed Earth and the Moon. The Moon was nice, though Sun wouldn’t admit that. Moon was quiet as he stood by the planet. He provided the animals, and eventually humans, with Sun’s light even in the night time. Sun was truly amazed by their ability.
Eventually though, Stars come. Stars has technically always been there, but not here. Not with Sun and Moon.
Stars and Moon hit it off instantly. They laugh together, they play around together. They even get to spend night time together. Sun doesn’t get to do that. Sun only ever gets to hug Moon once every eighteen human months. That’s a long time. Sun never even gets to hug Stars, everytime he goes to say hi he can’t see him anymore.
Because of this, the duo that Stars and Moon have created, Sun has decided to go down to Earth. He wishes to see what the humans are doing and how they are living. He is amazed. They have created statues of Stone of him. They gave him a name, a human one, they call him Tommy. Sun likes the name Tommy.
Tommy decides to walk around more, looking at what is happening in this part of Earth. It seems to be a festival, one for him. One about him. Tommy smiles as he sees drawings of him, sculptures, and flags with him on it. Is it just the form the humans can see, yes, but somehow that just makes him even more happy. They like him, the celebrate him. Maybe he didn’t need Stars and Moon’s validation at all.
Tommy laughs to himself as he decides to do some sneaky tricks. He slips away and forms into his God-like form, his blond hair becoming more of a fiery golden, his skin shimmers, and his eyes are as blue as the clear sky above them.
He flys up a bit, looking for a human that is all alone. It doesn’t take him long before he finds one in the fields. It is a boy with blond hair like himself, he wears purple so Tommy assumes him to be a prince. Tommy has the idea that if he can’t be friends with Stars and Moon, this boy might want to be friends with him.
“Hello!” Tommy has never been one for subtlety, and that doesn’t change with him meeting this human. He is upside down as he talks to the boy, floating in the air as if it was no problem. Which it isn’t, this is a very easy endeavor actually.
The boy shrieks and turns around, his eyes wide with horror and his face white. “You- your..”
“I’m Tommy! That’s what you guys named me right?” Tommy puts out his hand for the boy to shake, something he sees commonly among the humans.
The boy just shuffles away from his hand, still silent and still staring.
Tommy’s smile droops a bit as he takes his hand back, turning upright with the boy's eyes following him as he does.
“Did I not do it right? Could you tell me how to do it? I would like to be your friend.” He tries his hardest at human English, only practicing how to introduce himself.
The boy seems to just swallow hard as he calms down a bit, well as calm as you can be in front of the god that your kingdom is throwing a festival about.
“No no, you did it right.” The boy sticks his hand out, clearly nervous. “My name is Purpled, I am the prince of this kingdom.” He pauses as Tommy shakes his hand but seems to have a realization. “Not that I have authority over you! No, I am, very much not in charge of you.” Tommy laughs at the boy's nervousness but understands it, he has heard of how the olympics have treated their humans if they got too cocky about their status. He found it funny, but Tommy could never kill his humans. Not after they spent so long existing under him anyways. They rely on him, it’s why they have this festival anyways.
“Hi Purpled!” Tommy is excited about this new friend, he had Stars and Moon, but this was a human. A human has a lot more feelings than them. “Can I tell you stories? I know humans like stories of their Gods.” An accent tinges his voice as the words come out wrong, it’s clear he doesn’t know human English that well, but he is trying his hardest. Purpled just laughs at this. Feeling more calm about this meeting with this God. It was clear that he was just like him, a teenage boy. “You can try, yeah. I don’t quite think the rest of the people will believe me though.” Tommy does a small head tilt and then smiles. “Should I go tell them all then?” He floats up a bit as the human puts his arms out. “No!” He looks scared, but Tommy is unsure if it’s because of him or the humans.
“They will hurt you if you say you are Tommy. Even if you are, and you prove it, they will still hurt you.” Tommy doesn’t understand this. Why would the humans hurt him, he can prove he is the God they worship.
“Fine I will just tell you stories.” Purpled lets out a sigh, maybe of relief, as Tommy comes back to the ground, changing himself to look like a normal human. The human’s eyes go wide at this, seemingly still in awe that the Sun is in front of him.
Tommy smiles as they both sit on the ground, ready to tell, and listen, to the stories the God has to offer.
—-
Tommy can feel his eyes droop and start to shut as the sky turns from blue to pink to oranges. The sun is setting, he is setting, for this side of the world. It is making him tired.
Their stories had been over for a while now, Tommy just sitting there in silence with the human, his human.
“I think I have to go now.” He said sadly, he didn’t want to go. He is unsure when he would be able to come back, the time works differently on Earth than it does for him.
The human, instead, smiles at the God. “I will see you soon, Tommy.”
He slowly stands up as he turns back into his more godly form, his brightness becoming more apparent as his body is setting on the horizon. He jumps up a bit, more attentive, as he remembers something. “Oh, tell your kingdom of Void, and Blackhole too. They are super nice and deserve some love too.” He doesn’t know why he didn’t mention Stars and Moon too, the idea makes something curl in his stomach.
“What’s a blackhole?”
They stand in silence for a few minutes, Tommy doesn’t want to give this human any mind breaking stuff if he dares describe what a blackhole is. So he doesn’t.
“Bye!” With that Tommy shoots up, a small bye and a wave comes from the Earth below him as he flies back into the sky as it darkens. Leaving Earth and going back to its body to provide a calm day for the rest of the world.
That night, that part of the world saw the brightest shooting star they would record for a while.
—-
Tommy rests for a while, it’s long though he tries to not make it be, he really wants to go back to Earth to talk with Purpled. He still can’t though, he can’t form enough energy to be able to go down there like he wants.
Instead he just watches Stars and Moon. He watches as they make another beautiful night for the Earth below. Tommy wonders what they are laughing about. He takes a step forward, wanting to go visit them. He is denied though. A force keeps him away from the moon, something strong and pulling. He turns towards Stars and tries to walk to him. He can’t. He takes steps forwards and the boy just slowly vanishes. Tommy doesn’t think he wants to see him disappear completely. So the God just turns around and decides to go back to sleep.
—-
It was some years later. To the humans that is. It was only a handfull “hours” to Tommy. He slept enough to be able to go down to Earth again, able to see his friend.
Tommy makes his way down to where they were before, when he doesn’t see the human he turns into the more human-like form and decides to walk to the city to look for him. It was the same time of year as when he last came down, so the festival is going on. He smiles at the idea of getting to see people celebrating him again.
However when he reaches the city he notices it isn’t just him anymore. They celebrate Moon and Stars too. Moon for providing them with light during the night, allowing anyone to find their way home. Stars for navigation and stories, humans relying on the placement of the dots to get home and they’ve even found clusters of stars they’ve made stories about. They call those constellations. Tommy looks around and eventually sees statues of the two as well, it makes Tommy wonder when they came down. Did they come down without him? Why didn’t they invite him to come to Earth with them? Even if he was tired he would still have come with them. Tommy just cuts off his thoughts as he takes a deep breath, looking down at the plaques to see what names the humans have given them. “Tubbo” and “Ranboo”. Now those were some cool names, he only got Tommy. He can’t wait to tell the two about the names they have been given.
Eventually he also sees some things for Void and Blackhole too. Though they are called Phil and Technoblade. Tommy laughs at the names, such silly names. He looks at their sculptures and is in awe, they stone figures look surprisingly like the Gods the humans seem to know nothing about. It makes Tommy wonder if the two have ever visited Earth, he would have to ask them.
He continues to walk through the town as he looks for Purpled, wondering where the human could be.
It hadn’t been many years so he doesn’t think the boy is dead. Humans, at this time, have a lifespan of about fifty years, he shouldn’t be dead.
Tommy just walks nervously through the town, not wanting to really bother anyone. He is smiling though, he sees the humans having fun as they play the games for their festivals. The children laugh and scream as the adults are singing and dancing. Even if he is uncomfortable right now, he doesn’t think he’d change anything.
He starts to make his way to the castle though when he remembers the fact that Purple told him he was a prince. He finds a hidden spot near the walls of the castle and turns back into his normal form, deciding to fly up to try and sneak in that way.
It takes him a bit to find the right room, but after seeing one that has many different shades of purple clothes he lands on the balcony. Knocking on the door to be let it.
It takes a while but, with caution, an older boy walks up to the door. Holding a sword to the idea of an intruder. He puts the sword down once he realizes who it is though, opening the door for the God.
“Tommy!” Tommy is shocked by the human's growth. He was aware that it had been a couple years but not this many. The last time he saw the human he was around 16, like Tommy’s physical form. Now he looks to be in his twenties. Or at least human twenties. Although it’s a surprise it doesn’t stop him from being excited. He steps forward to bring him into a hug. “Purpled!” He holds onto the man before breaking the hug, deciding now would be a good time to mention the year's thing. “Sorry I was gone for so long, I had to rest up. Look at you! You’re so much older!” He ignores the comment in the back of his mind at the idea of the human’s death. It will be fine, Tommy will be fine. Humans die, it’s what they do. Tommy will just shrug it off and find another human to be friends with.
Purpled just huffs out a laugh, “It’s okay old man. I’ll be fine.” Even if this is only their second time talking they had gotten close. Tommy told him the stories of his existence, Stars, and Moon. He had told him everything. Purpled had done the same. Telling Tommy all about the lives of humans, his own interests, and everything in between. Even in that short time it was almost easy to forget the fact that Tommy was a God and Purpled human. They had become close, Tommy even declaring him as his best friend before he had to leave. Purpled took the title with pride and returned the sentiment, joking about how funny it is that a God is his first best friend.
So here they are now, acting like they have been friends for ages, well to Purpled they have been, and to Tommy it was just like yesterday of when he talked to the human.
Purpled lets him into his room, showing him around and how the prince lives. Tommy is amazed at the idea of an inclosed space with a bed. He’s even more amazed when he lays down on the bed and realizes how soft it is.
“How do you sleep then?” It was a question that purpled had after realizing the God didn’t have a house. Further realizing how weird it would be if he did.
“I kinda don’t? I don’t sleep like you guys, only going dormant. It’s when my mind shuts off but I’m still there, I still do my job as Sun and I just float. I don’t dream like you guys either, I just close my eyes then all of a sudden open them to being at complete energy.
Purpled just lets out a “huh.” and then also sits on the bed, questioning him on how God life is treating him. Tommy explains to him that nothing new has happened as it has, for him, only been a couple of “hours” since they last met. He almost mentions trying to hang out with Moon and Stars, but decides against it. Speaking of..”I saw that the other Gods were at the festival this time! I’m so happy you told the kingdom about them.”
Purpled looks a little sheepish at the Gods praise. “Well yeah I did, of course no one believed me at first, with us not quite knowing what Void is or Blackhole, but then throughout the few years you were gone they were making appearances and talking to more humans, sharing what they do and what they are. Of course that made many people scared of the two, so they don’t get celebrated as much, but I make sure that there are still statues out there for them.”
Tommy smiles at the idea that the human still has statues put out for his friends, even if most humans don’t like them. “Thank you Purpled, oh wait, what about Stars and Moon?”
Purpled looks nervously to the side, remembering what the God had complained about on their first day of meeting. “Well, they are highly liked, and celebrated often. People enjoy them and the time or two they came down to Earth.” Tommy squints at the man, there is something Purpled isn’t telling him. He doesn’t question it though and just hums along, deciding he wants to talk about something else.
“So how has your life been?” Purpled seems to go back to normal for this, talking in his usual demeanor of being calm instead of nervous. Tommy is glad that he went back to normal.
“It has been pretty good, I’m still the prince but I’m going to be the king next once my father passes. I have already taken all my classes and am basically ready to be the king.”
Tommy is happy to hear that, glad to see that his human’s life is going well.
They hang out more, talking more and more until Tommy has to go again. Leaving the same way he did last time and giving the kingdom a new shooting star to mark down.
—----
Tommy goes back to his home, it isn’t physical but he enjoys being there nonetheless. He talked to Purpled for hours and the human had convinced him to talk to Stars and Moon. He was hesitant but decided too anyways.
He silently walks over to the duo, doing his best to make sure that the physical Sun is staying on the side of the Earth it’s supposed to be on.
He can see and hear them laughing, a swirl of something awful makes its way through his gut, though Stars seems to be disappearing as he gets closer. As he steps up to them, Stars completely invisible to his eyes now, he just waves. “Hey guys.” The two stop as they notice Tommy there. “Sun! Hey! It’s been a while, what have you been up to?” Stars starts off. And just like that everything falls into place. The nervousness leaves him as he starts to talk to the two about his journey to Earth, the two also talking about theirs. As they talk though, about how they hang out, and the things that they do, Tommy feels the swirl growing. He keeps his patience, his silence, as the two continue to talk. Once they are done does he continue. He tells them about Purpled, about how he’s a prince and how nice he is. The two go silent as he talks so he just continues. Telling them of the festivals and telling them of the names they were given.
“Yeah Stars they call you Tubbo! That’s the name they gave you, and Moon they call you Ranboo! I think those are such cool names, they only gave me Tommy. It sounds pretty basic but I like it!”
Once he quiets the two speak up. They laugh a bit at the mortal names, thinking they are a bit ridiculous. Tommy insists that they are cool and that they should call each other by those names now. They both just huff out a laugh as they agree. Tommy smiles brightly at the idea of them having nicknames.
—--
It is a new time. Different from before. He had gone back to his area as the two stayed, eventually Ranboo also left to go to his area.
However he can still see the two talk often. It makes the swirl bigger as he watches. He knows that him and Ranboo are often stuck in the places they stand. Tommy has to stay here for a majority of the time, the times he didn’t he accidentally moved closer. Venus becoming no longer habitable at the shift, because of that Tommy has to stay where he is for the majority of his existence. Ranboo, however, at least gets to dance. He stays around Earth, orbiting it as he stays there. They haven’t traveled outside of their spot often, why would they? The two could still talk from where they stood, they talked all the time, becoming close as the only two living Gods in their area. And then there was Tubbo. Tubbo also visited Ranboo all the time, Tubbo would walk with Ranboo as he made his way around Earth. Eventually the moon stopped talking to the sun. Only talking to Tommy if he broke his own rule and came to visit.
Tommy wonders why Tubbo never came to visit him.
—-
Then there was the first incident.
Ranboo had stopped moving, Tommy wasn’t sure why. He had already been down to Earth so much recently he can’t move anymore. He can only stand here. He can’t get to Moon, he can’t help them.
Sun’s eyes just widen as he sees Stars appear. Stars is next to Moon and they talk. They talk like they always have been. Sun stands like he always has been.
He can see that Moon isn’t okay, but he can’t go over to help. Why can’t he help.
Eventually though something inside him just snaps. Moon turns over to Stars and smiles, seeming to thank him for something. Tears streaming down Moons face.
Tommy ignores rules as he runs over to Ranboo and Tubbo, the latter disappearing from his eyes as he approaches. “Ranboo are you okay? I saw that you stopped moving. Is everything alright?”
“Yeah! I’m okay, Tubbo just helped me a bit, talking to me ‘n stuff.” They are wiping their tears now, smiling at Tommy.
“Oh,” The swirl grows. It’s a pit now, and it’s heavy. It feels as if it’s choking him. “Well I am here to talk if you need it y’know. I care about you.” He just sees Ranboo nod. “I know, it’s just that you have to stay in your spot, it makes it hard to talk all the time.”
That was a lie. They used to talk all the time, it wasn’t a problem then. Or was it?
“Oh, okay. Well thank you for helping him Tubbo, sorry I couldn’t come over sooner.” And with that Tommy just turns and walks away, ignoring whatever Tubbo had to say in response.
—-
It happens again, this time though Tommy is there first.
He finds Ranboo crouched down as their body shakes, his breath is also shaky as his eyes are wide and tears stream down their face.
Tommy walks over and puts his hand on their back. Rubbing slowly as he crouches down, making sure to stay silent. “Hey Ran, what’s going on bud?”
“Stars? Oh- hey Tommy.” The God ignores the tang of pain at the idea that Ranboo immediately assumed it was Tubbo, no, Stars.
Ranboo wipes his face as he sits down now, they still clearly aren’t okay.
“Do you want to talk about it? I can listen, maybe even help?”
“I dunno..”
“I promise you Ran, I can listen. I can help.” Tommy notes that he sounds a little desperate, he hopes that Ranboo didn’t notice.
“Well..It’s just that you and Tubbo are so…amazing. I’m just Moon. I don’t do anything, I’m not anyone. I can’t do anything without you, I mean the humans only see me because of your light Tommy. I can’t even do the night alone. Tubbo is needed in the night, the humans need Stars for navigation, Tubbo is useful to them…I’m just there.”
Tommy is surprised. He wasn’t aware Ranboo could feel this way. He wasn’t aware that they could have self esteem issues.
“You are useful to them.” “Oh yeah? How?” Ranboo snaps at him. That’s never happened before. Tommy just takes a breath, keeps his emotions down, and focuses on Ranboo.
“Well they need you to see. Without you the world would be completely dark at night. They wouldn’t be able to do anything. You also help them with their waters, bringing tides to the oceans. They use those tides for many things Ran, you are useful, I promise. They told me themselves!”
Ranboo goes blank as he looks over at Tommy. “Really?” “Yeah! The humans love you man! They are constantly staying how awesome you are and how beautiful you are too!”
Ranboo laughs at the comment, wiping up their tears. “Yeah, I’ve heard a bit of that.”
“See, you are amazing, king, the world would not be able to succeed without you.” Tommy grabs Ranboos face and wipes the rest of the tears away, smiling at their opposite.
“I guess.” Ranboo smiles once more before he turns to the side.
“Boo! I’m so sorry I wasn’t here earlier, I was dealing with some constellation stuff. Are you okay?”
He can’t see it but he can feel Ranboo’s face taken from his hands, into another, smaller, pair.
“Hey Tubso! I think Ranboo is okay? I helped him!” Ranboo nods to the “I think” and smiles again, “Yeah, I’m okay.”
“Oh thank Void, I was so worried, Thank you so much Tommy. Thank you for being there for him.”
The feeling dissipates a little bit as he returns a small smile. “Of course, I will always be there for my friends.” It felt like a dismissal so Tommy walks away, going back to his post and going dormant, doing his best to ignore that he can now see Ranboo and Tubbo chatting it up as if it never happened. As if Tommy was never there.
Tommy closes his eyes and doesn’t open them again for a while.
—
It had happened a few more times.
Self worth was a very big problem for Ranboo and the two friends could see that. With their best efforts combined they were able to help Ranboo through it. The boy no longer thinks of himself as worthless and only appears more beautiful to the humans and Gods alike.
—
Tommy was sad.
He was sad and he couldn’t pinpoint why he was sad.
Whenever he looks over to Tubbo and Ranboo the feeling in his gut overflows and tears spill from his eyes.
He paces in his spot for a while, trying to decide what to do.
He decides he will go to Earth. He will visit Purpled and then he could be happen then.
When he goes down though, things are different.
The buildings are no longer stone bricks, now smooth concrete and glass.
He looks around to try and see if he is in the wrong spot, but he knows he isn’t. If he tries hard enough he can see that the land is vaguely the same, though a lot of it has been flattened out now.
He turns around himself as he tries to find out where he’s supposed to go. Where is the castle? All he sees is tall buildings with pictures on them. Except the pictures are changing. They are bright and they move, they didn’t do that before.
Tommy starts to breathe really heavily as everything is overwhelming him. He realizes just how loud it is, why is it so loud? It’s bright too, and he’s the Sun for Void’s sake.
There’s a hand on his back. He turns around fastly and is greeted with Blackhole. Void is a few paces behind him.
“Bla-”
“No, Techno. I’m Techno, and he is Phil, remember?”
“Yeah..Yeah, Techno and Phil.”
“Good, come with us.”
Tommy just follows Techno and Phil as he is pulled. He isn’t sure where they are going, but for some reason they calm him down. He is able to think normally again, still looking around and taking everything in with a more calm manner.
They walk through the sidewalk, a brisk, but formal pace. Everyone seems to just get pushed around them somehow. Phil is leading the three so Tommy bets it’s something to do with him.
Eventually they make it down an alley and through a door, into an apartment.
“Sooo…what’s up big man?” Tommy was nervous now. He had visited the two, obviously, but not recently. Not even space recently. Just how long have they been here anyways?
“It is a new era, I’m sure you’ve picked up on that.” Techno just turns around and crosses his arms, staring at the boy. He turns to Phil though, motioning forward with his head.
“Yeah, I could tell…It was just really loud and it was hard to find my friend-”
“Tommy, Sun. Think a bit harder for a moment.” Tommy turns to the blond man in the room. Staring into his blue eyes, he notes that they match his.
He does think though. He thinks of how he came down to visit Purpled, it is a new era so it would be harder to find him. He isn’t even aware just how many years it had been.
Until it clicks.
“Oh…” There are tears streaming down his face.
Purpled was- “ oh. ” The boy is full on crying now. He had only visited the human twice and yet he cared about him. So much. Purpled cared for him too, more than anyone.
“Tommy…” Phil comes closer and pulls the boy into a hug. Tommy hugged back with all his might. This was his first human death, he really didn’t know how to deal with it.
He wants Tubbo and Ranboo. He wishes silently for the two to come to his aid, and yet when he opens his eyes again to the world, it is still just Phil and Techno.
Tommy takes a few deep breaths and wipes his face, deciding that he will probably cry more when he’s back to his home, where no one can see him. Well if he turns his back to the two other Gods, no one can see him.
“I’m so sorry kid, I wish I could have explained it to you sooner.” Phil seemed genuinely sorry, Tommy doesn’t know why. It wasn’t like it was his job to care. Tommy was a bigman, he could do this by himself.
“No, it’s alright.” He pushes himself away from the man. “I think…I’m going to go on a walk and then head back.”
“Oh it’s-” The older man is cut off by Techno placing his hand on his shoulder, showing it will probably be better to leave the boy alone. “We’ll be here if you need us. We’ll be there whenever, okay?” Techno isn’t too sentimental of a person, typically going for silent reassurance rather than physical comfort.
“Thank you.” With that Tommy is back out the door. He walks down the streets, not really paying attention to anything around him. He does note, however, that it is summer time. The same time that he came down to visit Purpled. He smiles as he looks up to his celestial body, bathing in its warmth.
He takes a deep breath and starts to pay attention to the world, deciding to explore now and be sad later. This is a new world, many things are going on. He wonders if people still worship him, and the others of course.
He starts to walk around and listen to what the humans are talking about. Smiling a bit more as he hears about their lives, jobs, and the things they like to do.
That is until he hears a group talking about the weather.
“It’s too hot! I wish the sun would just go away man. I feel like I’m dy-ing.” One person groans.
What?
“I know right! And it's like, way too bright, I need to see yeah, but like…I can’t see , y’know?”
I’m sorry…I didn’t mean to hurt you. Tommy freezes on the sidewalk as all of a sudden everyone’s complaints flood his ears.
“Mommy, it’s too hot!”
“Daaaddd It’s too brightttt.”
“Dude, I can’t even take a good photo, the sun is in the way.”
“Did you know the sun is actually a really small star? There are bigger, hotter, stars than it.”
The insults flood his mind, washing away any confidence he ever had. His smile drops, his light dims, and yet his celestial body is still burning brightly overhead. He can’t even make it dimmer for the humans anymore, how are they supposed to like him now?
They don’t like him. They don’t like him. They don’t like him.
“The stars are pretty cool though, the moon too!”
Everything goes silent. Every insult is cut off with those few words. He isn’t sure why these people are talking about them. Maybe they’re in a space club, maybe it’s a class. Or maybe they are talking about a project from school or something they read at the library.
What prompted these humans to start talking about them ?
“Yeah, the moon is so pretty, I don’t know what it is about it, but like, she’s gorgeous. Everynight, so effortlessly. The sun however, we can’t even look at. Yeah it’s pretty through photos, but we can’t even look at it in real life. It doesn’t really matter then.”
“The stars too!” Someone agrees, probably one of their friends.
“The stars are so pretty man, they make such cool constellations. It’s so cool that we can see so many of them from this far away, seeing their light and how they twinkle. They really are beautiful. Not to mention the stars and the Moon is such an iconic duo. Literally what would one be without the other.”
Tommy’s mind goes blank as he thinks back to his friends. Thinking of all the times they've spent talking without him. Thinking of all the times they’ve existed without him.
“The sun is just another star anyways, it kinda sucks that we were stuck with this one. Maybe if it was bigger and hotter than we could have lived on Jupiter or something. That way we wouldn’t have to be so close to it.”
One of the people from earlier just pipes up. “I just wish it didn’t exist, truly, then it wouldn’t be so hot and bright on all the time. We could exist with just the moon, surely.”
It was a joke, it had to be a joke. Humans know they need the Sun to survive, that’s how it has always been. Has it changed in the last few years? Had something happen to where the humans no longer needed him?
Was he not loved at all anymore?
Tommy just picks his head up and turns around, walking away from the group of science kids. He picks up stray insults. More complaining that it’s too hot, or it’s too bright, or that it hurts . They complain about getting burned.
He doesn’t want to burn them.
Tears overflow from his eyes. More comments about the expected full moon, or what stars were supposed to be visible tonight. Or how the moon is going to look. Or what to do tonight. Or how they are excited for the night.
Night. Night. Night.
Nothing about the day, no one is excited for the day, or tomorrow, or had a good time yesterday. It’s all about the moon, the stars, and the night.
Tommy just shoots into an alley and turns himself back into his usual form, shooting up fast enough that no human could see him. Not that they want to look towards the sun anymore anyways.
—
He makes it back, pacing back and forth as tears fall down his face.
No one loves him, not anymore.
Humans hate him, they think he’s too hot. Too bright. Too annoying.
Purpled is dead. Purpled isn’t there to be his friend anymore. He only talked to the human twice and then he left. He wonders if Purpled ever though he was coming back.
Ranboo doesn’t like him anymore, they replaced him. It’s no longer the sun and the moon, now it’s the stars and the moon. No more Sun, he isn’t needed.
Tubbo..Tommy isn’t even sure if Tubbo likes him. They have talked, yes, but not much. Tubbo hangs around Ranboo, never Tommy. Ranboo like Tubbo. Tubbo is a better Tommy.
“ The sun is just another star anyways.”
Tommy is just part of Tubbo. He isn’t is own. He isn’t any good. He-
“Tommy? Sun?”
He turns around to see the duo standing there. He comes back to himself to realize he has bits of hair in his hands, his hair. Tears run down his face as he unclenches his jaw to talk.
“Hey guys!” He tries to seem cheery as he drops the hair, it going down and floating in an infinite void. He shakes his hand and rubs his face in the most nonchalant way possible, trying to not seem too obvious. “What’s up? You guys never come over here.” He smiles at the two.
The two look to each other before Ranboo steps forward to start what was, probably, going to be a very difficult conversation.
“Tommy..we heard you crying and saw you all…not okay, are you? Doing okay I mean.”
Tommy just laughs a bit, trying to stay positive. “Yeah! I’m all good man, you two have nothing to worry about.” He tries to push them off. Why is the one time he doesn’t want them there, they won't leave immediately.
Tubbo narrows his eyes as he cuts in. “Cut it out. We say you crying Tommy, you aren’t okay, tell us what’s wrong.” He puts his hand out for Tommy to grab, that way the could go and sit..somewhere. Tommy really isn’t sure.
All he knows is he denies Tubbo’s hand as he looks him in the eyes.
Wait.
Tommy looks tubbo in the eyes. And then he looks at his hand, his arm, his face, then back to his eyes.
“You have green eyes.”
“What? Tommy what are you talking about, of course I have green eyes. I always have.” Tubbo honestly laughs a bit as the statement catches him off guard, unsure what Tommy means by that.
Tommy looks around at him more, taking in every detail.
“You have green eyes, brown hair, and freckles. The freckles look like your constellations.”
“Tommy what are you on about?”
Ranboo looks back and forth, trying to connect the pieces until it finally clicks. “You never could see him could you? The same way the sun and stars work on earth, was it like that for you all this time?”
Tommy turns over to Ranboo, the god is a lot less glowy now. “No, I couldn’t. Not until now. I don’t know why now.”
“You've dimmed.”
What?
He turns back to Tubbo. “Something is obviously wrong, your light has dimmed. Tommy, what is wrong?”
Tubbo’s eyebrows crease with worry, Ranboo’s not looking too far different.
Tears spring from Tommy’s eyes as he gets reminded of what happened. He falls to his knees as he starts to spill about everything.
“The humans don’t like me anymore!” He cries out, both faces shift to ones of surprise.
“Tommy, it is okay, sometimes people don’t like you. You just have to be okay with it.” Ranboo tries to put a soothing hand on his shoulder but it doesn’t work.
“You guys don’t understand! You don’t go to Earth. You don’t understand how much it hurts to hear you be talked like that. They only complain. I’m too hot, I’m too bright. I-” He looks back up too Tubbo. Stars.
“The sun is just another star anyways.”
“The sun is just another star anyways.”
“The sun is just another star anyways.”“The sun is just another star anyways.”“The sun is just another star anyways.”“The sun is just another star anyways.”“The sun is just another star anyways.”
“You don’t get it.”
The two squat down to be level with him, looking him in his eyes.
“Tommy, trust us that it isn’t that big of a problem. Everything will be okay.”
Of course they would say that. There’s nothing bad about them, either of them. Humans like them, they like each other.
No one likes Tommy. No one talks to Tommy.
His head hangs low. “Go away.”
“What?” They say in unison, not expecting the boy to dismiss them.
He doesn’t look at them anymore, he doesn’t think he can. All the humans ever did was sing praises about the two.
His jealousy grew and grew as he recounts all of the comments made that he heard.
“Go away!” He yells it at the two. Telling them to go away is honestly what he doesn’t want to do. They finally like him enough to come over, to see if he’s okay.
“No, I won't go away. I am not going to leave you here to cry all by yourself Tommy. What does it matter if the humans don’t like you, they’re just humans!” Tubbo is stubborn about this and he doesn’t know why. Why is Tubbo all of a sudden being his friend?
Whatever it is, Tommy can feel his anger rising. What does Tubbo know about the words that were said about him. Tubbo has never had anything bad said about the stars.
Tommy’s face shoots back up. Anger lines his eyes as tears drip down his face.
“What do you know! You’re never hated. You’re never insulted! People love you Tubbo! They love you and Ranboo. You make constellations for Void’s sake! You string the stars into stories to tell the humans about other gods and heroes!” Tommy can feel himself getting worked up, his body getting hotter and hotter as he goes.
“I’m just the sun! I’m just another star!” Tommy goes silent as the water continues to fall from his eyes.
“They don’t need me anymore.”
His head falls.
“Please just go away.”
Tubbo just shuffles a bit closer and hugs Tommy. Holding him tight.
“Tommy, Sun. You are one of the most important gods I know. You give humans light . You help them live in a world that isn’t just pure darkness. You give them warmth so that they’ll never be cold. You allow them to exist. No other star has done that yet. I have never been the reason for an entire planet's existence Tommy. You made them all live.”
Tubbo lets go of the hug and grabs Tommy’s face in his hands, forcing the god to look at him.
“Tommy, it may not seem like it but you are loved by so many people. Not just the humans. Animals love you, other gods love you, we love you Tommy. Even if it’s only two times a day, people still stare at you in wonder at rise and set. You work with the clouds to make the most beautiful skies anyone has ever seen.”
Ranboo scoots closer and puts their hand in his hair. “Without you Tommy, I would not have been seen. I am my own god, but you help me be seen by the people who matter so much to you. Thank you for showing me to them.” Ranboo smiles as he rubs Tommy’s head.
Tommy just looks at the two as tears start to stream down his face again.
He sniffles hard before throwing his arms around the two, pulling them into the best hug that he’s ever had.
“I miss you guys so much. I wanna talk more, why don’t we talk? Why do you guys alway stay so far away. I wanna be friends.” Tommy didn’t mean to say all that, but he guesses everything is being said right now.
“Oh Tommy. I’m so sorry Sun.” Ranboo moves their hand up and down in a soothing motion on his back. “I never meant to stop talking to you, we never meant to stop. We just got so busy. Tubbo had to go and move the constellations, making sure new ones would be found throughout the years. I had to do some stuff with my celestial body. Making supermoons and stuff is a lot of energy. I’m so sorry it took us away from you.”
Tommy just pulls back from the hug. That…makes a lot of sense. He had been busy too. Making sure that he was doing his job. Rising and setting at certain times each day, making sure all of Earth got warmth, and that the Sun was seen correctly as the Earth was rotating.
Tommy had gotten so distracted by the humans, he had forgotten that they all had their own jobs to do.
He laughs a bit as he leans back. Opening his eyes to a brighter Ranboo, and a Tubbo thats invisible.
“I missed you guys so much.”
It would take a lot of work to get things going again, back into the rhythm of balancing his duties as well as hanging out with his friends. He was safe to admit to the two that he was jealous of Tubbo, and that he thought Ranboo favored him more because of their whole night duo thing.
Ranboo was quick to reassure him that it wasn't the case, and that he’s sorry for making him feel that way. Tubbo apologizing for making it seem like he was taking his friend away from him, and that he would be better about visiting Tommy too.
Eventually the three would be able to live happily, no jealousy coating every action. No self-hatred keeping you from your friends. No obsession with being perfect making up your personality.
Tommy could finally smile again as he sees his two friends bickering in the night sky.
Leaning back into the warm embrace of the Void.
Tommy is happy to be the sun.
The stars and the moon at his side.