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Byakuya had been feeling his memory start to slip from his fingers years ago. Time does that to you. It takes what you may wish to hold onto without a second thought. Tearing it from your grasp, and never looking back.
Byakuya was tired. Byakuya was so, so tired. He wished things had gone better. He wished he could have done more to get off this island. He wished he could reverse time just to see his first son one last time and tell him in person how proud he is of him.
He wishes he could remember his face, his voice, and hear him one last time. But time and fate aren't that merciful.
He wished he could lay down and open his eyes and everything would be back to how it was before. He wished he had his first son's memory, maybe then he could at least picture his face.
His fellow astronauts are all gone, and all his other friends are stone. There is no one left from before, besides him. And how lonely that makes him.
He wished, oh how he wished, that he could go back and change everything. He has so much left to do though, to prepare for his first son because he knows that boy will achieve great things when he awakens.
Not if. Never if. Because if he were to start thinking like that it would mean giving up on the boy that never gave up on him. He would never do that to Senku.
His other children, and their children, and the children of his children’s children all know the tale of Senku. He hopes the lessons he taught them and the other children will last until his first son can guide them back to what humanity once was.
He knows his son can do it. Knows that when Senku wakes up, he will not mope about and cry. Senku would never do such a thing. He would get to work right away, and have things back to what they once were within a couple of years if everything goes right.
Byakuya wishes he could see that in person. Be there with his son as he rebuilds humanity with his own two hands. But Byakuya is so tired and the stars are so beautiful where he can see them in the river.
He feels his eyes close, but the stars do not go away. They stay, and he reaches for them. The first scene comes to him, and he hears himself choke on a wet laugh.
A tiny bundle is clutched in his hands, and looks up to see two smiling figures. “You're sure? You want me to be his godparent?” He hears himself sniffle as he clutches the tiny light, barely burning yet in his arms.
“Yes, Byakuya. You've known us our whole life. We want the same to be true for our son. You'll be there right?” A tired female asks, and Byakuya hears himself answer.
“Always.” A siren cuts through the precious moment, and Byakuya is clutching the same bundle again. A baby's wails echo through the star cluttered space. Byakuya shakes as he clings to the crying bundle in his arms.
It wasn't supposed to be like those, they were supposed to be the ones that would get to raise this little light, not him. But he can't help but reconfirm his promise as he stares at freshly dug earth and two stones with the names of his best friends on them. “Always, just like I promised you two.” His heartbroken voice says to the two graves in front of him.
Curious crimson (were they crimson?) eyes look at him from the tiny bundle that is the only thing left of his two best friends. The baby babbles as he reaches a tiny hand up and touches Byakuya's cheek. Byakuya feels like his entire universe has just been pulled into the orbit of this little light that is sure to burn like a Phoenix.
Byakuya's eyes blurred with unshed tears and when he can see through them again, the bundle is gone and a small toddler toddles on small chubby legs towards him, arms extended and a proud smile on his face.
“Ba Ba, ‘ook!” A tiny voice calls and Byakuya feels such pride as the tiny one takes his first steps. Byakuya reaches his arms out, ready to catch him should his steps falter, should his legs give out on him as he starts his journey of conquering the world. A safety net that promised to be there to catch his son should he ever fall, should he ever need help. The tiny one trips and tumbles into his arms, transforming into a young child clutching his first book.
“What's out there old man? In the stars, I mean.” The same voice asks, just a bit older now. Those same curious eyes look to him for the answer, as if he held the answers to the universe. He sees the thirst of knowledge in them. He sees the want to know about everything and anything under the sky and sun, and even beyond that. But wait, is that what his eyes looked like or is Byakuya forgetting what they look like again.
“The universe, Senku. A vast space full of things that still have yet to be fully explored.” He hears himself answer, and a grin splits across the boy's face.
“Then I'll be the first to explore it all, old man!” the voice says to him and he feels himself smile at it. The eyes that look at him are full of hope and wonder. Byakuya can see the stars reflected in them, and he believes. He believes that his boy will get there one day. And he will be so proud to see it, to be there with his son as he conquers the sky and stars.
“Byakuya! Byakuya! The rocket worked! The rocket worked!” An excited voice comes from beside him as a blurrier version of the boy that was in his arms comes running up to him excitedly through the stars. A smudge is on his cheek, and Byakuya wipes it away with a laugh.
“I knew you could do it, Senku!” Byakuya can hear the pride in his voice as he reaches out and ruffles the boy's hair. What color was it? He feels like he should know what color Senku's hair is, why can't he remember that detail? Why is it slipping-
“10 billion percent, old man. You're going to space and we'll help you!” An older version voice breaks through his panicking. He laughs and goes along with whatever Senku has planned for him. The child in front of him has grown since he was lost in thought.
A streak of his gravity defying hair dangles in front of his face. The boy looks so proud of himself, and Byakuya can't help but feel the same. This boy was going to change the world.
“Whatever you say Senku. You'll join me there eventually, right? ” Byakuya says fondly as he looks at his son. Senku grins at him, but Byakuya can't see his eyes. They distort too much, changing to different shades of red at first before they change to entirely different colors.
“What are you talking about, old man? Of course I'm going to space. Why are you wasting oxygen asking questions like that? Don't you have training to get to?” A slightly distorted voice asks him, and Byakuya looks away from the child in front of him to see an older, and even more blurry version of his son besides him picking at his ear.
“Senku?” He whispers out and goes to reach for him. Why was his son growing so fast? Why was time slipping through his fingers this much? He thought he would have more time to watch his son grow. Why couldn't his eyes focus on what his boy looked like?
“Bring back a souvenir for me?” A slightly trembling distorted voice asked him. The voice was asking him a silent question, ‘Come back to me?’. And Byakuya for the first time had doubts. His boy had already lost his parents once, why should he risk that happening a second time?
“Always.” He hears himself answer, just like he told them. And he would keep his promises, both of them. He swore to it. A green light flashes from somewhere in the stars and a faceless statue stands before him, taking the place of his son. And Byakuya feels his heart shatter.
He knows this statue. It's his son, he just can't make out any of the details. Why can't he make out any of the details? He feels hands on his shoulders and he sees his fellow astronauts smiling at him.
Children's laughter comes from around him, and he sees them dancing in the stars around him. A familiar spark shines in their eyes, and Byakuya's heart aches. What he wouldn't give for Senku to be here. What did his son look like again?
Senku had green hair right? That reached for the heavens like his son's wish had been transferred to his hair and caused it to defy gravity. Or was it white? Or was it- What was the shade of his eyes? Red? Green? Black?
Why couldn't he remember? Curse his human memory. Curse him for going to space, and leaving his first son behind. Senku wouldn't want him to blame himself, but how could he not. Senku would say it's a waste of energy, but now Byakuya was failing both of his promises.
How long has it been since he last saw his son? How long has it been since he last gave him a hug and told him that he was proud of the person he was becoming? How long would it be until he could do so again?
He both wished it was soon and that it would never happen. For he knows he will most likely die before it does, and if Senku hugs him then he has joined him. The time that Senku joins him in the afterlife will be too soon, and not soon enough.
Flashes of his life after the green light stream through the stars. He's telling stories to a group of children one moment, then wading through a creek the next. Pulling precious metal flakes for the son he knows is coming.
His children get married and move out. He meets his grandkids and he can see Senku in each and every child he meets. Byakuya wonders if Senku will ever fall in love, or if he'll just say it's a waste of time? Byakuya hopes that if Senku does find someone, they will treat him right.
Byakuya can feel his heart slowly start to slow down. He hopes Senku will forgive him. He hopes his friends will forgive for leaving their son behind. He's at least left him a message, and has gathered as much of the metal as he can. He opens his eyes again and the stars he saw from behind his eyelids are reflected in the river below him.
He feels a single tear gather at the edge of his eye and fall down his cheek. ‘Senku loved the stars. I'm glad I can see them one last time.’ is his last thought as the last scenes of his life flash before his eyes.
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‘1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8-’
Senku has been counting for a while. Such a long time. Nothing but counting. It's been so many years, but he has to keep going. If he loses track, he might not wake during spring and then he won't be able to survive. He won't get to see Byakuya again if he stops counting, he lies to himself.
A shift occurs somewhere beyond his stone prison. Senku doesn't know how he knows something has happened, but he does. His heart knows, his soul knows.
Senku's heart breaks for the first time in his life that he can remember. It's only been less than a hundred years of counting, and this is the first time he almost gives up and succumbs to the darkness.
He wants to cry but he can't, not is this stone prison that he has been locked up in. He wants to run to his father crying like the first time he skinned his knee when he fell down. He wants to feel his father's strong arms guard him from all the bad things the universe threatens to send his way as he holds him close and whispers the names of the stars in the sky.
He doesn't lose count- can't lose count. His body is just tricking him, and it's all an illusion. He'll be able to find Byakuya when he wakes up, and he will finally call him dad, because that's what Byakuya has always been. His father. He wishes he had called him dad sooner.
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A new star is born every minute, every second somewhere in the universe. And somewhere, in someplace unknown to anyone that lived or lives on earth, a new star bursts into light with the sorrow of a parent that has lost their child and the cries of a child who has forever lost the comfort of their parent.