Welcome to Gaia! ::

Night was breaking, slowly, but Selene could see the purpling of the sky as the sun began to peek over the horizon. Silence, everywhere, until the first birds began to chirp in the small bushes that dotted the area. It was devoid of trees, a prelude to the plains. She sniffed the air, scenting rain on the way. A shame- the sky was almost cloudless.

Blue-teal hair shimmering with pearls and feathers blew in a slight breeze, and she let herself take to the air, seeking out something. Anything. Maybe an old friend, maybe an old enemy? Her 'fathers', Calamity or Rahu? Her brother, Safi? Perhaps one of her sons, Faust, or Chenguang? Yue was not on her must-meet list today, they'd argued the day before. Over nothing, as was usual between the two of them. Love was so very, very difficult.

Or perhaps, today, she would meet someone new? Someone she had only met a few times previously? She wanted to catch up with her roots... so much had been lost after Yue and Chen had been born. Not that it was their fault; no, she would not trade her daughter for anything in the world. It was a shame she did not know her son.

She sighed, dancing through the air on wings of 'star-spun gossamer.' Kishi's wirds, not her own. She couldn't stop the soft laughter, golden eyes watching both the sky around her for dangers, but the ground below, for something to catch her attention.

She enjoyed the breeze. The sky was so peaceful, this early. None of those chattering birds had yet taken wing, and the birds that flew at night had already headed back down, to start nesting for the evening.

A flash of silver caught her eye, bringing the small mare's attention to the ground below. A familiar figure stood, eyes on the stars above. What was his name...? Sagittarius. That was who it was. Wasn't it? Or was it one of the other stars? She remembered vaguely... Gemini? Cancer? Pisces? Virgo?

.... Virgo sounded right. But she would start with a nice 'hey you' until she remembered for sure. She let herself fall, clumsily plummeting out of the sky, hair following behind her, looking much like a canopy following a falling tree. Quick, rueful reflection made her decide... in the future, she'd make sure her hair was BRAIDED before she went flitting about.

The landing was graceful, though her hair did give a bit of a thud as it landed. She cleared her throat, unsure as to whether or not the stallion had noticed her. "Hello." she said cheerfully after a moment. "It's been a while. I have that better story for you."

She smiled, remembering how she'd told the stallion she'd fly to the stars and bring back starshine. Make the whole world sparkle. How could she have forgotten such a dream? Where had she changed? But she was telling the truth. She had a much happier story to tell Virgo now than the story that came from the broken heart of a mare who was barely an adult.

"I suppose I wrote part of it." she said with a smile. "Not as much as I thought I would, but enough to know I've taken an active role in my own life. How about yourself? Have you been writing a story?" Had he found a way to touch the stars, this stallion who was so passionate about his love for them?

Selene couldn't stop a little laugh. "You just catch all sorts of fallen stars, don't you?" she said finally, giving him a warm look. "And children! Congratulations." She tried to remember whether her Yue Shuang and Chenguang had been born yet when she had last met the stallion.

It had been over 12 moons since she'd spoken to him last. Goodness! "I do believe the stars are falling at an amazing rate around here." she said finally. "How many little constellations did she bring?"

"I would think the same thing that draws the stars to earth is the same thing that draws earth to them, isn't it?" she looked almost impish. "Gravity." she waited a moment, to watch his face for any kind of a reaction before continuing. "And the realization of something new, different."

She cleared her throat. "As for myself, I have three children. Two sons and a daughter. Same as yours, though their father wasn't a falling star. He was a... something." she made a little face, pondering exactly WHAT Forrest had been. A fling? A mistake, definitely.

What kind of gravity did pull one creature to another? If she chose to look at it with gravity pulling everything one way or another... lovers, enemies, friends, FOOD... it made everything more confusing.

She finally shook her head, ignoring the subject. "The love of a child." She could remember that. She really could. Those days when Yue was still so very small, and didn't realize how much Selene had resented her; the days before Faust realized just how different from his 'parents' he truly was; the memory of a brightly colored Chenguang hidden behind a tree while his elder sister tried to coax him out to meet the world. "It's wonderful, while you have it." The hurt of losing Faust to some obscure darkness; of never seeing Chen, her beautiful fairy-winged son; the hurt when Yue had been so angry, and hateful. "And even more precious if you've lost it once." She and Yue understood each other now. Not to say their relationship wasn't painful at times, but still.

The world wasn't all butterflies and clouds, when she faced up to it.

She nodded softly, slowly. "How very true that is." she let her head fall forward, sighing. "I wouldn't recommend you let it happen, ever." she gave Virgo a small smile, raising her slender head again to stare the larger stallion in the eye. "It's a monstrous heartache. But on to happier thoughts. Tell me about your children!"

She danced in place like a filly, smiling with pleasure, looking expectantly at the stranger she called friend. "You said two sons and a daughter? What are their names? What are they like?"