Light filtered through Levi's closed eyelids — gentle, comforting light. A faint moan escaped his lips. Distant memories flickered in and out of his dizzied mind, something eventful.

"Where am I?" he wondered to himself.

"Home, love," responded a gentle mental voice. Soft lips brushed against his, leaving behind a pleasing warmth.

Levi's eyes fluttered open, taking in incredibly deep, starry eyes gazing back at him. He cupped a hand around Celesta's neck, fingers tangling in thick, silvery hair, and drew her willing lips down for a more extended kiss. Without words, the kiss said welcome home.

"Mmm," Levi whispered. "I like waking up like this."

Levi lay in the bed he shared with Celesta, partially covered with a tattered quilt. An orange glow and the sound of flickering flames coming from the iron stove explained the comfortable warmth within the cabin.

"Must you do that with this creature?" A mental voice huffed with dismay.

Levi jerked and a tingle crawled down his spine upon discovering two Deus in muted starlight bodies standing behind Celesta. One Levi recognized — the one who spoke, Sol — and the other, he did not.

"Yes, I must," retorted Celesta, spinning around and placing hands on her hips. "And his name is Levi." Then, she lifted a hand, displaying a glowing, rainbow-colored bracelet around her left wrist — the Nexus key. "If not for him, you would have perished with your star."

Sol turned toward Levi, then back to Celesta. "True, that is. But this short-lived creature is no longer required."

Levi shot up in bed, quilt sagging to his waist. "Wait, what?"

The other Deus, thus far silent, flashed closer to Levi, examining him. "The creature speaks Deus?"

Levi rolled his eyes. Apparently, a human who could communicate with Deus was a novelty to them.

"His name is Levi, Xaros," Celesta retorted, "and we are linked."

Levi jumped out of bed, flinging the covers aside. "What is meant that I am no longer required?"

Then, Levi noticed he wore no clothes. And neither did Celesta. Heat came to his cheeks. Demanding information from two star spirits while stark naked lost some of its force, but it seemed to not matter to the Deus.

"Celesta has the key," Sol said with a dismissive wave.

"It means," Celesta explained in a gentle voice while placing a hand on Levi's shoulder, "now that I possess the key, I may enter and destroy a Nexus on my own."

"Soon, the Void will consume my star, and no time have we to lose." Xeros said flatly while pointing to Levi. "We waited for the creature, Levi, to awaken, as agreed. Let us now be off."

Levi's eyes widened, gut twisting with the implications. "Celesta, what is happening?" he asked, switching to an audible voice.

Leaning her head down against Levi's chest, Celesta responded, "That I must go. The Void threatens other stars, and the worlds that surround them. I am sorry, Levi, but this I cannot ignore."

Levi opened his mouth, a rebuttal forming on his tongue. Let others take up the burden, he would argue; she had done her part. But there were no others, no one else to save the universe. Levi's heart dropped. Celesta's soul was too good, too pure to refuse, and the least he could do was to offer support. Levi lowered his forehead until it touched her head. "Come back to me."

Celesta raised her head and wrapped arms around Levi's neck, pulling his lips to hers. Arms embracing, he pulled her tight against his body as the kiss continued. Waves of warmth pulsed through Levi, and his lips begged her return better than any words expressed.

"I promise," Celesta mewed in a last embrace, head nuzzled against Levi's shoulder, "for I shall want many more such kisses."

Levi grinned. "A price I am willing to pay."

Breaking the embrace, Celesta stepped backward between the Deus, Sol and Xeros, her eyes remaining on Levi.

"Finally," Sol huffed with dismay, but Levi ignored the expression.

"I love you," Levi whispered to Celesta.

"And much do I love you," she whispered back.

Celesta transformed into a Deus starlight form. The three Deus flashed in bright white, then disappeared, leaving him behind. At once, a hollowness grew in his heart that only Celesta could ever fill. The cabin door hinges creaked when he stepped outside onto the porch. Levi looked up, shading his eyes from a bright afternoon sun, a star almost lost to a Darkness that Celesta must again face, but alone.

"Be strong, my love," he muttered to the sky. "I shall await your return."

But a knot tightened in his stomach — Celesta never said how long she would be gone.

*****

Decades passed.

On rare occasions, Levi sensed Celesta's distant presence, a tiny spark igniting hope within him, only to be cruelly extinguished when the spark disappeared for years at a time.

Gilmoor eventually resumed the normal matters of everyday life. Levi returned to his optician business, immersing himself in it as a distraction from an aching heart. Little was mentioned of Celesta, but Levi sensed the concern for himself expressed in lingering glances and small acts of kindness. He took some solace in that, but the esteem of a grateful town was insufficient compensation for a broken heart.

Levi served as best man in Ezra's wedding to Abigail, adding his blessing to the union. And upon full retirement, transferred ownership of his shop to Ezra and sons.

Levi never gazed through his telescope again. But at midnight of every new moon, he ventured to the ring of sandstone spires atop a knoll that had once been his observatory, looking up to the stars from where Celesta first appeared to him. Waiting. Hoping.

✩✩✩✩✩✩✩✩✩

The old man's bent hands trembled as he wiped slushy snow globs from his glasses using a thread-bare red bandana. Aged eyes lifted to a cloudy winter sky that denied him a view of the stars.

"At the end, I am starless," Levi muttered to the universe.

As if a small mercy, the snow ceased, the frigid wind calmed, and the clouds parted, revealing the glory of a vast cosmos. Within the perfect silence of new snow, countless tiny points of light above whispered secrets that Levi could not quite decipher. He stilled, holding a breath while listening, for not since Celesta disappeared had he heard them.

"Levi," an ethereal voice spoke in his mind, soft as a spiritual caress.

He sucked in a breath, then a single, trembling sob escaped his lips. Could it be? Or in my last moments, did a cruel universe again dangle false hope?

"Be at peace, love."

A new star appeared in the heavens, growing brighter, bathing the sparkling snow in silvery light. Levi trembled, and his heart threatened to burst from his chest.

Then, a flash of dazzling light, and a figure of pure starlight stood before him. Levi slid from the sandstone block and collapsed to knees in the fresh snow, bowing his head. Heaving sobs, deep from a longing soul, overwhelmed him.

"Celesta," he burbled, "so little time have I left."

Celesta kneeled down to his level and placed a glowing hand on Levi's shoulder. Warmth flushed through him, chasing away the cold. "Forgive me, Levi," she whispered. "Far more arduous was the cause than I originally believed. And time passed much more slowly in the Darkness."

"I waited for you. Could you not have returned even for short periods?" Anger cracked his rough voice. "At least to ease my fears?"

Celesta leaned her forehead against his, and for a moment, did not answer. Sorrow filtered through the mental link. "I am sorry, Levi. But if I had returned, my heart would not have allowed me to leave again, and many more stars would have perished."

Of course, Levi thought to himself. Bitter guilt settled in his throat for anger expressed. Was not the universe worth two broken hearts?

"Then, is it done?" he asked. "Is the universe safe?"

"For now, but the Darkness never truly rests."

A half-smile came to Levi's wrinkled lips, and he nodded. "Then all is as it should be, and I may die in peace."

Celesta caressed Levi's face, touch soft and gentle. "But that need not be. Once as Deus, when Darkness would have consumed my very soul, you gave me new life as human. Now, my love, when death comes for your human form, I offer new life as Deus, unbounded but to me." She extended a hand and helped Levi stand. "Many wonders I wish to show you."

Levi recalled the book about a fallen star — Flare in the Night, the title — that accurately described Celesta, or perhaps through their link, created her appearance. Their real story deviated from the book, but perhaps, the happily-ever-after ending, where the star and hero ascended to the heavens, came true.

"Nothing do I desire more," Levi answered, heart soaring. "And together, shall we protect Creation from the Darkness?"

"Together. In the fullness of time."