The Star Child and The Guardian of the Cosmos

Chapter 3

After The Collector's tears dried, he decided he wanted to look around the Observatory. As Rosalina and the Star Child stepped out of the bedroom, they were immediately greeted by a swarm of worried Lumas.

The black luma with blue eyes called out to the others "Back out everyone, they need space-"

"Polari?! Is that you?!"

The black luma seemed to gasp - even though he had no mouth. "You remember me? It's been so long since we last saw you!"

The other Lumas looked excited, although some of them were a bit confused, talking amongst themselves hoping to remember his presence.

Rosalina chuckled at their reactions "Yes, it's true - he has been here before. It was quite a while ago, so some of you may have not met him."

The Collector caught on to what she said, intrigued.

So she adopted more Lumas? But it didn't look like there were more Lumas than the last time he was here. Something to ask her later...

"If you all don't mind, The Collector wanted to look around our home to see if they remembered anything as they were quite young when they first came here."

The Lumas reacted with a happy sound, as Polari greeted the child. "Oh okay! Have fun!"

"Alright, let's go! I want to see if anything has changed!" The Collector ran ahead, excited to explore, but leaving his tour guide in the dust sighing.

"Of course."

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For what would probably be a few hours if they weren't in space, they visited all of the domes that The Collector hadn't yet been in.

For every single dome, the child pointed out something if they thought it was new and Rosalina would nod, explaining why she had made the change, which was usually due to her or the Lumas wanting to decorate the place.

But the most drastic change came in the last dome they went to, the garden.

As they entered it The Collector exclaimed "Wow! This definitely wasn't like this the last time I saw it!"

As The Collector remembered it, this used to be a room with a bunch of shelves with plants and some gardening supplies. But now, it was an entire landscape with grassy mountains and a beautiful blue sky with clouds.

Rosalina explained "I learned how to use magic to make it seem like a real landscape. Although, you cannot pass the circle of stones as it is still a dome with walls after all."

"I didn't know you could do that with magic. I can transform an entire landscape but I've never tried to put an entire landscape in a room!" The Collector threw their hands in the air to emphasize their awe.

Rosalina smiled "It did take me a while to figure it out, unfortunately magic doesn't come with an instruction manual. But despite how complicated it was, it was important for me that I made it."

The Collector inquired, curious. "Why?"

"It... It is supposed to be a reminder of home."

"Home? But isn't the Observatory your home?"

"It is, but I have another home I visit every hundred years and I wanted the Lumas to see a glimpse of it as some do not stay for long." she said this with a melancholic look.

So there are Lumas leaving! But why? They couldn't be... gone, could they?

"Why do they leave?" The Collector held his breath, scared of the answer.

"Ah... you see, all Lumas have a purpose in their lives, and it is to transform into something. When they feel the time is right, they usually turn into a star or a planet. That is how the beacon of this spaceship was created, the first luma I encountered turned into it so I and the other Lumas could travel through space."

"But that's sad! They're gone forever aren't they?"

"In a way, but their wills live on through their transformed selves. Even if it hurts to see them leave, I am happy as long as their wishes are fulfilled."

The Collector didn't know what to think. He didn't completely understand how life or death worked but from what he had seen people being gone meant they were dead. But Rosalina said their wills carried on after they left, so maybe...

"But what if someone is gone and they don't leave anything behind? What do you do then?"

She looked at him with understanding "Then, you can carry your memories of them with you. Be glad they were here in the first place."

"I- I'll try." The Collector approached Rosalina and hugged her at the waist, unsure of what they were feeling but needing the comfort anyway.

Rosalina hugged back, squeezing him a bit harder than she did last time. The Collector didn't mind.

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"Aw, are you really leaving?" Asked Polari.

"Yup! It was fun seeing you guys again, but I still have a journey that awaits me!" The Collector responded. In truth, he was scared of leaving, he didn't want to be alone again, and yet...

Rosalina spoke "Say, do you know where you are going next? There are many places nearby that we could recommend."

Polari suddenly seemed excited "Oh, oh! You should totally go to Beach Bowl Galaxy, the penguins there are really nice!"

And yet, he felt like he wasn't really alone anymore. Even if he wasn't surrounded by people, those people were not gone, and they were still his friends no matter where they were.

The Collector laughed "I don't know what penguins are but they sound fun! I'll see if I can find it."

Rosalina approached them and gently put her hands on their shoulders "Be careful out there little one."

"I will!" The Collector responded assuredly.

Rosalina smiled softly. "Remember that you can come visit us at any time during your journey."

The Collector's eyes widened "Oh yeah! I could tell you stories of my adventures and everything when I come back ! I'll try to visit as often as I can!"

The Collector snapped his fingers creating a magical star just like the one he used to get here. He sat on it and looked back at his friends. A crowd of Lumas were behind Rosalina and Polari who seemed to share the same excitement as he did.

The Collector spoke loudly so that everyone around them could hear "I'll see you guys again soon! Thank you so much for your hopitality!"

"I think you meant hospitality." Polari corrected.

"Exactly!" Being stuck in a mirror for who knows how long did not help with their vocabulary. Something they'll have to work on during their travels...

"And with that I only have one more thing to say!" And just like Eda showed him... "Byyyyeeee!" He waved as the star started to fly away from the spaceship.

The Lumas said the same thing in return and tried to wave at him with their very tiny arms.

And they might have imagined it but as they turned towards the emptiness of space they might have heard Rosalina giggle?

It was a nice sound, comforting him as he continued his daunting journey towards the unknown.

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A/N : And this is the end! Thank you so much for reading this fanfiction! It means a lot to me. If anyone is interested, I'm planning on posting an Avatar: The Last Airbender one-shot focused on Sokka next Friday. But if you're not sticking around, that's okay. I hope you all have a nice day!