A late Perseid. The last of the summer meteors. But it seemed like a blessing.
"Quick, quick, wish," Mark was telling Jade eagerly. "A wish on that star you gotta get."
Mary-Lynnette glanced at his excited face, at theway his eyes shone with excitement. Beside him, Jade was clapping, her own eyes wide with delight.
I'm so glad you're happy, Mary-Lynnette thought. My wish for you came true. So now maybe I can wish for myself.
I wish ... I wish ...
Ash turned around and smiled at her. "See you next year," he said. "With slain dragons!"
He started down the weed-strewn path to the road. For a moment, in the deep violet twilight, he did look to Mary-Lynnette like a knight walking off ona quest. A knight-errant with shining blond hair and no weapons, going off into a very dark and dangerous wilderness. Then he turned around and walked backward, waving, which ruined the effect.
Everyone shouted goodbyes.
Mary-Lynnette could feel them around her, her brother and her three blood-sisters, all radiating warmth and support. Playful Jade. Fierce Kestrel. Wise and gentle Rowan. And Mark, who wasn't sullen and solitary anymore. Tiggy wound himselfaround her ankles, purring amiably.
"Even when we're apart, we'll be looking at the same sky!" Ash yelled.
"What a line," Mary-Lynnette called back. But hewas right. The sky would be there for both of them.She'd alwaysknow hewas out there somewhere,looking up at it in wonder. Just knowing that was important. And she was clear on who she was at last. Shewas Mary-Lynnette, and someday she'd discover a supernova or a comet or a black hole, but she'd doit as a human. And Ash would come back next year.
And she would always love the night.
[The End]