Venus didn't remember the journey back to his orbit. His trajectory was automatic, hollow. The warmth that usually radiated from his core felt cold and wrong, like a star trying to pretend it wasn't dying.

He stopped in front of his usual spot, staring at nothing. The universe stretched out before him, indifferent.

A tear slipped past his defenses. Then another.

And then, out of the corner of his blurry vision, he saw a small figure drifting toward him. Mercury, the smallest of them all, approaching like he hadn't just witnessed the most vulnerable moment Venus had ever had.

Venus quickly turned his face away, wiping at his eyes with the back of his glove. Too late. Far too late.