Ten Years Later
"Nova!" A little voice called out from below. "Hollis!"
Grinning, Nova raised an eyebrow as Hollis chuckled to himself and walked to the wooden terrace of their home, and stood at the edge, looking across the tangle of vines and wooden bridges that interconnected each tree house to another. Some higher, some lower, wherever the trees naturally bent.
What once was the land of Hybern and became Valkyrie Island, morphed into the Dusk Court. While the Valkyries, their protectors, trained on the North side of the island, the people of the Dusk Court inhabited the South. It was an ever-growing city among branches, protected by magic to prevent hazards that, over the last few years, had ailed them. There was nothing quite like the panic of watching a strike of lightning envelop one of the structures in flames.
Rhys grinned as he snuck up behind the four-year-old and snatched him up into his arms, chuckling at his squeal of laughter. "You know better than to run off just yet, Nyx. You could fall."
Hugging his neck, he giggled, "But Uncle Az says I have to fall to fly."
Azriel, arm around Ana's waist, cringed as he rubbed the back of his neck from the ground below. "I may have given the wrong impression in our last lesson."
"Hm," Nova glanced over her shoulder at Hollis, who tied his boot and joined her on the terrace with a smile. His shock of white hair was a bit ruffled from their earlier escapades. "Have you heard from your parents?"
"They're on their way."
Nyx cupped his hands around his mouth and called to them. "Is it time yet?!"
"Not yet," Nova grinned and looked up at the sky. "The sun isn't setting yet."
Dramatically flopping in his father's arms, he burst into a fit of giggles as Bran dropped from one of the trees above and landed with impeccable accuracy beside them. "Adira's returned. She found it."
"Oh, good," Nova sighed with relief and walked across the bridge with ease, though it swayed beneath her feet. "Does it work?"
"No!" Finch shouted from the ground and grinned up at Nova with a little wave, "Hey Starfish," which was promptly followed by an umph and a corrective, "Yes!" from Adira.
"It works perfectly fine, thank you. I tweaked out all the bugs…" She looked down at the device. "I think…"
"What is it?" Nyx asked curiously, now, head upside down to get a better view.
"It's something the humans thought of," Adira replied, then proudly stated, "But I perfected it. Mine won't show us in only shades of gray."
Feyre smiled as she approached, taking Nyx as he practically jumped into her arms, "What are we waiting for?"
"Kallais and Viviane aren't here yet."
"We are!" Vivaine grinned, approaching through the trees with their feet on the ground, hand-in-hand.
"Well, if everyone's here," Adira took command of telling everyone where to go, no matter their status.
Nova descended the stairs and embraced Nesta, who had arrived with Cassian just before her parents had. "Are Elain and Lucien still coming?"
"Hm, they said they'll come next time," Nesta nodded, squeezing her wrists. "She's been up all night, can't keep anything down, I'm afraid."
Cringing, she understood wholeheartedly. "We'll just have to visit them, then."
"She'd love that."
Moving together, under Adira's order, she coerced her parents into it as well, saying, 'No stone should be left unturned. '
Hollis chuckled against Nova's ear as he muttered, "She'll be taking pictures all night, you know."
"Cauldron, help us." Nova returned with a playful grin
She was met with Adira's narrow-eyed scowl, "I heard that. Now smile."
They didn't have to force it, as they were pushed to the brink of laughter. Side by side and arms around each other, they all grinned in the direction of Adira, who fastened her device on a standing stick and leapt toward them.
While their numbers were small, they all had much to give.
Sheila and Atlas, among twelve other members of the Court of Nightmares who had since had five children among the couples that arrived, stood crowded on top of each other. Happier than they'd ever been. Though Kole was careful to ensure no one got too close to Kyra as she held their little one against her chest, sleeping soundly among the chaos.
Eira, pressed between Azriel and Ana, tried to smile, but immediately cringed as Mor and Amren pouted at the camera.
Still smiling, Sara asked Cyprus through unmoving cheeks and clenched teeth, "Did we do it?"
Just then, the flash kicked, followed by a plume of smoke above.
"Dammit!" Adira groaned, and Nieve smirked as she let go of her waist to look at her faulty invention. She waved her hand at them while she fiddled. "Go on then, I'll see if I can fix it for later."
They all released their smiles, cheeks aching as they dispersed, sharing giggles at Adira's expense.
"Need any help?" Nova asked, raising a brow.
"Do you know how film works?"
"Nope." She grinned, and though Adira was mildly irritated, she smirked at her in return.
"Oh…go in a tree."
Laughing, Nova took Hollis's hand. "Gladly."
She looked to the sky, listening to the sounds of nature begin to dampen with the sun. Glancing at Hollis with a raised brow, she asked, "Ready?"
"Is it time?" Nyx asked with wide, expectant eyes.
Hollis nodded and grinned, "It's time."
Each year since their first, the year they completed construction of their city of trees, they celebrated with lights.
"Can I go up with you this time?" Nyx asked, tugging on the pants of Nova's armor.
Glancing at their parents with silent permission, she smiled at their nod of approval and swooped Nyx up into her arms and then onto her back, where he wrapped his little arms around her shoulders.
Her green siphons glittered in dusk's light as she and Hollis climbed the ladders to get to their bungalow-style home. Everyone followed them, taking one path or another, to be high above the ground and among the trees where the magic happened.
Nova, settling on the roof of their house, let Nyx sit in her lap while Hollis took the space beside her. She smiled over at him, meeting his gentle blue eyes, and kissed him gently. As he leaned away, he didn't pull his gaze from hers as the sky lit with light, the sun nearing the horizon.
Tilting her head back to watch the aurora, a soft sigh of wonder escaped Nyx as he reached a hand up, as if to touch the colors that danced.
"Do you like them?" Hollis asked, smiling as he continued to paint the sky with dazzling pinks and purples that shimmered with greens and blues.
"I love them," Nyx whispered, "I just hope the stars don't think it's time to fall yet. That already happened this year. I don't want them to get lost."
Smiling, Nova shook her head, "Stars can't be lost."
"Really?" He asked, looking up at her with sparkling, violet eyes. His little wings ruffled with the wind.
"Really," Nova whispered back, and then looked out at the rest of their Court, wrapped in each other's embrace as they let themselves be mesmerized by the sky's beauty, and she thought of Peter.
How he would have loved sitting on the roof, laughing and eating the sticky buns Finch made for the occasion.
"Nova, are you okay?"
Looking down, she smiled softly at her little brother. He stared at her with concern as another tear rolled down her face. "I'm alright," she squeezed him in a gentle hug. "Do you know why the stars can't get lost?"
"Why?"
"They're so bright, they always find their way home. And even when you can't see them...they're never really gone."
Nyx grinned and looked up at the stars that twinkled beyond the lights, just as Nova let a swell of her magic fill the air, and all the trees surrounding them burst forth with glowing fireflies that took to the skies.
Clapping his hands, Nyx grinned as he looked all around them as they hovered all around, blinking like winks in the night.
"Remember," Nova said gently, and helped Nyx hold his hand out, "They're fragile and you don't want to scare them. You let them come to you, and when they're ready, they'll fly away."
As one landed in his hands, he leaned down and gave it a small kiss before it blinked twice and flew away. He watched after it in awe, sighing softly as he lost it in a sea of quiet light.
Smiling, Nova glanced at Hollis, who was watching her with fond affection. Intertwining their fingers, they gazed up at the sky and let themselves be absorbed by the wonder they'd created.
From afar, the Night Court and the Winter Court, settled along a swinging bridge, smiled as they watched their Star and their Snowflake embrace dusk's last light.