Xavier's 24th Birthday
"Come ON, Xavier! You can't refuse me today!"
Nana had been planning this for weeks. Xavier's birthday—according to his official documents, at least—was today, and she was determined to celebrate it properly.
He'd tried to refuse.
Multiple times. Said he didn't celebrate birthdays, that it wasn't important, that he'd rather just have a quiet evening at home.
But Nana was nothing if not persistent. And lately, with Xavier growing weaker and paler by the day, she'd become almost desperate to create happy memories. To make sure he knew he was cared for, celebrated, important.
To make sure that if something happened to him—and she was terrified something would—he'd at least have this.So she'd dragged him out to Linkon's central park, to the area near the ornate fountain where fairy lights twinkled in the trees and the sound of water created a peaceful backdrop.
She'd bought a small cake from his favorite bakery—red bean paste filling, because she'd noticed he had a weakness for it.
And she'd asked him to dress nicely.
"Like we're going somewhere fancy," she'd insisted.
Xavier had emerged from his apartment in a formal suit that stole Nana's breath.
He looked... ethereal. Like something from a fairytale, a prince who'd stepped out of a storybook. The suit was pale silver-gray, perfectly tailored to his frame, with intricate details that caught the light. A star-shaped brooch at his collar. Another decorative star pin on his jacket. His silver hair styled carefully, his blue eyes reflecting the fountain's lights.
He looked beautiful. And impossibly sad.Like he was dressing up for a funeral instead of a birthday celebration.
"You look amazing,"
Nana had said, her voice catching slightly.
Xavier had smiled—that careful, controlled smile that broke her heart.
"So do you, Starlight."
Now they sat on a bench near the fountain, the small cake between them with a single candle flickering in the evening breeze. Nana had tears streaming down her face, and she wasn't even sure why.
"Happy birthday, Xavier!"
She tried to inject cheerfulness into her voice, but it came out watery.
"Make a wish!"
Xavier stared at the candle for a long moment, his expression distant. What did he wish for, she wondered? What could someone who looked that sad possibly want?.
More time, Xavier thought desperately. Just a little more time with her. Let me see her smile a few more days. Let me protect her a little longer. Let me—
He blew out the candle.
"What did you wish for?"
Nana asked, wiping her tears with the back of her hand.
"If I tell you, it won't come true."
"That's superstition!"
"Maybe." Xavier's smile turned genuine for a moment.
"But I'd rather not risk it."
Nana cut the cake with exaggerated care, presenting Xavier with the first piece. But then, as was becoming their tradition, she immediately took a huge bite of her own piece and made a noise of pure happiness.
"Oh my god, this is SO GOOD!"
Tears were still falling, now mixing with cake crumbs on her face.
"Xavier, you have to try it! It's—"
She stuffed more cake in her mouth.
"It's amazing!"
Xavier watched her with such fondness it made his chest ache. Some things never changed. In every lifetime, every era, every version of her—she always ate with this same enthusiasm. Always got food on her face. Always made him smile despite everything.
"Starlight,"
he said gently, reaching out to wipe cake crumbs from her cheek with his thumb.
"You're crying and eating at the same time. That's a new talent."
"Happy tears!"
Nana insisted through her mouthful.
"I'm just—I'm happy we're doing this. Together. Your first birthday celebration with me!"
Not my first, Xavier thought. We celebrated my twenty-One birthday in Philos. My twenty-three the Qing Dynasty. But you don't remember those. You never remember.
"Thank you,"
he said instead.
"For insisting. For dragging me out here. For—" His voice caught. "For caring."
"Of course I care! You're my..."
Nana paused, seeming to struggle with how to finish that sentence. Friend? Neighbor? Something more?.
"You're important to me."
And you're everything to me. You always have been.
Xavier stood suddenly, extending his hand with a formal bow that looked like it came from another century.
"Dance with me?"
Nana blinked, cake forgotten. "What? Here? Now?"
"Why not? It's my birthday. Humor me."
His smile was bittersweet.
"I want to give you something to remember. Something beautiful."
There was something in his tone—something final—that made Nana's throat tight. But she took his hand, let him pull her to her feet.
"I don't know how to dance," she warned.
"I'll teach you. Just follow my lead."
There was no music, just the sound of the fountain and distant city noise.
But Xavier moved with such grace it didn't matter. He placed one hand on her waist, held her other hand in his, and began to guide her through steps that seemed to come from another era entirely.
He danced like a prince. Like someone who'd been trained in formal ballrooms, who'd attended royal celebrations, who belonged in palaces instead of city parks.
He danced like starlight made physical—graceful and ethereal and impossibly beautiful.
Nana stumbled, stepped on his feet, apologized profusely. But Xavier just smiled and guided her gently, patiently, never once showing annoyance.
"You've done this before,"
Nana said, trying to keep up with his elegant movements. "This isn't just casual dancing. You're... you're really good at this."
"I've had practice."
Xavier's hand tightened slightly on her waist, pulling her closer. "A long time ago. Another life, it feels like."
"Did you dance with her? The person who gave you the tassels?"
Xavier's expression flickered with pain and fondness.
"Yes. Many times. She stepped on my feet then too."
Nana pouted, not sure why the thought of Xavier dancing with some mysterious woman from his past made her chest tight with jealousy.
"Well, I hope I'm better than her!"
You ARE her, Xavier thought. Every version of you steps on my feet. Every version apologizes. Every version makes me love you more.They danced until Nana was breathless and laughing, until the moon had risen fully and the park was quiet except for them.
When they finally stopped, both slightly dizzy, they collapsed back onto the bench.
Nana found herself staring at her palm—at the star-shaped mark that had been there since birth. It was glowing faintly, pulsing with soft light. It always did that when Xavier was close, she'd noticed. Like it was responding to him somehow.
She grabbed Xavier's hand, examining his palm. No mark. But when she pressed their palms together—hers with the star, his without—the glow intensified.
"Xavier,"
Nana said slowly. "What is this? This mark. It glows around you. Only you. Why?"
Xavier's expression shuttered closed.
"I don't know."
"Liar."
Nana's eyes met his.
"You know something. About me. About this mark. About..."
She gestured vaguely.
"About everything. You look at me sometimes like you know me better than I know myself. Like you're remembering things I can't."
Xavier was quiet for a long moment. When he spoke, his voice was carefully neutral.
"What if I told you we've known each other longer than three months?"
"How much longer?"
"Much longer. Lifetimes longer."
Nana should have laughed. Should have dismissed it as Xavier being dramatic or mysterious. But something in her chest resonated with his words. Something that felt like truth.
"The dreams," she whispered.
"I've been having dreams lately. Fragments. Blue eyes crying over me. A voice calling me 'Starlight.' Dying in someone's arms. Xavier—" Her hand tightened on his. "Am I going crazy?"
"No." Xavier's thumb traced over the star mark on her palm.
"You're remembering. Finally. After all this time."
"Remembering what?"
"Us. In other lives. Other times."
Xavier's voice was raw now, all pretense dropped.
"Nana, what if I told you I've loved you for centuries? That I've watched you die three times already? That I'm cursed to find you, love you, and lose you over and over?"
Nana's breath caught. This should sound insane. Should be impossible.
But it felt true.
"The tassels," she said slowly.
"On your sword. In your apartment. I asked about them earlier. You said someone important gave them to you."
"Yes."
"It was me, wasn't it? Different versions of me. Different lifetimes."
"Yes."
Nana's mind was reeling. "But why don't I remember? Why do you remember everything and I—"
"Because you die."
Xavier's voice broke. "Every time. At twenty-two years old. One day before your twenty-third birthday. You die in my arms, and I'm left to remember. To wait decades or centuries for you to be reborn. To find you again. To fall in love again. To lose you again."
Tears were streaming down Nana's face now.
"That's... that's horrible. Xavier, that's—"
"It's my curse. My punishment for choosing you over my kingdom, over my duty, over everything"
Xavier cupped her face gently.
"And I'd do it again. Every single time. Because loving you—even knowing how it ends—is still worth every moment of grief."
"But I'm nineteen now," Nana said, her voice small. "That means I have three more years until—"
"Until the curse takes you. Yes."
Xavier's thumb wiped away her tears.
"Three more years of borrowed time. Three more years where I get to see you smile, hear you laugh, watch you live."
Nana was quiet, processing. Then:
"I made you something. For your birthday."
She pulled out a small wrapped package from her bag. "I wanted to give you a star tassel too. Since you seem to collect them."
She unwrapped it to reveal a plush star—bright yellow, soft, with "XAVIER" carefully embroidered on it. Hand-made with obvious care and effort.
"I know it's not as fancy as the old ones," Nana said shyly. "And it's not for your sword, it's more like a keychain or decoration. But I wanted—I wanted you to have something from this lifetime too. From this version of me. So you'd remember—"
She stopped as Xavier's expression crumbled completely. He took the plush star with trembling hands, held it against his chest, and started crying—really crying, not the silent tears but broken sobs.
"Xavier!"
Nana wrapped her arms around him. "What's wrong? Don't you like it?"
"I love it." Xavier's voice was muffled against her shoulder. "I love it more than you know. Nana—" He pulled back to look at her face. "You've given me a star tassel in every lifetime. Every single one. Like it's tradition. Like your soul remembers even when your mind doesn't."
"Then why are you crying?"
"Because I'm fading." The words spilled out, finally. "My power is dying. Philos—my original kingdom—is calling me back. In a few weeks, maybe a month, I'll turn into stardust and return to the stars. And this time—"
His voice broke.
"This time you're not the one dying. I am. For the first time in centuries, I'm the one leaving you."
Nana's world tilted. "What?"
"I'm dying, Starlight. And there's nothing I can do to stop it."
"No."
Nana shook her head frantically.
"No, that's—we'll find a way. We'll go to doctors, we'll—"
"It's not a medical condition. It's cosmic law. I was never meant to stay on Earth this long. I'm a star pretending to be human, and eventually, stars have to go home."
"But I just got you!"
Nana's voice cracked.
"I just started understanding—started remembering—Xavier, you can't leave me! Not now! Not when I'm finally—"
She stopped, realizing what she'd been about to say.
Not when I'm finally falling in love with you.
But Xavier understood anyway. He always did.
"I know,"
he whispered, pressing his forehead against hers. "I know, Starlight. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."
They sat together on the bench, holding each other, crying together as the fountain played its endless song and the stars watched with cold indifference.Xavier carefully removed the old tassel from his sword and replaced it with Nana's plush star. The bright yellow looked absurd next to his deadly weapon, but he didn't care. This was hers. This was his Starlight's gift in their fourth lifetime together.
And it would be the last thing he held when he faded into stardust.
"You're always important to me, Nana,"
Xavier said softly, echoing her earlier words. "In every life. In every death. In every moment between. You're my Starlight. My reason for existing. My—"
"Your curse,"
Nana finished bitterly.
"My blessing." Xavier corrected.
"Yes, losing you hurts. But knowing you? Loving you? That's worth any amount of pain."
Nana looked down at the star mark on her palm, glowing bright in the darkness.
"Will you come back? After you fade? Will I find you again?"
"I don't know. I've always been the one searching for you. I don't know if it works in reverse. If you'll remember to look. If the universe will let us find each other when I'm the one who's died."
"Then I'll search," Nana said fiercely. "I'll search every lifetime. Every star. Every corner of the universe if I have to. Xavier—"
She gripped his hand.
"You didn't give up on me across centuries. I'm not giving up on you now."
Xavier smiled through his tears.
"That's my Starlight. Always so determined. Always fighting impossible odds."
They stayed in the park until late, talking about lifetimes Nana was just beginning to remember, about loves that transcended death, about curses and choices and the price of rebelling against fate.
And when Xavier finally walked Nana home, when he tucked the bright yellow star plush into his pocket right next to his heart, when he kissed her forehead and whispered
"happy birthday to me, for getting one more day with you"
Nana realized that loving someone wasn't about how much time you had.
It was about making every moment count.
Even if those moments were numbered.
Even if goodbye was coming faster than either of them wanted.
Even if stars eventually had to return to the sky.
.
.
.
.
.
⭐⭐⭐
To be continued __