A bit of extra content before I leave for a trip. Enjoy!

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Orange said that he couldn't visit today because he was busy, but that there was something happening tonight that he wanted to show me. So, I haven't really done much except work on my tech and make a list of things I need to restock on soon.

Night is already falling, and I'm just hanging out in my room watching the nocturnal fish start to come out. I was wondering if Orange forgot about whatever thing it was he wanted to show me (he's done that sometimes), until I hear tapping at my base's door.

I slide down the ladder fireman style, and when I turn around I'm soaked by my fishlike friend hugging me excitedly.

"Hi Sabre!" Orange says cheerfully. "Sorry I'm late, got held up at the village."

"Orange!" I smile, returning the hug. "I was starting to think you forgot about visiting!"

"Hah, no! I couldn't possibly forget about this!" Orange laughs, letting me go. I do the same.

"So, what is it you want to show me?" I ask, wringing out my shirt a little. "Did you find something?"

"Nope! I'll explain outside, go get your swimming gear and meet me outside!" Orange says, then immediately jumps back outside the base.

What on earth is he so excited about?

A little confused, I go get my diving gear and put it on, then head outside with my Seaglide in hand to follow Orange.

When the coldness of the water subsides, Orange swims over and starts going in circles around me.

"Orange, chill out!" I say, chuckling. "What's got you so worked up?"

Orange suddenly stops and points above him.

"Look up!" Is all he says with a wide smile.

I do, and I'm amazed by the changes in the sky. I had noticed more nebulas and stars suddenly appearing a few nights before, but... nothing like this.

I swim to the surface, wanting to get a better look, and Orange zooms ahead of me. When I emerge from the ocean, I see that it's even more beautiful when not being distorted by the movement of the water.

The sky is covered in stars, much more than normal. The moon is a pastel mix of a crystalline blue and purple. Nebulae and faraway planets are visible in the night sky, as if I'm peering into space itself. There's so many stars, the amount of little lights in the sky is almost 50/50 with the blank space around them. The oceanic planet is so bright now, it's not that difficult to see anything. I can see the islands a few miles away clearly despite the nighttime.

"Wow..." I gasp, taking in the beauty of the odd night.

"I know, right?!" Orange exclaims. "This happens once a year, and it's a celebration of our people! It's called the Luminous Twilight, and there's usually festivals in big towns and villages for it!"

"Why aren't you at one, then?" I ask, looking at him. "Wouldn't the Orange Village be holding one right now?"

"Well, I don't really like the festival part." Orange says, laughing awkwardly. "The Orange Village is nice, but... you've met 'em. It gets hectic over there."

"So... you just spend the celebration alone?"

"I guess. Even Red would have somewhere to go, would say he had friends that celebrated differently since they live pretty isolated from everyone. It'd be weird if I joined in on another village's celebrations, sooo I just set up my own thing every year."

Orange stays silent for a moment, staring at the sky. He then gets an excited smile on his face and grasps my shoulder.

"But hey, we both don't have anywhere else to celebrate, so I can take you my little festival hideout!" Orange says, grinning. "That's what I left early to do, so I could get everything ready in time!"

"Oh, wow, thanks Orange!" I smile back, feeling honored. It's not every day an alien of a whole different species invites you to celebrate one of their holidays with them. "What are we waiting for them? Lead the way!"

Orange lets go and starts to swim in a seemingly random direction, and I follow after him. We spend a long while swimming, and he points out constellations and nebulae that only appear tonight, which I make a mental note of. I'm going to have a field day with the observatory I'll soon be able to build.

We eventually reach a small island, and Orange hops up onto shore. He helps me out of the water, and starts running to the hill nearby.

"Follow me!" He calls out. "You can take off your helmet by the way, we're not going back underwater for a bit!"

I do so as I follow, wondering what he's leading me to. I run up the hill behind him, Orange occasionally looking back to make sure I'm following.

We stop when we reach the peak, and I look around in shock as Orange happily runs around the little areas he's made.

There's a few blankets laid on the ground, and wood and metal scrap pieces making tall supports holding lanterns on top of them. Wrapped around these supports are things that resemble fairy lights. Little dried bits of kelp are folded into stars like origami, and scattered around the hilltop. There's a flat piece of driftwood acting as a plate for what sort of looks like mooncakes.

"Tada!" Orange says, presenting the small area. "My own little spot to see the falling stars! Whatcha think?"

"Orange, this is awesome!" I say, smiling as I walk over.

Orange sits down on the blankets, and I do the same. As I look around, I notice Orange takes one of the mooncake-things and bites into it.

"What are those?" I ask, looking at the odd, wrapped food.

"These are luniclos, a dessert made just for the Luminous Twilight! They're basically little cakes mostly made of farefruit and edible kelp, with different fillings. I just made a filling out of more farefruit. Nothing you can't eat, so it's safe for you to try one! They're pretty good."

It takes me a second to remember that 'farefruit' is what the Steves call marblemelons. I pick up one of the luniclos and observe it for a minute before biting into it. It's sweet, kind of has the same texture as a cupcake, the kelp wrapping makes a nice salty-sweet combination, and is (as I expected) a little soggy. But not bad.

"Told you they're good." Orange smiles.

I laugh, and we start to talk for a little bit. I remember something he said earlier.

"Hey Orange, you said something about falling stars? What's that about?" I ask.

"That's the highlight of the celebration!" Orange says excitedly. "At the end of the night, tons of falling stars come by the planet, and they're all sorts of colors unlike normal falling stars!"

Orange looks up at the sky again.

"My people believe that the colorful stars are the souls of the ones who passed this year on their way to their next life." He says. "Do your people believe in anything about the stars?

"I don't really believe in reincarnation that much, but there's a lot of things about the stars where I'm from." I answer, looking up too. "The main one is that shooting stars grant wishes."

"Wishes?" Orange says, amazed. "That sounds so cool..."

"It is." I say. "It actually worked for me, once. Wishing on a star."

"Really? What was it?"

"That my friends and I would get the jobs at Alterra we were hoping for. Ever since then, it's never worked."

"That was a good wish, though."

"Eh... kind of regretting it now..."

We both stay silent for a little while.

Then, Orange suddenly jumps up and points at the sky.

"Look!" He shouts. "It's starting!"

Sure enough, Orange is pointing at a shooting star. It's a green one, which is something I've never seen before.

In seconds, the sky is filled with shooting stars. Colors of the rainbow fly by as we both gaze at them in awe. I notice Orange scouring the sky for something for a while. He then watches as a red star goes by.

"There he is." He whispers. I don't think he knows I heard him.

We watch the stars for what feels like forever. Watching the flurry of colors, I decide to try giving my people's belief in the stars another shot.

I stare at the collection of colorful stars, hoping it'll be enough.

I wish being here would always be as wonderful as this.