"Huh? Sana?!"

Yami's voice on my phone was so comforting. After so long, there he was. Just for me. He was startled now, but...

"Yes." Simple word.

"Ah. Are you- are you okay?" Trying to sound casual. He could never hide his emotions.

"Yeah." In English.

"Oh, okay. Don't feel sick?"

"No."

"Okay. Just wanted to talk to me?"

"Yeah."

He sighed a heavy sigh. Relief and something else. I picked up on it.

"What're you doing?" Curious and cute, trying to get him to say the real thing. He'd never be able to resist.

"Oh, uhh..." It worked.

"Hmmm?" Too cute.

"Hey, where's Tetsu? Is he with you?" A little suspicious.

I eyed Tetsu sleeping next to me in our bed. Beyond him, the tableside clock told me it was past 2AM. His mouth was partway open, completely spent from the day. He laid on his stomach, his sweet face turned to me. Absolutely comfortable in a pile of blankets.

"Yes, he's asleep next to me."

"Ah. Okay. Just checking. I didn't want you to be stuck somewhere or-"

"Where would I be stuck?" Still keeping up the cute act.

"I don't know. The bathroom, or the hallway. Something."

"I wouldn't be stuck in those places."

"Oh, okay." He was speaking so hurriedly, like he was really trying to get it out too quickly. If I analyzed him, I knew he was nervous. Nervous about what? Me? If I analyzed further, his questions meant he cared about me. He was trying to take care of me. It made me smile for real.

"So, what are you doing now?" Trying to make an overly cute voice, like how a cat would talk.

He made a small "pfft" under his breath, barely audible. Now I was getting somewhere. "Nothing. Uh- actually, I was looking at our fan forum. I do from time to time."

"Ohh?" I tilted my head, curious. "You never used to go there. You don't even have a login." In the past, us Lyra members had made fake usernames for the forum, acting like regular fans. It got us actual interaction with them and good information. The trends, what songs were working, what they liked about our last few lives, etc. It also allowed us to just talk to them, and that was wonderful in itself. We could also start rumors, which translated into hype and excitement for what was next with us. Yami had never participated, saying that stuff wasn't important.

"Well..." Definite embarrassment. "They remind me of you."

Ohh, now I was getting somewhere. I extended my hand out, looking at the back of my hand and stretching out my fingers as if admiring nail polish. Too excited, needing to do something. "Why do they remind you of me?"

"Oh, I don't know." He made a small noise, more nervousness. "They're kind of... They get so fangirl-ly over us. You, in particular. The way they talk about you? For example, I found a thread about Yellow Lizard being on TV the other day, announcing us for the tail end of their tour. The fans are so excited. They really want you to perform. Some of them are organizing a bunch of them being there to see you. They already had tickets, but they're going to meet up there and form a unit of fans for us. They're... Well, they're not excited about the rest of Lyra. They want to see you."

I shook my head. "I'm sure they like you, too. They didn't mean that."

"No, I'm pretty sure. They were saying 'I want to see Sana, let's do something'." I was about to speak, but he went on. "They remind me of you, when you'd fanboy over Aurelia. Remember? The way you'd get excited and not be able to stop talking about her. You'd go on for hours. You'd smile so much. I bet that's what they're doing when they're writing their posts about you. They can't wait to see you." His voice was so warm. No jealousy at all. Maybe a hint of admiration.

"No way."

"No, absolutely it's true. They're your fans. I'm sure there's fans of ours, too, but these are yours. Honestly, if you think about it, can you blame them? You've been through so much in the past year. They're worried about you. Seeing you on stage... Well, it means you're okay. They need to see that."

He was right. It made me pause, staring at the mirror on top of the dresser opposite us. The moon was casting its light inside, causing me to glow a faint dark blue. The whole room had that aura. But, seeing myself. These fans wanted to see me? I was shaking my head before I could have a complete thought about it. I didn't tell him, though.

"That's wonderful. I'll give them a good show."

"Yeah?" He sounded so happy now, about this lie. Wasn't it obvious? "I will, too. I'll play the best I've ever played, better than the best. I'm going to make it our best show that we ever did. I can't let them down. I especially can't let you down."

Uncomfortableness under my skin. Why couldn't he see through this? Was he too hopeful? The reality was, there was no way to predict if I could even do these three shows. From how I'd been performing in practice, it seemed impossible. No doubt, we'd have to rehearse pretty hard before the shows. Going over things over and over again. Doing almost the drills he used to make us do as a band, going over the same hard sections over and over, repeating themselves until he was satisfied as our leader. Except, this time it'd be a stage director testing things around us as we played as a sample, or feeling out the stage, or going through our set as if there were thousands of people in front of us, unable to make a mistake. Any number of things could go wrong, and then we'd have to do it over again. We couldn't waste time.

How was I going to get through that? Practicing at home in a casual environment was tiring me out this much. How was I going to rehearse there, and move around to where we needed to go, eat unfamiliar foods, everything?

"You're quiet."

Oh.

"You're doubting yourself, aren't you? Don't forget, I know you better than anybody." The mimic of a scold, but kind-hearted. Something only he knew how to do.

"Maybe, I am."

"Don't do that. You're not alone, you know. You have all of us at your back. We'll hold you up if you think you can't do that. And the most, I'll be there keeping your rhythm. If you get unsure, listen to me. You'll get back on track."

From his gentle tone, I knew what he really meant. Our pact from so many years ago. My making him promise me that he'd encourage me to keep going, no matter what. When I'd gotten my terminal diagnosis, he was there with me. I'd shoved him away with my hands, trying to go off on my own to cry. He held my hand so tight that it hurt, no matter how much I tried to yank myself away. He let me know with that grip that we were in this together. No matter what, he literally wouldn't let me go. Not then, and not in this, either. I'd made him promise me that no matter what, how I was feeling or what happened, he'd tell me to keep going. Yell at me, call me a brat, do all the things that I hate. Make me so angry at him, that I'd do anything to make him leave me alone. And the only way to make him leave me alone was to do my best. It's all he really wanted. And my best was sometimes something I couldn't have imagined, if he hadn't been there. Like this, right here.

"Okay."

"Good. You need to go to sleep. I can hear in your voice, you're tired. Think about all of this tomorrow. We'll be at your house again. Hey, you know what? I saw there's fireworks tonight at the beach. We should all go. It'd be a fun thing to do."

"Ohh, I want to." It did sound fun.

"Good. Then, get some sleep. You can't go if you're tired."

"That's true. I'll try to sleep."

"Okay. Think of something really tiring, like running. That'd tucker you out. Where are you going to run? Think about what you'd see in that. You'll fall asleep."

"That's a really good idea." This happy feeling in my heart, after being down on myself just minutes ago.

"Yeah. Think about it. Go to sleep. I'm going to be on the fan forum for a bit."

"Did you make a login?"

"Hmmm..." He hesitated. Small sounds in his throat. "Um, yeah."

I made a little bounce in the bed, my shoulders going up. Couldn't contain myself. "What is it? I want to know it's you."

He hesitated again. "Sigma Draconis. Uh... I researched it."

Sigma Draconis. How fitting for him. Did he know?

"I like it a lot." Almost a whisper, in awe of its significance for him.

"Yeah... I know you like stars, and Lyra is all about that. I wanted to choose one...for me. I like the dragon constellation. It wraps up the whole sky."

"I think it fits you a lot."

"Yeah? Good. I thought so, too. Get some sleep, okay? You can creep on me in the fan forum later. See what I was up to."

"Okay." I gave him a cute little giggle. It made him chuckle under his breath.

"Good night."

"Good night, Yami."

He waited for me to hang up first, which he always did. I put my phone on my bedside table, and scooted down into the covers. Like this, I rolled over. As soon as my arm went around Tetsu, he made a long, pleased sound in his sleep, a kind of yawn. He didn't wake, though.

I was smiling too much. Oh, it was too perfect.

The constellation Draco. It depicted a dragon that had fought with the gods for ten years. It only took one god to tame him and render him harmless. Did he choose the star Sigma Draconis in that constellation for that purpose? Was he self aware?

As I settled in, putting my forehead on Tetsu's and feeling the warmth of his hair, I breathed a long sigh.

I could only hope it meant he was aware of his actions. Trying to be better, somehow. This could maybe be the first step.

As I closed my eyes, I started to think about running. My sneakered feet raced a marathon, all the way up to the stars in the night sky. They found the glittering tail of Draco, and began to run, each tiny star my footholds. Yami, holding me up as I tripped and stumbled, carrying me where I needed to go. Solidly there for me, just as he'd always been for years.