Secret Admirer

Purple eyes gaze at the boy longingly. The young angel walks along the long corridor wrapping around the beautiful atrium as he watches the silver-haired boy move from a patch of flowers to a stone bench. Remaining behind the glassed-in corridor and in the shadows, the angel observes the boy. Watching every move the boy makes intently, the angel tilts his head to one side as he gazes at the star tenderly.

He longs to meet the boy. He longs to hear his voice intimately, to hold him, to take in every aspect of the boy. But his duties keep him in the shadows, forever protecting him from afar. Oh, how he longs to see his smile up close. His observation of the small star is interrupted when a voice calls, "Hey, Kilo!"

The angel instantly whips around and places his finger on his lips, warning the approaching lieutenant to be quiet.

"Sorry," Lennox apologizes as he reaches his comrade. "What is he doing?"

Kilo and the lieutenant look back into the atrium to see the star playing with a butterfly.

"Do you need something?" Kilo asks in a low voice. He has never been the fondest of speaking.

"Oh, yeah. We need you to help escort an ambassador from Earth."

"Why is an ambassador from Earth in Ithyos?" Kilo crinkles his brows. Ithyos is not a trading city nor a center for defense. The only thing remotely important in Ithyos is its star. "What's going on?" Kilo becomes tense as he grows suspicious. Ambassadors hardly ever mingle with young stars.

"We're not sure. Our COs (commanding officers) wouldn't tell us anything. I figured you should come, though, since you are-" The lieutenant is cut off when Kilo begins walking towards the space station where the ambassador will be entering Ithyos. "Yeeaah, okay, I guess you're going," Lennox sighs as he begins following his fellow lieutenant down the hallway and out of the residence.

Kilo hates to leave the star alone, but he needs to find out what this ambassador needs in Ithyos. Little does he know that a certain someone is waiting for this moment: waiting for Kilo to leave his star.

"Lieutenant Kilo," a golden-haired angel greets the young lieutenant.

"Commander," Kilo salutes respectfully as he and Lennox arrive at the space station.

"Thank you for joining us. I know you wish to be present at all things regarding Ithyos' star."

"Yes, sir."

The commander nods in approval at the young lieutenant's determination to protect his star. Kilo and his comrade wait patiently for the ambassador to appear through the gate of arrivals. The officers awaiting the esteemed guest immediately straighten their backs and stand with their left arm bent at the elbow behind their back while their right is stationed against their abdomen, fisted rigidly.

As soon as the figure of the ambassador appears around the corner, a rapid beeping sounds, breaking Kilo's stiff stance. The angel brings his left wrist up to see the notification sounding from his device.

"No," Kilo says breathily. Fear consumes him as he sees the distress signal from the star pulsing red.

"What is it?" Lennox inquires.

Without a word, Kilo leaves his duties and begins sprinting through the space station. He can hear Lennox and his CO calling after him and warning him of the consequences, but Kilo keeps running. Once a request has been accepted, there is no going back. Your word has been given. But Kilo is ready to give it all if it means he can save the star. And he will.

<<<<<>>>>>

"Daydreaming again?" A voice asks.

"Hmm?" Castyr looks around the garden as a man steps out from behind a tree. "Who are-"

"I am Marc, a humble traveler," the man answers quickly, a little too quickly.

"Oh," Castyr blinks his big, deep-blue eyes and continues looking at the flowers. Castyr is unused to visitors, so he does not know how he should react. Should he show his excitement at meeting a new person? Or should he keep his cool? The latter is chosen. He does not want to scare his new visitor when they have just met.

"You are?"

"Castyr," the boy answers bluntly.

"Are you the star of this region?"

The boy nods.

"Do you stay in here most of the time?"

Castyr nods.

"Would you like to go somewhere?"

This grabs the boy's attention. He sits up and looks at the man. It is not often that he gets to venture out.

A smirk appears on the man's lips. "I have business on Earth and happen to have an extra ticket. Would you like to come along?" The man sets his trap.

The innocent boy nods excitedly. "When do you leave?"

"We can go now. The craft is ready."

The boy nods happily and jumps to his feet. As soon as the boy reaches Marc, the man covers the boy with a cape to hide his glow.

"What is this for?" The boy asks.

"It is winter on Earth. It'll be cold," the man lies as he pulls the hood over the boy's head.

The boy naively follows the traveler out of the garden. The man leads the boy out of the star's residence, through the city, and into the space station. The duo weaves through the sea of travelers as the man lures the innocent star to a private branch in the station where a private space craft is docked, where smugglers and wanted men await the star.

"So what business do you have on Earth?" The boy asks as they leave the public sector of the station, his voice a little deeper than normal. Castyr may be innocent, but he is not dumb. Luckily, the boy caught the sly smile the man gave when he pulled the hood over his head.

"I am a trader. I have an exchange with a merchant on Earth."

"What do you trade?" The boy nonchalantly presses the 'distress' button on the bracelet around his wrist. <Please come.> Castyr is aware that he has guards who watch over him and is praying that they can save him from his dangerous love of adventure. <So this is why they teach you 'stranger danger.'>

"Oh, just some valuable goods." The man's sensitive ears hear the activation of the bracelet. He whips around, startling the boy. Castyr gasps as the man rips the bracelet off his wrist and throws it on the ground. In the next second, the man grabs the boy and begins dragging him towards the craft.

"HELP! HE-" The boy's mouth is covered, stopping his cry for help.

"They said you were too young to know!" The kidnapper growls.

Castyr sinks his teeth into his captor's hand, drawing a cry of pain from the man. Castyr immediately begins struggling with the man only to get a strike to the face. The pain stuns Castyr. He has never felt pain like this. The most he has ever felt is from accidentally pricking his finger on a thorny flower. This pain is new and cruel. Castyr fights the tears naturally filling his eyes as he tries to get free from Marc.

Marc tightens his hold around Castyr as he drags him towards the craft. The boy watches helplessly as the craft grows nearer and nearer. Just as his hope of rescue begins to fade away, a bullet shoots through the man's leg as they reach the craft. The door to the craft opens as a young angel rushes into the hangar. The boy struggles free from the man and immediately starts toward the hangar entrance.

"Get the kid!" The injured man commands. Four smugglers exit the craft and begin chasing the star.

"Castyr!" Kilo calls the star.

The star looks up at the angel as a smuggler grabs him. Kilo fires at the advancing smugglers as the star struggles with his captor.

Meanwhile, the injured man crawls into the craft. "Start the engines!" He orders the pilot.

"Help!" Castyr pleads as he is brought to the craft.

Kilo hears the star's plea but cries out as he is shot in the shoulder. He finally is able to fight through his attackers as the star is thrown into the craft.

"Restrain him!"

The boy is held down as the door begins to close and the craft disembarks from the branch. The angel runs and leaps off the edge of the branch. Midair, he draws his sword and stabs it into the side of the craft. The angel uses that force to swing his body up, pulling his sword out as he lands on top of the craft. As soon as his feet hit the metal exterior, Kilo plunges his sword through the roof.

"He's going to tear the craft apart!"

"Blow it! Kill the star!" Marc shouts. He would rather kill both himself and the star than return empty-handed.

A bomb is set as the angel slashes a hole in the craft. He draws his gun and shoots the captors holding Castyr with expert aim. By this time, the craft has left the station and is approaching the vast void of space.

Kilo reaches his arm down after tossing the gun aside. The star grabs the angel's hand and is effortlessly pulled through the hole. Kilo catches Castyr in his arms as he kicks off from the craft. The bomb explodes, and the angel covers the star with his body.

Knocked unconscious, the angel and star fall from the Heavens to adventures and dangers unknown.