Yixing shone bright, powerful moves lit the night sky in bursts of light. Other stars glanced in awe as they danced, amazed by his performance and display; it only would’ve looked like twinkling from down on earth.

Luhan matched his moves, smiling at his friend from afar.

“You’re practically on fire” Luhan joked

“He’s a machine” Kris said

Yixing smiled, looking down at earth

“It looks so bright from up here”

“Don’t linger on it, Yixing” Kris said, looking disgusted

“People down there are selfish and greedy and violent. Just focus on the skies. It’s your home” Luhan said

Yixing nodded.

He continued to dance effortlessly, no limits in the empty space that was his home; no up, no down, no floor, no roof, no walls. He felt free, but it was never enough. He wanted to explore, to see the rest of the galaxy, to see earth from a different angle.

He sighed at the thought of being able to see something new.

Just as he let out another burst of powerful light, he felt a pain shoot through him. Had he injured himself? Another wave of pain hit him, so strong it caused him to double over in pain, curling into a floating ball of light.

“Yixing? What’s wrong?” Luhan called over as he watched his friend concern

Yixing groaned in pain and Luhan flew to his side.

“What’s going on?” Kris called

Luhan placed a hand on his arm “Yixing?”

Luhan’s eyes widened as he felt Yixing’s skin grow colder, colour drained from his skin, the usual bright glow fading to a light shimmering on his pale skin. Luhan withdrew his hand in shock.

Yixing slowly unfurled himself, feeling weaker than ever. He looked over to Luhan who stood right by him, his eyes wide, and Kris who had just made his way over. Several other stars around him had also paused and were all staring at him.

“W-what happened?” Yixing asked meekly

Kris gave him a look of disgust, “you were punished for your fondness of earth” he says coldly

The other stars gave him disappointed or scornful looks, some even hissing ‘Moon Child’ at him. Yixing looked down, bearing his palms out to look at them and noticing how dull the glow was in his skin. He noticed how cold he felt compared to before. As what had happened hit him, he looked around, seeing how alone he really was. All eyes were on him. He looked to Kris

“You can’t really think that, I never went near earth, I’ve always been up here dancing, you know that.” Yixing tried to reason

“Maybe so, but what are you now? Look at yourself. You’re no use here” Kris says

Some of the others stars yell out their agreement. Yixing turns to Luhan in desperation

“Luhan?” he calls meekly

Luhan’s starry eyes sparkled with sadness as he looked at Yixing, but he said nothing, averting his eyes.

The betrayal pierced at Yixing’s heart as he looked around at the friends that had so suddenly turned their back on him.

Every night Yixing spent in the moon’s shadow, hiding in the darkness where none of the other stars would see him. Now he had his freedom to explore the galaxy, to see earth. But it meant nothing when he was alone.

Every day he found himself venturing a little closer, trying to strain against its gravitational pull. One day he got close enough to see these humans for himself. He watched every night, searching for some sort of exception, some kindness. He wanted to show the others that they were wrong. He wanted to show that his curiosity was not out of line.

But for every kindness he managed to find some sort of wrong-doing to balance it. Eventually he stopped seeing the kindness, he only saw people acting out only because they wanted something in return.

He eventually stopped searching.

He walked on the darker side of the moon, watching the earth from a distance. He had to get used to walking, he’d hardly walked on a surface his whole life.

He was getting used to the cold. The loneliness. He never saw another moon child other than himself. It had been a long time since on existed. He continued to watch the earth from some distance when one day he picked up the twinkle of starlight.

He was intrigued and hopeful, coming down to find the human that held starlight. It was a girl. She walked through the park, shining bright, brighter than any other star he’d seen. He watched as she kneeled by the small body of water. She let her hands sink into the water. What was she doing? Was she not in pain? More curious than ever, he came closer, he could feel the pull of the earth, threatening to drag him down but he managed to stay afloat. He listened as she cried to herself silently.

“I will try. If it takes forever I will try until I can come back to you. I won’t hurt you again”

She held a small photo in one hand.

Yixing watched as she shoved it into her pocket and walked away. He couldn’t understand why, but seeing her walk away left him with a heavy heart.

He stayed closer from that point on, watching as she returned each night. She always did the same thing; try to douse the fire that burnt in her skin, and then try to touch something living: a leaf, a flower, a blade of grass, but each night they burnt up in her hand. And each night the earth beckoned him, the moon whispered to him; ‘go to her’ she tempted him.

‘I can send you there; make you human for a full cycle. She has given you proof of human kindness. Return the favour. Help her.’

The moon whispered to him every night. And for a long time, he ignored it.