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artificialqueens · 2 years

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You Must Be My Lucky Star (Rosnali) - Athena2

Summary: Rosé heads off on a journey to capture a fallen star so the man she loves will marry her, only to grow closer with the star than she imagined.

A/N: Hi everyone! It's been a while (working full time sucks), but I'm so happy to finally finish this. It's based on Stardust, with a lot of the plot simplified, so you don't need to be familiar with it. I first had this idea last year and never thought I would finish it, but I brought it up on a tumblr ask a few months ago and got some amazing support that encouraged me to work on it again!

Thank you so much to haiplana for letting me talk to you about this last year. Thank you to Juno for letting me brainstorm with you, and thank you Writ for letting me brainstorm with you and for beta-ing. Also, thank you to everyone who sent in asks and support for this on tumblr! Without you, I probably never would have finished this.

Title from Lucky Star by Madonna.

---

Ever since Rosé can remember, she’s loved looking up at the stars.

She would lift her window and perch on the sill, watching stars twinkle long past her bedtime. The stars made her tiny village seem as big as the sky, full of life and excitement, when during the day it was mostly filled with horses neighing and people arguing in the marketplace.

Stars were magic to her. A magic she always wanted.

—

Rosé fixes her hair, making sure it’s perfect for tonight with Jack. He seemed disinterested when he invited her, but part of her hopes it was to cover up the proposal she’s expecting.

Rosé’s been crushing on him and his dark blue eyes for years, and eight months ago, when it was raining and he offered her a ride on his horse so she didn’t have to walk home, he told her that he admired her too. They’ve been dating since then, and Jack was always buying her chocolates and complimenting her dresses and taking her to his manor for picnics.

But there were other moments that made her question things. Like when she spent an hour picking flowers from her garden, and he said he liked them, then carelessly stuffed them in his pocket. Or when he complimented her singing, then told her to stop being so noisy. But he had invited her over to watch tonight’s shooting star, and she burst with excitement that he would finally propose, and the idea follows her on the walk to his manor.

The plaid blanket is soft beneath Rosé’s back, and she eagerly points up to the sky. “There’s the Big Dipper, and over there is–”

“That’s nice.” Jack checks his watch with a sigh. “Don’t you think it’s late? Maybe you should go home.”

“But we didn’t see the shooting star!” Rosé says. She can watch it at her home through her window, but it wouldn’t be as exciting.

“But is it that exciting? I have to go to bed or I’ll have terrible eye bags.”

“Of course it’s exciting! Some people believe that a shooting star means a star really falls to earth.” Rosé heard tales about fallen stars as a child, and since then she’s dreamt of finding one and seeing that magic herself. To have something she admires from afar right in front of her.

“Only fools think that.”

Rosé goes still on the blanket, her chest hurting like she’s been punched. Could she have misread tonight’s intentions?

“Hey, I didn’t mean that,” he says, voice soft as he strokes her shoulder. “I like that you believe it. And it gives me an idea.”

“What idea?”

“What if you found the star and brought it here? Wouldn’t a star look wonderful at our wedding?”

Rosé gasps. A wedding. Jack loves her too, loves her so much he wants to marry her. She’ll be able to leave her small cottage and live in his manor, and she and her family will always be taken care of. And she’ll have love, like in the stories. But how will she find a fallen star?

“Well?” he asks.

“I–I’d love to,” Rosé says quickly. “But how do I find it?”

Jack shrugs. “Well, you’ll just have to, and you’ll have to do it quickly. I’d marry you now if I could, so I can only wait until Sunday.”

Rosé leaps to her feet. “I’ll go now.”

“You should. You can even take my horse. And I have this.” He hands her a silver chain with a cuff at one end. “This will hold the star to you. My mother’s had it for years.”

Rosé runs to her house, changes into riding clothes, and hops on Jack’s horse. Her heart is leaping in her chest, because not only will she get to live one of the adventures she’s always wanted, but she’ll marry Jack at the end.

She pauses on the horse to watch the shooting star overheard, dashing across the sky like a dance. The star’s trajectory shouldn’t take it more than a day or two from the village, and she sets off to find a fallen star.

—

Two days into the journey, Rosé wonders why none of the stories ever brought up the awful parts of adventures. Her legs ache from riding, and the sun keeps soaking her with sweat that her canteen of water can’t relieve. She should’ve known that she wouldn’t magically arrive at the star, that she would have to work for it, but the stories make everything so exciting. The most excitement she’s had was that pond she passed hours ago.

She puts her head down and keeps riding, even though she has no idea if she’s going the right way. Some part of her feels like she is, like she just knows which turns to take, which paths will lead her to the star. She hopes that part is right.

She rides for hours and hours, the world just a green blur around her. Her back burns with each gallop of the horse, and the fear is starting to rise. It’s getting dark, and maybe she should stop for the night. Maybe she’ll never find the star. Maybe—

A sudden trail of light appears in front of her, white and wispy. Rosé rubs her tired eyes in case it’s her imagination, but the trail is still there. It’s glowing softly, and something tugs in Rosé’s chest, some sense that she needs to follow it. So she does, following the glow across scorched patches of grass.

The light ends with a giant crater in the earth. The ground around it is cracked and dirt has erupted in all directions. Rosé inches closer, holding her breath, until she can see into the crater. She gasps.

In the middle of the crater, there’s a woman.

—

The woman is beautiful, with hair so blonde it's white, glowing faintly and matching her long white dress. She has rosy cheeks and deep brown eyes that seem confused.

Rosé’s heart races. The woman is real. Shooting stars are real, and magic is finally in her grasp. For a second, she forgets about why she’s here, forgets all about Jack. But then she rushes forward. “Excuse me, I—Are you—Are you a star?”

The woman jumps back from her, but steadies herself a few seconds later. “I…I was,” she says, turning over her hands like she isn’t sure what to do with them. “But now I’m…” she trails off again, still staring at her hands.

“Do you have a name?” Rosé asks. She’s starting to feel bad for the star, fallen to earth without a warning.

“Denali.” She seems a little steadier on her feet, and Rosé can’t take the chance that she’ll run away. She dashes in with the chain, looping it around Denali’s wrist. She holds the other end in her hand. She’s holding onto a star, but if she thinks about that, it makes her forget the wedding waiting at home. The love Jack will shower her in when she returns with a star.

“What are you doing?” Denali tugs at the chain, but it doesn’t give. “Who are you?” She grabs Rosé’s arm and her eyes glow with an intensity that makes Rosé shiver.

“I’m sorry,” Rosé says, and she means it. “My name is Rosé. I came here to find you.”

“Why?” Denali asks. “And what’s this for?” She tugs at the chain again, fighting with the silver.

“I…I came to help you,” Rosé says, the idea coming to her suddenly. “And I have someone to bring you to. Someone who might be able to make you a star again. You could go back up in the sky and do…whatever you do.” She tries to make it enticing, so Denali will come with her without any more of a fight.

“We don’t do much,” Denali says, and it seems like the thought takes the fight out of her. “But I don’t know anything about being human. So it’s probably better if I was a star again.” It oddly sounds like she's trying to convince herself.

“Being a star is way better than being a human, trust me.”

“Really?” Denali seems a little happier now, and Rosé knows it’s because of lack of human experience. She has no reason to suspect Rosé is lying, and it makes things easier and harder at the same time.

“Really. You get to see the world when you’re a star, and you light up the sky,” she says, feeling awful a second later. But she loves Jack. He’s her future, he’ll take care of her and her family. And she loves him. She can’t expect Denali to understand that. People wishing on stars for love all the time didn’t mean the stars themselves understood love.

“Well, fine,” Denali says. “But I’m not going now. It’s dark.”

“You’re a star!”

Denali nods. “A tired star.”

Rosé sighs. One night won’t hurt. As long as she’s back by Sunday. “Fine. There’s a village that way. We can stay at an inn.”

“In what?”

Rosé stares in confusion, then holds back a laugh. “An inn. It’s like a house with rooms for travelers.”

“Oh.” Denali grabs Rosé’s hand as she helps her out of the crater, the touch making Rosé’s whole arm tingle. “Will there be people there?”

“Probably.”

“Will they be like you?”

“Like me, how?”

“Will they be nice like you?”

Rosé almost tells the truth right there. But losing Jack is losing the first person she’s ever had a relationship with, the first person she’s truly loved. “Most of them will be, yes.”

Denali just nods and then moves on. “A horse!” She yells, reaching out to pet him. Jack’s horse never seemed to like anyone, but he bows his head and lets Denali stroke his mane.

“You know about horses?”

“I know a lot of human stuff. But only from far away.”

“Oh.” She helps Denali on the horse, trying to ignore the chain around her wrist, telling herself it’s a necessary evil. They make the trip in minutes, Denali’s hair whipping into Rosé’s face, her laugh ringing through the night.

The inn is three stories tall, with clean red brick and ivy crawling all the way to the top. A beautiful garden sprawls across the front lawn, all the way to the door, where The Dark Horse is engraved in the wood.

Rosé grabs the doorknob, but Denali is still shining. “Can you maybe not shine so much?”

“That’s what stars do, you know,” Denali mumbles. But she closes her eyes and takes a breath, and then her glow disappears as they step inside.

A fire crackles in the fireplace, and most of the wooden tables are occupied by guests drinking ale and slurping stew. There’s two women behind the bar, a redhead and a brunette. The brunette gives the redhead a spoonful of stew to try, love in her eyes shining across the inn. Rosé tries to think if Jack has ever looked at her that way, and pretends that he has.

“Hi,” the brunette greets. “Do you need a room for the night?”

“Yes.”

She nods. “We have some tables if you’d like to eat. Stew’s been cooking all day.”

Rosé nods as her stomach rumbles, and the woman leads them to a table in the corner.

“I’m Angeria if you need anything. Camden’s at the bar.” She points to the redhead and leaves, returning moments later with steaming bowls of stew.

Denali touches the edge of her bowl skeptically. “What do I do with this?”

“You eat it,” Rosé mumbles.

“This is human food? I’ve never seen it so close.”

“This is one kind of human food. Just try it.”

Denali nods, gripping her spoon for dear life. She watches Rosé, then dips her own spoon in the bowl and eats the stew. “This is amazing!” Her eyes light up like the stars outside, and dimples flash when she smiles.

Rosé tries to ignore those dimples, but she can’t. She lets Denali talk about how stars don’t need to eat, and that while being a human hasn’t been fun so far—her back hurts for no reason and walking still feels weird—this food thing might be the best part. Rosé can’t bring herself to disagree.

It’s a brilliant thing, that smile. Like a star all its own.

But Rosé shouldn’t be noticing Denali like that. She needs to bring Denali to Jack in time, and the sooner they sleep, the sooner that can happen. She heads to the bar to pay for the room and get the key from Angeria, who’s handing glasses to Camden that the redhead fills with ale. It’s nothing special, but there’s something about how they do it, how natural and easy it is to be alongside each other in comfortable silence, that makes Rosé’s chest hurt.

Angeria gives her the room key, and Rosé’s hands run along the old iron as she hovers, wanting to talk more. Love stories are part of the magic tales she’s always loved, and there’s magic in the way Camden and Angeria are together. “How did you two meet?” she asks.

Camden’s eyes roll fondly at the same time that Angeria’s light up. “She loves telling this story,” Camden says.

“And you love hearing it,” Angeria teases. She clears her throat and begins. “It was storming one night and Camden ran inside, soaking wet. She had a huge trunk and two bags. I teased her about bringing her whole life with her, but she started crying. Whatever it was, I figured she didn’t want to talk about it, so I gave her a room and just let her have some quiet.”

Rosé nods for her to go on.

“She didn’t come down the next day, but I thought she needed time. I was worried when she was still up there the second day, so I checked on her and she was sick. I don’t know what she expected after running around in the rain,” Angeria adds, shaking her head fondly. “But I couldn’t just leave her, so I brought her soup and extra blankets.”

“She put so many blankets on me I almost suffocated,” Camden mumbles.

Angeria swats at her. “Anyway, she told me she ran away from an arranged marriage and asked if she could stay here for a while. Paid for the room for a few months, and I wasn’t gonna argue with that. Then things just kind of happened. Every night, we’d have tea and stay up late talking for hours. She started helping me around the inn. That garden in the front, she did it all.” Angeria smiles. “After a while I stopped charging her for the room. Then I asked her to share mine.” Her hand wraps around Camden’s, and Camden leans in to kiss her cheek with a love Rosé can’t even pretend Jack has shown her.

But it’s fine. Not every marriage is from a storybook. Some are just normal, but it doesn’t make them less meaningful.

Rosé can’t help but think of the similarities between her and Camden, turning up at this inn because of marriage in some form. But Camden ran here from a marriage she didn’t want. Rosé is here to ensure her own marriage, one she does want.

Denali and Camden were alike too, both lost and scared and happening to find someone who helped them. Though Rosé isn’t really helping Denali. Not like Angeria had helped Camden, taken care of her, fallen in love with her.

Rosé puts it out of her mind and leaves with the room key.

—

“Do you think people are sleeping in the other rooms? How long do people sleep for? Do all the rooms look like this?” The energy from the food seems to be running through Denali, who asked a question for every stair they climbed on the way to the third floor, and is still going strong.

“Some people are probably sleeping. Everyone sleeps for different amounts of time. And the rooms all look like this,” Rosé answers, pinching her nose and trying to keep her patience.

The room is nice, with a sturdy oak trunk and a small fireplace across from the bed—

“Oh.” Somehow it hadn’t occurred to Rosé that the room would only have one bed. She hadn’t specified two; doesn’t even know if any of the inn’s rooms have two beds. But she needs to keep an eye on Denali anyway, so this is fine.

It’s fine.

“This is the bed?” The chain flies out of Rosé’s hand as Denali runs to the bed, jumping on it and laughing. “This is nice. I’ve never slept in a bed.”

“Do stars sleep?”

Denali shrugs. “We kind of…rest during the day. It’s really boring. The stars are there in the day, you just can’t see them.” She flops on the pillow and sighs. “How do you fall asleep?”

“Well, first you stop asking questions,” Rosé mutters. It comes out a little meaner than she intended, and she reins herself in. “But you just lay in bed and close your eyes and relax, and eventually you…fall asleep.”

“Sounds weird.”

Rosé can’t help but laugh. She likes telling Denali about the world, answering all her questions, but she likes hearing Denali’s thoughts even more. “Sometimes peppermint tea helps me sleep, I’m sure we can get some downstairs if you want to try—”

But Denali is already asleep. The transformation from star to human must have taken a lot out of her, and Rosé softens at the sight of her, arms curled in protectively, hair thrown back on the pillow. Denali is a star, but she feels so human right now, and Rosé wants to be near her—well, she has no other choice but to be near her, and she’s tired enough that it feels like want. She carefully pulls the blanket out from under Denali, then drapes it back over her. She slides under the blanket next to Denali, making sure to keep space between them.

Gentle warmth radiates off Denali, and Rosé sighs in content. This is the best night of the journey so far, in this soft bed, and she falls asleep a minute later.

—-

“Rosé. Rosé, wake up.”

Rosé blinks until her sleepy vision clears. The sun is shining through the windows, and so is Denali, the shining so natural for her that she probably forgot not to do it. She’s staring at Rosé, telling her to wake up again. “Huh?”

“I think I’m—what do humans call it?—hungry.”

Rosé rubs her eyes, suddenly angry. “You woke me up for breakfast? I’ve been riding for two days to find you, and this was my first night in a bed the whole trip—” She trails off when she sees Denali sitting up in bed, chewing her lip.

She wanted to leave right away, but she’s hungry too, and she can’t deny Denali breakfast. “Okay, okay, we’ll have breakfast. Just don’t shine.”

After making sure her shine is gone, Rosé stumbles behind Denali as she bounds down the stairs, taking a seat at the bar. Angeria pours tea and greets them, and Camden brings over two plates of eggs, bacon, and toast, the smell almost good enough to make the early hour worth it.

Denali enjoys it all just as much as she did last night, crunching on bacon and slurping her tea.

“Can you chew more quietly?” Rosé asks, still lamenting her lost sleep.

Denali grumbles and chews even louder.

It’s a quiet breakfast, one where Rosé questions if dealing with Denali for two more days is worth it. But it has to be for Jack. People in stories always put up with horrible things for love. And Denali is far from horrible—she’s just annoying, though she made Rosé laugh a bit.

Rosé stands the second they’re done. “Are you ready?”

Denali nods. “I’ll wait by the horse.”

She leaves, and Rosé hands Camden the key.

“Can I tell you something?” Camden asks nervously.

“Sure.”

“You seem like someone who loves fairy tales and love stories,” Camden starts. “I can tell, because I’m the same way.” She bites her lip, weighing her words. “I just want to say that Angie and I—I know we had kind of a dramatic meeting, but the love part was a lot quieter. We were washing dishes, and she was humming this song I always hummed around her, and I realized I loved her. Sometimes love is the small things.”

Rosé nods. They might have come here with different feelings about marriage, but clearly Camden feels that similarity too, and understands Rosé somehow. “Thank you,” she manages hoarsely, heading outside.

—

They ride in silence for a few hours, and Rosé is trying to remember if the endless fields of green are the same ones she saw on the way here. Nothing looks familiar, and there haven't been any landmarks for miles. The thought that they’re lost sits like lead in her stomach.

“I think we’re lost,” Denali says, like she’s reading her mind.

“We’re not lost. I know where I’m going.”

“But you don’t know how to get there, so we’re lost.”

“We’re not lost!” Rosé yells. “And shouldn’t you know where we’re going, since you literally see the world from the sky?”

“I don’t see the whole world.” Denali mumbles before falling silent, and Rosé knows she’s won this round.

They continue until nightfall, when it’s even harder to figure out where they are. They’re in a tiny, run-down village that Rosé is certain she didn’t see before. Denali has been yawning in Rosé’s ear for an hour now, and they could both use some sleep, so Rosé leads them into the village’s only inn, with broken shutters and cracked bricks. It has none of the charm or warmth of Angeria’s place. It’s drafty, the floor is covered with mud and spit from the customers, and it reeks of wet horse.

“I liked the other place better,” Denali says meekly as the door opens to their room with a dirty blanket on the bed.

“So did I.” Rosé’s too tired to be mean right now, and it’s not Denali’s fault. “It’s just for the night. Tomorrow morning I’ll get directions and we’ll go.”

“Okay.” It seems Denali doesn’t have any more fight in her either, and she falls asleep just as fast as she did last night, with Rosé quickly following.

—

After a breakfast of eggs that even Rosé, who knows human food, looks at in suspicion, they head to the fence behind the inn, where Rosé had tied the horse last night.

Except the fence is empty.

“Didn’t I put the horse here?” Rosé asks.

“You did.”

Rosé steps closer, heart sinking at the slashed rope hanging off the fence. Someone stole the horse. It’s Thursday, she has no horse, and no idea where she is. If she’s not back by Sunday, there won’t be a wedding.

“Can’t we get another horse somewhere?”

“Yeah, if we have money. I don’t have enough to buy a horse.”

“Horses cost money?” Denali asks in surprise.

“Everything costs money,” Rosé says bitterly.

“Well, maybe we can get money somewhere.” She’s doing her best to stay cheerful, and it makes Rosé’s stomach twist, especially with how awful she’s been to Denali.

“We don’t have time. I’m getting married on Sunday and—”

“You’re getting married?” Denali sounds hurt over Rosé not telling her.

Rosé’s trying to figure out how—and if—she can bring up the wedding without bringing up Denali’s involvement. But someone else speaks before she can.

“I’m sorry, I couldn’t help but overhear.” A tall woman with long brown braids walks toward them. “If you need a way home, my crew and I would be happy to take you.”

“Crew?” Rosé asks in confusion.

The woman nods. “We’re flying pirates.”

Rosé has never said yes faster.

—

The ship, though it flies, is still docked in the town’s grimy water. It’s smaller than Rosé expected, but it’s still the largest ship she’s seen, made of dark wood with three masts and a beautiful mermaid carved on the stern.

The woman—who introduced herself as Kendall—leads them up to the main deck, which shines in the dim sun. Four people stand around, looking much friendlier than the pirates in the stories. One of the crew, a blonde woman with a pink flower behind her ear, waves happily.

“Did you pick up strays again, Kendall?” the blonde asks cheerfully.

“Don’t talk about Pythia and Icesis like that,” Kendall teases. “Besides, you were a stray once, too.”

“I was.”

Kendall wraps her arm around the blonde’s waist, the other reaching for someone with short brown hair. “These are my partners Synthia and Gia. Over there is Pythia, and that’s Icesis.”

Pythia waves, curly hair bouncing, while Icesis nods shyly.

Denali keeps tight to Rosé’s side, maybe uncertain around so many people, and Rosé moves in front of her protectively. “Thank you for helping us,” she says. “My…traveling companion and I need to get to the town of Wall. We’re grateful for your help.”

“No need for all the formalities,” Gia says. “Kendall loves helping people. We can have you there in a day or two.”

Rosé nods, and Kendall leads them to a tiny room with bunk beds. “You can rest here if you’d like. We’ll wake you when lunch is ready.” She leaves, and Denali throws herself on the bottom bunk. The silver chain clinks against the bed, and Rosé knows what she has to do.

“Here.” Rosé reaches for the chain. She hasn’t even been holding it lately; Denali has looped the end around her own wrist, like a bracelet. Rosé gently unlatches it and attaches it to her belt. “I’m sorry. For everything,” she says.

Denali nods, and Rosé almost feels things shift, that the past days' arguments are over.

The boat shifts suddenly, sending Rosé crashing into Denali, her body solid and warm. So human. She quickly pulls away and runs to the port window as the sky moves and treetops sink below them. Denali rushes over too, their shoulders touching as they watch the ship fully take to the air, nothing but sky all around.

“Wow,” Denali breathes, running back to the deck to be in the open air.

“Wow,” Rosé agrees.

And she runs after her.

—

They spend most of the day marveling at the sky as the ship travels slowly through it, and the rest napping in their bunks. At dinner, they eat right in the tiny kitchen with the crew. The others make them feel right at home, asking questions and including them in all the conversations. Rosé can’t help but watch everyone the way she watched Camden and Angeria. They all have that same ease around each other that you get by familiarity, by completely trusting who you’re with.

After dinner, Synthia drags everyone out on the deck to dance under the stars. She spins around with Gia as Denali talks to Kendall and Icesis. Rosé loves to dance—though she never gets to with Jack—but isn’t sure who she should ask, so she just hovers against the side of the ship with Pythia.

“When did you and Icesis get together?”

Pythia smiles. “About six months ago. I actually thought she hated me at first. She seemed so tough, so aloof. She was always getting in fights, and she’d go off on her own when we landed somewhere. Then I found out almost all the fights were with someone who insulted me, and that she went exploring alone because I mentioned this pastry I loved as a kid, and she was always trying to find a bakery that had one.” They shake their head in awe. “Icesis struggles with her feelings. She’s so used to being alone. But she’s still ready to fight anyone who looks at me wrong, and she still goes to every bakery when we land.”

Rosé just nods because she doesn’t think she could manage talking. Maybe love wasn’t always like stories. Sometimes it was even more beautiful. Beautiful in different ways.

“Pyth, come dance!” Icesis calls.

“I’m not much of a dancer.”

“I know, my toe still hurts from last time—”

“Icesis!” Pythia gives in and runs into Icesis’s waiting arms.

Rosé isn’t alone for long, as Denali leaves Kendall and joins her side.

“I’ve never danced before,” Denali says shyly, reaching out a hand. “Will you show me?”

Rosé’s heart leaps. “I’d love to.”

She gently guides Denali’s hand to her waist as they sway gently. Denali is naturally graceful, it turns out, and has no trouble following the steps Rosé shows her. It’s nice to dance with her. Nice to dance at all, really, but even better with Denali’s warm hand in hers. Nice to be this close to her, to breathe her in and savor the moment.

“I like this,” Denali says. “The ship. The crew. I like doing things with you.”

“I do too.”

“Is this what it’s like?” Denali asks, eyes wide as she takes in he purple sky, the smiles and laughs of everyone dancing.

“What?”

“To be…human, I guess.”

“I’ve never thought about it before,” Rosé says. “But yes, I think it is.”

Denali nods thoughtfully. “I think I like it. And I think you were wrong.”

“About what?”

“I think it’s amazing to be a human.” Denali’s hair blows behind her, and something about her seems different. Or maybe Rosé is just seeing her differently. Seeing the beauty in her, beyond the obvious glow when they first met. There’s the dimples in Denali’s cheeks when she smiles, and that softness in her eyes. There’s how much she loves the world, noticing every knot in the ship’s wood and every bird that flies by, how any small thing became magical to her. Beauty in small things, just like Camden and Pythia told her of love in small things.

Rosé looks at Denali. “I think so too,” she says, but she means something else entirely.

—

The next day on the ship is one of the best days Rosé has ever had. She and Denali help Synthia with breakfast, talking and laughing and throwing flour at each other the whole time. Denali doesn’t leave her side for the whole day, asking Rosé her favorite human things to do—singing and going to concerts and swimming and riding horses and trying new foods and picking flowers—and talking about how she wants to do them too. Talking about them is nice. Jack never wanted to do those things, and talking about them lets her pretend she can do it all with Denali.

The green fields below eventually give way to the cottages of Wall, and Rosé shouldn’t feel disappointed. But she is. The past week has been the most fun she’s had in a while, and she doesn’t want to let that go. Jack hated adventures. But it’s fine, because she loves him. Though that thought feels so wrong in Rosé’s head, and instead of her heart feeling light, thinking of Jack makes everything feel heavy. Why did his proposal feel so wrong? Why would he send her on a nearly impossible task just to be able to marry him? Everything about it feels strange, now that she has time to think, and the only way to make those feelings go away is to be with Denali.

“Thank you again,” Rosé says to Kendall, once the ship has touched down outside Wall.

“Of course. If you ever want to sail again, just call us.” She hands Rosé a silver whistle.

Rosé guides Denali off the ship, and the grass beneath Rosé’s feet is both happily and unhappily familiar. “Ready?”

Denali bites her lip. “Rosé?”

“Yes?”

“I’m glad you were the first human I met.”

Denali is so earnest, and Rosé can’t pretend anymore. “I need to tell you something.” She takes a breath. “Denali, the truth is, I—I don’t know anyone who can make you a star again.”

Denali’s smile fades. “You don’t?”

“I don’t. The man I love told me he would only marry me if I brought him a fallen star. So I found you, and that’s why I wanted to get you here so quickly. And I’m so sorry.”

“You were using me to get married?”

Denali hasn’t sounded angry like this since Rosé met her, and it makes Rosé hurt. “I know it was wrong. I know it. But you’re so much more than just a star, and I want to tell you because I don’t think I can go through with any of it. I want you to be free. And the more I think about it, I think—sometimes I don’t want to marry Jack,” she says, finally letting out what’s been burning inside her for so long.

“Well, it’s a good thing I’m not marrying you.” Jack is suddenly here, a smug grin in place. “Thanks for getting me the star.”

He snatches the silver chain off Rosé’s belt and wraps it around Denali’s wrist. He snaps his fingers, and before Rosé can do anything, before she can feel angry at Jack or try to repair the hurt look on Denali’s face, the world goes black.

—

Rosé wakes up in the grass. Jack and Denali are gone; it’s impossible to say for how long. The pain of lying to Denali and now losing her hit all at once. Though she wasn’t the only one lying—Jack clearly never meant to marry her, and needed the star for something else.

And whatever he needs it for, it can’t be good. Rosé has to get Denali.

She runs to his manor, heart pounding as she opens the door and walks right in. The manor is cold and empty, so different from her warm cottage, and it hits Rosé suddenly that she doesn’t ever want to live here. Although she won’t have to now, and it feels like relief. She slips into the basement, where a woman she recognizes as Jack’s mother stirs something in a cauldron. The walls are filled with specimen jars and sharp tools that make Rosé shiver. The silver chain around Denali’s wrist is attached to the wall at the other end of the basement, and Rosé hates herself for ever using that thing. Star or not, Denali never should have been treated like some prize.

She sneaks over to Denali. Jack’s mother is almost in a trance, with green smoke floating around her, but Jack notices her.

“What are you doing here?” he hisses. “I’m not marrying you. I knew you loved those stupid stories, and my mother needs to sacrifice a star to maintain her power. They work better than sacrificing people. She kills one every few years, for centuries now. I didn't feel like finding one for her. You were just the means to an end.”

“You’re horrible. Both of you,” Rosé spits. It hurts to hear him say it, to know that she was nothing to him. That he and his mother have been killing innocent fallen stars for centuries, and Rosé was just a way to kill another. But it doesn’t hurt nearly as much as lying to Denali. Rosé might not make it out of this basement, but she has to fix things with Denali first. There’s no way she’s letting Denali die for Jack and his mother. Denali means too much to her.

“It’s almost time,” Jack’s mother says.

Jack sighs. “Look, if you want to talk to your little star, just make it quick.”

It’s the same act of minimal kindness he’s always shown her, acts that Rosé saw too much into. She loved him too much to realize he wasn’t worthy of the love she had for him. But it’s clear now, just like it’s clear that she has to help Denali.

Rosé tugs desperately at the chain, but she can’t unclasp it like she did last time. Jack’s mother must have put some spell on it.

“Are you trying to get me out so you can use me for another wedding?” Denali asks coldly.

“I’m getting you out because I never should’ve used you in the first place,” Rosé says quietly. When Denali stays silent, she goes on. “Denali, I’m so sorry. I didn’t know that Jack would do this, but that doesn’t matter. I shouldn’t have lied to you in the first place. You might be human, but you’re as bright as a star to me. And what do stars do?” she asks, a sudden idea coming to her.

Denali’s eyes light up when she gets it. “They shine,” she breathes, and the glow that bursts off her is the brightest Rosé has ever seen. She covers her eyes as Jack and his mother scream, the pure light and warmth of Denali’s power destroying their dark magic.

When the light fades and Rosé opens her eyes, all that’s left of Jack and his mother is stardust.

Again, all Rosé feels is relief. Relief that they won’t hurt Denali. That all the stars they’ve killed can be avenged in some way.

The chain crumbles away from Denali’s wrist, and Rosé leads her back outside. They stand on the dirt lane, staring at each other. Denali is safe now, and even if things are ruined between them, that’s enough. Though Rosé really hopes things can be okay between them.

“Denali—”

“I don’t think it was entirely your fault,” Denali says first. “Jack kept bragging about manipulating you. And I kind of get why you did it. But you shouldn’t have lied, or tried to use me.”

“I know. I’m sorry.”

“So I guess I’m human now, huh?”

“I guess so.” Rosé doesn’t know what she can do to soften the blow. But Denali doesn’t seem that upset, and Rosé thinks of how much she loved human stuff, how she was convincing herself to be a star again when they first met, and she has a hesitant hope.

Denali takes a breath. “The truth is, I—I didn’t like being a star very much. We could glow and see the world, but we couldn’t ever go there. I like being human. There’s so many things to see and do, and everything feels like magic,” she adds breathlessly. “And I like being human with you. As long as you promise not to lie to me again.”

“I promise.” The air flies out of Rosé, the relief overwhelming, because Denali still wants to be her friend. She has a second chance with Denali, a second chance to know her more and show her all the human things she wanted to see. “I promise to be honest with you, and never use you like that again. And I promise to show you all those things you wanted to see. If you’ll have me.”

“I would love to have you.” Denali grins. “So, when can we start?”

Rosé smiles. “Now.”

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