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Life in Tazmily Village had been simple enough. Everyone had role. Everyone had something they were good at or known for; they could be helpful to community in some way. Everyone had a way to make others’ lives better.Except Lucas…He had often been told that the only thing he was good at was being a crybaby. He was talented in being emotional and running away from his problems, hiding from them, just like the day his mother had died.That day, and the three lonely years after it, had taught him an important lesson. Nobody likes a crybaby.So, Lucas stopped being a crybaby, he stopped being sad, and made everyone happy. He made everyone proud of him. He made everything stop hurting.---Lucas awoke like he did every morning, slowly and with a clear reluctance to face the day. His whole body ached despite not having done anything particularly straining the day before. He threw off his covers and sat up to stretch, wincing at the bright light filtering in through his open curtains.Looking around his room blarily he found it empty, besides himself, and quiet.He contemplated rolling back over and catching some more shut eye but decided against it as the sun was already high in the sky. Lucas figured he had already accidently missed breakfast so he went through his morning routine in no hurry.After dressing, Lucas gave his room a last once over. His gaze stopped on the book resting on his bedside table. The slightly worn brown book sat alongside his lamp and nighttime water. He picked it up and flipped through the pages, enjoying the sight of the unmarked pages held within it.‘I’ll write the best story ever’.That’s what he had promised Rosalina and the Lumas. The best story they had ever read and his own story, the honest truth behind all of his earlier attempts to share his quest to save his home. Lucas gripped the book tighter in his hands. He knew he couldn’t go back on a promise, then why was he hesitating so much?A feeling of helpless pushed past his thoughts and a dread sank itself deep into his heart. The book in hands seemed as if it weighed as much an adult Drago, his knees feeling ready to buckled under the imaginary weigh in his hands. All the while the book was just sat there, in his grip, staring at him with an impassive perfection.It was too clean. It was too perfect. It was too cold. It was too lonely.Snapping the book shut as soon as that thought passed through his mind, Lucas shook himself out of his daze. The ache in his knees was still there, a ghost of his own doubts. Lucas placed the book under his arm and left his room without any hesitation.He had work to do.---The night was cold. Rosalina knew that.The cobalt blue of her home stretched across the endless sky. Space was there, always waiting and always home. It was the place everything she cared about was and ever will be, since space is everything and is everyone. She knew that it was a place full of stories; it was a place of adventures, big and small, old and new, hopeful and tragic.The night was dark. Rosalina understand that.The lack of light was a troubling reality for some, that with every glowing star came many shadows. She was always hopeful that the stars would always be bright enough not to be engulfed by the stalking darkness, by the monsters lurking within it. As their mama she would make sure no harm came to them. As their mama she never wanted harm to find them in the first place.The night was quiet. Rosalina wanted that.Quiet at night meant that everything was well in the world. The stillness accompanying the star speckled sky was a sign of comfort. The lack of sound brought sleep and dreams of better times in the future.However, Rosalina found none of that as she stood at the top of the hill. Before her on the hill, amongst the growing stalks of sunflowers, was the crying form of a broken boy surrounded by the rest of her children. Their fretting and sounds of concern doing nothing to shake the boy out of his misery. Those not actively trying to comfort their friend were looking to their mother for help.Rosalina thought back on her evening, staring normal as she got the Lumas to eat their dinner in the main hall. Until the children had raised concerns about Lucas’ absence from their table at every meal time that day as well about the mansion in general. Sensing the growing distress of her children, Rosalina volunteered to go look for him and the Lumas followed. The search had been short but the condition of their friend sent the Lumas into a near frenzy. They began making sounds akin to cooing to try and settle Lucas, but stopped when the boy flinched away from them. Rosalina observed the scene silently before trying anything.The presence of the book she had given him and the amount of crafts supplies scattered about the boy were clear signs that he had at least started to write in the book. What had happened?Rosalina knelt in front of Lucas. She looked sadly at the old tear tracks on his puffy face being covered in new tears and the shake of his figure as sobs wheezed their way out of his throat. The gradual quieting of his crying indicated he had been in distress for a while, much too long by anyone’s standards.When he was reduced to sniffling alone, Rosalina slowly placed a hand on his shoulder. Lucas shakily brought his gaze to meet her saddened one. The reluctance and fear in his eyes made something inside her break. While it hurt to know that both those feeling were directed at her, she was distraught that he was feeling either emotion about anything.Lucas tried to shake off her gripped weakly, making a soft sound of discomfort at the contact, and moved to escape their company but Rosalina’s grip remained where it was, not getting any stronger. Knowing his efforts were for nought he sighed and leant into her touch. The nervous energy in his body disappeared in an exhausting wave that left him feeling tired and ill.Rosalina decided it was an appropriate time to move and sat down beside the young boy. She brought her arm around him to give Lucas a sideways hug that the boy quickly sank into. She kept her voice quiet as she asked, “What happened Lucas?”“What do you mean?” Lucas asked in reply, his shoulders tensing.“You were writing the book…” Rosalina clarified, “Why are you crying? Are you hurt?”“No… Nothing like that,” Lucas muttered lamely. He looked at the book beside him and reached to bring it into his lap. He flipped the book open to reveal all of the pages were full of words and drawings that he had made during the day.Rosalina watched with interest as he stopped on the last page. It was a drawing of a field full of sunflowers with two people stood amongst them looking at a sunset. The drawing, while childish, was detailed and seemed to have had a lot of care put into making it. Rosalina glanced over at the young boy to find a sad smile creeping its way across his face.Before she could offer him comfort, Lucas whispered, “I don’t think about them a lot, you know.” There was a pause where Rosalina mulled over what he had admitted then listened as he continued, somehow, quieter than before, “It’s not fair to them either. Being forgotten by someone that they died for, someone that was too much of a coward to save them.”“Lucas…” Rosalina began as she felt the boy in a her grip begin to shake again.He released a shaky breath and went on in a voice close to crying, “After my mom went away and Claus disappeared, the entire village went on and on about me being a crybaby. How my brother had at least tried to avenge my mother instead of falling into himself like I did. They gossiped about how my father spent all of his time mourning or searching for him, barely there for me, but none of them did anything to change it. They were never happy. He was never happy. I was never happy…”The hitch in his breath as the tears finally began falling made his next words hurt even more, “So I forgot about it, I forgot my mom, I forgot Claus. I busied myself with whatever anyone needed and whatever wasn’t being done around the house. I pushed every negative feeling down until I forgot they existed at all.”“How could they? How could you?” Rosalina asked in disbelief. Her Lumas mirrored her feelings as they too listened intently to the tear soaked words the boy was uttering.“It hurt so much,” Lucas admitted with biting shame. He sank his head into his hands as he cried, “Then I was forced to save the world. I was made to remember my mother and everything that had happened so I could piece together the bigger picture and take down Porky. And for what?!” He cried that last part and let his hands fall to his lap.The tears came out slower now. Each droplet hitting his hands with barely a twitch in response. Lucas shook his head and answered himself, “I had to watch my brother die in front of me, I had to feel him take his last breath and let him join my mother. I was so close to having some part of my old life back.” Lucas rubbed the tears off his cheeks, marking them an angry red, “The life where I was allowed to weak and cry all I wanted. The life where I could be a crybaby and no one would look down on me for it, for being me.”Rosalina watched as broke down fully again and choked out, “I just- Want my mom and my brother- To hug me and tell me- That everything is going to be alright.” With that he buried himself into the fabric of Rosalina’s dress, his hands balling into fists as they clutched the material and tears creating a wet patch across her side.She gave no care to her dress as she shifted to gently cradle him. Rosalina made soothing humming sounds along with the Lumas as the boy tired himself out and fell asleep in her hold. She smiled sadly at the sound of his even breathing.Lucas always looked peaceful when he slept. A stark contrast to how he had just been.Rosalina knew he was not going to be much better when he woke up and remembered why he had been so tired. The crying would start again and she was unsure if her heart could take seeing him so miserable anymore, she was sure that the Lumas certainly couldn’t.The little stars flitted about her head still making their soothing sounds, even as their friend couldn’t hear them. One of the youngest hovered close to Lucas’ head to give the boy a soft pat on the head then asked, “What are we going to do Mama?”Rosalina was taken aback by the seriousness in her little one’s tone. She heard another mutter, just as serious, “We have to make the storm clouds go away.”She sighed in defeat. Something like this couldn’t just be fixed. This problem stretched far into Lucas’ past and Rosalina was unsure of much them intervening would be able to help. She was about to voice those thoughts when a light was shone in her face.It was removed quickly along with a quiet apology. Rosalina allowed her eyes to adjust to find a small crowd of people trailing up the small hill holding flashlights. Ness was holding the one that had blinded her and the boy looked sheepish. He cast his gaze down at Lucas in her arms and was immediately worried, “Is he okay?”The rest of the kids shared in his concern as they leant closer to get a better look. Rosalina shook her head with a smile and answered softly, “He’s fine, just tired.”“What was all that noise then?” Villager questioned.“You heard that?” Rosalina asked with a pained look.Bayonetta stepped forward to join the children, “We all did, we came to see if you were alright. By the look on your face, I’m taking that as a ‘no’.”“Always perceptive…” Rosalina commented wryly. She watched Lucas shuffle in her arms, “I finally got Lucas to open up about his past.”“Oh, that’s great. We’ve been waiting to hear about all the amazing adventures he’s been on,” Iggy said enthusiastically. Her feelings were mirrored by the children and some of the adults. However, some of the more weary caught onto the situation before them.“Not the best idea, I’m afraid,” Bayonetta halted their small celebration as she spoke. She knelt in front of the pair before asking quietly, “Is there anything we can do?”Rosalina was about to shake her head when an idea came to her. She looked between Lucas and the crowd then replied, “I have an idea.”---Lucas awoke the next day on the couch in the mansion foyer. The sunlight coming in through the large front windows made him wince. It was too bright again. He sat up to find the place empty of its usual, which was suspicious.He didn’t choose to dwell on that, however, as memories of the night before started coming back to him. He felt himself blush with shame and buried his head between his knees. Rosalina had probably dumped him there after having enough of his crying, just like the people in Tazmily had.Lucas felt like crying again.His thoughts were interrupted by a large crash coming from the dining hall. His gaze shot up to see the door to said room creep open to reveal a dark interior but no one exiting. Curiosity overcoming his earlier sadness, Lucas slid off the couch to investigate. He opened the door fully to find more darkness in the room before him.He stepped in and was about to use PK Flash when the lights came on. Lucas jumped as people yelled, “Surprise!”Lucas stared wide eyed at the sight around him. The dining hall tables had been moved to the back wall and the space they had been occupying was filled with sleeping bags, cushion and bean bags. The smashers had also swapped out their usual attire for pajamas, giving the whole thing the illusion of a giant sleepover.He glanced around nervously at everyone’s expectant looks. They watched as he took in the room and them before inching towards the door. Rosalina, who had been at the front of the gathered crowd, stepped forwards to stop him. She made a placating gesture before kneeling in front of him and apologising, “Lucas, I’m sorry.”“What? Why?” Lucas asked in concern.Rosalina gave him a melancholic smile and explained, “I’m sorry for what happened to you. Sure, a lot of us have gone through something similar but we’ve at least had our stories as a way to deal with them, to find closure. Your story offered you no closure for your pain.”“But-” Lucas began.“No ‘buts’, the universe did you an injustice,” Rosalina cut him off firmly. When she was backed up by several people behind her Lucas slumped in defeat. She continued, “So, we are going to make up for it.”“How?” Lucas asked curiously making a few people smile.“Well, first we’re going to hear this,” she pulled out his book. Its covers were covered in dirt and some of the pages were probably wet from the night before. Rosalina placed it into his hands before going on, “Then we’re going to watch some movies, some happy and some sad. I heard Snake cries at dog movies.”“Hey!” Snake’s voice came from the crowd, “I told you that in confidence!”Lucas laughed at that. Everyone else joined in.As the others began making noise, Rosalina quietly added, “Lucas, I know we may not be the family you want but know that the Lumas and I care about you so much. We’ll be there if you ever need to cry, for whatever reason, and we’ll be there to tell you everything is alright.”Lucas felt himself tearing up at those words. He gripped the book in his hands tightly before lunging at Rosalina and hugging her around her middle. Rosalina hugged him back as he cried onto her shoulder. He smiled as they parted and whispered, “Thank you, Mama.”