Ten Minutes of Sunshine

Anziah checked her watch for the fourth time in ten minutes.

"It's not going to happen any faster if you keep checking the time," her friend Hector muttered as he took the watch out of her hand and slipped it into his pocket. "Do you not trust your own work?"

"It's not that I don't trust my work. I know I calibrated the device correctly; I know I placed it on the right relays. It's fine. I know it's fine." Anziah buried her fingers in her hair. "But you know how Sun Fox is."

"Why would he show up? I didn't tell him anything. You didn't tell him anything. There's no one else who could know about this."

"Hector—"

"No. It's fine. You said it's fine, so it is." Hector sighed and put an arm around her shoulder. "And if that hero does show his face, we'll handle it."

"I just want it to go smoothly. I just want, for once..." She sighed. "I mean, it's been years."

"I know."

They were standing on the roof of an abandoned apartment building. It was a convenient place to set up a temporary base because nothing else was happening with it. Anziah had once considered purchasing it herself, but it wasn't like whoever owned it was going to hand the deed over to a known supervillain, and her normal job didn’t pay well enough for that.

Neither of them was in their villain gear at the moment. Hector had opted for something casual and comfortable, so he was wearing a t-shirt and sweatpants.

Anziah, well, she needed as much bare skin visible as possible if this was going to work, so she had only put on a sports bra and a pair of booty shorts. This meant her Bahlek spots were on full display up her arms, down her back, and spiraling down her legs. Hector had mentioned once that she looked like a leopard and she refused to speak to him for an entire week because of it. When she got over the offense, she told him how the spots were the mark of her bloodline. She may have looked human and passed them off as a birthmark or a skin condition when asked about it, but they were actually clan marks, the last thing she had from her home planet.

Her clan was known as the Star-Whisperers in her native language. They lived on the dark side of Bahlek and metabolized energy from starlight. Theirs wasn't the only clan on the dark side, but it was the only clan that built its identity completely on that darkness. They were isolationists from what she remembered of her early childhood on Bahlek, vehemently protective of their borders. She had been sent away when their clan came under attack and the warrior entrusted with her protection had returned to find out why they had suddenly lost contact with everyone. She hadn't seen Hol since then.

Being abandoned on Earth as a child was the worst thing that could have happened to her. She hadn't known how to deal with any of it. Hol had only ever taken her out after dark, so when she went out in search of food while the sun was up, the foreign energy of a single powerful star had almost killed her. Apparently, the Star-Whisperers weren't meant to take in energy from just one star, as her body reacted to it like a severe allergy.

She hadn’t known before that stars could scream instead of sing, but Earth’s sun was a shrill cry in her head that took her years to tune out. She had adapted, of course, but she had to pass the allergy off as extreme light sensitivity and stay covered constantly while all her instincts begged to soak up the plentiful starlight, even knowing it would hurt her. The stars she needed were trapped behind a layer of light pollution so thick the moon was the only light visible in the night sky.

Anziah couldn’t bring herself to abandon the apartment she and Hol had lived in. If he ever came back, he wouldn't know how to find her if she wasn’t there. And while she couldn't be sure that she would ever see anyone from her clan ever again, some stupid, childish part of her wouldn't let her leave everything behind and seek out something better.

Unlike some of the aliens that came to call Earth home, she didn't have any special abilities accentuated by the new and different environment. From the first day, it was like she was trying to live with half of herself locked away, like she could never take a full breath. It always irked her to see Sun Fox flying around because he was from Bahlek too. As a Light-Dweller though, he didn't have any of the problems she had with the sun. Moreover, he'd assumed that she, as a Dark-Sider, was up to something from the moment they met. He was a known hero, so she was instantly labeled a supervillain.

"Anziah?"

She turned to Hector, who was staring down at her watch. "What?"

"Five, four, three, two, one."

She scrambled to her feet, moving to the edge of the roof to watch as the device she’d planted plunged the city into darkness. Something bloomed in her soul as the veil across the heavens was ripped away, forcing her to take a full breath for the first time since she came to Earth. The spots on her limbs slowly lit up until she was a glowing beacon pale as moonlight, luminous and ethereal and herself for the first time since leaving Bahlek.

She had forgotten what it felt like to be whole. The stars, which had been so muted behind the thick blanket of ambient light, were singing in her mind, folding her back into the celestial melody she had been separated from for so long. It was like coming home.

Slowly, she let the energy fill up the empty places inside her and pool in her limbs, let the song she had almost forgotten sweep her into its warm embrace. This was what she was meant to have. This light was what she was created to contain.

"Holy shit."

She turned her eyes away from the skies to look at Hector, who stared at her as though he'd never seen her before. He wouldn't have, not like this, not when she was completely whole. "Surprised?" she asked, grinning at him.

"I knew you were from Bahlek before, but I don't think I really understood until right now." He frowned. "You look more like Sun Fox like this, but silver instead of gold. Can you do the same sort of things he can?"

Slowly, Anziah's feet left the ground. Weight didn't mean anything anymore, not with the wealth of energy inside her. She floated away from the edge until she was hanging in space over the street, shedding light like a full moon. She smirked cheekily. "I don't know, can I?"

She could see a streak of gold in the distance, but for once she didn't care. She wasn't wasting away for lack of proper starlight. Her body, having survived nearly 20 Earth years on the weak energy that managed to pierce the light pollution, was absorbing true starlight as though this moment would never come again.

Distantly, she knew she was drunk on it all, on the feeling of being full and complete and herself for the first time in all the years she'd been on Earth. She felt like a kid again, like she was attending the festival of the Three Moons, when the light reflected from the day side of Bahlek sent everyone into a state of euphoria for a week. There were parts of the festival she was never allowed to join, adult parties where they spent the energy with one another. She remembered Hol telling stories about how some of the strongest of their clan were conceived during the festival. If this sort of power could be imbued in a child through conception, she could believe that.

She held out a hand to Hector. "Dance with me?"

Hector hesitated. "In midair? What if I fall?"

"I wouldn't let you." She floated closer until she was right in front of him. "I think I could move the world with this, but I'd settle for moving yours."

He coughed, cheeks turning bright red and she couldn't help thinking the color suited him. "Are you sure? I mean, you seem like you're sort of compromised right now. And what if Sun Fox comes?"

"Let him." She spread her arms wide. "This isn't his world right now. He needs the sun; I need the stars. For as long as the stars are out, this world is mine."

Hector stepped into her space. "I suppose we have time for at least one dance."

She moved slowly at first, letting his feet rest on top of hers. His arm snaked around her waist, holding her close. To anyone watching, they probably looked like they were attempting the tango. Or a sensual slow dance that sent them spinning through space. It was an intimacy they never discussed, now negotiated on instinct and not even the bright streak of light moving toward them was enough to invite caution between them.

"I love you," she whispered. "And I want to stay with you."

He pulled back slightly, searching for something in her face. "What about Bahlek? What about your clan?"

"If they wanted me, they would have come back for me a long time ago." She glanced up at the stars. "Besides, I don't think there's anyone left who could. There hasn't been for a long time, and I've just been lying to myself about it."

"You know I'd follow you anywhere, right? Even back to Bahlek."

"I know. But why go anywhere when everything I have left is right here?"

"What the hell is going on here?"

Of course, that was the moment Sun Fox decided to show up. Anziah sighed. "Bolivar, you have the worst timing."

"You're the one who knocked out the power to the entire city." He wasn't as bright under the night sky. The gold aura flickered around him, but he wasn't in any danger of falling because of it. The sun was a more constant source of power for him than the stars were for her.

"In related news, I'm not dying anymore," she snapped.

"You were dying?" Hector pulled back again, the shock and betrayal on his face cutting her to the core.

"What?" Sun Fox—Bolivar—let himself drop onto the roof. "What are you talking about?"

With another sigh, Anziah floated back to the rooftop and set herself and Hector down. "You're from Bahlek, surely you understand something so simple. If I were to lock you up in a dark room and only open the window ten minutes every day for twenty years, how do you think you would feel?"

"But the sun—"

"I'm from the dark side of Bahlek! You know this, Bolivar! The one time I tried to survive off sunlight, it poisoned me!" She turned back to look at the stars, which crooned comfortingly in the back of her mind. "This is the sky I need. Tell me, Sun Fox. What would you do to live?"

She tilted her head until he was in her line of sight, the faint glow of gold under his skin like an ever-present threat of action. His clan spots were more subtle, only showing up when he was using the energy he stored. Sunlight was so potent and plentiful that he didn't need to expose as much skin. There was always more for him. Perhaps there was a reason all of the stories about the Light-Dwellers were about greed. It was easy to be greedy when there was always more.

"How many stars do you see at night, Bolivar? The lights of the city are never off, not unless something makes them turn off. You've seen my ten minutes of sunshine every night for years. Can you really begrudge me taking what I need?"

"You were dying?" Hector repeated, reaching for her hand. He traced the glowing edges of her clan spots, which burned pale blue in the darkness. "You were dying, and you didn't tell me? How long have you known?"

Bolivar leaned closer as well, waiting for her answer apparently with bated breath.

"I've been dying since before we met. Any of us. From the moment I was left here on this planet alone." She was tired, watching the way both Bolivar and Hector tensed at her admission. "It's hard trying to survive on so little energy, drawing just enough from my depleted stores to be able to walk around for one more day. And honestly, I didn’t have a good enough reason to keep going until now. Hol was gone, my clan is probably gone as well, and Earth isn't particularly hospitable to a Dark-Sider when their hero calls me a villain."

Bolivar had the grace to look sheepish at that. It was his fault most people instantly believed she was a supervillain despite not having done anything to them. Apparently Light-Dweller propaganda was just as prevalent and invasive as what she had grown up with.

"I could probably arrange for this to happen more often," he offered. "I mean, they'd probably agree to it if I asked."

Hector pulled her into a hug. "You said you wanted to stay."

"I did. I do." Anziah rested her head against his chest, soaking up the warmth and listening to his heartbeat. The preset time on her device was going to be finished soon and the power would return, bringing the blanket of ambient light with it. She turned her head so she was looking at Bolivar again. "Can you really do that? I don't need too much too often. I'm not trying to be a hero like you. Or a villain, for that matter. I mean, I have a job for all my basic needs, it's just..." She gestured at the sky. "That's not exactly something I can get anywhere else."

"They'll listen." There was a mulishness in Bolivar's tone, and she knew someone was going to get a rather forceful meeting with Sun Fox in the near future but couldn't bring herself to care too much about it. "And I think I owe you an apology for how we met. Could we start over?" At her nod, he held out a hand. "I'm Bolivar Pierce. Nice to meet you."

She shook his hand gently, marveling at how their energy mingled where they touched. "Anziah Silversinger of the Star-Whisperers. And this is Hector Martinez, my partner." She wasn't sure how else to define them at the moment, but 'partner' seemed like a safe word. Hector didn't dispute it, nodding to Bolivar over her head. "Nice to meet you, too."

"Oh. I don't think I actually knew your name before." Bolivar winced. "Wait, how did you know mine?"

She chuckled. "I have my ways. Besides, I'm one of the few people on Earth who can tell you have clan spots even when you aren't using your energy. You aren't nearly as subtle as you think you are."

There was a sudden buzzing in her ear right before the power turned back on and the veil of light descended on the city again, silencing the music in her head. The glow beneath Anziah's skin cut off abruptly, sealing in all the energy she had absorbed before it dissipated. It was nice not having a yawning pit of emptiness inside her anymore.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have assumed you were—"

"It's fine. You know now, and things will be different." She stepped away from Hector until she was standing on her own, though he looked as though he wanted to wrap his arms around her and never let her go. She was going to pay for not telling him how much it took out of her to try and survive on so little energy, but that was a problem for later.

The feeling of suffocation had returned once the stars were out of reach, but it wasn't as bad as before. She knew how to handle it this time, and Bolivar promised to help.

"I think I should go now," he said, floating up off the roof again. "I'll try to be in touch about the..." He gestured at the sky. "Yeah."

He left in a streak of golden light, and Anziah and Hector were alone again.

"Are you going to be okay now?" Hector asked. He pulled her watch out of his pocket and handed it back to her after glancing at the time. "That was only a half hour."

"It's a half-hour more than I've gotten for twenty years. I feel amazing!" She grinned. "I could probably still move the world and have enough to get up in the morning." Not that she was going to do it, but there was a certain power in knowing that she had enough of something after she had spent so long working around the lack of it.

He frowned at her. "You're going to not do that if I have to bury you in bubble wrap to ensure it."

"Of course not, dear."

The sensation of being alive was still thrumming in her veins as she leaned up to kiss him, pouring as much of her affection and joy into it as she dared. Being with him was better than starlight because this was home.