When the adults went to bed for the night, they were quite a long way from actually sleeping. Both were still numb with shock over the atrocities recounted by their own children, if they could even refer to Star and Sky as children anymore. After all those two, who were only seventeen in the eyes of the rest of the world, were not only literally older; but had suffered much more than most adults ever did in a life four times as long. But most upsetting of all of what they had been told that night was that a great deal of the pain and abuse that Sky and Star endured was actually at the hands of they themselves. Even though, in this life, they had always believed that it was their job to protect them. And now Sky had been abused even further in this life as well, and it was obvious that Star also felt that pain just as deeply as if it had happened to her.

As the two sat on the bed, even more horrified than they had been the night before, Brie whispered, “how could they ever want us to be their parents again? After all of that?”

Connor’s eyes dropped from the hole he had been staring into the wall in front of their bed then, “I suppose we are the only parents they ever knew. The only thing they had to cling to, other than each other; despite how much we didn’t deserve that trust at all.”

“They killed people in that original life; people who victimized them. We victimized them too, Connor. How could they not want us dead as well?” she sniffled.

“Same answer as the last one I guess; we were all they had left, except each other. And they’ve had seventeen years, longer even, to take our lives. If they truly wanted to, I’m sure they could have. And I somehow don’t think they want to have to kill ever again. If they did, don’t you think that rapist prick would be dead in this life too?”

“He should be” Brie returned. She then shook her head, “I understand them trying to hide their powers, but when that boy hurt Sky like that, I don’t understand how he wouldn’t have defended himself any way he could, regardless of the consequences.”

“Maybe he couldn’t then for some reason? They said that their powers stopped working after that horrible year. Maybe Sky couldn’t get them to work then either? I mean, power as amazing as what they have, there’s gotta be some drawback besides just having to remember every failed attempt at leading other happy lives in the past. We just don’t know enough about their abilities to understand why he wouldn’t have used them against that attack if he could have.”

“Don’t even tell me you’re thinking about studying them again!” she exclaimed as she cast him a dark look.

“No. Not like that anyway. Not after what he’s already been through. And it’s not like we could lock them up like that ever again anyway; especially if they can just reset the whole world, like they say. And I wouldn’t want to” he quickly added, “but I want to understand them. Which would be true even if they weren’t part-alien” he stated as he shook his head at his own words, still having trouble believing any of this new reality that his children had endured in silence for years.

Meanwhile upstairs, Star was once again curled up with Sky atop his bed, despite the hour nearing midnight. Though Sky wasn’t sure if it was just that she was afraid to leave him alone for fear that he would be hurt again, be it by himself or someone else; or if it was really just her also being too shattered to be away from him for even just the few hours it took to sleep each night. Not that he really had any desire to be away from her either. He was struggling to not want to hurt himself again, but clinging to her was the only thing giving him strength, just like he had told her.

They waited for sleep to overtake them; not that that was likely after recounting their entire lives to their parents at last. As the minutes ticked by, Star once again slid her fingers underneath his shirt, trailing them lightly over his warm skin. After several more moments, she looked up at him, though his eyes were staring at the ceiling above them, his mind racing as it had been for the five days since his run in with Curt.

Star lay her head on his chest again and took another breath before bravely letting her hand slowly make its way toward the front of his pants then. She touched him even more gently through the velvet material then as she felt his breath catch and his heart speed up at the touch.

Upon hearing his heart rate increase, she paused a moment and whispered, “is this ok?”

Sky just let out a slight breath before answering, “if you keep touching me for a few more seconds, I’m sure you’ll know that answer.”

Star tried a small smile then, hoping he meant it and wasn’t just trying to tell her what she hoped to hear; some hint that he would maybe be all right, someday. She then continued gently rubbing him through that snug black velvet, nearly tearing up with relief when he slowly began hardening at the touch.

Once he was nearly fully aroused by just that gentle touch, she slowly began tentatively undoing the first of the four buttons at the front of his pants, “is this ok too?” she whispered after the second was undone.

Sky just shook his head, a smile almost touching his lips, “would you stop asking me that if we went to the silver room first?” he then added, “I just figured it wasn’t really a necessary precaution tonight, considering I doubt our parents’ main concern is currently whether or not we’re having naked time in the house anymore.”

Star then stopped after undoing the third button and looked up at him with a question in her eyes, “would you be all right with that too?”

Sky almost smiled, almost, “with what? Naked time? One more button and I’m pretty sure we’ll be there.” he added wryly.

Star bit her lip to hold back her smile at his comment, glad some part of him was still in there, buried under all that hurt and pain. She then finished undoing the final button and moved to part the front of his pants, as her eyes moved to where he was now fully aroused by her attention.

With another small sound of relief, she moved to take him into her mouth as gently as possible. As Sky let out a slight gasp at her lips closing around him he arched his hips slightly and pressed his head back into the pillow, his pretty eyes closing as he waited for her touch to hopefully make him forget all that horror and shame and hurt and pain, at least for a little while.

Though they didn’t actually make love that night, Star did manage to make him feel enough pleasure once again that he could finally fall asleep in her arms at last. And that’s where she stayed, holding him through the night, doing what little she could to even try to fix a fraction of what was so broken in him now; and therefore, broken in her as well.

Sky actually awoke first, a good half hour or so before his alarm even went off that Wednesday morning. When he opened his eyes, he realized he was still laying next to her, his pants open, her lipstick smudged with the same shade he found when he looked down at himself; and he almost smiled again, almost.

He then looked back down at where she still slept soundly in his bed, her skirt having ridden up to expose those black lace panties during the night. His breath caught a bit at that as he felt an ever so slight stir in his loins when his eyes moved over her.

Looking at the clock, then his locked bedroom door, then back at her, he took another shallow breath. He somehow always felt guilty if there were ever a time when both of them hadn’t achieved that final release during any encounter between them. Discounting their year of hell, he did his best to make sure that was never actually an occurrence in their romantic life; perhaps because of their year of hell, but even before that, he had felt that way as well. On that thought, he took another breath and moved to gently start pulling her panties down from her hips.

Easily waking to the feel of his hands finally undressing her again, Star did smile down at him then. “Unfinished business?” she teased through a sleep raw voice.

“You know me so well” he replied, though he didn’t look up from his task, Instead, he pulled the flimsy lace the rest of the way down her legs and dropped the garment onto the floor. He then moved to push her skirt upwards, in yet another moment so reminiscent of their second first time; at least before the horrible part started when Cassie had arrived.

He then moved to begin his task, Star easily reminded of why that stud in his tongue was her favorite accessory of all his millions of pieces of jewelry. Sometime during her third climax, the alarm finally went off as Sky finally moved back from her now trembling body to silence the shrill screech coming from his clock.

“There’s that damn timing kryptonite again” he told her with what actually managed to become a smile that time.

Speaking breathlessly as she pushed sweat-damp locks from her face, “we may be developing a tolerance to it; you did make me come three times before it kicked in” she teased.

Sky then nearly laughed at her comment, “do you always count how many times I make you come?”

“The joys of being a real girl; multiple orgasms and all” she teased back.

Sky just smirked at her, “you and you XX chromosomal superiority. No wonder I spend so much time trying to out-pretty every girl in town.”

“And the ironic part,” Star began as she shakily pushed herself up to move across the bed and cover his mouth with hers, “is that you don’t even have to try to out-pretty them. You were made with damn good genes.”

“Look at me, suddenly an overachiever” Sky smirked again.

“You mean you didn’t know that’s what you were after the way you pass out those multiple orgasms?” she teased him once more as she gave him one more kiss, then went on her way to get herself ready to face yet another school day, hoping it would be better than some other recent ones; it had to be, right?

Though Sky and Star had managed to find the ability to smile once or twice throughout the previous night and then again that morning; their smiles wavered again as they finished getting ready for school and then remembered they had to once again face their parents that morning. And that was definitely worrisome after the previous night, when all those long-held secrets were finally uncovered.

When Sky entered the kitchen/dining room, Brie and Connor were stiffly seated at the counter-island, both clenching a cup of coffee tightly in their hands. “Morning” Sky greeted them warily as he appeared first, as Star needed a little more time that morning, somehow.

Brie took a breath as she looked at Connor, then back at Sky as he reached for the juice he usually had with his bagel most mornings. She then turned her eyes back to Sky again just as Star finally entered the room as well. “Sky, there’s one thing...” she then shook her head, “well, many things really, but the one worrying us the most right now, before you go back to school today... we need to ask you to explain one more thing to us” she finally decided on, her discomfort obvious.

“Not sure what else there is to tell” Sky returned as he and Star took seats at the opposite side of the counter, “but shoot” he shrugged warily.

Brie took a moment, then continued, “I know it’s probably the last thing that you wanna keep talking about, but you say you can do all these things, amazing things, with just your minds. And I know how terrified you must both be of having your abilities discovered again. But, I’d think, that during the... situation” she decided on, “that you were in last week, that pure panic alone would make your abilities kick in to save you. Why didn’t they?” she asked softly.

Sky and Star looked at each other warily then, trying to decide exactly what answer they should give. For all the lurid details of the horrors they had suffered, one of the only things they left out, other than the silver room and Veda, was their one weakness; that need to be together in order to not be completely and totally defenseless, as he was that day with Curt.

Sky took a breath as he looked at Star, “do we finally trust them enough to tell them that?”

“Tell us what?” Connor asked worriedly.

“The reason why we’re drawn together” Star answered softly, “we have to be” she told them softly. “And now you know.”

“You have to be?” Connor asked, still needing more clarification.

“We need to be” Sky let out a breath, “we have to be at least near each other in order to do... anything” he admitted with a heavy sigh. “Now prove to us that you really can be trusted, and you really do love us now; and don’t make us regret telling you that. We’ve had enough pain haven’t we?”