"... a star."
Those two words alone were enough to make Celine's eyes glitter like diamonds. She sat frozen, small hands clenched around the hem of her skirt as she stared ahead—at the stage, at the light, at her.
At Lina Nisho, her mother, her idol.
Celine's gaze followed every gesture, every flutter of her mother's hand, every shift in her voice. The glow that surrounded Lina didn't feel human. Rather, it was the kind of brilliance that demanded your attention, that pulled at your chest until you forgot to breathe.
And in that moment, Celine wasn't watching her mother.
She was witnessing a star in action.
It was dazzling, quite possibly overwhelming. It was the kind of beauty that carved itself into memory. Celine had seen her mother's performances before, of course. She had watched shows, behind polished edits, through the safety of distance.
But to see it live... to feel it? That was different. The woman before her wasn't just acting. She was living in front of everyone's eyes.
The crowd's applause sounded far away, drowned beneath the single, trembling thought forming in Celine's chest. The feelings that seemed to run from her heart to the very bones in her body... they were like nothing she had ever been able to experience before.
"This is my mother." she whispered under her breath.
Her heart pounded. There was a sense of true pride within the girl that she was able to call Lina Nisho her mother. The awe that Celine felt was something that she would never forget.
However, there was also a sense of envy that welled up within her. If Celine's mother was this great of an actor, then surely she could be too! Celine felt a bit of excitement at the thought of following in her mother's footsteps, in the sweat and tears she had produced to make it this far.
"I'll be a star too. I have to be."
Celine's small fist tightened. She was four years old, but in her mind, she was already chasing the same light. There was no time to waste! Not when the stage was waiting!
The moment they got home, Celine rushed out of the car and sprinted down the hall, determination in every step she took. She burst through her mother's room, searching for scripts, for tapes, for anything that could teach her.
Knowing what she knew now, the girl could not waste any time! She had to begin practicing if she wanted to make it as an actor!
And what better place to start than from professional scrips and materials that her mom had been using all this time?
"Alright!" she told herself, puffing her cheeks in resolve. "Time to start acting! I can do this!"
The next few weeks were filled with only practice, practice, and even more practice. The small girl pushed herself as much as she could to study what she could and to reproduce it. She made meticulous preparations as she strove for her goal.
From ever step, every move...
Celine knew that every detail would be important. She poured over the videos and her own notes as she tried to make herself into the best little actress that she could possibly be!
It wasn't enough to watch her mother anymore. Celine wanted to understand the magic behind those lights and to create her own magic in turn.
Days passed, countless hours of Celine's research. Neither Lina nor anyone else in the house had been able to figure out what it was Celine was doing. They probably just assumed she was drawing in coloring books or taking naps—normal things for a child of her age.
But she wasn't doing anything close to that! She was making sure that her goal of becoming an actress as great as her mother... She had to make sure that she carried the Nisho name proudly!
However, acting... wasn't as simple as she initially thought.
"Behold! I have come to... relin—uh... relan—"
Celine stumbled over the words, her tongue betraying her. She frowned, annoyed by the failure she had initially produced. Had she possibly just not been paying enough attention to the text on the page?
She tried again, this time louder and with a bit more "gusto" as she spoke. However, despite her hard work and effort, she still couldn't find the right tone or tempo.
"Damn it... This isn't right!" her mind screamed in frustration.
The mirrors surrounding her reflected not a star in training, but a little girl fumbling with lines too big for her mouth. It wasn't elegant at all! Celine was supposed to be doing better than this!
It just wasn't her.
"This is way harder than I thought..." she muttered.
So she moved. She swung her arms, tried to act it out, to feel the emotion. Yet, every movement felt so forced. Every word, hollow.
And in her frustration—her foot caught on the loose tile.
"And I have my swo— WOAH!"
Out of nowhere, Celine's body lost balance and she went tumbling towards the floor. Shock filled her face as the fall came quickly—the pain even more so.
Celine looked up at the ceiling for a moment. She blinked a few times over and tried to process what had just happened. Blood trickled down her forehead, more bruises covering other parts of her body.
Why hadn't she been able to do it? For some reason, it seemed that Celine couldn't find a way to act. No matter how hard she tried or how many different methods she used to improve, she just couldn't get it right! Why exactly was that? Wasn't she supposed to the daughter of an actress?
She sniffled, feeling tears start to form in her eyes. For a moment, she couldn't tell if the sting on her skin or the ache in her chest hurt more...
It was like the whole world had just caved in on her.
Seconds later, Miyako burst into the room with a worried look on her face. "Celine! What happened in here?!" She looked down at the small, defeated girl and widened her eyes. "You're bleeding! What happened?!"
Celine couldn't answer. The words just... wouldn't come. She wanted to say something to the woman, but just didn't know exactly how. Her heart ached so much... it was so painful.
The girl started to cry more and more. She gritted her teeth, not looking at Miyako. "I'll never be a star," she whispered, voice cracking. Her tears hit the floor one after another. It wasn't the pain but rather the it was failure.
It was helplessness, wrapping around her heart like chains.
A few days passed since the incident. Miyako had been able to help Celine up and bandage her, so the physical pain was minimal. Still, it seemed that the anguish—the hurt—wouldn't go away so easily.
Recently, Celine and her brother had been enrolled into a preschool not too far from their home. Due to some different requests from Mercury, the family had decided that getting the twins out of the house might be a good idea.
The teacher looked at the children with a smile. "Today, we'll be doing a skit!"
Yeah, preschool sucked big time.
Mercury looked at the woman and sighed, shaking his head. Just how much acting needed to be thrown at him?! It felt like everywhere he went someone was trying to get him to act out words on a page!
"Good grief... I don't know if I'll ever escape it!" he thought, almost laughing.
But at least one of them would be happy to do this. Looking over at his sister, Mercury crossed his arms. The boy knew that his sister was quite the fanatic when it came to matters such as this. She was quite the little actress from his point of view...
Surely this would at least be good for her. Mercury had heard that she got into an accident a few days prior and hadn't really been as "bright" as usual. Surely this would brighten her spirits.
At least, thats what the boy had initially thought. However, when Celine herself heard the words spoken, she jumped up...
And ran right out the door.
"No! I don't want to act!" she cried in defiance.
I'm only a matter of seconds the girl had completely left the room. A scared teacher tried to cry out to the girl, but she was too late and Celine was no where to be found.
The grey haired boy sighed, rubbing his eyes. "Not another scene... I really don't like that girl." Amidst all the chaos, Mercury was able to slip out of the classroom to look for her. "Guess this is my problem now, huh."
He searched: hallways, napping rooms, even the cafeteria. All around the school he looked for the blond haired girl. Surely she couldn't have gotten far, right?
However, despite all of the places that Mercury tried to search, he had no luck in finding her. Wherever she had run off to, Celine clearly did NOT want to be found. It was becoming seriously aggravating for her poor twin brother.
Eventually though, he did manage to spot her.
Outside, beneath a fading sun, a small figure sat alone. She was slowly rocking back and forth on one of the swings, her golden hair shimmered faintly like that of the last flicker of a dying star.
She seemed pretty down as she sat there, small tears still falling from her eyes. Mercury didn't know exactly what had caused this, but he would rather not just wait around for one of the adults to deal with this mess.
And so, he walked over to her and sat own on the next swing over. The boy let out a short sigh, causing Celine to look up at him with a face of confusion.
"Why'd you run?" he asked.
Celine sniffled. "Why did you follow me?"
"Because I want to know why my sister ran away from something she loves."
She hesitated. Her lips trembled. "...I don't want to talk about it."
"Then don't. But it won't make it go away."
Then things went quiet. Neither of the two children said another word for a long period of time, an awkward feeling between the two of them. Mercury looked forward at the sky off in the distance, so far away and yet so empty... the same emptiness that seemed to be filling Celine's spirit right about now.
His eyes softened. "You're scared, aren't you?"
Celine turned toward him. "What...?"
Mercury looked back over at his sister and smiled. "I'm guessing that you tried to act the other day and it didn't go well, right? You're scared of failing again..."
"H-how did you..."
"Failure isn't something to fear," Mercury slowly affirmed, closing his eyes. "It's how people grow. Even mom failed. Hundreds of times."
Celine looked up, confused. "But she's... perfect."
He scoffed. "You've seen it yourself. The exhaustion, the missed jobs, the mistakes. She's not perfect—she just kept going."
Mercury hopped off the swing, brushing off his shorts.
"If you really want to shine, Celine... don't stop because you tripped once. Stars don't fall—they burn until they can't anymore."
He walked away, leaving Celine staring down at her shoes, the words replaying in her head. The wind blew, soft and warm, and just for a second—her tears caught the sunlight. A glimmer, faint but still there.
"After all," Mercury thought, glancing back one last time. "… she is Lina's Child."