Look How She Lights Up the Sky

(ooc: April 2nd, at night. Open to Ray and his close friends, which... At this point would include Tiana and Vixey primarily.)

The sun had returned.

Ray, like many others in the hero camp, was aware of this fact by that point. However, it wasn't the sunlight he was terribly interested in. No, there was something else that the little firefly was valiantly keeping an eye on as the sun set. He wanted to watch as the stars began to fill the night sky. If the sun was back, then it stood to reason that the moon would return as well. If that was the case, then one thing was absolutely clear to Ray right then. Someone he missed dearly was going to make an appearance after just about two months of being absent. At least... That was what Ray was hoping for. He wanted to see with his own eyes when the stars returned so that he could say with certainty what he hoped for would come to pass.

He was perched atop a tent pole and staring up at the sky as it turned darker and darker. Slowly but surely, little lights were beginning to dot the dark canvass that was the night. None were standing out to him as the star he was hoping to see, though. Ray felt his heart sinking. What if he was wrong? What if she just wasn't going to come back because it had been so long?

As Ray started to doubt more and more, though, more stars began to fill the night sky. He looked away for a moment, and when he looked back he spotted something. A soft gasp filled the air and, slowly, a wide smile formed on his face. There she was! There, in the center of the night sky, was one particularly bright star shining down on the world around them. Ray's light glowed all the brighter as delight overtook him. Finally, after so many days of darkness, Ray had been rewarded with the sight of his long lost beloved. She had finally returned to him.

"Evangeline!" Ray exclaimed. HIs wings whirred rapidly and he flitted up into the air. Of course, he knew that Evangeline was too far away for him to actually fly up and greet. That didn't mean he couldn't fly around and express his delight over what he was seeing.

"Ah knew it, ah knew it, ah knew it! Ah knew you couldn't be gone for good, darlin'!" Ray cheered. The sun's return had brought about the return of his true happiness. Sure Ray had looked happy while the darkness had surrounded them, but it had been a facade. He had to put on that mask to keep up the spirits of the others. Now, though? There was no question of whether or not Ray was happy. His beloved Evangeline had made her long awaited return. Now he felt whole again.

He hardly cared about who heard him as he flew around and decorated the air with streaks of his light. The little firefly's delighted cheers filled the air, and to anyone who knew him well it would be apparent why. This was a call for celebration. It was just a shame that, for the time being, he was alone.

"Daddy...ah knew you were up there waitin'...waitin' t'guide me again."

The night sky was aglow. The female was used to stars but she could never compare the amount in New Orleans to the amount in Africa. It would take far too long. Tiana adored the stars but she wasn't like Ray. She didn't pinpoint one as her guiding father star. In her mind, her father just looked down at her from the night sky. She dipped her head softly. She was sitting on a hunk of rock by pride rock. Her bare foot dangled beneath her as she ran her fingers over the soft gris-gris around her neck. She smiled softly.

She missed Naveen on nights like this. Though it was smart for him to stay back in New Orleans she still missed him terribly.

Her head lifted, however, as a glow echoed across the camp. A little buzz. She smiled. Ray. Ray had his little firefly back.

She lept off the rock with surprising agility and walked towards the light. She laughed softly. "Your belle Evangeline is back, Ray," she whispered to him, "Ain't that somethin'?"

She'd noticed the sun returning, of course. After all, who hadn't?

Still, Vixey hadn't been in any huge hurry to rush out and celebrate with the rest of the army. It was true, it was a pleasure to see it return; and somehow, deep inside, she felt that the Pridelands being lit up afresh meant that Tod would be keep watch over her afresh, too. And, in light of that, the vixen hadn't been sure she really felt like mingling in amongst everyone else right then. Rather, she'd taken a little bit of a walk on her own - or not entirely on her own, she was sure she could feel Tod's spirit beside her once more - just basking in the sunlight, feeling it warming through her fur; a touch that seemed to relax all her tensions of the past months of darkness at once.

She had the sun back, and she felt like she had Tod's presence back, too. For the first time in a long while, Vixey had been able to put her concerns to one side and, if not forget about them, at least feel like they weren't dominating her mind.

Sometime into the afternoon, she'd stopped to rest not far from Pride Rock and must have fallen asleep - to dreams of spending time with her beloved Tod; such dreams had been increasingly rare during the darkness, and she had missed him terribly - because the next thing she knew, darkness had fallen once more. Not the oppressive darkness, however; simply natural night, with the old, familiar stars shining in the blackness above.

Stars made her thing of one someone in particular; and, not feeling particularly sleepy after her unplanned and surprisingly long afternoon nap, Vixey had wondered idly about seeking him out.

She didn't have to look very hard.

The cheering of the familiar Cajun voice drew her in. She knew exactly who it belonged to; judging by tone alone, he was ecstatic, and she could well understand why. She was feeling the same way, with the renewed sensation of Tod's presence, and she could hardly help but follow the sound of his voice, happy to share in Ray's joy.

The russet female wasn't entirely surprised to find Tiana present, too. The firefly and the dark-skinned woman knew each other from before the war, Vixey was aware; and though she still could have counted the humans she trusted on a single one of their hands, Tiana was one of that number. Smiling at the little bug's enthusiasm, feeling like she could join in with him at any moment, the vixen lightly bounded forward to join the duo.

Catching Tiana's words, she nodded her own agreement as her deep brown eyes turned heavenward to take in the star for themself.

"Say, Ray, she looks more beautiful than ever."

It was hard to miss the additions of Tiana and Vixey in his delight. They were right, of course. Evangeline was bound to come back sooner or later, but the extended darkness had made it seem less and less plausible as the days went on. Now that she was there, shining in the light all around her, he could safely say he knew he would be okay again. Call it a bit sappy, but that was how he felt. He felt like everything would be just fine again now that he could see Evangeline up there. And Tiana and Vixey were with him, too. Things couldn't have gotten any better.

"Ah know, cher," Ray said, responding primarily to Tiana first. "And ah couldn't be happier to see her. She's just a purtty as ah 'member her." Maybe even more so, honestly. Vixey wasn't too far off with what she had said. It had been so long since Ray had actually seen the beautiful star that there just was something even more wonderful about her appearance. If one could even say such a thing about a star to begin with, that is. Maybe it was just the whole absence of the stars and moon over the course of however long that made it possible. He wanted to chalk it up to that. So, at last, he nodded in agreement with what Vixey had said. Thinking about, Evangeline did look more beautiful. There was no denying that much.

"Must be dat whole 'absence makin' the heart fonder' thing ah heard people talkin' about before," Ray said. "It's been so long, an' now dat we're seein' her again..." A contented little sigh escaped the firefly before he looked to the both of his friends. They both looked like they were doing well, honestly. How long had it been since he had really gotten to hang out with them? He wasn't sure. Well, Ray was going to rectify that. He wanted to spend time with the both of them.

"Anywho, how the two of y'all doin' tonight? Feels like it's been a good while since we all talked like this."

"Oh, I know that's true." She nodded her head at Ray's words. Absence making the heart fonder... that was something Vixey had personal experience of. She remembered... more than a year ago now, but she remembered when she'd first arrived in Africa and reunited with Tod after he'd been out in the war for a good month or more. The reunion had seemed all the sweeter for their time apart, every moment spent with him infinitely more precious, and it had wiped away her every other concern.

And, too, when she'd been with him again in her dreams, after his death... Every time she saw him again after such a long gap or felt his presence anew, she only loved him more. Never mind that they were separated by the chasm of life and death; he still owned her heart completely.

Ray was absolutely right; absence certainly had its effect.

"I, well, um..." Was this gonna sound weird to Tiana? Ray already knew about her dreamtime reunions, so he'd understand, but Tiana might find it a bit hard to swallow. Vixey knew for a fact that it had actually been some form of Tod himself that she spent time with on the nights when it happened, but anyone else might dismiss it as simple dreams.

"I feel like Tod is even closer to me now that the stars are back, as well. It's like he's right here again."

Was that true? Had he been somehow separated from her by the darkness, and returned to her now that it was gone? She couldn't have said for certain, and she'd still felt snatches of his presence even then... but she certainly felt like he was right back beside her now, closer than ever before. His presence, like the shimmer of one small star, shining everywhere... and she was just as ecstatic to feel like he was back as Ray was to have his Evangeline again.

But this wasn't her moment, it was Ray's; and the russet vixen acknowledged that with a tilt of the head in his direction.

"Gee, I'm so happy for you, Ray." Her smile - warm and genuine again, a rarity to see in recent months - was turned in his direction. It must have been harder for him than any of them, Vixey figured. She, at least, had felt faint flickers of Tod's presence through the months of darkness; but when the firefly's own lost lover had been completely hidden...

"Say, listen, we should definitely celebrate her being back."