“The way she navigated was different from the way the men navigated. My mom didn’t use size and distance, she used stories and relationships. She had tales about each star and as it moved through the sky, its story would change. Story after story, she would ask me to repeat them so I would remember.”
Beckett smiled. “It’s like she saw the future — that you would need to find your way through the world by yourself.”
“She was pretty magical.”
“Can you tell me one?”
Luna brushed her thumb along the curve of his finger. “The easiest one, the first one. There’s a constellation called the Monarch. It’s visible in that area of the sky.” Luna pointed behind Beckett.
“Southeast?”
“Yes. I believe it uses some of your constellation, Orion, the rest of it looks like a big butterfly. It’s supposed to travel the skies carrying messages from one person to a far away other person. I sent you messages after I left you on the Outpost.”
“I got them. One hundred percent. That’s why I came to find you.”
Luna screwed up her face. “I don’t think the timeline—”
“Don’t over-think it, the story is so much better that way. So you’ll be sending me messages by the Monarch constellation every night.”
“Yes, but that’s not the story, not really. This, the Monarch, has moved ever so slightly north, just barely. The tip of the left wing is almost touching the Breeze constellation.” She pointed up to the south. “Right there, stretching across the sky with twists, like a wind. Next time I’m with you, in three months, I’ll show it to you, but until then you should try to figure it out, okay?”
“That’s all I’ll do.”
Luna smiled.
Beckett said, “Just a minute.” He pulled his hands from the fence and shook them out. “My hands hurt.” He put his fingers back immediately.
Luna kissed his right hand’s finger tip, and continued, “Because the Monarch’s wing is in the Breeze constellation it means big changes. Disruptions and upsets, but not necessarily in the bad way. It’s up to us to whisper to the Monarch what we want to happen. Begin the flow. It will be over a year that the two constellations are touching. So that’s good. We have time to get the change right.”
“I love you Luna.”
“I love you too. Now you tell me something about your—”
