Wish Upon A Star

Chapter 3 – An Enlightening Shopping Trip

"Late at night when all the world is sleeping, I stay up and think of you. And I wish on a star, that somewhere you are thinking of me too."

/Edward\/Harry\

Harry scowled at his reflection. "I look ridiculous," he complained.

Alice surveyed him with a critical eye. "I think you look great," she said, a smile spreading across her lips. "This outfit looks perfect on you."

Harry whirled around to stare at Alice. "I hate leather," he nearly hissed. "It's bloody uncomfortable and it leaves nothing to the imagination! My package is for my own eyes!"

"Don't you know that sharing is caring?" Alice asked, winking slightly. Jasper rolled his eyes at his wife's teasing.

"Alice!" Harry cried indignantly.

"Oh, alright. Go change, then."

"Perverted vampires," Harry mumbled as he walked back into the dressing room.

Alice rolled her eyes, eliciting laughter from Emmett, a tiny smirk from Rosalie, and wry grins from Edward and Jasper. So far, the past hour of Edward's long life had proved to be nerve-wracking and amusing. He still didn't want to hope too much in case he didn't end up meeting his mate, but an odd sensation inside of him told him he was being an idiot. An elbow nudging him in his stomach pulled him out of his thoughts.

"Relax," Jasper whispered soothingly.

Edward could feel waves of calm overcome him. "I hate shopping," he grumbled.

Emmett snorted. "You could've stayed home," he pointed out.

Edward's eyebrow raised slowly. "Why are you even here?" he questioned. "I don't see how this even concerns you."

Emmett pouted. "You wound me, Edward," he whimpered.

Esme playfully smacked Edward on the arm. "Be nice," she said softly. "Harry is the first star we've met; naturally, we'd want to spend some more time getting to know him. Besides, he's going to help you find your mate, dear. It takes someone truly blessed to care enough to help a vampire find his mate."

Carlisle smiled and nodded. "Esme is right, Edward," he chimed in gently. "Now, let's help Harry finish picking his clothes so that the process can begin, okay?"

Edward looked properly chastised and nodded, smiling as he thought how out-of-place their family looked in the dressing rooms. Other shoppers thought so too, apparently, if their awed and flabbergasted looks said anything. He scowled at some of their lustful thoughts and focused on Alice, who had began talking.

"So, Harry, how does being a star work exactly?" Alice asked, tossing a pair of jeans over the dressing room door.

"What do you mean?"

"Like," Alice began, "do you have any special abilities? How are stars born? How do stars die? How old are you? Do all stars have accents? I mean, you sound British, so were you born over Great Britain or something?"

Harry paused from trying on the other outfit Alice had picked and didn't speak for what seemed like an eternity. Jasper glanced at the door warily, too aware of the terribly sad emotions emanating from the being within the dressing room. Alice frowned, wondering if anything she said had offended Harry.

"I wasn't always a star," Harry said softly.

Alice blinked. "Oh," she whispered. "Um…"

"I don't really have any special abilities," Harry continued, ignoring the awkward silence that had settled after his confession. "However, I guess to the beings here on Earth, it'll seem like stars have some sort of super power. We can travel extremely fast, but that's mostly because of gravity differences between Earth and space. You see, stars are made differently than humans. That's why despite gravity being stronger on Earth, stars can still move somewhat faster than the average human."

"You almost outran me," Edward piped. "I'd say that was a hell of a lot faster."

Harry scowled as he opened the dressing room door. "I guess," he mumbled. He walked over to the mirror and turned around, surveying himself. "This is okay. It's a lot different than what I used to wear."

He either didn't notice or ignored the uncomfortable expressions on the vampires' faces.

"As for how stars are born," Harry plowed on, "I'm not quite sure. There are many ways for stars to be born."

Jasper hesitated slightly. "Do you mind…telling us how you were made a star?" he asked gently, unsure.

Harry glanced at him in the mirror. "I died in place of someone else," he said simply, "and Fate thought I was worthy enough to have a place in the sky until my Rebirth comes, if I have one."

"Oh…"

"As for how stars die, they explode," Harry said flippantly. "No star knows when his or her time is up. That's why we shine so brightly in the sky. We grant as many wishes as we can, if we feel the wishes deserve to be granted, hoping to help the inhabitants of Earth be happy."

"I don't quite understand," Carlisle said as Harry walked back into the dressing room. "Isn't there an average life expectancy for stars?"

"No. We die when we're meant to; no sooner and no later. This has been the way of the stars since everything was first created. It's our fate; we burn contentedly in the sky and help those who wish upon us if we feel so inclined until we die and are Reborn."

"Reborn?" Emmett questioned.

"Yes, Reborn," Harry replied calmly, walking out of the dressing room again. He looked at his image in the mirror thoughtfully. "This makes my butt look big."

Rosalie surveyed his outfit. "Those jeans are supposed to. They look good on you," she admitted begrudgingly. "You should take them."

Harry glanced at her, mildly surprised, and nodded his head. "Thanks."

"What happens when you're Reborn?" Edward asked curiously.

Harry chuckled in amusement. "What happens when you die?" he retorted. "You can't say for sure, can you? Some people believe they go to Heaven, some to Hell, and some believe in reincarnation. You just don't know. I guess it depends on what you've done in your life and what kind of mood Fate is in that determines your Rebirth."

Emmett shook his head. "This is so weird."

"So is needing to drink the blood of others to survive, yet you accept that easily," Harry replied with a wry grin. "You sparkle in the sun, you have venom, your skin is impenetrable, and you're immortal. Tell me, what part of you is actually normal?"

Emmett blinked, astonished. "Well, I…uh…"

"To a vampire, you're perfectly normal," Harry continued. "To a star, I'm perfectly normal. To humans, they're perfectly normal. That's why normalcy is in the eye of the beholder, Mr. Brawny."

Jasper chuckled. "He's got a point there, Em."

Emmett pouted. "Everyone is so mean to me."

"And to tell you my age, I would need to know the year and date," Harry said, his gaze fixated on the mirror though he wasn't looking at anything in particular.

"It's June 9, 2005," Esme said helpfully.

Harry blinked and nodded his head slightly. "I would've been twenty-five on the thirty-first of July," he replied.

Esme looked heartbroken. "You're still a child," she whispered sadly.

Harry snapped his gaze to the mother vampire. "I'm not a child," he denied softly. "Sure, I died young, but I didn't die a child."

A silence settled over them. Harry walked back into the dressing room to shrug out of the last outfit and put on the clothes he'd borrowed from Edward. He was pretty sure the vampires pitied him, and he felt more than a little annoyed at that fact. What did it matter how old he was when he died? If he'd gotten over it, he saw no need why others felt so sad about it. Edward's expression in particular struck a chord deep within Harry. He didn't look at him with pity or with sadness; Edward's topaz eyes, which Harry decided were admittedly beautiful, had pierced his heart with the warmth of his understanding and sympathy.

It gave him those odd sensations in his stomach, akin to butterflies fluttering inside him.

"Well, since we're done, shall we work on finding you a mate?" Harry asked Edward, giving the vampire a bright, true smile.

Edward swallowed the venom that had built up and nodded his head. "Yes," he whispered, his nervousness and anxiety returning.

Harry noticed his behavior and his smile widened. "Don't you worry; we will find your mate."

"How are you so sure?" Edward asked skeptically.

"Because I wouldn't have been allowed to grant your wish if your mate didn't exist," Harry replied happily.

"Huh?"

"Stars grant the wishes we feel are worthy of being granted," Harry explained further. "However, like all societies, we have a system of government. If we want to grant a wish, but it isn't possible to do so, we aren't allowed to. For example, it's impossible for us to grant a widow their deceased spouse. We don't have the power to do that. However, if the wish can be granted, we're given a file with information about the wisher and then come straight down."

"Oh," Edward said softly. A tiny smile bloomed on his face. "So, I definitely have a mate?"

Harry's eyes softened and he squeezed Edward's arm in reassurance. "Yup," he said gently. "And if we don't pay for these clothes and get started, it'll take longer to find them, so get your arse up and let's go!"

Edward chuckled and led Harry to the register, fishing out his wallet. The rest of the Cullens trailed behind them, eyeing them curiously and eyeing Harry with some amount of suspicion.

"Do you think…?" Carlisle asked.

"I'm not sure," Esme replied. "We'll just have to wait and see."

"Race you to the car!" Harry cried, grabbing his bag of newly purchased clothes and ran out the store.

Edward rolled his eyes and chased after him.

Esme and Carlisle exchanged glances. "Interesting," they murmured in unison.

"I'm a little lost," Emmett whispered.

"Not surprising," Jasper muttered back.

Rosalie sighed. "We might have to deal with that star for longer than we thought."

"Is that…a bad thing?" Emmett asked.

"Not to Edward."

Harry stretched and set his bags down. "Anybody ever tell you that driving like that will break the sound barrier?"

Edward shrugged his shoulders. "What's life without a little excitement?"

"Whatever," Harry retorted. "Are you ready to find your mate?"

Edward pondered on all of the years of his pitiful, lonely existence. "I'm past ready," he answered softly.

Harry smiled. "Good. Let's begin."