Chapter Text
“Hey Jupiter?” Mars approached the larger planet shyly, wearing a hesitant look on his face.
It hurt Jupiter to hear this tone shift in his friend’s voice. Mars had never spoken to him like he was nervous before. Never had a reason to be nervous until Planet X had come and gone.
So many strained relationships littered the Solar System now. So many hurt feelings that they never found the time to address.
Jupiter had always been close with Mars, closer than he was to any of the other rocky planets. It was a connection that he valued. He would truly do anything to earn his friend’s trust back.
“Something troubling you Mars?” Jupiter asked as kindly as possible. He didn’t want to scare Mars off.
“Something has been troubling me actually,” Mars replied with a bit more confidence. “After everything that happened I just… I don’t know what to do. You know?”
“I think I know exactly what you mean.”
“How did everything get so messed up? I mean, I know you all need to work out your own stuff on that side of the belt,” Mars reasoned, gesturing to where Jupiter sat on the far side of the Asteroid Belt. “And I respect that. I know Uranus barely came back, and Saturn and his moons are always at odds, and Neptune is just... I don’t know. But on our side, I don’t even know where to start! And somehow I feel like it’s up to me to fix it. Like I’m responsible for everyone’s problems.”
Jupiter felt a sinking feeling in his core. This was exactly how he felt, and he didn’t wish that feeling on anyone, let alone Mars. He knew that this was something they had in common. The ones who always tried to fix what was broken. A thankless job, truly.
He merely nodded in response, hoping Mars would fill the silence of his own accord. Most of the past conversations between Jupiter and Mars had ended with Mars solving his own problems anyway.
“I should probably go over there and talk to Earth about what happened. I think… I think I may owe him an apology,” Mars told Jupiter suddenly. “Plus there’s Luna too, who I think feels all this pressure to help Earth all the time. I don’t blame him after everything they’ve been through. I think maybe I should talk to him too. Apologize for keeping Proto a secret.”
“You weren’t the only one responsible for that Mars,” Jupiter cut in. “We all agreed to keep that secret. If it’s anyone's fault it’s mine-”
“How is it your fault?”
Jupiter paused, not expecting the quick rebuttal.
“I could have talked to the sun-” Jupiter tried.
“Any of us could have done that Jupiter,” Mars snapped suddenly. “It isn’t all on you all the time! I was his best friend, I should have said something.”
There was silence for a moment as emotion built on Mars’s face.
Mars looked to be on the verge of tears now. A look Jupiter hadn’t seen for millions of years. A look he wished he wasn’t seeing now.
“Mars-”
“I was his best friend Jupiter,” Mars practically whispered.
“You still are his best friend-”
“I mean Proto!” Mars emphasized. “I shouldn’t have kept my best friend a secret for so long! Especially not to Earth and Luna! We never talked about him after they came around. We had our reasons, but I don’t think that’s good enough anymore. He didn’t deserve to be forgotten like that. Neither did Theia.”
Jupiter stared at Mars, not sure when he should interject. Not sure what he would even say.
“For years Venus and I bottled it up and blocked it out. I told myself I was doing the right thing. That I was protecting the Earth. How stupid was that! I mean, look what happened to him!”
Mars shot a glance over to his neighboring planet who was currently laughing along with his moon about something or other.
“He looks okay,” Jupiter supplied. “Happy even.”
Mars scoffed.
“Happy? First he tries to fling himself into the sun, and then into the Kuiper Belt right after!”
Jupiter winces.
Mars plows forward.
“He talks to dead planets! And don’t even get me started on what’s going on with the Earthlings!”
“What’s going on with the Earthling?”
Mars sighed.
“He loves them,” Mars hesitated. “But I’m convinced they’re evil. Or, well, a lot of them are at least. All they do is kill each other and slowly kill him right alongside them.”
“Wait, what?” Jupiter asked in shock.
This was the first time he was hearing about any of this. He and the Earth had never been particularly close, but if he remembered right, the little guy was always going on and on about how great his Earthlings were. Maybe it was time he paid more attention. Especially after hearing all of the things Mars rattled off.
“Yeah,” Mars continued. “They hurt him all the time. He tries to hide it, but I can tell.”
“Does anyone else know about this? Does the Sun know?”
“Luna knows,” Mars answered. “He takes the brunt of it. And I think maybe Mercury knows too.”
“What about Venus?”
“He never really cared to get to know Earth after Theia, you know? He’s always been distant with him. I know he cares, it’s just- he’s been checked out for so long that it’s hard to know what to think.”
“Seems like he’s changing,” Jupiter mused, remembering the way Venus was willing to help back in the Kuiper Belt. “He came to find Earth.”
“I know, and I’m happy to see that, truly,” Mars said earnestly. “It’s just that I’ve been doing everything alone for so long. He checked out after Theia so I- I stepped up.”
“And you resent him for that.”
It wasn’t a question.
“I think- I think maybe I do,” Mars replied. “ I could have used his help after the Earth first developed life, or maybe after the Permian-Triassic Extinction. Actually- definitely after that come to think of it.”
Mars sighed looking back at Jupiter like he was more confused than ever. He continued.
“I mean, Proto and Theia sacrificed everything so there would be life in this Solar System. And I know Venus knows that. I know he sees what I see. So why has it always been me and Earth? Me guiding him, me helping him work through the complications of having life, life that I knew nothing about! He knew more about life than I did! Why didn’t he help me?”
Jupiter thought about this for a moment, searching Mars’ face to see the hurt there.
“Maybe he felt left out?” Jupiter reasoned. “Maybe he saw too much of Proto in Earth? They are very similar-”
“If he looked for more than a minute he would have seen Theia too! He would have seen that Earth and Luna are their own celestial bodies, who just happen to have a very similar dream to our old friends! Why didn’t he see that Jupiter? Why?”
“Maybe you should ask him?” Jupiter suggested hesitantly.
“I’m not sure-” Mars started.
“Look Mars, I’m not going to tell you what to do,” Jupiter cut in suddenly. “I never have, and I won’t start now. But if you want my honest opinion, I think you all need to have a long conversation about everything that has happened. You, the rocky planets, and Luna. Heck, we all probably should.”
Mars just stared at him, so Jupiter continued.
“There are a lot of hard feelings in the Solar System lately. I feel like there are a lot of planets I myself need to have honest conversations with. You included.”
“Me?”
“Yes Mars, you. You have been one of my closest friends for billions of years! Your trust is important to me, and well- I lost it,” Jupiter pointed out. “But I know how much my secret with X affected you personally. Affected your perception of me and the Solar System. I owe you an apology for that.”
“Oh,” Mars replied, taken aback. “It’s okay, big guy.”
Jupiter shook his head.
“It’s not okay-”
“I mean sure, what you did was wrong,” Mars pointed out. “But you’ve more than made up for it by now. I mean you kept us safe for all those years from the asteroids. Plus you give us advice all the time-”
“Couldn’t the same be said about you and the Earth?” Jupiter asked, cutting Mars off.
“What do you mean?”
“I mean you kept a big secret from him for millions of years, that secret ended up really hurting him,” Jupiter pointed out, looking over at the little blue and green planet and his moon. “But despite all of that you kept him safe. You were a true friend to him despite what you were going through. I know how much it hurt losing your friend the way you lost Proto.”
“It did hurt,” Mars said softly.
“And you pushed that hurt and guilt aside to help him grow into the planet he is.”
Mars looked at Jupiter thoughtfully.
“So we both kept secrets that hurt our friends, but worked hard to make it right. You’re saying we’re not so different?” Mars asked.
“None of us are. We’re all so wrapped up in our own guilt and insecurities that we have a hard time seeing all of the similarities we share.”
“We both put a pretty big burden on ourselves,” Mars pointed out. “We think that everything is our fault and we feel responsible for everyone else's feelings.”
They were quiet for a moment.
“Mars, I see so much of myself in you that it truly pains me sometimes,” Jupiter admitted.
“Oh.”
Mars looked offended at this.
“I don’t mean pains me in a bad way,” Jupiter backtracked quickly. “I mean that- well- I think that you are the me of the inner system. With all that it entails. And I know it isn’t easy.”
“Oh,” Mars said, slightly more upbeat, “Yeah that makes sense.”
“And I think that both of us need to have some difficult conversations on our own sides of the Belt,” Jupiter continued.
“Who do you need to talk to?”
“All of them actually.”
“Yeah, me too I think.”
“Good luck Mars.”
“Good luck Big Guy.”