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From the moment they are born until they die, stars suffer. Burning, burning, and more burning. A sharp, liminal pain that allows no rest; a torment that grows more powerful as time goes on. An ordinary person could not endure this; they would break into despair and madness. There is no rest.
On the other hand, people call them cruel, cold, and conceited, with a pride as massive as their own weight. But what else do you have left when everyone around you only offers hate and contempt? What do you do when you feel lonely and broken despite being surrounded by others? Not everyone can handle it well. In fact, not everyone can even face it.
That was the case for the little star of the Milky Way. A star that wasn't enough for the world, or even for herself.
She couldn't do anything right. From her creation until this very moment, had she ever managed to do anything correctly? It seemed not. Her children—her planets, moons, and dwarf planets—hate her. How can a parent recover from that? To have your children not love you the way you love them; to have them fear you just as much as you fear loneliness.
She was so desperate not to be left alone that her own guilt ended up driving them away. She was the only one to blame, no one else. Perhaps she didn't even deserve to be called a "parent." Did she ever act like one? Did she do it well? Most likely not. After all... why else would they abandon her? The only one who lets himself be seen by her isn't here by choice. If he could leave, he would; he knows it. After all, a little star like her will never be enough for anything. Too small to be noticed and loved, and too big to be wise and lasting.
She was just a ticking time bomb. If they stayed, she would end up hurting her children... and then she would vanish.
How foolish and hypocritical she was to banish her gas giant. She is just like him, maybe that's why she did it: a punishment meant not for her child, but for herself.
After all, parents often mirror themselves in their children. But now it's his turn to be in the cold and lonely vacuum of the universe—the very one he feared as a child and still fears to this day.
This is for the best. That way, the monster will die as it should: alone, without hurting anyone. A happy ending for everyone. Yes, that sounds right...
It hurts. It hurts so much. She wants it to stop, but she knows it won't. The little star never said it, but... whenever she was afraid, she would look at them—her children, her little ones. That's why it felt so awful every time one of them drifted away. It hurt, and it hurt even more than her own burning skin.
Now, the nearly lonely little star will grow cold from the loss of her little ones, and she will dream of a world where, at least for once, she is enough.