DISCLAIMER: I don't own Darker Than Black and its sequels. This fanfiction is NOT for profit, only for fun.

Spoilers: Darker Than Black – The Black Contractor (Season1), DTB - Shikkoku no Hana (Manga); DTB – Gaiden (Ova), DTB – Gemini of the Meteor (Season2)

Rating: T (just to be on the safe side)

Summery: This is a story about Xing and her brother and how they coped with the moon and stars vanishing and everything that brought the new sky with it. And of course, Xing's strange behavior afterwards becoming slowly the Bai we 'know'. (kinda a PREQUEL to 'Black Dust').

Ages: Xing/Bai: 8 years (almost 9); Hei: 12 years

Happy New Year!

DtB: When the stars vanished

Chapter 1

Day 0

The stars twinkled from the cloudless sky, almost competing with the moon, whose silver light wrapped the lake-side and the forest beyond into a velvet blanket. At the foot of a small hill sat a dark haired boy, next to him stood a telescope – a real one, not one constructed for children to play with and sate their curiosity. With a gentle smile, the twelve-year old overlooked the scenery and watched his little sister marvel the beauty of the stars, while she whispered her heart's desires to the shooting stars to come true. The girl whirled around, her large blue eyes gleaming with joy about the prospect to become a nurse or an astronaut – the love of the stars must be genetically, though the eight year old wanted to visit the planets surrounding those brightly shining gas giants, whereas her older brother and her parents were satisfied with stargazing on a nightly basis.

More and more stars fell from their place in the sky. The unnatural number made the boy frown, but he shoved his bewilderment to the back of his mind – there was no need to spoil his sister's happiness. But it was no use. As soon as his cell phone rang and signaled that he had a new text message, the brunette girl's hilarity was gone from her features and she approached her beloved brother, her large eyes at the brim of tears. "They aren't coming?" The unspoken 'again' hung heavily in the air.

The boy's smile had also vanished at the disappointment ringing in his sister's voice. His dark blue eyes flew over the letters in the message, before he sent a simple 'OK' back to his father's cell. "They are driving back to the observatory, Xing." He shoved the small phone into his pants' pocket and looked up into his sister's sad features, forcing a reassuring smile onto his lips – he had also looked forward to their parents joining them, but he had gotten used to their overtime by now. But Xing on the other hand still held onto the few times their parents had indeed stolen themselves away from their work to spend some time with their children. He didn't want to take this hope away from her. "I'm sure they'll make it up tomorrow evening." He didn't really believe his words himself, but usually it would make his sister cheer up. But not today.

The girl in the white dress kicked a patch of grass, while her misty eyes searched for her brother's. "Then some other cracking sound from the space or some stupid asteroid would turn up! Just like today!" Her voice was angry and sad at the same time as she felt the misery of constant disappointment envelope her heart.

The older child wanted to respond with soothing words, which would make her feel better, but his eyes caught sight of dark spots in the sky that continuously grew while the stars were raining down towards the Earth. Suddenly his eyes widened when he noticed that the darkening scenery around them didn't only originate from the loss of the starlight. "I don't think it's one of those today." He muttered like in a daze and got to his feet, his gaze pinned to a spot that had been brightly lit in silver just moments before. "Xing… where's the moon?"

Still miserable about her parents' broken promise, the girl turned around and took in the pitch black night-sky. "Oniichan?" Was this her fault? Was it because of her wish to the shooting stars she had made just a few seconds ago? Wishing the rivaling stars away, so she and her brother would have their parents for themselves. "I don't want them gone!" She cried out towards the gods, who had granted her wish. She loved the stars. "Please stop to fall!" She didn't want them gone in the depth of her heart, never had. That thought, that wish had been just a tiny flicker by an upset child – she hadn't really meant it. "Stop." The girl whispered resigned as tears flew down her cheeks and the last bright dots vanished.

"What's going on?" The boy muttered and turned around in circles to take in the entire sky. Black. Only black was left. Not one single star. He looked over to where his sister stood and he suddenly registered that it was so dark that he couldn't see the girl in the bright dress any longer – he could only hear her feet crushing the grass as she slowly moved. Fearful – his awe long gone – the boy reached out and felt for his sister. After a moment and a few steps, he touched her shoulder and slid his hand down to grasp her hand firmly. "Let's go home, Xing." Never before he had been afraid of the darkness, but this was different and it made the hairs on his neck stand up – the animals must feel the same. The silence of the owls and cicadas made the atmosphere even more eerie.

The girl nodded and followed her brother, who used his cell phone as a flashlight. Within seconds the telescope was disassembled and back in its bag. There was this knot in her gut making her stomach hurt and hold tighter onto her brother. Fear and sadness were nagging on her. Her brother would be angry with her if he knew she made his beloved stars vanish. But they usually told each other everything. And her brother was kind. He loved her, she knew this for sure. He had always been there for her. Even when she had broken the mug he had made for their father at school, he had forgiven her. Maybe he would forgive her this too? "Oniichan?" She squeezed his hand and looked up as they made their way to the street lamp lit path. She heard him 'mhm' in responds and struggled with herself if she should tell him and how. Xing didn't know what to do if her brother would hate her. This thought made new tears well up in her ocean-like eyes. "Nothing."

Her brother stared ahead into the darkness, hoping they were going into the right direction – the make-shift flashlight wasn't really of any use. Suddenly a dull spot appeared at the horizon. At first he thought his eyes were playing tricks on him, but the point grew in intensity and with it others began to populate the black sky. First three, then seven, then eleven… soon it were more than twenty and the boy craned his neck to get a better view onto all of them, welcoming the stars. "Look, Xing!" He yelled in relief. "They are returning!"

But his sister was caught up in her miserable thoughts, revolving about scenarios in which her big brother would leave her alone, would tease her or hit her like the brothers of her friends at school would do with their sisters. Her heart was heavy. Then suddenly, the sadness was gone within one heartbeat and a conclusion began to build inside the little girl that the loss of the stars and the moon couldn't be her fault… that a child's wish to a God that might not exist couldn't cause such a gigantic incident.

This was irrational.

A/N: I hope you like it. Feedback is a wonderful thing.

There are some speculations out in the net, that the mental condition of a person is also responsible that they are affected by the Gate-Particles (radiation) and turn into Contractors (or Dolls). You can take it as you like with this story, but we all know that Xing turned into a Contractor, the HOW is rather unimportant.