Twelve
His eyes were accustomed to seeing nonexistent things.
But Milky Way believed that Andromeda was there. Close. He felt her - like the tug of a hole in the fabric of space.
So he ignored the protests of his stars as they collided with one another when him and his spiral chased after Andromeda and her curves.
But Andromeda has gone out of the Local Group, left only stardust in her trail as she boarded an interstellar flight away from Venus Cluster.
Time told Milky Way to stop. He will die with his stars half dead and his planets disarranged. But he pushed and gambled with a pulsar's gravity assist. It burned him half way, but it got him to where Andromeda was.
And he was happy, burnt but contented. Andromeda - she was indifferent, cold for a giant that traveled faster than its stars.
Miky way begged for her to go home with him, but he didnt understand.
Andromeda was home in Orion's arms - a new notch in his belt. And Milky Way, he thought he saw Andromeda's love.
But no - his eyes, I tell you, were accustomed to nonexistent things.