Moonrise ✔ [Complete]

50 Silver (Part 1)

He had been so close.

Reo watched Maeyune as she made her way toward one of the common room's exits. There was anger in her steps--anger and pain that he'd never seen so potent in her before. He had seen the tears brimming in her eyes. The sight had crippled him.

He had called her name. What he should have done was chase after her. But Commander Lin was the first to move.

Deiyu reached her before Reo could budge a muscle. The commander drew Maeyune off to the side, and they conversed in their own corner of the room. Given her icy glare, Reo didn't need to know Suolani to understand their conversation.

Even as he stood at the center of the common room, surrounded by soldiers who began to disperse, Reo watched the two Suolani. Maeyune and Deiyu were no more than two feet apart, their eyes unflinching on each other as they sparred in quiet, constrained tones. There was a distinct air of familiarity between them, one that weighed heavier on Reo.

Maeyune and the commander argued like lovers. Reo couldn't help but consider the pair the image of perfection. Mature, intelligent, and with mysterious gazes that could stupefy anyone--there couldn't have been a more obvious match.

And she had dreamed of marrying Deiyu.

Reo felt the jab in his chest. He tore his eyes from them, looked at the ruined city of Ursa on the monitor. The Silver City was gone, Maeyune's home destroyed. All she had now was Deiyu and the last of her team.

This wasn't the right time.

No, there would never be a right time.

His eyes wandered back to her a moment later. He wanted the ache to stop. And yet, he had no more strength to fight it. It cemented his feet to the ground, forcing him to watch her with someone else.

With the last exchange of words, Maeyune leveled a heart-wrenching glare. She turned on her heels and exited the small cavern, her head still held high. Deiyu ran a palm down his face.

Reo's body returned to life, and he rushed forward. "What did you say to her?"

Deiyu closed his eyes as if prepared to fall into a meditative trance. After a moment, he reopened his eyes and peered down the tunnel after Maeyune. "Despite my suggestions for what is best for her," he said, "she is intent on leaving and joining the rescue teams."

Reo felt a coil of frustration inside his chest. "The best for her?" he said, unbelieving. "No, what you've done is turn her into a weapon. That is all she knows, and that is all she thinks she should be."

Deiyu frowned in confusion. Before he could make a reply, Reo interrupted, "Have you ever asked her what it is she wants? She's trained her entire life for war. You've taken away all of her options except for one--to fight. But she's still as human as you and me and everyone else on this dying planet."