Moonrise ✔ [Complete]

50 Silver (Part 3)

Maeyune nodded, and she repeated the words in Suolani. He listened to the soft inflections in her voice.

"It's a proverb among my people," she explained. "It's meant to describe the moon's light that shines when all is dark. But it can represent many other things, like hope and courage. Sometimes it's difficult to find, but in the face of darkness, there will always be a light."

She grew quiet, reminiscing the meaning of the words. "There will always be a light," she repeated faintly to herself.

"There's also love."

The words were quiet, so quiet that Maeyune thought she had misheard him.

She turned her attention to Reo again. His gaze was fixated on the pebble in his hand. He measured its weight, played with it as he spoke.

"Love can be a light in the darkness," he said. "You know, that thing that makes the world go round. Or at least makes you so dizzy that you think the world is spinning. You get so caught up fighting the darkness, that you forget to open up, to be vulnerable."

She wasn't sure if he spoke in general terms, or to himself. Was he making a reference to someone he had loved in his past? His childhood friend, or even Sera?

He extended his hand and offered Maeyune the pebble. She accepted it, curious as to why he'd taken such a fascination to it.

When she glanced down at it in her palm, she finally understood why.

It was shaped like a heart.

"Sometimes in that vulnerability," he said, "you'll find the light."

She met his eyes again, saw the flicker of a flame in them. The forest ceased its whispers, and her heart gave a single thrum.

It was only then when she realized how far hidden they were from sight. The world had closed in around them, sealing them together inside a moment in time. It was dark, and they were alone—so dangerously alone.

His body shifted toward her, and the pebble slipped from Maeyune's hand and into the grass, forgotten.

Reo pressed a hand into the ground behind her, steadying himself as he leaned forward and cupped her cheek with the other. He dipped his head, and her eyelids fluttered shut as if it were the only thing they knew how to do. In the blackness, she felt his lips capture hers.

And he was kissing her.

A light flared inside her, and with it, came a familiar bliss.

For a long time, she sat frozen beside him, her mouth underneath his, her face held gingerly in his palm. His lips were soft and warm like she remembered. But they were also hesitant, testing. Waiting.

Her lips responded for her, uncertain at first, then parting to invite him. And as their mouths pulled against each other, it was together in a kiss that was shared.

Their lips danced a slow, tentative rhythm, but the bliss grew stronger inside her. It spun her mind in breathless circles, round and round until a giddiness removed all semblance of doubt. She welcomed the feeling back into her center, grasping onto it as if it were something she'd lost long ago. Like the windows to her fortress, she opened her senses to Reo one by one, until all she knew was him.

He was here. He was here holding her, kissing her.

When she felt her mind leaving her body, he gently broke the kiss. He drew away, opened his eyes, and she saw that they had turned to gold. The sight caught her breath.

His hand remained on her face, his thumb tracing the curve of her cheekbone. She listened to his unsteady breathing, heard her own.

And then his mouth was on hers again, decisive and desperate.