Maeyune closed her eyes and drew in a deep breath. Warmth bundled in her core, expanding outward to every inch of her body. She felt it change, felt it transform and cool into something she recognized.

The moon's energy.

Her energy.

"Is it working?" Reo said.

Maeyune opened her eyes, and she heard his breath catch.

"Your eyes are silver," he said.

She nodded. It was like breath returning to her body, fresh and chilled. "I can feel it."

But the energy was feeble and slow. She imagined it would take an incredible amount of time without the moon.

She glanced down at their joined hands and watched as Reo's thumbs ran across her knuckles. They stroked back and forth, the movement and friction of his touch almost hypnotic. Then, her hands became something alien to her.

All her life, she had fought with these hands, had trained with them and had used them to defeat her enemies. But now, they appeared delicate and undeniably feminine in the broader shapes of Reo's hands. They'd never looked like that to her before. The observation filled her with wonder.

With her skin pressed against Reo's, she marveled at the difference in color—hers ivory against his sun-kissed olive.

A smile alighted on her lips.

They were from two different worlds, two opposite ends of the planet. And yet, their separate pieces came together to fit inside the same puzzle.

She hadn't realized she'd glanced up to stare long and deep into the golden-emerald of Reo's eyes. His lips drew a soft smile.

"You alright?" he murmured.

"Yes," she said, and smiled.

The silence surrounding them was heavy and thick. To ease the uncanniness in the air, she distracted herself with the detailed tattoos spanning across Reo's left chest. Absently, she drew one hand from his. With a featherlight fingertip, she traced the inked shapes.

Drawn across his left pec was an abstract landscape, its design tribal in nature. Her fingers grazed the permanent ink over his shoulder and bicep. Then, she lifted her hand and caressed the symbol of the sun below his collarbone. Shifting out of his grasp, she followed the inked shapes to his back.

She took a few seconds to admire the muscles in his back before she focused on the rest of the artwork. The patterns flowed over his shoulder and down to his shoulder blade. She wondered how long it had taken to apply them and if it had been painful.

But before she could ask, her eyes caught something distinct and cradled at the center of an intricate design. It was a small crescent moon, and beside it were two very familiar Suolani characters.

She started. "There are Suolani characters on your back," she murmured.

"I know." Reo glanced over his shoulder and smiled at her. "What does it say?"

She was quiet for a moment, then donning a grim expression, replied, "Noodle dish."

His smile disappeared. "What?"

A wide grin spread across her face. He turned and frowned at her in concern.

"I only jest," she said.

Appalled, he gaped at her, but he couldn't stop himself from returning her grin. "You think that's funny?"

She laughed in spite of him, and her lips eased into a warm smile. "It says moonlight."

Reo released a sigh of relief. "Good—That's what it should say. I had to put blind faith in the artist since he said he knows Suolani."

"May I ask, why the moon?"

"For you, of course."

She blinked at him in surprise. "For me? When did you have it done?"

"Last year," he said.

Her brow creased. "You thought of me even before we met and had it branded permanently?"

"Yes," he said. He then gave her a sheepish smile. "Okay, well...to be honest, I lost a bet to Leron. His prize was to choose my next tattoo for me, and he chose the moon. I'm just glad it wasn't anything too embarrassing, like his name or something."

Maeyune arched an eyebrow. "Your brother forced you to get it?"

"I never regretted it. It's my favorite one, actually."

"Ah," she said, narrowing her eyes at his boyish smile. "Is that your way of trying to redeem yourself?"

"Yes. But it's true. It is my favorite one." He gave her a look of innocence. "Am I redeemed?"

She made a show of contemplating his question. "Not quite," she said with a tilt of her lips.

Reo's face softened to affection. He took her hands and tugged her closer to him. "You know, you're really beautiful when you smile."

The words had come from nowhere. There was a sudden flutter in Maeyune's chest, and she was sure her heart had sprouted wings.

"Keep talking," she said coolly, "and you might just redeem yourself."

"Alright, then."

She didn't think he would take her at her word. He wrapped his arms around her shoulders.

"Whenever I look at you," he said, "my heart stops."

There was a thump from inside her chest—her heart had most definitely attempted to take flight.

"Go on," she said, smiling despite the weakness in her knees.

"Whenever I look at you," he continued, "my dreams come true."

Her smile widened. "How sweet. What else do you have?"

"Whenever I look at you—I think of chocolate ice cream." He raised both eyebrows at her.

She couldn't prevent her laugh. The sound filled the cavern, and he watched as her silver eyes glittered.

"Now, that's unfortunate," she said.

Reo tucked her head into the crook of his neck and pressed his cheek against her temple. Her arms encircled his waist, and she wondered if this was what heaven felt like.

"I like making you laugh," he said after a long while. "It's like moonlight in my darkness. You are the moon in my darkness."

"Do you charm all your women with such words?"

"No..." His voice trailed off, then he added, "Sometimes, I promise them sunshine and rainbows."

She snorted. "Is that what you're going to promise me next?"

"No," he said. He took her hands and brought them to his lips. He kissed her fingers, and she watched, spellbound. "I want to give you more than promises, Maeyune."

The gold specks in his eyes flickered, and her wits abandoned her. "Oh?" It was all she could muster.

Her mind searched for a clever remark, anything to distract from the strained silence around them. She glanced away, feeling her cheeks flame. Her gaze landed on their hands and the emerald light that passed in between.

The energy transfer was moving far too slowly. At this rate, they would be forced to stand in the water for hours.

For the longest time, there had been a voice in the back of her mind, whispering without end. She'd managed to ignore it for the majority of their time together in the pond. But Reo's flirting had only made it worse. He had given that voice a pedestal on which it could stand and declare its intentions to the world.

A tortuous moment passed by before she found the courage to use that voice. But, to her shock, Reo was first to speak it.

"I, uh—" he said, clearing his throat. "I think there might be a way we could speed things up."

Her heart missed a beat.

She heard the hesitation in his voice. Gone was that abundance of charm from minutes ago.

Maeyune spoke abruptly. "I don't have any precautions."

There was a brief, tense pause.

Reo gazed at her, long and thoughtful. Then, wordlessly, he slipped his fingers into the pocket of his pants and withdrew something plain and inconspicuous. Maeyune's eyes snapped to the wrapper in his hand, and the world collapsed from existence.

The space around them grew smaller, tighter, and the idea of being with Reo became all the more real.

"Maeyune."

Her name was liquid velvet from his lips. The word was something she'd known all her life, something familiar and insignificant. But when Reo said it, it was a divine prayer, a forbidden spell that stirred the cauldron in her stomach.

He leaned his head down to hers, their brows an inch from touching.

"I want you," he whispered, "more than you could ever know. But I don't want you to do this if you think you have to. We will find a way to get your powers back. We can still--"

Before he could finish, her arms wound around his neck, and she drew him down for a deep kiss. He let the words die in his throat as he breathed her in and kissed her back with the same passion.

That warmth inside her... It wasn't from Reo's energy, or even from Vaius. She knew now what that feeling was.

"I do," she murmured against his lips. "I want to. Not for powers. Not for gods. Not for Vaius. Only you and me."

After falling apart in front of him, she wasn't as whole as she'd thought she was. She'd only begun to gather her pieces. Would it be fair to him, to give him only half of herself while she searched for the other?

He'd been there for her in her moment of despair. As someone who was reluctant to trust, Reo had exposed his deepest vulnerability. He'd confessed to her, knowing that there was a chance she wouldn't respond. There had been no obligation for her to answer him, no regret in sharing how he felt. He was waiting for her--would wait for her--until she was ready.

And it was his patience for her that made her want to try.

The words tumbled off her tongue. "I love you."

Every muscle in Reo's body went still.

Emna Lyn had been the only other individual to whom Maeyune had spoken those three words. Saying them now to someone new sounded strange and foreign in her ears.

She knew how she felt. She knew the song that played in her chest. So then why was she shaking?

Reo pulled away far enough to look her directly in her eyes. There was something powerful and yet immeasurably tender in his gaze. He held her shoulders when he noticed them trembling. Then, he clasped her against his chest, hard.

"Good." He burrowed his face into her hair and squeezed her closer. His breathing grew hoarse and uneven. "Good," he said again, and she heard the joy in his voice.

Their mouths found each other a moment later. His lips parted hers, and they were the softest she had ever felt them.

Her mind soared higher and higher, but he anchored her to him by pressing her palm over his chest. The moon warrior was right where he wanted her—caught between his lips and the rhythm of his heart. He wanted her to feel the racing staccato of his pulse, wanted her to know that it beat for her and only her.

His fingers fumbled for the hem of her shirt. He found her skin, and with only one, fond stroke of his hand up her waist, he felt her body quiver violently in reaction. Maeyune pressed into him—as if she were a warrior goddess surrendering herself to him completely—and it took every thread of Reo's control not to lose his mind.

Energy singed their lips and flourished through his kneading fingers. Heartbeats raged in their ears and deafened them to the water that whirled around their legs. Light pulsed beneath their feet. They were oblivious to the emerald wave that loomed out of the water, curled over them and swept them both under.

Warm jades filled their lungs, and there was no longer the need to breathe underwater. Maeyune couldn't remember how the rest of their clothes peeled off or how they drifted together in a sea of iridescent greens. Vaius had created a new world for them.

She lost the meaning of time. Minutes became hours, then days, and then months. Only once did her mind consider their mysterious realm. She thought she felt the wisps of wind and the grass against her bare flesh. She flew among clouds and saw endless valleys and sloping mountains. They were all wondrous and deep, all like Reo's eyes when he called her back to him.

Reo. There was only him now and the adoration that burned in his gaze when he looked at her. She was certain her heart had become one with his.

Energy moved everywhere in between, and it gave her the ability to see herself reflected in his eyes. She saw his thoughts, his emotions, his world—her voice, her face, her laugh. Her telepathy grew stronger, and Reo opened his mind like a book yearning for its only reader.

Maeyune stumbled across a collection of memories when she had smiled at him—rare photographs that he had captured of her and had stored away in his private corner. It was her smile that he, in the depths of his heart, wanted only for himself. She'd never imagined that something she'd taken for granted about herself could become someone's greatest treasure. Her heart ached for him.

He found her wandering the valleys of his mind and pulled her deeper.

Before they'd met for the first time, she'd been a fairytale to him. Then, after the treaty signing, she'd been an intriguing stranger, a threat, a rival, his greatest nightmare.

But when he'd heard her laugh for the first time, she'd become something of a paradox: a war-bred soldier capable of the world's deadliest weapon—who could laugh and smile and make his heart stutter and his palms sweat in her presence. The first time she'd laughed in front of him had been the same day she'd first kissed him. He'd never looked at her the same way again after that.

She learned that her anger terrified him. But it also amused him. Her strong will irritated him. And yet, it delighted him.

Stubborn. Reo's voice shone bright in her mind as he kissed her lips.

Then, he kissed her cheek. Amazing.

He kissed her closed eyelids, one after the other. Terrifying. Beautiful.

For each word he gave her, he laid a kiss to match, somewhere on her body.

Selfless. Incredible. Powerful. Luminous.

She abandoned everything that she'd thought she'd known and followed his rhythm. And when they climbed to heights that rivaled those mountains in the distance, she splintered into a thousand pieces.

Months turned to years, and all Maeyune knew that existed were the strong arms that bound her. She almost missed the twisters of gold and silver that joined them inside the watery realm.

In the corner of her eye, she saw the shadows of enormous serpents circling them, dancing and entwining in dizzying motions. She remembered the cave paintings, remembered the Moon God and Sun Goddess in an eternal circle.

There was a moment when silvery, white light filled her vision. When it faded from her eyes, she no longer felt Reo in her arms. He'd vanished from sight and from the realm.

Reo?

There was no reply. His mind was silent.

Alarmed, Maeyune opened her mouth to cry out. But she had lost her voice. An unknown force turned her body round in the water, and she was met with two looming faces. Vaius's light glinted off their fish-like scales and revealed heads that were longer than her body.

One head was that of a silver, bearded wolf with the robust horns of a ram. The other was a golden lioness with a crown of antlers.

Shivra and Yunra.

Both gods hovered in front of her like colossal sea snakes, each bearing four limbs. The sight of the dragons in deep water frightened her.

Their gazes pierced into her and raked her insides raw. Instinctively, Maeyune curled into a ball, recoiling from the ancient wisdom that swam within their eyes. But their search persisted. They dove deeper and deeper still, until they found the shadows that lay dormant inside her. Shivra forced his soul out from her and laid it bare before her and Yunra to see. A web of moonlight wavered in front of Maeyune, and she stared, stunned.

She saw the flecks of black that stained the perfection. The dragon gods closed their large eyes and bowed their heads. Through the vast, open space, Maeyune felt their dismay and their regret.

There was a brief flash, and a silver jaw opened toward her to swallow her whole—to take back what belonged to him.

Panic-stricken, Maeyune propelled her arms and legs, desperate to swim away. But the ocean held her in place. Unable to escape, she folded her arms against her chest—a meager attempt to protect the part of Shivra that kept her alive. Voiceless and confused, she hoped for the Moon God to hear her mind.

No, please... I have tried all my life to fulfill my duty and to honor you both. Please...

Yes, she had darkness, but it was her darkness. It was an integral part of her, a piece of her that helped make her light even brighter. What was light without shadow to compare? What was she but human and mortal?

Please, she beseeched. I want to live.

Shivra paused at the words in her mind, and his waiting teeth gleamed like sharpened pearls.

A blanket of emeralds swept through the water and wrapped its layers around her, caging her—protecting her. The Moon God reared his head back in surprise, and his eyes blinked against Vaius's light. Peering through ripples that shrouded her, Maeyune caught the nod from Shivra's head.

A deep male voice rumbled through her mind.

Give us the sun, and you will become one.

She tasted the bile of her own fear. Reo? She fought against the voice. I will never give him to you.

Light erupted in her mind's eye, and Shivra showed her the giant, fiery, yellow orb.

Give us the sun, and you will become one.

The actual sun?

Meshed with Shivra's voice were those of her friends and her mother. Maeyune saw their faces in Vaius's soul, smiling and full of life.

Sun. One.

Then, there was only darkness as Vaius thrust her out from its realm.