It was a nice morning. The birds were whistling cheerfully, animals were going about their days peacefully, and the sun was shining brightly.

It couldn't have been any more perfect.

At least that was how most people felt.

When Luna woke up, the first thing she had registered was her blistering headache.

What the hell happened last night?

Was she attacked? Did she eat something bad? Was she getting sick? Could she already be losing her mind?

She quickly checked her surroundings as well as herself and was relieved to find that she was at the Moon Pool and did not have any injuries.

She also couldn't remember eating anything bad and she didn't feel very ill.

It was possible that she was losing her mind, but it was too early for the effects to be this severe.

She got up and began to stretch out her muscles. Sleeping on the floor of the Earth had its consequences.

As she yawned and twisted her upper body in half circles to work out a kink in her back, her eye caught sight of something on her left side.

Slightly frightened, she turned to the face her left to see what it was. Hopefully, it was just one of the items from her satchel and she was just being paranoid.

Her eyes widened and she clamped her hand over her mouth to hold in a scream as she realized what-- or rather who it was.

It's that boy from last night!

Why was he still here? Shouldn't he have woken up and left by now? And why didn't he attack her? She was weak and vulnerable! The perfect victim!

Only you would do something like that! Killing someone just because you can!

She winced when she heard the voice, she didn't want to deal with this so early in the morning. Pushing it to the back of her mind, she decided to deal with the situation at hand.

She crept over to him with her eyes narrowed slightly in suspicion to see if he was awake... or even alive.

What? He looked half-dead last night. It was only natural to assume that he wouldn't be alive by morning.

She knelt down beside his face and turned it from the side so that he was facing upwards.

Oh yeah, he was sleeping alright. It was pretty obvious considering the fact that his eyes were half closed, he was snoring softly, and there was a small line of drool coming from the corner of his mouth.

She lightly dropped his head back to the ground and scooted away from him and over to her pile of stuff.

She searched through it a little bit before she found a bright red apple and hungrily took a bite out of it, moaning in appreciation.

It'd been awhile since the last time she'd eaten. There wasn't really much time for it when you were always running around, trying to avoid death and such.

After she'd finished her fruit, she pulled out her canteen and drank nearly half of it in one gulp.

No eating meant no drinking either.

She looked back over to the sleeping boy.

I guess I should wake him up. He might have a family who actually cares about his wellbeing...

As she thought that, she felt her heart clench.

I don't have anybody to take care of me...

Of course you don't! Who could ever love a monster!

She ignored the hurtful words as she made her way back over to him.

But then she froze.

How am I supposed to wake him up? I can't just poke him and say "Hey, get up." That would be weird.

She took another look at him and forced the nervousness out of her system.

She squeezed her eyes shut and slowly inched her hand towards him. After a few seconds, she opened one of her eyes slightly to see if he was up yet. Upon realizing she had barely even moved her hand, she rolled her eyes at how pathetic she was.

She continued moving her hand towards him at a slightly faster pace although it was still slow and closed her eyes again.

Then, she felt something grab her wrist.

She snapped her eyes open and looked down to see that the boy had in fact woken up and was now staring at her in shock.

For a moment or two, she was frozen and lost the ability to react, but then her senses came back to her and she screamed.

Loudly.

After about two seconds, he began to scream his head off as well. But once he started freaking out, she shrieked louder, causing him to increase his volume too.

Their screamfest went on for about another minute or two until she finally calmed down and stopped panicking.

Once he realized she was no longer shrieking, he stopped as well.

He began to stare at her suspiciously, inspecting her for any red flags.

"Who are you?" He asked.

"Luna... Luna Plena." She answered cautiously, returning the look of mistrust.

Growing up, she'd never had the time for what her guardians called "social interactions". They believed having social skills wasn't an important aspect of life.

Now that she got the chance to really look at him, she could tell that he definitely didn't grow up in the same area as she did.

For starters, he had lightly tanned skin and black hair. His build was average, not too frail, not too muscular.

If his other features didn't already tell you that he was from another village, his eyes were a dead giveaway.

Unlike the piercing blue, silver, and gold of her own people, his eyes were olive green. They just seemed to tell you that he had been through been a lot. However, underneath all of the pain in his green orbs, she could make out the smallest spark of hope.

"What are you doing here?" He questioned, his eyes narrowed.

"I could ask you the same question." She sassed back, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Well, I asked you first." He replied.

"And I asked you second. Need another recap on this conversation or are you good now?" She shot back without missing a beat.

He looked startled by her response, obviously having not expected her to be so sarcastic. His composure returned to him as he replaced his slightly bewildered expression with one that meant business.

"I'm going to ask you one more time. What are you doing here?" He repeated.

She eyed him for a second. It wasn't like she really had anything to hide, so it should be okay if she just told him some information.

"I needed a temporary place to live." She replied simply.

"Why do you need a temporary home?" He asked.

"I'm sorry to inform you, but this is not an episode of "Luna Plena's Life Story". Now answer my questions. Who are you and why are you here?"

His eyes narrowed as he stared at her. "My name is Mako and I'm waiting for someone."

"What do you mean 'waiting for someone'?" She asked, staring at him quizzically.

"What makes you think I'm gonna answer your question if you won't answer mine?" He snorted sarcastically, rolling his eyes.

She huffed angrily and placed her hands on her hips. "Fine. If I tell you why I needed a place to stay, you tell me who you're waiting for and why." She compromised, hoping he'd go along with it.

"Fine. I had to leave my home, but I needed a place to stay the night." He explained.

Those first six words caught her attention the second they left his mouth.

He had to leave his home, too?

"You had to leave your home?" She asked quietly after a moment of silence.

"Yeah. Now why did you have to stay here? I answered your question, now answer mine." He demanded.

"Same reason. I had to leave my home. Got kicked out of my tribe." She answered, as she lowered herself onto the grass.

"Oh. I'm sorry." He empathized, sitting down next to her.

"It's okay. Wasn't your fault. Why did you have to leave?" Luna inquired.

"My parents died and I couldn't stay. My brother wasn't there when it happened, but he knows and my little sister couldn't leave with me, she can't travel alone and it would've been dangerous for us to travel together. I told them I would stay here and wait for them so we could find somewhere else to live." He said, a sad look taking over his face.

"I'm sorry for your loss." She said quietly.

My parents died before I even got to know them.

"My parents died, too but I was too young to remember them." She said, twiddling her thumbs awkwardly.

"That must be hard. Anyways, why did you get exiled?" He asked.

"Showed weakness." She stated simply.

"What?"

"I showed weakness." She repeated, giving him a confused look as to why he didn't understand.

"Well, yeah I heard the first time, but what do you mean?" He clarified.

"You want the long version or the quick summary?" She sighed, turning to face him. He cracked a small smile and rested his elbows on his knees.

"Which is better?" He chuckled. "I don't know. I'll just tell you the short version and if you want more details I'll tell you the longer one." She smiled.

He gave a nod of approval and she began to tell him everything.

"Well, my parents were executed a long time ago for treason so I was raised by my dad's little brother and his wife. My tribe was populated by..." She started, pausing at this part because she wasn't sure how to word it without making setting off any red flags "...some pretty bad people," she finished lamely. "I had a test of 'strength' to prove my worth to my people and I failed. So, I was accused of being weak and forced to leave." She explained, looking down in sadness.

Please don't ask what the test was.

"What was the test?"

Dang it.

"Let's just say I almost did something I would've regretted. A lot."

"I get it. You don't want to talk about it. Well, since you somewhat told me your life story, I'll tell you about me." He said, empathy lacing his tone.

"I grew up with my parents in a village not too far from here. Me and my family lived a calm, happy life. Everything was fine..." He said, a look of fondness spreading across his face, "but then, these awful people just came out of nowhere a-and they killed my mom and dad. I don't even know why. They just came into our house and my dad went to check it out. H-he didn't come back, and my mom got scared, so she said she would see if he was okay. But then she didn't come back either. So, me and my little sister went after them. We already knew what happened, but we went anyways. I saw this man standing over my mom, and she looked like she only had a few more seconds to live and she did. She told me to grab Shani and leave. As fast and far away as possible." He finished, tears gathering in the corners of his eyes.

She was left speechless, not saying a word as she stared at him with sympathy and concern.

"I'm sorry." He said suddenly, an embarrassed look in his face. "I shouldn't be dumping all of this on you." He apologized, wiping a few stray tears.

"No. You need to tell someone. And I don't mind listening. Besides I have a pretty messed up life, too." Luna confessed, placing a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"Thanks. And I don't mind listening for you either. Tell me the long version of your story." He said, giving her a friendly smile which was a lot better than the mistrusting scowl she'd received earlier.

Please don't judge me.

"Well, my tribe was full of people who did awful things. Awful and unspeakable things," she said, a look of disgust in her face. "My parents knew what they were doing was wrong and spoke out against them. But then they had me and it got too dangerous for them to keep going against the tribe so they tried to run away." She continued, her eyes getting watery, "T-they got caught trying to leave and were accused of treason. And t-then they were executed. I don't know why but they allowed me to live. My dad's younger brother and his wife became my guardians and they raised me. Ever since I was old enough, they forced me into training to commit the same terrible crimes as the rest of my people." She confessed, hoping he wouldn't judge her, "Before I was to be recognized as a master though, I had to complete one task. And to be honest, I almost went through with it. I was really going to do it, but then... Then I thought about it." She wasn't actually sure why she had stopped, all she knew was that she suddenly thought that it was wrong. "I told my aunt and uncle that I couldn't do it and they turned me over to the head of my tribe. He said he wouldn't allow someone weak to influence those who were actually worth something, so I had to leave." She finished, half expecting him to scream "monster" and run away shrieking his head off.

"Whoa." He said simply. "You didn't tell me you were that messed up." He joked half-heartedly.

It was understandable, if someone had said that to her she would be at a total loss for words too.

"I know. My life sounds like a movie or some overdramatic book (wink, wink) or something like that." Luna laughed lightly. "But it's real, I wish it wasn't though."

"Well, maybe you're better off." He offered.

That statement took her by total surprise.

What did he mean "better off"? She didn't have anywhere to live and no family to help her. How could she possibly be better off?

"What are you talking about? My life is a total train wreck." She questioned.

There was absolutely no bright side to any of this at all.

"Well from what you told me, your tribe is really harsh and, don't take this the wrong way, but awful. So if you ask me, it's better that you're away from them." He answered.

She thought about this for a while.

It was true. She wasn't surrounded by ruthless and cold hearted people anymore. And she wasn't being forced to be something she wasn't.

"I guess you're right." She muttered.

"Of course I am. I'm always right." He teased, smirking cockily.

Luna rolled her eyes in amusement.

"Thanks." She said suddenly.

"For what?" He asked with a confused look on his face.

"For listening." She answered, "I honestly thought you would think I was crazy."

Or a monster.

"And I've never really had anybody to talk to when things got tough before. So thanks." Luna said, giving him a grateful smile.

"You're welcome." Mako replied.

"So, what? Are we friends or something now?"

Way to be blunt, Luna. He probably thinks I'm weird and will never want to be my friend. I should've known better-

"Yeah. Of course."

Wait, what?

He wrapped a friendly arm around her shoulder and pulled the brunette into him for a hug. His arm was around her while she sat awkwardly, not moving at all.

Aunt and Uncle wouldn't approve... all the more reason to do it.

Luna then enveloped Mako into a bone-crushing hug, squeezing the boy tightly.

"Whoa! We've got a hugger." He chuckled, Luna finding herself doing the same.
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I know this was a bad part to end the chapter but I didn't really see where to continue it from here.