Moon and Sun

The Ball

Beauty is inside, it is the light that switches on from inside and lights up our surroundings. Inner beauty is beautiful and... rare.

Moon's hair was made out into the most beautiful curls and Sophie hung her chin on her shoulder, smiling at her lovingly. "You look so pretty, Moon, you should curl your hair, it fits you a lot", Sophie smiled and Moon could not argue with her, Moon actually loved what she saw in the mirror. She stood up from the dressing mirror chair.

"Let's do this", Moon sighed and they went out together. As they walked out of their room, they could see the whole castle, littered with young teens, dressed in robes and gowns, chattering and all, on a long queue.

"I can't believe we are going to waot on a queue as long as this", Moon joined the queue quickly.

"The queue is waiting to enter the ballroom", Sophie observed. "I think we are all queueing to collect our masks", Sophie said trying to calm Moon down but it was a wasted gesture.

"I might as well go inside my room, lay in hte bed and forget that any of this ever happened", Moon's mood was already going over the hig temperature and she was trying to keep it cool.

The kings and queens of the school walked breezily past them. It was Nora, Flora, Ellie, Sun, Justin and Leo and they went to the front of the queue like they owned it, surprisingly, Sun pulled Moon with them too. Moon pulled back and the two of them landed on the floor, their nose touching, breath hot on each other faces, staring deep into each other's eyes. moon wanted to kiss him but she didn't get the chance, Nora dragged him off her.

"What are you doing, evil princess, trying to poison the mind of our good prince, soon to be a king who would vanquish all evil?", Noraa faced her defiantly, all the while helping Sun up. "Are you okay? Don't let the evil witch whisper spells into your ear, she is dangerous, I can sense it", Nora smirked.

Moon smiled, "What if I start whispering spells now? I can control each one of you minds and tell you to start hitting your heads on the wall till they fall off your necks". Sophie pinched her but Moon batted her hands away.

"I told you all, she was a witch, only witches can have silver hair, normal human beings do not have that type of hair, stay away from her everyone before she takes over our minds", Nora said and the other students on the queue gasped, making way for Moon to pass to the front of the queue quickly, even Bea, Sophie's friend ignored her, staring at Moon fearfully. Being the daughter of the evil king had some perks though.

She and Sophie were now at the front of the queue but the royals jumped to the front of the queue before they could even enter the ballroom. "Sorry, evil princess but your spells don't work on me", Nora winked and entered the ballroom, followed by Ellie.

"Urrgghh!", Moon was using all her willpower to control herself and not to enter the ballroom, find Nora and hit her till she couldn't breathe again.

"Calm down, Moon, we are next", Sophie rubbed her arms gently and Moon entered, by the time she could register her surroundings, a mask had been plastered on her face and the mirror reflected the name written on it 'Strong'.She had been named strong and her face was covered with a blue mask decorated with a peacock's feather, she tried pulling it off, but it wouldn't yank away.

She turned around the room to see if she could recognize anybody but it felt she was in another world, lost in the midst of masks and robes and gowns. Some people were partering with others while some people were alone, disorientated. All at once, the music began and Moon picked up her gown, she ran out of the ballroom.

It was a long staircase, unwinding like a snake and she counted a thousand steps before she got to the end. She couldn't believe her eyes, it was a lovely waterfall with a garden and two swings, but what surprised her most was that on one of the swings was a boy, sitting all by himself, humming quietly and staring at the night sky littered with stars.

"Hey", she wasn't feeling shy at all because, no one could see through her mask, scream and say, 'It is the evil princess and run away'.

"Hey", his tone was cheerful and he gestured to her to join him. "It was so chaotic up there, I couldn't recognize anyone, I felt so lonely and it made me think, what if we were in a world where everyone wore masks, would life not be easier? We would not know each other and thus, it would be easy to make friends because you know that no matter the person you befriend or hate, you will never know for sure and so, you have no choice other than to befriend anyone you see", Moon wondered at his wisdom, she had not thought like that before. She looked at his mask as she sat down carefully on the swing.

On it was written Peace and Moon smiled, the best name for him. "You are so wise, I never thought about it that way. I'm Strong", she held her hand and he shook it. Surprisingly, it sent sparks along her spine and deep into her bones. "Wow!", she mistakenly said.

"My mask can't even cover my charm", he chuckled and Moon knew he was smirking at her. "Do you want to dance?", he asked and held his hand out to her. "And I like your curls, they are so pretty, it reminds me of someone", he said and Moon stood up.

"The person it reminds you of, is she pretty?", Moon asked already dancing to a waltz. Thank god for the nobility classes, she was getting better at waltz.

"Yep, very pretty. Which flower do you like most?", he changed the topic subtly but to a person like Moon, it was clear.

"Lysigoras flower", Moon chose to ignore how he changed the topic. "It smells so nice and it reminds me a lot of....."

"Nature!", they both said at once and chuckled. Moon slightly leaned her head on his shoulder. "Wow! I never knew you were also a mind reader, not only a wise man but also a mind reader, wow. You keep on surprising me more and more", Moon smiled.

"I guess I'm full of surprises and I still have one more surprise for you", he said and Moon chuckled.

"Okay, what is the surprise?", Moon said, her hands on her waist, slightly amused. He wasn't even tall, he was the same height as she was.

"Close your eyes first", he said and Moon closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Then she felt hot breath on her face then warm, moist lips crushed into hers, they tasted like honey, sunshine honey, warm sunshine honey, the type of feeling that could make your head fuzzy and feel summery at once.

He deepened the kiss and moaned as he slipped his fingers in between her hair. Moon opened her eyes finally and tangled her fingers into his hair, pulling the kiss deeper and taking over. The kiss was her first and her best, where else could she find a moment like this? A waterfall, a garden, the night sky with a thousand sparkling lights and the atmosphere laddened with the beautiful scent of honey, summer and flowers all making her hhead go wild.

She wasn't supposed to feel like this, not for a stranger but, it felt so right, as though she had known him forever. And at that moment, Moon knew that he was her rfated one. They ended the kiss when the bell rang and they smiled at each other. He took her hand in his arms and smiled as they walked into the ballroom. The ball had ended and everyone was already paired up with those they had been fated with.

When it got to Moon's turn to leave the ballroom, the mask disappeared slowly from her face and she walked out into a frenzy of noise and screams. She struggled to find him in the throng of people, she had to find him. They had had such a wonderful time together, it had been as though they had known each other for a lifetime. She felt someonee touch her, she turned, it was Sophie.

"Sophie, how was your first kiss?", Moona sked and Sophie blushed and pointed to the lysigoras flower on her head. "What is his name?", Moon asked. "Passion, his name was Passion, but we are not allowed to tell any of the boys, remember?", Sophie answered but Moon nodded absent-mindedly, looking for Peace. "Who are you looking for?", Sophie asked and Moon did not answer. "Don't tell me you are looking for your fated, it is impossible in this throng of students?", Sophie chuckled and dragged Moon away to their room when Moon did not answer.

"What was his name?", Sophie asked as soon as they were in their room. "Peace, his name was Peace", Moon breathed, his name was like a wish from her tongue. "he'll send you a letter soon, we just have to be patient", Sophie said calmly and Moon nodded. Sophie switched off the lantern and lay down to sleep while Moon lay, staring at the ceiling from her bed, unable to sleep. She could remember his eyes.

They were pools of gold.