Loving Luna

The Name He Remembered

“And you were holding it.” Darius’s words hung in the air. Luna knelt before him, her hand still outstretched, longing to reach him. Just moments before, it had felt so easy, so natural. Now, he looked at her as if she might hurt him.

“Darius,” she said softly.

His eyes flickered up. The gray was gone, replaced by a burning gold. Recognition flared, but it wasn’t for her. It was for someone else.

“Who is Solara?” Mason asked.

Darius flinched. “Don’t,” he whispered. Mason fell silent. Evelyn stayed by the wall, her hand resting on her weapon. The corpse had slumped over, the smoke cleared, leaving only the stark reality of death. But something else lingered, something he had awakened.

Luna slowly lowered her hand, a movement Darius noticed. “Why’d you pull away?” he asked.

“You looked like you didn’t want me to touch you.”

“I don’t even know what I want.” His honesty was a sharp sting.

Luna stood. “Then just take a second.”

Darius rose slowly. “What did you see?” she asked.

“Fire.”

“We’ve both seen fire.”

“This was different.” He glanced at the carved message. “I could hear screaming. You were right in front of me.”

“Solara was.”

“You had her face.”

“I have my face.” A flicker of pain crossed his features. “You were in silver armor. Blood on your hands.”

“Whose blood?”

“I don’t know.”

“Were you hurt?”

“Yes.”

“Did she attack you?”

“No.” The answer came too quickly. Luna’s heart skipped a beat.

“I can’t see it clearly,” he confessed. “It keeps breaking apart.”

“You don’t have to force it.”

“I need to know.”

“Why?”

“Because I remember trusting you.” Silence stretched. “I was on my knees,” he continued. “I trusted you.”

“Then maybe she wasn’t killing you.”

“There was a blade in my heart.”

“But you told her to do it.” He stepped closer. “You think she had a reason?”

“The Shadow King shows the worst part.”

“He showed me just one name.”

“Exactly. He picked the moment.”

“That doesn’t make it fake.”

“It just means it’s not the whole story.” Evelyn stepped forward. “She’s right.”

“I’m not afraid of Luna.” The bond flared, and Luna felt the lie instantly. The silence grew taut. “You are,” she stated.

“Not of you. Of what I might turn into.”

“Yes.” The admission landed with a heavy thud.

Mason spoke up. “We should go.”

Darius looked at Luna. “I’m taking her back.”

“I don’t need—”

“You almost passed out.”

“So did you.”

“I remembered being killed.”

“And I remember doing it.” Regret washed over Luna. “I’m sorry.”

“No.”

“You don’t have to apologize for what she might’ve done.”

“You looked at me like it was my hand.”

“I know.” He moved towards her, but didn’t touch her. “I know you’re not responsible.”

“Knowing and feeling aren’t the same thing.” The bond thrummed with the unspoken tension between two truths: Luna and Solara, the same face, a different choice.

“Do you still trust me?” she asked. Silence. Then, he held out his hand. “Yes.”

“Even now?”

“Especially now.”

“Why?”

“Because I’m scared… and I still want you here.” Her chest tightened.

“I trust Luna,” he said.

“And Solara?”

“I don’t know her.” That should have sent a chill through her, but instead, she simply breathed out. “Neither do I.”

He kissed her knuckles. “We leave together.”

The drive back was quiet. Luna sat beside Darius, their shoulders brushing. He hadn’t released her hand. Mason drove, Evelyn scanning the mirror. Luna studied Darius’s reflection, noting his unnerving calm. Memories flickered through the bond: stone, blood, a golden blade. Darius tightened his grip.

“Stop.”

“I’m not—”

“You’re reaching.”

“I didn’t mean to.”

“I know.”

“Can you close it?”

“Yes.” He didn’t.

“Why not?”

“Because I need to know you’re here.” She leaned into him. He exhaled and wrapped an arm around her.

“Tell me something about you,” she whispered.

“I hate pears.”

“That’s it?”

“They’ve got a weird texture.”

“You’re over a century old.”

“I once tried violin.”

“What happened?”

“The violin didn’t make it.” Mason let out a choked laugh. Evelyn smiled. “Fifty-year ban on music followed.”

“You destroyed a violin that badly?”

“It was temporary.”

“Fifty years.”

“Relative.” Luna laughed. Darius watched her, the memory fading slightly. She touched his cheek. “There you are.”

“I don’t know how to do this.”

“Do what?”

“Remember one woman while wanting another.” Silence. “Do you want her?”

“No.”

“I loved her.” Past tense. “I remember devotion.”

“What did it feel like?”

“I would’ve followed her anywhere.”

“Even to your death?”

“Yes.” Jealousy pricked at her, a feeling Darius sensed. “You asked.”

“I know.”

“You don’t like the answer.”

“I wanted the truth.”

“That’s not the same thing.” She turned away, but he gently guided her back. “Solara is a memory. You’re here.”

“A woman with her soul.”

“Maybe.”

“Her face.”

“Yes.”

“Her power.”

“Maybe.”

“You’re really bad at comfort.”

“I don’t practice it.” A faint smile touched her lips. “She didn’t make me laugh.”

“I don’t want worship,” Luna said.

“I know.”

“You’d be terrible at it.”

“Yes.”

“You argue too much.”

“You start it.” She almost smiled. “With you, I’m not kneeling,” he said. “I’m standing next to someone who actually challenges me.” The bond warmed.

“She irritates me.”

“Careful.”

“She makes me want a future.” Her smile faltered slightly. He leaned in. “I don’t want what I had with Solara.”

“What do you want?”

“This.” He squeezed her hand tighter. “The real version. The hard one.” She kissed him. The bond flared brightly, a flash—a field, a sunrise, a broken crown. Gone.

“You saw that.”

“Yes.”

“What was it?”

“I don’t know.”

“You looked happy.”

“So did you.”

Mason spoke. “Where now?”

“The oldest Blackwood burial ground.”

The grove was ancient. Darius led them without hesitation, though Luna knew he’d never been here before. Yet, he found the way, reaching a tomb hidden beneath yew trees. There was no name, only a sun and a wolf. Luna’s mark flared, and Darius’s answered.

“This isn’t in any records,” Mason said.

“It’s older,” Darius replied. Luna stepped closer.

“One step,” he warned.

She smiled. “You remembered.”

“I remember everything about you.” They read the inscription on the stone: “Here rests the heart of the last Guardian. And the man she couldn’t let die.” The tomb cracked open, spilling light. Inside lay a black sword and a sealed letter. Her name was on it: Luna.

Darius stepped closer. A voice rose from the tomb. “Solara. If you’re reading this, he remembered the wrong death.” The seal broke as the letter opened. *I didn’t kill Kael.* Then, a new line appeared: *I killed what was wearing his body.*