Sunlight

Moonlight

"Hiding from the light, from hope, dreams, happiness, and smiles,

Is not as easy as it seems.

Hiding from shadows, from darkness, tears, pain, and lies is even harder.

Each is supplied by desire; each is destroyed by desire,

Desire is the cause of sin, and the cause of purity.

One can only hope to gain nothing from it,

Yet everything they have ever wished for.

Only those who push past the small, wishful desires, to the true purpose behind them,

Are able to find inner peace, and with inner peace, comes tranquility,

And the ability to heal, yourself and others,

But others, are not so ambitious, and only push far enough to hide,

To hide behind a mask that seems full of warmth,

But is a lie, to not only those surrounding them, but to themselves.

It is a lie of identity, and an identity, is what we are all searching for,

Each of us, including me."

"Wow, that's deep, Tyla." my girlfriend Karisha stirred her mocha with a cinnamon stick. "Got any other mystical revealience to help with my 'meaning-of-life' crisis?"

"It's your job to reveal things in way's all can understand. You're the Sunlight; I'm-"

"-the Moonlight; yeah I know. I was only hoping you would just go and tell me what the meaning of life is." Karisha sighed, "Fine, be your Moonlight self," raising her voice in mock drama, "Show me an ominous fleeting glimpse of the whole; a rough outline of what is really there waiting to be discovered and shown to the world." She slumped down onto the table.

I smiled slightly before downing the rest of my Ice Cappuccino and standing up, "Well you better get your ass up, before I leave you here to die; and watch the entire Lord of the Rings trilogy by myself."

Her head shot up, "you wouldn't dare- hey!" realizing she was now glaring at an empty chair she grabbed her coat, and dashed after me (but not before vaulting over 3 stools and a table). "You're a bitch, you know that right?" she asked catching up with me outside the Starbucks.

I pouted "But… I'm your bitch." She laughed, we raised our left fists up in unison; brandishing the 'One Ring' replicas at the sky.

In case you haven't caught on; Yes, I AM a lesbian; Karisha IS my girlfriend and we ARE dating. Now back to my life.

I unlocked the door and stepped back to let Karisha through. We both removed our shoes and set them aside. "Onto the world of orcs, men, hobbits and hot elvish ladies!" I called loudly jumping into the living room.

"Yes!" Karisha grabbed my collectors' edition of "The Fellowship of the Ring" put disc one into the DVD player and then cuddled up next to me. Her head on my chest and my arm around her waist, we waited for the movie to start.

Forty-five minutes later we're cheering on Arwen as she carries Frodo across the river. A thought stuck me; well it was more of a question. As the council scene began I spoke. "Do you think I'm as hot as Arwen?" I ask Karisha.

She turns her head; gazing up at me from her position in my lap, "No," she says, "You're way hotter." I lean down to kiss her and as I do there's a blinding flash of light. I can feel Karisha hugging me tightly and know I'm instinctively doing the same.

Slowly the world came back into focus. We released each other and looked at our new surroundings. "…No…way…" both of us were stunned.

We were in the middle of Rivendell, in the middle of the council, and had come in the middle the silence after Gandalf spoke the words of evil engraved on the ring. "Hey Moonlight… do they count as strangers, even though we already know who they are?" Karisha whispered in my ear.

I nodded, then smirked, "What an opportunity to check the authenticity of our Rings. Let's mess with their heads a bit."

With innocent faces we stood up and slowly approached Frodo, "Frodo Baggins of the Shire?"

"…Yes?" He looked nervous; Karisha and I noticed the alert glances that were being exchanged around the council circle. "May we see you're Ring, if we show you ours?"

"Yours? What do you mean?" We raised our hands so he could see them. Frodo stumbled backward, shocked as well as frightened; we laughed slightly.

"I think we have his attention, my Sunlight."

"I quite agree, dear Moonlight."

"W-who are you?"

"Yes. I think that is something we all wish to know." Lord Elrond stepped forward on one side, Gandalf on the other. I glanced at Karisha, silently asking her something; she nodded, "Lord Elrond, are you a fast runner?" he looked confused, "Catch us if you can…" Almost simultaneously the council attendants stood and stared at the place we had been. Hiding side by side in the trees, we were now both glad we had taken that Ninja summer camp that was sort of lame.

To bad we're both clumsy idiots. "Oh… slipping… slipping," I muttered. Three seconds later we succeeded in scaring the shit out of the council; as we… fell out of the tree. Karisha groaned lying across me, "…Okay… that one hurt."

As she sat up, the sharp tip of a sword came to rest in front of her face, "Who are you? Speak quickly or you shall never speak again," The swords' handler spoke in such a serious voice that I couldn't help but laugh. Almost immediately afterword Karisha joined in full force; we backed up against the tree laughing like morons.

Finally controlling ourselves, Karisha looked up, "Damn Aragorn you really need to loosen up."

The sword was trust closer to her face, "How do you know my name?"

"Hey," I protested, "get your pointy-ass sword out of my girl's face." Reaching out I knocked it down, snaked my arm around, under; and then force it up out of Aragorn's hands and into Karisha's waiting ones (this happened in the course of about 3 seconds).

"Nice, Moonlight, always quick to the defense of those you love. Now shall we disband with the violent attacks and proceed to introductions."

"We shall, but first Sunlight, give the man his sword back."

I helped her to her feet, "Aw yes, forgive me Aragorn son of Arathorn, I believe this is yours," she offered him the sword, "as for my name I am Karisha, also known as Sunlight."

"And I am Tyla, also known as Moonlight. Forgive us for disturbing your council we really didn't mean to."

Looking slightly unsettled Aragorn accepted and sheathed his sword, but he kept his hand on the hilt. "Tyla, we should go apologize to Frodo. Would you care to step aside so that we may pass?" He moved slightly and I followed Karisha over to the rest of the council; they had been watching us with caution as well as interest.

"Sorry for our little 'intrusion', it was not intended." I glanced at Frodo's form slightly hidden by Gandalf, "And, sorry for teasing you in such a way, Frodo Baggins, it was rather heartless of us."

"Now, Names. We know most if not all of yours but you do not know ours, yes?" Karisha pointed at herself, "As we told Aragorn here, I am Karisha, known to some as Sunlight. And -"

"—I am Tyla, known to some as Moonlight."

Lord Elrond inclined his head, then said, "May I inquire as to why you are known to some as Sunlight and Moonlight?"

"It is because of the way we share information, or aid others. The Sun shows you, more or less, exactly what something is; in the same form I will tell you what I know in a way that doesn't make you grasp for the answer to a question." She glared playfully in my direction, "Now, Tyla on the other hand…"

"I believe if you can not work the answer out for yourself you do not deserve to know what it is."

I smacked Karisha across the arm as she said, "It get's really annoying if you need an answer right away, you know?"

She smacked me back, I kicked her, and she did the same. We exchanged playful blows until we she drew the engraved dagger I had given her for her birthday. I jumped back as she swung at me. I felt someone seize me from behind and I let out a squeal, "Oi get your hands of her!" Karisha shouted as I struggled.

"We were just playing, Let me go,"—I stopped talking as I felt something evil stirring. I gasped seeing a dark shadow, it swirled around me. It seemed to be sapping the power of my soul and the strength of my body.

A thought hit me and I called out, "Karisha, Guardian form 17… half power!"

She looked unsure, "But, what if-"

"Just do it!" She jumped as I shouted at her but nodded her head and took a stance that made it look as if she were praying. I stopped struggling and went completely limp. A small silver glow surrounded me as Karisha pulled out a small bottle. She began to mumble, (Keep the soul locked and secure, as I retrieve the body, empty in form, but not broken or torn. Tyla).

The silver glow, swirled around me, and then flowed into the bottle. As the last of the glow entered the bottle, there was a flash of light and my body fell to the ground.

Karisha rushed forward and knelt by my side, "Moonlight…"

Gandalf and Elrond hurriedly joined her, "What did you do?" asked Elrond, seeming quite concerned about someone that he met 10 minutes ago.

Karisha sighed; "I did something rather dangerous…" she pulled out the glowing bottle, "I removed her soul."

"That's impossible…" exclaimed one of the bystanders.

Karisha shook her head, "Not for a guardian. Not for us."

"A guardian, you say?" Elrond glanced around, "I think there is more for us to know."

Karisha nodded, "Is it safe to speak here? This is not something all should know."