Hello again! I know its been way too long since I've posted anything, but I just can't seem to get anywhere on my other stories, so you get this oneshot instead. The romantic side to this is really barely noticeable, and it centers more around the music than it does their physicality. Its much more subtle than I intended it to be, but I think I like it better this way. So... Shounen-Ai, I guess. Enjoy! :3
Meeting the Moonlight
I let out the breath I had been holding, sighing the instant I took off my tight shoes, peeled off my socks, and eased my feet into the sand. The familiar texture of soft, white sand oozing between my wriggling toes had already begun to relieve my tension. Rolling my neck carefully, I loosened my tie and threw it down into the sand at my feet. I ran a hand through my perfect locks, ruffling it slightly and ruining the impossible exactness with which I usually kept it. I can feel if even one hair is out of place; when one strives for perfection, even one loose strand is unacceptable. I rolled up the legs of my suit pants, then straightened up slowly, gazing out over the water. The corners of my mouth turned up into a barely there smile as I admired the way the moonlight danced on the waves. I was determined to use the time that I had to the fullest. The beach has always been my refuge, my place of solitude to retreat to when the stress of the law firm that I work at gets to be too much. I've never considered myself to be a patient person, and I know all too well what happens if I ignore the gentle calling of the waves to put one last case to rest; well, that's a story for my secretary, Matsuda, to tell, and he was sworn to secrecy. After that incident, I made sure to find a quiet beach nearby, where no one could disturb me in my much-needed hour of solitude, and resolved to go there whenever I felt it was needed.
So, that's exactly where I was, at two o'clock on a Wednesday morning, pushing away stressing thoughts of work in favor of listening to the calming song of the waves. I wandered absently amongst the lapping tongues of the waves as they brushed against the shore, delighting in the refreshing feeling of cool water splashing around my ankles, just barely wetting the bottoms of my rolled up pant legs. The stars twinkled gently in the clear sky, reflecting on the water and silently adding rhythm to its melody. The moon was huge and bright, lighting up the shore in all its ethereal glory. I loved nights like this, when a light breeze rustled my hair, released from its usual strict hold. They were the most private to me, these moments between the sea and myself, and I was even less keen on sharing these special nights with other beach goers. So on nights like this, I only went out in the early morning hours, sometime between midnight and sunrise, when no one else would be around. Completely at ease, I drifted across the beach, lost in the feeling of the night, planning to wander for maybe an hour or so, then head back home to get some much needed sleep, just like any other night.
It wasn't until I had gotten about halfway down the beach that I noticed him. A short distance ahead in the sand, a young man leaned back on his hands as he sat quietly in the sand, in a white shirt and jeans that were so pale they looked almost like they could have been woven from pale strands of moonlight. His bare feet just touched the ends of the waves, long toes curling and uncurling in the sand. His face was away from me, his shiny, black, unkempt hair brushing the nape of his neck as he gazed up at the moon. His skin was so pale it almost glowed in the moonlight, and I wondered why I hadn't noticed him before. I stared for what seemed like hours, not sure whether to believe what I was seeing. It seemed almost as if I would blink and he would simply disappear, leaving only glowing footsteps in the sky from where he ascended to meet the moon…
After a while, my thoughts were pushed away by a sudden bubbling feeling of annoyance; how dare he interrupt my oasis with his presence! Who was he to be sitting so carelessly on the shore, completely oblivious to my presence, absently ruining my only source of relaxation? Just when I was about ready to storm over to him, fuming, and make myself and my thoughts known, he opened his mouth and began to sing. The sound that he produced was like nothing I had ever heard before in my life, and nothing like it have I ever heard since. In a light and beautiful tenor, he sang the song of the water and the moonlight, the song that I had only ever heard in my head, and had never before been able to put a tangible melody to. And yet there it was, exactly as if it had been plucked from a distant memory, mixing in perfectly with the rhythm of the stars, and the waves that sang their harmony.
Overwhelmed by emotion, I sank to my knees, my head falling into my hands as silent tears poured down my face. I was filled to the brim, completely taken over by the simple melody that shook me to the core. It wasn't until the lilting tune halted that I realized that I had begun to sob out loud. I looked up hastily, half expecting him to have vanished into the night. I was met with curious eyes, dark as the night sky, with deep circles underneath as if he hadn't slept in years. He turned towards me, got up, and walked, in an odd crouching way, toward my shaking form. Walking is hardly the right word; it was almost like the sand lifted around his feet and guided his steps as he practically floated towards me. He stopped but a few feet in front of me, looking at me somewhat expectantly. From up close, his otherworldly beauty seemed to only grow stronger, and I realized with a shock that he couldn't have been much younger than me, although with his flawless skin, from a distance I had pegged him to be no more than a teen. But there was wisdom in those eyes, wisdom that can only come with time, and an unwavering intelligence that rivaled, no, exceeded my own.
Finally, I seemed to find my voice, trembling though it was.
"P-please continue, I didn't mean to disturb you, i-it was just so…"
"You liked it?"
Even today, I can't begin to describe his voice, not in words that would make sense to anyone but me. After all, how can you describe a voice that is simply the embodiment of moonlight, unlike anything else that exists?
"I- I… Yes, very much…" I managed to stutter out, my voice barely more than a whisper. He smiled gently, his dark eyes shining in the moonlight, and I felt as if he understood everything I had been feeling, in that moment, and in a lifetime of moments before, and that he deemed me worthy; of what exactly, I wasn't sure.
"Then I will give it to you…"
My breath hitched as he reached toward me with one of his pale, slender hands and let it rest gently on my cheek, surprisingly solid, warm, and real. I leaned into the softness of his fingertips, and he closed his eyes. Then, suddenly, it was there again, that beautiful song of the sea, filling my mind as it had so many nights before, only this time with a definite melody. My eyes fluttered closed, and I lost myself in the graceful tune. Slowly, I slumped to the sand, my consciousness drifting on rising and falling waves of notes…
When I opened my eyes again, the man was gone, leaving no trace of his existence, not even footprints in the sand where he had walked towards me. The moon was still high, and the events seemed so unreal that I thought it had to have been a dream… After all, it hadn't been the first time I had lost myself in the sea, and woken much later, realizing I had drifted off. And so, much like any other day before, I brushed the sand off my clothes and from my hair, and made my way back to where I had left my shoes, trying to shake the strange dream from where it lingered on my mind. It wasn't till I was already home, in bed and nearly asleep, that I realized I was humming, the tune to the song of the sea that I had never before been able to place notes to. It didn't sound nearly the same as it had when he had sung it, but I knew then that the events of the night couldn't have been a dream.
I never shared that night or the song with anyone, and I never saw him again, no matter how many nights I sought him. But on nights when the moon is high and bright, and the tendrils of a breeze push though my hair like pale fingers, I sometimes hear his voice echoing off the cliffs walls, with the stars keeping time and the waves gently singing along…