MOONLIGHT SHADOW - The story so far:

A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away ...

In part 1, Charlie and Joey spend their first night of passion together at a hotel.

On the very next morning, when Charlie expresses how she wished they could just 'take off' along the coast ... that's exactly what they do.

In part 2 they spend three 'fun'-filled days at a luxury beach house, courtesy of Charlie's old boss. Their much-needed time together helped strengthen their relationship, and now they are about to arrive back home to find out what life will be like for them in Summer Bay.

MOONLIGHT SHADOW 3: PANTHERA

Chapter 1

'Welcome to Summer Bay'. The sign by the roadside seemed ominous to them. This was it. They were about to return home to their friends and family. They were driving at 55 mph into the great unknown, and they both had knots in their stomachs, although neither were prepared to admit it.

It was early evening, the Sun was low in the sky. The town appeared to be settling down after a busy day of work, surfing, boating and gossiping. A typical day at the bay.

Charlie turned the car onto Joey's street. She pulled alongside the kerb, several houses short of Joey's. If Brett was home, she didn't want him to see them together. He was the most homophobic man Charlie had ever met in her life, both professionally as a servant to the public, and in her private life too. His attitude reeked of the kinds of prejudices prevalent twenty years ago. Surely not everyone would think like him, would they?

She switched off the engine and turned to look at Joey. Joey took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. She looked pensively out of the front car window, before turning to face her love.

"Back with a bump", she said, referring to their return to Earth and normality, her voice was a little deflated.

Charlie smiled, "Well ... it had to happen sooner or later ... much as I would have been happy to stay there with you for ... well ... ever!"

Joey smiled at her weakly. "Me too." The sadness in her eyes was obvious.

Charlie felt an urge to try to console her. "Hey ... look at it this way", her voice was warm and tender, "the sooner Ruby finds out ... and Leah ... the better it will be for all of us. We won't have to pretend around them, at least."

"And what about everyone else?" Joey was concerned about how the rest of the town would react, and she was more especially concerned for Charlie's sake. Charlie had the most to lose. She was a well-respected person of importance to the town and had been living there for quite some time. Joey, on the other hand, was pretty new to the area, and she figured most people wouldn't really give a damn if she was gay or straight. Besides, she was convinced that nobody could react as badly as Brett already had done. It felt as though her biggest hurdle had already been overcome.

"Everyone else can just go take a flying jump, for all I care", Charlie answered, "It's none of their business."

"Colleen would beg to differ with you on that one!" Joey said, almost smiling.

"Well she can go take the biggest jump of all", Charlie retorted. "Honesty, I care least about what she thinks of me ... or you."

Joey felt better. The Charlie sitting beside her was very different from the one who sat beside her in the same car three nights ago – painfully afraid of being judged by others. It filled her with optimism.

"Are you working tomorrow?" Joey asked.

Charlie didn't want to be reminded. "Yes ... unfortunately. But we could meet up after ... if you're free, that is." She raised her eyebrow and smiled.

Joey beamed. "I'll have to check my little black book and get back to you on that one", she replied cheekily. "In the meantime ... good luck with little sis. If you need me, I'm just a phone call away. I can come running. Or you could just illuminate the bat signal in the sky ... and The Amazing Joey will appear ... lycra suit ... mask ... pointy rubber ears ... the whole works ... okay?"

Charlie giggled. "Okay." Now even she felt better. They kissed tenderly.

Joey wondered when they would be able to be together again, sharing intimacy. She was going to miss Charlie so much that night.

Charlie hated the idea of sleeping in her bed that night without Joey beside her. The thought pounded in her head like a migraine, and she wanted to get rid of it. She tried her best to push it out of her mind.

"See you tomorrow", said Joey. She got out of the car and opened the rear door to get her bag from the back seat. She pointed her finger at the cuddly lion cub Charlie had won the previous day and commanded him, "You better take good care of her while I'm not there ... you lucky little bastard". She mumbled the last part under her breath.

Charlie heard her and it made her laugh out loud. Joey turned to face her and closed the car door. She gave Charlie a little wave with her hand to see her off. It was all she could bring herself to do.

Charlie waved back and then started the engine. Joey watched her drive off, not taking her eyes of the car until it had turned into the next street and disappeared. She sighed and turned to look at her home. The kitchen light was on. Brett was home – her heart sank. She knew that an inquisition was imminent.

To be continued ...