Author's Notes:

Dear Beautiful Readers,

Hello my lovely sun and moonbeams! So, this is a very new thing for me. Writing in third person, that is. So, the first couple of chapters will be written in third person just so I can play around with it, but I'd really like to get inside of Luna's head and see where exactly that takes me, so will probably switch to first person somewhere along the road. Rate, message, review! I need it. I'm new to this cite and don't really know what I'm doing and would love some friendly faces to keep me in check! Thank you in advance!

-thehugbandit

P.S: This chapter was strongly inspired by the song "The Funeral" by Band of Horses. Never heard it? Follow this awesome link!

watch?v=UPW8y6woTBI

Chapter One: The Sun and The Moon

"To know me is hardly golden." She smiled hopefully, but he could see it was painfully broken. The way she brushed her sun-dyed hair away with the back of her hand to hide her perfect heart-shaped face from him said it all. He yearned to be her protector, but somewhere along the way, he knew he failed miserably at it. Looking at her now, he could see how shattered she was. Her frail figure hunched over her knobby knees as she plopped rocks off the pier and into the pond, just like when they were kids. "It's too late, isn't it?" She said placing her chin between her knees. In one swift move, she scooped up a pebble and started examining it in-between her fingers. She rubbed the rough surface with her thumb and sighed.

"What do you think?" Sonny asked suddenly. The power behind his own voice startled him, making him jump back a half an inch. Luna turned, but only slightly, and forced a small smile back in his direction. It was the first sinister gleam he'd seen on her face in a long time and secretly, he prayed to never see it again. Her eyes, once full of a joyful hope had darkened to a deep olive green without a sparkle or optimistic shine to be seen anywhere over the traces of her face.

Luna turned away, watching her rippling reflection warp and shift as she dropped the final stone into the disturbed water. She licked her lips and exhaled slowly.

"Danny." She breathed. "That's all I can think about is Danny."

"You shouldn't do that!" Sonny spat, but his words failed to reach her ears. She'd blocked him like she did just about every day. "Luna!" He demanded trying a more threatening tone. "Luna! Stop torturing yourself!"

"He's coming for me." She murmured. "Sonny, he's coming for me."

"No, don't say that!" He growled. "Luna, this is sick! Danny's not coming for you! I-I won't let him!"

"It's too late. He's coming up only to tell us we're wrong." She hummed uncurling her long legs. She let them dangle just above the surface of the settling water and slowly inched closer, tempting the pond with the tips of her toes. Sonny balled his hands into tight fists. His muscles tightened and started to shake. Rage licked at his skin as he watched his sister carefully lower herself into the pond.

"What does that mean?" He screamed. A flock of birds, startled, bolted from a distant group of evergreens. He tilted his head up to the sky to watch them fly forward into the sun and disappear into the horizon. By the time he dropped his head, only a pool of bubbles remained where his sister once was. He clicked his tongue to the back of his throat and shook his head drawling himself closer to the pier. "What happened that day?" He mused over her murky silhouette. "What did Danny do to silence you?" A rogue chill caught him off guard. He rubbed away the goose bumps crawling up his arms and legs and shifted away from the pond. He couldn't quite bring himself to think about Danny or the horrible injustice he'd committed. In truth, Aunt Tara had always been kind to him. She'd always smile around him and his sister and was sure to do whatever the five of them; Lacey, Jo, and Danny, wanted when they wanted it. It still shocked him that she was gone, actually gone.

"Sonny, Sonny! What's so funny?" Luna asked shooting a cold damp hand out and clamping it onto his ankle. Sonny stumbled forward but refused to let gravity get the better of him and hobble down to a cool sitting position. Luna laughed harder, hiked back up onto the dock, and started ringing out her long dark hair. "Look at you!" She giggled twisting it up into a messy bun. "You look exactly like I'd imagine you'd look if you saw a ghost! Do I need to pull out my ghost hunting gear, big brother? I won't let them hurt you! I promise I'll protect you, just please, please smile! Your face is too handsome to be scrunched up in a frown."

Sonny's eyes watered. Was he really about to cry? His heart, he could feel it clamming up in his chest, and his breathing was getting sharper and harder to control. His sister, his dear sweet sister, she'd gone away and left him with this little girl. A child. He hated when this happened, he hated seeing her curl up inside herself, hiding, hoping no one would be able to break down the walls and find the one secret she had locked away inside of her. She saw it, the whole thing. She saw Aunt Tara take her last breath and die, and because of it, whenever she was under any kind of emotional pressure, she'd retreat into her old eleven year old self. Sometimes she'd even act younger, like a five year old, and it'd linger for days. It took weeks of pleading with Mom and Dad to convince them she was well enough not to send to an asylum, but…Sonny wasn't so sure. With Danny's return he was thinking maybe it'd be better if she did go away. Maybe they, the doctors, would help.

"Wow! Look at the sky, big brother! The sun is chasing the moon! Look at him go! Silly sun, you'll never catch the moon! She's much to cunning for you!" Luna chirped. A single plump tear rolled out of his eye and caught at his chin. He didn't bother trying to wipe it away. Instead, he forced his most convincing smile and nodded.

"Yeah, look at them go." He whispered pulling her drenched chilled body into his warm chest.