Chapter 13 - Luna Serene

"Hey Dust?"

"Yeah?"

"You mind if I take over for a bit?"

"Sure, go ahead."

"Oh, I know what this is about … Hahahaa …"

"Oh yeah, really funny sis, it'll be your turn soon, too, you know."

"Well then, you better not leave them waiting."

Well, here goes. It started right after Snow lowered her staff away from Luna. "Whether you choose to trust me or not is your decision," she said while we all watched as Snow lowered her staff without a word.

As Luna graciously stood to her feet, I calmly watched as she turned her violet gemmed eyes over to me as I stood there, dazed. Absently wiping a hand through my flaming hair, I turned away to see Sandy with a clever look in his eye and Bunnymund smirking at me behind his paw.

Turning to touch my board fondly, I felt my ear perk up as I heard Bunny say, "Is it just me, or does our Hot Beak look a little doe-eyed?"

Sandy just simply looked back at me with a fond smile as I turned back to our new friends.

Luna was facing away me now as Taylor and Saige came up to her.

"Milly, don't let Snow get to you," Taylor said gently.

What surprised me was the fact that they called her 'Milly.' And frankly, I wasn't the only one.

"Milly?" Snow said, taking my thoughts along with her words.

"Yeah, that's what we call her. To you, she may be Luna, but she's Milly to us," Saige said quite fondly.

Tilting my eyes up to meet hers, I found myself saying, "Well, I happen to like the name Luna."

I blushed as I felt my cheeks heat up, and it wasn't because of my fire.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw that Luna sort of did the same thing as me as she sat a hand on her blushing cheek, but the shy smile told me something different.

Lifting her eyes though to meet Taylor's, she said, "Oh, don't worry about me, Tay, I'm fine."

"Well, don't feel bad on it, Mills, we all have to be patient with Snow," I heard Blaze say, turning to see Snow sticking out her tongue at him.

Turning away, she released a huff as she said, "I need some air."

Watching as Dusty, my sister, our Mom and Casey walked out with her, I followed Luna's observant eyes as she followed them out the door.

"I hope that Snow is alright," I heard her say genially, looking up as none other than Jack Frost walked up to fondly meet Mother Nature's eye.

"It hasn't been easy for Snow trusting Manny after all that we have told her about our pasts. I know her, she's just as stubborn as her mother, why even a little more so then what I've with Casey over the years."

"Well, Frosty, she did hold that grudge on you when you didn't come see her as you had promised you would have," Blaze said, challenging him with a protective edge to his voice. "Just because she's my aunt and I didn't get to see her, it doesn't mean that I wasn't aware of what was going on."

"Hey, we're over that, alright? I wouldn't dare abandon her, not even now, that's how much I love her, alright?" Jack said, challenging him yet again. In fact, with those two nose to nose, you could almost see the steam and vapor vibrating around them.

"Whoa, easy Frostbite," Bunny said, pulling Jack back by his hood.

"Look, I'm not saying I don't see that, ok? All I'm saying is that I want to see my aunt being happy. You don't know how long I've seen her looking out to see you on those spent winters where you didn't come, but she had friends that helped her to cope your absence. And then, when all of this happened with Pitch, you can't say that she wasn't angry with you, but at the same time she was ecstatic, I could picture it when she first saw me yesterday. I saw how close you two were, and I couldn't have been more honored to see that smile on her face that I had wished to see all those years. She lost so much with her memories and family, but she still had everything … and now, she has you," I heard Blaze said with utmost pride as Taylor and Saige both looked up at Jack with pleasant smiles on their faces.

Luna smiled, too, but her never wandering eyes were still looking towards the door.

"Luna?" I asked her, placing my board against the wall. "What's wrong?"

Turning to me, she asked, "Can we go check on Snow? I just want to make sure she's ok before I have to … "

"Have to what?"

"Nothing, it's nothing," she said, shaking her long auburn curls. "Can we go and see how she is?"

"Sure," I said, following her out the door.

Tugging absently on one of her long twilight purple sleeves, she pinned a lock of her hair out of her eye as she said softly, "I didn't want to say anything before, but I can't stay to help you all."

"Why not?" I found myself saying, clearly bewildered.

"I'm not allowed to. Dad picks new guardians when the time is truly right, but for some reason, he never picks me, his own daughter."

"And, why do you think that?" I asked her as we walked.

"Because I've even asked him, and he won't tell me why. All he says is that he wants to protect me," she said, turning her violet eyes back to me.

"Just like how you want to protect your father from Snow's remarks," I said with a chuckle.

Offering me a small grin in response, she sighed as she said, "It's more than that. I'm ready to become a Guardian, but he still won't honor my most valued desire because of who I am."

I found myself confused at this statement, and it must have showed because then she said, "I'm the Spirit of Time and the Princess of the Moon, but I don't see myself as just a princess. My job is important enough, but I want to do my part when it comes to keeping the world safe."

"Sure, anyone can see that, I mean I'm not a Guardian yet either, but I still choose to do my part."

"Exactly, but you are already a Guardian, you just don't realize it. I know you, Solar Flare, you are more than ready," she said, stopping me in my tracks.

"How do you even know me?" I asked, finding myself looking into her gemmed eyes. "I don't even know you."

"Because I do," she said even more softly. "All those nights that you spent talking to my father, I heard you. I heard your heart, and because of that, I know you're ready."

"Ready? I haven't even found my center," I said, turning to face ahead.

"Solar, you may not get it," she said, placing a hand on my shoulder, "but it's closer than you think."

"How? I've never found it before, as I've said."

"But you will, when the time is right," she said dutifully.

I couldn't help but smile at her words of confidence, but soon I came to find that they were not merely that but words of utmost reason. And, little did I know that her time was short to stay.

As we made it outside, I did something that I never allowed myself to do ever, and that was release my firelight. As the cold arctic winds thrust itself at me, I just serenely let my firelight go out as it did whenever I got wet. Instead of being frustrated, I just smiled as my dark brown hair came glistening down to touch my brow. Pulling it back, I ran to catch up with Luna as she stopped to talk with my Mom and sister.

"Is Snow, alright? She wanted to get away, didn't she?" I heard Luna ask as I caught the watchful eyes of my sister. Even she was smiling at me with a knowing grin.

"Yeah, I think so, at least that's what it seemed like," our little sister, Dusty, said softly.

"It's ok, don't worry about it, Snow's right. I'm not meant to be here," she said, hearing me gasp. Turning to me, she said, "My Dad wants me home."

As she said that, I found I wasn't the only one surprised, even though she had just told me before. But, I had to say that I honestly felt my heart skip a beat just at the thought of her leaving so soon. I mean, I barely even knew her, but it felt like I always knew her.

So, as she disappeared into a stretch of Manny's moon rays, it honestly took I had not to fall to my knees. Finding myself not able to speak, I quickly and speedily made my way back inside North's workshop to find a quiet corner to myself.

It was true, I liked Luna. And really, that's all I can really say on the manner, but I can also say that I really didn't find it strange either when she said that she knew me. You know, in a lot of truth, it made sense.

Looking up into the night sky, I watched as Manny grinned back at me into the night as a single moonbeam came in and touched my face, illuminating my tears.

It was true that I spent many nights talking to Manny back when I first became a spirit of fire, but he had given me something else as well, a friend. When you sit alone not really knowing who you are, you can't help but wonder if there's anyone out there that's right for you – someone who would listen to your problems and help you feel like you weren't really alone.

I have to say that I felt that way with Manny, but I had felt that there was someone else listening and watching, too. And, now I knew …

"I know you're somewhere out there, Somewhere far away,
I want you back … I want you back …
My neighbors think I'm crazy, But they don't understand
You're all I had … You're all I had …

"At night when the stars light up my room,
I sit by myself … talking to the moon.
Trying to get to you …
In hopes you're on the other side talking to me too.
Or am I am a fool who sits alone talking to the Moon?

"Ohoooo …

Honestly, I felt the stars and the breeze start to flutter my hair as I faced the Moon, with a loving tear raining my cheek.

I'm feeling like I'm famous … The talk of the town,
They say I've gone mad … Yeah, I've gone mad
But they don't know what I know
Cause when the sun goes down
Someone's talking back … Yeah, they're talking back
Ohhh

"At night when the stars light up my room
I sit by myself talking to the moon.
Trying to get to you ...
In hopes you're on the other side talking to me too.
Or am I a fool who sits alone talking to the Moon?"

"Do you ever hear me calling?" I asked, gazing up at Manny. I didn't hear the door open as a quiet pair of heels walked into the room behind me.

"I'm sure she does, Solar," a gentle voice said behind me as I turned to meet the wise aqua green eyes of Mother Nature. "She is quite fond of you, she's told me."

"She has?"

Hmm-hmm, she nodded. "She also told me to tell you that she doesn't think you are a fool, no one does, my little Flare."

"When will she be back, do you know?"

"Why don't you ask her yourself?" she said with a smile as Luna came into the room, smiling at me.

I just laughed with joy until Blaze, Jack, Casey, Sandy, and Mom came running into the room.

"Solar, have you seen Dusty? We can't find her anywhere," Mom said distressed.

"And, Snow's missing, too," Jack said, holding Casey.

"No, I haven't seen her…" I started to say until we all heard a quiet gasp from my sister.

"Linds?" I said, coming over to her as she just stared back at me with troubled eyes.

"I saw them, down by the elevator. Dusty was with Snow … Snow said they would be right up, but I didn't see them come up. I went back downstairs and they were missing, but I think I know where they went," she said, her gaze staring out the window beyond the Pole.

"Oh no," Casey and Mom both said as Sandy's eyes trenched up with worry and determination as he touched my Mother's shoulder.

Making an image appear above his head, he told her that he would go and look for them, but Mom insisted on going with him as did Casey when she saw Jack's gaze follow my sister's gaze.

"We have to find them, and we will," I said, grabbing my board as I was joined by Luna as we raced out the door.

I know this reflects my latter chapter, but I wanted to do something special with Solar to represent how Luna knew Solar over the years. It's true he had never met her, but Luna is such a special character that I wanted to make this chapter special. So, also, featuring one of my favorite songs, please enjoy some of the lyrics from "Talking to the Moon" by Bruno Mars. :)