The Meeting

The boy looked up at the sky. The sight of the unnatural event left him in a state of awe, unable to look away.

“You’ve never heard the story of how the meeting came about, have you?” The old man named Seki asked. The boy didn’t reply. “It’s a story that sheds light on a few things, and a story that every person should be told. It’s a story of why the moon chases the sun so, how desire came to be and at what cost.” He sits down next to the old man. As he crosses his legs, he can feel the cool, damp grass tickling his calves. “It takes place before there were yet the greater and lesser orbs that we see during the day and night. This was a place before time.” The voice of old Seki fades as the boy allows the combination of the meeting taking place in the sky and Seki’s tale put him into a light trance.

There was yet no Time. Just a feeling of eternity. Nothing to mark what was and what was to come. A pleasant flow of things for all was in its rightful place and path. All things were interconnected. What existed was a state similar to what mortals feel when they dream and understand all aspects of what takes place while in the dream. In this place before time, all had their place, and all were one. Although just because all things are in balance and flow does not mean there is nothing missing. Some things that had not yet come to pass.

To mortals, the cosmos can seem an infinite, endless space that our minds struggle to fathom. Lunaire traveled through the young cosmos now. To beings that existed here, it might have simply looked like different paths that one knew to take or avoid. Paths of different colors and shades. Varying degrees of the heat of stars and explosions to the cold of ice and the deep void. Their ability to stride the vast distances was as simple to them as our ability to walk the plains of grass. There were phases of brightening and darkening. Different, of course, to what we see now. Lunaire walked the darkened paths. Felt its essence navigate it as if the darkness belonged to it or maybe as if it belonged to the darkness. Yet there was no such thing as belonging. That would assume there to be separation. It simply was. Where the darkened path followed the lighter path, it was there. It would be wrong to say it wanted to be there. There was no wanting or desire here. Pure flow of being, as it always had been and always will be. It knew nothing else than to traverse the darkened paths of the infinite, and the cool shades of the eternal.

Then it realized it was not alone. It came to know this when it saw another being. Brilliant, basking in the greater light. Far away, on a path different from Lunaire. It could barely see the other entity. He then realized he differed from her. Had he always been he? Before he had seen her, what had he been? Before he knew it, she was out of sight. Was it him moving and her standing still, or the other way around? The blank flow of things took over again. Lunaire going once again into that eternal state, existing yet not being conscious of anything.

Bright eyes looked back at him. Becoming aware of a light that shone off this other being, mostly white with a hint of yellow. The light mirrored off his reflective skin. The reflection a pale imitation. “Who was she?” he thought to himself. Realizing this was his first curious thought.

“My name is Solaire.” She told him. She suddenly looked surprised. Eyes widening as if astonished that she had just spoken or knew of her own name. “I am Solaire and you are..” her eyes looking at him.

“Lunaire.” he replied quickly. They both came to a sudden understanding that their meeting would be brief, as if it was something that was not meant to be. Further apart now. They gaze at each other as the eternal flow guides them to travel their set paths with no way of hindering the inevitable. Oblivion washed over them both. Clearing thoughts of anything other than their duty to traverse their paths.

She saw Lunaire before her. How did she know his name?

“We’ve met before, I think”, he said, reaching out. Abruptly, all stood still. The eternal flow suddenly came to a halt. They looked at each other now. Looking around, they saw their light and dark paths. How they intermingled. They stood there for a long time. Her light bouncing off his skin. “I’ve been waiting for you.” He said almost as a question, speaking words she also felt. This new experience of being outside the eternal flow dawned on them. Realization rising in them like titanic waves in the seas of distant planets, resulting in a crash. A crash of awareness. Awareness of themselves as individuals, separate from the all-encompassing flow. Their newfound joint awareness focusing on the fact that he held her hand in his. “It’s warm.” he said.

“You’re cool to the touch,” she said. She was so soft-spoken, contrasting with the vision of someone so bright. “What do we do now?” She looked at him. The feeling of being unsure frightened her.

“We explore all of this,” Lunaire pointed out to the cosmos. “Together.” his eyes pointedly looking down at their interlocking hands. So they did. A novel feeling emerging from their being. A lightness that neither of them had ever known. An excitement in being able to experience existence with each other. Lunaire took her through paths he knew. Solaire found them cold and alien. She trusted in Lunaire though. Impressed by the way he was so sure of his navigations through the different shades of eternity. The icy paths of comets and rings of planets distant from any light she was familiar with. She felt a certain tug however, the longer she accompanied him. A feeling that she was not to be here. A tickle in the back of her immortal mind signaled that something was not right. She paid it no mind. She basked in Lunaire’s excitement to show her who he was. Her light dimming in the different dark shades of existence he took her through.

Some time passed. It was Solaire’s turn to be excited to orient her new companion to her path. Lunaire, remembering he had seen her eons ago in such brilliance, was looking forward to the adventure. He let her lead. Allowing her brilliance to guide their essences through the paths of varying degrees of heat. Showing him the blinding light that came from different sources of the cosmos. He realized, in all of his existence, he never would have imagined traversing such places. But what moved him the most was the feeling that he relished being with Solaire. There was an ache in his mind. So slight and sudden that he questioned if it had even happened. He forgot about the feeling as he continued to indulge in the light of Solaire’s smile.

They looked at each other. A thought entering their consciousness. This new feeling. An ache in the center of each of their being. The intimate knowledge that they knew this would end. That they would be back on their paths. Separate from each other, as it was meant to be. Not knowing when they would see each other again. They knew this feeling now, desire. Of wanting something aside from their perfectly manicured place in the ultimate scheme of eternity. They could feel it now. The inevitable force coming to tear them from each other’s presence and minds. “But I want to stay with you!” Both of them seemed to communicate in a language of thought, more powerful than the explosive demise of any star. The eternal flow, which seemed unstoppable, abruptly ceased, leaving behind a void of stillness. So abrupt this time. A tear, though soundless, reverberated through the entire realm of thought and existence. They continued to look at each other. Understanding that this occurrence was their doing.

“Do you intend to break from your paths?” uttered a silent thought that was completely unknown to them, yet held an air of undeniable power and control. Not angry or rushed. Its expression of thought felt like it came from no beginning and had no end. Lunaire and Solaire were immortal beings. Entities that measured their existence in the birth and death of stars. They were silent a long time before this authority. Feeling as if children who attracted the intense gaze of the head of the tribe.

Lunaire finally spoke. “We only hope to enjoy each other’s presence. Why is it we must separate?”

“Balance.” the eternal one spoke.

“Yet we found each other.” Solaire said, finding her voice. “The experiences we have had together have been a wonderful, new feeling to us. It has been blissful and exciting. How could any of this be wrong?” Solaire said, brightening, bringing forth the light around her as she hoped in a result where the two would end up to being together. Lunaire’s heart lifted, seeing his beloved not wanting to leave his side either.

“You have created Imbalance.” With a thought, the authority loosened something in their minds. Horror filled them as they became aware of the consequences of their adventure together. Solaire felt the tickling of her mind become screams and curses. By accompanying Lunaire through his paths, hers had become dim. Life that required her brilliance ceased to exist. She was now aware of the blistering heat she brought to Lunaire’s path, places that were meant to be cloaked in shadow. Secrets not meant to be revealed and left in darkness.

Lunaire’s ache became pain as he remembered accompanying Solaire down her path. Casting shadow over swaths of existence that were meant to experience Solaire’s bright light and warmth. They felt the suffering of all things affected by their selfish desire for something that was not meant to be. With a thought, the great being numbed their pain as to continue its deliberation.

“Return to your paths,” said the inevitable one. Lunaire looked at Solaire and saw a look in her eye. With no thought or word, Lunaire understood she longed to be with him. Enjoyed having her hand in his. Delighted in sharing existence with him. That she would inevitably acquiesce to the command of the eternal one. “You will forget him when you return to your place,” it revealed. Still holding his hand, Solaire began to move, looking back at Lunaire. The depth of love shared by their eyes spoke of a lifetime that would never happen. He felt her let go. He saw her leave as an orb of brilliant light and warmth.

Lunaire could feel the entity fix its attention on him. The desire and pain in him building ever higher because of Solaire being taken away. “NO!” he shouted, if it were possible for entities such as him to shout. Lunaire suddenly felt his essence dash across the cosmos. Flying through existence’s dark places. He would run from this entity. Fueling his flight on the pain of losing Solaire. He was unmatched in his ability to navigate the varying shades of eternity. The entity would never find him. Lunaire felt himself rest after his mad dash. When he awoke, he knew the most ancient one was there. “You can’t make me forget about her.” Lunaire said, begging.

“I can. It would be a mercy to you. But I am in all things, across all time, including you. I also understand you. So I offer a condition. I will allow you on a path that will allow for brief meetings with Solaire. Brief enough where it will not destroy existence. She will even remember you when you meet,” Lunaire felt himself brighten. “But,” continued the eternal one, “She will not remember you during the times you are apart. However, I will not shield you from that same pain. It is because of your desire that causes this imbalance and to restore it, you will experience the pain of separation from her. You will act as a reminder to mortals and immortals alike. Why balance must be priority and why we must consider the whole before personal desire.”

Lunaire agreed, thinking only about the future where he would see Solaire again. He felt himself grow solid and spherical. He was once again set on a path. A path of darkness that followed the faint traces of a light, white and yellow. Of his precious Solaire. He attempted to reflect her light, to catch her attention, to find some way to signal to her he was right behind her. Over time, he became aware of an ache in the core of his essence. An ache that grew with every moment he was not with Solaire. The faint vision of her only making the pain worse.

“This is how the meeting came about and its meaning. How the moon came to seek the sun even in the middle of the day. This was the birth of time. Created by having a desire that one is distant from,” the boy heard Seki’s voice say as he left his trance-like state. “We look at the sun, moon, their individual paths and their paths in relation to each other to measure time. The meeting we see in the sky now is a reminder that we can suffer from desire, experience immense periods of time through separation from the things we feel most passionate about. Also, that the whole must be considered over the desires of any singular individual, be they mortal or immortal.”

As the momentary shade created by the moon meeting with the sun faded, the boy could not help but think to himself. “Surely, there could be times where it would be worth it. Living for oneself and enduring the pain.”