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The slow glide down to the surface as Suki’s ship entered the moon’s atmosphere was always breathtaking. Suki wasn’t sure she was ever going to get used to that tight-lunged feeling of pure wonder in the descent. Not that she would want to get used to it. Who would take such a thing for granted after wishing for it for so long?
Since she was a little girl, scrappy and essentially raising herself in the rough and tumble streets of Earth Outpost KY0-SH1, her head had always been craned towards the wide expanse of the sky. She eavesdropped eagerly on fliers and travelers that frequented the trade square, hearing stories of far-off cultures, planets being explored, and news of the latest attacks from Mars. The more prideful of the lot bragged of the most distant planets and stars, navigating their conversations like competitions of who had been furthest from home. But Suki wasn’t interested in all that. She had her sights set firmly on the moon.
It felt like a mother to her, she supposed, in a strange way. No one else in her life watched over her as the moon did. No one else was as constant. There was a magnetic pull she felt to it, as though it whispered to Suki- come, visit.
So as soon as she had completed training and secured her own solo ship, she was off into the great night sky, coordinates set to the lunar north pole.
But that was over a year ago, and today’s descent was just as magical as the first, even after having crested over the powdery white craters a dozen times between. The icy spires of Agna Qel’a shimmered under the holographic bubble-dome surrounding the city, ballooning and revealing more detail as Suki’s ship drifted closer and closer. It was nothing like the warm and rugged brown landscape where she grew up. And yet somehow it also felt like home.
(Though she supposed a major reason for that feeling could now be attributed to a source more specific than just the planet or the city.)
Princess Yue sat to the left of her father in the throne room of the palace. Both royal family members were dressed in magnificent blue robes with white fur collars. They were more aesthetic than functional, as the electronic bracers on their forearms allowed them to control the thermal index of any piece of clothing. Suki had one of her own, had traced out the patterns on the screen to adjust her flight suit for the frosty moon temperatures when she landed.
Princess Yue’s hair was covered with impossibly intricate beading of moonstones representing her status as a lunar leader. From far away, you might have thought her dark brown hair was actually white.
“Welcome back, Warrior Suki,” Chief Arnook greeted her as she approached. “Any news from KY0-SH1?”
“Nothing urgent to report before the meeting tomorrow,” Suki replied. “Although I was told to deliver a message from Outpost BA-S1NG-S3 that their representative has opted out of delegations.”
Chief Arnook sighed. “I wish I could say I was surprised. They seem to be in complete denial of the interplanetary goings-on. But, regardless, thank you Warrior Suki. Your guest quarters are prepared. Please let us know if there is anything you need.”
“Thank you, Chief Arnook,” Suki bowed slightly, then turned to his daughter. “Princess.”
“Warrior Suki,” she said softly, bowing her head a little and fighting back a smile.
Suki let her own smile take over her face only after she turned to be escorted to her guest room.
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Visit me at sunfall. The message beeped through Suki’s communication device. Wear your outfit from the night we met.
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As the lunar north pole only gets about 8 hours of sunlight per day, she didn’t have to wait long.
She slipped out of the guest room window with practiced precision. Changing of the guard happened right at sunfall. Yue’s room was five stories above the guest room. Using the balcony railings, she swung herself up, wrists and ankles hooking on the silvery metal, stealthy as a panther-lion and limber as a tiger-monkey. The billowy pant legs of her formal green jumpsuit that she was wearing at Yue’s request made it a bit more challenging than usual, but she still made the journey with ease.
When she landed on the Princess’ balcony, she pulled up the mirror option on her arm bracer to ensure that her makeup and hair were still intact. Check. She closed the program and went to knock at the window.
Suki’s hand had scarcely touched the glass panels when they flung open and Yue was pulling her into the room to kiss her.
Yue kissed the way Yue did everything- strong and unwavering and gentle and graceful at the same time. Yue tasted like whipped cream and honey. Yue held Suki like she was precious, like no one had ever held Suki before. The first time she kissed her, Suki had cried.
“It’s been too long,” Yue breathed against her lips.
“I was here two weeks ago,” Suki teased between kisses.
“Too long,” Yue grinned, pulling back to take all of Suki in. “Good. You followed my instructions.”
Yue was also wearing the same outfit she had worn that first night. A silky, flowing gown with an ombre dye from cerulean to white. The thousands of crystals embedded into the tulle made it seem like the stars had gotten caught in her skirt. Her chunky silver necklace housed more moonstones, and the effect of them left Yue’s dark skin glowing.
“You look stunning,” Suki said, even though it was an understatement. Yue looked ethereal, celestial, breathtaking in the same way she was when Suki first saw her a year ago.
“So do you,” Yue said, a bit of mischief in her eyes. “Just like I remember.”
“What are you up to?” Suki grinned back, but Yue didn’t answer, only pressed a finger to her lips before pulling Suki out the door of her room and down the hall.
They snuck silently through the palace, Suki following Yue’s lead. Both of them had developed skills of stealth out of entirely different circumstances. Yue’s life had been a sheltered one- her present and future planned out for her without much of Yue’s say. Her navigation of the shadows was born out of a need to be away from constant guarding and guidance, to learn independence. Suki, on the other hand, grew up with an overabundance of independence- all on her own, self-sufficient, playing in the dust and the dirt. Stealth was a skill of survival. Suki learned to fight while Yue learned etiquette and policy. And thus they balanced each other, yang and yin, freedom and groundedness.
After managing to avoid the ever-watching eyes of the guards and royal advisors, they reached a large ornate door. Yue swiftly unlocked it with a code on her bracer, pulling Suki inside and closing the door behind them with a soft click.
It was a ballroom, circular dance floor at the center, ringed with a curious curtain of blue light all the way up to the high ceiling. The far wall was entirely glass, providing a remarkable view of the stars. It was smaller than the other ballrooms in the palace, considerably smaller than the one where the New Lunar Year Ball had been held, where Suki had first seen the princess across the floor.
It had felt like a dream. Time had slowed down as the crowds of interplanetary dancers had parted to reveal the young princess shimmering in the chandelier light. Suki had heard stories of a faraway planet where the inhabitants hair color changed to reflect their emotions, and Suki was grateful that was not something she had to worry about, or else the entire ballroom would’ve clearly seen how smitten she was as the young princess gave a moving speech about unity and peace.
And they would’ve also seen the rapid color change when Yue introduced her fiance.
Later that night, Suki had found the princess out on the balcony getting some air. After commiserating over their shared discomfort of large crowds for long periods of time, they had smuggled a bottle of Elixir from one of the tables and split it between them in an empty meeting room.
They were fast friends, though Yue had told her later that she had also wanted to kiss Suki that night. Her engagement to Hahn was a political affair, nothing more. There was a public image to maintain, her people didn’t need extra drama outside the war, her enemies didn’t need word that there were tensions within the moon's executive and military branches.
So the two girls’ relationship began in secret, and continued in secret, though Hahn and his fleet of spies had perished last month in a mission to infiltrate a Mars base. It was too early to make things public. The war still loomed on.
In the present, in the smaller ballroom, Yue looked at Suki fondly. “We never got to dance that night,” she said. She fiddled with her bracer and a whirring noise started up, the blue light around the dancefloor warping slightly.
“You know I wanted to.”
“Well, now’s our chance!”
The blue wall of light rippled as Yue stepped through. Her feet never touched the dance floor, though, for as soon as she was inside the ring she started drifting up, up, up.
She laughed as Suki gaped. “It’s a zero-gravity dance floor!” she explained, twirling mid-air.
Suki craned her neck to see her like she used to crane her neck to find the full moon as a child. Luminescent tulle was suspended all around the princess’s body, gleaming moonstone braids haloing her face.
She reached down towards Suki. “Come, dance with me!” And like a magnet drawn to its opposite pole, Suki’s feet moved almost of their own accord, dazed by the sight of her girlfriend floating effortlessly almost ten feet in the air.
The blue light fizzed over her skin as she stepped through, and then she was floating. The sensation was new, concentrated weightlessness unlike the kind Suki had experienced in flight training. She flailed a bit to find her balance, pouting as Yue giggled above her.
“We need a song,” Suki said after she made it up into Yue’s arms.
Yue pulled up a list on her bracer, “You choose.”
She picked an Earth oldie, one she knew Yue loved too. The cheerful waltzy instrumentation started up, and Suki pulled back to bow formally to Yue. The princess giggled and curtseyed back, and then they were dancing.
The zero-gravity sensation made all movement airy and free. They held each other and swayed in time to the music, floating easily through the air. Suki dipped Yue and the sudden energy of the movement ended up making both girls do a full flip mid-air. Breathless giddy kisses were exchanged under the blue glow of the lights. With the wide expanse of space out the window behind them, it was easy to imagine they were actually dancing amongst the stars.
The song faded out to silence but the two girls still held each other close, suspended. A sharp knock at the door startled them out of the moment, and Yue grabbed Suki’s wrist, swimming a few yards up through the air to perch in the ceiling rafters. Suki tensed, positioning herself between Yue and the door.
“Princess?” A guard’s voice came from the hall. “Are you in there?”
“I am!” Yue called, and whispered to Suki. “It’s alright, just stay quiet.”
“Thought you might be,” the guard said. “Please remember to alert someone of your whereabouts next time- people worry when you disappear.”
Yue sighed. “You know you can usually find me here!” she called.
“Alright, princess. Be careful.”
Footsteps faded down the hall. At Suki’s curious look, Yue gave a shy grin and pointed down. Following her finger, from this angle, Suki could see the blue and green of her home planet below.
“I come up here when I miss you.” Yue said, sadness in her smile. “I come up here often.”
Suki squeezed her hand, chest tight with emotion. “I promise I’m always looking right back up at you.”
The princess leaned her head on Suki’s shoulder. The light clicking sound of her hair beads as she shifted was a comforting sound. “Someday we’ll be able to dance in front of everyone,” Yue declared with the same steady determination her voice had at war meetings. “Someday we’ll never have to worry about anything other than loving each other.”
“Someday,” Suki echoed.
In front of them, the galaxy stretched on forever.