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The sun and the moon have always been connected. The sun gives light and the moon reflects it, making the sun’s presence linger even when he is hidden from view. What is that, if not devotion to preserving that light in the darkest hours? If not the desire to keep that light from extinguishing itself? The celestial cycle is but a display of love and dedication, truthfully. The sun shines bright during the day so the moon can be seen in all its glory at night, and the moon reflects the light so the sun is always present.
The relationship between the sun and the moon gods has always been one of devotion. Devotion to each other and to the maintenance of the celestial cycle, as they were born to complement one another, to make sure life on earth would be preserved under their light -- naturally, being brought into existence with such purpose, it was inevitable for the two of them to develop feelings for each other. A relationship born with a purpose and carried with the same devotion they had to their roles as the upkeepers of life on earth, such was the relationship between the sun and the moon.
But once together, a cruel twist of fate pulled them apart. Once the rulers of life on earth, the sun and the moon gods have always been just and kind to all creatures, ruling together over the night and the day and never making any distinction between the beings who lived under their power, granting life equally to all and not getting involved in human affairs, or in the affairs between gods. That was not their purpose, as they were born simply to nurture life.
Though opposites in personality, perfect representations of darkness and light, the two of them have always shared these ideals; It was no surprise when they came together to speak up about the injustices committed by the gods who used humans to fight their wars, and sacrificed humans for their own petty ideals.
The heavy hammer of so-called justice cut their complaints short. The powerful never take well to being criticized, after all. After a short and unfair trial, their sentence was delivered and their punishment finally came: No longer would they rule together, and they would be destined to never meet again, to never encounter each other again, as to prevent them from raising their voices against the gods one more time.
Stripped of their divinity, they became personifications of the celestial bodies they once ruled over. The celestial cycle as people know it reflects the punishment their bodies are now bound to, trapped in a never ending cycle of one disappearing when the other appears. Xie Bi’an, the sun, can only be awake when his celestial body is high in the sky, and when night falls, Fan Wujiu can roam free until the next break of dawn.
~
Whenever he is able to, Xie Bi’an enjoys the sunshine that his sun creates. Despite the irony in the fact that he, the personification of light, has sensitive skin, the sun that peeks through the leaves in the forest tends to be gentler on his body. But it is funny: Though he once ruled over the sun, it can still hurt him. Fan Wujiu would often tease him about this, but that is simply how celestial bodies are -- they don’t discriminate between the people who live under their power. Everyone looks up at the same moon, everyone gets burned by the same sun.
These moments of solitude are not rare anymore. He doesn’t know how long it’s been since his beloved was taken from him, but Xie Bi’an is still learning how to navigate life without him. He knows his beloved slumbers during the day and awakens at night, as his own cycle is the opposite.
But though the curse may keep them apart, it cannot keep his thoughts from reaching, or his memories from resurfacing every time he sees something that reminds him of Fan Wujiu.
He knows his beloved is alive and as well as he can be, considering their situation, but it pains him and he misses him deeply.
They had both made their homes in the forest. It is too dense for humans to navigate, so the fallen gods can stay away from prying eyes. As fallen gods they don’t need a home, per se, but having one is good for one reason: In the short moments when it’s neither day nor night, they can see each other if they are on the same spot.
Dawn and twilight are times of change: the night turns into day and the day turns into night, and the two of them can linger for as long as possible on their favorite spot in the forest, hoping to catch a glimpse of each other as the cycle runs through its daily change.
Those times are a rare exception to the punishment enforced by the ruling gods, and neither of them are sure if they had even taken these moments into consideration when issuing the punishment. Moments where they can coexist with each other, however brief, are very precious to them.
With great luck and effort, they might even be able to brush their fingers together -- it had only happened once before, but that had been the proof they needed that it was not impossible, so they had silently agreed to set that as their goal.
But those moments of happiness where they could see each other were unfortunately short-lived, and no matter how much they tried, the cycle of night and day was impossible to break.
Xie Bi’an’s days go by surprisingly quickly despite their neverending uneventfulness. Time moves differently for deities; a day is but a blink of an eye to those who are used to eternity, and that is both a blessing and a curse.
A blessing because the faster the day goes by, the quicker he can get his daily glimpse of his beloved, but the curse of eternity weighs heavily on his shoulders more often than not: When forced apart by circumstances of fate, humans might pray and have faith that they will meet each other again in the next life, but what does Xie Bi’an have? He cannot hope to meet Fan Wujiu again in another life, because there will never be another life for them. The sun and the moon are eternal, and in the eventuality that their celestial bodies disappear one day, so will their physical ones.
Yes, the cycle of day and night was impossible to break.
When twilight starts to break in the horizon, he feels his heart speeding up as it always does. He has no need for a heartbeat, but his body reacts so strongly to the idea of seeing Fan Wujiu that he finds it enjoyable, even. How could he not feel giddy and nervous at the possibility of seeing the one he loves? The day he stops being excited about it will be the day he dies.
The night breeze is soft against his skin, soothing the heat left by the sun as he feels the familiar weight of slumber starting to pull him down. It is harder to resist its pull when he is particularly tired, but he is not tired today. In the end the curse always wins and he cannot resist for long, but it is important for him to fight it as much as he can.
And so he does. He resists, as always, until he catches the familiar glimpse of dark clothes, as Fan Wujiu wakes from his own slumber. Xie Bi’an takes a step forward, and then another one, and another… Reaching out his hand in hopes that this time they will be able to touch, as he always does.
Fan Wujiu sees him, of course. His eyes are always searching for Xie Bi’an as soon as he awakens, and his expression does not soften until he sees that his sun is safe and sound.
There is a soft smile on his face -- a rare sight in times long gone, back when Fan Wujiu was the most serious person he knew. Upon being cursed, however, this is the expression he wears whenever the two of them see each other: Genuine happiness for seeing his beloved once again, always smiling when their eyes meet, when they share a precious but fleeting moment together. The gentle expression that was usually reserved for their private times together is all Bi’an sees of him now.
But his figure is quickly turning blurry. Xie Bi’an’s head is heavy, and so are his eyelids. He blinks and tries to clear his sight, tries to stay vigilant as Fan Wujiu moves closer, almost running to catch up to him before he falls asleep.
His extended hand is heavy, and he cannot hold it up anymore. Alas, he cannot welcome his beloved’s touch today.
Fan Wujiu is still not close enough to touch at the moment Bi’an’s world turns dark.
~
When dawn finally breaks, Xie Bi’an wakes up in a daze. They had been very close last night, but unfortunately, they would have to try again.
He materializes once more in the exact same clearing he had been standing before, but… something is different.
Fan Wujiu should be here, at least until the morning settles… but he is not.
He is not in the clearing, and Xie Bi’an does not know what to do.
He is always present at the break of dawn, he always sees him off at night, and their roles are reversed in the morning, with Bi’an seeing him off in twilight. So why is he not there?
Is he okay? Did something happen at night that prevented him from meeting Bi’an in the morning? It was pure agony to worry so much without being able to do anything about it.
But, alas, there really was nothing he could do about it. He would have to wait until the night, with an aching heart, to make sure his beloved was fine. To make sure they would see each other again.
Though both of them hoped to one day be able to be together again, the sun and the moon were bound by fate to forever dance around each other, without ever touching.
That was all there was to it, and there was nothing they could do about it.