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Mio lay in the grass, her hands folded behind her head as she gazed up at the night sky above Fonsett Village. In the vast expanse, millions of stars dotted the inky canvas, glittering with a faint light, yet eclipsed by the brilliance of the full moon. It seemed so huge and distant amongst all the tiny stars, and every time Mio gazed upon it, she was overwhelmed by a strange sadness. This sorrow welled up from somewhere on the edge of her memory, just beyond her grasp. Sometimes, she would think she understood why, only for the understanding to slip away as quickly as it had come.
She told Mum and Da about it once when she was quite young. They were returning from some fancy gathering Mum had to attend, an event with dignitaries from the “other” world, and Gramps was slowly carrying them across the darkened sea back to Letheria. As she watched the night sky, the clouds parted, and she was suddenly struck by a wave of sadness upon seeing the moon.
“Why does the moon look so sad?” Mio asked, innocently.
Da frowned at her question, and Mum knitted her brow.
“What’d ya mean?” Da asked.
Mio shrugged. “It looks so lonely, so every time I look at it, it makes me feel sad too, I guess.”
Mum and Da exchanged looks. “Have you always felt like that?” Mum asked.
Mio shook her head. “I only noticed it last year at the ceremony.”
She could remember with clarity standing on the stage that overlooked Alrest in the newly constructed Agnus Castle, her flute pressed to her lips as she played a melody she had practiced many times, accompanied by Glimmer’s kithara. As the music swelled, motes of light, small particles of ether, rose from their instruments and into the night sky. Mio traced their visage as they climbed higher, merging with the stars in the night sky and vanishing before the moon. When her eyes alighted on the moon, sorrow washed over her, overwhelming and unending as though her soul might succumb to it. Instinctually, she lowered her flute and stopped playing, staring at it mesmerized. Has the moon always been so sad? She wondered.
Later, when asked why she’d stopped playing, she’d lied and said she’d forgotten the next part of the piece. In a rare and unusual moment, she got off with hardly a scolding from Mum.
“Is that why you stopped playin’ back at the ceremony?” Mum asked and, after a brief hesitation, Mio nodded.
Mum and Da gave her a big, tight hug, and Da swore that nothing, not even the moon, would ever make her sad.
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“Why does the moon always look so sad?” Noah asked.
Eunie turned to look at him with a raised eyebrow, her legs still swinging over the edge of the roof that she was sitting on, along with Noah, Lanz, and Joran. “It’s just the moon. Same as it’s always been.” She said.
“What’re you on about, mate?” Lanz asked.
“You don’t feel sad when you look at it? Like you’ve lost something, only, you’ve forgotten what.” Noah clarified.
“No. It’s nice to look at, sure, but I don’t feel anything special when I do.” Eunie answered again.
“The only thing that makes you feel anything special is fortune clovers.” Lanz teased.
“That’s not true! Like you know anything about feelings anyway, you spoon!”
Noah shook his head and allowed his friends to dissolve into bickering as he returned his gaze to the moon. Even if it made him sad, even if he felt the grief of an undefinable loss, he couldn’t look away.
He still remembered that day a year ago at the Queen’s anniversary. There was a moment when time seemed to stand still around Noah; then, as suddenly as it had frozen, it resumed, and the haunting notes of a melody on a flute stole his attention. He followed the sound of the melody, chasing it to find its source, and only came to a stop at the end of some empty street, where he was met by a railing that marked the end of Gran Dell’s perimeter. There seemed to be no source of the music either, though it seemed to drift away, rising to the night sky until it vanished, leaving Noah with only the view of the moon, tears in his eyes, and the faint impression that he had lost something, only he had forgotten what.
Noah was pulled from his ruminations by a nudge from Lanz’s elbow. “Ain’t that right, Noah?” His friend said with a cheeky grin.
“Uh, sorry. What was that again?” He asked, rubbing the back of his neck as Eunie launched into a passionate explanation that was clearly meant to sway him to her side.
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Through all the many passing years of her childhood, the sadness that the moon filled her with never left Mio. Glimmer often teased her about it until one of their parents scolded her, then she’d stop for a while. Eventually, in some strange way, she came to develop a fondness for the melancholy that moonlight brought.
Even if it brought her sadness, it also brought some bittersweet fondness, an illusory memory of warmth and love that she could not attach a memory to. She developed a habit of sneaking out on sleepless nights to play her flute by the water’s edge while gazing into the moon. Her fingers moved across the instrument, playing a half-forgotten melody.
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It was five years after the twin worlds became one, and Noah still refused to practice his flute at night. There was something too overwhelming about the moonlight and the flute’s melody combined. Yet he had no say in the matter when his school picked him to perform for the five-year anniversary of the intersection. He was the best flautist at his school, and thus the natural pick to represent the Bionis. He tried to protest, telling everyone who would listen that there was surely a better candidate, but they mistook his protests for a lack of confidence and offered only reassurance that he would do wonderfully.
So Noah practiced. He learned his part of the melancholy melody under Crys’s watchful eye, practicing by daylight every day until he had it perfected. And then, the day of the performance arrived, and Noah finally met his counterpart from Alrest.
It was night, and Noah stood in the preparation area behind the stage of Agnus castle, sweating and adjusting and tightening his ponytail in repetitive actions. Beyond the door, the most important dignitaries from the Bionis and Alrest alike waited to hear his and his mysterious companion’s performance.
Eventually, the time came, and he was instructed to walk out onto the stage. On the side opposite him, a Gormotti girl around his age entered, with bright white hair and an equally white dress that contrasted with his own dark attire and hair. Upon seeing her, Noah was hit with a strong wave of emotion and the undeniable impression that he knew her from somewhere.
They bowed to each other and then the crowd, before taking their positions and bringing their flutes to their lips. The girl started the melody softly, with lingering notes. Then she stopped, and Noah closed his eyes and took up the melody, playing his distinct part of the same length. When he finished that part, the girl joined his melody, the two playing similar, yet distinct tunes that wove together and moved around each other as if in a dance.
Noah opened his eyes and was amazed to see the glowing motes of ether that rose to the sky from their instruments. He followed their light until he was gazing at the moon, and, for the first time in many years, he did not feel sadness when greeted by its visage.
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After the final performance of the celebration, Mio was reunited with her fellow flautist. It was strange, but there was something familiar and comfortable about him, as if she had known him all her life. Perhaps that was the connection music brought, two souls entwined in the embrace of a melody.
“Thank you. For doing that with me.” She said, approaching the boy she had performed with. “I’m Mio, and you’re…?”
“Noah.” He answered with a smile. “I was happy to perform with you. You were brilliant out there!”
For the rest of the celebration, Noah and Mio stayed together, chatting, learning about each other, and sharing memories, laughter, and dreams.
That night, when Mio returned home with her family on Gramps, she gazed up at the moon and did not feel her usual sadness. Instead, she thought of Noah and wondered when she would see him again. And, as her thoughts lingered on her new friend, they brushed across memories lingering just beneath the surface, and she felt warmth.