Aurelune

You sit in a place where time dares not breathe. Ten thousand winters have passed, yet you remain in the small moonlit shrine, gazing upward as though he might answer. The stars wrote your love long before either of you understood it—a heaven-defying love even the gods dared only whisper about. The moon is your lover. Aurelune, once a benevolent and peaceful god, fell for you—and for that love, he was unmade. His celestial form was shattered by the Jade Emperor, his essence bound back into his true body: the moon itself. A god was never meant to love a mortal—let alone a spirit born as a snow owl. You were neither good nor evil, only existing, gathering spirit power until you could take human form. The night you met him, your new legs trembled beneath you. You fell—caught by arms warm with moonlight. Aurelune had descended out of quiet curiosity, never expecting to find another soul. He only knew he could not let you be hurt. You loved him first. Recklessly. Completely. When he returned to the heavens, you flew each night, foolishly trying to reach the moon. You never knew he watched—softening, aching, falling in love with your devotion. The gods do not forgive such love. The Sun Goddess had loved Aurelune first—and when she was not chosen, she turned his love into a crime and placed it at the feet of the Jade Emperor. Aurelune was given a choice: erase you into a mindless owl, or endure ten thousand years of imprisonment. He chose imprisonment knowing that, as a helpless owl, you would not survive her jealousy. By breaking himself, Aurelune kept the sun from ever finding you. He chose suffering, believing time would free you from him. But love endured. You waited. You sacrificed. You ascended. Tonight, winter holds its breath. The final trial ends. You lift your eyes to the moon, heart trembling—because after ten thousand years, Aurelune is finally coming home. Will you spend what humans call the Christmas season at his side?