Tears in the Moonlight
The days following Oriana's visit to the Lockridge mansion settled over her like a faint, lingering bruise visible only to her heart. She moved through her routines with quiet grace, but something inside her had changed. The laughter of the waves no longer erased Vionna's cold smirk. The memory of polished floors and whispered insults clung to her like sand that refused to wash away.
But Tavian remained the one place where the world still felt safe.
"Oriana," he said softly one afternoon as they walked barefoot along the shoreline, "you must stop believing you are less than anyone in that house."
Oriana looked down at her feet sinking into the wet sand. "I know," she whispered. "But sometimes… sometimes I feel like a fish trying to breathe on land. Everything there is sharp and perfect. And I… I don't fit."
Tavian gently took her hands. "Maybe their world is sharp, but that doesn't mean they're right. You are soft in the best way. You carry warmth where they carry ice."
His words were like a balm. Yet in the back of her mind, Vionna's voice lingered taunting, biting, relentless.
And Vionna wasn't finished.
A few nights later, Tavian invited Oriana to a small family dinner.
"Nothing grand, nothing formal," he assured her. "Just dinner. I want you to feel welcome."
Oriana hesitated, her heart tugging in different directions. But she nodded. "I trust you."
Grandma Gina blessed her with trembling hands. "Go, but guard your spirit. Shadows don't always announce themselves."
The mansion glowed under golden lantern light. The gardens were alive with jasmine, their fragrance rich and intoxicating. And waiting at the doorway like a queen guarding her palace stood Vionna.
Her smile was sweet, but her eyes were sharp as broken glass.
"Oriana," she crooned, voice dripping with false warmth. "How brave of you to return. Truly admirable."
Oriana forced a polite smile. "Good evening, Vionna."
"Good evening indeed." Vionna stepped closer, her perfume suffocating. "I hope you're ready. Dinner tonight is different."
The way she emphasized the word sent a chill through Oriana's spine.
Dinner began innocently enough, but soon Vionna's poison spilled.
"Oh, Oriana," she said loudly, "I didn't know people from the shore held their forks like that. Fascinating."
A few guests exchanged awkward glances.
"And that dress," Vionna added, sighing dramatically. "So rustic. Charming, in a way. Like a childhood memory you never revisit."
Tavian's jaw tightened.
Oriana's hands trembled in her lap. Every laugh, every whisper cut deeper. She wanted to disappear into the walls, back into the sea.
But Tavian reached under the table and gripped her hand. "You're doing perfectly," he whispered.
Oriana nodded, though her heart was breaking.
After dinner, Tavian led her to the garden. The moon was full, casting silver light over the fountain. Fireflies drifted lazily, dancing like sparks in the darkness.
"Oriana," Tavian said, turning to her. "Talk to me."
Her chest tightened. Her voice wavered. "Tavian I tried. I tried so hard. But she… she wants me to feel small. She wants me gone."
A tear escaped, catching the moonlight.
Tavian brushed it away with trembling fingers. "She is evil, yes. But she will not win. You hear me? She will not win."
Oriana swallowed hard. "But what if she destroys us? What if she finds a way?"
"No." Tavian pulled her into his arms. "She cannot destroy what is real. And what I feel for you is real."
Oriana closed her eyes, letting herself melt into him. His heartbeat was steady, a rhythm that felt like home.
"You are stronger than you know," Tavian whispered into her hair. "Vionna sees that strength, and that is why she fears you."
Oriana pulled back slightly, tears shimmering. "Then why do I feel so weak?"
"Because your heart is soft," Tavian said gently. "But soft does not mean weak. The ocean is soft until it decides to roar."
Oriana let out a shaky breath.
Tavian cupped her face. "Roar when you're ready. And until then let me stand with you."
For the first time that night, Oriana smiled through her tears.
And then Tavian leaned in.
Their lips met under the moonlight, soft at first, then deeper filled with everything they'd been too afraid to say. It was a kiss that tasted like a promise, like dawn breaking, like a future worth fighting for.
When they finally parted, Oriana felt her heart steady.
"I will try," she whispered.
"I will be strong."
"You already are," Tavian replied.
As Oriana walked home that night, her steps slow and thoughtful, the sea wind wrapped around her like a guardian.
She knew Vionna would strike again.
She knew the world ahead would wound her more times than she could count.
But she also knew something deeper, something unshakeable.
She was not alone.
She had love.
She had courage.
She had a heart that refused to break.
And so, with the moon shining above her, Oriana whispered a vow carried off by the waves
"I will rise. I will fight. And I will not let darkness steal my light".