//------------------------------//
// Chapter 39 - Love 
// Story: A New Beginning in a New Land 
// by REDACTED99999 
//------------------------------//

Luna arrived in the middle of Jax’ abode. What she didn’t expect was to be muzzle to muzzle with a bear.
It growled at her, probably surprised by her sudden appearance. Luna looked around. The house pretty much looked like last time she had been there, except the bear of course. Was it Jax’ bear or was it only visiting? It probably was not feral if it did not destroy anything.
She lowered herself to seem less threatening. “Easy, friend. I wish no harm upon you, nor the master of this home. This I promise you.”
The bear seemed to calm down at her words. “Rawr?”
“Yes. I come on peaceful terms. I wish to converse with Jax.” This seemed to do the trick. It immediately smiled at her and laid down.
She laid her papers on the table. She would have some time to go through it, she guessed.
A piece of paper that was not one of hers caught her eyes, especially the first lines.

Dear Princess Luna. What am I? Her student? Dear Luna. Is that too formal? Hello Luna! Agr, no. Luna… Too empty. Greetings Luna! And now I’m an alien visiting from outer space. Well… I am technically an alien… but no. Saluatations! Is that how even how you spell it? I miss autocorrect…

It seemed like it was a… very rough draft of a letter to her. It brought a smile to her muzzle. He was going to send her a letter. Curiosity got the best of her, and she decided to read it. It was for her anyway, so no harm done… probably.

I saw what you did with the sky… (Undermining it much?)
What you did with the stars was AMAZING. (That’s more like it. A bit too enthusiastic maybe?)
Luna, you are amazing. I can’t believe you did that! It looked freaking beautiful, when did you practice controlling the stars? Because that was bea-wait I already wrote that. 
Too tired for this. Need sleep. I’ll write it tomorrow.
Note to self: Ask Twilight how to start letters.

Luna squeed excitedly. He thought she was amazing. She knew it would be worth it to put that much effort into it. It certainly sounded like he would forgive her for leaving him without a word.
“Rawr?” Luna turned around and hugged the bear happily. Oh joyous moon!
Luna got control over herself. Rainbow Dash was in the hospital. She should not be this happy. The bear looked confused at her and she coughed into a hoof. “Apologies.” 
When she sat down by the table with her papers, the bear followed, and she found that stroking his fur calmed down her nerves. She could barely concentrate on her work. She was going to see Jax again soon. How she missed him…
Soon.
***
Jax was on his way home. Beating had told him that Rainbow needed rest, and therefore no one was allowed to visit yet. He had first checked if Applejack still needed help on the farm, but when he met up with the others she said that everypony should go home and relax after the events of the day.
It was just after noon and Jax already felt exhausted. Fighting for your life and worrying about your friend really takes a lot of energy.
He opened the door to be met with an unexpected sight. Luna was petting Mr. Bear while sitting by his only table, holding several papers in her aura. The papers all dropped when she looked over at him. “Jax!” she exclaimed and jumped over towards him, before she stopped, seemingly remembering something.
Jax didn’t have such reservations. He jumped straight into her with arms open. They almost slammed into the table, not that Jax gave it much thought... he was pretty sure a blue aura moved it out of the way though. The only thing on his mind was the blue alicorn in his embrace. “Luna! Luna you’re here.” He started nuzzling her neck with tears of joy threatening to spill. This, this was exactly what he needed after the day had been having. He barely even noticed the pain in his left arm and shoulder from colliding with the floor.
Luna seemed to be temporarily stunned by his act, before she gently pushed him away and sat up. Something was bothering her, but whatever it was, Jax decided she would have to say it while being hugged by him. He sat up and hugged her again, enjoying the immense feeling of relief it brought.
“Jax… aren’t you…” She seemed to have trouble formulating the words. “… mad at me? I just left you there…” They were laced with sorrow and regret. She wasn’t returning the hug either, she was just sitting there stiffly.
He stopped nuzzling her and drew back a bit so he could look at her properly. Her cyan eyes were full of sadness. “I was never mad at you Luna, just… hurt. Right now I don’t really care, I’m sure you had reasons… and the show yesterday was a great apology… I was going to write to you, but so much happened yesterday and I was tired and today everything just went to hell…”
“I know… I read the half of the letter you had written. Are… do you forgive me then?” She asked with hopeful eyes.
He cupped her cheek. “Luna, you are one hundred percent forgiven for leaving me like that. Just please don’t do it again.” He said with a small smile.
Her own smile found its way to her muzzle as she leaned into his hand. “Agreed.”
Jax went straight for the hug again, and this time she hugged back. Her soft fur felt good on his skin as she started nuzzling him on his neck. The whole thing made him finally relax properly, as if he had been tense all this time.
Then she spread her wings around him in the way that he loved and he felt completely safe. He had missed this feeling so much it hurt. She hadn’t even been gone a week… 
“I missed you so much Luna.” He felt warm and protected, and so very happy.
“I missed you too, Jax.” Luna answered, and the honesty in her voice made him shiver. He felt excitedly happy at hearing her say that. It tickled all throughout his body, and a warmth spread from his chest.
They both sighed happily.
Mr. Bear must have thought this was his queue to join the hug. None of them saw the bear running at them before it was too late. Suddenly they were laying under a giant bear, and Jax couldn’t help but laugh at the absurdity of it all, Luna soon joining him.
They managed to get out from underneath Mr. Bear without too much trouble, laughing as they were.
Jax life had changed so much since he had come to Equestria, so much so that being crushed under his pet bear together with a princess, that just so happened to be his best friend, wasn’t out of the range of possibilities. It was crazy. In a good way.
He looked over to Luna. She was laughing freely, a sight that Jax loved and made him laugh even more. They kept laughing for a bit until a stray thought entered Jax’ head… Rainbow Dash was in the hospital and here he was laughing like… like… like she hadn’t sacrificed herself for him. He stopped laughing almost immediately.
“Jax, what is wrong?” Luna noticed his sudden change of mood. Her smile faded into worry, the last thing he wanted. But the guilt hit him with a sudden force, and it hit him hard. The laughter had died in his throat, and he stared down at the wooden floor. Seconds passed in silence as he found it hard to speak, like there was something in his throat stopping the words before they could even surface. The wooden floor got blurry.
“Jax…” Her voice was like the softest silk. He wanted to answer her, dispel the confusion and worry that he had nested in her. A hoof gently found its way under his chin, and slowly raised his head until his tearful green eyes met hers. “Was it something I did?” She asked. Her worry was a clear as glass, and he couldn’t take it.
“N-no…” He shook his head a little. Her hoof found its way to his cheek, over the tear stains.
“What is it then? Please talk to me.” He saw the relief in her eyes, overlapping with the worry.
They sat opposite each other on the floor. Jax could hear Mr. Bear inching away. The table had indeed been moved.
He finally couldn’t take the look in her eyes anymore. “Rainbow Dash is in the hospital. She’s stable but… she was close. And here I am… laughing.” He spat the last word out as if it was poison.
Understanding reached her eyes. “You feel guilty.”
“I… Yeah, that’s one of the things I feel.” He admitted.
She leaned in and kissed him on the other cheek, the softness and warmth of her lips leaving him dazed. She leaned further in to hug him tightly. “I know about guilt. I’ll listen to you, if you want to talk about it.” She shivered a little, but her voice was strong and compassionate.
His tears were already subsiding. She had kissed him. On the cheek, yes, but still. Is this something best friends do in Equestria? It could mean anything…
“I… don’t. I mean, I already talked a bit with Beating… uhmm… but thanks.” That came out wrong. Or not strongly enough. He didn’t sound as thankful as he felt to have her there… kissing him on the cheek. And hugging him.
“Alright…” Was it just him or did she sound a little disappointed? He had to say something to make her see how much he appreciated her, but what?
“Your lips are soft.” He could kick himself. “I mean… uhm…” He was interrupted by soft giggles. She didn’t say anything after they subsided so he decided to hug her tightly and change the subject.
“Do you still feel guilty about-“ He interrupted himself before he could finish. Why was he asking that? He knew she did, it had just kind of come out before he could think. 
“About Nightmare Moon? Yes… I do.” Her voice was low.
“You mentioned something about a song…?” He had been curious about that, but he hadn’t asked until now because he didn’t want her to be sad. Not that he wanted now, but she seemed more willing to share without becoming too sad.
“The one Celestia sung to me upon my return? The one I hear every time loneliness finds me?” Her voice was still low, but she didn’t sound as close to despair as she had been the time they had talked about it last.
“… Yeah. Can I… can you sing it?” He blurted out. Stupid mouth, of course she wouldn’t want to sing it for him.
For a long time she was quiet, and he didn’t know what to say. After a while he couldn’t take it anymore. “It’s alright if you don’t-“
“Alright. I shall sing for thee, my dear Jax.” Her voice was still low, but now there was determination in it. He felt her shiver beneath him again. She took a deep breath, and exhaled. Then her beautiful voice started to sing. It became clear pretty fast that it was from Celestia’s perspective. It was a sad tale about… well about Celestia having to banish Luna, and the clear guilt she felt for not helping when it was needed. 
Luna’s voice already became strained after the first couple of lines. Jax guessed tears were making it hard for her to sing, but she continued nonetheless.
He couldn’t help but admire Luna’s determination to finish the song as he completely immersed himself in the story he was hearing.
When silence reigned once again with the last ‘sleep.’, Jax found himself feeling sorry for Celestia as well as Luna. Such a sad tale….
“She sang that upon your return? No wonder you feel guilty…”
Luna nodded her head on his shoulder. “We hath caused so much sorrow.” She sobbed. It pained his heart to hear her like that. Why did he ask her to sing again?
He started stroking her mane. It still felt tingly to his touch. “You have also caused a lot of happiness. You have made me so happy, Luna.” He let go of her, and cupped her cheek again. Again she leaned into his hand.
She was beautiful. Her starry mane framed her face, bringing out her cyan eyes. Her blue fur looked as soft as ever, and her lips… 
He reached up to his cheek, at the spot where she had kissed him. That meant something, right? 
“But my sister had to manage everything by herself for a thousand years…” She looked down.
“And you lost a thousand years of your life Luna. I think you have suffered enough.” He guided her muzzle up so she would look at him. Her eyes were filled with emotion, but the tears had stopped. She still looked so damn… “Beautiful.” It took him half a second to realize he had said the last part out loud, but he didn’t regret it, especially when a blush coloured her fur. She looked adorable.
“Luna, you’re the most beautiful… being I’ve ever met.” He stumbled a bit with his words, but her deepened blush told him he had gotten the point across.
“Thou art… you are pretty handsome yourself.” It was his turn to blush. To be honest he was surprised at her answer, but her eyes looked at him with naked honesty. A part of him had doubted that she even saw him like that.
Her hoof rose towards his cheek, and for a moment he thought she was going to cup his cheek like he did with her, but it went behind his head instead and pulled him a bit closer.
There was almost no space between them. Jax expected her to pull him in for a kiss, but she stopped applying pressure, just looking at him with those big eyes that ponies had. She looked… excited, apprehensive, happy, afraid….
He realized she was waiting for him to traverse the last distance by himself. Doubt showed its ugly head. Was this really okay? She was a princess of the land…
....
He leaned in the rest of the way and landed his lips on hers.
His world exploded. Her soft lips on his, her hoof behind his head, pulling him just a little closer, her low moan, his sigh of happiness, his hand finding its way behind her head for a little more passion, her mouth opening up to lick his lips, his mouth opening to welcome her tongue in, their tongues greeting as passionately as old friends… It felt amazing, all of it. Throughout it all, one thought kept looping through his head, making him just a little more passionate each time.
He was kissing Luna.