On the Subject of Giftgiving

Long ago, before the common reckoning of time was in use, people gave gifts fashioned from the starlight of their souls.  The value of the gift was determined by the usefulness of the item made, and by the amount of emotion that went into the making.  When a gift like this was given, it created a bond between the giver and the recipient.  The stronger the emotion behind the making, the stronger the bond.
Now in this time there lived two men and a woman.  The men's names were Alig and Daib, and the woman's name was Klach.  Now, both of the men were very much in love with Klach.  They both proclaimed that they're love was stronger than the others.  Klach was very much in love with Daib, but couldn't turn down such a powerful and wealthy suitor as Alig without allowing him to attempt to prove himself.  So Klach set them a challenge.  "Both of you shall make me gift, and give it to me on the date that day is the same length as the night.  From this I will choose my suitor."
Both men accepted this challenge, and as they were both quite adapt at gift making they were each sure in their chances of winning.  So they set to work, using all of the time that they had to their advantage.  Alig was a rich, but bitter man.  He was a man of great arrogance, and only cared for Klach as something pretty to set by his side.  Something to be looked upon and marveled at, and something to increase his reputation.  As such, he made a beautiful golden pool of water that would allow them to see each other from great distances.
Now Daib was truly in love with Klach, and would have given anything for her.  "However," he thought,  "as long as she is happy, I shall be content."  So he set to work, and it was his crowning achievement.  It took him nearly all of the time he had been allotted, and at the end he was exhausted.  He had neither slept nor eaten while working, and the work had taken a little over what we would reckon as three weeks.  However, he had his gift for his love.  At the end of all this time and effort, he had a small stone.  It was about three inches by three inches, and was a deep honey color.  If it was turned this way, and that way, it would bring the holders hearts desire into being.
So the day of the competition came, and each man showed their gift to Klach.  Of course, Klach choose Daib, as she had always been going to.  Alig, enraged and bitter, stormed off vowing his vengeance on the new couple.
The night before Daib and Klach's wedding, Alig returned.  Through foul magic and his anger he had grown stronger than ever, and he used this power to sneak into Klachs house.  He destroyed all of her beautiful things, save the stone, and attempted to take Klach by force.  By doing this Alig broke the ability to give the soul shape.  Klach turned the stone this way, and that way, and Alig dropped dead to the floor.  Unable to face her love with nothing to gift him for the connection that should be shared between husband and wife, she fled into the forest.
Klach ran for days and days, until finally she tripped and fell.  She cut her hand on a sharp stone, but when she raised the stone to look at it she realized it wasn't a stone at all.  It was a beautiful crystal, a brilliant deep green, the same color as Daib's eyes. Threaded through the green were strands of brilliant blue, the color of her own.
Klach spoke to her deepest self then, and realized she had been a fool.  The gift itself is of no importance, the important part is the connection that is made with the gift.  Realizing this, Klach fashioned the crystal onto a ring of plain oak that she had made with her own two hands.  The crystals beauty was in sharp contrast to the rough shape of the wood.  For one instant, Klach was terrified that it wouldn't be enough, and that her beloved Daib would turn her away.
When she returned to her village, she found Daib weeping for the loss of her.  "My dearest love, please don't cry!  I left when I was frightened and hurt, but I've come back now.  And I have a lovely wedding present for you, if you'll still have me."
"Oh, my darling one and only, of course I'll have you!  But I fear you shall not like the present I have for you."
"I have the same fear in my heart, love.  Lets exchange them together, and have come what may."
Klach had fashioned a little wooden box for her gift, and received a box of stone from Daib.  When they opened the boxes they both gasped.  Inside Klach's box, was a ring.  It was almost exactly like the ring she had given Daib, save it's predominate color was that same brilliant blue of her eyes, with threads of his green running through it.
Then they heard a voice from the sky, soft as the petals of the rose, and wide as all the oceans.  An all encompassing voice, and they both knew it came from the moon.  And the moon said,  "As I rode across the skies, I saw true love.  The kind of love that touches but a few hearts every century.  I was happy, and proud to see such love in my domain.  But then a cruel force broke the magick I gave you, and I was deeply saddened.  So I wept two tears to bring two lovers back to each other.  Now go my children, and live and love with my blessing."
And so Klach and Daib lived out their lives.  The first couple to exchange rings with their wedding vows, one of only a few couples to be married by the moon, and two of the very few to have ever felt true love.  The tradition of giving rings has continued down to this day, and although the form of the rings, and the mode of the marriage has changed, the meaning remains the same.  The same meaning as the vows that Daib and Klach spoke together, on that day so long ago.  "My love for you is made up of you, and of me.  We are tied together by bonds unbreakable, that sparkle and shimmer like the tears of the moon.  Our love is endless, and boundless, and forever repeating, just like the circle of the ring.  I will be yours, and only yours, from here into eternity.  This I promise, with the gift of this ring."