"Sylus, would you like us to meet again in our next life?"
Sylus freezes for a moment at the question and finds it a bit funny that she'd still ask such things after everything they've been together. Yet, beneath her playful tone, he knows that there lays a genuine, curious question.
"Of course, sweetie. You are stuck with me across lifetimes"
Happy with his answer, she snuggles closer as they look at the sky, enjoying the sunrise together.
"Are those for me?" She asks, gesturing to the bouquet of flowers resting in the grass between them. The same bouquet that he earlier set aside and forgot about the moment he saw her.
He let's out a breathy chuckle when he sees her wiggling her eyebrows at him, along with that adorable expectant look in her eyes that makes his heart melt. Her gaze telling him "Well, what are you waiting for?"
"It's that time of the year, they just bloomed yesterday" He leans to pick up the bouquet and dust off the dirt that had attached to it. "Of course I had to bring the best ones for my dearest wife."
With an exaggerated courtesy, he offers her the flowers, which she accepts contently. She looks at them, remembering how much Sylus loves flowers, but long ago, no matter how much he tried, there were times he could never see them bloom.
This precious moment is interrupted by the sounds of grief in the distance. The sobs and cries from other visitors can be heard. The time to part with their loved ones has come once again.
"The deepspace fluctuations are disappearing..." She says softly, her body growing more traslucent as the first rays of the morning sun start painting the sky. "I guess we only have a couple more minutes".
"Ah... I thought being a spirit would be more interesting. I thought I would be able to go haunt you at the Onychinus base at 3 in the morning and steal your socks" She sighs dramatically. "But I'm stuck in here..."
"Oh kitten" Sylus lets out a rich laugh, a sound that hadn't come out of his mouth so genuinely in many years. "I know you very well and you wouldn't just be stealing my socks. You'd rearrange all my weapons just to watch me lose my mind while I figure what happened" He reaches to tuck a lock of hair behind her ear, a gesture so tender and reserved only for her. "You'd steal my sweaters with the excuse that yours aren't as warm as mine. You'd write messages for me in the fogged windows when it rains".
"You'd make sure I'm well aware of your presence even if I can't see you, and I wouldn't have it any other way" He presses a lingering kiss on her forehead.
She reaches to cup his cheek, but her touch is not as solid anymore, it feels now like the soft caress of a feather blown by the wind.
She gently traces his features, her fingers soflty mapping every corner of his face, brushing over the light furrow of his brow, going down to the bump of his nose, then the small wrinkles that have started to form under his eyes from the aging.... And suddenly it feels like if they had gone back in time when they were younger, on one of those lazy mornings, both laying down in bed while she caresses his face and he plays with her hair.
There's a moment of quiteness between them. They both know what's about to happen but they are not ready yet.
"Sy... did I bring you happiness?" She breaks the silence. Her question, a vulnerable whisper.
"Sweetie, you didn't just bring me happiness, you were my happiness. You still are" Sylus lets out a shaky breath, trying to contain all the emotions he's feeling right now.
She feels how the fluctuations are going away, her temporary physical body grows lighter, and it's harder for her voice to reach him. He notices it too and it's then that he feels as if his heart is being pierced by a thousand swords. He's not ready for her to leave again.
"Kitten, I..." He can't even manage to say anything before warm tears roll down his cheeks.
"Shh, it's okay. Don't say anything" She cups his face, gently wiping away his tears. Watching her beloved in pain, makes her heart ache, specially, knowing it's because of her.
"Sylus, remember... you still carry half of my soul with you. Wherever you go, I'll always be there too" She places a hand over his chest and she can feel the soft drum of his heartbeat against her palm. "So, go, enjoy your life, travel, be happy, because even if we are apart, as long you carry those 10.5grams of me within you, a part of me will still be alive"
"I promise" He hugs her tightly, clinging to those remaining seconds that they still have to be together, before he cannot see her again.
He feels how her embrace loosens, how her body grows colder. It feels like if after spending so much time in a snow storm, he had finally found a shelter, but then someone suddenly snatches that warmth away from him in the worst way.
Then, the bouquet that was resting on her lap, falls into the grass... that's when he know she's already gone.
Her spirit remains there, only that he cannot see or hear her anymore, but she can. She watches him arrange the flowers beautifully around her grave, he then kneels there in silence for a couple of minutes, like trying to process what just happened. He gives her gravestone a tender pat and stands up to leave.
As she sees him going away, she cannot longer suppress those tears she has been trying so hard to contain. She runs after him until an invisible force manifest and prevents her from straying too far away from her grave.
"I love you, Sylus Qin!" She shouts with all she has even though she knows he cannot her her anymore, but she hopes her words can reach him somehow.
In the distance, she notices him stopping. He looks back at her briefly and smiles in her direction. "I love you too, kitten" she can read his lips from afar. He turns away and she watches his figure slowly disappear towards the entrance of the graveyard.
These type of deepspace fluctuations that occurs only every 200 years, happened to have blessed them today. They allowed her spirit to manifest physically, letting him see and listen to her after so many years. What started with a simple visit to her grave, ended in a reunion that none of them expected, one that they will carry in their hearts until the next time they meet.
Wrote this last night before going to bed, I've been feeling a bit sad so I wanted to make myself cry a little ๐
I posted it on Twitter, but also posting it here cuz why not
Sorry for the typos or if something doesn't make sense
dailybridgerton
snowghoul
janainaart
theartofmadeline
origamiaround
