After the sun goes down

He watches her as she sleeps, her breathing light and carefree. The joy of being able to do something so simple, of laying close to her like this, makes his heart tighten in ways he can’t describe in words.

After decades, centuries of being apart, being with her like this is almost more than he is willing to believe.

She thinks that his clinginess, his *need* is something that only happened because of the curse. But all the curse did was unravel a bit of the self control he has built up over the years.

The urge to hold onto her, refusing to let go, is one he has to actively fight back. He wants to be closer to her, close enough that he can no longer tell them apart. Close enough that she would probably run away in fright if she knew.

Each time he finds her, he is more terrified of losing her again. Yet if he pushes too hard, he might lose her even sooner.

He tries to appear joking and light-hearted during her waking hours and the mask is one that he has worn long enough that the personality no longer needs to be forced. It makes her happy and he will do anything to make her happy.

In the darkness, after the world goes to sleep, he likes to watch her like this and imagine a life where he never had to lose her again. Imagining a time when the two of them can be wrapped up in each other’s arms without deception, entwined for years together without the threat of ‘Wanderers’ or whatever other threats each new age brings with it.

His fingers brush a strand of stray hair from her closed eyes, feeling the softness of her face. Does some part of her still retain the memory of their other meetings, or of the promises they made each other?

He wishes he could help her remember it all but she would probably just think he was playing another prank on her. Maybe one day they will get a chance to speak on the past together and she will believe him.

It is a fantasy he often has, the idea of the two of them growing old together. But the mental image never quite settles properly. He has never seen her live to grow old.

While he may be like a spaceship travelling through the void, never truly changing regardless of the destination, she is more like one of the shooting stars she loves so much, blazing through the night in an instant before disappearing again

But maybe…maybe this time will be different? Despite everything, he still hopes, still wishes for something more.

His eyes never leave her, not wanting to sleep and miss the opportunity to memorize her features again.

Maybe this time will really be different?