It was a little thing: a reminder.
It brought to mind so many past emotions, of a romance doomed, and even before then.
He figured that despite everything he'd never been much of a forgiver, and so truly seeing those days from a more humbled perspective left him knowing that he too was at wrong.
She'd been powerful enough to keep to that truth even though he was young at her tail and miserably naive.
Sadiq had loved her, but sadly, those things never seemed to last well for nations, and now he brought himself to her grave to ask for forgiveness from his old stupidity and forgave her truly and fully.
He'd always figured that these things never took to him well and perhaps she was a reminder of that for him.
Sadiq's boots dug into the dirt farther than he'd wanted them to as he knelt down by an unmarked grave stone.
The knowledge that not even the woman he'd loved could be buried under a grave proclaiming everything amazing about her, stung his ego.
Sadiq knew that when his time came as well, he'd suffer the same fate; no nation was immune from that fact, immune from that fate.
The Turk had always been enchanted by the Greek woman that used to be around, and he'd loved to hear her stories from when he was a small child and eager to know more of the world, to the time when he'd grown up more from that old ignorance.
He'd truly given her everything, from his heart to his self.
Sadiq had loved her and now as he must, forgave her.
He forgave the pains that she'd inflicted on him accidentally by not being able to convince him of the truth with words and of the pains that he'd inflicted on her by being so naive.
Time could heal all marks though it could also make them stand out.
Sadiq loved her and so must forgive her for everything and forgive himself for being that hopelessly naive and for hurting her.
His smile was sad though it almost rang hopeful as if he'd see her again one day, and that that would fill his young, naive heart with hope.
Sadiq did wish though that his apologies would be heard by her ears and that he could hold her, powerful yet sad, Ancient Greece.