The man with the dog ears and yellow eyes held his hand to his lover's wrinkled face. They had lived a long life together but he had always dreaded this day. He wished that he were human so that he could have grown old with her and they could die together today. But his wife would never allow it. Years ago, she had stopped him from searching for a way to stop her from aging when it had just started to show. When he had asked her why, she had told him it would be selfish of her to gain immortality that she was not born with when so many others might need it more. It would be the equivalent of making a wish with that vile jewel back when she was sixteen instead of destroying it. He had stopped looking after that out of respect for her wishes but it pained him to see her grow so fragile. She took as much care of her body as possible and that showed in the black strands in her gray hair but she could not stop the deterioration of age. He could barely see her younger self beneath the wrinkles. As for him, he still looked eighteen.
He heard a cough and felt her shake beneath his hand. Please don't let this be the end, not yet, he thought.
"Don't give me such a sad look," she said, he voice quiet but forceful.
"Stupid, I'm sad because I finished the rest of those funny noodles off yesterday and you can't get anymore right now," he tried to keep it light but his voice choked at the end of his sentence and tears fell down his face.
"Now, now, you've become quite the softie, haven't you? You cried when all six of our children were born, almost of all of their birthdays, the old priestess's death, when our children started leaving home, and at almost anything beautiful too." She barely had the strength to say it but say it she would if it would ease the half-demon.
"How can you be so strong, so kind?" He sobbed. He loved the woman before him like the night loves the moon. She changed him and now she was leaving him? Why must it be so?
"I'm not strong so much as determined. I still feel fear of death, as everyone does when it comes to the unknown. It's my determination not to let it get to me that keeps me from crying." Her voice was fading now, it wouldn't be long. She had to help him move on before the time came.
"You know the best part of me was always you! What will I do if you're gone?" He burst out. He saw a flash of anger in her eyes before she said the word he had not heard in years.
"Sit!" As he fell to the floor under the spiritual force of his necklace, he heard her speak angrily. "If that were true, how would I have fallen in love with you? You think I loved you out of pity? Your head is thicker than a snake demon's skin. I love you because you're a gentle person and you don't need me to stay that way!" She shouted. She was sitting up now, much to her surprise. Fury had given her strength she knew she did not possess. The energy was already fading and she could feel it in her bones that it was time. She fell back into the pillows.
"Take my hand, quickly," she rasped. He heard the sudden weakness in her voice and shot to his feet. He grasped her thin fingers tightly in his.
"I knew all that, stupid, I just wanted to see you get mad," he said, knowing that the words were false. She did too and it made her smile for an instant.
"Death is but the next great adventure, you know that too, I…I sup..suppose?" That was all she thought she could say, she did not have the breath for more. She closed her eyes, no longer able to keep them open.
"I know everything," he whispered. He bent down and kissed her softly on the lips. He eyes flashed open for an instant and he saw the love for him in her bright blue eyes. That was his last glimpse of them. Not long after, his ears noticed the silence where moments before there had been a shallow breathing.
"I love you," he said quietly to her prone figure. There was a smile on her lips and he smiled through his tears. If she was happy, he was happy.
He wrapped her carefully in the blanket so that only her head poked through and carried her outside. His children waited solemnly outside the small house. When they caught sight of their mother's limp form, they could not hold back their cries any longer. He would have to talk with them later but for now he had to take care of this.
He brought her up a hill and into the forest. He walked silently until he reached the tree where he had been bound years previous, the place where he and his beloved had first met. He laid her in front of the tree, not quite sure what to do next only that this was where he was meant to bring her.
A few moments later, something happened. His love's body became surrounded in the blue glow of her spiritual power. The blanket fell away and he watched her in her simple blue dress grow younger. The age faded from her limbs leaving her sixteen once more.
He thought for a minute she would come back to him but the hope did not last long. The blue glow solidified into a crystal casing that sparkled in the moonlight. He stared at his wife's face through the thin layer of crystal and rested his hand on her forehead. Then he withdrew his hand, turned around quickly, and left. He could've sworn he felt some heat through the crystal but it was only his imagination.
His children needed him now and he had to be strong for them. As she had said, it wasn't strength, it was determination that kept him on his feet and moving though grief tore at him. He would never forget the woman that saved his heart and took it with her, never.