He had promised he'd return (later she'll remind herself he hadn't promised to return soon or safely). They'd stood there on the shore, a too-bright sunset casting a golden glow around them, as if the gods had woven threads of yellow silk in the air surrounding the couple. He had taken her hand and promised he would return to her, to everyone. He had given her that loopy grin, but his eyes were too bright, his smile too wide.
He promised he would return, but he never promised he would be alive when he did so.