PROLOG
"Get down from there!"
His voice is alive with panic, an outstretched hand reaching for the woman, the rooftop light glittering off his metal fingers.
"Please, don't do this!"
He begs, his foot shuffling forwards, pushing aside and leaving a mark in the perfect snow that decorates the morbid scene unfolding before his very eyes
"You don't understand what I've done," She yells, her voice straining to be heard over the bustling wind shoving against her small frame, forcing her closer and closer to a grisly demise. "I can't go back, I can't ever go back!"
Tears streak down ivory cheeks, gemstone eyes blinking against the snowflakes that have already created a thin sheet over her.
"This isn't the answer, you know that it isn't!"
He pleads, taking another step forwards towards the shivering woman as his heart races in his chest.
"What if it is?"
Nutmeg hair blows in front of her face, hiding her broken features from the same man who had pulled her from the darkness once before, and was desperately trying to do the same again.
"What if all my life was leading up to this moment? I've lost everything, James! Everything!"
Her body moves backwards half an inch and the man is lunging forwards the last few feet.
"No! No, you haven't lost everything! You still have me! Isn't that enough? Can't that be enough?"
His words are full of pain and verging on hysterical, icy blue irises matching the color of the falling snow as the woman's hands move out in front of her, making a show to indicate he stay back.
"After everything I've done to you, after everything I put you through, why do you care?"
Warm tears trail faster down her face, every inch of her body trembling under the freezing blanket steadily falling over her.
"Wanda," The man whispers hoarsely, the lilt of his voice pure agony. "I don't blame you for what happened, I've never blamed you."
"You should!"
She counters, her body hunching down in the jacket that does very little to warm her.
"What I did wasn't okay, and it shouldn't be forgiven! I ruined this, all of it."
Her voice trails off, her eyes shutting tightly as her body swayed against the wind.
"Wanda!"
His fingers brush against the edge of her shirt as she pulls away, the very edge supporting her weight now as she shakes her head, a melancholy smile brightening up her face.
"James, my sweet James. I'm sorry, but we both know how tonight must end."
"No! I won't let you die!"
Reaching out as the woman falls backwards into the night, falling with the snowflakes that drift down in a quiet but steady pace.
His breath catches in his throat as he stands frozen, staring at the ledge where she had been just moments earlier. The same ledge that she no longer stood on. And all at once, he felt his world crashing down around him.