The couple sat on a park bench, staring towards the frozen duck-pond on a dreary February day. His Ministry robes were ironed perfectly, every crease knife-sharp; her robes flowed around her like an aura, shimmering white and grey. They sat silently for a while, then she sighed.
"It's no good, Percy. It really is over between us."
He choked back a sob. "You don't understand! I can't live without your laugh. When you walked out, my world lost its colour, and nothing was the same any more."
"Percy..."
"No, wait. Let me finish. You are my sun and my moon, and you make me feel. I know I'm just a boring, mediocre civil servant, but with you I feel so alive! You make things wonderful. You drag me out to watch for heliopaths in the middle of the night, and you're the only person who could persuade me to wear a striped shirt. And without you, I'm nothing."
"Oh Percy," she sighed sadly. "You really have to believe in yourself more. And you don't really love me."
"What?" The redhead sprang to his feet in shock and denial. "Of course I do! I even bought you …" He rummaged in his robes and brought out a small velvet-covered box. "Luna... Would you do me the honour of being my wife, and spending the rest of your life with me?"
"It's beautiful!" she exclaimed. "It looks like the eyes of a Moon Frog suspended in a crystal of fire."
"Then you will?"
"No, Percy, I will not."
"But why? I do love you!"
"No, you love what I can do for you, and how I make you feel. You don't love me for myself. "
"How can you say that?"
"It's easy, when you smile like that. I do care for you, Percy, but not enough to give up my life for what you want me to be." She handed back the box, kissed his forehead and walked away.