The Ball, The Swing and True Love

I ran. I ran as fast as I could in four inch heels. I could hear him running after me. And then I hear my name.

"Kathryn!"

But I keep running, remembering what happened a few minutes ago.

~ 10 minutes earlier ~

"Kathryn would you like to dance?"

I look up and see two bright mysterious eyes looking down at me. I finally relies who it was.

"I would love to Tom"

So he leads me out onto the dance floor and we embrace each other and dance the waltz. I look up into those dark eyes and see what I thought was gone. Love. He's looking down at me as if we're the only ones in the universe. I was scared at what I saw. I stopped dancing. The last three men to love me have died and re-married. I still have nightmares when Daddy and Justin died.

He's also stopped dancing, he's leaning towards me, he's only millimeters away from my ear when he asked.

"Will you marry me Kathryn?"

All I could think of is when Justin died. Then I said what broke the men's heart. The man I love.

"I… I'm sorry but I can't"

With unshed tears he asks.

"Why?"

"I just can't"

And I turn and run down the hall and down the stairs. I know he's chasing after me, I can hear him. I run towards the swing that hangs just over the lake.

Then he calls me.

"Kathryn!"

But I keep going. I make it to the swing and sit and watch the moons reflection on the waters surface.

Then I see him and he sees me. He walks over to me and lift my chin with his gentle and warm fingers. A single tear rolls down my cheek. He wipes it away, as if it's natural. He opens his mouth but know sound comes out, so he just wraps his arms around me and sooth me while I let the tears roll down my cheeks and onto his shirt. We stay like that for awhile, then he pulls away.

"Please Kathryn, why can't you marry me?"

I think for a while and then I decide to tell him what happened so many years ago. I told him how I fell in love with Justin and how he and Daddy died in the shuttle crash and I was the only survivor. How I didn't leave my room for months. By the time I finish I had tears streaming down my face. All he did was hold me tight in his strong but gentle arms, as I sob into his chest. After a while he speaks but doesn't pull away.

"I'm sorry that you had to go through all that, but why can't you marry me?"

I look up at him.

"They were the only two men I have ever loved and they both died. I don't think I could go through all that again."

We just stare at each other.

"I can't promise that I won't die but wouldn't it be worth living the rest of your life with the one you love, then not to?"

All I can do is nod my agreement. And he asks again.

"Will you marry me Kathryn?"

And again all I can do is nod, and look to my future, our future.

The End?