They sit on opposite sides of the tent, studying each other carefully.
He speaks first. "It's been a long time."
She smiles at him, not unkindly. "It has."
A moment of silence. "I loved you."
"I loved you too, Pakku. But I had to leave."
"Had to? You had no reason."
"Yes, I did. But believe me, my deepest regret was hurting you."
More silence. Then, "Who was he?"
"What?"
"The other man. Your husband. What was his name? What was he like? Was he anything like me?"
She looks at him oddly. "He was nothing like you. That was the reason I married him." He turns his head away, so they don't have to meet one another's gaze. "I married him," she says softly. "But I never loved him."
His face twitches the tiniest bit. Kanna can tell something is bothering him.
"What's the matter?" she asks. "I didn't mean to upset you."
"You say you never loved him," he shoots back at her. "Yet somehow he manages to father a son by you."
She smiles, shaking her head slowly. "So that's what this is all about."
"How could you! You knew I loved you, you knew I had been waiting years to marry you! You turned me – Kanna, you turned me into this! A bitter old man, that's what I am now! That's what you did to me!"
"That's what I did to you? Come now, Pakku. You can't tell me you don't even remember yourself anymore. You were a bitter young man as well."
"I never married. I hope you know that I never moved on."
"That's pathetic."
"It's the truth!"
He raises his voice to say this last statement. Kanna stares at her hands. "It's time to move on."
Pakku shakes his head, one of his hands searching a pocket of his coat. "No. That time came and went a long time ago."
His hand appears again, and there is something in it. Without looking up, he holding it out to her. Kanna represses a gasp and reaches a hand out to grasp the object.
"You're not serious."
"I'm completely serious. This is my last chance, Kanna. Our last chance. We only have so long left in this world, and we must make the best of it."
She looks at the betrothal necklace for a moment, then, hesitantly, she nods.
"I'm assuming this is a yes."
"No. I don't have to say yes. I said yes fifty years ago, Pakku, before it was even my choice. But now it is."
"Promise me you won't leave this time."
"I promise, you silly man. I promise to stay here and I promise to love you forever."
He looks at her.
"And I promise that if you take one step out of line, if you even think about going back to your old idiotic prejudices and traditions, then I will skin you alive."
The old man smiles. This is the woman he loves.