Bereft
"You're pretty quiet tonight," said Catti-brie, sidling up next to Drizzt.
He smiled and nudged her companionably. "I was just thinking about how beautiful you are."
"Well you can just tell me instead of brooding about it," she said with mock sternness.
"You're beautiful," he said flatly, staring directly at her face, their noses nearly touching. His lavender eyes twinkled playfully.
She smiled back and kissed him, which he returned with fervor.
It was well after sunset, and the two lovers were perched on a small ledge outside Mithral Hall, several hundred feet above the ground. The moon was full, lining the entire landscape before them with a silver coating. Crisp mountain breezes buffeted their hair, bringing the first hints of winter with them. Catti-brie shivered slightly and snuggled closer to the drow.
"I love you," she whispered, her words almost snatched away by the breeze.
"I love you too," said Drizzt. "I don't know what I'd do without you."
"You'd find someone else," said Catti-brie promptly. "You are not allowed to spend the rest of your long life mourning me if something happens to me."
Drizzt shook his head emphatically. "When I thought you lost to Obould's horde…I didn't know what to do. I was lost. All I could think of was killing. Innovindil helped, but I don't think that I could suffer your loss a second time."
"I don't want you talking this way, Drizzt Do'Urden," the stubborn woman said warningly. "One day I, a human, will die, and you will have to accept it when the time comes."
"You are my everything," said Drizzt. "When I wake up, I wake up knowing that you'll be there. When I sleep, I sleep with you safely in my arms. You are my sun, you are my moon. You are more precious to me than the air I breathe. I will never, ever let you go. You are more valuable to me than all the mithral in these halls. If you were taken from me or if you left me, then I would cease to exist. I would become a shadow of who I am. I don't know if I could ever find solace in anything, be it drink, the arms of another woman, or a new life entirely. Life without you would hardly be worth living. I would wander through life in a dream, no, a nightmare. Nothing could ever compare to the failure of losing you."
"Hush, my dearest Drizzt," soothed Catti-brie, for the dark elf had become quite impassioned in his speech. "I'm not going anywhere anytime soon. You still have years of me yet. And you know that you're exaggerating, you silly drow. A heart as mighty as yours will never be crushed."
Drizzt opened his mouth but wisely decided not to argue the point. He entwined his fingers in hers, and she leaned her auburn head on his shoulder. Together they viewed the surreal scenery lit up before them by the moonlight, like a king and queen surveying their kingdom.
Unbeknownst to the lovers, Wulfgar sat on a similar ledge several feet above them within easy earshot, trying to enjoy the breathtaking vista through the tears blurring his vision.