Seventy six years. Seventy six years Tessa had spent without Will. And in those bleak years Tessa had watched her children, and select grand-children die before her. Her thoughts of his death had been removed over the years, but she still held an emptiness in her heart.

Will's grave lay before her dusted with a light coat of snow, which was gently falling from the grayish-white sky. Tessa clutched her jacket around herself tightly, forcing back the tears. The wind began to whip up around her, blowing her unruly brown hair around her face. She closed her eyes briefly, and when she did; thoughts and pictures of Will starting flooding into her head. It almost seemed as if he was standing right in front of her. His violet-blue eyes, dark hair, high cheekbones, and full gentle lips all seemed so real. But they weren't. No matter how much Tessa tried to pretend; he wasn't there and he never would be. A single tear rolled down her cheek as a soft voice emerged from the snowy-haze.

"A-are you alright?" The quiet voice uttered. It belonged to a small mundane girl, only about ten years old. From what Tessa could remember, the little girl was the groundskeepers niece. Unable to say anything though, Tessa just stared at her. "It's just you've been here quite a while, and I wanted to make sure you were okay." Her voice appeared to be shaky, but in this cold Tessa wouldn't blame her.

"Yes, I'm alright thank-you." Tessa smiled, wiping away the tear with her finger. The girl just nodded and peered over at the grave.

"Who was he?" She asked, looking up at Tessa with big ice blue eyes.

"He was my-" Tessa cut herself short. She could hardly tell the girl he was her husband. She was a mundane who wouldn't understand the concept of immortality. After hesitating for a moment and thinking up a lie to tell the girl, Tessa crossed her arms over her body and spoke. "My great-grandfather. I never met him but I've heard lots about him."

"Oh" said the girl. "Well I better go, my uncle will be wondering where I went off to."

And in an instant, Tessa was left alone with her thoughts again. Left alone to think about the seventy six years without him. Seventy six years of holding onto an empty heart. Seventy six years.