"Mm. Sunset."
Ashlynn lifted her head at Severus's words to behold the dying sun's salmon radiance. "Mm." After a moment of silence, he asked, "Do you think we'll be together forever?" "Please... let it be forever," Ashlynn murmured in response. Severus didn't respond to this. She glanced over at him. "Severus? What's the matter?" "Ashlynn, I was just thinking..." he mumbled. "Maybe we shouldn't... be together."
"I... Ashlynn... am I not...?" Ashlynn's voice trailed off. "Well, it's... you know, I'm..." He paused and tried to put it into words. "I... I made a commitment. You... you know?"
"Severus... are you... throwing me away?" Ashlynn murmured distantly. "No! It's... it's not that, Ashlynn. I love you. But... the world... they won't accept us, don't you see? They won't think... that's right. You... you deserve better. Someone that'll give you something... legitimate." "I... I don't want that, don't you see? I want *you*, Severus. Please. Don't... don't do this to me." Severus shook his head. "If anyone hurt you because of it, I... I couldn't stand it. It has to be this way. Don't you see?" For a moment no one spoke. Severus stared into her eyes and Ashlynn stared into his. He gripped her hand tightly for a moment, and then slowly, slowly, started to let go.
Ashlynn's hand fell and swayed limply by her side.
"So... this is goodbye?" Ashlynn murmured. "I... I guess so." "Will I ever... see you again?" she whispered. "I... I don't know." Ashlynn turned sharply away to hide her tears. She just wanted to get off the beach right that moment. The sight of Severus was like a dagger to her heart.
She was foolish for thinking it would ever work out, Ashlynn thought. It never did. Nothing ever did. The wind seemed to whip bitterly about her frame, and the sky had grown dark without her notice. She crossed her arms about her body in a vain attempt to keep herself warm - and whole. She thought about how much warmer she would be if only Severus were here. If only...
"Ashlynn?"
Ashlynn lifted her head at Severus's words. He was there, right in front of her. After a moment of silence, he took Ashlynn's hands in his and said quietly and seriously, "Ashlynn... you are the only one who has ever meant so much to me. Without you... Without you, I would be the sea without the moon - the moon without the sun - I would be... lost."
"Severus," she intoned in response. "I'm... I'm not that special." "You are," he insisted, sounding almost hurt. "I'm not lying." "I don't mean to say you're lying. Just that... never mind. Severus... you're... precious to me as well." "Ashlynn, I..." he whispered, seemingly to himself. But when Ashlynn looked at him, she saw a glimmer of hope in his wretched windows to his soul.
Ashlynn sighed with contentment and brought him closer. She gazed at the beautiful lemon-colored rays of the falling sun, thinking about everything that had transpired on this day and all that would pass between them. "I love you, Severus." "I love you too, Ashlynn." Their lips met, and color-mixed strands met ebon ones, aflame in the dying light.
The sand was their witness and the rumbling ocean their approving audience, and Severus, her eternally faithful lover. Ashlynn thought to herself that nothing had ever been so perfect for her as this.