For the Pairing Diversity Boot Camp and the Boot Camp One Hour Challenge

Prompts: Whatever and Everlasting Dreams

He could still remember the day he'd first met her, every detail as clear in his mind as it had been that day. He had stared into her beautiful face then, the same, unchanged face he still gazed upon today.

)o(

The streets were filled with people bustling about, faces passing by him in a blur. He was so engaged in his theories on how to successfully create the elixir of life that he didn't notice the young woman rushing distractedly toward him until he walked into her, knocking her off balance.

'My apologies, ma'am.' He said to her. 'I was so caught up in my thoughts that I didn't notice you there.' She looked up as she accepted the hand he automatically held out to her, and he felt his breath catch in his throat.

Her eyes were a shimmering blue ocean that danced with exhilaration and intelligence, and her hair fell around her face in a sheet of pure gold. Colour filled her cheeks as she smiled at him, exposing teeth that glinted in the sunlight. His eyes roamed over her face, drinking in the light that seemed to radiate from within the sound of her awkwardly clearing her throat dragged him back to reality.

'No sir, the apologies are all mine,' she replied in a voice surprisingly deeper than the sugary sweet one he'd been imagining. 'I was distracted by a sign across the road.' Nicolas glanced across the road, and, seeing nothing of interest to him, glanced back at the girl before him.

'Nicolas Flanel.' He smiled warmly at her. 'I would shake your hand but it seems as though you've already beaten me to that.' Her face turned red as her eyes dropped to her hand that still clasped his, jerking it quickly away.

She muttered her name quietly as she turned to leave. 'Wait, Perrie, are you doing anything at the moment?' She turned back to him, laughing silently to herself for some unknown reason. 'I suppose not. Just a family gathering but, you know, whatever.' Their eyes met again as he grinned at her, to which she responded with a shy smile. 'Great, there's this quaint little cafe near here.'

Presuming that he expected her to accompany him, she scampered after him, listening quietly to his eccentric ramblings. As they walked she admired the way the sunlight bounced across the puddles lining the sides of the streets. Even once they entered the cafe she barely managed an occasional vague response between his many long ramblings, too enchanted by the architectural work of the building.

When she did eventually drag her eyes to the man before her, her initial awe came over her as she studied his face. Light brown hair curled around his face, giving him a boyish look that contrasted with his high cheekbones. His eyes were a murky brown that glowed as he talked about elixirs, and alchemy, and everlasting dreams.

They went on like this for several hours, him talking while she listened and drifted in and out of daydreams. When it came for them to say goodbye he gave her an enthusiastic hug before turning to walk off, claiming that he would be at her house Sunday morning because he had something he wanted to show her.

'Goodbye Perrie!' He called over his shoulder. 'Perrie. What kind of name is that anyway?'

'It's Perenelle.'

)o(

As he stared into her face now, merely minutes before they would finally end their seemingly everlasting life, he could no longer see her as perfect like he had upon their first meeting. After over 500 years he knew each of flaws by heart, from how one eye was slightly smaller and darker in colour than the other, to the long thin scar along her collarbone.

They stood with their arms wrapped tightly around each other, grabbing desperately at the only other who could accept them for their worst as well as their best. Lips pressed against lips as they threw every atom of their beings into one last passionate kiss.

Memories flashed before their eyes, but it wasn't their whole life, only the things they loved. Families and friends and each other, endless scenes of them throughout their many years. Giving a lecture at Hogwarts, celebrating 500 years of marriage at The Three Broomsticks. Every fond memory resurfaced, and with it came the bad.

Death. The death of everyone they grew close to, so many, over so so many years. The one thing that had terrified them, to such an extent that they couldn't even attend funerals, couldn't stand being near someone who was no longer living.

And now it was coming, for them. They'd avoided it for so long, from when they were young and arrogant, full of themselves for being the only known creators of the philosophers stone, to when they were older and wiser, and much kinder than they had once been. After centuries of avoiding it, death had found them, and in those last few moments, they were no longer afraid.

They would be reunited with everyone they loved, everyone they'd ever loved, able to spend eternity with them in a place so magnificent and exquisite. A place that resided high above the clouds, where the stars where in reach and galaxies surrounded them. They'd spent their entire lives searching for something amazing, and it was finally here, so close they could almost taste it.

He stared into her eyes, watching as her body rapidly aged to match the wisdom she held. They aged and withered, 'til they could no longer stand and their fragile arms couldn't feel the others skin beneath it. Years passed by in seconds until they were numb, and cold, barely clinging to the edges of their sanity as darkness crept across their vision.

The world went out, and they fell through a tunnel as long as time and as short as a millisecond, a tunnel made of their worst nightmares and their greatest dreams. Blinding light seared through them as they slid from the endless depths of the tunnel, and they stared up with all the awe and wonder of a newborn baby, swept into the strong arms of fathers, and the more gentle ones of mothers.

A/N: I've never even considered writing about Nicolas and Perenelle before, but this was actually kind of fun, so I might possible write more on this pairing.

I'm taking pairing ideas for the Pairing Diversity challenge, for each pairing suggested the reviewer gets a fic in their honor c: