A/N: Written for August 2018's Romance Awareness, Day 8: You have a limited number of words, and you can only recharge when you're with your soulmate (when you use up your word count, you die).


Je t'aime. J'arrive

"Umbrella, cheerful, efficient. Apology." Fleur curled her tongue around the words, saying them first in French and then in English, clipping her vowels. She had turned all the lights off and closed the curtains so she couldn't watch the timer tick down but Fleur refused to stop talking.

"Sometimes I miss you so much I can hardly stand it."

The words echoed around an empty room.

"Cherie, I miss your hair. It was cherry blossom pink and your smile would light up a room. Real love is always chaotic, but I did not expect this pain. My life with you was happiness and laughter. I trust you, even now but it hurts."

She closed her eyes. There was a hat in her hands, a beret that Tonks had worn ironically but Fleur had loved her in it. Her wand was by her side, the only piece of her family that Fleur wanted near her right now. The wood was warm to the touch, worn smooth by how many Delacours had used this same wand wood. They were known for being wandmakers in France and would replace the core but keep the wood, generation by generation.

Tonks had been gobsmacked, she hadn't been able to understand. Fleur thought that her Veela heritage contributed to how in tune she was to magic, but Tonks had merely muttered about how ridiculous the French were.

"Your body is no longer your own. It looks like you, but you were bravery, creativity, the feeling of a club full of people dancing around you. You are not dead, because you're in the breeze that plays with my hair, the golden touch of sunlight at dawn."

Each word felt heavy on her tongue, her skin tingling. Fleur knew the warning signs but she pushed through.

"Maybe I owe you an apology. Maybe I should pray to a God, confess my sins. You always knew I was selfish and right now, all I want to do is be with you. I don't care about the war or rebuilding this country. It is not my country and without you, I don't need anything. Do you remember when we first met? I said a line in French - 'Touch me and you'll burn.' You told me you liked a bit of pain and had always been fascinated by the flames."

Fleur refused to let herself cry. Soulmates who lost their partner normally lost their minds due to the trauma. She felt perfectly sane and knew what she wanted to do. She wanted to die, she wanted to be back with her lover. Fleur sang for a while, saying every word she could think of in every language she could. Each syllable brought her closer to Tonks.

She died with a smile on her face, a beret clutched in her hand, and her last words were 'Je t'aime'.


A/N:

Character Appreciation: 17. Word: Apology

Disney Challenge: C1. Prompt set, Umbrella, Cheerful, Efficient.

Cookie's Crafty Corner: Blanket Squares: Write about an object that has been passed down the generations.

Book Club: Janine: (dialogue) "Your body is no longer your own.", (word) confess, (word) trauma

Showtime: (word) Faith

Lyric Alley: When the sharpest words want to cut me down

Ami's Audio Admirations: Write about a character who is popular.

Em's Emporium: Write about somebody standing by their lovers side.

Angel's Arcade: 9. (relationship) partners, (word) trust, (object) hat,

Lo's Lowdown: Q7. "Light thinks it travels faster than anything but it is wrong. No matter how fast light travels, it finds the darkness has always got there first, and is waiting for it." Terry Pratchett

Bex's Bazaar: F2. Write about someone reminiscing.

Days of the Year: International Peace Day: Write about the aftermath of a war

Summer Prompts: (dialogue) "Sometimes I miss you so much I can hardly stand it."

Colour Prompts: Cherry Blossom

Birthstones: Carnelian - (dialogue) "Real love is always chaotic."

Element: (quote) "Touch me, and you'll burn." - Margaret Atwood

Shay's Musical Challenge: 17. RENT - write about a slash couple.

Astronomy Prompts: Partial Solar Eclipse. (restriction) Set your story in complete darkness.