Oh man this stinks. It started fine, then…ah, it just faded. But hope SOMEONE sees something in this piece. It took about forty-five minutes of my life.

a l l t h e w a y to i n f i n i t y

Why did it hurt her so much inside? She thought she had gotten over her pain long ago. But still it plagued her, so sad and so gentle, a longing that would never be fulfilled—never, never come true…

How much she now wished she had fought harder for their cause! How much she wished that at that moment, that point in time, she had not nervously swallowed and fallen silent. She should have shouted in defiance, should have given a cry of anger and run away from her parents, and never cared for the future. If she really loved him, she would have done that.

But what had she done? Said a confident goodbye to him. Said that it didn't matter. Said in a whisper that they would find a way, somehow.

Such poetic things to say, she now realised. But so untrue. Find a way? How, she now asked herself, angrily, on the brink of tears as she stumbled towards the gates, showing her the way. From today, she would be trapped within the unforgiving walls of a distant castle, trapped by stretches of mountains, and by the roaring violent winds of the borders.

Bound by her own family. Bound by the borders of status and class, of dignity and family tradition, of everything in the will of the world—

But never once, as she walked, eyes clouding with tears, did she dare turn around and tell her parents how she felt. Never once did she dare to raise her gaze from the stones upon the ground, or stop listening to their footsteps, all out of rhythm, or stop keeping every word to herself.

It burned in her heart—the painful, blazing longing for everything to change, for everything to go the way she wished for it. It burned like she might die of the sorrow, fall upon the ground and fade away—there and then. It felt like the world would end if she didn't ask to stay by him, if she was divided from him forever.

"I love you too.

I love you.

I will love you forever."

Those had been the very words he had whispered into her ear as they had ridden on his wyvern, through a world she thought would never end, through a sky of jewels and velvet.

But there was no way to change anything. All those things were lost. They would part, their bonds torn forever by a thousand boundaries, and they would never see each other again. It was how fate had planned it out for the two of them, two mismatched individuals who had never been meant for each other. It was how it would have to be. Like it or not.

And for his sake, for the sake of making it seem all right, she held onto everything, and walked on bravely.

His wyvern was waiting on the grounds of the keep. The sun was so bright—so beautiful! It was something they would have enjoyed, a week ago. It was something they had loved when they hadn't had these things to think about, when they hadn't had to care for their differences.

He took one glance back at her as he stepped out onto the grass, gave her that warm, familiar smile that she had come to know so well. With it came the memories of all their shared moments—the smell of sweet lavenders on a grassy riverside, the colour of a windy sky spread overhead as they watched the sun rise, the touch of the wyvern's scales as they soared away under the cover of the night.

Before she could stop herself, tears were rising. They were rising, threatening to pour from her eyes.

No, I must stay strong. It's alright. There is always hope. There is always hope.

When she had blinked her tears away, he had already mounted. His smile was unshattered, so strong, so full of faith. He glanced at her once more, bowed his head in a gesture of respectful thanks—and mouthed the words "I love you".

As she read them off his lips, she glanced down with a smile of her own, though there were tears behind her smile. "I love you too," she mouthed back, her smile wavering slightly.

I love you too. I love you. I will love you forever.

He waved, gave the reins a flick, gazed back at her for a few moments more, a few lingering moments more.

Then the world seemed to sing, and the mountains called their farewell, as he rose on a breath of song, soared away in a steep, uneven path that she would remember forever. The wingbeats were strong and regular, like the beat of her heart, like the beat of the sunrise and of the world's serenade. The graceful beast vanished into the shining sky, vanished between the clouds that she would forever look to with tears.

I love you too. I love you. I will love you forever.

Then her heart broke, like a porcelain vase thrown brutally against the wall. She fell upon the grass and knelt there, ignoring the silence of her parents behind her, crying into the winds. And her tears came continuously, no matter how she fought back, no matter how she tried to tell herself that it would be alright—that love would find a way.

Minutes ago, if she had fought against the bonds of her world, she would have all she wanted. But she had not had the strength, and she had let her very last chance slip away into the past.

And now, she had nothing. From that day on, he was no more than a memory, and would have to remain so, forever. She had nothing left, but his smile, but the gentle words he had once whispered, once upon a time.

Perhaps, one day, the chance would truly come. Perhaps it was right to have hope. But now it was all she could believe in, from that day on to infinity. It was all she had left, as she continued to live within the glass walls of all that held authority over her, wondering what could have been, but would never have a chance to be again.

I love you too.

I love you.

I will love you forever.

Oh oh oh man. I think I ruined it because I'm not in the right mood. Sigh.