I would go as far to say that the next two weeks were the finest of my life. Jasper took care of Abaccus like he had never been cared for before. Some days, I would ride with him and we would laugh, and play, and others I would just watch him live his life. Sometimes, we would simply hold one another and bask in the summer sun that was slowly moving to autumn.
Jasper told me of his plans to leave Houston for a final expedition to end the War. He had been called in as a matter of urgency and didn't know when he would be returning. My heart ached at the thought of my sun leaving my life once more, but it would be different this time.
This time, I would wait for him. I would wait until I was old and grey, with no more time left to be with him but a day. I would die one day, what did it matter if it was tomorrow or eighty years from now…I had loved and lost in my short life, but the taste of happiness would never be washed from my tongue. The future was not set in stone, but the present that I lived was all one person could ask for.
"Will you write to me?" I asked him as we sat under our tree and watched the sun set. Jacob would be home soon, but I clung to the moment, unwilling to let it go. Jasper would be leaving before Jacob would, and we had decided to say our goodbyes today. After all, it isn't goodbye.
"Every week." He said. "The mail service be damned." He grinned. I smiled back at him, taking his hand in mine. I knew his promises were true, but not everything was under his control.
"I will wait." I told him softly. "I will be here when you return."
"How long will you wait?"
"A lifetime if I have to." I told him, my words dripped with promise. "Even longer if I can."
He took my chin in his strong grasp and I leaned into his touch. He smiled down at me. He didn't need to say anything as his lips descended on mine. We had made love more times than I could remember over our time and I would savour those memories for the rest of my life. In world filled with so much pain, it did me well to remember what I lived for.
Our goodbye was sorrowful, though we did not swear love or fealty to one another…we acted as though we were going to see one another tomorrow. I knew we wouldn't, but the word 'goodbye' held so much finality that we avoided it completely. He mounted Abaccus, as I had insisted that he take him with him…he was a fast horse and would bring him luck in the War, I was sure of it. He rode off as we parted ways and I savoured every image of him that I could before setting off back to Hell. It was only for a little while longer, only until Jasper returned.
And so, Jasper leaves again...let me know how it made you feel. R&R
