"Apollo" someone whispered in the wind. "Apollo. Have you forgotten?"
Apollo sat up with a start, his eyes darting around, checking his surroundings for any immediate danger.
"Hello? Anyone there?"
No answer.
Apollo sat there, his heart beating against his rib cage. He examined his surroundings once more.
He had fallen asleep in a field of wildflowers on a hilltop, who knows where. He had no recollection of how he'd got here. Maybe he had traveled in his sleep?
Ever since he'd regained his godly powers, he's had trouble readjusting to them, so he tended to jump to random places, accidentally, especially during nightmares.
A sudden chill was sent down his spine. He stood up, ready to fend off anyone who dared to attack him.
"Apollo."
Apollo froze at the sound of his name.
That voice. He knew that voice. How could he forget?
The voice was soft and warm. It was alluring and familiar.
"Hyacinthus?" Apollo whispered to himself.
That's when he noticed it: the wildflowers. He was sitting in a field of wild hyacinths. How he hadn't noticed it before? He had no clue.
"Hyacinthus. Where are you, my love?" he asked.
A flicker of lavender light appeared. Then, standing in front of him was the most handsome of men. His white chiton complemented his bronze skin tone. His hair was curly and dark. His smile was a brilliant white. His eyes were a plum purple, but they were sad and pained.
"Apollo." Hyacinthus said. "As handsome as always."
Apollo was too disoriented to be flattered.
"Hyacinthus, what… what are you doing here?" he asked, stepping towards him.
"You've seemed to have forgotten the promise you made me. Do you remember?"
Tears swelled in Apollo's eyes as he reached out to caress Hyacinthus's cheek.
His hand passed through Hyacinthus as if, well, as if he were a ghost.
"Of course I do. How could I not. A ridiculous last wish really." Apollo said, forcing a laugh. It was the only way to suppress his urge to sob.

A memory flashed in Apollo's mind:
Apollo and Hyacinthus were in a field playing Greek Discus. Apollo laughed at Hyacinthus because his aim was quite terrible. Apollo and Hyacinthus both ran down the hill, chasing the stray discus. Hyacinthus tripped and rolled down the hill, knocking Apollo off his feet, causing him to tumble down the hill with him.
When they fell to a stop at the bottom of the hill, Apollo landed on top of Hyacinthus with a grunt, both of them laughing. Apollo leaned in and kissed Hyacinthus.
They both smiled as Apollo pulled Hyacinthus to his feet.
"Try to stay on your feet Hya." Apollo said.
"I'm sorry. Was that not you tumbling down the hill with me?" Hyacinthus asked sarcastically.
"Oh, shut up." Apollo said.
Hyacinthus shoved Apollo, playfully, and started running to pick up the discus that was laying twenty feet in front of them. Apollo chased after him.
Apollo had the feeling someone was watching them. He looked to his left through the corner of his eye. Something moved behind a tree.
Apollo shrugged it off. It was probably just someone wanting to bask in his glory. Who wouldn't he was Apollo after all.
"Haha, beat you to it." Hyacinthus said, waving the discus around. "Go long."
Apollo laughed and ran as Hyacinthus threw the discus to him. Apollo caught it with ease.
"Ready?" Apollo called.
Hyacinthus held up two thumbs.
Apollo was getting ready to throw it when the bushes around the tree to his left rustled. He turned to find Zephyros, god of the west wind, standing behind him.
"What are you doing here Zephyr?" Apollo asked.
Zephyros looked angry.
"Hyacinthus is mine, Apollo. What are you doing here? You knew that. Yet I find you here frolicking and flirting with him!?" Zephyros exclaimed.
"Oh please." Apollo said, rolling his eyes. "A minor god doesn't have a chance with such a perfect man. Now if you don't mind, we were in the middle of something."
Apollo turned his back to Zephyros and threw the discus to Hyacinthus, who went chasing after it.
Zephyros huffed out of anger and waved his hand, knocking the discus off its course. He turned his back to Apollo and Hyacinthus and started to march off.
Then, a blood curdling scream echoed through the wind. Zephyros and Apollo looked at each other and then looked down the hill.
Hyacinthus was laying on the ground, not moving.
Apollo rushed down the hill to the young man's side.
Blood. There was so much blood.
"Hyacinthus!" Apollo shrieked.
Hyacinthus opened his plum purple eyes and smiled weakly.
"Looks like I can't catch a discus either." he said.
Apollo sobbed.
"You'll be okay. I'm the god of medicine. I can heal you. Just hold on!" Apollo said. He looked at the top of the hill.
Zephyros was nowhere to be seen.
That didn't matter at the moment. But he swore to himself that once he healed Hyacinthus, he was going to track Zephyros down and kill him, or at least make his immortal life miserable.
Apollo started to sing one of his healing incantations. It did nothing.
"Oh gods." he said. Tears ran down his face. His hands shook. "Nothing is working."
"Apollo." Hyacinthus said, taking his hand. "It's okay. If the last thing I see is your beautiful face, then I will die happy."
Apollo's eyes stung.
"No. I won't let you. Zephyros will pay for his mistakes!" Apollo said. "He's taken the only thing I've ever loved!"
"No. Apollo. You must promise me one thing. Promise me you will not seek revenge. Promise me you will move on. Don't forget me. But don't dwell on me. You're immortal. You can't hang on to one mortal forever. Our lives pass in a blink of an eye. The past belongs in the past, Apollo. Remember."
Silent tears streamed down Apollo's eyes.
"That's actually two promises. Looks like you can't count either." Apollo said, laughing slightly and sniffling.
"Looks like I'm more beauty than brains, huh?" Hyacinthus said, smiling weakly.
Hyacinthus's eyes began to grow heavy. Then, he took his last breath, laying in Apollo's arms.

Apollo was shocked back to the present with burning eyes.
He looked at the beautiful man standing before him.
"Do you remember?" Hyacinthus asked him again.
Apollo drew in a shaky breath.
"I don't understand what you mean. I didn't take revenge on Zephyr. As a matter of fact, he forgave me. And I forgave him."
"As amazing as that is…. You know that's not what I mean Apollo." Hyacinthus said in a soft tone. "What about the second promise?"
Apollo couldn't meet Hyacinthus's eyes.
"I… I've tried. But I just can't."
"Can't, or won't?"
Apollo looked into Hyacinthus's plum purple eyes once more.
"What's the difference? I've tried! There was Daphne. But she was turned to a tree. There was Commodus. But he turned out to be an evil emperor that tried to kill me. Long and traumatic story. There was a girl named Reyna, recently, who shot me down. Humiliating really. There are more people that I'd rather not discuss. Every relationship I've tried to have ends in some tragic way. But you. You, I can't move past."
"Why? What's holding you back?"
"I don't know. Your death? I keep replaying it in my head. I was, I am, the god of healing. I should've saved you. But I couldn't. I can't help but wonder what life would've been like if I had."
"What if I didn't want to be saved?" Hyacinthus asked.
Apollo blinked twice and looked at him.
"What?"
"What if I didn't want to be saved. And that's why I wasn't?"
Apollo laughed nervously.
"I-I don't know. I don't understand. Why wouldn't you want to be saved?!"
"Because it was a small, very small, step in teaching you what being mortal is like. Because of my death, you learned a lot when you became mortal, didn't you? You learned about compassion, forgiveness, selflessness. You learned how short yet how extraordinary our lives are. You learned to cherish every moment you get because you don't know when it will be your last."
Apollo took this in.
"I guess you're right. What do you know? Hyacinthus is more than just beauty. He's got brains too." he said smiling slightly.
Hyacinthus smiled.
"Are you ready now? Are you ready to let go? Let me rest properly? My spirit is tethered to you. I can't move on unless you let me go."
Apollo pushed the lump that was forming in his throat down.
"No. I'm not ready. But I know I have to. I love you Hyacinthus. I will never forget you." Apollo's voice broke. "But you deserve to move on to whatever is next for you. Goodbye, my love."
Hyacinthus smiled. He reached out and brushed Apollo's cheek.
One last time, Apollo was able to feel the touch of his handsome lover."
"Goodbye, Apollo."
Hyacinthus's lavender aurora flickered then faded away.
Where he was standing was a hyacinth flower unlike all the others in the field. It was bigger and more magnificent.
Apollo stood there for a moment, tears falling silently down his face.
He sank to his knees and reached out, touching the delicate flowers on the stalk, as he sobbed silently.
He sat in the field of Hyacinth flowers for a few hours, his knees drawn up to his chest, his head laying on his knees, taking in the lovely scent of the flowers.
Though his heart was heavy with grief for Hyacinthus for the second time, he felt as though a weight had been lifted from his shoulders. The weight was the guilt, the pain, the hatred, and the loss that he had held on to for so long. Now it was gone. And so was Hyacinthus. But that was okay. Because Apollo still held onto a small piece of him: the flowers that he had made from the Hyacinthus's blood.
They were no longer a reminder that he had failed to save Hyacinthus. They were now a reminder that Hyacinthus had saved him, instead.
Apollo smiled as he picked a hyacinth flower and took in its scent.
"Thank you, Hya, for looking out for me when I didn't know I needed to be looked after."
A warm breeze blew through the field of flowers, wafting through Apollo's hair.
The breeze took Hyacinthus's flower, the last of his life force, last of his spirit, and carried the pedals away.
Apollo smiled as he watched the magnificent flower disappear into the distance.
"Hello, old friend." he said to the wind, knowing that it was indeed Zephyros. "Letting go, as well, I see?"
The warm breeze seemed to circle Apollo, agreeing to his statement.
"Love, learn, and let go." Apollo said. "I promise, Hyacinthus, I won't ever forget that. Not again."