"The whole world is divided for him into two parts. One is she, and there is all happiness, hope, and light. The other is where she is not, and there is dejection and darkness."
The next time my eyes opened, I knew I was dreaming. Must have passed out in my room; I think I was talking to Margot beforehand. I found myself in a cultivated garden; a botanic garden. I've always loved botanic gardens, and I don't know why. This one wasn't familiar to me however. I got up off the grass where I was laying and started to wander around aimlessly. My feet only came to a halt in front of a rose bush. A smile brushed over my lips as I leaned in to smell one. Ah, I love them. Something suddenly, softly caught my eyes from nearby. I love roses….
My lips parted in mild confusion. There was an old-fashioned wooden swing in the garden. Sitting on it was the faceless man; the one I knew from previous dreams. He was swaying gently back and forth, all while watching me. It's him, my gaze lowered onto his figure. Mystery man… Slowly I made my way over to the swing, not taking my eyes off him; I wanted to absorb his essence. To feel his presence within me. It felt strange…. strange and warm.
Despite being featureless, I could tell his mouth was smiling. "Miss Covey." "Peter?" I ventured to ask; he'd still never told me his name. He didn't reply right away, instead opting to stare at me for a while. "Do you remember? The hours we used to spend here together. It was so long ago….." "Together?" My eyebrow rose puzzled. "Always together. Reading, conversing, playing by the roses." "Roses….?" Wait, why'd that seem familiar to me? His indistinguishable grin widened. "They're your favorite." Where have I heard this before? "You will always pick them for me," I said before realizing what was coming out of my mouth.
Mystery man grinned again, apparently pleased by this. His hand then proceeded to motion me forward. I obeyed, only to be surprised to find that the swing could hold both of us. It was so surreal; I swear I'd seen or heard about something like this before. From where, I couldn't say. But still… something about this resonated with me- deep from within me.
We stared at each other for a long time, not saying a word. Eventually his hand reached up to brush a few stray hairs from my cheek. "I wish this wasn't a dream," I finally uttered, totally losing myself in his adoring aura. "It doesn't matter. Your dream, my dream…. so long as I get to see you, to be so near you again….." His voice, oh his voice…. "You've been waiting a long time, haven't you? Waiting for me to remember…" "I don't blame you for forgetting; a part of me wished I could do the same. But I'm so thankful now….." His palm rested against the side of my right cheek for a second. "Reading Pride and Prejudice to me, bringing me flowers, pushing me on the swing… you always did everything you could to make me happy." "Of course, since loving you was so easy." And I looked into his vacant eyes, wanting nothing more than to hear the sound of his flawless voice.
"Tell me a story, like you used to." "Once upon a time, there was a girl, and she was beautiful. She met a boy, and she showed him a new kind of world…" A pause. "Since then, the whole world is divided for him into two parts. One is she, and there is all happiness, hope, and light. The other is where she is not, and there is dejection and darkness." "That's from War and Peace," I gaze up curiously. He just stared down at me with absorbing eyes. "Yes… yes, we are".
"You may be his Elizabeth, but you are forever my Natasha."