One Afternoon
Part Three: Soul
Filia rested her head against his chest and sighed deeply. "This was a mistake."
"What do you mean?" Xellos asked, bending to kiss her hair. "Oh. Not finding somewhere more comfortable? I did warn you."
"That's not what I meant," she said quietly, looking up at the tree limbs and the patterns the sunlight made through them.
"Then what did you mean?" He closed his eyes again. "What was a mistake?"
"This. All of it."
He lifted her gently off his chest into a sitting position and met her eyes. "Why do you say that, Filia?"
"Because it is the truth. I promised not to tell you anymore lies, didn't I?" Her smile was sad as she said it.
"Why is it a mistake?" He caressed her cheek. "You love me. I love you, too, Filia. I don't care about anything else."
"How can I know that? How can I know this isn't some whim for you, mazoku? No I'm sorry - Xellos." She shook her head. "No, it isn't a whim. I can see that in your eyes. That's not the problem, love."
"What is the problem, Filia?" he insisted.
"The problem is that. . . ." She looked at him desperately. "The problem is that it won't work, Xellos. It won't. It can't."
"If we love each other enough, we can make it work." There was pleading in his voice, something that neither had ever heard there before.
She shook her head. "Humans say that love conquers all. They're wrong, my dear. Will you still love me in a thousand years? You won't. You'll be bored and tired of me. I'll be bored and tired of you. We will either be split apart by that, or we will kill each other. That's if it could last that long, and it couldn't."
"Why not?" he demanded. "Why couldn't it?"
"Because we're too different," she said simply. "You were right earlier. I didn't ask to be born a dragon, dedicated to goodness. You didn't ask to be created a mazoku, the very essence of the darkest emotions that humans can have. We didn't ask for these things, but we are what we are, Xellos, and we would destroy each other. You know that. Light and darkness must coexist in this world, but they can't be in one place at the same time. One would destroy the other. I'm sorry, but it's true."
"It doesn't have to be this way, Filia."
"It does!" she told him. "It does, and we both know it. We can't remain together. We'll just wind up hurting each other, maybe even destroying each other. We can't go on like this. I don't want to hurt you, Xellos."
"I don't want to hurt you either! I love you!"
"I know," she whispered. "I do know."
"Please." He looked at her through tears. "Please."
"No."
He wiped the tears from his eyes and held them for her to see. "A mazoku's tears. If a mazoku can learn to weep, can't we learn to live together and be happy, Filia? Can't we?"
"It won't work, Xellos."
He met her gaze for a moment, then sighed. "Alright. We won't do this again."
"That's not enough," she said.
"What?"
Filia pulled the crumpled violet from her hair and placed it in his hand. "I don't want this to hurt any more than it has to, for either of us. Xellos, we must never be together again, and I don't mean just making love. I can't see you again. Ever. Please."
"Filia. . . ."
"Please?"
He stood. "Alright, Filia. For what it's worth, you're probably right." He put the flower, back in her hand. "At least keep it for memories, love."
She nodded shakily, then handed him a pink ribbon, the sort that normally was tied about her tail. "For memories, love."
Xellos bent and kissed her deeply. "Then, goodbye." He vanished, teleporting away.
Filia shook again, tears falling down her face. She looked down at the flower in her hand. For one afternoon she had held the purple heart of a demon within her hand. But, it wouldn't work. It couldn't. "Goodbye," she whispered, then collapsed into tears.
Let me guess: you prefer happy endings? Well, you're not the first. My best friend ordered me to write a sequel with a happy ending. I decided that I couldn't do that, because I really meant for this one to end that way, because I really believed that sometimes love isn't enough. But I did write a happy ending version, that replaces the "Soul" section. I'll post that soon.
But as I mentioned earlier, I wrote this a long time ago. And my views on many things have changed. So, maybe a sequel will be written one day. Maybe. -- Lady Belegwen Lightningblade