Artem POV

You place a bouquet of the flowers you knew she loved on top of utterly overly ostentatious gravestone. It was funny that the indirect reason that you left Stellis was also the indirect reason of you returning to it.

A decade later.

Everything seemed so nostalgic. Things change. Stellis has changed. You have changed. Time, distance and acceptance helped the wounds and scabs.

Yet, at the same time, things has also stayed the same. Themis Law Firm still stood in its old building. Stellis Cemetery looked as solemn as when you and NXX had buried Luke long ago. You even looked the same, give or take a few age lines.

"Artem…" a well remembered voice called your name.

You turn and found a slightly worse for wear Marius behind you. Face a little pale. A little older. A little more mature compared to the boy who left you in the middle of a rainstorm.

That was also technically incorrect. It has not been Marius for years. You had not had the right to that name for a long time.

And yet. It didn't hurt as much as you though it would.

Your chest was heavy, but it did not squeeze and hurt. Your eyes no longer felt as if it was burning and it did not feel as painful to breath.

This was when you figured, that yes, you weren't over him. But maybe. You were ready to move on.

You return your gaze at the boulder of a tombstone in front of you.

"I missed the funeral. We were in the middle of a delicate negotiation and the CEO of my side had a family emergency. I was the only one who could sign the papers." You tried for candid. You knew him well enough that, even in grief, the other would find it humorous, if a little ill timed.

"She would have been happy to see you again. You have always been her idol."

You hummed in reply. There wasn't much you could have said about that. It was not as if Rosa knew King and Libra were in some vague relationship when she found out that she was pregnant with Raven's child. She never knew that when she asked Marius for help it would all snowball into a marriage.

You cared for her but a part of you had resented her. It took a while for you to let go of that too.

You turned to leave. As far as you were concerned there was nothing that needed to be discussed. You had a daughter and a career of your own. You were slowly moving on.

Marius was a part of the past.

Now, if you could make yourself believe that.

_
Marius POV

You could not believe your eyes.

There he was. As beautiful as on the day you first met him. Maybe a little thinner. Maybe a little older. But overall still as striking as the day you first set your eyes on him.

Maybe you had made bad choices back then.

But him suddenly disappearing from your life had not been in the plan.

You really didn't mean to hurt him. You didn't think everything would spiral out of control with the media. You didn't think your choice of protecting one would ruin things with the other.

You had tried to reach out to him at first. Thinking it would be easier if you could just explain yourself. You didn't know how badly you bungled up until you own father pulled you over. He informed firmly that you were to sever all ties with Artem if PAX ever wished to keep working with Themis Law Firms Artem Wing. Given that Artem was the most coveted lawyer in the whole of Stellis, you knew you had very little choice in the matter. Your family made sure of that.

By the time everybody had relaxed enough on monitoring you from trying to contact the other, years has passed.

Even when you were apart you had tried to keep track of him. This at least your family permitted you to have.

You knew that the other had always been strong. You knew Artem had a lot of love to give. It had not surprised you that the man had adopted a child from one of the cases that he had worked on.

You had albums of pictures of the father and daughter in your studio.

You knew the other was slowly moving on. And yet here you were still unable to let go. You were finally able to see him after a decade.

Maybe this time.

Maybe.