A/N: This was supposed to be the prologue to a reincarnation fic I'm writing but it sounded so off when I got to editing the draft that I decided to just put it here, and anyway- Here comes that M rating!

Vision

He heard a sound, a soft melody carried by the wind. It was soothing, and low. It belonged to her.

She was humming, standing in the midst of a grove while she traced the hard edges of a tree bark; her touch as light as a feather. The tips of her fingers barely grazing the hard wood. It felt unnatural, utterly bizarre for him to even witness her be this gentle. What was she humming? It sounded so melancholic…He wanted to ask her, but he knew that if he tried talking, the spell between them would be broken. She would freeze; morph back to her usual facade, and then he would retreat far from her. So they never really said anything to each other during the afterglow moments like these.

The moments where they found themselves lost, and wandering the woods during the hours of midnight where everything was silent, where everything stood still. Of course, they did pay heed to their curfew hours, considering the cruel punishment that would certainly follow if they were ever caught. But she was clever enough to never leave any tracks; and he was smart enough to always follow her familiar path.

A breathy sigh came from her lips, sounding so solemn. Then she continued her wistful tune, pressing her palm flat against an oak tree; head bowed like she was in midst of a prayer, her other hand balled and pressed to her chest, right above her heart. A haphazard imitation of their standard salute. He observed her from his place upon their nest of discarded uniforms, he couldn't see her face but from the way she slouched further, head sinking a little lower, the way her small form began trembling; his too big tunic sliding off one end of her shoulder, revealing more of her porcelain skin. He knew he should do something before she allowed herself to show any more weakness in front of him.

There was nothing she hated more than baring herself; but during the quiet hours of midnight, she would sometimes cry. For what, or who, and why; He didn't know. Just that he had promised he'd stop her before the tears could come; before she could fall apart.

He called her name, gently, blades of grass brushed his bare back as he moved to sit up. When she didn't respond, he stood on his feet, and padded over to her. She was a whole foot shorter than himself, and his shadow eclipsed the moonlight that had shone down on her, bathing her in the darkness.

He whispered her name, his heated breath ghosting over her exposed nape. She stirred once, her humming now resonating within him.

A flutter a wings reached his ears, an owl hooted from above the gnarled branches. She never stopped humming, but her arms dropped, hanging loosely at her sides. He felt more of her body lean on him; her clothed back snuggling against his chest, her head resting against his naked collarbone. She was so incredibly warm, comforting, soft, he swallowed.

Peering down at the crown of her head, he saw a splayed mess of platinum blonde hair tickling at his chest, cast nearly silver by the stark moon light glow, when did she let her hair loose?

When did she stop humming? He then realized, as he wrapped his arms tightly her waist, buried his nose into junction of her shoulder; that pleasant melody wasn't coming from her at all. It was the rustle of the trees- the whistle of the wind between the leaves; it with the buzzing insects swarming the bed of posies. It was the otherworldly cosmos singing them a lullaby.

He listened; a euphoric tremor coursing through him, he pressed a kiss to the pulse line of her neck, and the gasp that followed thrilled him.

His hands traveled down south from her waist to her slender hips; stopping just above the hem of where his tunic ended, where cotton fabric gave way to smooth fair skin. He lightly drummed his fingers on her thighs; pecked her cheek as she shivered when he began gradually lifting the tunic inch by inch. The crisp seasonal breeze hitting her most sensitive parts caused a hitch in her breathing.

His hands were explorers on their own; roaming the expanse of her rib cage. Trailing up, up, up until they disappeared beneath the tunic; fingers glided over the swell of her breasts. She writhed under his touch; arching her back as he ran his thumb across her nipple. He murmured her name into her hair, cupping her soft flesh in his hand while the other danced down her sternum; lower and lower until his fingers reached the apex of her thighs. He closed his eyes, she made a noise that sounded of a whine and a whimper.

It was all a performance; it was a dance. It was art. Whatever it was; she and him. They were bonded by the forces of fate. He knew it when he had first set his eyes on her three years ago. A tug in his chest pulled him to her; he gravitated in her peripheral world until she finally saw him. He spoke her language in a flurry of fists, kicks, jabs and grapples, and they soon became attracted to one another; his burning soul left its mark on her. He knew he wouldn't find another like her, not in a dozen years, not in a century, not in a millennium. Not even in the next life.

Funny thing though, fate was.

The music of the night came to an abrupt halt, as if time itself had frozen around them. She stilled in his arms- moved away from his embrace, the soft sift of the tunic covering her small frame was the only sound.

A blanket of silence blanketed over silence; it suffocated him somehow. His body felt paralyzed, unable to act when she turned to gaze at him. His reflection flitted rapidly in her eyes. Eyes that were like sapphires, and cold like ice, hidden beneath strands of silver; but that was all he could see. Her face…She didn't have a face.

Her features- he couldn't recognize them. Her face was indistinguishable; a distorted mirror of a girl he once knew. She held her arms out, reached for him and he allowed her to bring him closer- around them the forest was fading- she placed a hand to the back of his neck, and her lips ghosted over the shell of his ear.

"Will you remember me?"

A small hand braced on his chest, he stopped breathing.

The forest was gone.