Elena lies back on the cool grass, staring up at the dark sky; at the countless stars staring down at her, stretching to infinity. She treats them like a diary, spilling her innermost thoughts, her most secret stories, to the open air.
There's no one to hear her; no one to see her.
No one but the stars.
Elena sighs and sits up when the stars begin to fade away as the light of the early dawn begins to spread. The sun is just starting to rise over the horizon.
It's time.
Elena turns her head to watch as Elijah sits down, exactly when and where she expected. After all, sunrise is their time, and this is their spot.
The spot where they first kissed.
The spot where they first said "I love you."
Elena watches Elijah as he silently watches the sunrise. "I miss you," he murmurs, a tear trailing down his cheek as he stands up. She rises to match him, blinking back her own tears.
"I miss you too," Elena replies. Elijah doesn't react at all she reaches towards his cheek, to wipe away his tear. She hesitates, stopping before she touches him, her hand falling back to her side.
Elijah sighs, turning to face her. "My lovely Elena," he whispers, his voice full of a pain she wishes she could ease. (She can't.)
Elena can do nothing as Elijah walks through her (as if she isn't there at all), to kneel before the stone behind her. She can do nothing but watch as he presses a kiss to his fingers, and then presses his fingers to the name carved in stone.
Her name.
Her headstone.
"It's been a hundred years," she tells him, tears falling down her cheeks. "You need to let me go."
He doesn't hear her.
He inever/i hears her.
"I love you," Elijah whispers, bending to press his forehead against her headstone. Elena tries to wrap her arms around him, but she just passes through him – as insubstantial as air.
"I love you too," Elena responds, although not even the stars are listening anymore.
Just like she does every morning.
