Despite everything.
Despite the law nipping at her heels or the cocky bounty hunters thinking she was an easy catch in her old age. Despite the slowness of her gait and the ache in her hands. The days where she would stare long into the horizon and remember. When she would be surrounded by people and still feel alone. When she would feel her touch on her hand, ghostly and thin. How it moved up her wrist and to her shoulder in one practiced motion. The caress of her thumb on her cheek and the fingers that smooth the furrow of her brow.
She can hear her whisper in her ear.
Belle, my Black Belle. Beautiful as a rose and deadlier than a viper
She could still smell the fresh scent of her clothes, see the way her dress bunches and sways as she runs. See her wild curls bounce around her face and the sun catch on her brown skin. How she was the most beautiful creature she had ever seen. How no one ever, will ever, has ever compared to her.
Her smile was the sun. Beautiful in its light and warmth, blinding in its honesty and power. Soft hands and body that fit into hers. Slotting into place like the last puzzle piece. She still dreams of them in their bed, curled around each other, hair escaping from their braids as they whispered. Feel the weight of her as she leaned in, breath ghosting across Belle's face, before her lips touched hers. The sweet ache that spread through her as her heart sang in her chest, Yes yes yes-
How her blood looked on the floor of their cabin. She remembers staring at it like she had never seen it before. A riddle without an answer. Her eyes following the path it had come to see her beloved's body stretched across the floor. How her heart cracked in her chest. How her blood turned to ice in her veins, crawling through her body. It knitted the pieces back together, haphazardly stitching them together, but it'll never be the same.
Most of all she remembers the look on his face when she found him. When she held the gun to his face, the rapidly cooling bodies of his men around them. He looked at her in terror, in awe. She looked at him in disgust.
Belle, My Black Belle. Beautiful as a rose and deadlier than a viper