The raven with ebony eyes, the last survivor of his ill-fated family, sat on his bed, wondering what was necessity and what was luxury: what must be kept and brought along, and what could be left behind. He noticed photograph set in a simple wood frame perched upon his nightstand he'd always kept close by his headboard. Though he'd never admit this to anyone, his heart as well. It was a picture presenting his two friends and their teacher, and although he hadn't expressed to the camera, the onyx orbs remembered that on that particular day, he couldn't have been happier or more proud to serve as their friend. Somehow, starting with the blond idiot beside him in the photo, they'd all managed to crack and worm their way into his carefully crafted walls of cold indifference.

He sighed. 'Him.'

The hyperactive boy with yellow hair was the reason the raven was leaving the small town they'd both grown up in. That boy- the dead-last, the "I-can't-do-anything-right-to-save-my-life," the idiot- was beginning to best him in missions, the small lessons and skills their silver-haired teacher continued demonstrating to them, and even in coming up with clever strategies under immense pressure. He had caused the raven avenger to lose his focus of his road of hatred, his reason to excel in his arts and the vengeance of his family. He'd forgotten all of that in his love-hate relationship with those smiling blue eyes.

Keep changing your mind

Like clouds in the sky:

You love me when you're high;

Leave me when you cry.

They constantly bickered, and argued, and fought with each other, but they'd always come through for each other when it had been most needed, and had looked out for one another in potentially fatal situations. The idiot was now considered his closet friend, a sibling in place of his disowned traitor of a brother- the man who'd caused the ruin of their once proud blood lineage.

Now, however, he felt he must leave his friends, his loved ones, behind to train his heart, body and mind with less-than-respectable criminals in order to remain on top of his hateful game. To not lose his strategic intellect at his own life of "billiards" and stay behind the cue ball.

He stood, and began to gather his things.

And I know it all takes time-

Like a river running dry

When the sun's too bright.

So long, this is goodbye-

May we meet again in another life.

Like strangers passing by:

May we see it clearly in a different light.

A boy stood in the ransacked remains of his friend's once meticulously clean room. His eyes filled with salt-water as he realized what had occurred, and what he was too late to stop.

Time passes by,

Direction unknown;

You've left us now

But we're not alone.

He knew it was his fault his friend couldn't see his greatness and deserted his home. It was his fault the raven was so enraged at what he must have felt was his being stuck in the same place, moving at a constant rate of zero. His fault that he'd assumed nothing would be different between the two, that everything would stay the same.

Before you know it

Your cup's overflowing;

You measured no one that

I've ever known.

And it's quite all right

And goodbye for now-

Just look up to the stars

And believe who you are

'Cause it's quite all right,

And so long, goodbye.

Blue-eyed vision blurred as it exited the house.

The raven continued to collect his belongings, though he couldn't cease the thoughts creeping from his subconscious. Thoughts predominately containing his idiot friend and, once again, the events leading up to the demise of their friendship- or at least, demise on his part.

And though he couldn't deny that he longed to stay by his new-found "family," he also knew he could not deceive himself, nor could they, and he had to let go of thoughts that the ebony-haired boy with shining obsidian eyes belonged there, free from worries and unnecessary stresses.

Keep dodging lies

Like a thief in the night.

But the sun will arise

And expose all our lies.

And no matter how brutal and unrelenting the attempts and feelings to keep him there and to stay were, no amount of selfishness on either part would he allow success. No sorrow or grief for the separation would keep him from fulfilling his goals and ambitions.

So why deny that you and I

Lead different lives?

The rivers from your eyes

Can't change my mind.

Nothing would dissuade him.

The blond walked along the streets, hidden among the busy crowds of people. He dwelt on the desertion his friend had committed, but instead of sadness he found that those thoughts brought him nothing at all: no pain, no guilt, no happiness that the raven was aspiring to revenge's ruts and ditches of hate. They only filled him with emptiness.

Their time together had run its length.

We always knew

That it'd come to this;

It's time like these

I forget what I miss.

And though the only sadness was directed at the numb feelings crawling beneath his ribcage, he knew without a doubt, the handsome raven he'd known for so long could be feeling no differently from his own emotions.

Matters of heart

Are hard to address-

Especially when yours

Is full of emptiness.

He felt a sudden surge for his refusal of defeat.

It wasn't over yet.

The rivers from your eyes

Can't change my mind.

The raven paused in his departure only long enough to gaze out at the small town he'd once considered a safe, relaxing place to live- somewhere he'd thought of as a first-rate town to raise a successful, contented family one day.

Yet, he turned his back on the memories, the friends, the relationships, the only world he knew. He left it all behind him as he began to tread the journey leading him to his new destiny.

He left it all without another backward glance.

Two-and-a-half years passed without much notice for the blond teenager. Although he was now sixteen years of age, not a day had gone by in imperfect years in which he hadn't thought of his missing friend. He longed to journey out and find him, to erase unwanted, unneeded, and un-established bad blood between them.

He knew, though, that everything would be okay between them, and the universe would unfold positively and as it should.

Time passes by,

Direction unknown;

You've left us now

But we're not alone.

Everything had gotten out of hand. Nothing had happened correctly, as it should have. "Once upon a time" had already passed, and although the hope for their better future seemed dim, the hyperactive idiot was determined to make their "happily ever after" more than an imagined illusion.

Before you know it

Your cup's overflowing;

You measured no one that

I've ever known.

The blond refused to let the best friend he'd ever known be cast away forever, never to see him again.

He'd wait for him to return. Always.

So long, this is goodbye-

May we meet again in another life.

The sixteen-year-old raven hoped their paths would once more cross someday, though it was simply too difficult in this tragic existence in which they were now living. He hoped against all reason that it would work much more smoothly if given another chance at life.

Like strangers passing by:

May we see it clearly in a different light.

Tears fell from obsidian orbs like acid rain and broken razor blades, scarring the tattered fabric of his heart and soul as he pushed the silly thoughts from his mind. He focused once more on avenging his loved ones now departed, and developing the wrath needed and saved for destroying those who had betrayed him.

'Goodbye, dear "friend."' He thought bitterly. 'May we indeed meet again one day.'

Perhaps the blond was living in a forgotten fantasy. Perhaps the beautiful raven he'd known and continued to wait for no longer existed and would never return to him. Perhaps their relationship was created in their own selfishness and that was how it was meant to end- without thinking of each other's needs.

And perhaps if the blond loved him, he should let him find his own way.

And it's quite all right,

And goodbye for now.

But somehow, looking up at the night sky that reminded the now much wiser youth of his friend's embittered black eyes, he never lost faith or hope that that was not the case. As it had many times before, fate would reconcile them and bring them together once more- all he had to do was wait for the raven to realize the same.

Just look up to the stars

And believe who you are

'Cause it's quite all right,

Once again, smiling blue eyes streamed salt-water as his lips grinned with unnoticed sorrow and spoke, walking towards his own lonely home,

"And so long, goodbye."