A/N: This is going to be my longest multi-chapter by far, one of several reasons why I'm having two Intros this time.

If you have read any of my writing before, you know about the habit to 'tie' my stories to the original game events at some point. This is basically what the short bit here is all about. And given the fact that the past will play an important role throughout the upcoming chapters, the future deserved at least a brief mentioning, although it's quite a bleak one…

So caution, slightly depressing lines ahead.

(Lyric quote: "What if" by Kate Winslet)

Intro I

The Future: Hindsight?

~oOo~

What if I had never let you go?
Would you be the man I used to know?
What if I had never walked away?
'Cause I still love you more than I can say…
If I'd stayed,
If you'd tried,
If we could only turn back time…

~oOo~

There are times in life, when you just unexpectedly fall for someone. It's not what you intended, it just happens… at first, you might be confused, frightened, or even angry; but then, suddenly, you don't want that feeling to stop ever again... This is exactly what happened to me, at the most unexpected time, with the most unexpected person.

Genesis and I, we used to be so close, long before he started to dress in red leather, adopted the nerve breaking habit of quoting "Loveless" all the time and became so torn by his pride. We used to be close, although that word is already an understatement. We used to be one. Our hearts were beating in different, yet perfectly harmonic rhythms. He was my best friend, my soul mate and the love of my life.

I always considered Genesis to be a strong person, which he usually denied, claiming that I was the only reason for his strength. If it was true indeed and he depended on me in order to be strong, then in return, I depended on him to feel alive. He always carried a kind of inner fire that never ceased to mesmerize me, for it was something I seemed to lack most of the time. Our closeness always came at a price, but usually, we were both more than willing to pay it. Looking back now, I wonder where we went wrong. After all those problems we solved in the beginning, was our love not strong enough in the end?

~oOo~

…But I guess we'll never know.