"I want you to do something for me."
He took her hand, small and fragile as it was, lacing his fingers through hers, meeting her dulled crystal eyes with his own subdued brown.
Grey hair, wrinkles, age spots, even the shadow of illness; nothing could really make her any less beautiful than she was the day he'd first met her.
"Do what, exactly?" he asked quietly, resisting the urge to tighten his grip.
Turns out he didn't need to; she did it herself, fingers curling around his much larger hand just as tight as she used to, eyes regaining a bit of their old spark. "I want you to promise me," she rasped, voice a bit dry, "That when I'm gone, you'll find someone."
He inhaled sharply, eyes tearing up involuntarily. He swallowed the sudden lump in his throat and managed to say, "I don't need anyone else. Just you and Abe."
"Well, it's fairly obvious I won't be around for much longer. And Abe is quite durable, but there's no guarantee how long he'll last either," she said calmly, tone detached; she'd been thinking about this for some time, apparently.
"Abby-" he began, voice on the edge of cracking, but she interrupted, reaching up to grab his shirt and began to weakly shake him.
"You have to promise me!" she wheezed, voice far less calm now, "Promise me you'll find someone! Promise me you won't be alone!"
There are tears in her eyes, but he'd the one that starts crying, tears running down his wrinkle-less cheeks. "I can't promise that, Abby! I can't simply move on from this life we've shared!" he gasped, doing his best to suppress the terrible sobs threatening to erupt from his chest.
"You don't need to forget me! You don't even need to do it right away. Wait for a decade or two; perhaps a century, even! But promise me you'll find someone eventually. We all move on at some point, and you'll need to. For me," she ordered, having composed herself as much as possible.
He stared at her helplessly; his wife, a beautiful, selfless woman who deserved the large family she'd always talked about and a husband who could actually spend his life with her instead of only a fraction of infinity.
And here she was, on her death bed, trying to make sure he wouldn't be alone after she was… gone.
He bowed his head, hopelessly grabbing hold of her in as tight a hug as he dared and burying his face into her chest, shoulders shaking.
"I promise… to try…" he eventually managed to choke out.
He didn't see her relieved smile as she wrapped her arms around him.
It would be hours before either of them moved.
One spent the whole time sobbing.
The other simply smiled sadly.
A/N: ... not much I can say here. Review?
~Persephone