Work Text:
Hershel Layton is probably the only person in history to have had two final kisses with his girlfriend. That is what happens when time travel gets involved.
The first last kiss he shared with Claire didn’t feel like a final kiss at all. There was no grand goodbye, no tearful cuddle like a soldier going off to war and certain death or a terminally ill person in a hospital knowing their time is limited might share with their significant other… no, there was nothing like that. Because neither of them knew it was to be their last kiss.
It was just a simple goodbye kiss, a kiss that they thought meant ‘I love you’ and ‘I shall see you this evening for dinner’ as Claire headed off to work at her lab and Hershel adjusted his new top hat. But it was their last kiss.
Because Claire’s lab blew up. Because Claire died. Because he lost her.
Hershel was devastated and grieved for what felt like forever. Even after ten years, he still couldn’t get over the loss of Claire.
But it wasn’t quite that simple, as that is where the second kiss comes in. it turned out that the time machine had worked for a second, throwing Claire ten years into the future. And Hershel got to see her again.
However, it didn’t last. Claire was starting to return to her own time, and their time together was short. As he realised he was losing her again, Hershel broke into ungentlemanly sobs. He couldn’t do this again.
But he had to. But at least this time it was a real goodbye. Claire kissed him softly, a beautiful kiss damp with tears, before walking away.
So he lost her twice. And the second time hurt even more than the first.