Work Text:
[A well-worn letter. The sheets are soft with handling, crisscrossed with creases, and have a few fold-tears that have been carefully repaired with letterpaste. The handwriting is clean and precise, with a deliberate exemplary neatness that almost strikes one as nervous.]
My dearest, my beloved, my intrepid,
I have been thinking hard on how I can aid you in your travails. Not just the cure, though we will find that, in time. But the journey, it is...
I never felt so alone in my life as I did those times when I missed you.
I can't imagine what you feel right now. I know I saw desperation reflected in your movements. I know I heard - I *know* what I heard in your tone, even though I have never before heard such sadness and heartbreak from you. I know that your actions reflect a hopelessness I would only wish upon my worst enemies.
I cannot imagine what you feel, but, I can tell well enough all the same.
We will find our way out of this labyrinth the gods have trapped us in. Until such time, though, allow me- allow yourself this:
When you were gone, I thought on what we had been and felt only despair. To think on what I had lost, to revel in what was gone from me, it hurt more precisely than any wound ever did. It was all I had, though, and so I dwelt in those moments.
I can not withstand the thought of you experiencing that hurt. You've been hurt too much already.
So, I thought I might... might send you some... I will call them imaginings, but truly, they existed as daydreams, for most my life. I will send you my dreams, of what we could be in the future. A future that WILL come.
It is a terrible thing, to be without hope. I know well that it cannot be given. But, I think perhaps I might give you something, at least, to think about.
I love you. I miss you. As soon as I can be by your side, know I will be there until eternity fades to naught.
Yours truly,
Alse